At war's End

About sunset of the 8th [of April] the cavalry, now entirely clear of the army, went into a pleasant bivouac in a body of timber, where they were permitted to build fires and remove the saddles from the horses’ backs, upon which they had constantly been since the fifth, and the tired troopers felt good at the prospect of an all night rest, but in less than two hours the bugles sounded “to horse,” and the march was again taken up, and slowly followed until about two o’clock in the morning, when the division of Rosser, which was in front, halted at Appomattox C. H.

After waiting awhile to see if anything further was to be done, the men made fires of the fences, and sat down, each man holding his bridle rein and wondering what would come with daylight, but about an hour before dawn a battery exactly in front opened fire, and now the absence of cavalry in the rear during all of the day before was explained, as was also the reason why the Confederate cavalry had been brought forward, for right here, exactly before them, stood Sheridan’s whole command, cutting off the retreat of the army from Lynchburg.

Soon after the battery opened, Colonel White moved his brigade forward a short distance and formed on a hill near some timber that extended to the head of a swamp, and here it remained until after sunrise, when the Colonel rode out to the battalion, which was on the right of the line, and informed Captain Myers that the army was about to surrender and Rosser was arranging to take his cavalry out. There was no time to arrive at a full realization of the meaning contained in this simple announcement, for the enemy was now pressing vigorously in front and Sheridan’s cannon were throwing their shells among the Confederates with great rapidity.

General Rosser moved forward about half a mile and halted to wait for a demonstration which General Gordon, who now commanded all that was left of “Stonewall” Jackson’s old corps, had arranged to make with his infantry, in order to draw Sheridan’s force towards the left, and about 7 o’clock the signal was given in the rattling rifles of Gordon’s men, who had followed Lee and Jackson through victory after victory, from Manassas, where they had made “Stonewall” immortal, to fire their last shot and lay down their arms in surrender at Appomattox Court-house.

Rosser now put White’s brigade in front and moved promptly upon the enemy, who appeared not to understand exactly what was expected of them, and as White took a position on a hill in an open field about four or five hundred yards from a division of Federal cavalry, the latter only looked, but made no hostile movement, and now Rosser, finding the way open to gain the Lynchburg road, pushed forward with the brigades of Munford and McCausland, leaving Colonel White to guard the rear and the old brigade to be the sacrifice, if necessary, to secure the safety of the balance. After looking at the little line of Confederates for a little while a party of about four hundred marched from the division and commenced to form on the same hill with the little remnant of the “Laurel Brigade,” but this was too much for White, and he ordered Capt. Hatcher, of the 7th regiment, to charge, and Capt. Myers, of the battalion to support him. The enemy soon broke and retreated upon their reserve, which in turn gave way, and the whole force fled, panic-stricken, before the little party of about one hundred Rebels, who were within an hour of surrendering, and again, but for the last time, the avenging sabres of the Ashby boys glanced fiercely over the Yankee cavalry. Many of the enemy fell killed or wounded, but no prisoners were taken, and when the chase had continued about two miles the Colonel again called a halt, and the boys had to dismount and skirmish with the Yankee infantry for a short time, and when the great firing of guns and sky-rending shouts of Grant’s army away off to the front and right announced that 9 o’clock had passed, and that General Lee, with his troops had surrendered, Colonel White withdrew his men and took the way to Lynchburg, overtaking Rosser about seven miles from that place, and on reaching the city everything was in confusion, nobody knew what to do and all thought it pretty certain that the Yankees would soon be up.

About dark Gen. Rosser ordered the division to move to the Fair Grounds, near the town, and wait for orders, but shortly after a rumor was circulated to the effect that the Yankees were advancing, and that Gen. Grant had sent a summons to the Mayor ordering that the place be surrendered by 9 o’clock that night, which produced a panic, and the regiments moved out across the river, where Colonels White and Ball, the only two field officers in the whole brigade, addressed them, urging the men to still keep their faith bright and trust in the God who “gives not the battle to the strong;” and about midnight the Laurel Brigade was disbanded, never to meet again, the men going to their homes to wait for orders (which were never received) to follow Gen. Rosser and Col. White to the army of Johnson.

After this, the men who were not captured went by twos and threes to the Federal officers and were paroled, and by the 1st of May the “Comanches” could scarcely be recognized in the men who were in their fields holding the plow-handles, or behind the counter, but they hoped against hope for many months that they would be called upon to rally again around the stars and bars and draw their sabres for “Dixie” and Freedom.

Hope died at last though, and the world saw a nation of soldiers transformed, as suddenly as the night vanishes before the rising sun, into a nation of quiet, law-abiding citizens.

