Memoir recalling Wheeler's Confederate military experiences during 1864, covering the period when Longstreet's Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia broke camp after wintering in East Tennessee, 1863-1864, and headed back to Virginia, and concludes following the battle of the Crater, 30 July 1864, in Petersburg, Va. On 5 May 1864, shortly after returning to Virginia, Wheeler notes, the Second South Carolina Infantry Regiment, to which he was attached, "could hear the roar of cannon in the distance &...we were marched out of camp in the direction of the Battle. About night we were halted, and commenced arrangement for the night but before much was done the assembly was sounded & the army again took up the march & kept it up all night." The following day Wheeler and his comrades were involved in the Wilderness fight (5-7 May 1864). The narrative recounts a conversation overheard between Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Longstreet shortly before the battle commenced. During the battle of the Wilderness, a bullet injury to Wheeler's forehead knocked him unconscious and he was left for dead. Before anyone could return to bury him, Wheeler recovered consciousness, and en route to the field hospital, Wheeler met Hampton, his African American slave, who expressed relief that he did not have to bury his master. His superiors sent Wheeler to Huguenot Springs (Powhatan County, Va.) to convalesce. Upon his return to camp in June, his application for transfer to Gardner's Battery, Haskell's Battalion, had been approved by the Secretary of War. Soon thereafter Gardner's Battery was ordered to Petersburg, Va., where they arrived on 17 June 1864, Wheeler's twenty-second birthday. "The battle was raging just outside of the city," he recalled, "but Beauregard with about 10,000 men was making a successful fight against about 60,000... As we passed through the streets of Petersburg the citizens were lined up on both sides," offering the soldiers cool water, hot coffee, lager beer, bread and meat. "And they would say God bless you, we feel safe now for Gen. Lee with the Army of Northern V[irgini]a is coming in." Wheeler was placed in command of the Fourth Detachment since no noncommissioned officers were present for duty. The account also describes the digging of a bomb proof shelter intended for the storage of gun powder. Wheeler remained with the Fourth Detachment at the gun emplacement for six weeks and had just been furloughed to the nearby camp where their horses were pastured when he heard the explosion that created the Crater. His narrative concludes with his attempts to reach his gun emplacement. Although undated, this essay may date to the early 20th century, as it concludes with a reference to a monument at the Crater erected in 1907 by the veterans of a Pennsylvania regiment.
