To the U. D. C., I, by request turn this history
of my company to you, to use as you see proper. It may
have some imperfections and mistakes; but to be written
from memory after so many years have passed, there may be
some inaccuracies in it, but I have written as near of
what I know and have seen of what transpired in the
company, and some things that were done by the regiment
and brigade. Mrs. Frank Kane, I believe it was, asked
me to write something of the war, or my experiences, I
promised her that I would, and have done the best I could
after so long a time, with a failing memory. If you will 
accept what I have done all right, if not turn it back to
me or do what you like with it. It has cost me a good
deal of time and labor to write what I have written, so
I freely turn it over to you, hoping that you may live
long and prosper. I know and can speak for myself, and I
think can express the sentiments of all old veterans,
thanking you all for what you have done for them, are
doing and will do in the future. Praying God's blessing upon
you all and your good work, I subscribe myself as your 
well wisher and friend,
                         (Signed) W. B. Judkins
                                  Co. "G" 22nd. Ga Regiment.



          
        This company, the "Fireside Defenders"- Co. "G"
22nd. Georgia Regiment", was organized on August 14th, 1861,
in Floyd County, at Silver Creek, where the Presbyterian
church now stands, with ninety-five members.  We had
drilling every day, and many ladies who had husbands,
brothers, fathers and sweethearts came to see us and kept
us in good heart, We had a good time while there, had
our tents and camp equipment, and cooking outfits; did
our own cooking, such as it was, for men knew but little
how to cook, and many biscuits were burned; but we got
proficient in cooking before the war closed, whenever we
could get anything to cook, for rations got to be very
short and inferior, but we cooked them somehow when we 
could get them and had the chance, or ate our salt pork
raw. We yearned often for the good things that we had at
Silver Creek, for a great deal of nice provisions, well 
cooked, were brought to our camp by the good ladies of the
community,( God bless them). We enjoyed it immensely, and
appreciated so much the more for the young ladies prepared 
it for us. The girls were all pretty, and much courting
was done, for we had a fine good-looking company of mostly
young men, but there were many sad hearted mothers and
wives there, knowing their boys were going away, and that




                               -3-            
    perhaps they would never look upon their happy faces
again after leaving that pleasant camp, and there were many
tear-stained faces of loving wives who would never look
upon their husband's faces again, all of which came to pass.
The day that we organized we chose a name for the company,
the name of "Fireside Defenders", and the good ladies made
up money, bought material and made us a beautiful flag, and
Mrs. Lizzie Reese (Nee'Hills) presented the flag to the
company, with a beautiful address, and at the close of the
address repeated a beautiful piece of poetry. Mr. W. F. Jones
replied to Mrs. Reese's address with an appropriate reply.
The flag was received by a Mr. Marion Woodruff, but he
refused to be mustered into service, therefore did not go
with us, but was taken down sick early the next year and
died. I think the reason that he would not go with us was
because we would not elect him to one of the offices; he
was kind of an austere man, thought himself better than
the rest of us, he wanted to be looked up to.
         I now produce the speech of Mrs. Reese, to wit:-
"Soldiers of the Fireside Defenders, on behalf of the 
ladies of Silver Creek and its vicinity, I am before you
to ask your appectance of this flag. You are all aware that
every Nation on earth has its ensign, this my brave friends




                               -4-
    is the ensign of the "Southern Confederate States" of
America. It is needless for me to retrospect the history
of this nation, to tell you why the flag of the Union no
longer floats over our land of sunshine and flowers, or
why the clashing of musketry and the booming of cannon is
heard in our border States, suffice it to say that our
cause is just, and a religious, and a Godly one. In
presenting these colors to you, you have a testimony of
the spirit which governs the women of the South. Be
assured we disdain as much as yourselves the idea of
becoming slaves to the oppressors of our land, and should
it become necessary, there is not a free woman in the
Southern Confederacy who will not dispute the ground inch
by inch, and who will not die in the cause of liberty and
justice. To you, as the first agents in the hands of an
all-wise Father, we consign these colors, Never, never
my friends, permit it to trail in the dust; never lower
the flag in the servile submission to ruthless invaders of
our homes, our liberties and our most sacred rights; never
furl these ample folds until liberty shall be perched upon
this banner. There is a just God who presides over the
destinies of nations - He it is who will give might to your
arms in the deadly strife. The battle is not to the strong




                               -5- 
        in numbers alone, it is to the just, to the right
and the true. Oh do not permit our enemies to forge chains
to bind in degradation our prosperity, but with hearts within
and God overhead press onward higher and higher, wave these
colors, and may that God in whom we trust permit every
soldier of the "Fireside Defenders" to return under the
protection of this banner. Our prayer to God shall rise
incessantly in your behalf, and we entreat you to yield
your hearts and lives into His charge; and if be your doom,
as it has been of many near and dear to us, to meet death
on the battle-field, in a Nation's heart shall be written
upon your epitaph, history shall prolong, prosperity shall
bless the valiant arms and noble spirits who fought, bled
and died to purchase for liberty and freedom".
              Concluded speech with this poetry:-
    "Oh the flag of the South, still thy way
         Undimmed tho ages untold,
     Oer earth's proud realms thy stars display,
         Like morning's radiant changes untold.
     Oh flag of the South, still peerless shine,
         O'er earth's remotest bounds expand,
     Till eery heart and hand entwined".
         This is verbatum as delivered by Mrs. Lizzie Reese
to the "Fireside Defenders" of Co. "G" 22nd Ga. regiment,
on August 14th. 1861, reproduced by her son Paul Reese at
re-union of the company at Lindale Aug. 14th.1895.

                               -6-
         One Marion Woodruff received the flag as color-
bearer for the company. Mr. Wesley F. Jones delivered a
beautiful address in reply, which is lost by not having
it written down, and no stenographer was present to take the
address down.
         All of the company had big knives when we left for
the war, expecting to get close enough to the yankees to use
them, but that never happened. We soon found that we did 
not need them, except to cut meat with when we could get it,
or to cut beef, and we did not have at any time an over
supply of either. We soon threw the knives away, they were
cumbersome and in the way. They were about 12 or 14 inches
long, and weighed about two pounds apiece, blades from one
and one-half to two inches wide. We used them sometimes to
cut down saplings to put out little tents on, but we
soon tired of them.
         About the 25th of Aug. we left Silver Creek and
staid at home a day or two, and then boarded the train at
Rome, Ga., and went to camp McDonald or Big Shanty as it
was better known by then, but now it is called Kennesaw,
and on the 31st of Aug.  61, we were mustered into the
Confederate States service by Captain J. A. R. Hanks,
quarter-master.



                               -7-
          The Captain's brother Wm. E. Jones was
appointed Chaplain for the company, he preaching some and
holding prayer-meetings in the company occasionally, and
prayer nearly every night at company roll-call or taps, and
at the end of the two months while there the chaplain wanted
each member of the company to pay him fifty cents for his
service as chaplain, when he was appointed by the Captain 
and Colonel for that business, and at the same time drawing
his pay as a soldier. I think it was done for the purpose
of keeping from doing regular military duty. Well he got
just one fifty-cents, and corporal T. L. Ellis paid him that,
he was the collector for him, and a sort of pet.
         We left Big Shanty about the 1st of November. The
Capt. gave very stringent orders about what we should do 
on the way to Richmond. We had no canteens to carry water.
His orders were that if any man left the cars for any purpose
that a ball and chain would be put on his legs, but there
were no chains, and we got off whenever we got ready when
the train would stop. Another order was if any man got out
of rations on the way that no one should give him anything
to eat the rest of the way; we all had plenty except the
captain's brother, and he got out and stole some of my rations,
I raised sand about it, and used words not in the Sunday



                               -8-
         School book, then he revoked his order, and said
 for those who had rations to divide with those who had not.
The inconsistency of the man. My mess had brought enough
rations from home to last us all the way to Richmond, there-
fore we were not cooking anything of what the commissary
had furnished us. The captain sent a spy around to see
who was cooking, and who was not, and through his stringent
orders he had few friends in the company. We were ordered
to Richmond, Va. We got on the train, I think, one morning.
We stopped in Atlanta part of one day, and went where we
pleased in the city. We left Atlanta in the evening, and 
traveled all night, got to Augusta over the Georgia R. R. 
early in the morning, and were treated to a good breakfast
by the good ladies of Augusta. We left soon after breakfast
over the Charleston and Augusta R. R., and went on that
road to Branchville, S. C., and then changed to the 
Charleston and Charlotte railroad and went by way of
Raleigh, N. C. We stopped there all night; next morning
we got on the Raleigh & Weldon R. R. in North Carolina, got 
there about 12 noon, there they closed all the bar- rooms and
eating houses against us, and doors of every sort; we could
get nothing to eat or drink, and no place to stay. They
would not furnish cars for us to get away from there.



                               -9-
          Col. Jones and everybody else got mad. Col. Jones
told the people who controlled the cars that if they did
not furnish him cars to get away from there that he would
turn his regiment loose on the place and tear it up. They 
were not long in getting cars ready for us to get away from 
there to go to Petersburg. Weldon was a sorry little town
anyway, every one called it the most God-forsaken town
there was to be found anywhere. There was nobody but what
disliked to stop in Weldon, N. C., especially at night, for
there were no accommodations there for any one to stay all
night, only under the old dirty car-shed. We left Weldon
in the evening in some old box-cars and flats; stopping 
in Petersburg next morning, staid there but a little while
and left the same day for Richmond. We marched out to the
Fair grounds outside the city north, we soon got our tents
that we used at Big Shanty, Ga., and put them up, and made
ourselves as comfortable as we could. The weather was
getting cold. We had to have our fires out in the camp 
street to do our cooking, the wind would blow pretty hard,
and we had nothing to burn but dry pine wood, so we dug
pits the in ground about a foot deep, about three feet wide
and five feet long, and had to cook our grub in the pits




                              -10-
          to keep the wind from blowing our fire away. When
it rained we could not cook anything, as the pits would
fill with water, but they gave us, part of the time, baker's
bread when we could not cook, instead of flour, but we had
to cook our beef as best we could, always boiling it in camp
kettles made of sheet- iron; they would hold about four
gallons. They had some paroled yankee prisoners who did 
the baking of the bread. Some of the men had a fuss, and
tried to fight each other with their big knives, they were
all ordered taken away from them, but they did not get them 
all as some of us hid our knives. We were only at 
Richmond a short while, some two or three weeks, and were
then ordered to Norfolk, Va. about Dec. 1st, went there 
by railroad, arriving there in the night, we were placed
in the Norfolk armory building, and were put under guard
on account of some of the men in the regiment getting
drunk and cutting up. Col. Jones was very strict, too 
strict for his own good, for he made many enemies among
his men. We remained at Norfolk one day and night, and
were then placed aboard a steamboat named Wm. Seldon, and
were ferried across the river (the western branch of
Elizabeth river which was between Norfolk and Portsmouth)
to the navy yard, there we were placed in the mast house.




                              -11-
        We were on the Portsmouth side of the river. The 
mast house was a large two- story brick building, 400
(four hundred) feet long, for the purpose of building 
ship masts. We remained there for several days, has the
privilege of going over the navy yards at will. The yankees
tried to blow up the dry dock when they left Norfolk. They
had one hundred barrels of powder in it for that purpose,
and a long train of powder to it, but a little boy broke 
the train, and saved the dock.
        Norfolk and Portsmouth were two pretty cities. The
navy yard was walled in with a brick wall, and artillery 
was placed all around it. We got hard-tack there to eat, that
was wormy, they said it was 80 years old. The yankees
destroyed a good deal of property there before they left-
burning ships and houses. The great iron clad battleship,
Merrimac (or Virginia) was built there in the dock at
Portsmouth navy yard, the first iron clad vessel that was
ever built for sea fighting. It was built in the shape of
a house roof, and covered with five inches of iron onto
28 inches of wood, the top flat latticed with railroad
track iron, the whold thing was well tallowed before it
went into the naval battle at Hampton Roads later on.




                              -12-

        From Portsmouth we moved out some three miles from
the city into an old field grown up in pine trees and
saplings, right at the head of the Dismal Swamp; it was
rather a very muddy place, and there O. M. Davenport, one
of our company died of pneumonia fever, and we made up the
money and sent his body home. While there we had a debating
society at night to pass away the time. We had a little
"rucas" in our debating society; myself and another had to
keep order in the society not to allow any talking or any
disturbances. If there was any we had to report it to 
the President of the Society. Well James Jones broke that 
rule by going out and talking to some one, and he one of
the debaters. He was the one who suggested that rule, and
the first to break it. Of course we reported it to the
President, he (Jones) got mad and denounced the whole thing
in a bitter speech. After having suggested the rule he
was the first to break it, and that little trouble broke 
up the debating society. The debate was about which would
a man risk most for, woman or money. That night we were 
out until after roll-call, and all had to be put on double 
guard duty, well we did not care for that.




