Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1871-03-03
General John BanLhead m.sr"der.

parent's folly and weakness.
sen.raI John BsnLhead msErUder.
Within the last few days Death bas
swt ut away two more of the prominent
officers who.fouaht under the Confederate
flag. Two Major Gene1ais-ARNoLD Els
zEY and JOHN BANKHEAD MAGRUDER' D"th
distinguished for gallantry and good ser
vice, have passed away from Earth.
General MAGRUDER served with dIs'1nc
ton in Mexico, aud during the Oontede1-
ale war he held several important com
mands We think that the most rtmalk-
able achievement Of his life was holding
in check the army Of MCCLELLAN, III 1867.
until JcHNsToN's army arrived from Ma
nassas to the rescue of Richmond.
In March, 1862, General MCCLELLAN
advanced from Fortress Monroe and New
port News, which were his base of opera
tions, with al army amounting. accord
ing to his own official reports. to loo. OOu
men. This force, on paper. at the Deg'h-
ming of q campaign, must have represented
at the least 10000 to $50, 900 effective
men. In the latter part OF March our
forces under MAGRUDER occupied the line
of Warwick River, from is mouth up TO
Yorktown, q distance OF twelve miles.
About the 28th OF March General CoLsToN
crossed over from the South side Of james
River. where he commanded, to the Pc
ninsula to see General MAGRUDER, with
whom he had been in continual commun1-
cation since the beginning of MCCLFL-
LAN's offensive movement. Riding over
to Yorktown, he found MAGRUDER late
at night holding council Of
war. in which he was invited to
participate. MAGRUDER's force at that
time did not exceed 5000, exclusive of the
few hundred artillerists forming the gar
risons of Yorktown and Mulberry Island,
at the two extremities of the line. To de-
fend line of twelve miles with such
handful and against such odds, seemed
absurd, and the majority of tue council
were for retreat One officer however,
urged an obstinate defense of the lines,
and MAGRUDRR agreed with him. Al his
own request and suggestion General
CoLsToN was immediately ordered. through
tho Secretary of War, to reinforce MA
GRUDER increasing his force to about
5000 men. The line of Warwick river is
one of those imaginary lines OF defense,
about which so much is said in war, but
which really amounts tc nothing. For the
greater part Of its course Warwick river
is an insignificant stream, which could
have been crossed i'll twenty places if
MCCLELLAN had tried. Nothing vas
needed but to mass forty or fifty guns at
some favorable point. construct q pontoon
bridge under their fire, and launch a
column of ten thousand men. No fierce
that we had could have resisted such an
attack and MCCLELLAN would have been
wiser to sacrifice twenty thousand men. il
necessary. to pierce our feeble line and
drive us to Richmond with his immense
army, than to wait, as lie did. until JOHN
sToN arrived. and to be defeated and forced
back at last with great loss and shameful
disaster.
It WAS then that MAGRUDER showed most
ability and tenacity. He knew that our
the 10000 of the enemy. Yet he held
his ground and called stratagem to his aid
He erected numberless redoubts, for
which he had no guns but Quaker guns !;
and especially. he moved his troops about.
A brigade with one or two batteries would
be seen at shutdown at a certain point. In
the morning it would be seen at another
point ten miles off, and then back again
next day at some other. The troops
grumbled and could not understand these
apparently useless marches. But the enemy
seeing troops everywhere, were deceived
into supposing that all the attachments
they saw were different bodies. They must
have estimated our force at five or six times
its real strength. Nothing else can explain
their delay. MCCLELLAN, who had been an
and regular approaches. He set to work
to erect tremendous batteries, and this
gave time for JoHNsToN's army to arrive.
At last. when he had succeeded in placing
three hundred and fifty guns in position,
and was preparing to crush our line under
his fire, one fine morning he found the
bird had flown, and be commenced his
slow and cautious advance upon Rich
mond, which ended SO disastrously. Ma.
| GRUDER's tenacity and his skill in deceiv-
ing the enemy for four weeks, may we'll be
considered as model of defensive war
fare. He was gallant and generous heart.
ed soldier, and a true Southerner. 1t il
with psng OF sorrow that we hear of his
dying far away from home and friends,
among strangers aud probably in poverty
and grief /; but his memory will not be
forgotten by those who fought for the
same sacred cause.
Liberal PremIums
II hnk h.