Ruffin Dragoons with A. S. Johnston
By I. B. Ulmer, Demopolis, Ala.

Confederate Veteran
Volume, Number 12 Page 597
December 1909

When this company of cavalry was first regimented, it was Company C, Wirt Adams's Cavalry. Afterwards, about the 1st of July, it was known as Company A, 3d Alabama Cavalry. This company was organized in the summer of 1861 and left for the seat of war September 25 via Memphis, Tenn., where it was sworn in for service, and without frills or stipulations enlisted for the war. It was sent thence to Bowling Green, Ky., where Gen. A. S. Johnston confronted the Federal General Buell.

Its first battle of any importance was Shiloh, where it was detailed as escort to General Johnston. In this battle not very long before he was killed the company was obstructing the front of a regiment of infantry, then advancing to the attack, and turning to our company commander, F. Y. Gaines, General Johnston ordered him to move the company into a ravine close by, which afforded a partial shelter from the hail of bullets assaulting the line at every point. General Johnston, saluting the infantry regiment as it marched up, immediately turned in front of it and at once disappeared in the smoke that covered the field as a sulphurous shroud. We were left in this ravine probably two hours awaiting orders, when some officer rode up to the captain announcing the death of Johnston.

After the spring had passed and the campaign in Kentucky under Bragg had been determined upon, the cavalry, which had been under Van Dorn in a few expeditions in Mississippi, was reorganized for this service and not long afterwards placed under the command of General Wheeler. Our company had been returned as Company A of the 3d Alabama Cavalry. Its first colonel who saw any service at its head was James Hagan, of Mobile, a truly admirable man and brave officer.

The battles and skirmishes of this company with the enemy were in excess of one hundred, some of which I will from memory name. To the few surviving comrades scattered along the thorny path of life these reminiscences will be both sad and comforting. To each survivor I send loving greeting. Some of the battles I will name in sequence, though many others hard and furious leave but "vacant vaporings." First, Shiloh, Farmington, Green River, Ky. (Vinegar Hill), Perryville, Crab Orchard, Ky. Between the two last named there were several whose localities and names are forgotten. In our advance into and retreat from Kentucky we were almost continually in the saddle and were under the enemy's fire for nearly thirty days. After arriving in Middle Tennessee, we picketed the front on the Nashville and Murfreesboro Pikes, stationed for some time at Lavergne. Then came the Cedars and Stewart's Creek. From the latter, after five days' fighting, we were at Murfreesboro. Taking position on the extreme right of our line late in the evening of the 29th of December, 1862, we unsaddled and prepared for a night's rest. At midnight the mellow note of a bugle roused the slumbering soldier and in haste bade him saddle and mount. The rest of that December night was devoted to hard riding. Early morning brought a sharp skirmish, and then without a stop we struck the railroad at Lavergne, which was then the depot of supplies for the Federal army. Destroying this, we set out for the left wing of our army, then engaged with the enemy in the great battle of Murfreesboro.

At the beginning of Bragg's withdrawal from Murfreesboro a portion of our cavalry, including our regiment, was sent to the Cumberland River to destroy stores and if possible gunboats. The weather turning severely cold, this expedition was a failure. We had hard work and severe suffering for both man and horse. Returning, we were stationed at Fosterville, ten or twelve miles from Shelbyville (eighteen miles by rail), where the bulk of Bragg's forces were camped.

Bragg's retreat being resumed during the summer, our next severe contact with the enemy was at Shelbyville, where our company was badly crippled, losing many as prisoners, when we were again assigned to escort and courier duty.

The next important affair was Elk River, then McLemore's Cove and Chickamauga. After the last battle, General Wheeler made his first noted raid through Middle Tennessee. Crossing the Tennessee River at Cotton Port, the 3d Alabama was in the lead and Company A at the head of the regiment. Its gallant conduct at this crossing elicited unstinted praise from our gallant general.

For ten days and nights we were beset, front, flank, and rear, but we repelled attacks and fought our way through, taking stockades, destroying railroads, capturing and paroling prisoners. Wheeler's movement was sudden, rapid, and persistent. In one attack we burned upward of nine hundred wagons loaded with supplies of all kinds. With difficulty we recrossed the Tennessee River at Muscle Shoals.

After resting a short time, we were sent to East Tennessee, where we went through the hard campaign under General Longstreet, who was opposed by the Federal Burnside. That winter of '63 and '64 was very severe, and a great many of us were clad in summer tatters. Here we fought the battle of Mossy Creek and many other smaller engagements. Maj. Gen. Will T. Martin commanded in this campaign, General Wheeler having been recalled to the main body of the army near Dalton, Ga. If this officer is still living, the writer on behalf of this company sends affectionate greetings. After hardships hardly possible to endure, we emerged from the struggle in the spring of 1864 to resume our place in line before Sherman, the Federal commander.

The part sustained by General Wheeler's cavalry in this noted struggle on the flanks of our infantry is of thrilling interest for pages of Confederate history. I cannot remember all the battles we engaged in until our command was again detached. Under Wheeler we again swung around the rear of the Federal army, doing much damage. We recrossed the Tennessee River, but I do not remember the place or date. It is strange that such momentous events should escape the memory. A short rest after this, and we were in front of Sherman on his bloody, devastating way to Savannah.

After crossing the Savannah River into South Carolina, our next important affair was at Aiken, when we utterly scattered Kilpatrick's Cavalry and drove it back on its infantry supports. Our government by this time was sadly depleted in infantry troops and necessary munitions after Hood's disastrous defeat in Middle Tennessee, and it devolved again upon the cavalry arm of the service to keep Sherman's advance north as compact as possible. We attacked and drove in repeatedly upon his main body and pillaging parties.

After crossing the Great Pedee and not far from Fayetteville, N. C., we attacked General Kilpatrick's cavalry camp about daylight, taking his artillery and about four hundred prisoners. Our next was Averysboro, then Bentonville.

A few more skirmishes after this, and all was over. The lines of the Army of Northern Virginia had been broken, men were paroled, muskets stacked, and nothing was left for Gen. J. E. Johnston's army but to surrender.

I would appreciate a letter from any of my old comrades of the Ruffin Dragoons.

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