Archive Record
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Metadata
Title |
John E. Laughton talks to the George Pickett Camp |
Dates of Creation |
1895 |
Scope & Content |
Capt. John Laughton gave a talk to the George Pickett Camp of Confederate Veterans about his experiences while attached to the Sharpshooter Battalion of Gen. William Mahone's Brigade. The talk was printed in the Richmond newspaper. The paper was folded and has damage at the fold. A small piece of newsprint is missing at the beginning of the article. While in winter quarters near Gordonsville, Virginia, in 1864, General Mahone conceived the idea to form a battalion that would be required to do all advanced duty during the campaign. Each regiment was to organize a company consisting of two officers, two sergeants, two corporals, thirty privates and two men for ambulance duty. They were to be fit, faithful, reliable, dependable in action, able to endure hardship, and be proficient in the use of the rifle. The officers had to be experienced and have the confidence of the men. These men came from the 6th, 12th, 16th, 41st, and 61st Virginia Infantry regiments. It was to be commanded by Lt. Col. E. M. Field and 1st Lt. John Laughton. The battalion was armed with long-range small-bore Enfield rifles, using a long English-made cartridge. Prior to the Mine Run engagement in May 1864, they practiced skirmish drills by signal and rifle target-shooting at different ranges (50 to 1,000 yards). If the men failed to make satisfactory progress, they were returned to their companies and replaced. Replacement occurred also if a soldier became a casualty. Thus, the battalion was always at full strength. The duty expected of the sharpshooters was to establish and occupy the skirmish line while the enemy was in front, and to serve on the picket line in all-day duty (being relieved at night) and to serve as rear guard when in retreat. The officers were to serve as scouts when the opportunity presented. From Mine Run, May 6, 1864, to Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, the sharpshooters were on the front line six days a week. On the seventh day, they were to clean their weapons, wash, and resupply. A statement from Lt. Col. Field told the reader that he led this fine group of soldiers soon after reaching the Wilderness on the 6th of May, and that they were the finest body of men he had ever seen. The battalion were part of the extended line at Spotsylvania. They crossed the River Po to meet a flanking column of the enemy. At Jericho's Ford on the North Anna River, the sharpshooters repulsed three charges made by the enemy with great loss, while their comrades threw up a line of entrenchments a half mile in the rear. They were relieved at night only to return the next morning. At Cold Harbor they acted as an attacking party charging up to and over breastworks to ascertain if the breastworks were occupied or not. At the Battle of the Crater the battalion were nearly annihilated. Laughton, while leading Company 'C', was wounded in three places, within thirty feet of the enemy breastworks. The fire came from the immediate front, but also an enfilading fire. The battalion went into the fight with 104 men and officers, and of these 94 were either killed or wounded. Laughton did not return to the army until February, 1865, and had no knowledge of the service given by the remaining sharpshooters at Ream's Station, Hatcher's Run, and other minor affairs around Petersburg. The ranks never could be restored to their original strength. In March of 1865 Langhorne was left in charge of the brigade picket line at Chester, on the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad. When Petersburg and Richmond were evacuated, this small picket line remained on duty for twelve hours. The march to Appomattox was uneventful until April 7th, when, within two miles of Farmville, they fought their last fight. |
Year Range from |
1894 |
Creator |
Laughton, John |
Year Range to |
1894 |
Subjects |
Adjutant Ambulances Ammunition Armament Artillery (Weaponry) Battalions Breastworks Calculations Campaigns, Military Cartridge Casualties Cavalry Charge [military] Civil War Civil war battles Clothes Company Confederate soldiers Confederate veterans Corporals Dead persons Division Drills, Military Enemy Engagement Enlisted man Entrenchment Evacuations Fence Fitness, Physical Flank Fords (Stream crossings) Globe sighted (rifle) Hardship History Incident Infantry Information Lines (military) Long range (rifle) March, Military Marksmanship Officers, Military Organizations Picket line Practice Private, military rank Quarters, Military Railings Rations Rear guard Rebel yell Regiments Regulation, Government Retreats, Military Rifles Rivers Scouts, Military Sergeant Sharpshooters Shot Sketch Skirmish Skirmishers Smooth-bore (rifle) Soldiers Substitute soldiers Swamps Testimony Tree Undergrowth Vidette Volley Week Woods Wounded Yankee |
Search Terms |
12th Virginia Infantry 16th Virginia Infantry 41st Virginia Infantry 61st Virginia Infantry 6th Virginia Infantry Alabama Brigade Appomattox Court House, Virginia Army of Northern Virginia Battle of the Crater Chester, Virginia Chesterfield Court House Civil War Cold Harbor Confederacy, the Confederate Army Confederate government Confederate Veterans Enfield (rifle) Farmville, Virginia Forty-first Virginia Infantry Georgia Brigade Gordonsville, Virginia Hanover County Hatcher's Run, Virginia Jericho's Ford Madison Run Station Mahone's Brigade Mine Run North Anna River Orange & Alexandria railroad Petersburg, Virginia Pickett, George Camp of Confederate Veterans Po River Ream's Station, Virginia Richmond & Petersburg railroad Richmond Standard, The Richmond, Virginia Sixteenth Virginia Infantry Sixth Virginia Infantry Sixty-first Virginia Infantry Spotsylvania C. H., [Virginia] Twelfth Virginia Infantry Union Army Union Veterans Verdon Station Virginia Virginia Brigade War Between the States War Talks of Confederate Veterans Wilderness Campaign Wilderness, The |
People |
Bernard, David Meade Bernard, Geo. S. Bernard, George S. Early, Jubal Anderson Field, Everard W. Hunter, William H. Laughton, John E. Longstreet, James Mahone, William Pickett, George Saunders, [John Caldwell Calhoun] Wadsworth, [unknown] Weisiger, David A. |
Event |
Civil War |
Collection |
George S. Bernard Collection |
Imagefile |
023\200975036.JPG |
Number of images |
2 |
Object Name |
Letter |
Object ID |
2009.75.036 |
Extent of Description |
2 pages, size 23" x 8" |