JAMES FENDALL PARKINSON

Mrs. Hemans, in her poem, ''The Homes of England," says

 

"The stately homes of England,

How beautiful they stand,

Amidst their tall ancestral trees. O'er all the pleasant land !"

 

Virginia, in so many ways like England, has many such homes, and "Oak Spring," in New Kent County, since Revolutionary days the home of the Parkinson family, recalls the poet's lines. The place took its name from a splendid oak which shades a generous spring. The house, which was built before the Revolutionary War, stands on a slight elevation, and not far away are numerous poplar trees. In all these years many stories of romance and adventure have gathered around this Virginia country home. During the Revolutionary War two sons of the family were at home on furlough when suddenly numerous "red coats" appeared, who demanded the keys of the smoke house. Down from the "long room" the soldier boys came, and, with sticks as their only weapons, arrested the British soldiers. At "Oak Spring" James Fendall Parkinson was born May 9, 1814. Here he spent his life and here he died. He was the third son of Joseph and Ellie Parkinson. His mother was left a widow at the early age of thirty, but she managed her plantation with such remarkable ability that she succeeded in giving her children a good education. Upon a horse of pony build, she rode over the place from day to day giving directions as to how the work of the farm was to be done. Her son James, after having attended preparatory schools near home, entered the Virginia Baptist Seminary, now known as Richmond College. Here he gave his especial attention to mathematics and surveying, though the classics were not neglected, as he desired to fit himself for the position of county surveyor. This position, his father, a graduate of William and Mary College, had filled. For some years after leaving the College, Mr. Parkinson was a most successful teacher, and the accurate county surveyor. He was noted for his strict sense of honor and possessed in the highest degree the confidence of all classes of people.

 At a camp-meeting held at Emmaus Baptist Church, New Kent County, when Elders John Kerr and J. B. Jeter were the chief preachers, Mr. Parkinson made a profession of his faith in Christ, and was baptized into the fellowship of this church. While a consistent member of the church from the time of his baptism onward, it was some years before he gave himself to the gospel ministry. When this step had been taken his first pastorate was at North Run Church, near Richmond. Later he became the pastor of Emmaus, his mother church, but the greater, and what he considered the most useful, part of his ministry was given to Black Creek Church, in Hanover County, and to Hopewell Church, in New Kent County. These two churches, the former twelve miles and the latter eight miles from his home (New Kent and Hanover are adjoining counties), he served for almost a quarter of a century, and at the time of his death there were not more than two or three persons in either church who had not been received or baptized by him. With loyal devotion the welfare of these churches was among his last thoughts. As a preacher, he was earnest, pointed, practical. He preached Christ crucified, and his hearers always felt that the truth he proclaimed was very precious to his own soul. As a winner of souls he was successful in a high degree, and as a pastor he was faithful and devoted. He was a most useful man in his community, loved and trusted by all who knew him, and his advice was sought by those who were troubled or in perplexity. He was the peacemaker of the community, and on his own plantation had the affection of his slaves, to whom he was kind and generous.

In 1840, Mr. Parkinson was married to Miss Hannah Williams, daughter of Mr. Jesse Williams, of Richmond, Va. Her death, on the fourteenth anniversary of their marriage, left him with six little children. In 1857, he was married to Miss Maria Louise Cocke, a daughter of James and Elizabeth Cocke, of King William County. The only child of this second marriage was a daughter. The period of the Civil War and the Reconstruction days that followed was a peculiarly trying time to the section of Virginia where Mr. Parkinson lived, and he did not escape the stress and strain of those awful years. His sons went forth with their country's army, one of them serving all through the War as a scout under General J. E. B. Stuart. Mr. Parkinson rendered most valuable service to his community by teaching his neighbors' sons, who otherwise would have been deprived of school advantages, for it is too true that letters no less than laws suffer when war appears; inter arma silent leges. When the cruel conflict was over "Oak Spring," along with other Virginia homes, was in a devastated condition, but Mr. Parkinson, with brave and dauntless heart, set out, aided by his sons, to cultivate his farm, guiding with his own hands, when it was necessary, the plow. This severe manual labor, to which he was not accustomed, doubtless shortened his days. Mr. Parkinson was by inclination and habit a student rather than a farmer. His leisure moments found him holding converse with the great spirits of the world through their writings. It was the normal thing to see him with a book in his hand. Yet when the necessity came upon him he kept up his farm, and gave especial care to his apple orchard. As his sons grew up he sought to see them well started in life. For one he accepted a place in a Richmond tobacco warehouse. After a week or so, however, the youth returned, having ridden home on a passing wagon. He said that he could not stand the confusion of the city, and that he would choose the country even if it meant poverty. As the position offered was too good an opportunity to be lost, Mr. Parkinson sent another son to take it, and he is now one of Richmond's most prosperous citizens.

