Lest Darkness Fall

53rd North Carolina, Fort Mahone/ "Fort Damnation" Petersburg, Virginia 

Requiem Aeternam - Eternal Rest Grant unto Them 

 My great grandfather and great uncle knew all these men as they were part of the 53rd NC which was the sole unit in Fort Mahone. Handpicked men of the 53rd (My great grandfather was one of these) made the final, night assault at Petersburg in an attempt to break Grant's line. This was against Fort Stedman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Steadman which was immediately in front of Fort Mahone. They initially succeeded, but reinforcements drove them back. This video is made from photographs which were taken the day after the 53rd evacuated the lines the night before to begin the retreat to Appomattox. (Only 83 were left at the surrender, of whom two were black.) 

 The Attack On Fort Stedman, And (My Great Grandfather)

Starvation, literal starvation, was doing its deadly work. So depleted and poisoned was the blood of many of Lee's men from insufficient and unsound food that a slight wound, which would probably not have been reported at the beginning of the war, would often cause blood-poison, gangrene and death, yet the spirits of these brave men seemed to rise as their condition grew more desperate.' 

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Re-post NamSouth 2010

Lest Darkness Fall

This article, Lest Darkness Fall, does not reference Fort Mahone occupied by the 53rd NC which is where the assault began. 

"While walking along Harrison Creek, where the advance from Ft. Stedman stalled in the face of overwhelming numbers, my thoughts turned to what we have lost. American Liberty, the very founding principles of the United States were following the advance and retreat of this battle. The results are very sad. When this line of Grey crumpled and began retreating, I am sure sadness was felt by men such as Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and George Mason, for their great sacrifices and wisdom was what was at stake. Looking down upon the ebb and tide of this battle, they would have known that their creation, American Liberty, had lost.

Today there are US flags fluttering in the wind, gloating over the blood and defeat of the defenders of American Liberty, our Confederate forefathers. No where to be seen, was even one token Flag in memory of the men who died in their effort to preserve American Liberty for us, their future generations. Mind you, not a single Flag in their honour, not one single Flag in honour of our country. Not a single Flag to remind us of what our forefathers fought for and to show respect.

I am very proud to state that before the end of the day, our Flag of Honour and Distinction was very obvious on the National Park Service Petersburg Battlefield. All around the “Keep Off” signs at Fort Stedman, where one last effort was made against overwhelming odds, flew our Battleflag. Across the very ground tread in the desperate effort to break the line of the invaders of our country, around The Crater, in the homestead of residents burned out in typical yankee style, along the breastworks where our Confederate forefathers gallantly made their stand. Briefly, perhaps very briefly, Confederate Flags greatly outnumbered the US flag. Yes for a brief time our Flag honoured the men who fought for our Liberty. Despite the glares, threats and protests of current day suppressors of American Liberty one gross of 4 inch Flags covered this hallowed ground.

Walking along the march taken in the advance on Fort Stedman, counting the 228 paces, I could not help but wonder what was going through the minds of these men. Surely by this late in the War they were aware of the odds they were facing. They knew they were outnumbered, out gunned. But on they came, pace by pace. Taking Fort Stedman, they marched on, facing even greater numbers, then slowly falling back. The odds had just been too great to overcome. Walking along the Confederate breastworks, where the retreat from Ft. Stedman would have been visible, I could imagine how the soldiers felt standing there, watching the failure of the attempted breakthrough and knowing what it meant."

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