                              -13-
         One time after we had gone to bed (our bedsteads
were scaffolds on posts with poles to hold up the boards
or pine poles whichever it was using, our tents and tent 
fly for bed ticks filled with pine needles, straw, grass or
shucks, anything we could get, made a pretty good bed, with
our blankets for cover; three of us slept together, by
doing that way we would have six blankets to cover with)
myself, Wiley Pope and Dennis Martin were sleeping together.
Myself (Judkins) in the middle, Pope got mad with me
some time in the night, he jumped on me for a fight, I 
threw him over Martin out on the floor, and was walloping
him good, it was pitch dark too. We were out under another
bed-stead, as we called them, on which three men were
sleeping. We tore down that bedstead, and our own there
were all in a pile fighting under all of that mess of
bedstead, blankets and men, men all mixed up together on
the floor in the dark. Billy Ball and his bed fellows
jumped up quickly and made a light to see the fight, but
by the time they got the light the fight was over, and 
Pope had a whipping. We had to put up our beds again to 
get some sleep. It was a very funny fight, and all had a big
laugh about it and went to bed together again as before in 
a good humor.



                              -14-
          The winter was very mild- had but one little snow.
We had fiddling and dancing, cooking and eating to our
heart's content. W. J. Vincent had a violin, and could
play very well, but none of us could dance very well; we
could make lots of fuss trying, however. We had wells dug
in every street about 12 feet deep, and drew the water with
a sweep, that is, a pole put over a fork about 10 feet high
with a rope to one end of it, with a bucket to the end of the
rope, we would pull on the rope to get the bucket to the
water, the back end of the pole was heavy enough to raise
the bucket with the water. We remained at camp Blanchard
until about the last of March, when our company ("G") and
company "I" were detailed to go to South Mills N. C., to
reinforce the 3rd. Ga. regiment under then Col. Rans Wright,
(afterwards Brigadier General). We marched from camp 
Blanchard to Southeast Lock on the Dismal Swamp Canal, we
were all day on the march which was about 12 or 16 miles.
We were tired and foot-sore, not being used to marching.
Our camp equipage was put on a canal boat. That same day
Col. Wright's 3rd Ga. Regiment had a battle with the yankees.
We heard of it that evening, and were crasy to go on and 
do some fighting, but had no orders to go any further
that night. We were on the schooner and some time in




                              -15-
      the night we pulled out, the boat being drawn by two
mules, the mules walking on the tow path beside the canal
hitched to a long rope, it attached to the boat, with a little
negro to drive them. We were on the boat all of that 
night and next day, and landed at West Lock in the evening;
Lay in a farm house that night, and next morning set out
to march and got to South Mills in the evening. We slept
anywhere we could that night. I slept in an old stable.
The 3rd Georgia had been engaged in a battle that day. They
had four men killed. We met Col. Wright at South Mills
with his regiment, and two pieces of artillery and some
cavalry; they had driven the yankees back, we were too late
in getting there to get in the engagement. It rained while
on the march to South Mills, which made it very muddy, and
we knew nothing about marching then any way. The water in
the river and creels was about the color of ink, which I
suppose was caused by so much cypress and other vegetable 
matter, but we had to use it. After dipping it up in a 
vessel it looked clear enough, and had no bad taste. We
soon got our camp equipment, our tents and cooking utensils,
and struck an old field that had been used by the yankees.





                              -16-

          There was where we saw our first graybacks (viz.lice).
The first ones were a terror to us, we did a good deal of
scratching before we found out what was the matter, but
before the war closed we got used to them. We marched down
the road one morning towards Elizabeth City, N. C., to try
to capture a gun-boat on the Pasquatank river, but we could
not get near the river on account of the swamp, for we were
in the Dismal Swamp. We had a battery of two guns (viz.
Grimes' battery). They stationed themselves at a ferry on the
river, and put a few shells into the gun boat, one through
the smoke-stack, some into the hull of the gun boat near the
water line. Some of the yanks got wounded, one was killed-
their report. Some of the company were with the cannons, but
could not get near enough to use their rifles. There we heard
the first shells of the war, for the enemy found us out, and
shelled us from their gun boats. The signal was sent to
Elizabeth City, and several gun boats started up the river.
They tried to cut us off with their shells; we had to
double quick from there through deep sand for about a mile.
We all got very tired, but went back to our camps. The yanks
got more than they expected from the 3rd Georgia, and retired 
to cover of their gun boats. The boats were made of wood.




                              -17-
          We then went to work to blockade the river with
trees cut across the river, for it was very narrow, not
over 60 feet wide in some places. A large tall tree would
reach across the river, making a very formidable blackade.
A North Carolina Lieutenant was in command of the blockading
squad that I was in. He had about as much sense as a goat
about such work, digging breastworks right on the bank of
the river, and putting in pine poles pinned together to
stop a gun-boat, when a boat could have run over his 
obstructions the same as if they had not been there, and a
few shells could have torn up his breastworks in a few
minutes; but poor fellow, that was all the sense he had.
We had many such fool officers, just because they were 
officers their superiors thought they had some sense.
          About the last of April we went back to our Winter
quarters at camp Blanchard. We marched all the way back.
While at camp Blanchard in March,1862 we went down to the 
James river near Hampton Roads about six miles from our
camp to witness the naval battle between the "Merrimac" and
the yankee gun boat "Ericson", and the "Cumberland" and the
"Congress" two large frigates and disabled the "Minnesota".
The "Merrimac" steamed out from the Norfolk navy yards, I
think it was about the 24th of March, and fired one of her



                              -18-
           bow guns into the "Cumberland" from stem to stern
over the dock, hitting a good many of the enemy, and then
fired a broadside into her, sinking her at once. Admiral
Sims tried to rescue some of the drowning men, but the yanks
fired on the rescuers from the shore, with infantry and
artillery, wounding some of his men. He fired into the 
"Minnesota" and sank her in shallow water. He then turned
his attention to the "Congress" and fired into her, and then
ran into her; she began to sink, he tried to save some of 
the men but the firing from shore prevented him, so he fired 
a hot shot into her, setting her on fire. She burned to the
water's edge. The magazine blew up about midnight with a
terrible roar, scattering fragments everywhere. I heard
it seven miles, and felt the shock- something like an 
earth-quake. The next day, Sunday, the "Merrimac" and the 
"Ericson" battery, a new iron-clad gun boat from New York,
fought nearly all day, and in the evening the "Merrimac"
got aground, for she drew 29 feet of water, and the "Ericson"
ran across her bow, both firing as fast as they could at
one another at close range. The "Merrimac" broke loose from
being aground, and ran into the "Ericson", broke a hole in
her, and she immediately turned and ran for Fortress Monroe,





                              -19-

          "Merrimac" firing at her as she left, but the
fire was not returned. I saw this battle with the two
vessels, and know that it ended that way, but history says
that the "Merrimac" was defeated. The "Merrimac" had
broken off her prow the day before when she ran into the
"Congress", if it had not been for that she would have put
the "Ericson" entirely out of business. That was the first 
and last battle between the "Merrimac" and "Ericson"; it
was fought at Hampton Roads on the James river in Virginia.
The "Merrimac" was built at the Norfolk navy yard out of
an old ship of that name, the yankees had burned to
the waters edge.
          We remained at camp Blanchard but a few days
after getting back from the Dismal Swamp or South Mills.
We had orders to march to Suffolk, Va. Knowing nothing
about marching, we started like we were to get there now
and by night. We were scattered for ten miles, never kept
any order at all of march, but got there to Suffolk that
evening and night. We only remained at Suffolk a day or
two, and started for Petersburg; had better order on that
march. Part of the way was on a plank road, called the
Jerusalem plank road. Our feet got very sore.



                              -20-
          It rained nearly all of the time, and the road
got very muddy.  We had to sleep on the ground, which went 
pretty hard with us, having just left good Winter quarters.
Our beds were made of pine tops and leaves.  Got to Peters-
burg about the 10th of May, and remained there only a short
while, perhaps a week or ten days, and then marched on to 
Richmond, Va.,and were stationed in the Capitol square one
day and night, which was the 30th of May, and then were
ordered out to the Chickahominy swamp(about 7 miles) or
Seven Pines battlefield, but arrived too late to be in the
engagement of 31st of May (which was Saturday) by the
negligence of Major Gen. Huger; he proved traitor; he held
back his division (to which we belonged) without orders.  We
lay in the woods from about 4 o' clock in the afternoon until
Sunday morning, and then we marched over the battlefield
expecting an engagement.  It rained all Saturday night
Sunday and Sunday night, but we did not get into any fight
that day.  We marched into the swamp that night, and tried
to form a hollow square, but got tangled up in the bamboo
briars, bushes, grapevines and mud-holes, of which there
was but one, and that was everywhere.  We lost our bearings,
and the next morning we found our picket line on the wrong




                              -21-
         side of the camp (the night was very dark) with our
backs to the enemy, and our pickets between us and
Richmond.  But we soon got right when daylight came, and
moved back and went into camp, behind breastworks in a very
wet and muddy place, without any tents. Seven Pines was
the place where we saw the first dead men killed in battle.
We had very bad water to drink there; we would dig a hold in
the ground about two feet deep, and the water would run
in very muddy, or a blue color, and the flies which were 
very plentiful from filth and dead animals on the battle-
field, would settle on the banks of the water holes and
suck until they burst open and fall into the water.   We
had to drink it for we could get no better.  I sweetened all
I drank with syrup, and then only drank a little once a day.
We had to use pine bough for our bedding to keep our blankets
out of the mud and water, under any kind of shelter we
could get; some used blankets, some fly tents, and some pine
boughs for shelter.  It rained a great deal while we were 
there, which made it more disagreeable, and rations were 
poorly cooked and scarce.  We wished for some of the good
rations we had left at camp Blanchard near Portsmouth,Va.,
for we left about 150 pounds of bacon, and a lot of smoked 
beef, two or three barrels of flour, and other good things



                              -22-
          that we could not carry.  What we got in the swamp
was cooked back at the wagon camp, some distance to the rear.
George Fuller was the cook, and a poor cook he was.  We got
a little flour bread so hard and tough that we could scarcely
eat it, and some fried bacon.  It was hard living; bread
without shortening or soda, made up with a little bacon
grease and cold water.  Some of the boys took their round
hoecake of bread, and set them up on the breastworks, saying
they were so hard that they would turn minnie balls.
          I (Judkins) did not eat any of the hard hoecake
bread, but I bought light bread, and ate that with syrup
all the time we stayed there, which was a month.  Henry N.
Queen and I floored our little fly tent with plank, and
fared better than others for sleeping.
          On the 25th of June 1862, the yankees made an
advance on us on the old 7 Pines battlefield. We were 
ordered out at double quick to meet them; we advanced
about five hundred yards, met them and fought them for
about two hours, when the 1st Louisiana regiment charged
their position on the left flank, and routed them out.  The 
Louisiana regiment lost a good many men in the charge, for
the yankees were in a ditch.  Our whole brigade of four




                              -23-
      regiments, the First Louisiana, 3rd, 4th and 22nd 
Georgia, about 3000 men fought a whole yankee corps of about
thirty thousand, said to be the best body of men they had.
We repulsed them with heavy loss, there being about one
thousand two hundred dead yankees fell in front of the 4th.
Georgia.
         We did picket duty all night, and the next day and 
night again, we all got very sleepy, and a sergeant walked
the line all night to keep the men wake.  Each took turn
in watching two hours at the time.  I stood my two hours,
and lay down to sleep.  John B. Hipps took my place, and he
went to sleep on post, the sergeant waked him, and then I
watched until daylight, and let Hipps sleep.  We made a
charge the next day, and re-took our old picket line.  No
one was hurt, although some volleys were fired at us.  We
were on picket the next night 27th of June; we slept none
for two nights and two days, it was a hard matter to stay 
awake at all.  On the 28th. We re-took the original picket
line, doing a good deal of skirmishing.  We were in danger,
as some one on the picket line would fire at something and 
then the yankee lines and our own near lines would both fire
before the advance pickets could get in, which was against
the rules.  I was on the advance picket, and know how it was,



                              -24-
         for I came very near being shot by my own men.  I
came very near breaking my gun over one of our own men's
head, he shooting and the ball brushing my leg, but he
coward down like a whipped dog; I talked pretty tough to 
him.  I shot at a yankee there, he had on his sword belt
a large U.S. buckle, I shot at that, whether I hit him or
not I do not know, for when I fired my gun both lines fired,
so I was in a close place, between the two fires; two bullets
I know burnt each side of my face at the same time.  I was
good mad when I got back, and wanted to kill somebody. I 
told the Colonel that I was not going out there any more, and
did not.  I went next day to where I shot at the yankee, there
was a puddle of blood at the place where he was, whether I
killed him or not I do not know.
          An incident that happened on the 25th of June, the 
day of the battle:  Billy could not get the ball down his 
gun, he took his jack knife and whittled a stick to drive 
the ball down or start it down, and drove the ball so far
that he could not get the stick out, which was a pine stick
about a foot long.  He asked me what to do, and I told him
to ram it down and shoot it out, he did so- bullet, stick
and all; both of us were perfectly cool, although under a