This record of Mr. Parkinson's life sufficiently shows the spirit of the man, and makes any attempt to further set forth his character unnecessary. Yet one other statement about him, at once interesting and inspiring, should be made. As a boy he is said to have had a most violent temper, but before his riper years were past he had come to have such complete control over himself in this regard that those who did not know him in his younger days little dreamed of the fire that once was quick to burst forth. Yet he had not lost spirit, for upon occasion he could be most positive and emphatic. His life was his best preparation for death, yet during his last illness he gave most emphatic evidence of his firm trust in his Redeemer, and of his entire resignation to God's will. On September 6, 1880, he fell on sleep. His wife followed him to the grave February 5, 1893, and her body sleeps beneath the sod in the beautiful Hollins cemetery

 

- Virginia Baptist Ministers. 3rd series- George Braxton Taylor, 1912

"The Year Saw the Completion of the Newport News Highway Known as the Pocahontas Trail. " 100 Years Ago

 ROBERTSON ACT SAVED SECTION

 Richmond District Allocations for the Past Year Were $536,000.

FAST TIME ON ROADS 

           Completion of Pocahontas Trail to Newport News One of Big Jobs.

 Great progress war made this year in the completion of Virginia highways despite the limited funds which were available for the state highway system. The Robertson Act saved the situation in the Richmond section of state, funds advanced under its terms being responsible for much of the road construction around Richmond. The district's allocations for the state system for the year totaled only $536,000.

 During the winter weather conditions were unusually, good and contractors made fast time on road contracts. Continuous rains fell in the and early summer and construction fell. In the late summer and during the fall weather conditions improved with the result that many sections of the state system were completed.

 The year saw the completion of the Newport News highway known as the Pocahontas Trail. The work this year was between Richmond and Toano, a distance of 41.3 miles. This, like that of the highway from Toano to this coast, is of concrete except a stretch of 5.2 miles of asphaltic concrete between Richmond and Seven Pines and a link of ten miles of gravel between Bottoms Bridge and Providence Forge. The road between Bottoms Bridge and New Kent Courthouse was graded and drained and graveled during the year. This is thirteen miles in length.

- News Leader, 27 December 1924

                  Virginia Village Is Believed World's Holly Wreath                                                                             Capital 

PROVIDENCE FORGE, Oct 22- You'd think that the Christmas holly wreath business would be a seasonal fair, but a look at the lone little factory in this New Kent County hamlet will show it's not. The biggest production comes in the months after New Year's, and it's all due to a preserving formula concocted by a local man.

Providence Forge is a crossroads village, population under 200 on Route 60 and the C&O, but it may well be the holly wreath capital of the world. Its one industry, housed in a two-story 100-foot square cinderblock building alongside the railroad tracks, annually produces 100,000 holly wreaths, from pie-plate size to some almost too big to get in the door. And  even though only 50 people are ever employed in the plant at one time, the cash benefits of this agricultural are go a great deal further.

About 150 residents of New Kent and Charles City Counties gather native holly near their homes eight months out of the year. Then, between farm, fishing or trapping chores, they make neat wreaths which are preserved and painted by several processes in the plant of 

Providence Forge's hotel, orchard, coal pile and wreath factory owner, Charles Evans Hughes.

` Name is Accident

Mr. Hughes, who says his name "just happened," and has no connection with his famous namesake*, is more generally know as the  proprietor of the only rural general store which carries English Spode china, along with fly-paper and horse collars. The fact has frequently impressed passengers on the Richmond-to-Williamsburg buses, which stop at the store, more than anything else on the trip.

"This preserving formula is my own," explained tall-gray-haired and balding Mr. Hughes, looking wisely over his glasses, "Worked out over the years. Got glycerin in it."

Whatever's in it does the job, because Providence Forge wreaths last as long as four years.

"What I can't figure out," Mr.. Hughes said as he made his way past piles of wreaths stacked on the first floor of his low-ceilinged plant, "is why these wreaths are so popular up north for funerals. Down here we celebrate with 'em, but up there they mourn with 'em, too."

  Steady Trade

It's this gloomy demand that keeps a trickle of preserved wreaths moving from storage all year around, although the bulk shipping season is from August to December for the celebrant trade.

"I'll sell 'em a 41-incher, double faced, if the undertaker wants it," Mr. Hughes confided. This model is the B-29 or Big Bertha of holly wreaths, and it costs him $2 each. Preserved, painted, berries added, boxed and shipped to the wholesale market, he sells them for $90 a dozen.

First step in the process is the making of wire metal hoop, in eight sizes (from 14 inches to 42 inches in diameter) which are taken out the piece-workers in the rural areas. Holly can best be picked from August to the following April, since it changes leaves during the Summer. Once made, the wreaths are picked up by Mr. Hughes' truck and paid for at the rate of 7 cents to $1, for single-faced wreaths.

Once in the plant, they're dipped in the preserving solution and hung up to dry for several days. Then comes the final dip into dark green enamel- and after another three days they're ready for artificial red berries, bought from a New Jersey plant, to be tied on.

The wire-strung ceilings of the plant, from which the wreaths are suspended in storage, are now half bare, as the shipping demands eats up last Spring's production. By Christmas they'll almost all be gone.

What amazes Mr. Hughes about the business is the abundance of holly.

                           Ample Supplies

"The supply seems to be increasing, he said, "after 30 years' of taking it, we've found that holly trees will put new branches out for broken ones every years. The pickers say it's everywhere."

Natural berries are relatively rare in the wreath brought into the Providence Forge factory, and Mr. Hughes has found addition of the artificial berries a necessary part of standard production.

He's be told by his buyers who are located in every principal city in the United States, and some in Canada, that his output is the largest of any one holly wreath manufactury. Asked for the name of the plant, America's No. 1 holly wreath tycoon scratched his head in a puzzled manner.

"Dunno," he said "Never thought of a name for it. I guess you'd call just call it Hughes Factory."

-Richmond Times-Dispatch, Oct 23, 1946

Charles Evans Hughes died in 1987 at the age of 94. He had lost most of his businesses after a series of legal issues in the late 1950's.

* This is a reference to Charles Evans Hughes the Republican presidential candidate who lost to Woodrow Wilson in the 1916 election.

New Kent Votes - Presidential Votes 1788-2024 - UPDATED 11/11/24

  1788, 1792- George Washington ran without opposition

1796-ADAMS (F) [elector Mayo 57- elector Griffin 23]- JEFFERSON (DR) 60

1800-JEFFERSON (DR) 105- ADAMS (F) 87

1804-JEFFERSON (DR) 47-

1808-MADISON (DR) 60- MONROE 52

1812-MADISON (DR) 64- KING (F) 55

1816-MONROE (DR) 26-

1820- James MONROE faced no opposition in 1820

1824-CRAWFORD 24- ADAMS 4- JACKSON 3

1828-JACKSON (D) 96- ADAMS (NR) 77

1832-JACKSON (D) 71- CLAY (W) 33

1836-WHITE (W) 108- VAN BUREN (D) 57 

1840-HARRISON (W) 198- VAN BUREN (D) 156

1844-CLAY (W) 198- POLK (D) 177-

1848-TAYOR (W) 176- CASS (D) 101

1852-SCOTT (W) 174- PIERCE (D) 148-

1856-BUCHANAN (D) 193- FILLMORE (NA) 169

1860-BELL (CON-U) 264- BRECKINRIDGE (S-DEM) 172- DOUGLAS (N-DEM) 2

1864- Part of the Confederate States of America

1868-  Virginia not readmitted to the Union until 1870

1872-GRANT (R) 474- GREELEY (D) 362

1876-GRANT (R) 540- TILDEN (D) 470

1880-HANCOCK (D) 107 [+324 READJUSTER]¹   GARFIELD (R) 361

1884-BLAINE (R) 691- CLEVELAND (D) 440

1888-HARRISON (R) 689- CLEVELAND (D) 375

1892-HARRISON (R) 513- CLEVELAND (D) 366- WEAVER (POP) 25-                 BIDWELL (PROB) 2

1896-MCKINLEY (R) 446- BRYAN (D) 369-

1900-MCKINLEY (R) 447- BRYAN (D) 282-

1904-PARKER (D) 127- ROOSEVELT (R)  75

1908-BRYAN (D) 193- TAFT (R) 159- DEBS (SOC) 2

1912-WILSON (D) 136-  ROOSEVELT (PRO) 32-  TAFT (R) 15

1916-WILSON (D) 192- HUGHES (R)  69

1920-COX (D) 190- HARDING (R) 109

1924-DAVIS (D) 178-  COOLIDGE(R) 86- LAFOLLETTE (PRO) 15

1928-HOOVER (R) 217- SMITH (D) 178

1932-ROOSEVELT (D) 286- HOOVER (R) 115- THOMAS (SOC) 3- UPSHAW (PROB) 1

1936-ROOSEVELT (D) 307- LANDON (R) 120

1940-ROOSEVELT (D) 286- WILKIE (R)  133

1944-ROOSEVELT (D) 329- DEWEY (R) 158

1948-TRUMAN (D) 277- DEWEY (R) 140- THURMOND (SR) 92- WALLACE (PROG)    1- THOMAS (SOC) 3

1952-EISENHOWER (R) 455- STEVENSON (D) 400- HASS (SL) 5- HOOPES (SOC) 1-HALLINAN (PROG) 1

1956-EISENHOWER (R) 510- STEVENSON (D) 178- ANDREWS (SR) 189- HASS (SL)  3

1960-NIXON (R) 526- KENNEDY (D) 481- COINER ²(CON)² 10- HASS (SL) 1

1964-JOHNSON (D) 684- GOLDWATER (R) 677- HASS (SL) 4

1968-HUMPHREY (D) 765- NIXON (R) 526- WALLACE (AI) 609- BLOMEN (SL) 1-
GREGORY (PF) 1- MUNN (PROB) 2

1972-NIXON (R) 1370- MCGOVERN (D) 633- SHMITZ (AI) 19- FISCHER (SL) 7

1976-CARTER (D) 1338- FORD (R) 1259- CAMEJO (SW) 9- ANDERSON (AM) 14-LAROUCHE (USL) 17- MACBRIDE (LIB) 7

1980-REAGAN (R) 1739- CARTER (D) 1204- ANDERSON (I) 68- COMMONER  9- CLARK   5

1984-REAGAN (R) 2679- MONDALE (D) 1204- LAROUCHE (I) 16

1988-BUSH (R) 2917- DUKAKIS (D) 1427- FULANI (I) 20- PAUL (LIB) 20

1992-BUSH (R) 2708- CLINTON (D) 1738- PEROT (REF) 1017

1996-DOLE (R) 2852- CLINTON (D) 1859- PEROT (REF)  520

2000-BUSH (R) 3934- GORE (D) 2055- NADER (G) 81- BUCHANAN (REF) 11-BROWNE (LIB)     20

2004-BUSH (R) 5414- KERRY (D) 2443-  BADNARIK (LIB) 42- PEROUTKA (CONS)    41

2008-MCCAIN (R) 6385- OBAMA (D) 3493- NADER (I) 36- BARR (LIB) 28-BALDWIN (CONS) 19-  MCKINNEY (G) 16

2012-ROMNEY (R) 7246- OBAMA (D) 3555-  JOHNSON (LIB) 82 - GOODE (CONS)     34- STEIN (G) 24

2016- TRUMP (R)  8118- CLINTON (D) 3546- JOHNSON (LIB) 348- STEIN (G)  52-       MCMULLIN (I) 102

2020- TRUMP (R) 9631 -BIDEN (D)  4621 -JORGENSEN (LIB) 172

