[415]
[Xi.]
near Petersburg, Va., October 14, 1864.
* * * There was a great disposition on the part of some to pillage.
The field being a rich one, offered many temptations to the men to stop.
When I commenced upbraiding one of them for pillaging while his comrades were fighting, and ordered him forward, he replied he only wanted a blanket to sleep on these cold nights, and I could but be amused as he went running to the front with a fine Yankee blanket under his arm. They are all delighted with the fight, and laugh at the way they made the Yankee's run. I sent Lieutenant Meade to the right to tell the colonels to conform to the movements on the left, when the enemy opened a hot fire, and he had to ride through it all. It was at this time I expect he was most generally noticed, although he behaved very handsomely throughout the engagement.
See Southern Historical Society State Papers, Volume IX, page 357.The aggregate number of killed and wounded and prisoners from my brigade, since the opening of this campaign on the 5th of May, amounts to something between seventeen and eighteen hundred. We have fought behind breastworks only once, and then only for a short time. We have charged the enemy's works four times, and our other big fighting has been mostly in flank movements. I have just cause to be proud of my command. It has a splendid reputation in the army. * * * * * *
