Part 46

General Ramseur was a superb horseman, and on the day of the battle he appeared upon the field well mounted and dressed with unusual care in his handsome general's uniform. He wore upon the lapel of his coat a _boutonniere_, the gift doubtless of some fair and patriotic woman in that section, bestowed in recognition of the joyous event which he had made known to her.

"He died; but his end was fitting, Foremost in the ranks he led, And he marked the heights of his nation's gain, As he lay in the harness--dead."

The Rev. E. Harding, his connection and chaplain, in his sketch of General Ramseur, to which I am indebted in preparing this memoir, writing of his Christian character, says: "Ramseur read his Bible a great deal, and when opportunity offered held family prayers"; he was "fond of conversing on religious subjects, and punctual in attending divine service"; that he "was a high-toned and chivalrous gentleman, a gallant soldier, an humble Christian."

His last thoughts on earth were of home and heaven, the sweetest words in any language. He said bear this message to my precious wife: "I die a Christian, and hope to meet her in heaven." No balm to the bruised heart could be more precious, no assurance more gratifying.

Irrespective of section, irrespective of service, the blue and the gray--Sheridan, Custer, Federal and Confederate surgeons--gather around his couch to minister to his wants and smooth his dying pillow. His soul takes its flight, and the day men called his last was his first in the Paradise of God. His body was carefully embalmed by the Federals, borne through their lines and delivered to his early and cherished friend, General Hoke. And thus was illustrated the saying that the world would remain at peace if those who made the quarrels were the only men that fought, for between the soldiers of the two armies there was no personal animosity--of one race, of one nationality, equally brave and equally sincere, they did not bring on the war, and not with their consent have its animosities been continued. Ramseur's remains were carried to his native village, and there a large concourse of his neighbors and friends assembled to express their sorrow and do honor to his memory. They accompanied his remains to their last resting-place, which is in the Episcopal churchyard, and deposited them beside those of his father and mother. Over them a loving and devoted kinsman has had erected a handsome monument, on one side of which is engraved the Confederate flag and the names of the principal battles in which he fought, and on the other the date of his birth and of his death, with this appropriate inscription: "A Good Soldier of Jesus Christ."

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Want of space causes the omission of several pages, not strictly biographical, of General Cox's sketch, delivered originally as an address before the Ladies' Memorial Association of Raleigh, May 10, 1891. It is well enough, however, that he and others have taken such occasions to give brief analyses of the causes and motives which shaped events of which he was an eye-witness and in which he was a conspicuous actor.

General Cox has shown something of the same nerve and courage in writing this sketch that characterized him in battle. In justice to the State and her dead heroes he has uttered some truths which small men are willing to suppress in the interest of harmony. His sketch is a valuable chapter of North Carolina history.

BRYAN GRIMES.

BY H. A. LONDON.

Bryan Grimes, a Major-General in the provisional army of the Confederate States, was born on the 2d day of November, 1828, at Grimesland, in the county of Pitt, about eight miles from the town of Washington, N. C., and was the youngest child of Bryan and Nancy Grimes. He received a good academic education--having been a pupil of the late William Bingham, Sr., and graduated at the University of North Carolina in June, 1848. For his _alma mater_ he always cherished a fond remembrance, and the last letter written by him on the day of his death was one ordering an oil portrait of himself to be sent to the Philanthropic Society, in accordance with a request made therefor by that body. Soon after graduating, his father gave him a valuable plantation in Pitt county, whereon he resided until the time of his death, with the exception of the four years during which he was in the Confederate army. On the 9th of April, 1851, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Hilliard, daughter of Dr. Thomas Davis, of Franklin county, who died in November, 1857. The only surviving issue of this marriage is the wife of S. F. Mordecai, Esq., of the Raleigh bar. In 1860 he made a visit to Europe, but returned home soon after Lincoln's election, and, at the first mutterings of the approaching storm he became deeply interested in the movements of the Southern States. As soon as he heard of the bombardment of Fort Sumter he hastened to the scene of conflict, but arrived after its surrender. Thence he visited Pensacola, which was then threatened with an attack, and then went on to New Orleans, returning home early in the month of May to find that, during his absence, his friends had nominated him as a candidate for a seat in the State Convention, and to which he was elected without opposition. That body is known as the "Secession Convention," and was the most remarkable--composed of the ablest men--ever assembled in North Carolina. The ordinance of secession was signed on the ever-memorable 20th of May, and, in a few days thereafter, General Grimes, feeling that duty called him to the tented field, resigned his seat in the Convention and accepted the appointment of Major of the Fourth Regiment of State Troops, then organizing at Garysburg. He was also, at the same time, offered by Governor Ellis the positions of Lieutenant-Colonel of the Eighth Regiment and Major of the Second Regiment of Cavalry, but he declined these offers because he felt his deficiency in the knowledge of military tactics (never having had any military training whatsoever), and wished to have the benefit of the military knowledge and experience of the Colonel of the Fourth Regiment, George B. Anderson, who was a graduate of West Point, and one of the best officers of the old army. Without delay he joined his regiment at Garysburg, where it remained drilling until ordered to Richmond, and arrived at Manassas only a few days after the victory at that place. During the remainder of the year and until March, 1862, his regiment was stationed near Manassas, and he was in command of it most of that period, as Colonel Anderson had been appointed commandant of the post at Manassas.

