The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1865-07-18

FOl Inab 1ittttl wednesday morning, n
model mEll, an illustriOUs hero, fell.
One of the most admirably gifted INTEL
lects which has ut any time been called
upon to lead West Virginia troops to
victory, was taken from their councils
and their active sympathies by the
hand of treacherOus foe.s As sur
geon or colonel of Il regiment, as COM
mander of division orHs civilian, ut
tentive to every detail, whether medi-
cal, surgical, or administrative, Col.
Thoburn was always prompt ut the call
of overy duty.
"Ie was one of the most amiable of
mon, modest, humble and unassum-
ing." In his private life, he illustrated
some OF the best points in his character,
in thousand ways which the public
eye would never detect.
He was in the largest and truest
sense bcReUOlent mdn. lie had a large
practice among the poor, and in his
daily visits his hand was ever open to
relieve their wants, if il possibly Law
III his power to do so. No one butshis
wife knew how much he did in this
quiet way. Repeated instances might
be recorded hero in which lie assisted
others under circumstances which must
have cost him no little personal sacri-
lice. His charities, which were almost
as numerous as the days he lived, were
bestowed without the lenSt OstentatiOn.
as without lDretenSlOn.
Another marked trait of Col. Tho
Durn,S character was his ItNScIfShlleSS
This he regarded as the cornerstone of
true manly character. With him it
was no pretence, but i'll his whole life
he never sought any advantage mt the
expense ofnnother. Nowhere was this
more conspicuous than in the army.
whore jealousy too O,oftcn mars the har-
mony which ought to exist among Of
A Loot I,s. f..l..,
manly unselfish patriotism amid all the
riyalries and jealousies of the camp.
HIS dcUOhOn to principle was another
prominent trait of his character. With
out extensively obtruding himself and
his views ON others who differed from
him, he adhered to his own convictions
of right with II quiet iirmupss which
nothing could shake. He feared no
consequences when once satisfied that
n given course was right. Though bV
no means insensible to public applause.
he never cOurted it for its own sake,
and never gave it n thought when anV
principle WAS at stake. Whoever re-
calls the momentous events, the gigan-
tic and often acrimonious struggles for
nscendency, the pOrtentOus and bril-
liant military achievements, which.
from 1861 TO 1865, fixed the public atten-
ton and excited the alternate hopes and
fears of cOntending armies, and was
acquainted with Col. ThOburn, will re-
member that through all these bloody
events he continued to advance stead
lily in public appreciation to fill n vet
wider and wider space inthe eyes of the
country; that on him rests no imputa-
ton OF having ever purchased favor or
advancement by the slightest sacrifice
of principle, orOf having deviated into
any of those equiyocal positions which
sometimes brings disrepnte on Illus
trious names. He WINS man of nope.
ful temperament, of broad view Iiflj
s,U'SlspI Ii1Q2Ln4iIIs5 An estfmati infi itii'-
acter, he saw tho best points OMIT or
else found so many WtIyss OF ,eS6tisinSs
what was bad, that he Svas Accustomed
to take Il favorable view of individuals
and of society mt large. In all his
plans, and i'll all his opinions on the
questions of tho day, he was accus-
toned to take broad views and weigh
every minute issue involved, and if he
erred, it was never on the side of mar
row prejudice and bigOtry. Few men
had II clearer apprehension of the is
sues involved in tho present war than
he. For years, he was settled in the
conviction that, through the diabOlical
influence of slavery, what has hap
Pcned would come to pass; but, per-
hnps not dozen persons knew his
opinions. From Il long study of the is
sues involved, viewed in his usual COM
prehensiVe manner; he had reached his
conclusions, but it was not i'll his char
acter to obtrudc his views on those who
uld not SympathiZe with them. The
genial clements of his character natur-
ally expanded most freely in the circle
of his family aud friends, Where he was
truly and ever ut home.
Ihe many manly qualities in his
character were too conspicuous to cs-
cape the notice ofany one who knew
him. But whoever had not seen Col,
Thoburn in his dwelling or among his
friends, knew him but imperfectly. 1t
IS indeed rare to meet with one whose
capabilities and eXcellencieS were so
varied and distinct, nor is it possible
that any one knowing him as colleague,
counsellor, friend, should speak of him
otherwise than frankly and from the
heart, though conscious of the imper-
feet representation given i'll these menu
ornnda ofa man so intrinsicaliy great
IN all the elements which constitute
true greatness, and SO entirely beloved
for all that refers itself to the ameni-
tics of social intercourse and the sacred
cndearmcnts of home.
In conclusion, it is proper to add that
Colonel ThOburn had The confidence
and love of his soldiers in pre-emi-
nent degree, strikingly manifested in
deed in the young soldier who saw his
remains mt the depot in Wheeling, who
who were present. During the two
days that his remains, also the remains
of Captain Bier and Sergeant Jenkins,
his fearless comrades who had fallen.
on the same field, lay i'll state i'll the np-
.propriately decorated and draped Sem
ate Chamber, in the Capitol, thousands
of people ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS with
hearts bowed down with grief to take
last sorrOwing look at the dead heroes,
drop silent tear to their memories,
and attest their appreciation of the sac
ri1ices they had made.
The largest funeral procession that
ever took place in Wheeling followed
Col. Thoburn's remains to Mount Wood
Cemetery, where, with military honors,
were deposited Gall that was left of the
dutifGI son, the good physician, the
brave soldier, and the humble and con-
sistent christian"