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Some of the batteries:
In all, there were seventy-five batteries trained and equipped and sent to the field from Camp Lee during the time which elapsed between November, 1861, and June, 1862.
Among them may be mentioned some which can be called to mind, commanded by
Captain Marmaduke Johnson,
John L. Eubank, N. A Sturdivant,
Captain J. Taylor Martin, and two other batteries, which constituted the battalion of
Rev. F. J. Boggs,
W. G. Crenshaw,
G. G. Otey, the old Fayette Artillery,
Captain Henry Coalter Cabell, all of
Richmond.
Then there were those of
W. D. Leake, of
Goochland;
Charles Bruce, of
Charlotte;
Joseph W. Anderson, of
Botetourt;
Pichegru Woolfolk, of Caroline;
Henry Rives, of
Nelson;
Colonel J. W. Moore's Battalion, of
North Carolina; the battery of
Captain Dawson, of
Georgia;
Latham, of
Lynchburg;
Lewis, of
Halifax, and many others from
Virginia,
Mississippi, one from
Maryland, and others which cannot be recalled now.
General George W. Randolph in the meantime had become
Secretary of War, and during his term in that office the conscription law went into effect.
In addition to his other duties as the commandant at the post of Camp Lee,
Colonel Shields was made commandant of conscripts for
Virginia, with headquarters at Camp Lee for that purpose, as well as the general duties incident to a military post.
Major Thomas G. Peyton, of
Richmond, was assigned to the immediate command of men reporting under the regulations of the conscript law for assignment.
This was a large duty, and well executed.
An additional camp was also established for some months under command of
Major James B. Dorman, at
Dublin, Pulaski county, reporting directly to
Colonel Shields as commandant for the
State.
The law was well executed in
Virginia through the enrolling officers of counties and congressional districts.
Not a solitary jar occurred between the authorities of the
State,
Governor Letcher, and the
Confederate authorities of
General John S. Preston,
Chief of the
Confederate Bureau of Conscription, and the commandant for the
State.
Shortly before the war ended, the
Confederate Bureau was dispensed with, and
General James L. Kemper became the intermediate officer between those of the conscript armies and the War Department.
This arrangement continued until the end, in April, 1865.