On the 1st of May, Major Grimes was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of his regiment, and a night or two thereafter, when Yorktown was evacuated, he was assigned the very responsible position of commander of the picket line, with instructions to keep up, as usual, the firing throughout the night and retire about dawn, which perilous duty was most successfully and gallantly performed. At the battle of Williamsburg, on the 5th of May, the Fourth Regiment was only slightly engaged, and was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Grimes, as Colonel Anderson was commanding the brigade. But soon thereafter, on the 31st of May, at Seven Pines, that gallant regiment received its baptism of fire--the most bloody ever recorded. Lieutenant-Colonel Grimes led his regiment into that battle with twenty-five officers and five hundred and twenty non-commissioned officers and privates, and out of that number every officer, except himself, and four hundred and sixty-two men, were either killed or wounded. Such carnage is almost unparalleled in the annals of war, and seems incredible! In this battle the escape of Colonel Grimes seems miraculous. He acted with a bravery that rendered him conspicuous even in such a band of heroes. In attacking the enemy's fortifications his horse's head was blown off by a cannon ball, and the horse fell so suddenly as to catch his foot and leg under it. While in this position the regiment, thinking that he was killed, began to waver, when he, pinned to the ground by the dead horse, waved his sword and shouted, "Forward! Forward!" whereupon some of the men came to his assistance and pulled the horse off, and thus freed, he sprang to his feet, seized the flag of the regiment that was lying on the ground (the color-bearer and all the color-guard having been killed or wounded), and rushing forward, called upon his men to charge, which they did most gallantly, and captured the fortifications. Most nobly did the gallant Grimes, in this bloody charge, prove himself the worthy leader of such heroes! On the 19th of June, 1862, he was appointed Colonel of his regiment, Colonel Anderson having received his commission as Brigadier-General. The next battle in which Colonel Grimes was engaged was at Mechanicsville, on the 26th of June, where, with no officers and a mere handful of men, his regiment rendered most efficient service, and where he had another horse killed under him. After this battle Colonel Grimes, with his regiment, was detailed by General D. H. Hill to take charge of the captured stores and prisoners and report with them at Richmond. General Anderson protested against this, paying Colonel Grimes the high compliment of saying "Although small in numbers, Colonel Grimes' regiment is the key-stone of my brigade."

After remaining around Richmond until the middle of July, he was seized with typhoid fever and returned to Raleigh until he recovered. He rejoined his command in time to take part in the first Maryland campaign and the battles previous to the crossing of the Potomac. When crossing the Potomac, on the 5th of September, he received a very severe hurt upon the leg from the kick of a horse, causing a permanent indentation of the bone, and rendering him incapable for several days of walking or riding horseback. On the 14th of September was fought the bloody battle of Boonsboro, where Colonel Grimes, although really unfit for duty, again acted with conspicuous courage and had another horse killed under him; and just here it may be proper to mention that altogether during the war he had seven horses shot under him in battle. The exertions of the day exhausted him and rendered his injured leg so much worse that General Anderson insisted upon his being carried to a hospital in the rear, where amputation was seriously talked of. His injury incapacitated him for further service until November, when he was assigned to the temporary command of General Anderson's Brigade, that officer having been mortally wounded on the 17th of September, at Sharpsburg. Colonel Grimes commanded this brigade at the battle of Fredericksburg with much skill and judgment, and remained in command until February, when he was relieved by Brigadier-General Ramseur. During the remainder of the winter and until the opening of the campaign in May, Colonel Grimes diligently drilled his regiment until it became noted for its proficiency in military tactics and soldierly discipline.