                              -25-
          galling fire of musketry, men falling all around
us, and balls falling thick and fast.  We heard afterwards
that a yankee got wounded in that battle, shot through the
thigh with a pine stick, and we supposed that Bill Halls
pine stick wounded him.  Our next move was along down the
line, as Stonewall Jackson had gotten in the rear of them
and routed them.  We got into no other engagement of any
importance until we go to Malvern Hill; nothing of
importance occurred in the company until then, that is from
the 25th of June until the 1st of July, only the regiment
started keeping rear guard.  We got into one little close 
place, got in somehow in the rear of the enemy or between their
lines, when we found it out we sneaked out very easy.
           On the 1st day of July, about 8 o' clock P.M.,
We made a charge to try and take a battery on Malvern Hill;
it was some 800 yards from where we were, but we could do
nothing with it; the company and regiment going about 400
yards under a tremendous artillery fire, and had to fall back
to the starting point in the hollow, We did not lose any men
out of the company, but several were killed and wounded in 
the other companies of the regiment. The enemy had a very
strong position on the hill, with forty cannon, and one




                              -26-

          gatling gun.  No army could have taken their
position by charging, for their batteries were upon a
high hill, and we were on a hill in front of them, but not
as high as the one they were on, with a hollow and a plain
between us.  They had three lines of infantry in that hollow
or plain, so we would have had to drive their infantry, gone
down a hill, across the plain, and up a hill to where their
batteries were, and we would have been subject to an
infantry fire and shells from their guns.  The shells were 
bursting in the hollow, the rear of us or where we started
from, they went over us into the hill behind us.  The roar
of the bursting shells was deafening, and they were cutting 
off the tops of trees and limbs.  It was a foolish thing
to make the charge at all; our company did not make but one
charge, but there were a great many men killed and wounded
of the regiment, and other regiments.  We got into no more
engagements in that campaign.  Wm. A. Chambers and I were
together half way from the starting point and the batteries
in a road lying down behind a bank.  I got up and looked
over the field, and I told him that there was no use to try
to take those guns or that battery, so we left there and
made for an old log house standing in the fields to the 
right and rear of us, a great many men were behind it.


                              -27-
           The yankees turned their guns on it, tore it all
to pieces, and killed and wounded a great many behind it.
We saw that place would not do, so we started to go to the
hollow where we started from; on the way we picked up
Lieutenant Campbell of Co. "K" of our regiment, 22nd. Ga.,
and carried him off the field.  His right leg was shot off
at the knee by a shell, and was bleeding freely.  I took
the sling strap off my gun, and corded his leg and stopped 
the blood, but he bled so much that he died that night ( I
suspect for want of attention by the surgeons, for they
were scared nearly to death).  I did this on the battlefield
under the heavy shelling.  This was on the 1st day of July
1862, I (Judkins) and Billy Chambers (one of my company)
went back that night some two miles, and came across Gen.
Bob Toombs.  He was giving rations to all of the Georgia
soldiers that he could find, but a soldier from any other 
State he would not give anything.  We got a supply of
hard-tack and bacon, which we were greatly in need of, we
had had little to eat for several days. General Toombs
cut off the meat himself, and gave it out.  After eating 
what we wanted of the raw bacon and hardtack we lay down in a 
pine thicket and went to sleep.



          
                              -28-

         We came up with the company next day.  We never
lost a man or had one wounded in the company in that battle.
It rained very hard that evening and all night.  It seemed
that it always rained a big rain just after a big battle.
I don't know but what we would have been more successful
than we were, but our Generals had too much whiskey aboard.
It was said that General McGruder was drunk the day of the
battle, before Stonewall Jackson got in position in the 
rear or flank, therefore defeat, and I know that General
Armistead was drinking, for I was behind the same poplar
tree that he was behind, when he took out a brandy bottle
and took a long pull at it, which gave him the name of the
"Poplar" General, which name clung to him the rest of the 
war or until he got killed at Gettysburg, Pa., in Pickett's
charge in 1863.  The shelling was terrific at Malvern Hill;
you could not hear a man talk ten steps away from the bursting
of shells. They went over us where we were in the hollow 
into the opposite hill, so did but little harm, but it did
when we got up on the hill in plain view of the enemies
guns.  The yankees cut down a battery of eighteen guns for 
us in less than ten minutes.  General Wright rallied the
brigade, especially the 3rd Georgia, and started into another



                              -29-

           charge, saying that battery must be taken, but
it was never taken.  I started with them, but knowing how
it was I came back.  The fighting went on until after dark.
I went up on the hill to look; the musketry looked like 
lightening bugs.  I left there as stated above.
           Another incident, while marching down the Charles
City road two days before the Malvern Hill battle, Huger's
Division (the one that our brigade belonged to) was ordered
to go four miles further down the Charles City road, but he
stopped his division before night, and lay there beside the
road all night. We could hear the yankees passing out
all night, when if he had gone the four miles as ordered,
we would have cut them off, and would have had them surrounded,
I think that he did it on purpose to let them pass, for he
was a traitor, as before stated.  After the fighting was 
over in that campaign he was relieved of his command, and
made chief of ordinance, and General R. H. Anderson took
his division.  At Malvern Hill Billy Chambers father came
to see him the day after the battle.  I lost my blanket
in the battle, but I stole another one next day.






                              -30-
          To show what men will do for pure meanness: An 
old citizen was taking a load of chickens to Richmond, had
his coop swung under his wagon, a man got under the wagon
on top of the coop, and handed out all of the chickens to
the men following, and the old man did not know it; so he
lost all of his chickens.
         We moved from Falling Creek on the 17th of August,
going to Richmond.  I was hardly able to walk from a long
spell of sickness, but walked to Richmond, seven miles, with
several others who had been sick.  It took me all day to
make the trip, I was so weak from the effects of the fever.
At Richmond we got aboard the train and went to Hanover
Junction, and then we took it a foot by way of Brandy Station,
Va., and stopped there a day.  It rained a very hard rain
that day, and four men of the regiment were killed by
lightning- they were standing under a tree, and the lightning
struck the tree.  We left there in the night; the roads were 
very muddy, and there was much falling down, for it was very
dark. H. W. Bowen says I have not fallen down tonight,
about that time he slipped and fell about fifteen feet down
the hill, he says "boys I have fallen all over this country",
he bragged no more about falling down.  We had a good laugh
at his expense.



                              -31-
          Another incident happened to Bowen, one of the 
company, he went to a corn-field to get some roasting ears,
while in the field he was talking to himself, a habit that
he had; coming to the fence there stood General Wright,
he did not see him until he spoke to him, said he: "Bowen
getting corn are you?", he says to himself "Ah God boys I
am gone up now", Bowen said:"yes, General, I had nothing to 
eat, so I thought I would get some corn", Wright says to
him "just give me a few ears of corn"( for he was short
of rations as well as the rest of us), Bowen said that made
him feel good, and he threw down his corn and picked a half
dozen of the best ears and gave them to the General, all that 
he wanted, and went back and got himself more.
          We were then near Warrenton Springs on the
Rappahanock river, had had no bread or any rations for 
fourteen days, we lived on green corn and green apples all
of that time.  I offered a man a dollar for one biscuit,
and he would not let me have it.  It got so we could not
get green corn or apples, as they had all been eaten.  It
rained a good deal and we were all hungry.  We would eat
or try to eat anything we could get.  I got hold of some 
beef lights and broiled them on the coals of fire,




                              -32-
          and tried to eat them, but it was no go, for they
were so tough that I could not chew them.  Well about 2 
o' clock A.M. we got some flour, as the commissary had just
brought in at that time, I got some of it and wet it up in
a pint tin cup, without salt soda or lard, and put it in
the hot ashes and cooked it; I thought it was the best bread
I had ever eaten, after having none for fourteen days.
          While at Brandy Station we discarded our tents and
all of our surplus clothing, throwing away clothes that we 
could not carry,(winter clothes) on the march, for we did not
have wagons to carry them.  I do not know what became of the 
tents, that was the last we saw of them.  We threw away good
clothes that we needed afterwards. This was in August 1862.
This was our first hard marching. We threw away everything
but a change of underwear; we hated to do it, but could not 
help it.
          We could not cross the Rhappahannock river at
Warrenton, for the yankees were across the river.  They
cannonaded the ford.  The river was very full from so much
rain, and the yanks had their artillery planted so as to
command the ford.  We marched all night from there, crossing
one prong of the river higher up about daylight next morning,






                              -33-
         and stopped in an old field to rest awhile.  We went
to a cornfield, got some roasting ears, and cooked them in
a pint tin cup; had a little bacon to season them with, and
a little salt, but no bread.  We soon left there, and got
to Washington, a little country town, in the evening. There 
we bought a little light bread, and I bought a canteen full
of syrup, and ate bread and syrup.  We got some beef there
that evening, with orders to cook it at once.  We built fires
of dry fence rails, but no vessels to cook in, so we
laid the beef on the fire, and sort of roasted it so the 
blood would not run out, but before it was half cook we
got orders to move at once, for part of Longstreets corps
was trying to get through Thoroughfare Gap, with half
of Phillips legion and Tigs Anderson's brigade; they took
the gap after a pretty hard battle.  We went through the 
Gap a little after dark, and rested awhile, and tried to
finish roasting our beef- thought that we were going to stop
all night and rest, as we had marched all night the night 
before and all day. We built fence rail fires again, and
got our beef in a good way of roasting, got it scorched black






                          -34-
          and smutty, not hardly half cooked, and tried to
eat it that way.  We had to start again on the march, putting
our half cooked beef in our haversacks with it smoked very 
black, and we had to eat it that way or do without.  We marched
all night again, went through a little town called Haymarket,
and on to Manassas in the night.  Stopped just before daylight
next morning, and when daylight came we found ourselves
between the picket lines.  We moved back about a mile, and
lay in an old field all day until late in the evening.  The
Sun was very hot, no shade trees anywhere.  We were ordered
forward, went about one and one-half miles, found the yanks,
and they fired a volley into us at short range, about thirty
steps.  We kept meeting troops coming back, they would tell
us that our own men were in front, so we rushed right on, not
expecting to find the enemy so soon until we were in thirty
yards of them.  They were in line formed at bayonet charge,
and fired a volley into us before we knew they were there,
as it was late in the evening, and in a thick woods too.
          The Elsworth New York Zuaves attacked the 1st Ga.,
2nd. And 4th. Texas regiments, and the Zuaves were nearly
all killed.  They charged them through an open field; their
uniforms were of red, with knee buckles to their pants, and




                              -35-
          they bagged down below their knees.  Their hats
were long red things, might be called a turban, with blue
tassels on the crown.  The hillside over which they charged
was covered with their dead bodies.  I saw there where the
army wagons or artillery had run over the dead yankees,
crushing them into the ground, which was a horrible sight to
behold.  It was inhuman, and could have been avoided, no
man with a conscience would have done such a thing.
          I went to a large house next morning after the 
battle, and a women came in crying.  It was her house; it
stood in between the lines, the battle raged all around it.
This women told me that she and her five children were in 
that house during the battle(the children were small).  They
were all crouched down under a large table in one of the
rooms while the battle was going on around the house.
Thousands of balls passed through the house, and one shell
burst in room where they were.  Marvelous to state she
nor the children received a single scratch.  She said that 
she knew it was the protection of Almighty God that she and
her children escaped being killed, for the house and beds
were shot all to pieces.
          We left Manassas the next evening after the battle,
and got to Leesburg sometime in the night.



                              -36-
          We stopped at a fine large spring of water
somewhere between the city and the Potomac river.  James
Freeman, one of the company, died the day after the battle
on the roadside of a fever.  Joseph Sharpe buried him by
himself.  We waded the river about 10 o' clock A. M., water
about waist deep.  Weather was very warm, and we had to march
through a lane with a high stone fence on either side, after 
crossing the river, which made the heat very oppressive.
The river was very swift, and to keep from washing down four
men would get in line up and down the river and hold to each
other for support.  So many being in the water at the same
time and so close together, it kind of dammed up the water.
We marched through several little towns in Maryland, names
now forgotten, and through fine farms, and stopped at
Frederick City, Md., on the Monocacy river, remained there
one day and washed our clothes in the river, and put them on 
wet.  We were trying to drown some of the lice of which we
had plenty.  We had not washed our clothes for about a month,
and the bugs were getting unbearable.
          We blew up the railroad bridge at Frederick City,
one man of some regiment I know not which, was killed with
a rock blown out of the pier.  We dropped the center of
bridge down into the river.



