the battalion returned to camp, near new market, about the 20th of february, and for two months there was nothing to mar the monotony of camp life, save the interminable drilling and sabre grinding ordered by gen. jones, which was really the most monotonous part of it as well as the most vexatious, for white’s men didn’t like to drill, and they had a small opinion of the sabre as a weapon to fight yankees with, no matter how sharp it might be, and the regular saturday grindings were looked upon as perfect nuisances.
discipline in the command was at a low ebb, in fact it was hard to keep it up to any degree of perfection at all, for several reasons; first of which was, that col. white himself was naturally much better qualified for the stirring and active life of a partisan, whose parade ground is the enemy’s picket line and wagon camp, than to command the choicest body of troops behind the army lines; and experience gives as a rule, that as the colonel is, so is the regiment, and it is one that holds good under all the circumstances of the camp, the march and the battle-field.
the carelessness of the colonel very soon showed itself to a far greater degree in the battalion, and 155really, as of necessity it must, impaired the efficiency of it, for there is a vast difference between the dashing tactics of the raider, in which numbers are little considered, and all depends upon the suddenness of the attack and surprise of the enemy, and the operations in the face of a prepared enemy, where the success of an army depends upon its different parts performing the proper evolutions at the right moment and best manner, amid the din and roar of battle, where the “flying shot and reeking steel” are performing their bloody work.
early in 1863, the colonel had most fortunately secured the services of an excellent adjutant, in the person of lieut. r. t. watts, formerly of the 2d va. cavalry, and a native of bedford county, va., who had been recommended to him by col. munford, of that regiment, and many persons thought that the very existence of the battalion was due to the precision and care with which lieut. watts performed his duties, for the company officers, with few exceptions, were as careless as the colonel.
lieut. crown, co. b, lieuts. dowdell and tom white, co. c, and capt. grabill, co. e, were disciplinarians, and did their best to make soldiers of their men; but capt. myers and lieut. conrad, who formed the character of co. a, lieut. sam. grubb, co. c, lieuts. dorsey and chiswell, co. b, and lieut. strickler, co. e, all officers of 156great influence with their companies, cared as little for drill and discipline as possible. company f had, for some time, been rendered rather inefficient through the carelessness and indifference of its officers, but it was finally raised to the position of being one of the best in the service, by having two first-rate officers given it in capt. french and lieut. james; but previous to that, capt. ferneyhough was seldom with it, and lieut. mcveigh was like the majority, willing to let matters take their course. lieut. barrett was unfortunate in being for a long time a prisoner, and lieut. marlow was so frequently on detached service in the quartermaster’s department, and elsewhere, that his services were to a great extent lost to his company.
the quartermaster’s department exhibited the same lack of system observable in other places, and it was soon discovered that high attainments in law and literature, and brilliant talents as an orator, did not fit capt. kilgour to perform the duties of this important position, and he resigned in favor of john j. white, who had been his sergeant, and who was vastly better calculated for the office in question than the distinguished gentleman who had preceded him. the business was now managed by capt. white, aided as he was by active and energetic assistants, such as wm. h. luckett, quartermaster-sergeant; thomas brown and jack simpson, frank saffer, and last, but by 157no means least, “uncle billy dove,” as forage and wagon-masters; in a systematic and highly satisfactory manner.
the medical department, under the management of dr. ed. wootten, was almost a farce, from the fact that medicines of all kinds were scarce in the confederacy, and worth almost their weight in gold, so that the office of surgeon, except on battle days, when wounded men were to be cared for, was almost a sinecure; but in the absence of medicine, the doctor, by all the little arts known only to the profession, would work upon the imagination of his patients and bring them out, generally, all right, except in cases of camp itch, which active disease prevailed widely, and positively refused to succumb to the imaginary efficacy of bread pills.
while in winter quarters, the first court-martial in the battalion was convened; composed of captains myers, chiswell and anderson, and lieutenants watts (co. f,) and strickler, (co. e,) and proceeded to the trial of a number of cases of absence without leave, and similar offenses.
after the court got through with its business, the report of their proceedings, showing that they had awarded only such light penalties as extra duty, walking a beat, &c., was handed to the colonel for his approval, as military law required, when, after examining the report, he came out in a general order at dress parade, denouncing the 158action of the court as folly, fit only for school-boy nonsense, winding up by setting aside all its judgments and discharging the delinquents unconditionally, which ended the court-martial business for a year.
gen. rosser used to tell a story which illustrated col. white’s attention to the minuti? of the business of the battalion, and which will not be out of place here.
on one occasion gen. lee wrote to rosser, saying that no reports had been received for a long time of the ordnance department of white’s battalion, and asking him to look into the matter, to which rosser replied that he had never been able to get an ordnance report from that command, and if gen. lee could do so he would be glad to see it. this brought a staff officer from army headquarters at once, to get a report; and gen. r. tells the story as he received it from the officer, who, after calling at rosser’s quarters, rode over to the battalion, and introducing himself to colonel white, explained his business. “very well, sir,” said the colonel, “go ahead.” and by aid of adjt. watts, the report was made out pretty well, until the officer, reading from a paper which he held in his hand, said, “i see, colonel, that 340 guns have been issued to your command; what report do you make of them?” (white’s men never would carry guns.) the colonel turned to the adjutant and asked how many guns were 159on hand, to which he replied, “eighty, sir.” “well,” said the officer, “how do you account for the 260?” at which, white seemed somewhat perplexed; but gen. r. says that while he was studying the matter over, one of the young “comanches,” in a corner of the tent, said: "why, colonel, ain’t them the guns that busted in western virginia?" “i golly, yaas;” said the colonel, “they did bust; you sent us a lot of them drotted richmond carbines, and they like to have killed all the men.” the staff officer put down on his report: “260 guns bursted in western virginia,” and took his departure, everything being now accounted for.
