[from the diary of William M. Blackford, former diplomat, and bank officer in Lynchburg, Va., with five sons in the Confederate Army]
Monday 16 Sore throat and much in
disposition. Pretty busily engaged
Made arrangements with Mrs Otey
for the reception of some of Eugenes woun
-ded men, who are to be sent up. Com-
ing home in the evening found my
old friend Ed. T. Tayloe, just from
Richd where he had been staying with
Mr. Robertson, & whom he saw Lewis
& William yesterday at dinner. He
says a battalion of 300 men has
been detailed from the several brigades
to act as pioneers,or sappers & miners
and that Lantham has been appointed
to command it– He had just finished
repairing the Bridge which had been
much injured by the fresh. From Tay-
oe and the papers learn the details
of Stuart’s exploit,which is unprece-
dented in warfare. With 1500 cavalry &
two pieces of horse artillery he left Rich
mond Thursday Evg. [?] [Taylors -?]
[?] to Hanover C. H. church
white house, than round to the lower
Chickahominy which he crossed by a
bridge which he stopped to repair, &
arrived Sunday [?] at day break
at Gen Lee’s Hd Qrs, after making a
sweep of 100 miles round the enemy
passing on their rear–The results of
this reconnaissance, were [?] the
accurate information he obtained of the
position & resources of the enemy, the
destruction of 100 wagons, their transports
in the Pamunkey filled with commissary
& ordnance stores, the destruction of depots
of stores and 100 prisoners, and all with the
loss of one man killed–Capt Latané and
three wounded. A more brilliant feat
was never performed in the way of
reconnaissance The enemy asked
whether Jackson had come to Richd
naturally thinking that Ashby must
have been at the head of the expedition
[William Latané, a University of Virginia alumnus, was honored in John R. Thompson’s poem “The burial of Latané” and by William D. Washington’s painting of the burial, a copy of which hung in every Virginia parlour for decades.]
MSS 4763
Blackford’s diary will not resume until the 24th