                              -37-
           We left Frederick City in the evening, and marched
nearly all night in the direction of Boonsborough Gap, but
went up on top of the Maryland Heights. Remained there two
days, heard the fighting at Boonsborough Gap.  We formed a 
line of battle of the steep side of the mountain, expecting 
the enemy to come up the river, but they did not come.  There
we got some of the best beef of the whole war.  We lay on
the mountain right on the bluff, could see the river below
from the top of the bluff, which was several hundred feet
high; could get a good view of the Virginia Heights, and
could see the cannons firing at Harpers Ferry, which was about
four miles up the river.  "Stonewall" Jackson was fighting
at Harpers Ferry, which was taken Sept. 14th 1862.  We
crossed Harpers Ferry on a pontoon bridge on the morning
of Sept. 5th., and that night we marched to Shepardstown, Va.
          We did not get into an engagement while in
Maryland before crossing the river at Harpers Ferry, After
we crossed the Potomac we hurried on into the woods outside
of the city, lay there all day, and took up our march again
that night after dark on to Shepardstown. I led Gus Campbell,
one of our company, for he could not see at all after dark.
Being tired, many of us got over a fence and lay down and




                              -38-
          went to sleep.  On waking the next morning I saw 
that several of the company and regiment had stopped and 
gone to sleep and well as myself.
          In Shepardstown I got over a stone fence, which
was low on the outside, and got my hat full of grapes, and
like to have not gotten out again, the stone fence being high
on the inside, built against a bank by the side of the road.
But I got out with my grapes, they were good to. I saw some
gooseberries while in the garden, beautiful yellow berries,
I pulled some of them and tried to eat them, but it was to 
my tongue like eating needles; I did not know the nature
of the berries green.  There was a guard in the garden, but
I did not notice him or he me.  I then went on to the river,
and crossed on a old mill dam, wading part of the way.  After
crossing Col. Jones had placed a guard to arrest all of the
22nd. Regiment that was straggling behind; your humble
servant was placed under arrest with Billy Hall, another of
the regiment, but there being so many stragglers of all the other 
regiments that we were allowed to pass, we slipped by the guard
and went on to hunt our command and found it.






                              -39-
           While at Sharpsburg Gib Leigh, one of the company,
stole chickens and a large four gallon coffee pot full of
lard, and I cooked the chicken for him.  I told him when 
it was cooked "there was his chicken", but he was busy talking,
and I ate it for him.  Gib was very mad about it, but never
found out who ate the chicken.  He said he hoped it would kill
the man who ate it, but it did not; if he had known who ate
the chicken there might have been some wool-pulling.  The
company that was there was in the thick of the fight there
in the apple orchard and cornfield.  The ground was covered
with apples where we fought, shot off the trees.  Several
of the company were not in that battle; they stopped on the 
side of the road on the Virginia side of the river, and went
to sleep, and never caught up with the command until after
the battle.  I was slightly wounded there by a belgium ball
or shell hitting a rock in the road and bursting, a piece
of it went into my arm.  I was in a great deal of danger,
carrying off wounded.  We got quite a lot of apple butter
and preserves out of a house at Sharpsburg, it was nice
with our hardtack and tough beef.







                              -40-
          We re-crossed the river the night of the 18th of
September, by wading which was a little over knee deep, and
we stopped on the opposite side of the river (Potomac) and
lay there all day.  We had crossed in the night.  The yanks
started to follow us and started to cross the river, but
General D. H. Hills command met them at the river as they
were crossing, and killed and wounded many of them in the
river; they never got across.
         We were hungry, and late in the evening we got some
flour and beef, and the boys foraged some chickens and a
shoat, and we had one good meal of chicken and pork stew,
and good shortened biscuits, for I still had a pot of lard
and then we marched all night, and stopped about daylight.
One of the company killed a half grown turkey, and asked me
if I could dress and cook it for him for half of it, I said
yes, and did so and he gave me half of it.
          We set out at night and marched back to near
Winchester Va., and camped a good while until sometime in
October, and then marched to Fredericksburg, Va., and remained
there until the Fredericksburg battle on December 13th. 1862.
The company was not engaged in that battle, but had to guard
a ford on the Appomattox river on the left flank above the city.

 
 

                              -41-
          We were quartered near Fredericksburg in dug-outs,
that is a square hole dug in the ground about 2« feet deep,
with a fire place in one end, and a turf chimney, the hole
covered with a little fly tent, The ends closed in with
cedar brush, about three of us in a dugout.  We had no tents
and had to do something to keep off the cold, and wood was 
scarce.  We slept, cooked and ate in those holes, what
little we could get to cook.  This was near Marys Heights.
When the battle began we were called out about 2 o' clock A.M.
in the night, it was bitter cold, and we suffered much with
cold, for we formed a line in the road and stood there until
daylight without any fire to warm by.  We were expecting to
move every minute, and had nothing to make a fire out of if
we had time to do so.  We built breastworks on Mary's Heights,
had to work at night on account of the yankees shelling
us if we worked daytime, for was in plain view of them from
across the river.  When the battle began the people of the 
city moved out in a hurry, and no place to go.  They left
everything they possessed and had nothing to live on.  Gen.
Lee issued an order requesting the army give the citizens
of Fredericksburg one day of our rations, which we freely 
gave, and did without ourselves.  They were grateful for
the supplies.



                              -42-
          Many young ladies tramped out of the city on foot
that had never walked that far before, and lodged in any old
shelter they could find.  The city was badly torn to pieces
with shot and shells.  Many of the boys were bare-footed that
Winter.  They took green cow hides and wrapped them around
their feet.  We had to stand picket above the city, going at
10 o' clock P. M., and staying until 10 o' clock P. M. the
next night.  It rained, sleeted and snowed and we had but
little fire. We wrapped our blankets around us to keep from
freezing and getting wet.  When we got back to camp, wet and
cold, and no fire hardly, we raked away the snow, spread down
wet blankets on the frozen ground, covered with wet blankets 
and went to sleep. I awoke before day nearly frozen; taking
my blanket by the edge it would stand up like a plank, it was
frozen so hard and stiff.  Some of the boys had made a little 
fire, and we got over and around it trying to get warm, which
we did after awhile.
          We remained near Marys Heights until about Christmas,
and moved out some four or five miles to near Massaponax
church; remained in that neighborhood the rest of the Winter,
but without tents, only our little fly tents, which were only






                              -43-
         large enough for about three to lie under. We had
taken them from the yankees. We always got plenty of them
after a battle, for they would leave them. In the meantime
in January we made a forced march to U. S. ford on the 
Appomattox river before Chancellorsville, as the yankees were
threatening to cross there, but did not cross. We put up
breastworks there. We camped on a hillside the first night
out, spread our blankets down without any shelter. It rained
all that night and next day. We lay under our blankets in the 
rain until about 9 o' clock next day, and the water ran under
us so that we had to get up and make fires to dry ourselves.
We had no permanent winter quarters all of that winter,  62.,
but was on the march nearly all the time. In digging breast-
works near U. S. Ford we cut through a rich vein of gold in
a trench near the ford. When near U. S. Ford it snowed to
the depth of about a foot; we dug away the snow, and put up
temporary tents of pine bushes covered with a blanket on 
top the bushes put up in wagoners style, and it snowed again 
that night on the snow to the depth of three feet. We had a
rough time in the snow, no one had shelter, except my tent
was under a pine bush shelter as stated.





                              -44-

          The whole regiment was buried under the snow; Had
to cut and carry wood about 200 yards through the snow. But
we enjoyed ourselves having snow-ball battles, several got
hurt, having arms broken and noses mashed.  Some would throw 
lumps of ice. We had to dig breastworks at night, and it was 
very cold going to and from work, which was about two miles
from our camp. We were there only about two weeks, when we
left there the 22nd. of Jany. 1863, and marched 13 miles
through snow knee deep, and camped in the snow that night.
Some of us went to the Phillips legion camps, and slept in
tents, as we had stopped near that command, but most of the 
men lay in the snow.  That night it rained, and nearly all
of the next day, which made the snow very mushy, We had to march
next day through mush snow knee deep and in the rain to an old
camp, we were all day going about six miles.  We suffered 
badly with cold feet.  We had a hard time all that winter,
as we were on the march nearly all the time from place to
place, and had to lay out just any old way, like a parcel
of cows or hogs.  We got some large fly tents and stretched 
them over some log pens where other troops had been the 
Winter before. The Pens were about three feet high, with a
good stick and dirt chimney to one end, we made ourselves




                              -45-
          quite comfortable there.  While there Jim Jones and
I were sent out about four miles from camp to guard some
man's property (three of us went, one of company "I")without
any rations to be gone two days.  We tried to get an old
citizen to give us something to eat, but he would not do it,
but he fed some officers of cavalry.  Of course we got very
hungry, having no rations with us.  He had a large drove 
of turkeys, Jim Jones and I concluded that we would get one
that night.  We watched them to see where they went to roost,
and were going there to get one; so after dark we went to
the tree, a scrubby hickory tree, they were pretty high to,
so I climbed the tree with my gun ram-rod in my hand to
break one of their necks, (it was iron), but before I got
near enough to hit one they all flew away, and we could not
find them it was so very dark.  Jim was to stay under the 
tree to get the turkey if I killed it, but the turkeys were
pretty wild.  We went to sleep over it that night, next 
morning Jim said that he was going to get one of those
turkeys, so he took his gun, and went to hunt for them; I
stood guard until he came back.  He found them and drove them
about a mile from home to be out of hearing of his gun,






                              -46-

          and he killed a fine old turkey gobbler and
brought him near where we were guarding and hid him in a 
hollow stump.  As soon as we were relieved we went and
got him, dry picked him at a branch; we dressed him nicely
and put him in a large haversack that I had under my
overcoat and struck out for camp.  We took him to a lady
who lived near the camp, and had her to bake him nicely.
She charged us $1.00 for cooking him.  The next day Jim &
I went to see his brother Capt. John Jones to get the
dollar to pay for the cooking of the turkey, telling him
that we had killed a wild turkey the day before and had
him cooked, and we wanted to pay for the cooking, and would
bring him to his quarters and divide with him, for him to 
have some good corn bread cooked, and some coffee made
which he did.  But he questioned us pretty close about it
being a wild turkey, said he did not believe that it was
wild, and wanted to know if it was black.  We told him it 
was very wild, and every feather on it was black, but he 
did not believe it; knowing that he was going to help eat 
it, he gave us the dollar and asked no more questions, for
he knew that we had stolen it.  His brother W. E. Jones




                              -47-
          the chaplain, believed our lie, and ate heartily
of it.  We were always hungry, and would tell any kind of 
an old lie, or do most anything to get something to eat.
Well Jim cooked the neck, liver and gizzard the night before
and ate it all at one time to keep the boys from knowing what
it was, and it made him very sick; he ate too much, but he
did not tell the rest of the mess what it was or where he got
it.  Orders were very strict about bringing in anything
stolen, had the officers known how or where we got the turkey
we would have gotten into trouble sure, but were too sharp
to be caught.  In March 1863 we were ordered out in a hurry
to meet the enemy, but did not get into any engagement. Were
gone a few days, and came back to near the same camp, and
remained there until in May.
          About the 20th or 25th of April we were put on
the march in the direction of Fredericksburg, but went to near
Chancellorsville and manouvered about for a day to two, as the
enemy had crossed the Appomattox river at the U. S. Ford, and
was near Chancellorsville.  We found ourselves in a swamp
between two yankee lines, but they were so far apart that they
did not see us.  When we found out where we were Gen. Wright
ordered to about face and got out of there as easy as possible.




