FIGHTING THAT WAS CLOSE BY US.
One Who Was There Tells About the Battle of Drewry's
Bluff—Many Errors Corrected.
Herewith is an article of Captain John W. Sumpter, of Christiansburg, who is well known in Virginia as a railroad man, and as formerly connected with the Railroad Commissioner's office in Richmond.
The war records, Vol. 36, part 2, contain the reports of the heavy battle of Drewry's Bluff, and show that he is right in his declaration that it was fought on May 16th, 1864. On pages 200-201 of the volume above referred to General Beauregard's circular order of battle for the 16th of May is quoted in his report of the engagement, and on page 205 appears the list of casualties in Ransom's, Hokes', and Colquitt's Divisions. Ransom's Division, commanded by Major General Robert Ransom, was composed of Barton's Brigade, under Col. Davenport Birkett Fry; Graves' Brigade, under Brigadier-General Gracie; Kemper's Brigade, under Col. William R. Terry, of the Twenty-fourth Virginia Infantry; Hoke's old Brigade under Lieutenant-Colonel (afterwards Brigadier-General) Lewis, and a battalion of artillery, under Lieutenant-Colonel Lightfoot.
The casualties in all of these commands appear, except in Kemper's Brigade.
On the next day, May 17th, 1864, Kemper's Brigade was transferred to Hoke's Division in exchange. Bushrod Johnson's Brigade, and Kemper's Brigade, under the new arrangement marched through Richmond displaying the colors it had captured the day before. It appears that Brigadier-General Heck-man and some four hundred of his men were captured, but not his brigade as a whole. There is no report in the war report from the commander of Kemper's Brigade (Col. W. R. Terry). Its immediate transfer and movement to the north of the James, is the probable cause of this deficiency, and we discover no statement of its casualties.