2024- TRUMP (R) 10805 - HARRIS (D) 5553 - OLIVER (LIB) 70 - STEIN (G) 32 -        DE LA CRUZ (IND) 15 -  WEST (IND) 12


AI- American Independent Party
AM- American Party
CON- Conservative Party of Virginia¹
CONS- Constitution Party
CON-U- Constitutional Union Party
D- Democratic Party
DR- Democratic Republican
F- Federalist Party
G- Green Party
LIB- Libertarian Party
NA- Native American Party
N-DEM- Northern Democrats
NR- National Republican Party
PF- Peace and Freedom Party 
POP- Populist Party
PR- Progressive Party (1912)
PRO- Progressive Party (1924)
PROB- Prohibition Party
PROG- Progressive Party (1948-52)
R- Republican Party
REF- Reform Party
S-DEM- Southern Democrats
SR- State's Rights Party
SRD- State's Rights Democrats
SL- Socialist Labor Party
SOC- Socialist
USL- U.S. Labor
W- Whig Party

¹ - The Readjuster Party was a Virginia political movement of the 1880's. In 1880 they nominated their own slate of Presidential electors to support Democratic candidate Winfield Scott Hancock.

² - The Conservative Party of Virginia was a conservative third party splinter group that hoped to draft Sen. Harry F. Bird.

All election returns are from the author's personal research over the years.

Of Cellars, Ghosts, and Fire Bells

 

                                                HAMPSTEAD

 

The  handsomest  house  in  New  Kent  County  is  stately  Hampstead,  long  the  home  of  the  Webb  family.  These  Webbs  were  prominent  in  Virginia  from  the  early  eighteenth century.  Some  of  them  were  members  of  the  House  of  Burgesses.  One  of  them,  George  Webb,  was  treasurer  of  Virginia  during  the  Revolution  and  for  some  time  afterward, and  other  representatives  of  the  name  have  been  distinguished  in  the  United  States  and  Confederate  States  Navies.

Hampstead  was  built  by  Conrad  Webb,  in  1820,  as  the  date  in  gilt  figures  upon  the  cornice  proclaims.  It  stands  upon  the  top  of  a  high  hill  overlooking  lovely  grounds  and  gardens,  and  a  wide  sweep  of  country.  The  front  and  rear  entrances  of  the  mansion  are  alike.  In  front  the  white  marble  steps  descend  to  a  box-hedged  walk,  from  which  a  circular  carriage  drive  sweeps  around  a  central  plot,  with  a  sun-dial  in  the  middle,  and  filled  with  shrubs,  familiar  and  rare,  some  of  them  brought  from  Europe.  The  grounds  beyond  this  circle  are  set  with  beautiful  and  interesting  trees,  many  of  which,  like  the  shrubs,  came  across  the  water  to  contribute  to  the  charm  of  a  Virginia  gentleman's  home.

From  the  rear  entrance,  the  gardens  fall  away  in  four  terraces,  filled  with  flowers  and  fruits  and  vegetables  and  adorned  with  summer-houses  and  trellises,  over  which  old-fashioned  roses  clamber.  Flowering  shrubs  border  the  walks  and  screen  from  view  the  squares  devoted  to  the  more  useful  than  ornamental  purposes  of  the  garden.

The  mansion  stands  four  stories  high  including  the  English  basement  and  attic.  It  is  divided  in  the  middle  by  a  great  hall  whose  ceiling  is  supported  on  one  side  by  columns,  and  from  which  a  splendid  stairway  winds  to  an  observatory  which  affords  a  view  of  the  country  for  miles  around.