                              -48-

          We came back, and marched over the hill by the
furnace, and made on the yankees down a hill and through a 
dense thicket.  We drove the enemy and stopped in a hollow
in which a branch ran, and fired a few rounds.  None of the
company got hurt; a piece of shell hit my knap-sack.  There
were deep holes of water in the branch, some of them waist 
deep.  Our adjutant was of the 1st. Louisiana regiment named
Daniels, a good fellow but scarry.  A shell burst near him,
he ducked down in one of those pools of water, clean under,
got very wet all over, but not hurt.  We all laughed at him
much about it.  We went out of there that night into an old
coaling where timber had all been cut off, and remained
there all night.  We were looking out a way for "Stonewall"
Jackson to get in the rear of the enemy, keeping the yankees
attention drawn to the front.  That evening, being Saturday,
General Jackson was pushing the enemy in the rear, vigorously,
and he was wounded by his own men, and General J. E. B. Stewart,
(Cavalry General) took command of Jackson's corps, and Sunday
morning he pushed the enemy vigorously; a great many
prisoners came right out into our lines, for they were between
two lines and did not know which way to go.  About 9 o' clock




                              -49-
          we moved to the right to near Chancellorsville
hotel, and lay in line of battle, and Stewart, mistaking
our brigade for the enemy, fired a good many shells into
our brigade with his artillery, wounding several of our men.
We showed our colors and they stopped firing on us, turned
on the enemy and drove them our of their entrenchments, which
was nearly in front of our line, but a little to the right.
While there under this shelling Gen. A. R. Wright ordered
Capt. Thomas of our company to climb a tree to see if he
could discover the enemy's position, but he refused to do
so, and John Miller, a private of our company, climbed up the 
tree some 20 (twenty) or 25 feet high, and saw where the 
enemy were entrenched about 100 yards to the right end of
our front.  General Wright reprimanded Capt. Thomas for not
going up the tree, but praised and complimented John Miller
for his bravery in an order read out on dress parade after-
wards.
          We marched from there to the old Chancellorsville
Hotel, which was being used for a hospital by the yankees,
they had a piece of artillery behind the house, and where firing
at our brigade, and killed a good man of our
regiment named Wm. Cleghorn of company "C", a piece of shell





                              -50-
          striking him on the head.  One company of the 3rd.
Georgia regiment captured the gun.  We got out in the
Fredericksburg plank road, but he enemy had been driven
back, and the old wooden hotel had been set afire by a 
shell and was burning down, burning a good many wounded
yankees.  Some crawled to the windows and dropped out.  We
could not get into the house to rescue any of them as it was
so hot we could not get near it.  It was a very large, old
two-story building, and burned very quickly.  I was sorry 
to see them burned, but could not help it.  A good many of 
their guns were dismantled there, and caissons blown up, and
all of their horses and men killed that were about them.
This battle was fought on May 1st. 1863.  We never got into
any regular engagement there, but did some skirmishing.  The
woods caught fire, and burned a good many wounded men, and 
it was dangerous going into the woods, for loaded guns were 
firing as the fire got to them.
          Next day we were ordered to Fredericksburg, 13
miles from Chancellorsville, as the enemy had crossed the
river there, and had taken Marys Heights. The brigade march-
ed down towards Guineas Station on R. & P. R.R., and up the
Richmond & Frederricksburg R. R., to the old line where
Jackson fought them on the 13th of December 1862.




                              -51-
          The enemy fired several artillery shots at us
at long range, but did us no harm. We filed to the left
in the direction of Marys Heights, halting many times to get
our bearings. We stopped on a hillside in the woods and 
lay down. While lying there one of company "A" fixed the
muzzle of his gun against his foot, and pulled the trigger.
He was lying by my side when he did it; Major Walden of our
regiment told him that it should have been through his heart.
He cursed the fellow for a coward. He wanted to get out of
the fight and not get killed. Joseph Walston of company "G",
my company, swallowed some tobacco to make himself sick, which
it did, so he could get out of the fight - which it did. He
came very near being court-martialed for it.
          We marched on them by the right flank towards
Marys Heights, and found that we were going right on to a
masked battery. Gen. Wright gave command to turn into line
double quick, which was done nicely facing the enemy. Our
advance was so sudden in their rear that we put them to great
confusion, having nearly surrounded them. Genl. Sedgewick
(yankee) ran out of the Marie House, cut his bridle reins
with his knife, mounted and got away from there in a hurry.





                              -52-
          The yankees hollowed at us "come on Georgians, we
know you". They shelled us some at long range, but did
little harm. Another command of South Carolinians was 
coming up on their front, we in the rear, and another command
on their left; we had them in a pretty close place, with
only one place to get out, and they got. They had just 
issued out their rations- we ran them away and got their
grub of saltpork hard, and old time ground coffee with sugar
in it. It was quite a treat for our rations were very short.
In addition to rations we got blankets, oilcloths, fly tents
blue overcoats, axes, and knapsacks filled with good under-
clothing, which was very acceptable, and a lot of stationary
I filled my haversack with salt pork, my knapsack with hard-
tack, and my coat pockets with coffee. Genl Stewart (cavalry
general) got after them, and drove them across the river in t
the night. A good many of the enemy were drowned in crossing
the river by being pushed off the pontoon bridge, for Stewart
was pushing them, and was throwing shells into their rear.
I think that Sedgewick had a whole corps over there, many of 
them were killed.






                              -53-
          I saw 75 dead yankees lying in one place near
Salem Church, where they had a fight the same day or day
before they charged I think a South Carolina regiment, and
got the worst of it. They were German that were killed;
they had turned completely black, caused by mean whiskey
I suppose, for the yanks gave their men plenty of whiskey.
I(Judkins) and Lieutenant Hall Commanded a squad of twenty-
six men to scour the woods in the night in search of the
enemy, but found none. It was ticklish business hunting
yankees in the woods at night and very dark. We had to go
until we met the scouts coming from the other side. It was
dangerous for the enemy could hear us before we could see
them or know that we were near them, and could have shot us
before we knew we were near them. I was glad we did not
find them. We came back right onto the left flank of our
regiment; it was a wonder that they did not shoot us, it
was so dark that we could not see ten steps away, and they 
were scared too. We went from there about two miles in the
night, and struck camp. We had no one hurt in the attack,
for we could not get close enough to them, they ran so fast.
 






                              -54-
           Next evening it rained very hard, and we had
to march back to Chancellorsville, 13 miles. Our guns being 
wet, the men commenced firing them off, and the yanks thought
it was Longstreets corps coming from Sufflok that had come
to reinforce Lee. Our shooting scared the yanks, our officers
tried to stop the boys from shooting, but could not do it.
     The yankees all retired that night across the river.
The river rising very fast from the heavy rains that fell.
General Hooker was in command of the yankees. We camped 
that night in a pine thicket, the darkest night that I think
I have ever seen. Next morning we were ordered around to
attack their position, but before we got in position to
advance to the attack we found that the enemy had gone; We
were glad of that for we never could have taken their position
from the side that we were going to attack- for their breast-
works were formed in a square on top of a hill, with a great
deal of artillery all around, and an abattis all around for
200 yards an all sides- that is the bushes and saplings were
cut down with the tops towards the way that we would have had
to come, which we never could have gotten through, for the
brush and bushes were piled as high as a man's head, and very
thick.; the saplings not cut entirely off the stumps. It




                              -55-
           formed a labyrinth that was impossible to get
through, and the enemy could have killed all of us, and we
could have done them no harm.
          We remained in that neighborhood until the
middle of June, then we moved out again to Massaponax Church
and remained there a short time; we then started on the 
Pennsylvania campaign. We marched through the old Chan-cellorsville battlefield, and on to Shepherdstown Va., went by
Culpepper C.H., crossed the Blue Ridge by way of Front Royal,
waded the Shenandoah river, the coldest river in Virginia.
We camped there one night, and orders were to burn no rails.
Genl Wright was a little vexed about it, for we had to cook
a little. We had a pile of rails at his headquarters; he
got on top of the pile, and called attention- and said for
nobody to burn any rails that two of you can't break in two,
and one man could break any of them, and there was not a
rail in a mile of there the next morning. We were not
forbidden to burn pieces of rails.
          We crossed the Potomac river at Shepardtown
in the night in a ferry boat; The boat sank on the third 
trip, and thirteen of the regiment were drowned (22nd GA).
Only one of our company was in the boat when it sank; he
got out all right, his name was Wm. B. Gray.



                              -56-
         He held on to the rope and got out. He could not 
swim. The best swimmers were the ones who were drowned-
by the others that could not swim getting hold of them.
The water was thirty feet deep. If they had not become
excited and jumped out, and had held the rope none would
have been drowned, for the boat did not sink over three ft.
deep. One of company "A" jumped out and swan ashore with
his knapsack on his back, and his gun strapped on his
shoulder, and never got his head wet; he said that he was
raised in the Savannah river. The order was for only fifty
to go over at once, but when the ferry boat sank there were
150 men on it. I crossed in the second boat; it was
leaking badly then. They got out some of the drowned men,
but not all; the water was deep and pretty swift. The ferry
was just below the railroad bridge. One lieutenant Charles
McAfee took cramp in the water, but others had hold of him
and got him out. We had to rub and work with him a good
while before we was relieved of the cramp.
          After crossing we marched through the old battle-
field of Sharpsburg, and crossed Anteatum creek on the stone
bridge, and rested until morning. Then we marched slowly all
day, feeling for the enemy. Genl. Wright's son, Wm. A.
Wright was captured by the enemy, but the General succeeded



                              -57-

        in getting him released by some means, I do not know
how. He, Wright's son, had not more than gotten well of
his wound that he got at 2nd Manassas, when he lost his leg.
But we kept on our march through Hagarstown, Md., across the
State line of Maryland and Pennsylvania and on to Chambers-
burg, and some other little towns names now forgotten. We
rested two days at Chambersburg. There I was taken sick of
diarrhea, and was unable to carry my gun and accouterments,
but followed on towards Gettysburg, passed through some little
towns where the union sentiment was strong. This was the 
30th day of June 1863. We could hear the cannons, and lay
around that night. The next morning, 2nd day of July, we
took our position on the line on the top of a hill in a
grove of oaks in view of the enemy. We were about the center
of the firing line, and lay there until in the evening.
While lying there a stray ball came over and hit Wiley J. Pope
of our company on the nose, went through and lodged in the
back of his neck; he bled profusely, and went to the rear.
He had to walk back to Winchester, Va., a distance of 75 miles
so he said afterwards, he suffered a great deal, got well-
but not fit for duty any more.




                              -58-
          In the meantime Genl. Longstreet had engaged 
the enemy on the right all day, we could hear him firing all
day, and at about 3 o' clock P. M. we got orders to move 
forward to the charge, I think Cemetery Ridge, Wright's
Georgia brigade in the center, with about 1500 men, composed 
of the 3rd Ga., 22nd., Ga. And the 48th. Ga. regiments, and
the 2nd and 10th Georgia battalions; Wilcox Alabama brigade
on Wright's left, and Genl. Finigan's Florida brigade on
the right of Wright's brigade- in all about 4500 men. We
started on the charge, Genl Wright in command, but was
not in charge, he was not well, but his Adjutant Genl.
Geroda was in command, or led the brigade. We charged in
good shape, driving three lines of the enemy in great
confusion before us. Some of the enemy regts. were 
Pennsylvanians, as they left one stand of their colors on
the line where they started from. We drove them across the 
pike road, and over stone fences to a bluff to where their
artillery was stationed. We, the three brigades, captured
twenty-seven pieces of their artillery, they were Napoleon
Howitzers, but we could not hold our ground, as the enemy
brought up a reserve line of fresh troops, and we had to
retreat by our support not coming up as was ordered.




                              -59-
          I was told then the reason of the delay was
that the Generals got into a dispute about which should 
command the three brigades, and a few minutes delay by
them caused us to lose what we had gained. Had they come
up to our support as ordered we would have gained a great
victory, for we had the enemy's line cut in two, and they
had but one line in support. Our brigades being so badly
cut to pieces that we could not hold the ground, we had to
retreat to where we had started from, what few of us that
were left about 500 out of 1500 men, the loss was fearful.
My company started with forty-five men, and got out with
twenty-two, and every man of the twenty-two was hit some-
where with a bullet but one Viz. John L. Teat; he had
taken some canteens just before the charge, and was gone 
to get some water, and therefore did not get hit. We lost 
many killed, wounded and captured in the battle. Our first
Lieutenant John H. Johnson was wounded in the neck, but got
out. He was sent to Staunton, Va. - he married there, that
is he got wounded there by a women in the heart, got captured
by her and is still a prisoner, He never got back to the
company any more during the war.





