Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 3.djvu/164

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CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY.

reported, April 17th, that Virginia had in her service, at that date, of armed volunteers, 3,350 cavalry, 780 artillery, 5,700 light infantry, and 2,130 riflemen; a total of 12,050. General Lee added:

When it is remembered that this body of men were called from a state of profound peace to one of unexpected war, you will have reason to commend the alacrity with which they left their homes and families and prepared themselves for the defense of the State. The assembling of men, however, was not the most difficult operation. Provision for their instruction, subsistence, equipment, clothing, shelter and transportation in the field required more time and labor. Ammunition of every kind had to be manufactured. The carriages of the guns for river, land and field service had to be made, with the necessary implements, caissons, battery wagons, etc. One hundred and fifteen guns for field service have thus been provided, from which twenty light batteries, of four guns each, have been furnished, with the requisite horses, harness, etc.

The defenses for Virginia rivers were provided for as follows: On the James, two batteries and two steamers, mounting 40 guns, ranging from 32-pounders to 8 and 9-inch columbiads; with arrangements made for mounting 60 guns in the defenses around Richmond, and for a naval battery of 6 and 12-pound howitzers. On the York, three batteries had been constructed, mounting 30 guns. On the Potomac, sites for batteries had been selected and arrangements made for their construction, but as the command of that river was in possession of the United States, a larger force was required for their security than could be devoted to that purpose; therefore, only a battery at Aquia creek, with 12 guns, had been completed. On the Rappahannock, a four-gun battery of 32-pounders and 8-inch columbiads had been erected. On the Elizabeth, to guard the approaches to Norfolk and the navy yard, six batteries, mounting eighty-five 32-pounders and 8 and 9-inch columbiads, had been erected. On the Nansemond, to prevent access to the railroad from Norfolk, three batteries, mounting 19 guns, had been constructed. In addition to the batteries described, other works had been constructed for their land defense, exceeding, in many instances, the works on the batteries themselves, such as an extensive line of field works for the security of Norfolk on the sides toward the bay, and redoubts for the same purpose at Jamestown island, Gloucester point, Yorktown, and across the neck of land below Williamsburg.

In the conduct of naval affairs by Virginia, the sunken