In  the  high-pitched  English  basement  was  the  Webb  library  with  its  books — in  built-in  shelves  around  the  walls  and  up  to  the  ceiling — among  them  many  a  "quaint  and  curious  volume  of  forgotten  lore."  Also  in  the  basement  was  the  servants'  hall  and  innumerable  store  rooms  and  lock  rooms;  the  wine  cellar  and  the  " fat  cellar "  (a  dark  cool  room  connected  with  the  outer  world  by  a  brick- walled  passage),  in  which  fresh  meats  were  kept.  The  basement  had  its  alluring  nooks  and  corners,  but  it  could  not  vie  in  charm  with  the  attic,  where  the  ghost  of  Mr.  Conrad  Webb  dwelt  among  the  trunks  and  chests  filled  with  wearing  apparel  of  past  generations,  bundles  of  old  letters  and  broken  toys.  One  who  spent  her  early  days  at  Hampstead  tells  how,  on  rainy  days,  the  children  would  play  in  the  attic  without  a  qualm  all  day  long,  but  if  dark  overtook  them  in  the  midst  of  their  games,  would  stick  their  fingers  in  their  ears  and  run  for  their  lives  down  the  winding  stair  to  the  safety  of  lamp-light  and  grown-up  folk,  in  terror  lest  the  ghost  should  catch  them.  The  same  narrator  tells  of  the  great  ice-house  in  the  grounds,  whose  dark  chill  depths  seemed  to  childish  minds  to  be  the  abode  of  unguessed  mysteries.

Upon  one  of  the  outhouses  at  Hampstead  was  a  bell-tower  in  which  hung  what  came  to  be  both  "passing  bell"  and  "fire  bell,"  though  its  main  object  was  to  call  farm  hands  to  meals  from  their  work  in  different  parts  of  the  large  estate.  If  there  was  so  much  as  a  chimney  afire  the  familiar  tones  of  the  bell  would  at  once  give  the  alarm,  while  when  there  was  a  death  in  the  Webb  connection  anywhere in  the  neighborhood,  a  messenger  would  be  sent  forthwith  to  toll  the  Hampstead  bell. 

Hampstead  is  now  the  property  and  residence  of  Mr.  W.  J.  Wallace.

 

-Historic  Virginia  Homes  and  Churches- Robert  A.  Lancaster,  Jr., Philadelphia  And  London  J.  B.  Lippincott  Company Copyright,  1915,  By  J.  B.  Lippincott  Company

Militia 1698

1698 

An Abstract of The Militia Within The Several Counties of Virginia As They Were Returned By The Respective Officers

New Kent - Col. Wm Byrd

                                                Capt Wm Bassett     a troop 47

                                                Capt Jos Foster        a troop         44

                                                Capt Jno Liddal a troop         102

                                                Capt Lancelot Bathurst         78

                                                Capt Fr Burnell *                 76

                                                                        347

                                                                       

-'Virginia Militia Officers, 1698', The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 49, No. 4 (Oct., 1941),

New Kent at that time would have included Hanover and Louisa to the west and on the east the York River coast of James City. It would have lacked the Chickahominy River area from Providence Forge to Lanexa. William Byrd did not live in New Kent but commanded the militia units of Henrico and New Kent.

* Could very well be 'Burrell'

Fort Harrison- September 1864- Pt II

 The follow up to Friday's post on the capture of Fort Harrison, and the role in its defense by the Pamunkey Artillery . . . another letter to the Richmond Sentinel.

                                                [Correspondence to the Sentinel.]

                                CHAFFIN'S BLUFF, Oct 11, 1864

Mr. Editor- Inasmuch as there seems to be great misunderstanding in regard to the part taken by the battalion of artillery stationed at this place, in the fight with the enemy on the 29th of September, when the advance was made on our line of defences, immediately below this place, and as there seems to be a strong disposition on the part of some, who are entirely ignorant of the whole affair, to attach all the blame of the fall of Fort Harrison to our battalion, of the sake of justice, I desire to make a plain  statement of facts, that the public may know who are to blame and who are not.