                              -60-
       As we were in the charge I had an old U. S. Musket
that would not shoot, but seeing a wild yankee lying in a
ditch in the pike road with a fine rifle I asked him it
was any good, he said that it was, I told him to take off
his belt and cartridge box and give it to me, which he did.
I cut off my old belt, cartridge box and shoulder strap 
with my jack knife, put on the yankee accoutrements, took
his rifle and went to the charge. Balls never flew thicker
that they did there, and that is the only battle I was in
where I know that I shot a man. A yank was about one
hundred yards from me, he shot at me, I took a rest off a
piece of artillery, and shot the yank in the arm- for he
dropped his gun, and I saw his arm fall limp by his side.
He ran for all he was worth, I took two shots with a rest 
off of an artillery wheel at a yankee officer. He was on
a horse but I never hit him for he did not flinch, stop or
appear to notice my shots, he was not over 100 yards from me.
They were getting so close on me that I concluded to get
away from there, and I got. I had not gone over 200 yards
when a ball hit me in the right arm, slightly wounding me,
but I did not stop, but kept on and got back to our starting
place all by myself, hot, thirsty, completely broken down




                              -61-
        and exhausted. It was after sundown then, and we 
had been engaged about three hours in the battle. What
few of us were left were rallied and lay in line of battle 
all night. It was heart-rendering to hear the wounded men
calling all night for water, and for their friends to come
to them, but no one could go out to their relief, for if
any one had gone out they would have been shot by one or 
both sides, for the picket lines were not far apart. Our
Lieut. Col. was killed there, hit by a grape shot in the
back. He was an infidel. He gave Capt. Geradan his sword 
and pistol, and told him to send them to his wife, and tell
her that he never disgraced them. The last words that he
was heard to say was "Oh God is it possible that I must die".
            Our company fought bravely, none lagged behind.
Next morning we dropped back to the woods, and lay there
until 12 noon; then fell back some 2 or 3 hundred yards
over the hill to be out of danger, and to make room for
Pickett's division. It was three of Pickett's brigade that
was to support us the day before in our charge:R. H. Anderson
and Petegrews brigades. About two o' clock they opened fire
with 160 pieces of artillery, and they fired incessantly
for about two hours. Then Picketts division started to





                              -62-
            charge the enemy. The division was twenty
thousand strong. They did a great deal of execution, and
Pickett's casualties were pretty heavy, having lost a good
many offices, among them General Armistead, known as the 
"Poplar" general. But many of his men did not go far for 
I saw the bigger part of one regiment run out carrying their 
colors, they had not been in the fight over fifteen minutes.
But Pickett had many good and brave men who went as far as 
they could go, and had to stop at a stone fence. The yanks
were behind that. His loss was very heavy there, and I
understood that Pickett made out his report of casualties
before he got his men together, and when he got back to
Winchester, Va., he found many of his men. The report of 
Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg has been greatly over 
estimated. They did not do near the execution that Wright's
Wilcox, and Finigans brigades did the day before, with only
about forty five hundred men, for we captured 27 guns,
artillery, and Pickett's men did not capture a single cannon.
We could not hold our guns for want of support, and
Pickett had twenty thousand men, and if his brigade had
come to our support (Wright & Co.) as ordered, Pickett
would not have made his famous charge when he did, for we




                              -63-
          had broken the center of the yankees line, and if
Pickett had followed Wright, Wilcox and Finigan we would
have doubled the yankee line on its left flank, and have 
driven them off the field, for the yankees only had one line
in reserve on that part of the field. Our charge was 
sudden and quick, as Longstreet had been fighting them all
day on their right, and they had most of their men there.
I have seen nothing in history or any other report of 
Wright, Wilcox, and Finigan's brigades making their charge
on July 2nd 1862 at Gettysburg. They have never been given
justice for what they did that day, that I have ever seen
or heard of. After Pickett's charge was over, I know that
Wright's, Wilcox's and Finigan's brigades had to advance
and occupy the ground that Pickett's division covered after
Pickett came out of the charge. I do not know where the
remnant of his division was sent, I know that his losses
were heavy. His Arkansas troops were good, and some Ga.
And North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, but there 
is always many who will get out of an engagement as soon as 
possible, if they can do so creditably. I do not blame
a man for taking care of himself whenever he can honorably.





                              -64-
          One thing I do know and that it was a terrible 
battle, the losses were heavy on both sides; it is a
wonder to me that as many got out alive as did, for braver
men never went into a battle than did at Gettysburg.
          After Pickett's charge was over General Lee
ordered Genl. Wright the same evening to take his brigade
and charge Cemetery Ridge, I think I was, just after Pickett
had come out of his charge. We closed up in four ranks
by the right flank and marched by where Genl. Lee was sitting
on his charger ( we had only five hundred men left in the 
brigade) we had lost 1000 the day before in our charge. He
took off his hat to us as we marched by him, and cried and 
said to Genl. Wright "don't go into that charge for you have
lost all of your men now", that made all hearts glad, but
we would have made the charge if "Mars" Robert had said so,
but I know that few of us would have gotten back.
          We then marched back to our original line, and
deployed out about ten feet apart, put up breastworks, and
lay there all night; this was the 3rd of July. We lay
there all of the next day July 4th, and that night we started
on the retreat back to Virginia, and marched all night in
the rain, and the next day still raining. The roads were




                              -65-
          very muddy, and we had nothing to eat. We stopped
about 9 o' clock next morning and rested about two hours; all
went to sleep, some on the ground in the rain and mud, with
just a blanket or oilcloth over them, and some with no cover 
at all, and went to sleep right where they stopped. I lay
down on a bench in a school-house, and slept a good nap.
We had had no rest on the Gettysburg battlefield. for we had
to cover the ground with about 1200 men that Pickett's
division covered; but the yankees never attacked us, if
they had they could have captured Lee's army. After resting
awhile we took up our march across some mountain, I do not
know the name of it, but I think it was part of the Blue
Ridge or Alleghany mountains, in the meantime it had stopped 
raining. After we had crossed that mountain we came to
where the yankees had cut down and burned a part of one of
our wagon trains, some of the wagons were loaded with salt,
and we were in need of some of that article; we got a good
supply, and in the evening about two P. M. We stopped and
they issued some flour and beef, and we remained there long
enough to cook it. They issued to us some apple brandy and
some of the boys got drunk. Joe Walston, one of our company





                              -66-
   went to a man's chicken house, and brought in five
chickens, and some of them found a yearling calf, killed
it and brought it in, and Geo. Bowen, one of the Co., 
found a hog and was after it, and he ran it by Genl.
Wright's headquarters, and the owner of the hog was there
talking to General Wright; he asked the General to make 
the boys let that hog alone, as that was the only one he 
had left. Genl. Wright had been drinking some brandy too,
Wright said to him " The boys must have that spotted hog",
Bowen ran it a little further, shot it and killed it.
He skinned it, brought it to the camp, and we had plenty
to eat for a day or two.
          Some of the men went up stairs in a barn, (this 
was in Maryland), and there they found thirty barrels of
brandy hidden there, this is where they found the brandy 
to get drunk on. They knocked the head out of one barrel,
and by some means they turned it over and it poured out on
John Teat one of Co. "G"., and it made him very drunk, as
he had not drunk anything. I know that he was wet from 
head to foot with apple brandy, and was very drunk.






                               
                              -67-
          The guard got after them while they were getting
the brandy, but they saw him in time to get away, for there
was wheat all around the barn, as high as a man's head,
they got into that and escaped. The guard did not catch 
any of them, I don't suppose they tried very hard for they
wanted some of the brandy themselves, and I suppose they
got it. We left there the same evening, July 5th.
          The black heart cherries were ripe there, they
were on the side of the road on which we were marching, a
tree in every other fence corner. The trees were very full
and the boys climbed the trees, broke off the limbs, and went
on eating the cherries. The trees looked like they were 
ruined, but I heard afterwards that the breaking off of 
the limbs did the trees good, for they put out more limbs
and bore double. The boys were feeling good from the effects 
of the brandy and plenty to eat one day; they would hollow
out "where is company "I", some one would say that they were
deployed out on a cherry limb, or in the wagons, or in the
ambulance; that company got drunk worse than any of the 
regiment. We rested that night without molestation; I saw 
my uncle B. F. Wessner next morning of Phillips Legion, was 
glad to see him, and that he had gotten out of the battle




                            
                              -68-
         Our division (R.H.Anderson's) had to rear guard
to the wagon train which was a very long one, until we
got to Hagarstown; The yankees were pretty close to us
most all the way,- that is, their cavalry. There we were
thrown out in battle line below Hagarstown, Md., and
remained there three days without anything to eat. We had 
no bread for five days. Eli Everett and J. G. Lee went
off somewhere and killed a large sheep, stole it, the
lowest down stealing at all, but we did not stand on formal-
ities for a hungry soldier would steal anything that he 
could eat, for we were nearly all the time hungry, and were
not going to let a shepp bite them anywhere. They brought 
it in, and we barbecued it,- putting salt, vinegar and red
pepper on it; we would get one side cooked, and turn it
over to cook the other side, and what was cooked on the top
side we would eat to where it was raw while the other side 
was cooking; eating it without any bread at all, for we
had none of that for five days. When the other side was 
cooked we turned it over and ate that, and by the time it
was cooked it was all eaten. It did not take 22 men as
hungry as we were long to eat a sheep weighting about 75 
pounds. It was the largest sheep I had ever seen; and




                              -69-         
        J. G Lee got some large beets somewhere; we boiled
them and ate them with salt,- they were good too; but any-
thing tasted good to a parcel of hungry men as hungry as we
were. We did not get into an engagement there with the enemy
only a little skirmishing.
        We left there to try and get across the Potomac river;
it had rained and the river was rising, and the roads were
very muddy. The wagon train that we were guarding made slow
progress, but we all got across the river. The enemy sur-
prised Heth's and Pender's brigades and captured some of them.
They were not watching as close as they should have done; I
think Heth or Pender was killed there. We crossed the river
at Falling Waters on the pontoon bridge, without accident. We
were all very hungry; I came across my brother, K.S.Judkins
of the 8th Georgia regiment, he had some hoecake bread; he
gave me one large hoecake,- I relished it much as I had no 
bread for 6 or 8 days, and not much else.
         We went into camp on the river, and the yankees came
in sight on the opposite side of the river; we gave them a 
few shells and they went back out of sight,- it was the  
yankee cavalry. All the wagon trains had gotten safe across
artillery and everything. It was told me that General




                              -70-
    brought out of Maryland 3500 beef cattle that they got
over there, but did not get many recruits out of Maryland.
I think that was mostly the object in going there, but we
lost more than we gained by going over into Maryland and
Pennsylvania.
        We had not been in camp but little while until they
issued to us some whiskey before they did rations. The men
drank it on empty stomachs, and nearly every man got drunk.
My whiskey did not make me drunk, as I had eaten the bread
my brother gave me. It rained a very hard rain that evening;
everybody got wet. I stretched my little fly tent, and
wrapped my oilcloth around me and kept dry. I went to a
citizens house and got some buttermilk, which was mighty
good; we got rations there.
        We left that place, and marched through Martinsburg,
Va., next morning, and on to Winchester. We left there for
Fort Royal in the valley of Virginia, wading the Shenandoah
river, the coldest river in Va. Our brigade was sent into 
Manassas Gap to guard the Gap until Early's division could
come up from Winchester, which was 17 miles away. The yanks
had cross the river, and were threatening our rear, trying
to cut us off, and did. We only had about 500 men in the whole




                              -71-
      brigade. We only had one captain in the regiment,
and he was commanding the brigade,(Capt. McCurry, of Co."C")
as General Wright was under arrest for something I know not 
what. We had three lieutenants, one commanding the Regt.,
one acting as adjutant, and one in our company; this July
22nd 1863. About three o' clock P. M. the enemy came in sight
through the gap thirty thousand strong, and we fought them
until sun-down; they then out-flanked us, and we had to fall
back.
         The enemy had us cut off from crossing the Blue 
Ridge where we had crossed before, so we had to march up
the Shenandoah valley to Louray. General Early's division
came to our relief at the gap, and opened fire on the yankees
with artillery, and they halted. That was one time the
music of a cannon was pleasant to me and all the others, for
no doubt but we would have been taken prisoners if the
General had not gotten to our relief when he did. The first 
shell that was shot at the yanks I was told killed seven,
that cannon stopped them from pursuing us any further that
night in that direction.
          We marched all night towards Louray; the men staid
close together all night, for we did not know but what the




                              -72-
        yanks were following us. We arrived at Louray the
next morning, and camped at the foot of the Blue Ridge 
mountains, at Louray Gap. We were hungry, as we always
were on the march. An old man there had about four acres
in wax bunch beans; I went to him and tried to buy some of
the beans, but he would not let me have any of them,- said
they were soup beans; but next morning he had no soup beans.
My company cooked about a half bushel of them, so next 
morning he had no soup beans, for we had gathered them and
eaten them the night before, they were good,- we liked
soup beans". They old fields there were covered with dew-
berries, I never did see as many. We left there next
morning to cross the Blue Ridge, got to the top by night,
stopped and fought mosquitoes all night, for they were 
plentiful and all hungry. They made music for us all night,
we had to cover our heads with our blankets to keep them
from biting us. It was very warm being 24th of July, and
strange that there would be so many mosquitoes on top of
Blue Ridge mountain. The next day we got to Flint Hill, a
little cross-roads town. This was in 1863. Then we went
to Culpepper Court House in Culpepper County, Va., and
remained in that neighborhood until October or November;




