“Burst her open and give me a drink, a man might as well die from a good fill of whiskey as to camp in this God-forsaken swamp and die of fever; I’ve got a chill now.”

The barrel was opened.  The “tar heel” took a long, a steady, and strong pull from a tin cup; then holding it to a comrade, he said:  “Go for it, boys, she’s all right; no poison thar, and she didn’t come from them thar gun boats either.  Yankees ain’t such fools as to throw away truck like that.  No, boys, that ’ar liquor just dropped from Heaven.”  The battle around the whiskey barrel now raged fast and furious; spirits flowed without and within; cups, canteens, hats, and caps were soused in the tempting fluid, and all drank with a relish.  Unfortunately, many had left their canteens in camp, but after getting a drink they scurried away for that jewel of the soldier, the canteen.  The news of the find spread like contagion, and in a few minutes hundreds of men were struggling around the barrel of “poison.”  Where it came from was never known, but it is supposed to have been dropped by accident from a Federal man-of-war.  As the soldiers said, “All gifts thankfully received and no questions asked.”

General J. Bankhead Magruder was in command of the Peninsula at the time of our arrival, and had established his lines behind the Warwick River, a sluggish stream rising near Yorktown and flowing southward to the James.  Along this river light entrenchments had been thrown up.  The river had been dammed in places to overflow the lowlands, and at these dams redoubts had been built and defended by our heaviest artillery.

In a few days all our division was in line, and soon thereafter was joined by Longstreet’s, D.H.  Hill’s, and G.W.  Smith’s, with the cavalry under Stuart.  General Johnston was Commander-in-Chief.  We remained in camp around Yorktown about two weeks, when General Johnston decided to abandon this line of defense for one nearer Richmond.  One of the worst marches our brigade ever had was the night before we evacuated our lines along the Warwick.  Remember the troops had no intention of a retreat, for they were going down the river towards the enemy.  It was to make a feint, however, to appear as if Johnston was making a general advance, thus to enable the wagon trains and artillery to get out of the way of the retreating army, and Kershaw was to cover this retreat.

At dark we began our march through long ponds and pools of water, and mud up to the knees, in the direction opposite Gloucester Point, and near a point opposite to the enemy’s fleet of gunboats.  Through mud and water we floundered and fell, the night being dark.  Mile after mile we marched at a snail’s gait until we came to a large opening, surrounded by a rail fence.  This was about midnight.  Here we were ordered to build great fires of the rails near by.  This was done, and soon the heavens were lit up by this great stretch of roaring fires.  Some had spread their blankets and lay down for a good