By June 16, 1862, five of the six regiments had completed their transit from Georgia and successfully joined Stonewall Jackson's small army near the field of its recent battle at Port Republic, Virginia. Brig. Gen. Alexander Lawton and the 13th Georgia remained near the rail head at Staunton waiting for marching orders.
Gen. Jackson has received his own orders on June 11, 1862 from General Robert E. Lee , new commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, with the following instructions:
Leave your enfeebled troops to watch the country and guard the passes covered by your cavalry and artillery, and with your main body, including Ewell's division and Lawton's and Whiting's commands, move rapidly to Ashland by rail or otherwise, as you may find most advantageous, and sweep down between the Chickahominy and Pamunkey, cutting up the enemy's communications, etc, while this army attacks General McClellan in front.
Jackson began his march in great secrecy on June 17th, leaving his commanders and the enemy in the dark as to their destination. The Georgia brigade, much depleted by illness from the rough transit and unused to the pace of Jackson's "Foot Cavalry", had a hard time of it marching largely on foot as they covered some 120 miles in eight days. After a day's rest to honor the Sabbath, Jackson resumed his march. After a hard Monday, a heavy rain fell that night for two hours on the Rebel camps, soaking the men of Lawton's Brigade, who had had to leave their tents behind. The next day's march in the mud was misery piled on misery. Pvt. G. W. Nichols of the 61st Georgia recalled that:
We started about day next morning on a forced march, with full creeks and branches to cross. The roads were so cut up with the wagons and artillery until we could hardly get along. Some of the boys would bog down into the mud till when they got out their shoes would remain often ten and twelve inches below the surface. Every man had to carry his own haversack, knapsack, rifle, and cartridge-box. Some of the boys had white sheets, and I believe a few had feather pillows. Jackson's old soldiers, who had been following Jackson in his campaigns, made sport of us.....Some of 'our boys cursed out the war, others shed tears (for there were a lot of young boys in the brigade), and said but little, while others, I supposed, prayed. We were being initiated and taking the first degree in war. We had been mustered into the Confederate service eight months and had learned but little about the rough life of a soldier."
Account in Progress; check back later for completed text.
This account relies both on the Official Reports noted above and the following primary and secondary resources:
G. W. Nichols, (Co. D, 61st Georgia), A Soldier's Story of His Regiment (61st Georgia), Kennesaw, GA: Continental Book Company, 1961.
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Last Updated: Sept. 24, 1997
Copyright © 1997, Chris J. Brantley (all rights reserved as to original materials).