Paper no. 4.
Thursday evening July 16th, 1863, the
Confederate works at
Jackson, Mississippi, were abandoned,
Lieutenant Ritter's section being the last to leave them.
Next day, the 17th,
Brandon was reached, and on the 20th
Morton.
Here the section was paid off, after considerable insistance, not having received any money for a number of months.
On the 24th of August the battery was attached to
Preston's battalion of reserve artillery, and on the 5th of September, ordered to
Demopolis, Alabama, for repairs.
In new uniforms, well dressed, well drilled, and well equipped, on the 12th of October the battery took part in a review had for
General Johnston, and was chosen to fire a salute of eleven guns in his honor;
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as also one afterwards on the 15th, in honor of the arrival of
President Davis.
At this place an effort was made to consolidate
Moore's and
Ritter's sections, but it failed, as the sequel will show.
Lieutenant Ritter had now been on detached service for some time, and being anxious to return to his old command, on the 2d August, 1863, he wrote to
Brigadier-General A. W. Reynolds, and also to
Major-General Carter L. Stevenson, asking their influence to that end. He made an application likewise to
General Joseph E. Johnston, sending it through the regular channel.
He heard from none of these except the one sent to
General Stevenson.
That officer approved of the application, and sent it to
General Hardee's headquarters in
Mississippi, who referred it to
General Johnston.
General Johnston's Adjutant, thinking the section had accompanied
General Walker's division to
Chickamauga, sent the application to
General Walker for further action.
But this not being the case,
General Walker endorsed on the paper that the section was not with his division, having been left at
Morton, Miss., and sent to
General Bragg.
The application was returned to
General Stevenson, through
General Longstreet's headquarters.
General Stevenson sent it by
Lieutenant Stillwell of
Corput's battery, to
General Johnston's headquarters at
Meridian, Miss.
The General's Adjutant referred him to
General Hardee, who told him he had nothing to do with the section; but at the same time instructed
Colonel Wickliffe, by telegraph, not to let the section leave
Demopolis, as a battery had already been taken from his department, and he did not intend any other should leave.
This information was received from
Colonel Wickliffe, who also told the
Lieutenant that it was
General Hardee's determination to consolidate the two sections, and promote
Lieutenant Ritter to
Captain.
On the return of
Lieutenant Stillwell from
Meridian, Miss., he met
General Johnston in
Demopolis, who expressed a desire to see the commander of the section that evening at
Mrs. Whitfield's residence, where he was stopping.
Ritter in company with
Stillwell, went there and met the
General at the gate, as he was leaving for
Mississippi.
Being introduced by
Lieutenant Stillwell,
Ritter stated his business.
The General asked him a great many questions with regard to his section, how long it had been on detached service, where it had been, &c. He said that as soon as he returned to his office, he would order the section to its original command.
On the 19th of October the order came, and the next morning
Lieutenant
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Ritter and his men proceeded to the depot, and took the cars for
Selma, having turned over the guns and horses to the quartermas-ter.
From
Selma to
Montgomery, and thence to
Atlanta, Georgia, where they arrived on the 23d.
The next day they rejoined the battery at
Decatur, Ga., having been absent from the old command over six months.
