This transcription provided courtesy of Martye Jeffords ( [email protected] )

DAVID HARRISON MOBLEY'S MEMOIRS (1925)

                 I enlisted in July or August, 1861, at Monroe .  Dr. (William S.) Barrett and myself had planned to meet in Monroe and form a company (and) this we did.  A large number volunteered with us on that day and soon thereafter we met at Walnut Grove schoolhouse and organized the company, known from that day as Barrett's company, offered our services and were accepted.

            We were ordered to Atlanta soon after that, and were mustered into service as Company G. 35th Georgia regiment, under Col. Ed Thomas, with John Bull, lieutenant colonel.  There we were drilled for service and in October we were ordered to Richmond , Virginia , and from there... to Evansport on the Potomac , where we remained on duty until spring, under Gen. Branch.

            We were ordered from there to Fredericksburg and (then) to Yorktown . By this time we were beginning to see and feel the effects of camp life.  Our ranks had been thinned from sickness, partly caused by the swamps, for the county was very marshy.

            Under command of Gen. Johnston we fell back to near Richmond and shortly after, the Seven Pines battle was fought and many of Company G were killed and wounded.  I missed that battle, being among the number who were sick and in the hospital at Richmond .  Captain Barrett commanded (the) company in the Seven Pines battle.

            My father came to see me while I was in the hospital and I was sent home on sick furlough.  My brother, Daniel,* was also in the Chimborasor hospital; he died...while my father was there.  My Uncle Henry Mobley* also died at the hospital while my father was there.  When I returned to my command I found them near Harper's Ferry.  Captain (John Y.) Carter was commanding, as Captain Barrett had resigned on account of his health.  I was at the surrender at Harper's Ferry.

            The army fell back to Culpepper; from there Gen. Lee marched into Maryland and Pennsylvania , and the big, deciding battle was fought at Gettysburg .

            But prior to this campaign the Fredericksburg battle was fought ... on the 13th day of February, 1862, and in it Gen. Tom Cobb was killed.  Our regiment was in the center of this charge and I was with the colors.  While we lay down under the crest of the hill, George Briscoe and Rolly Needham were shot dead in two or three feet of me, and others of my company and regiment were also killed... We fell back, having driven the enemy back across the river.  The Chancellorsville fight followed this (and) from there we went into Maryland ; then the Gettysburg battle was fought.

            My company was in the center of that last charge, led by Gen. Ed Thomas.  Many of my company were lost in that battle, many of them being captured in the barn which stood in the orchard.  My uncle, J.E.D. Mobley* of my company was struck by a spent ball on the head near his hat band, but he went forward with the company.  We charged the enemy on Round Top and drove them from their guns, but it was a short time before they returned with reinforcements.

            We were then ordered back and at night began the retreat across the river.  We were encamped at Orange Court House for a time, from which place we were ordered to the Wilderness on the Plank Road where, on the morning of the second day of the battle, about sun up, I was wounded in the leg, and was carried back and sent to Lynchburg to the hospital.  After being in the hospital for 40 days, I returned to my regiment and on arriving there was appointed to the office of Commissary Sergeant of the 25th (35th) Georgia regiment, which office I filled until the surrender at Appomattox Court House.

            I saw General Lee formally surrender to General Grant, or at least it was their last formal meeting, on the 9th day of April, 1865, near the historic apple-tree.  I was among the number who pressed their way to him with tears in their eyes and told him good-bye, shaking his hand.  As we turned away from him he said, "Go home, boys, and be men."

            So ended my career as a soldier in the War Between the States.  

     *John Ephraim David Mobley - Private, Co. G, 35^th GA Volunteer Infantry, Army of Northern Virginia CSA “Walton Sharpshooters”; surrendered at Appomattox on April 9, 1865

 *Daniel Iverson  Mobley - Private, Co. G, 35^th Regiment GA Volunteer Infantry, Army of Northern Virginia CSA “Walton Sharpshooters”; took part in the Battle of Seven Pines on May 31/June 1, 1862; died of illness on June 13, 1862 at Chimborasor Hospital, Richmond, VA         

 *Henry Clay Mobley - Private, Co. G, 35^th Regiment GA Volunteer Infantry, Army of Northern Virginia CSA “Walton Sharpshooters’; took part in the  Battle of Seven Pines; died of illness at Chimborasor Hospital, Richmond VA July 24, 1862; buried Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond