- Joined
- Dec 3, 2011
- Location
- Laurinburg NC
At Chancellorsville, he and his regiment were distinguished on all three days of battle, on the third driving the enemy from their breastworks at the point of the bayonet. In this fight, Grimes narrowly escaped death. He and his regiment were with some of the first to enter Gettysburg, driving the enemy before them. When General Ramseur was wounded at Spotsylvania, Grimes took command of the brigade and led with such energy that General Lee said of the brigade that "they deserved the thanks of the country - they saved his army." General Rodes declared of Grimes, "You have saved Ewell's Corps." When Ramseur fell at Cedar Creek, Grimes assumed command of the division, holding this position to the end.
Fighting through the Petersburg trenches, he participated with uncommon gallantry at Fort Stedman, riding a captured horse. When his line was broken on April 2nd, 1865, he rushed down the line on foot and, seizing a musket, joined in the fire upon the enemy until his troops, encouraged by his cool boldness, were able to recover the greater part of the line. At Saylor's Creek, he saved himself by riding up the precipitous banks amid a shower of bullets, and on the next day led his division in a splendid charge, recapturing guns from the enemy.
Fighting to the very last at Appomattox, he volunteered his division to cut through the enemy lines and clear the road to Lynchburg. At the last, his will to fight warred with his sense of honor, and he reluctantly agreed to the surrender. This last action is remembered in North Carolina's motto, "Last at Appomattox."
Fighting through the Petersburg trenches, he participated with uncommon gallantry at Fort Stedman, riding a captured horse. When his line was broken on April 2nd, 1865, he rushed down the line on foot and, seizing a musket, joined in the fire upon the enemy until his troops, encouraged by his cool boldness, were able to recover the greater part of the line. At Saylor's Creek, he saved himself by riding up the precipitous banks amid a shower of bullets, and on the next day led his division in a splendid charge, recapturing guns from the enemy.
Fighting to the very last at Appomattox, he volunteered his division to cut through the enemy lines and clear the road to Lynchburg. At the last, his will to fight warred with his sense of honor, and he reluctantly agreed to the surrender. This last action is remembered in North Carolina's motto, "Last at Appomattox."
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