ter helplessness. But still there seemed to
be no alternative but to prolong the agony, although perfectly assured
that we could not escape death or capture, and that in a very brief
time. Soon after nightfall I found our battery, which had traveled over
a shorter and less exposed road, and thereby escaped the adventures
which had fallen to my lot. Our course was now toward High Bridge, which
spans the Appomattox River near Farmville. On we toiled throughout the
night, making very slow progress, but not halting until near noon the
following day. Under present conditions there were not the ordinary
inducements to make a halt, as food for man and beast was not in
evidence. I had not eaten a bite for forty-eight hours. Notwithstanding
this, and as if to draw attention from our empty stomachs, orders came
to countermarch and meet a threatened attack on the line in our rear. To
this the two guns with their detachments promptly responded, reported to
General Mahone and took part with his division in a spirited battle at
Cumberland Church.

It has been stated, by those who had opportunities of knowing, that
Mahone's division was never driven from its position in battle
throughout the four years of the war. True or not, it held good in this
case, and those of our battery who took part with them were enthusiastic
over the gallant fight they made under circumstances that were not
inspiring. There being a surplus of men to man our two guns, Lieut. Cole
Davis and Billy McCauley procured muskets and took part with the
infantry sharpshooters. McCauley was killed. He was a model soldier,
active and wiry as a cat and tough as a hickory sapling. He had seen
infantry service before joining our battery, and, as already mentioned,
had "rammed home" one hundred and seventy-five shells in the first
battle of Fredericksburg. Another member of our company, Launcelot
Minor, a boy of less than eighteen years, was shot through the lungs by
a Minie-ball. Although he was thought to be dying, our old ambulance
driver, John L. Moore, insisted on putting him into the ambulance, in
which he eventually hauled him to his home in Albemarle County, fifty or
sixty miles distant. After some days he regained consciousness,
recovered entirely, and is now a successful and wealthy lawyer in
Arkansas, and rejoices in meeting his old comrades at reunions. His
first meeting with Moore after the incident related above was at a
reunion of our company in Richmond thir