Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-12-04

SOluler IN q ruue leXas grave, o'VA "AiNu
there is no monument. The grass was
growing about it in the early summer
and there were some flowers there, with
cred and faded, scattered byla woman
hand. A.votary at the shrine OF nature.
and finished diplomat at the Court Of
Venus, il was fitting that there should
be ldrgesse Of green growing grasses and
love-howers. If roses are the tear-drops
of angels, as the beautiful Arab belief
puts forth in poetry, then is this lowly
mound hallowed spot, and needs not
the sculptured stone, the fretted column,
the ivy and the obelisk.
Magruder was q wonderful man, he
stood six feet four inches in height, aud
had form men envied and women adj
mired. His nerves we're all iron. For
eign travel and comprehensive culture
had given to his wit zest that was al
ways crisp and sparkling He never
lacerated To the sting of repartee he
added the honey Of the clover. He
could fight all day and dance all night,
In the morning glass of brandya and q
strong cigar renewed his strength, and
caused the cup of his youth to run over
with the precious wine of health and
high spirits. He loved magnificent uni
forms, magnificent horses, magnificent
riders, and magnificent women.
3O Gifted and graced in conversation, be
was a pet in the bOudoir and logician
in the barracks. He had studied French
in Paris, Italian in Rome, and Spanish
in the Halls of the Montezumas. His
horsemanship was of the English kind,
that is to say, not graceful, but impossible
10 be surpassed IN firm riding and endu-
rance. He wrote little love songs that
were set to music; one of them, limo,
gene" had in it the plaintive melody of
lover and the sad rythm of burial bu-
giles.
In the Crimea he astonished the
French officers by sleeping at the front
with the chasseurs under fire. In Mex
leo lie sent back to the Archbishop
lady's perfumed glove he found in his
palace when the city was won and with
note which read: " II is pretty enough
to have belonged to queen. Would
she have pardoned me if ] had appro-
priated it?" As the archbishop sent
him the next day basket Of delicious
wine, it is supposed that the fair owner
of the glove must have looked leniently
upon the handsome American soldier.
Later and he was riding with General
Scott down the long street of lturblde
General Garnett joined them, and Ma
gruder drew a little back for his supe-
riors to consult together. A white puff
Of smoke curled out from an open win
dow, sudden report followed speedily,
and Garnett and horse fell hard and
bloody. An ounce ball, intended for
Scott, had broken Garnetts thigh and
killed his charger. Fearing another
fire, Magruder galloped TO the side of
his chief and covered his body with his
own. The old mans eyes never drop
ped, nor his voice changed an intona-
ton. "How long will it take you to
batter down that houseY he spoke
curtly to Lieutenant Magruder, pointing
with sweep of his finger to the one
nearest, and from which the bullet came.
"An hour BY the watch, General.
"Then open fire at point blank range,
! and leave not one stone upon anotherY
q It was done, and well done, and those
who saw Magruder soonest Afterwards
noticed that he had another bar on his
epaulettes; he had been made captain.
War was his element, the blvouac his
delight, and the battle his perfect happi-
ness. Besides, prodigal, fashionable,
foolishly brave sometimes, spendthrifti
generous, a true friend and staunch COM
rade, the surrender of Appomattox made
him an aged man in Ms 1pFime, and
wrinkled his features, which had before
resisted all the attacks OF time.
One who wandered far and long with
him ia other lands, in sweet sunshiny
weather, relates hoy, from Vera Cruz to
1 Chapultepec, he went with MagENder al
ovef the battlefelds of the Mexican
war The light came to his eyes and
The Grs 70 his face when telling Of Con
treras, and Chemhpsco, and Hc:ate, aud
Molino del Rey, and the Belen Gate, and
Chapultepec, and the city Of Mexico.
His talk was never ended of Scott and
Twiggs, Wool and Worth, Smith and
Pillow, Taylor and Quitman, and all the
Young subordinates who afterward played
such bloody parts in the greatest of
American dramas. OF Mcclellan he
| told this incident among a thousand:
"The fire from the hill OF Cbapul-
tepec was terrible. Fifty pieces Of
heavy artillery were massed against my
four-gun battery at point blank range,
and in the valley below a regiment OF
lancers were forming for charge. Our
fire had been slackened, and the men
we're lying down. 4 young pan, sat be,
side one of the guns, amusing himself
with picking up pebbles and shooting
them out from his hand. The laneers
came nearer; called to the young off
eer whom ] lad noticed, and he sprang
mn saluting. Your nsmeY lienten-
ant George B. Mcclellan Very vel. !.
Lieutenant, take command Of one Of
these guns, and disperse those laneers.
The gunners rushed to their pieces. All
| the great cannons about Chapultepec
wen. 10 roaring. The battle began anew.
Worth was sweeping up the aeoiivity;
The lancers were routed, and the next
saw Of Mcclellan he was smoking Gig
arctic in the palace Of Santa Anna, his
face as black as a powder keg, and an
ugly wound IN his arm.
What book his life would make IN
the hands of some menl He once in
tended to write an autobiography.
Whether il was begun OF not we do not
know-most certainly It was meyer fin
ished. z o ElH
The brave, fond heart is pulseless now.
The form Of the stalwart soldier is dust
in its far away grave. The laurels that
he gathered and wore 80 well are faded
and gone. Back from the unknown land
no voice will come to tell Of what rank
he takes in the spectral columns, closed
mp aud silent, waiting the resurrection
day. God desln gently with soldier.
When he is brave, end noble, and cour-
teous, and merciful, he has those at-
tributes which assimilate Heaven, and
therefore he is foreordained to happiness
after death. u may be late in coming;
the bivouscs are right cold and dreary,
we know, but after the night the morn
ing ana after the Judgment day the New
Jerusalem.
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