a cheese and a barrel of crackers, he appeared in their camp at Fairfax Court House one day and took up the rigors of soldiering. The troops were glad to see him, and he rejoiced that he was again serving the cause. 40
Then on July 17 the war interrupted Ruffin’s pleasure. His regiment retreated at double-quick time to join the concentration at Bull Run. Ruffin held the pace for two miles and then fell back. Fortunately the Alexandria Light Artillery was passing, and the old man rode to the new position on one of its caissons, losing his cheese, crackers, and baggage in the process.
On the morning of the battle, Ruffin was back in the ranks, but the Palmetto Guards were on the Confederate right, and the action was on the left. After waiting almost all day while the battle went on without him, the aged “private” deserted his post and set out to find the war.
Again he rode an artillery caisson to the scene of action. And again young men allowed him to fire their first shot. This time Ruffin’s shot exploded near a suspension bridge over Cub Run on the Federal line of retreat and showered fragments into a body of fleeing troops. Ruffin watched with pride the distant blue figures recoil in panic as the guns of “his” battery completed the work he had begun.
Next day Ruffin visited the bridge and the site of his most recent “first shot.” He was disappointed to find only three dead bodies. Later he learned that “about seven dead bodies” lay near where his shell exploded, and finally he convinced himself that at least fifteen Yankees had fallen, dead or wounded. 41
1 The standard biography of Hunter is Henry H. Simms,
Life of Robert M. T. Hunter:
A Study in Sectionalism and Secession
(Richmond, Va., 1935). The Calhoun connection
is established in James L. Anderson and W. Edwin Hemphill, “The 1843 Biography of John C. Calhoun: Was R. M. T. Hunter Its Author,”
Journal of Southern History,
XXXVIII (1972) 469-474.
2
Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861
–
1865,
7 vols. (Washington, D.C., 1904-1905), I, 173-174. Fears for Virginia’s safety are reflected in J. B.Jones,
A Rebel War Clerk ‘s Diary,
ed. by Howard Swiggett, 2 vols. (New York, 1935), I, 26-27. On the Stephens mission see Davis to Letcher April 19, 1861, and Davis to Letcher (telegram) in Dunbar Rowland (ed
.), Jefferson Davis Constitutionalist: His
Letters, Papers and Speeches,
10 vols. (Jackson, Miss., 1923), V, 64-65; Stephens’ speech in Henry Cleveland,
Alexander H. Stephens, in Public and Private
(Philadelphia, 1866), 729-744; and Virginia’s response in
Ordinances Adopted by the Convention of Virginia, in
Secret and Adjourned Sessions in April, May, June and July 1861,
pp. 3-5, and Richmond
3
Jornal of Congress,
I, 192–193, 205, 212–213, 242–243, 254–255. The Hunter story is in Jones,
War Clerk’s Diary,
I, 41.
4 Rembert W. Patrick, Jefferson Davis and His Cabinet (Baton Rouge, La., 1944), 321–324; Emory M. Thomas, The Confederate State of Richmond: A Biography of the Capital (Austin, Tex., 1971), pp. 33–34; Frank E. Vandiver, Ploughshares into Swords: Josiah Gorgas and Confederate Ordinance (Austin, Tex. 1952), p. 59.
5 See Jerrell Shofner and William W. Rogers, “Montgomery to Richmond,”
Civil War History
X (1964), 155–166.
6 Thomas,
Confederate Richmond,
pp. 33–34. See also Douglas S. Freeman, “The Confederate Tradition of Richmond,”
Civil War History,
III (1957), 360–373.
7 Thomas,
Confederate Richmond,
pp. 15–31. See also Samuel Mordecai,
Richmond in By-Gone Days
(Richmond, Va., 1946); W. Asbury Christian,
Richmond, Her Past and Present
(Richmond, Va., 1912); Mary Newton Stanard,
Richmond, Its People and Its Story
(Philadelphia, 1923); and Louis H. Manarin (ed.),
Richmond at War: The Minutes of the City Council, 1861–1865
(Chapel Hill. N.C., 1966).
