Final Orders at
Appomattox
They were Carried by Courier
Henry London of Chatham
County, for the Last Charge and
the Last Retreat of the Army of
Northern Virginia.
By MANLY M ARK WKLL.MAN
Major Henry Armand London
Nearly a fifth of Robert Li. Lee's
28,000 ragged rebels at Appomattox
Court House were North Carolinians.
Even on the morning of April 9, 1865.
these veterans of a hundred battles
were in no mood to admit defeat. The
Army of Northern Virginia’s last
charge was commanded by General
Bryan Grimes of Pitt County, and
sparked by regiments of North Caro¬
lina infantry. That charge drove home,
staggered and half broke superior
forces to its front, and was halted only
when Robert E. Lee himself decided
to surrender to Ulysses S. Grant.
The order for the charge, the South's
last hope of victory, was carried by
18-ycar-old Private Henry A. London
of Chatham County, who shortly after¬
ward dashed the hope forever by car¬
rying another order to cease fire. His
was a war career brief but vivid, and
through a long and distinguished life
he fell enriched and ennobled by his
Confederate service; he just didn’t talk
about it to strangers.
Young Henry Armand London en¬
tered the University of North Carolina
in the fall of 1861, not long after his
idolized big brother Willie marched
off to war as first lieutenant of the
Chatham Rifles. This capable body of
militia served first with the 15th North
Carolina Infantry and then, when the
1 5th was disbanded, became Com¬
pany I of the 32nd North Carolina,
with Willie London as captain.
Young Henry, just 14. yearned to fight
for the South that seemed to be win¬
ning; but boys so young weren’t
needed in the gray ranks. Not then,
at least.
Me followed the fortunes and mis¬
fortunes of the 32nd all through 1862
and 1863 and into 1864. It was
a good regiment, battered and bloodied
around Richmond, then at Gettysburg,
then in the Wilderness and through
Jubal Early’s 1864 Valley Campaign.
As a student. Henry made good grades,
took part in university pranks, and
kept a diary. His notes sometimes
showed the pinch of Confederate in¬
flation — $3 for a "watermelon treat,"
$1.50 for a "possum supper.” In the
autumn of 1864. he was a senior, but
he could stay at his books no longer.
On November 28 he returned to his
father's home, led a horse out from
THE STATE, Vol. XX: No. 2*. Entered a» *rrond-rlas* matter. June 1. I9JJ. at «he
РоМоШсе
.«l Kalelgh. North Carolina. under I hr arc ol
March 2, 18!S. PubUchcd by Sharpe Publlihine Co., Inc., Lawyer» Uld*., Kalrlth. N. C. Copyrltht, 1952. by «hr Sharpe Publtshln* Co., Inc.
