Historical memorial of the Charlotte Cavalry.
[Our esteemed contributor, the gallant Captain E. E. Bouldin, is a prominent and successful member of the Virginia bar. An elder brother (whom we have known for a longer period) Powhatan Bouldin, Esq., was for many years the owner and editor of the Danville Times. He is the author of ‘Home Reminiscenses of John Randolph of Roanoke,’ a work which in the testimony presented of those familiar with that erratic genius, seems to give the key to his eccentricity.—Ed.] The Charlotte Cavalry was organized in Charlotte county, Virginia, U. S. A., in 1861. On the 27th May, 1861, it was mustered into the service of the Southern Confederacy at Ashland, Va. It served in the War 1861-5, first in Maj. George Jackson's Battalion, with one Company from Augusta county and two from Rockbridge county, Virginia, until September, 1862, when it was put into the 14th Virginia Cavalry as Company ‘B.’ This Regiment served under Brigadier-Generals A. G. Jenkins, Jno. Mc-Causland and R. L. T. Beale, Major-General W. H. F. Lee's Division part of the time. It was distinguished among kindred organizations for the personal merit of its members. Every General it served under recognized the high intelligence and worth of its members. It never had a member to desert. Applicants had to be voted on before they could become members. There were a large number of lawyers, physicians, teachers, and highly educated farmers and merchants in the Company. From a camp of instruction, at Ashland, Va., it was sent in the Spring of 1861, to Laurel Hill, Northwest Virginia, to General Garnett's command. The list of killed and wounded (forty-two) in this memorial, shows how it suffered. After it was put into the 14th Virginia Cavalry, it, with the Churchville Cavalry (Companies B and I) constituted the ‘charging’ Squadron of the Brigade. Captain E. E. Bouldin was first, and Captain James A. Wilson (of the Churchville) was Second in Command of the Squadron. [76] When the Brigade advanced the squadron's place was in extreme front, when it retreated in extreme rear. It formed General R. E. Lee's extreme advance guard into Chambersburg, Pa., in 1863. It was General John McCausland's extreme rear guard all night and all day for days together, from Covington to Buchanan in June, 1864, when General Hunter advanced on Lynchburg, Va. When Chambersburg, Pa. was burnt in 1864, this squadron acted as General McCausland's extreme rear guard when McCausland left the burning city. From Five Forks, Va., near Petersburg, it was again often in the rear of Beale's Brigade (to which it had been transferred) in Lee's retreat to Appomattox. On the morning of the surrender, 9th April, 1865, this squadron was with its regiment, the 14th Virginia Cavalry, in the last charge made by that regiment under command of Captain E. E. Bouldin. On very many other occasions, these two companies were assigned the posts of danger and hardship. They acted nearly always together. So that in most, if not all instances, the Churchville Cavalry was engaged along with the Charlotte Cavalry in battles and skirmishes enumerated below, and its casualties were as many as those of the Charlotte Cavalry, though this memorial does not name any of them. A roll of that Company was made out by Captain James A. Wilson, of Churchville, Augusta County, Va. A roll of the members of the Charlotte Cavalry was published in Vol. XXVIII of the Southern Historical Society Papers, and it was also entered in the records of County Court of Charlotte County, Virginia. This memorial was prepared by Lieutenant Samuel M. Gaines, now of Washington, D. C., from the records in that city and from his own notes and recollections, and was carefully reviewed by myself. It was sent to many of the surviving members of the Charlotte Cavalry, and corrections made where there were errors. So I hope, that it is correct in every particular, and will serve to give posterity an account of the part this Company and the Churchville Cavalry, bore in the great War, 1861-5. The following is a chronological list of the engagements, large and small (excepting trivial encounters on picket and scout duty) in which this Company, as a whole or in part, participated during the War, with the casualties remembered.[77]
1861. with Gen. R. S. Garnett in West Virginia.
Laurel Hill, W. Va., July 7, 8 and 9. Kahler's Ford, W. Va., July 13. Carrick's Ford, W. Va., July 13. Swamp's Block House, W. Va., November—. Henry Chick killed and Isaac Friend wounded.1862. with Gen. R. E. Lee in West Virginia.
Dry Forks, W. Va., January 8. North Fork, W. Va., January 17. R. M. Friend wounded on scout. Hinkle's Gap, W. Va., February 4. Seneca Creek, W. Va., February—. North Mountain, W. Va., March 4. Samuel M. Gaines wounded.With Gen. Loring,
Nicholas Court House, W. Va., July 26. Fayetteville, W. Va., September 10. Cotton Hill, W. Va., September 11. Montgomery's Ferry, W. Va., September 12. Charleston, W. Va., September 13. Buffalo, W. Va., September 27. Charleston, W. Va., October 6. Bulltown, W. Va., October 9. Charleston, W. Va., October 16. Kanawha Falls, W. Va., October 31.1863. with Gen. R. E. Lee in his advance into Pennsylvania.
Middletown, Va., June 11. Winchester, Va., June 13. White Post, Va., June 14. Bunker Hill, Va., June 15. Martinsburg, W. Va., June 15. Greencastle, Pa., June 20. Chambersburg, Pa., June 20. Carlisle, Pa., June 29. Gettysburg. Pa., July 1, 2, 3. Samuel M. McCargo killed, Henry C. Chappell, Jno. Roberts wounded and died. Wash Chappell wounded. Monterey Gap, Md., July 5. [78] Hagerstown, Md., July 6.. Lieut. W. R. Gaines wounded. Boonsboro, Md., July 7, 8. Williamsport, Md., July 14. Lieut. D. Shepperson killed, Jno. P. Marshall wounded and died, Capt. E. E. Bouldin wounded, Andrew Hannah killed, William H. Woods wounded. Shepherdstown, Md., July 16. Chester Gap, Va., July 21. Brandy Station, Va., August 1 to 11 Adjt. B. C. Bouldin killed. Kelly's Ford, Va., August 2, 3. Little Washington, Va., August 24. Sperryville, Va., August—.Under Gen. Jno. Echols.
Droop Mountain, W. Va., November 6. Sergt.—Maj. R. H. Gaines wounded, Thomas C. Harvey wounded. Greenbrier River, W. Va., December 12.1864. under Gen. Jno. McCausland, opposing Gen. Hunter in his advance on Lynchburg.
White Sulphur Springs, June 1. Covington, Va., June 2. Panther Gap, Va., June 4. Goshen, Va., June 6. Buffalo Gap, Va., June 7. Staunton Road, Va., June 8. Arbor Hill, Va., June 10. Newport, Va., June 10. Middlebrook, Va., June 10. Jas. R. Crews and Norman B. Spraggins wounded. Brownsburg, Va., June 10. Alexander S. Walker wounded, Samuel Price and William Spencer wounded, B. W. Marshall captured. Lexington, Va., June 11. Broad Creek, Va., June 13. Buchanan, Va., June 13. Peaks Gap, Va., June 14. Fancy Farm, Va., June 15. Otter River, Va., June 16. New London, Va., June 16. Lynchburg, Va., June 17, 18. Abner Ford wounded.[79]