                              -73-
         Then the yankees made their appearance again. We
formed a line of battle near Culpepper, and marched out
the whole division in line, but we did not come up on the
yanks. There I had a very bad rising on my right hand,
and could not use my gun; it kept me from doing any duty
for several days. We had to leave there, as the yankees
were threatening us, so we put out and marched at night,
and fought or skirmished during the day. We were going in
the direction of the Rapidan river; we marched, fought
and skirmished all the time for sixty-eight hours, without
sleep or rest, and with but little to eat; no time to
cook what little we did have, only cooking our bread on 
one end of our ram-rod, after wetting it up with a little
soda or grease of any kind, in a tin cup; making a long
string of the dough and winding it around our ram-rods,
and holding it over the fire until it was cooked,- it did
not take long; and broiling our meat on the other end
of the ram-rod. The bread was a little nasty, but no
soldier never found anything too filthy to eat when he 
was hungry, which was most of the time. We got lost one
night, for it was very dark. Our regiment, the 22nd. Ga.,
got cut in two by the 22nd. North Carolina marching across




                              -74-
      each other; the boys calling out for the number of
his regiment, we got confused and mixed up, and did not
get straightened out until daylight. Late in the evening
we crossed the Rapidan river at Rapidan Station on the 
Orange and Alexandria railroad, the yanks were pretty close
after us, but we stopped them with artillery. We camped
hungry, tired and mad. I was acting as orderly sergeant,
and I had to make out a half dozen reports, draw rations,
and issue them out to the mad, tired and sleepy men; it
was a big job, and me tired, hungry and mad also,- but 
none too tired and sleepy to keep from cooking something 
to eat; got through with all that, lay down and slept
about 18 hours without turning over or waking, all awoke
next day in a good humor, ate our breakfast of what was
left the night before, which was not much, and then went
back across the Rapidan river, and camped in an old field.
        The weather began to get cold, and we had no shelter
except out little fly tens, and expected to stay there all
Winter; so we cut chestnut logs, there were plenty of 
chestnut trees near, split them and hauled them to the camp
on a hand-car belonging to the railroad, and built us some
little huts, and built chimneys to them of stick and mud,




                              -75-
         We were fixed up very comfortably, and remained
there about a month; had to do picket duty. The regiment
was on picket duty about a mile from camp. I went some
distance in front of the picket line, and saw some large
fresh hog tracks, I came back and told the boys about seeing
hog tracks in front of the picket line and Eli Everett and
John Black, of my company, went to hunt the hogs; they 
found them. They killed one large hog, skinned it, and took of
it on a pole between them, for it was too heavy for them to
carry it all; they started back to the line with it, and
the yanks got after them. We saw them coming, and had
a skirmish to keep the yanks from getting the boys and their
meat. They got in all right by doing some pretty fast
running, they did not care to run, just so they saved
their pork. The next day two of the company went back and
to the other half of the hog; one of them was of my mess(
Viz:Henry N. Queen). We hid it that night to keep the officers
from finding it. Hid it under our bunk where we slept. We
had our bunks made of pine needles, straw-leaves or shucks
in a little low pen to keep the straw or whatever we had 
from spreading out.- three of us sleeping together in one 
bunk. We cooked the meat next day, and invited the Capt.


                            

                              -76-
        to take dinner with us. He asked no questions
about where we got the meat, for he was hungry. There were
very strict orders about bringing in fresh meat to the camp
that was stolen. The officer of the guard would go round 
every day, and examine the cook pots where the men were 
cooking their meat, to see if they could find any one cook-
ing pork or chickens. The boys would often have pork at
the bottom of the pot, and beef on the top; the officer would
take his fork and stick up a piece of meat, and say "beef"
and go on, when he knew that there was pork at the bottom.
Just so he did not see it he would not care, he would have
done the same thing had he had the opportunity. I guess
I would have been in the hog stealing scrape myself, but 
I was in command of the company, and could not leave it that
long, so I just "sicked" them on, knowing I would get
some any way if they found it. The yankees who got after
the boys were some yankee cavalry out-post guards; I expect
that they heard the boys shoot the hog is why they went to
investigate, but the yanks did some pretty getting away from
there to keep from being captured. While there we went
on general review of Hill's whole corps I was still in
command of the company, as our Captain G. W. Thomas was in




                              -77-
          command of the regiment. Jeff Davis also came
out to review the army while we were there. We had a
good deal of trouble in getting wood where we were, so we
moved from there to Gordansville, and built some winter
quarters again at a place on the Orange & Alexandria R R.,
called Madison Station; there we built shacks again of split
logs, and covered them with pine boards. We made the
boards in the shape of a froe, using a hatchet to start
with,- we had good pine timber to make them out of. We
made stick and dirt chimneys to the shacks.
          There at Madison Station, H. H. Queen and Geo.
H. Bowen placed a rail in some manner on the railroad, that
when the train came along with a flat-car loaded with flour
they knocked a barrel of flour off as the train was moving;
so we had some bread to eat for several days. The guard on
the train saw the barrel of flour when it was knocked off;
they stopped the train, and ran back to find it and the ones
who had caused it to be knocked off. But they had picked
up that barrel of flour, and had gotten away with it; hid it
in a briar patch and hid themselves. They said they lay
mighty flat to the ground to keep the R.R.guard from seeing
them.



                         
                              -78-
           I got a furlough in February 1864 to go home,
or rather a detail to get recruits and absentees that were 
absent without leave or that were absent on sick leave or
furlough that had expired.
          As we were going back to Virginia we were in a 
railroad wreck. A trestle broke down on the Wilmington
and Kings railroad, between Kingsville S C., and Wilmington
N.C., in a swamp. Several men got badly hurt. The rear
car had seventeen ladies in it, and one man. None of the 
ladies got hurt, but the man had his arm broken by the
stove falling on it. We soon got the ladies out and on
dry land. The trestle was about twenty feet high; one car
went straight down, one in front dropped down end-ways on
it, one end upon the track. I was in the car just ahead
of the one that broke loose. The hindmost car the one the 
ladies were in dropped endways down on the middle car; only
three cars went down. The end of the ladies' car was upon
the track, standing at an angle of about 45 degrees; the
ladies all went down to the lower end of the car, stove
and all. They were pretty badly shaken up, and scared.
We pulled them upon the track, and lifted some off the back
end of the car, led them out, walking the cross-ties to dry




                              -79-
     land, about 150 yards. One old lady that I led out
lived in Montgomery, Ala., but I have forgotten her name.
It was in the night and very dark. A good many soldiers
got hurt; I saw some with their legs mashed off. We got
them out, put some of them on the train and carried them
on, left a good many others on the track next to the
Kingsville end of the road. Another train came there and
took them back to go via. of Charlotte, N. C. The train
that was wrecked had not room enough to take them on, as
it was badly crowded anyway, so many of the soldiers were
going to and from home; but we went on the same train
to Wilmington, N. C. But the next night after, we left
Wilmington, for it took us the rest of the night and day to
get to Wilmington. Sometime in the night, between Wilmington
and Weldon, we had a collision with another train, and four 
men were killed, we were delayed nearly 24 hours before we
got to Weldon; the engine jumped the track, and that de-
layed us. We got to Weldon after night, and had to lay all
night under the old car-shed, with but little fire,- but
got to Richmond next evening, and to camps next day. I made
arrangements for my brother, J. W. Judkins, to come to the
army as a recruit; he was just 17 years old; he came in
March. I got another furlough for getting him as a recruit,
 


                              -80-
          and I came home again in April 1864; staid at
home thirty days, and had a good time. I got back to my 
regiment 5th day of May, the day of the battle of the
Wilderness. While at home on my first furlough our shack
was burned down, but we all went to work and soon had up
another one, but I got there just in time to build the
chimney out of sticks and mud.
         I was not in the Wilderness battle, for I was
away on a furlough, and the company had left camp before I
got back. I got to the company soon after the battle; I
could hear it all the way from Orange Courthouse, twelve
miles away.
         The 3rd.Georgia had a skirmish with the yanks
in the evening of May 6th. A drummer boy of the 3rd. Ga.
band got wounded; he was a very small boy. Between the
lines a very fat cow was killed. I do not know which side
killed her. We went to her next morning and cut off some
very nice steak; just skinned off a place big enough to
cut off what steak we wanted, for we were still hungry- as
usual.
           We kept moving to the right as the yankees
kept moving that way, to try to out flank Lee.



                    
                              -81-
         On the 10th day of May 1864, we formed a line of 
battle on the Po river, which was the name of one of the
four prongs of the Hattapony river,-viz Hat- Ta- Po- Ny.,
and the yanks made an attack on our left flank, and
wounded me in the head pretty badly, no one else in the 
company got hurt, but two of company "C" of the regiment
got hurt, one of them shot in the head; he died that night.
The other, Milton Baker, was shot through the arm; he got
well. I walked to the brigade hospital a mile and a half
away, as they had no field hospital near the battle-ground.
The Doctors were scared anyway, for the bullets were flying
pretty thick where they were. I was bloody from head to
foot, for my wound bled much. It was a hot day for the 10th
of May. I had my wound dressed by the brigade surgeon, Dr.
Pope of South Carolina. I did not think that I was hurt
badly, but the Dr. would not let me walk about any. My skull
was broken; I staid there until the 14th of May, and was
sent to the corps Hospital. On the 14th of May the brigade
was hotly engaged with the yanks, and Thomas C. Blackwell, 
of our company, was wounded in the thigh. I saw a sight
at the Corps Hospital that I never want to see again; a
young boy from Georgia, not over 16 years of age, was badly





                              -82-
         wounded and suffering,- he was small for his age.
He was crying pitifully and calling for his mother(it makes
me shed tears to-day to think about it, for I can hear him
still in my mind), but no mother was near to soothe him; the
next morning he was dead,- eased of his suffering, without
mother near. No doubt his body fills an unknown grave, for
no loved ones were there to mark his grave. No doubt mother
looked for his home coming many times with a tearful eyes,-
he never came, but may they meet "beyond the river"; may be
they already have as this is 1907, but the incident is still
fresh in my memory and always will be. I have wished many
times since that I had found out his name and his mother's
name, and where he lived, so that I could have written to
her about him, and what he said. But it was all confusion
and in the night, and I expect a thousand there wounded; I 
was wounded and suffering myself, but I could walk. My
chaplain was there doing all he could for the wounded. He
made a large kettle of coffee, and gave to me to give to the
wounded, which I did, and I made another kettle full and gave
them; but it was so dark that I could hardly see, and had
little time to do anything.





                              -83-
         From the Corps Hospital soon next morning, I was
placed in a four horse army wagon with other wounded, on
the 15th day of May, and was sent to Guinea Station, a
fifteen-mile ride over a corduroy road,-that is, a road
cross layed with poles; it was rough riding for wounded
men. I suffered a great deal that day, being jolted so
much, riding on a naked wagon bed, with not so much as a
blanket to lie on. Guinea Station was on the Richmond &
Fredericksburg railroad, seven miles from the latter place.
We got there late in the afternoon. I was suffering badly
with my wound, and had cramp colic. A doctor gave me a
dose of morphine, which relieved the colic. I was hungry
too, having had nothing to eat for a day or two. They had
some cow peas and corn-bread cooled to feed wounded and
wick soldiers; I ate some of it for I could not get anything
else. There at Guinea Station some good old citizens under-
took to dress my wound, which had not been dressed for three
days; it was hurting, the bandages were hard and dry, the
cloths were stuck, and hard to set off. It hurt me so bad
that I fainted, how long I do not know before I revived; so
they tried to dress it again, and I fainted again, which was
before sun-down. When I came too again it was dark, and




                              -84-
       They had me on a litter trying to get me on the train
to be sent to Richmond. They succeeded in getting me on
the train, where I lay until next day at 3 o' clock P. M.
without any attention, or anything to eat; I was hungry
and thirsty, could not get any water, for if I attempted
to rise I would feel like fainting again. Before we left
Guinea Station there came a report that the yankee cavalry
was coming. It created a great deal of excitement among
the wounded; it was almost a stampede. Those who could
walk were trying to go somewhere to get out of the way to
keep from being captured. They piled on the train as fast 
as they could. I told those old citizens that if they got 
me I could not help it, but they worked faithfully, four
of them, to get me on the train. It was false alarm
about the yankee cavalry.
        At Richmond I was put in an ambulance, and taken
to Jackson Hospital; I had good treatment there, and 
mended slowly. The ladies were kind to me, and all
of the wounded. Had plenty to eat. In a few days I got
so I could sit up without fainting,- got so I could go to 
the mess-hall to get my meals. The ladies would bring re-freshments and flowers around to the sick and wounded sol-
diers; one young lady would bring me something nice to eat,



                              -85-
        and a nice bouquet every morning; she would sit by
me and talk awhile everyday. I remained there some three 
weeks. I did not know that I was so badly hurt until I
fainted and got to the hospital at Richmond. I tried to
get a furlough, but failed, as the yankees had gotten to
Rome, Ga., where I lived. A good many did get furloughs
that could get home where the yankees did not have their 
homes.
         I was with five hundred others sent from Richmond
to Columbia, S. C., to the hospital there. Jas. H. Jones,
of my company, was at Richmond in the hospital; he assisted
me in getting two months pay, the last I got during the war,
this was in May 1864. Thos. C. Blackwell, of my company
was sent along with me in the squad of 500. I could walk
but Tom could not except on crutches. The doctors in charge
of the train were drunk, and would not let any of us get off
to get anything to eat, and would not give us anything. They
did not give us anything before we started, and it was about
a three days trip to Columbia. The train ran slowly, for
their old engines were small and worn out. We had to go
by way of Danville, Va., as the yanks had the road between




                              
                              -86-
        Petersburg and Weldon. When we got to Greensboro, N.C.
I got off anyway, and got Tom and I something to eat. The
citizens there had plenty for us, but the doctors would
not let them come in the cars and give it to us. When we
got to Charlotte, N. C. There was plenty for us. It was
Sunday, and the good ladies waited on us royally, and fed
us with everything good to eat, and we did it justice, for
we were hungry,- some had had nothing to eat since we left
Richmond. A good lady dressed my wound nicely for me,
which had not been dressed for several days. I will always
have a tender spot in my heart for the good ladies of
Charlotte, North Carolina. We remained there until night
and boarded the train for Columbia, S. C., it took all night
the make the trip, and at every station from Charlotte to
Columbia the ladies were out with refreshments of all kinds
and plenty of flowers; I was nearly covered with flowers
and good things to eat, as I was lying down at the door of
the car they could get to me easily. I had enough provisions
given me that night to have lasted me a week. They would just
put the grub in any way.






