Hard service had depleted the battalion to a mere skeleton of its former organization by the fall of 1864, but a favorite pastime throughout that winter was raiding General Devin’s lines around Lovettsville. Devin had camped his cavalry brigade there to protect the B & O Railroad and the Canal against raids by White and Mosby, but hardly a night passed in which the pickets were not fired on. Engaged at Five Forks, the battalion now numbering only eighty men, formed the rear guard for Pickett and Fitz Lee as the long retreat to Appomattox began. At High Bridge the “Laurel Brigade” was surrounded by both infantry and cavalry. General James Dearing, then in command of the brigade, ordered a charge to break the encircling ring. Dearing went down mortally wounded but White led the brigade through. At last the command which had been so long denied was his, but only for a few days. As the infantry surrendered at Appomattox White led the brigade on to Lynchburg following Rosser. There they disbanded to seek paroles individually over the next few weeks. The battalion hardly numbered more than five hundred men, but accounted for many times their number in killed, wounded, and captured of the enemy. If they had bothered to carry a guidon its battle streamers would have shown The Seven Days, Cedar Mountain, Brandy Station, Gettysburg, Mine Run, Wilderness, Trevilliam Station, The Cattle Raid, Petersburg and Five Forks. In addition to these were the countless unnamed skirmishes that occurred daily. The 35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, led by the intrepid White, was truly one of the best fighting organizations in the Confederacy. [Illustration: Confederate Monument in front of the Court House, Leesburg.] IN MEMORY OF THE CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS OF LOUDOUN COUNTY VA. ERECTED MAY 28 1908 Confederate Monument In Leesburg The very fine Confederate monument in front of the Courthouse in Leesburg is the work of an excellent and well known sculptor, F. William Siever of Richmond. The statute occupies a warm place in the hearts of the people of Loudoun. With the Courthouse, the clerk’s office and the lawn, it forms a unit that stands as a symbol of the government which has been carried on in the county since it was established in 1757. The statue attracts much attention from tourists. It has become almost a daily occurrence to see a visitor photographing the Confederate Soldier.