The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1867-06-14

L, cOmraueS, attempt, IN your presence,
to place an additional laurel on the
brow of M'Call, a Meade or an Ord,
or drop tear to the memory of the la
mentad Reynolds? No! comrades {;
this would be work ofsupererogatiOn.
Those names are enshrined in the
hearts of their surviving comrades /;
men who formed division that sealed
its valor by leaving three-fourths Oft
number upon the various fields of strife,
made red by bloody victory; divis-
ion that has earned fame as historic
as the Greek PhalanX of Alexander, the
Tenth Legion of Caesar, the Irish Guard
of Wellington, or the Old Guard of Ma
pOleOn.
Would you know where this fame was
won? Go back with me on the sultry
afternoon of the 26th of June, 1862, to
the banks of Beaver Dam creek at Me-
chanicsville. Mark this division, form
ed upon the extreme right flank of the
army of the Potomac; see the solid col
umns of Confederates advancing to turn
this point; hearken to the thunders of
artillery-the sharp rattle of the mus
ketIy-the Confederate yell-the stur-
dy cheer of the Reserves in reply! Still
on the column comes! See the charge,
the repulse. Again they come, and a
cain, but all to no purpose. That line
stands firm as adamant until night
ends the strife. But night brings no
rest-"Fall in," steadily, for Gaines
Mill. Why? Because Jackson, that
willy beau ideal of the Southern soldier,
has beaten in detail, and slipped away
from, our tardy commanders in the
Shenandoah Valley; the 9th sees us
again engaged, and our gallant Reyn-
olds captured. The 3Oth, prodigal with
the slaughter of our comrades in that
bloody struggle at Charles City Cross
Roads-the gallant M'Call captured
the stern, steady Meade wounded-the
noble Seneca Simmons killed, and only
cool, brave Seymour left us. March on
to Malvern Hill, July I'd, where the
military genius of our George b. M'c-
ClelIan blazed with the splendor of
Napoleon the hearts he formed and
led showed themselves worthy of his
training, when after retrograde move
ment of six days they turned on their
pursuers and hurled back with indies
cribdble slaughter, the masses who con-
sidered the army Of the Potomac a
thing of the past. Those seven days,
comrades, have become historic
marching by night and fighting by day,
listening each morning to hear the guns
of NJ 'DoweIl on JacksOn's left flank as
eagerly as Jennie Brown, the High
land lass in Lucknow, listened for the
slogan of the Campbells. But, alas
not with the same result. Animated
solely by fear of personal danger, there
suit of military ignorance, the fiat Of
the modern Aulic Council, halting Nc
Dowell in his march to join us, we were
left to struggle alone. Manfully it was
done. You are entitled to the green
est laurels, won by the sacrifice in these
sanguinary contests of one-tifth Ofyour
beloved comrades.
Transport yourselves with me from
Harrison's Landing to the plains OF
Manassas Again you occupy the post
Of honor. Lees object was to turn
Pope's left flank. There you stood, with
yourBrigade front and Division in mass,
Reynolds at your head; there you won
additional honors by stemming awhile
the torrent of ofconfederate victory which
drove, from sheer lack of generalShip,
the devoted soldiers of the Potomac
army into the fortifications of the Capt.
tai. "f'all in ~ forward !" is the or
der of your old commander. At the
sound of that voice the shattered col
umn is reformed as if by magic; you
climb the rugged sides of South Noun
tain, and drive the foe before you pass
down its western slope and debouch in
the valley to meet again the veterans
of Lee, posted in the acute angle form
ed by the junction of the Potomac riv-
er and Antietam Creek.
Under M'Clellan's plan of battle the
Confederate left was the point to be as
sailed. Who were selected as the as
saiIants of this post alike of honor and
of danger? History records that "the
assault was made by the centre division
of HoOker'S corps, the Pennsylvania
Reserves, under command of Gen. Geo.
G. Meade, with wonderful limpetuOsity,
which forced back the Confederate lines
over the HagerStoWn road and into the
woods around the bunker Church" !"
Victory here perched upon your ban
nerS. The series Of disasters which
had swept, from sheer lack of general
ship, the Union arms from the Rapi-
dan into the lines of Washington, were
at an end. The veteran and hitherto
invincible legions of Lee, were compell-
ed to seek refuge behind the waters OF
the Potomac and here, as heretofore,
the brightest page of the history of this
contest Is your own.
"Fall in ~ Forward !" is the order,
and on bleak December day you pass
the Rappahannock and meet your foes
perched upon the heights OF Freder-
icksburg. Are you selected for any
special or perilous duty here? Yes,
the commandments has directed
Franklin to charge with division ON
his front, and he ordered the Pennsyl-
vania Reserves forward. That stern
old warrior, Meade, marShalled forward
the debris of that veteran band he had
so often led into the very jaws of death!
Then came the rapid advance, start
ing beyond our lines like gladiator
of old, to grapple with the power OF an
Adversary, then the sharp volley, the
fixed bayonet, the cheer, the charge,
the rush, the first line of the enemy car
ried, their second wavering, our TANKS
enveloped, our line enfiladed, over
whelmed with numbers, the ordered
support notadvancing to our assistance.
o! how we wished for the presence OF
those noble souls, our fallen comrades,
whose bones lay bleaching on every
field of carnage from the outset, by
which our numbers were reduced from
$1,000 to 1000; then would we have
stood in our power and pride, numeri-
cally strong enough to win our way
without support. Alas! this could not
be, and we emerged from that useless
charge fragment OF our former selves;
the gallant General Jackson, of the
Second brigade, no more, and forty per