                              -87-
          We arrived at Columbia soon Monday morning, and
were hauled in an ambulance to the College Hospital. Tom
Blackwell and I were put in the same ward. We had good
nursing by Mrs. Kyall and a Mrs. Emily Caskins,- two good
ladies, they were ward matrons. This was 10th day of June,
1864 that D got to Columbia, and soon after I was put to
nursing sick and wounded, and remained there until January
5th. 1865. I know but little of the company during 1864,
when I got back then I found the men all disheartened and 
tired of the war, but we were into it, and from then on we
did a great deal of hard fighting and marching, and a lot
of skirmishing. On February 4th. we had a hard battle at
Hatchers Run between Petersburg and Weldon, N. C. We drove
the enemy by charging them. Wm T. Sharp, of our company,
lost his leg by a minnie ball passing through his knee. John
Teat, John Miller, Eli Everett and I, with two others names 
now forgotten, put him on a blanket and brought him off the
field. He was a hundred yards in front of the line when shot,
the regiment falling back. It was in the night when he got
shot, for it was near sundown when we started fighting; we
fought about one and one-half hours, the yanks were firing
at us fast, I had a ball pass through my hat in the fight,




                              -88-
        and while bringing Sharp off, a ball went through my
shoe sole, cutting it entirely in two from side to side,- I
thought my foot was ruined it hurt so badly, but I kept on
until we got Sharp out of danger and to the ambulance corps;
but my foot was only shocked, the skin was not broken.
        The Mississippians started the charge on the right
of the yankee line, we being to the left of them and in the 
center, we charged with them at the same time. Two of our
company ran out of the fight, I will not tell their names.
Lieut. Levy of company "A" was in command of our company; he
got wounded and died next day.
         On the 5th of February we had another fight, but none
of the company got hurt. It snowed, sleeted and rained all
day, and we could have no fire, for we could not show our-
selves for fear of being shot. That was in the evening; in
the morning, and during the night we cut down pine trees
and made breastworks, and cut down trees and saplings in front 
of us for obstructions for the yankees to come through, if
they should attack us.
         One man froze to death that day. He was on picket
duty, and had to keep still to keep the yanks from seeing him.
Another was killed out on out-post duty.




                              -89-

         We gathered up a few stick in the evening, and made
a little fire in the ditch, and made some coffee to drink 
to keep from freezing.
          General Sorrell was in charge of our brigade, he
got shot through the breast that day by a yankee sharp-
shooter. The yankees attacked us that evening; we gave them
a pretty warm reception, and repulsed them. We never lost
any men. I was looking at General Sorrell when he was shot.
He was standing on top of a breastwork in an exposed place
when shot. The enemy made their charge; one man came into
our lines, he said that they told him to go to the breast-
works where the cannons were, he came and of course we took
him prisoner. He wanted to go back, but we told him no, he
was a foreigner, had not been with them long.
         We left there that night, and went back two or three
miles and struck camp in the woods, built fires and got 
warm. I fell into some water that night in crossing a
branch, and got wet to my waist. It was cold and snowing;
It was a pretty cold bath to take in the night. Next
morning we went back to our old camp near Petersburg, did
not remain there but a few days.




                              -90-
          We were sent to the Howlett Batteries about six
or seven miles below Richmond on the James river near
Drewery's Bluff, and got into very good winter quarters.
There we had a great deal of heavy picket duty to do. We
were on picket every third day and night, had to keep a
strong picket for yanks were close by. We had one little
skirmish while there, captured a few of them. We had
splendid breastworks there; Beauregard was the engineer that
constructed them. The enemy could not hit them from any
point with artillery to any harm. We thought that we were
into it to stay there all the year. Some of the regiment
planted gardens; this in March 1865, but about the first of 
April we started rom there on the retreat, and it was
march and fight until we surrendered, at Appomattox April
9th 1865.
         We had a pretty hard time of it on the march for
want of something to eat. We got our paroles on the 13th
of April. Before surrendering, and on the 8th day of Apr.
we had a pretty hard battle near Amelia C.H., 13000 yankees
attacked us; we were behind breastworks hastily thrown up
of dirt dug up with bayonets, one pick and one shovel to the
company. We threw up dirt with our hands, and tin plates,




                              -91-
        We worked like beavers, and before we got them
done the yankees came upon us, but we repulsed them, and
with the help of Tige Anderson's brigade we captured 500
prisoners. I was detailed that night to help guard them.
There were some of the yanks killed there, and great
many wounded.
        On the march a few days before the battle, we
crossed a railroad bridge in the night, it was 150 feet high
across the Appomattox river, it was called the "High Bridge".
We lay on the bank of the river all day, expecting an attack,
but near Amelia C. H. was our last battle. We were hungry
and could get nothing to eat, as the yanks had captured our
commissary wagons. L. Queen, one of our company, managed 
to get some meal somewhere, and we then had a little bread
to eat. H. N. Queen stole a mule and told me that he was 
going to leave that night. He got through the yankee lines
somehow, and went back to Hanover Courthouse Va. between
Richmond and Fredericksburg, as he had recently married there
He was successful in getting through to where his wife lived.
        We had a good deal of skirmishing between Peters-
burg and Appomattox Court-house, but had none killed, and
but one wounded in the company.



                            

                              -92-
       We were drawn up in line of battle to receive a
cavalry charge (this was Sunday, the day of the surrender).
We could see them forming. It was rumored about that time
that General Lee was going to surrender, and I believed it
then for every one was demoralized, tired down and out of 
heart. We were in a piece of woods, and I could hear the
boys say "boys this is a bad place to get away from here".
I saw that if the cavalry did come they were going to run.
I was behind a big white-oak tree. I made my plan that if the
cavalry did come to stay behind that tree till they passed,
and then get on the other side of the tree next to the 
enemy to keep from being run over by the cavalry. But news 
came about that time that Genl. Lee had surrendered. I was
powerful glad when he did surrender, but good men and officers
cried because they had to surrender, and broke their swords
in two to keep from giving them up. But I think a good deal 
of it was put on, for I suppose many of them had never been 
in a battle; that sort were always the bravest when they
knew there was no fighting on hand.
         General Lee looked very sad when he went to meet
Grant to surrender, and when he addressed his men he cried.





                              -93-
    He said "men I have done the very best I could for you,
but we are out-numbered ten to one, and are completely
surrounded. General Grant was very courteous to General 
Lee, and would not receive his sword, saying that he was 
too brave a man for him to take his sword. They were in a 
house when the terms of surrender were agreed upon, but
met under an apple tree; and the men of both armies cut
that apple tree to pieces, even dug up the roots; all want-
ed a piece as a souvenir,- it was a large horse apple tree.
I saw it and could have gotten a piece if I had wanted it.
       The yankees were very kind to us; they were short of
rations also. A.Fitz Lee and Hampton had run into their
commissary wagon train, and had destroyed it, but they
divided what rations they had, giving us a dozen hardtack
apiece. The yanks, some of them, commenced to cheer because
we had surrendered, but General Grant stopped all of that,
and told his men that they had nothing to cheer about, for
General Lee's little handful of men, about sixty thousand,
had defied the whole yankee army of two hundred and twenty-
five thousand, all the way from Petersburg to Appomattox, and
licked them at every engagement.
         General Lee surrendered only thirty-seven thousand
stand of arms of all kinds. Of course there were more men



                              -94-
      than that, but that was the fighting strength. What
great odds that was; so they stopped cheering.
      On the march Genl. Lee would not trust the Virginia
troops for either advance or rear guards for the army on the
retreat. Longstreets corps was in advance one day, and
A. P. Hills corps the next. Pickett was kept in the center.
He had more men in his division than any other; they were
mostly Virginians, North Carolinians and Maryland troops,-
some from Arkansas, they were deserting for they were going
from home,- he could not rely on them at all. I know this
for I was in Hill's corps. Pickett was right smart of a
fraud anyway, as far as fighting was concerned, for he had
more men than any other division commander; they never did
the hard fighting that the troops from the other States did.
But all of the Virginia troops were not that way, for some
of them were as brave a set of men as ever went into battle,
but Genl. Lee did not rely on Pickett's men or him either.
         We suffered terribly on the retreat for something to
eat. We ate parched corn, or even raw corn when we could get
it, even ate sassafras buds; but all loved Genl. Lee, and
endured most anything for him, for he was good to his men,
and did the beat he could for us. General Mahone addressed 
his men just after the surrender, praising them for their
    


                              -95-
    valor, and fidelity to the lost cause, and complimented
them for being always ready and willing to go wherever he
ordered them.
       Our company was as true and gallant a company as
there was in the army, as our losses show in killed and
wounded. Our 121 men enlisted, only 65 were living at
the surrender,- many of them killed, and many died
of sickness, but most of them did their duty.
       While at Howletts Batteries on the James River,
five of the company deserted and came home, and one desert-
ed to the enemy, but the true ones stood to the last ditch,
and upheld the name of the company, viz:"The Fireside
Defenders". Many of them fell at Petersburg in 1864,Viz:
Geo. Fuller, Sam'l.F. Woodruff, Wm. A. Chambers, H. Lasiter,
and Wm. B. Bray, and many were wounded and carry their scar
to-day to show their valor won honorable scars that hurt
them to-day. There are but few of us left to tell the tale
,- not more than 25 or 30; the rest have gone to answer the
roll-call on the far beyond, where fighting and war are no 
more; where what few scarred veterans of the company that 
are left will soon greet them on the "other shore", where
parting is no more.




                              -96-
         As before stated I was not with the company in
1864, the 10th of May, until Jany. 5th 1865, therefore can
give but little history of the company during that year,
but I am told that they were in many engagements that year
below Richmond and about Petersburg. They took an active
part at the blow up or crator as Petersburg, the brigade
with Wilcox Alabama brigade saving the day by filling
in the gap that was blown up, defeating the enemy, they
were in Mahone's division. I have tried to get the history 
of the company in  64 after I was wounded and away, but have
failed so far.
          I do not remember now how many were present at 
the surrender, but not more than twenty I think. We had
a pretty hard time getting something to eat on the way 
to our homes, there were so many together at the start,
but as we scattered out we fared better. I never missed
getting three meals a day, and most of the time had a good 
bed to sleep on. The citizens were kind to us all the 
way to our homes. I could write many incidents and happen-
ings on the way home, but do not think it necessary.
         What I have written all the way through is from 
personal observations,- things I have seen and know to be
facts.



                               -97-
        There are many things about the brigade and
army that I could write about, but I set out to give a
history of the company, as well as I could remember without
any help.
        I hope this may be of interest to future
generations, and show them what we had to go through with
for what we thought was right. But the sufferings and
privations will never be known by the younger generations
that are to come; some of the hardships have never been
written in history, of cold suffering and sickness in camp
and hospital; suffering and dying away from home and loved
ones. I have heard them calling mother, wife or sister
while dying, and none of them near to soothe them in their
last dying moments. And then many were buried in an unknown
grave, with no mark or name, buried by strangers that knew
them not,- only to be known at the  resurrection morn",
when all shall meet before a just God, to answer the roll-
call in Heaven, I hope, where all shall be known. Where
son shall meet mother and sister, and wife shall meet
husband,-meet to part no more, where there is no more war,
but all is happiness and peace forever.




                            
                              -97-


                  I remain your very true friend,

                   (Signed)     W. B. Judkins,
                                 of Co. "G", of the 22nd. Ga.
                                 Regt. Of Infantry Volunteers.
                                  Who served through the war in
                                  Virginia, from 1861 to 1865.