The war was over; the Confederacy was dead; and her soldiers accepted the terms granted by their conquerors, in good faith, and began to hope that peace would bring them back the blessings which the sword had driven from them, and that the country might be united, although they were conscientious in the conviction that the Southern States had the right to separate from the compact styled the Federal Constitution, and that it was vastly to their interests to do so; and thus the Southern Confederacy, in her brief but brilliant career, followed the footsteps of nations gone before, and like them, passed through all the chances and changes of triumph and defeat that in this weak human life follow each other so closely from sunshine to the sunless land.

Pages 389-393

April 11 the news flashed over the wires that Gen. Lee's army had surrendered. This was no great surprise, as we were daily expecting such news.

April 15, while this country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, was happy in the thought that the war was about over, the people were suddenly cast down in great sorrow over the unfortunate and untimely death of the immortal Lincoln.

Vice-President Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, was sworn in as President of the United States.

During the spring of 1865 the guerilla, John Moberly, and his gang had become such a terror to that section of Virginia that to stand him longer was impossible. They murdered citizens and took their property and converted it to their own use without cause or provocation. They also gathered up negroes and took them to parties whom he asked to take them into the Union lines and enlist them in the Union army and get the bounty and divide with him. Gen. Stephenson, commanding at Harpers Ferry, fully determined to break up this outrageous business.

Monday, April 3, Gen. Stephenson ordered the commander of the Rangers to send to his headquarters a squad of three men. The men selected were Sergt. Charles B. Stewart, Company B, Joseph Waters and M.H. Best, Company A, and they with three citizens proceeded to Virginia on foot.

The general informed Sergt. Stewart that he was to proceed, with a guide, to the mountains, where Moberly would probably be found, and capture, or kill him, and bring him to the Ferry. Stewart proceeded to the Short Hill, where he learned from reliable citizens that Moberly would be at a certain rendezvous some time the next day. Stewart's party rested for the night in a barn, and the next day proceeded to the appointed place, concealed themselves in a hay loft, and waited developments. In the afternoon of April 5, Moberly, accompanied by one man, approached directly towards where Stewart's men were concealed. Moberly rode into the barnyard, and under a shed, Stewart's men now revealed themselves, with drawn revolvers, when Moberly was heard to proclaim, "Oh, Lord, I am gone." All fired, and Moberly fell from his horse, dead, thus ending his career. The other rebel, who was some distance behind him, turned his horse and escaped.

On Moberly's tombstone, erected by his lady friends, is found this epitaph:

"He has fought his last battle, He sleeps his last sleep, No sound on earth can awake him to glory again."

The next day the dead rebel's boon companions visited the place where their leader was killed, and burned the barn and contents of hay, grain, etc., and Uncle Sam paid the owner, Luther H. Potterfield, $2,500.

The parties received $1,000, besides their expenses while living at Harpers Ferry, but the Rangers got no part of it.

The following correspondence, on file in the War Department, refers to the case:

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HARPERS FERRY, April 5, 1865. E. M. Stanton.

I sent out, on Monday, a small party to wipe out the notorious guerilla, Moberly, and his band. They returned today with the body of Moberly, and in the fight mortally wounded his right-hand man, Riley.

Respectfully, J. D. Stephenson, Brig.-Gen. Commanding

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WAR DEPARTMENT Washington, April 5, 1865 Brig.-Gen. Stephenson, Harpers Ferry.

Accept the thanks of the Department for your diligence, skill, and success in the achievement mentioned in your telegram, of this date.

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War

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About the 20th of April Capt. E. W. Andrews (5th New York Heavy Artillery), provost marshal at Harpers Ferry, received a dispatch from Washington stating that parties supposed to be implicated in the assassination of the late President Lincoln were near Hagerstown, Md., and to proceed immediately to that point and arrest all parties under such charge. Capt. Andrews, with an escort of 20 of the Rangers, under Sergt. Joseph T. Divine, started from Harpers Ferry about 3 o'clock p. m., and arrived at Hagerstown about 7 o'clock p. m. He went four miles into the country and arrested the suspected parties and lodged them in the Hagerstown jail.

We remained all night at Hagerstown. During the early part of the night, John McDevitt imbibed a little freely of " commissary," and climbed up on some boxes in front of the Washington House, and went to sleep. While in this condition he rolled off and fell to the sidewalk, a distance of about twelve feet. The fall nearly killed him, but he recovered sufficiently to be taken to

Harpers Ferry the next day, where he was laid up for repairs for several days.

April 26 Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to Gen. Sherman.

May 20 Gen. E. Kirby Smith surrendered. This was the last of the organized forces of the Confederacy.

The Federal troops began to be mustered out of service.

May 30 'the Independent Loudoun (Va.) Rangers were mustered out at Bolivar, West Va., lacking twenty days of serving three years.

They were glad the war was over; glad that the principles for which they fought had triumphed ; glad that the question was settled forever— that this is a Nation and not a confederation of States; glad that the arbitrament of arms, the court of last resort, had decreed that slavery should no longer degrade American labor; glad that were part and parcel of a Nation that shall stand without a parallel on the face of the earth.

(pages 196-200)