CHAPTER XXXIII.

THE LAST WINTER.

General Humphreys -A raid to the south of Virginia - Cloth pontoonsHow a railroad is destroyed-A winter's night- Exodus of negroesMurder punished by fire - Military executions - Renewed operations on Hatcher's Run-Last extension of our lines- General Grant's chessboard Sherman's march-Victories in Tennessee - Cavalry raids - Capture of Fort Fisher-Schofield in North CarolinaSherman's arrival at Goldsborough - Sheridan at work- His return to the Army of the Potomac.

NOVEMBER 26, General Humphreys took command of the Second Corps, succeeding General Hancock. His name has already appeared in our narrative, principally in giving the account of the battles of Fredericksburg and Gettysburg, where he played a conspicuous part in very critical circumstances. Since then General Meade had attached him to his headquarters as chief of staff, a position more useful than brilliant. The command of a corps exhibited much better his qualities as a soldier, and if it was an advantage to him to have us under his orders, it was a good fortune to us to have him for a commander.

General Humphreys bore little resemblance to his predecessor. Physically, he was rather small and somewhat spare. His head is that of a thinker and worker. The habit of observation has developed in his face the impression of a natural keenness, the expression of which gives emphasis to his language when he speaks, and his silence when he listens. His manners are simple, pleasant, and with no shade of affectation. Never did any man in his position think less of being valued

otherwise than by his services. Thus, in his conversation, devoid of useless words, it was generally felt that he ordinarily kept back more than he uttered.

He was an officer of the greatest merit, belonging to the corps of engineers. While acting as such, having charge before the war of a scientific survey of the course and the mouths of the Mississippi, he wrote a treatise on the subject so remarkable that Congress had it printed, and it is to-day a source of valuable information for the world of science.

As commander of a corps, his clearness of perception and the perspicacity of his coup d'œil were powerfully aided by a perfect coolness under fire. His calm bravery and insensibility to danger left him always in full possession of his faculties. The only thing which could affect his self-possession was an unexecuted order or movement badly carried out in time of action. Then he broke forth so much the more violently in that ordinarily his feelings were restrained. To give vent to it, the general had recourse to flaming outbreaks in which all the vigor known or unknown of the English language burst forth like a bomb. After which, manifestly relieved, he resumed his usual calm demeanor. The atmosphere became serene again; the storm had passed. And, to conclude, General Humphreys was recognizable among all the officers of the army by a narrow necktie, of a brilliant red, which he always wore.

Our new chief had scarcely taken command when we left Fort Hell and its vicinity, this time to return no more. We changed position with the Ninth Corps, and our three divisions were placed on the extreme left, around the Peeble's house. It was December 1, and winter had already announced its presence by several hard frosts. winter huts.

The men set to work like beavers to build
Labor lost. On the 7th, our division was

on the road with the Fifth Corps, for an expedition commanded by General Warren. We carried six days' rations, and a hundred rounds per man. We took very

little besides; the ambulances alone followed the column, with a few ammunition wagons and a few wagons for the commissary stores. As usual, Gregg's cavalry was with us.

I will not say that we left our new quarters without regret, before having used them; but all traces of annoyance vanished with the dispersion of the morning fog, especially when it became evident that, instead of a new extension of the lines to the left, we were to make an excursion to a new part of the country. The weather had become more mild; it was one of those autumn days in which it is a pleasure to march, and the spirit is exuberant. We turned our backs on Petersburg, which was not unpleasant to us; we advanced into a country in which the marks of war showed less and less, and which had the charm of novelty to us. Here is a line, however, marked out across the road with little piles of fences in front as posts for skirmishers. This is where the Third Brigade, marching to the aid of Hancock at Ream's Station, received an order, through a mistake, to halt. Here we are at the woods where the dismounted cavalry delayed as well as they could the advance of the rebels, while further along Miles reformed the disordered infantry. We passed beyond the scene of conflict; we met no more reminders; we are in a new region.

At sunset we had made twenty miles, and had not met the enemy. In front of us was the Nottoway, a small river, quite deep, and running in capricious windings, under the shade of great trees, bordered by wide fields. A little further along there had been a bridge, but the cavalry had just set it on fire, according to

orders, and Warren himself overlooked the laying of cloth pontoons, to enable us to cross to the further bank before night.

I do not remember to have spoken about these cloth pontoons, so easily transported and so useful on expeditions where streams are met with. They are cut out and sewed together in the form of a flat-boat. In order to use them, the cloth is stretched over a frame-work of wood, which can be put together and taken apart easily. When in the water, they carry the flooring for a bridge as well as the wood pontoons; nothing being easier than to empty from time to time the little water soaking through them. When we move on, the framework is taken to pieces, the cloth rolled up, and everything put into boxes, much lighter and easier to transport than the ordinary pontoons, which require a strong team for each boat.

Our second day's march led us by the court house of Sussex County and the village called Commans' Well, near Jarrett's Station on the Weldon railroad. That was the goal of our expedition.

The railroad not having been destroyed beyond Ream's Station, the enemy had found means to make it still quite useful. His wagons followed out the Boydton road, and reached the end of the railroad by crossroads, where they were able to load up with supplies. These wagon trains, which were under protection of their cavalry, were of great help to them. Our mission was to This is why we pushed south so rapidly. We came to destroy twenty miles of railroad at such a distance from Petersburg that henceforth it would be impossible for the enemy to get supplies from this source.

put an end to this traffic. This is why

The work of destruction commenced immediately. The cavalry set about it by moonlight; then the divis

ions of the Fifth Corps took up the work the latter half of the night. In the morning we took our turn. The work was performed as follows: The whole division formed in line of battle, without intervals, along the railroad, and stacked arms. The soldiers then ranged along the side of the rails. At the command, ready, every man bent over and seized the end of the tie in front of him with both hands. At the second command, the first regiment near a break or end raises with a common effort the ties and rails. All the others do the same thing successively, and the iron road, with its support, is raised up on one side and overturned, rolling along like a long ribbon. That done, the rails are broken apart, and the ties piled up in square heaps. On each pile, filled in with dry wood and brushwood, five or six rails are placed across each other, and then the pile is set on fire. The intense heat softens the iron, which soon bends by the weight of its two unsupported ends, and the rails, being no longer square, cannot be used again until rerolled.

All this was very quickly done. In less than twentyfour hours, we destroyed in this manner about twenty miles of railroad, although a part of the troops remained always under arms, to receive the enemy if he should present himself. On drawing near Hicksford, the enemy's cavalry was met. But it was not in any great force, and was driven to the other side of the Meherin, where the destruction of the railroad ceased. The expedition having fully succeeded, General Warren gave orders to return the next morning.

I shall long remember that night. The rain, which had begun to fall in the evening, soon changed to sleet, and the ground was covered with a coat of ice, thickening from hour to hour.

The trees bent and the branches were broken under