Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 17.djvu/427

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Lee's Lieutenants, 419

I believed I would go up there and get a horse myself, but on the way met the regiment.

After cleaning out the timber we had no more fighting. The Fed- erals brought up some fresh troops, and Colston's brigade was put in to meet them. We lay down behind Colston, ready to rise and reopen if needed, but no further close quarters ensued. The enemy contended himself with peppering away till dusk. The battle was over, and about dark we marched back into Williamsburg and slept there that night, resuming our march shortly before day.

That Williamsburg was a very stubbornly-contested action is un- questionable, and it is also true that the loss on both sides was heavy, the proportion of fatal casualties being unusually great ; but there can be no question but that the Confederate troops fully accomplished the object for which the battle was fought. That object was to hold back McClellan's advance, and, despite the most strenuous and per- severing efforts of his division commanders, this was done. The Federal forces were not only prevented from advancing, but were steadily driven back throughout the day.

Salem Dutcher.

LEE'S LIEUTENANTS.

NAMES OF SURVIVING GENERALS OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMY — A VALUABLE ROSTER.

Personal Notes About a Number of the Leading Military Men on

Our Side,

[Richmond Dispatch^ May 29, 1890.]

One of the saddest things connected with the war was the large number of our ablest and best generals who were killed in battle or died from the effects of wounds.

The days of the heroes of classic times or the chivalry of modern Europe never produced braver knights, more self-sacrificing patriots, than that galaxy of soldiers which adorn the pages of Confederate history.

And then, as a rule, we fought against "overwhelming numbers and resources,'* and it seemed especially necessary that our generals should lead their men into the very thickest of the fight. Besides, there was a sentiment among our ragged, barefooted heroes of the