The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1861-09-03
Capt. Lindsay Walker.

4
| Dtspd eh. and il higher praise was needed, we
might copy frem private letter 10 lauy
iren an experienced officer who has seer
! Waiker 81 says he is the finest specirnsp of n
! man have ever seen, and is the bsan ide Al CG
an artillery officer He has already rendered
| more suossan aai service 10 us and won NOR.
Soiid, Teal glory than any man iii our army -
| ana II did not fear it Wou % deprive US ol
| hiin, L would sincerely hope ne ighc be IN ade
| bTleaoIer General. His whole heart is -
his duty, and ne discharges IL robly. 700 liz
! Vie d'spoGs ton mas been shown by our authori-
ties 10 recognize his services and his value -
ihey not only cave nor rewarded him by pre-
moton, bat. what he feels mora than any
other neglect, they will not give h m a prC rlgr
on Tit Tor his bal terry. If they you'd saw 10
him, lou shall always have the means OF
| keeping your command in proper order. he
would feei That he was amply repaid tor all he
| mas done"
| Since Capt WIS now famous battery is
manned, almost wholly, by msn from this city,
1t seems proper that something should be sal
Of It's origin and constitution.
Immediately after the Ordinance of Secession
| was passed--ws believe the day after-whiie
/ Mr.. (now C&ptain) WALKER was passing dow0
Main street on his way to the York River Rail
| road, to take tho cars for New Kent, where he
resided at the time, be was met by his old pro-
! oeptor anc constant friend, Col. SMITH, Of the
| NJ iitary Institute, who told him thai Governor
| LErCHER wished to SEQ him upon business Of
| great Importance. Mr. W. Immediately re
| paired TO the Government House, where ht
| found the Governor anxiously awaiting his
appearance. He opened his business at CT CO ;
| told HIN that he wanted aoms well queI lied
person 10 raise company Of artillery ard 60
at once 70 the Potomac; that 10 {N had been
recommended By Col. SanTa IS the Every
/ man for the place; end that ne hal sent for
him to make him an olfsr of it. Mr TALKER
| instantly accepted. The Governor asked him
when te thought he could Is oE. "By thr
cars tomorrow morning." said he, although II
was four o'clock in the evening, and be had
net enlisted the first man. The first person
ha applied 20 fer information AID assist
arcs was NJ. JoHy PURCELL. That gen.
tlsman Immediately entered heart ard
soul i1to the business. lie promised any
amount OF pecuniaIy assistance that might bs
| necessary, and introduced hin 10 Idr. DAwIeL
HAGEETY as tie per5cn who, Of 81 others,
could best assist him in the d5ficuIs enter
| prise he ha3 engaged to accomplish. The
two sci to work with q oiI, and conducted
their operations with so much energy that by
two o'clock they had collected eigrty-lsye
volunteers, gotten their gsns from the Armory,
and wera ready to start The next morriag
they reported to General CocKE a. Alexan-
dria. Mr.. WALKER was chosen Captain, aud
Mr. HAGERTY First Lisui.en ant, Of the coG-
pRny, which, in honor of Mr.. JOHN PUacELL.
was called the Purcell Bats ery. 90 the honor
OF AIR. PURCELL, it must not be forgotten that
he contributed much the larger part OF the
money which went to the purchase of their
uniforms and their genera. outfit. Tie guns
were furnished by the Go ye7nment. They
were four in number, ard OF the description
called PARRorr guns. They are ridsd, ana
have range of three or four miles.
Captain WALKERS battery was shortly after
removed to place about four miles and
half below Aqua Creek. His caissons had
been taken from him, and he 70 Und it impossi-
bic to reclaim them. He endo red it in the
best manner he could, and supp led tho def
cheney by wagons which he selet tied in Fredo-
ricksburg, and had fashioned to suit his pur-
pose. When the first attack was made at
Aquia, Captain WALKER formed his company,
had his guns and caissons all h harnessed up
Set out for the fold, arrived and fred hi: first
gun in thirty -fve minutes after ne had received
the order TO move. Such promptness we be-
lieve to he almost unexam pied in the history Of
war. The cool, daring, i'm perturbabls courage
OF the man was on that occasion subject Of
I,.,sr - tu@l Al
was covered by no bre; .stwork-not even a
green bush was betw cen him and the
Pawnee. His battery was drawn up on
the open sand-beach, 1ad there he stood
exposed for hours to the enemy's fire.
Animated by his exampI. his men fought like
heroes. It was ascertain ed, after the fight, by
the report of the enemy themselves, that every
shot which struck was ired by the PURCELL
battery. In the report of the engagement,
it was said that his gu ms we're Of too small
calibre, and that his shot fell short
This statement was, how ever, asterward cor
rected, as soon as the OH er who wrote the re-
port discovered the actual state of the case.-
carpenter who had Gen pressed on the
Pawnes TO repair damage 8, afterwara came to
Aqua Creek, and said that the shells had
made hole in her as lar &c as large window
that one Of them had zone through the mp
per deck, and that NUN ssrs we're killed and
wounded. Not casualty occurred among our
men.
Tho PURCELL battery remained fer some
weeks at Aqua, during which tisns pAey not
only foaght manfully ses eral times, but Gid an
immense quantity Of boo lily labor. Thsg we're
almost all stout, able-b, ,aied young meg, per-
fectly wiling to work or fight, As occasion
might require; but they felt chagrinea at SEE
ing 80 nuch labor devol we'd upon them, while
other companies, equally interested in the sue
cess of their work, were entirely exempted
On such oeensions Capt, WALKER was always
on hand 10 cheer them their tolls. He him
self sst the example, an I toiled like q common
soldier. 'soome, boys" he would say, .if you
are hot, throw off your. coats- If you are
s.ill hot, off with your next garment BY
encouragement like this, and BY always knop-
ing in . good bumor, N 4 having : laugh and
Joke ready for all sms rgensiss. not lsas than
by his rilliant courage, he endearsd himself
to his msn. not one Of whom, it ID believed,
woula a.a..4 Lsr, In Il 4. vnasf pnrilous ancv