The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1863-08-18
From the Raleigh Register. .
THE LATE GEN. PETTIGREW.

! In the untimely death of Gen. Pettigrew, North
Carolina mourns young man of extraordinary
natural gifts and attainments of whom il is no ex-
travagant enlogy to say that, had he been spared,
his ripper years would have added lustre to the
annals of his country. 1t is hoped that a lasting
memorial of him, one which shall do him ample
justice, will be prepared by fitting hands, but
meanwhile, even a. rapid glaLee at the bief story
of his life, will show how early his pre- eminence
| was acknowledged. aud how steadilyit advanced
and was maintained
James Johnston Pastigrev was the son of the
Hon. Ebenezer Pettgresg, and grandson of Charles
Pettigrew, first Bishop elect of the p. K Church
in North Carolina. He graduated at the Univer-
sity in lS47, in about the nineteenth year of his
age President Polk and Judge Mason, Secretary
or the Navy, were present at the commencement,
exercises e. and were so much impressed by young
Pettgrew appearance that occasion, as to ten
der him a position in the National Obser vatory,
and urged its acceptance with an earnestness that
| would take no denial In the Observatory.as in
the University his high reputation for ability and
extraordinary proficiency, especially in the severer
Mathematical Sciences, was fully sustained The
profession OF the law however, being his ultimate
aim, he became the pupil Of his distinguished
cousin, the late James j.. Pettigru, of Charleston,
and the extent to which he commanded the conf
dence Of that most accomplished jurst, was shown
very soon, if not Immediately after his admission
to the bar
We have means of ascertaining the precise
dates which chronicle his rapid and upward pro-
gress in public estimation. He served session or
two in the South Carolina Legislature, and made a
marked impression there. His report in opposi-
ton to the slave trade, and his speech in favor of
Bill which gave the existing organization to the
Supreme Court, won. for him more than local
4
tent judges to compare we'll with any specimen of
paramentry eloquence that had been displayed
that year in either the State National Legislature
TO such abilities already so cultivated and
heightened, he added the further advantages Of
foreign travel and study. His literary tastes aud
pursuits kept pace with the severer Studies of law
and of science. There were few thidgs within the
range of human capacity that he did not attempt,
and in whatever he undertook lie egcelled.
In the first agitation of the secession question in
South Carolina, he foresaw that inevta
Bile, and with the same ardor aud success that at
tended every effort of his mind, he applied him
self to the acquisition of military science, and
visited Europe for the express purpose of ayaing
himself of every advantage to be derived from the
study and observation of European military tac-
tics, more particularly in the French army. His
since the war began is well known, and has
been as brilliant as brief He served first in South
Carolina Colonel of the South Carolina Rifles
but as the war progressed, he came back home, as
most men would fain do in time of trodble, to his
ovn mother, and North Carolina welcomed her
gifted son. In the course of the war, and after
the fall of Sumter, in which he bore a conspicuous
part he enlisted as private in Hampton's Legion
and while in this Legion, theu in Virginia, he
was elected by acclamation Colonel Of the 18th
Regiment North Carolina Proops which after
wards if the new classification, numbered as the
22d North Carolina Troops, and which has won so
many honors on the field. Ills management Of
this regiment is understood to have been unique.
in its superiority and its success. The energy
with which he threw himself into the work OF
drilling, and by strict personal attention educating
every man in it to be a soldier, animatine them
with one spirit and inspiring them with intense
devotion to himself, was an exempfcation of what
he was in every other pursuit of his life. At the
bar, as a student, as a statesman, and in all that
charms in social life, he had ever been foremost
he had failed In nothing-and now at the last, as
a soldier, he was model.
We cannot but think that in the warm personal
attachment of his men to him, in his ability to
inspire love, he showed that he was possessed of
the very highest attributes Of genius. For twenty
men that are admirable, there is not one loreaJle
And he returned the devotion wk ich he inspired.
He declined the office Of Brigadier-G General, till
it was arranged that his own regiment should be-
long to his brigade. 1t is muchseven to deserre
success in life. Few men do more. Johnston
Pettigrew not only deserved but won it.
And now, his has gone down while it is yet
day. The noble aspirations are quenched, the
transcendent gifts of nature and of cultivation are
dust and ashes GLOW is the strong staff broken,
and, the beautiful rod ~ In this quiet spot, far
moved from the agitatops and vcissitudes of ac
tive life, safe as yet from wars alarms those who
remembered the slender and graceful youth who
bore away all college honors without an effort,
whose ingenious simplicity of manner dsarmed
envy, and gave fresh charms to even his genius
have never mentioned his name but with interest
and admiration. He has been the bright paTtcd
lar star of college tradition. To have belonged to
bis class was distinction, to have even contended
in the arena with him was held to be an honor.
The venerable men who guided and nurtdred that
intellect-feretold his future career and glorcd in
the accomplishment Of their predictions-mour
for him now as for a son whose like their declin-
ing years will never again see.
Ye: he died as he would have chosen, aud Of
the thousands Of the flower of our land who sare
fallen in her Defence Of may IT be said roore
truly than of Johnston Pettigrew, "Ff/tr non
soIuna cloritate Dit, ,se etia"s oOorf"""fs norris
University of North Carolina, July %, 1868.