Summary:
In June, 1864, Union forces under David Hunter advanced on Staunton, Virginia.
Confederate officers attempted to scrape together a force to meet the advance,
and resorted to calling to the front all men detailed for niter and mining duty.
James Jones, captain of the Niter and Mining Corps, reports from offices in
Staunton on how his men gathered in the town, and the role they played in the
ensuing Battle of Piedmont.
Maj. RICHARD MORTON,
Niter and Mining Corps,
Richmond.
Staunton, Va.,
June 30, 1864.
MAJ.:
I have the honor to report to you that on the 1st instant I received an order from Gen. J. D. Imboden, commanding the Valley Department, to report to him for active duty in the field, with all my men detailed for niter service, at as early a moment as possible; and I immediately dispatched couriers through the different counties to notify my men to report to me at Staunton, with all possible speed. Army works extend through all the neighboring counties, it required much activity to notify them and then collect them at Staunton in time to bear their part in the battle which was evidently close at hand. On Friday, the 3d instant, I had collected 130 of my men at this point, and I organized them immediately into two companies, placing one under the command of W. L. Clark as captain, and the other under Capt. F. P. Clark, assistant quartermaster, C. S. Army, who had volunteered to serve until N. R. Heaton, superintendent of the Bates County Government niter works, would be able to report as the permanent captain. I also appointed the other officers and procured such arms as the ordnance depot at this place could afford. Knowing the urgency of the case, I marched my command at once toward the scene of action, and arrived at the camp near Mount Crawford early Saturday morning and immediately reported them for duty, and was assigned to Maj. Brewer's command, which was composed chiefly of dismounted cavalry. Early on Sunday morning we were marched from near Mount Crawford to New Hope, in Augusta County, a distance of twelve miles; and I had no sooner arrived on the field, without a moment of rest for my men, when I was ordered to take an advanced position about one mile in front of our principal line of battle, to support a battery and a line of skirmishers which had been established at that point for the purpose of holding the enemy in check until our principal line of battle could be formed in the rear. The positions thus assigned were held by us for one hour and a half, during one hour of which we were subjected to a heavy artillery and musketry fire, and we did not leave it until all our forces stationed there were driven back by the overwhelming advance of the enemy's main column of attack. My battalion was on the extreme left of this advanced line, and as the main attack was on the right, we were compelled to fall back as the troops on the right and center successively gave away. There was at the same time a heavy advance of the enemy on our front, and our left flank was threatened by cavalry, by which some of my men were captured in the movement to the rear. Having been driven from this position, we fell back upon our principal line of battle, and took our position within the line of fortifications which had been hastily thrown up by the main body of our army. The interval which occurred before our principal line was attacked was employed by my men in throwing up a rough line of breast-works in an unoccupied point on the extreme left which I had been requested to occupy by Capt. Thornton, who was in command of a battalion of the Thirty-sixth Virginia Infantry along that part of the line. Notwithstanding their fatigue, my men went at once to work in filling up this gap, and then awaited the advance of the enemy. The first demonstrations were made by the enemy's cavalry, which drove in our skirmishers, and then advanced within range of our muskets, but were soon repulsed. This was soon followed by an advanced within range of our muskets, but were soon repulsed. This was soon followed by an advance of the enemy's infantry in line of battle, which being driven back, was followed by a second attack of similar character after an interval of three-quarters of an hour, the intervening time being occupied by either side in a desultory but constant skirmishing fire. This second attack of the enemy's main line was repulsed like the first, and no renewal of the attack was made upon the left in line of battle. Such an attack had been proven hopeless, as the position we occupied on the left and the firm bearing of the whole line clearly indicated it would be. We were, however, from this moment subject to a severe artillery fire from a battery of two guns, at a distance of not more than 500 yards, and which became a more severe ordeal than the fire of the enemy's infantry. The incidents thus described occupied a space of two hours, from 12 m. to 2 p. m., and we were at the height of certain victory when we began to find the whole center of our line crowded down upon our left, and discovered that the enemy had availed themselves of an open space in our right center to enter within our lines, and had crowded down our center upon our left, throwing the whole into confusion, and subjecting us to a fire from our front and both our flanks. It was evident the position was no longer tenable, and we followed the example of the veteran troops around us in abandoning the position which we had successfully defended against the three separate attacks which had been made directly upon our front. My loss during the day was 5 killed and 14 wounded and 8 prisoners. I cannot but commend the conduct of my men, both for the alacrity with which they obeyed my summons for duty, and the mode in which they discharged that duty in the field, They were armed with only the altered smooth-bore musket, and had no bayonets or cartridge-boxes; and although thus unequally armed, they were placed in the most advanced line and were among the last to leave the final scene of battle. The conduct of my command was highly complimented by Capt. Thornton, of the Thirty-sixth Infantry, to whom I have before referred. The whole army having fallen back to Waynesborough, and my command having been thrown into the regiment of reserves under the command of Col. William H. Harman, I placed the remained of my men under the command of Capt. N. R. Heaton, having consolidated them into one company, and they have since served in resisting the advance of Gen. Hunter's army upon Lynchburg, and in the pursuit of that army upon its retreat into Western Virginia. The reserves have since then been discharged from duty, with the thanks of the commanding general, and my men have returned to their appropriate duties.
Respectfully,
JAMES F. JONES,
Capt. Niter and Mining Corps, and in Command of
Battalion.
Bibliographic Information : Letter Reproduced from The War of The Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume 51, Serial No. 107, Pages 1225-1227, Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, NC, 1997.