During the next campaign Colonel Grimes and his regiment passed through a most fiery ordeal and nobly sustained their well-won reputation. On the 1st of May, 1863, began the battles around Chancellorsville. In the first day's fight Colonel Grimes' Regiment and a Mississippi regiment were detailed "to feel" the enemy, which they did in gallant style, driving everything before them until the main body of Hooker's army was reached. General Jackson himself accompanied Colonel Grimes in this movement, and when much resistance was shown by the enemy, would say, in suppressed tones: "Press them, Colonel." On the second day Colonel Grimes and his regiment took an active part in routing Sigel's Corps, and on the third day an incident occurred that deserves special mention. On the morning of the 3d of May General Ramseur's Brigade, having borne the brunt of the fights of the two previous days, was held in reserve to support other troops who were to take the advance. The brigade rested just in rear of a ... brigade of previous good reputation, which occupied the breastworks captured the day before by Ramseur's Brigade. A staff officer of General J. E. B. Stuart rode up to the officer in command of the ... brigade and gave orders to advance and charge the enemy, General Ramseur and Colonel Grimes standing near by and hearing the order given. The ... officer declined to move forward, whereupon General Ramseur said to the staff officer, "Give me the order, and I will charge." He was then told to make the charge. He and Colonel Grimes hurried back to their troops, and, at the command "Forward!" moved up to the earthworks occupied by the ... brigade, and actually climbed over these men now lying down behind it for protection, and over the breastworks, and then formed in line of battle under a murderous fire. Colonel Grimes was so disgusted with the cowardly conduct of the ... troops that, in passing over them, he singled out an officer of high rank who was lying down, and placing one foot on his back and the other on his head, with contempt and fierce indignation ground his face in the earth. After climbing over the breastworks and forming in line of battle, Ramseur's Brigade rushed forward, Colonel Grimes' Regiment and three companies of the Second Regiment not halting or firing a gun until they had captured the enemy's works and bayoneted the Federal soldiers on the opposite side of the earthworks. The remainder of the brigade had in the meantime halted to deliver their fire on encountering the enemy where they were engaged. This was one of the few times during the war when the opposing troops actually crossed bayonets, and where an inferior force in broad daylight, without firing a gun, captured breastworks held by superior numbers and drove them out at the point of the bayonet! In this charge Colonel Grimes' sword was severed by a ball, his clothing perforated in many places--a ball imbedded in his sword-belt and scabbard and he received a severe contusion on the foot. His regiment suffered fearfully, forty-six being killed and one hundred and fifty-seven wounded out of three hundred and twenty-seven carried into action. Truly may we claim that this charge was as gallant, daring, and self-sacrificing as the world-renowned charge of "the immortal six hundred" at Balaklava!

In the Pennsylvania campaign Colonel Grimes and his regiment were with the advance, and went on picket duty only eight miles from Harrisburg, the capital of the State. While on picket duty there, about five hundred Pennsylvania militia, wearing high, sugar-loaf hats, marched out to drive back the "bloody Rebels." As soon as Colonel Grimes caught sight of them he placed a portion of his men in ambush, who, as soon as the militia passed, opened fire in their rear, while those in front raised the terrifying "Rebel yell" and charged them. Of course the militia were completely stampeded, and sought shelter in the neighboring fields, dropping in their flight their hats, with which Colonel Grimes' men supplied themselves. In the first day's fight at Gettysburg Colonel Grimes and his regiment were the first to enter that town and drove the enemy through Gettysburg to the heights beyond, capturing more prisoners than there were men in his command. Had this temporary success been followed promptly by Lee's army Gettysburg would not have sounded the death-knell of the Southern Confederacy!

In the retreat from Pennsylvania Colonel Grimes was placed in the rear guard and assisted most efficiently in protecting the retreating army. It seems always to have been the fate of this officer to occupy the post of honor and danger--in the front in every advance and in the rear in every retreat, beginning with Yorktown, in 1862, and ending at Appomattox, in 1865. This fact speaks louder than any words the great confidence placed in him by his superior officers.

