In commencing the story of the brave deeds performed during the dark days of the great civil war in America by the gallant band known as "White’s Battalion," it will be proper to give a short sketch of the man who, as chief of the “Comanches,” gave to the Thirty-fifth Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, its existence, and led it through so many campaigns, battles and raids, to occupy a place in the history of the war second to no command of its numbers, and distinguished under the special notice of such men as “Stonewall” Jackson, Richard S. Ewell, J. E. B. Stuart, William E. Jones, Thomas L. Rosser and the gallant Butler of South Carolina; besides receiving the highest encomiums from the greatest cavalry commander since the days when Murat led the squadrons of Napoleon—General Wade Hampton—and of Robert E. Lee, before whose fame the most splendid garlands of glory that wreathe the brows of the noblest men of earth in all time, pale as does the silver moon-beam before the radiant rays of the noon-day sun. During the war in Kansas, in 1855 or ’56, he went to that territory, and joining a company from Missouri, took an active part in the troubles that then threatened to overthrow the pillars of the old Constitution in the terrible maelstrom of abolitionism that afterwards swept away their foundations. After the Kansas war closed, young White came home, and shortly afterwards bought a farm on the south bank of the Potomac, in Loudoun county, Virginia, where he took up his residence in 1857, and on the 9th of December of the same year married Miss Sarah Elizabeth Gott. At the first signal of war, given by John Brown at Harper’s Ferry, in October, 1859, White was a Corporal in the Loudoun Cavalry, a company then commanded by Capt. Dan. T. Shreve, with which he took part in the scenes of excitement that followed this mad attempt of Northern fanaticism to sweep the twin scourges of fire and blood over the South. At the breaking out of the war The General, who was somewhat the worse for whiskey, gruffly asked him what he could do; to which “Lige” replied that he could scout, could carry dispatches, or could go into the ranks and fight. After a few moments of study, Evans exclaimed, “Well, sir, go to the front and fight like hell and damnation;” and “Lige” rode off and reported to Col. Hunton, who was the actual commander in this battle. The Colonel requested White to remain with him and scout for him during the day; and shortly after, when returning from a scout to the left to learn if the enemy was attempting any movement on the flank, he found fully one-third of the 8th Virginia Regiment in utter rout, caused by a misunderstanding of an order for that part of the regiment, which had been considerably advanced, to retire on the main line, and they taking it to be an order to retreat. With great difficulty the order was explained and the men rallied and brought back to the line, when Col. Hunton ordered an advance of his regiment which vigorously attacked the enemy, driving his whole right wing back to the woods bordering on the bluff, and capturing two brass howitzers, but the left of his line stood firm, and White was ordered by As soon as this order had been executed, Col. Burt ordered his regiment to advance, which it did, the Colonel and White riding in rear of the line, and when in about fifty yards of a skirt of timber that grew along a ravine in the old field, the enemy, who till that moment had lain concealed, raised up and poured a most terribly destructive volley into the Mississippi line, by which about one hundred and thirty men were killed and wounded; in fact, by far the largest part of the Confederate loss on that day was caused by this one murderous fire. Col. Burt was mortally wounded by White’s side and the latter represents himself as being terribly frightened but untouched, and says the men of the 18th stood unflinchingly in the storm and soon drove the enemy from his position. Col. Burt, who was held on his horse by two of his men, asked White to ride to Col. Jenifer and inform him that he (Burt) was mortally wounded and must leave the field. On his return he found Col. Hunton in front of the 18th Regiment instructing its Major to advance through the woods upon the enemy, but “Lige” now satisfied himself that the enemy had retired all along the line, and returned to Col. Hunton, who now marched his people back to their camp, ordering White to remain with Lieut. Chas. Berkeley, who with fifteen men was to remain on picket near the river during the night. The ladies of Leesburg had sent a kingly supper to the soldiers, and after satisfying their appetites, which had been sharp-set by a day of fasting and fighting, White proposed to Lieut. Berkeley that they take a scout to the river, for, strange as it may appear, not a single Confederate had been to the bluff, although they had fought to within a few yards of its edge. To this Lieut. B. readily agreed, and passing quietly along over the dead and dying, they reached the river, and soon heard a boat crossing over from the opposite bank. In a few minutes it struck the Virginia shore, and leaving Berkeley and his men, White walked up to the landing place where he found himself among a great crowd of Yankees, all eager to get aboard the one gondola, and terribly excited. To return to the Lieutenant and report was the next move, and “Lige” declared that he believed there were 800 to 1,000 Yankees down under the bluff, and asked Berkeley what they were to do, to which he replied, “We will capture the whole of them.” Very soon an Irish Captain, a gallant fellow, appeared and called a parley, when the firing ceased and the Captain asked who was in command, to which Capt. William Berkeley replied, “Gen. White,” and the Captain at once asked upon what terms his men would be allowed to surrender, and when told they should be treated kindly as prisoners of war, he called them up from their hiding places, saying, “the General A few days after this, a recommendation was drawn up and signed by the regimental commanders, asking that White be commissioned in the Regular Army of the Confederate States, for meritorious conduct at the battle of Leesburg. This was approved by Gen. Evans, and cordially endorsed by Gen. Beauregard, but when “Lige” presented it to the Secretary of War, he was informed that no commissions in the Regular Army were being granted then, but that his name should be registered for the first vacancy. This did not suit him and learning that his old friend, Col. Hunton, was in Richmond, called upon him, and was advised by that officer to apply for permission to organize an independent company for service on the border, which he did, and through Col. Hunton’s influence succeeded without any difficulty in getting the appointment of Captain in the Provisional Army, with the authority to raise a company as proposed, and he now returned to Leesburg where he opened a recruiting office under very favorable auspices, the militia of the county having been called to that point by Gen. D. H. Hill, (who succeeded Evans in command of the Department soon after the battle,) to work on |