8 Richmond
Enquirer,
May 30, 1861, cited in Rowland,
Jefferson Davis,
V, 102–104.
9 Thomas,
Confederate
Then on July 17 the war interrupted Ruffin’s pleasure. His regiment retreated at double-quick time to join the concentration at Bull Run. Ruffin held the pace for two miles and then fell back. Fortunately the Alexandria Light Artillery was passing, and the old man rode to the new position on one of its caissons, losing his cheese, crackers, and baggage in the process.
On the morning of the battle, Ruffin was back in the ranks, but the Palmetto Guards were on the Confederate right, and the action was on the left. After waiting almost all day while the battle went on without him, the aged “private” deserted his post and set out to find the war.
Again he rode an artillery caisson to the scene of action. And again young men allowed him to fire their first shot. This time Ruffin’s shot exploded near a suspension bridge over Cub Run on the Federal line of retreat and showered fragments into a body of fleeing troops. Ruffin watched with pride the distant blue figures recoil in panic as the guns of “his” battery completed the work he had begun.
Next day Ruffin visited the bridge and the site of his most recent “first shot.” He was disappointed to find only three dead bodies. Later he learned that “about seven dead bodies” lay near where his shell exploded, and finally he convinced himself that at least fifteen Yankees had fallen, dead or wounded. 41
1 The standard biography of Hunter is Henry H. Simms,
Life of Robert M. T. Hunter:
A Study in Sectionalism and Secession
(Richmond, Va., 1935). The Calhoun connection
is established in James L. Anderson and W. Edwin Hemphill, “The 1843 Biography of John C. Calhoun: Was R. M. T. Hunter Its Author,”
Journal of Southern History,
XXXVIII (1972) 469-474.
2
Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861
–
1865,
7 vols. (Washington, D.C., 1904-1905), I, 173-174. Fears for Virginia’s safety are reflected in J. B.Jones,
A Rebel War Clerk ‘s Diary,
ed. by Howard Swiggett, 2 vols. (New York, 1935), I, 26-27. On the Stephens mission see Davis to Letcher April 19, 1861, and Davis to Letcher (telegram) in Dunbar Rowland (ed
.), Jefferson Davis Constitutionalist: His
Letters, Papers and Speeches,
10 vols. (Jackson, Miss., 1923), V, 64-65; Stephens’ speech in Henry Cleveland,
Alexander H. Stephens, in Public and Private
(Philadelphia, 1866), 729-744; and Virginia’s response in
Ordinances Adopted by the Convention of Virginia, in
Secret and Adjourned Sessions in April, May, June and July 1861,
pp. 3-5, and Richmond
3
Jornal of Congress,
I, 192–193, 205, 212–213, 242–243, 254–255. The Hunter story is in Jones,
War Clerk’s Diary,
I, 41.
4 Rembert W. Patrick, Jefferson Davis and His Cabinet (Baton Rouge, La., 1944), 321–324; Emory M. Thomas, The Confederate State of Richmond: A Biography of the Capital (Austin, Tex., 1971), pp. 33–34; Frank E. Vandiver, Ploughshares into Swords: Josiah Gorgas and Confederate Ordinance (Austin, Tex. 1952), p. 59.
5 See Jerrell Shofner and William W. Rogers, “Montgomery to Richmond,”
Civil War History
X (1964), 155–166.
6 Thomas,
Confederate Richmond,
pp. 33–34. See also Douglas S. Freeman, “The Confederate Tradition of Richmond,”
Civil War History,
III (1957), 360–373.
7 Thomas,
Confederate Richmond,
pp. 15–31. See also Samuel Mordecai,
Richmond in By-Gone Days
(Richmond, Va., 1946); W. Asbury Christian,
Richmond, Her Past and Present
(Richmond, Va., 1912); Mary Newton Stanard,
Richmond, Its People and Its Story
(Philadelphia, 1923); and Louis H. Manarin (ed.),
Richmond at War: The Minutes of the City Council, 1861–1865
(Chapel Hill. N.C., 1966).
8 Richmond
Enquirer,
May 30, 1861, cited in Rowland,
Jefferson Davis,
V, 102–104.
9 Thomas,
Confederate
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