Maryland free press., 1866-11-29

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The wisest Of men has said "the poor is hated
even Of his own neighbor; but the rich has many
friends" And so, too, the faults, blunders and
mistakes of the unfortunate can be seen by all
men, but fow are ready to throw the man tie of
charity over the imperfsctions of the best and the
wisest of our race. These thoughts have been
suggested by the proneness to forget the distin-
guished services of one whose brilliant early ca
reer was somewhat clouded by his last earnest
but unsuccessful efforts for 'the lost cause
In the fall of '6l, a young lieutenant Of cayal.
~ reported for duty af Yorktown. lie was i'm
mediately assigned to the command of all the
cavalry on the peninsula, and given the tempo-
be confirmed from Richmond. Our troops had
been greatly harrassed and annoyed by sensa-
tiaaal reports from the inexperienced And .unor-
ganized cavalry pickets. These false alarms i'm
mediately ceased lat: Yorktown, and were trans
ferred to the lines of the enemy. His maraudirg
parties were beaten and driven in. His scouts
were captured or compelled to remain under tlss
guns of his fortifcaton,. The. shiycrng garri,
SON at Newport News could net cut stick of
frewood, without the risk Of ambuscade and
death. In one Of the expeditions ofthe bold Ma
jor, while driving through the woods partysof
the enemy, wounded Federal begged piteonsy
for some one to pray for him. A Confederate, o
cousin, we believe, of General Mcclellan, halted,
offered up an earncst petition for the dying man
and then promptly regaiaed his place in the
chase. e''i-f A..i -a 4 % :. lego
The young officer left the Peninsula! to take
charge Of q Regiment of Texans on the Potomac
With noble band Of congenial spirits, and
more important field Of operations. hi, higher
qualities were rapidly developed. Ills uatiring
watchfulness and ardent zeal soon attracted oil
eyes. At Eltham's landing it was his good
fortune to defeat NJ iClelian's attempt to cut of
Johnsons retreat from Yorktown. From that
time forth, "Hood and his Tcxaus' lecame as
sociated in mems minds with all that was.efr.
cient enterprising and chivalrous. With ths
wreath and stars on his collar, be had other
troops added, frat to his brigade and then to his
division. These were as true and dauntless with
some EXCEPTIONS as his old comm md But bv
popular consent the brigade and the division
were both spoken of as ''ffood and his Texans ~
This may have been partly das to the. sort of
proprietary right which the Texans ca: med iu
their youthful leader. The wonderful devotion
of these men was intensified by the terrible or
deal Of fire at Gaines Mill We heard the next
day that on some previous OCCASION, he had
quieted bis old regiment, (Which had felt aggrie-
we'd by another being selected for certain duty
by the promise TO lead it in, person in the zcxt
fight. When the regiment found Itself in front
of earthworks and battery of artillery rising
above battery, the nee called out to the Gener-'
al to remember his promise. Placing himsefin
their front he carried them through ss awful
a storm of poi .ct.'e,, ss erer beat upon
the heads Of devoted troops. Tile guns were
captured, but u'as how few Of that band Of lie.
roes were left to -exut over the victory! Grief
and not triumph marked the bearing Of the lead
eE Of the charge for many days. Ills scouts were
known to be tue most daring a. well as the most
trustworthy in the army. We happened TO be
present on the morning of'the battle Of Malvern
Hill, when he directed one Of his scouts to 90
through a ravine and bring in prisoner. Tho
man replied, General, fit is more important to
6St Oho houi tOp vi tllt MI, lUluk L COuIQ
manage it.' Twas not very clear how priso-
ner was 10 be brought. of in the. face Of all that
army7of infantry and artillery. ~ The General
laughed and said a man from, the outpost would
answer. And here We must digrcss a moment,
to notice similar incident at Chickamaugua.
When Changers corps appeared on the flank late
in the afternoon, Forrest called mp some of his
men and said, ~ want to know what, troops
those are, bring me in someprisoners.n In half
an hour the squad was seen returning with three
prisoners. "l knew that they would bring
them was all tho comment OF Forrest / was
the very highest compliment that language could
have employed. irt. .'T ,.,,.
When Garland WAS killed and his brigade
scattered, on the right of the pike at Boonsboro
the enemy had an open. read to our rear. But
he felt his way very cautiously, and did uot seem
to be aware of his advantage till 'IIood and his
Texans stopped the way Ts welknown too,
how efTectually and nd.snceessfuuy they covered the
retreat that night bringing of the, immense
parks of artillery and trains of wagons But
tits not so we'll known how often the weary, the
Respondent and the brok :n.down, who had snnk
down by the way side, were encouraged to go ON
by the kind, werds of cheer and comfort spoken
by the commander of Ihe rearguard.
Then, loo, the Whole brunt of tile infantry
fghten the afternoon Of the first day at Sharps-
burg fell upon the. same devoted troops. y The
wonderful deeds Of prowcss performed, by these
men on the next day, were never surpassed by
the Knights of the age of chivalry. At early
dawn, tliat noble soldier and gentleman, Capt
Hamilton; of Hoods staig came totlSe writer CT
this to request reinforccments.. Three brigadcs,
feeble in numbers, were sent him, With this
slender support, he beat and drove back Hook
ers corps, and the blue coats lay as thi,k In his
front as did the red -breechts, on the grouad over
which he made his terrible charge at I'd Manas-
sas. But fresh corps was thrown upon him,
and be in turn was forced to retire. The 6,urth
Texas lost its asg, but not until-in the words
of the, ,GencralA' A'it was buried Under pile of
its defenders" Aaer,the defeat of Hooker, GEN.
Hood thought that the easiest aud mpst decisire
victory of the WAR could have been won, had he
been supported By the troops which ought to ]
have been up. = -"''' ~ -