James D. Porter, Confederate Military History, a library of Confederate States Military History: Volume 7.1, Tennessee
Clement Anselm Evans, Ed.

[204] north of the Potomac. General Archer suffered a long imprisonment, and was one of the victims of that barbarous action on the part of the Federal authorities which placed him, with a shipload of Confederate officers, under the fire of our own guns in Charleston harbor. He was exchanged in the autumn of 1864, and was promoted to major-general, but was unfit for duty, and died from disease contracted in Charleston harbor. He was greatly beloved by his Tennessee brigade, at the head of which he had won distinction.

Gen. U. S. Grant, promoted lieutenant-general and assigned to the command of the armies of the United States, on May 4, 1865, crossed the Rapidan at Ely's and Germanna fords with an army 140,000 strong. General Lee confronted him with 64,000 men of all arms. In the battles which followed, Brig.-Gen. H. H. Walker commanded the Tennessee brigade; the First Tennessee was commanded by Maj. Felix G. Buchanan, the Seventh by Lieut.-Col. Samuel G. Shepard, the Fourteenth by Col. William McComb. On the 5th of May, Major-General Warren, with the Fifth Federal corps, attacked Ewell's corps, and was repulsed with a loss of many prisoners and four pieces of artillery. At the same time Getty's division, of the Sixth Federal corps, was sent out on the Orange plank road, reinforced by Hancock's corps, and a combined assault was made upon Heth's and Wilcox's divisions of Hills' corps, which, said General Meade, ‘was done at first successfully;’ but these two divisions, said General Lee, ‘resisted successfully repeated and desperate assaults’ made by a very superior force. Heth and Wilcox inflicted such serious injury on the attacking force that Wadsworth's division and Baxter's brigade of Warren's corps were hurried forward as reinforcements, but no advance was attempted, and night suspended hostilities. The next morning General Grant telegraphed to Halleck, ‘So far, there is no decisive result. Our loss to this time, 11:30 a. m., I do not think exceeds 8,000.’