About 5 o'clock on the morning of the 29th September, the battalion, hardly two hundred strong, (more than one hundred of it being on duty at Signal Hill, about -- miles below, was marched to the breastworks.- Thirty five men of the Goochland Artillery, under Lieut. Guerrant, were ordered to Fort  Harrison; the remainder, ten, were at Fort Gilmer, manning the two guns there. These even lighted the fuses in their shells and rolled them down on the enemy in the ditch, when they were too close for their pieces. - The James City artillery, commanded by Lieut. Davis, were sent North of Fort Harrison, on the Varina road, to man four pieces of artillery there, two of which could not be used on account of the ammunition being too large. The others were worked until nearly all the ammunition was expended, and the enemy between them and our lines. The men then made their way back as best they could and, as infantry, helped to repulse a charge of the enemy on a redoubt next to Fort Harrison, and afterwards the attack on Fort Gilmer.

The Lunenburg artillery, Captain Allen; Howitzer company, Lieut. Winder; and Pamunkey artillery, Capt. Jones- the three numbering less than one hundred and twenty five men- were ordered to defend the line of works from Fort Harrison to the river- about a mile and a half- with no infantry support. Capt. Allen had a detachment of fourteen men with him in a redoubt next to and commanded by Fort Harrison. The remainder of his company were in different detachments, considerably lower down the line. As soon as the enemy came in view of the fort, the guns were opened on them, and continued to fire until after the infantry support had left, and Lt. Col. Maury, Maj. Taylor, Adjutant Ellerson, and six of the Goochland artillery were captured at the guns.- While the infantry, which were there to support the  artillery, (a portion of them Reserves, which a certain newspaper editor of Richmond delights so much to extol for their gallantry, left the fort, many of them before the enemy had got within good musket range. Soon after the guns in the fort had opened Capt. Allen did so from his redoubt. Our guns lower down the line were in such a position that the enemy could not be seen from them until they were rushing late the fort, and then our men were kept from firing by a captain of some other command, who said that the enemy were our own men falling back. Capt. Allen continued to fire after they had  captured the fort, until he was flanked; he then fell back to the third redoubt from the fort, with Lieut. Winder, who had hauled two howitzers by hand some three hundred yards, under fire of the enemy, and put them in position in the third redoubt; and there Capt. Allen and Lieut. Winder, with less than one hundred men, with two small howitzers, one twenty-four pound siege piece and a lot of smoothbore muskets; and Capt. Jones a little farther back, in another redoubt, with but a handful of men and two pieces of artillery, check the triumphant advance of the enemy for nearly an hour, when that portion of the battalion on duty at Signal Hill, and a portion of Johnson's Tennessee brigade, came to our assistance; but had we not held the position, all of these would have been cut off and probably captured.

And now Mr. Editor, since there are some very wise and officious persons, who are so desirous of giving this battalion all the blame for the fall of Fort Harrison, when there was only 35 men of it there, and some of those were taken at the guns, when, too, the enemy admit that our artillery fire was very destructive, I desire that those will tell who checked the advance of the enemy and kept them from coming to and capturing the Bluff while our gunboats were below, and having command of our lower pontoon bridge, as their papers falsely state they do.

And I would further state that late in the evening, when reinforcements came, General Pickett's men were charged the enemy cut off the two redoubts next to Fort Harrison, that a portion of our battalion joined them and were among the foremost in the charge, as some of General Pickett's men can testify.

But some may say, that after remaining silent so long, we might have remained so in reply, we have to say, that several communications have been sent to a certain paper in Richmond, called, by some, the soldier's friend, and neither have been heard from; not even from an official list of casualties- and we feel that we have a right to demand that justice which, though tardy, is sweet to those who having done their duty feel they deserve it.

                                                                JUSTITIA

-The Sentinel(Richmond), October 13, 1864