The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1861-01-03
ThtYd Of January.


Thtrd Of January.
The gallant feet of States, which has so
long sailed together to the admiration Of the
world, 10, We are told, about 10 part company
forever. Their union IL proclaimed TO be
thing Of the past and to belong to history
alone. Ttoja fxit" must be written on the
spot on which they stood.
II cannot be amiss, then, to call to memory
some Of the things that they did together. un-
der the eye Of WARRINGTON, and this day mas
beeu sanc,ined by of the most glorious o.
them all II was on this day, eign'y-'o'se
years ago, that WASHINGTON, having sAIi'
Gated himself the night before from ms perrin
Gus position in Trenton. made hank march
OF twelve miles, fell upon the rear OF the Brit
tsh army nj Princeton, gained another glorious
victory, and completely changed the face Of
affairs II was great exploit, worthy Of any
commander that ever lived, rivalled only BY the
march of the Consul NERO, when he left HAN
nfBAL Ia the lurch on the Vulturnus, and
fell upon and destroyed the recruits which
his brother was bringing to his army. A
iank march. in the face Of an enemy in
position, says NAPOLEON, is the most dan
gerous operation in war. such march
brought on the rout of FsKpxRIcK The
Great at Kolin, of the Russians at Aus
tsrii,z OF MARxoNT at Salamanca This
operation, delicate as IL ts, WASHINGTON con.
Quoted with the most entire success, in the
face Of an enemy mere than douely as strong
a. he was, with raw und,sciplined troops IN
opposition 10 veterans that had never met
their match In Europe, commanded BY man
Who had been specially selected Tor the SER
vice on account Of the supposed superiority
of his talents and ent erprise. u Will Dag my
fox In the morning." said CoRNWALLls, In
sportsman's phrase, when advised oy SIT
WILLIAM ERsKINK to finish with WASHING
tor on the night Of the second. The morning
came, and the first thing he heard, was not Inc
noise of the huntsmen and the bounds sum-
moning to the joyous revelry Of the chuse, but
a heavy sound which he mistook for thunder,
although 1t was the third Of January, away on
upon the rear of his left wing. "There goes
WASHINGTON" exclaimed Sir WIN. ERsKINE,
and there was WASHINGTON going sure
enough. He had completely foiled his adver'
sary. While the latter had been sleeping-fn-
dnlging. probably, in dreams OF ducal coro'
net, to be placed upon his brow by the hand
of monarch grateful to the hero who had
ended SO dangerous q war, crushed SO danger
ous an enemy, averted the dismem berment OF
so great an OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES had lett
him TO bis slum bers, had entirely turned MS
left, had fallen upon his renforcemeats on the
march, had put them completely to the rouf,
had disconnected the schemes it had taken
weeks to copcoet, and was now Tree OF ms enc
mies-master of his own movements, and,
what was of more importance, master also OF
theirs. He had accomplished something even
more important than that. He had given the
enemy such a taste of his quality that they
always, afterwards, entertained a profound
respect for his prowess. They dared not VEN
ture on any ha zardous enterprise in his pres.
snce. They lost all spirit, all activity, and
were content ted for the most part, to let him
alone provided he let them alone. They mad
ut this very time, at New Y ork and in the Jer-
seys TWEEN ty three or four thousand men,
The force with which WASHINGTON had bro
ken through the ir lines, and defeated the de-
tachment at Princeton, did not exceed fourth
of that number. Instead Of following him,
surrounding him, crushing him, HOWE with
drew all his Troops from Jersey, and shut
them up in New York. And there WASHING
TON kept them shut up the whole winter
Nay, when the spring came he had but 200
still, and when HOWE crossed the river with
his host of veterans, TO force his way to Phila-
delphia, WARRINGTON with his handful of raw
recruits, NAL &c uvred in such q mastery man
ner that he did not dare TO attack him, and so
like the King Of France mentioned In the ball
lad, he went back to where he came from
Nay, when he defended himself in the House
Of Commons against the charge of neglect of
duty, in not marching up the Hudson to BUR-
GoYNR's assistance, he said that had he done so
WAsHINGToE would have been on his flank
He could neither beat his little army, nor get
out of the way oft. In word, WASHINGTON
was master Of the position, and had things all
his own way. II the man who, with 5000
half. trained soldiers under his command,
could battle and paraly 70 twenty four thou
sand British veterans, was not great cap
tain, then history 10 a cheat, and wisdom has
little to do with military affairs. Neither
Hows, nor his successor, CLINTON, ever forgot
the LESBOS of Trenton and Princeton. The
former, even after Brandywine and German
town, suffered WARRINGTON to shut him mp
with nineteen thousand veterans, in Phila-
dslphia, although the American army was
perishing of hunger at Valley Forge; although
II, at one time, did not exceed a few thousand
men; although half OF the men present were
innocuiated for the smallpox. and although,
from the constant expiration of terms Of en-.
listment The whole army underwent an entire |
charge-scarcely a regiment remaining in the |
spring that had been there in the winter. !
II affords us q mournful pleasure to recall
these things. or the brave whs fell At Prince
ton, enough, possibly, has been said. "But
one we would select from that proud throng,"
whose rank was surely high enough to have
drawn the attention of the historian to him,
than whom there was not a man Of all that
heart, who tell shot through the head as he
was leading his troops to glory, yet whose
name has been consecrated by no muse, whose
memory has been preserved by no monument,
whose death was only chronicled in the dis
patch Of the day. The officer to whom we al
lude was Major JOHN FILMING, Of the 4th
Virginia Regiment Of the line, commanded by
Oolonel, afterwards General, CHAs. SoorT,
one Of the bravest officers Of the Revolutionary
army. Hs belonged TO the old Virginia family
Of FLRNINas, who have been in the country,
we believe, ever since the 18th century, and
was q native Of Chesterfield county. One Of
his brothers, COL. OAAs. FILMING, served GAL
lantly throughout the war, and survived 1t
many years Another was the venerable Judge
WIZ. FILMING, for many years President OF
the Court Of Appeals. These FLkNINas, we
believe, were descendants Of PooAHoNTAs,
and therefore related to q large number OF
families in Virginia. Bat The name was at
one time in danger Of becoming extinct the
late TAkLrox FLAMING, OF Goochland, being,
after the death Of Judge FLEMING, the only
ons who bore 1t. The latter gentleman, how.
ever, left several sons.
JOHN FILMING was q gentleman OF property
and . lawyer. When he left his profession
and his home, at the call Of his country, al