On the 5th day of September, 1863, Colonel Grimes was married to Miss Charlotte Emily, daughter of the late Honorable John H. Bryan, of Raleigh. This lady now survives him, with four daughters and four sons. May the latter prove themselves to be worthy scions of so noble a sire, and their mother be enabled to point them out as her jewels, as did the mother of the Gracchi! In October, 1863, the friends of Colonel Grimes urged him to become a candidate to represent the Second District in the Confederate Congress, and at first he yielded to their wishes; but upon further consideration, he declined the honor, and published a letter, which well illustrated his unselfish patriotism, in which he stated that he "preferred to remain in active service in the field until peace and independence were secured." In November Colonel Grimes was placed in command of the brigade for the second time, while General Ramseur was at home on a furlough. The following winter was spent quietly, both armies preparing for the great conflict that was soon to begin at the Wilderness. Commencing on the 5th day of May, 1864, there was one almost continuous battle for a month, fighting all day and at night resting on their arms in line of battle. Colonel Grimes was actively engaged every day, but his services on the 12th and 19th days of May deserve especial mention. The Federal troops, by a sudden movement, had surprised that portion of the Confederate breastworks known as the "Horse Shoe," and captured about two thousand men belonging to General Edward Johnson's Division. It was necessary to retake this position, and Ramseur's Brigade was selected for this difficult task. The charge was ordered, and while being gallantly made, General Ramseur was wounded, and was not able to keep up. At this critical juncture Colonel Grimes, seeing the need for prompt action, assumed the responsibility of ordering a second charge, himself leading it, and recovered the entire works and all the guns, capturing many prisoners and killing more of the enemy than the brigade numbered men. General Lee himself rode down, and in person thanked the brigade for its gallantry, telling them that they deserved the thanks of the country--they had saved his army.

General Junius Daniel having been mortally wounded on the 12th of May, Colonel Grimes was placed in command of that lamented officer's brigade, and soon thereafter received his well-deserved commission of brigadier-general. This commission, though not received until the 5th of June, bore date May 19th, on which day he had handled the brigade with such efficiency (on a flank movement towards the rear of Grant's army) that General Rodes (the division commander) approached him soon after the battle, and, shaking him by the hand, said: "You have saved Ewell's Corps, and shall be promoted, and your commission shall bear date from this day." Upon being assigned to the command of Daniel's Brigade, General Grimes' old regiment (the Fourth) made application to be transferred to that brigade, in order to be with their old commander, but their request, in which General Grimes heartily joined, was not granted. Still they were in the same division, and on every occasion possible General Grimes' old regiment testified their affection for him.

About the middle of June, Grimes' Brigade, with the other troops of Ewell's Corps (now commanded by General Jubal Early), was ordered to the Valley of Virginia, and began a series of movements almost unparalleled in war. They quickly drove the Federal forces, commanded by General Hunter, entirely out of Virginia, although the latter greatly outnumbered them. Forced marches were made almost every day, and the men were exhausted by hunger as well as by fatigue, and yet they marched on, crossed the Potomac, threatened Baltimore, alarmed the government at Washington, and defiantly flaunted their blood-stained banners in sight of the very dome of the Capitol!

In July General Grimes went home on a sick furlough, but soon returned to active duty, although still sick and having a surgeon's certificate of unfitness for duty. He could not remain at home while his services were so much needed at the front. Until the 19th of September Early's forces were generally victorious in every skirmish and battle, but on that fatal day a victory was turned into a rout, the enemy's vastly superior numbers overwhelming the Confederates and disastrously defeating them. Here fell the division commander, General R. E. Rodes, than whom there was no better officer in the Army of Northern Virginia. In this battle General Grimes greatly distinguished himself, and his escape was marvelous, he being in the thickest of the fight, his horse shot under him and nearly every member of his staff severely wounded. A month afterwards, on the 19th of October, Early's army was again defeated by overwhelming numbers. General Grimes made desperate efforts to stem the tide, exposing himself with an utter indifference to danger in his efforts to rally the panic-stricken troops, and having two horses shot under him. General Ramseur, who had succeeded Rodes in the command of the division, was mortally wounded in this battle, and General Grimes was placed in command of the division and retained that command until Lee's surrender, his commission as major-general being issued in the following February. This division was composed of as gallant a body of men as ever marched to battle, and had greatly distinguished itself in every campaign. For two years it had been commanded by General Rodes, who was one of General Lee's most trusted officers, and under its new commander--the gallant Grimes--it well sustained its brilliant reputation. It was composed of four brigades, two from North Carolina, one from Alabama, and one from Georgia. One of the North Carolina brigades was Daniel's old brigade--afterwards Grimes'--and the other was formerly Ramseur's, now commanded by General W. R. Cox. While North Carolina may well be proud of all her troops in the late civil war, she has especial cause to be proud of such heroes as composed those two brigades. The Alabama brigade had won at Seven Pines a reputation that was well sustained afterwards on many a hard-fought field. Its commander, General Cullen Battle, was so severely wounded at Winchester as not to be able to return again to active duty. The Georgia brigade, though the smallest in the division, always did its full duty, its first commander having been General Doles, who fell at Spottsylvania, and its second, General Phil. Cook, who was wounded at Hare's Hill and captured at the evacuation of Petersburg.