The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-02-16
Sketch of the Life of Lieutenant.Gen.
eral Richard StOddert EWen.
Resolutions upon His Death by the
Confederate Relief Association
of Memphis.


Resolutions upon His Death by the
of Memphis.
We give space below to the report
of the committee = Governor Harris,
Colonel Stephens and Colonel Frayser
appointed by the Confederate Relief
and Historical Association, upon the
occasion of the death of this pure
patriot and heroic soldier:
REPORT.
The committee, to whom was re-
ferred the preparation of suitable reso-
buttons commemorative of General
Ewell, subdued into brevity by the
solemnity of the occasion and the
magnitude of the public loss, submit
ted the following report:
RICHARD STODDERT EwELL, q ma
tive of the District of Columbia, born
about the year 1920, was the son of
DIR. Thomas Ewell, and the grandson
of Benjamin Stoddert, of Maryland,
who was secretary of the navy under
the administration of Adams and JEFF
ferson. Graduating at West Point
with distinction, he entered the
United States army as lieutenant of
dragons, and spent the earlier years
of his novitiate in the hardships and
perils of the frontier service. He went
through the Mexican war in 1S47 and
1S4S with great credit, being engaged
in almost every battle from Vera
Cruz to tie City of Mexico, and being
promoted for his gallantry in the bat
ties of Contreras and Cherubusco. 1t
was his brother, Lieutenant Thomas
Ewell, of Jackson, Tennessee, who
fell MORALLY wounded in front of his
company, while stOrmipg the Mexi-
can Notifications on tine heights of
Cerro Gordo, and won from General
Scott the highest compliment for his
desperate courage.
At the beginning of the late, civil
war General Ewell, then a brevet-
major, resigned his commission, and
rendered his sword to the Confederate
Government; he was assigned at once
to the Army of Virginia, the State in
which he was brought up from early
childhood. On that glorious arena, in
his various degrees of rank, from a
subordinate officer to lieutenaDt-gen-
eral, in every variety of trial and
emergency, in all his arduous cam
paigns and numberless battles, down
to the close of the unequal conflict,
his daring intrepidity, his abundant
tolls and labors, his constant self-de-
malls and incessant exposures, his I'M
conquerable resolution, and his great
military genius, equalled only by his
extraordinary mOdesty-have grown
into imperishable history, AID have
become the heritage of his country,
while their memory is craven so in
delibly upon the hearts and minds OF
a great people, as to render their re-
capitulation suparfiuous. The loss OF
mis- leg in the second battle of Manas-
sas, and the serious failure of his
health under constant exposures, were
insufficient to cool his ardor, or to
slacken his services in the field, and
thus he continued to battle for the
waning cause, until all was lost.
He was married in 1868, to his
cousin, Mrs. Lazinka Brown, a lady OF
rare virtues and unsurpassed accom-
plishments, the daughter of Judge
Campbell, distinguished as Senator
from Tennessee, as a member of Mr..
Madison's cabinet, and as minister
to Russia during the administration OF
Mr.. Monroe. Retiring, after the war,
to their plantation in Maury county,
Tennessee, it was their delight to Gull
tivate and develop their broad do
main, to increase and improve their
flocks and herds, to dispense gener-
GUS hospitality to their friends, and an
nnpretending charity to the poor. In
these varied emplOyments of benefi-
cence and utility, in the enjoyment OF
the pleasures of literary tastes and Gull
ture, in the modest, habitual and con.
sistent practice of the duties of religion
in the Episcopal church, of which
they were cherished members, they
filled well the measure of their obi
cations to society, their country and
their God, diffusing sunshine and joy
among all who were privileged to
come within tie sphere of their infiu-
ence.
In this enchanting home, surround
ed by all that could sweeten the duties
of life, they sunk rapidly under VIC
lent attacks of pneumonia; and
within three days of each other-she on
the cd, and he on the 25th of Janua-
ry, 1872 they passed serenely through
| the portal Of the grave, and winged
their way to receive the rewards OF
the just. United in life, they are not
separated even in death.
"The benedicton of these covering heaven:
Fall or their heads like dew! For they are
worthy
| To inlay heaven with tears.''
Lee, Jackson, Ewell! Virginia's
three great christian captainsI We
stoop our crests before the grandeur OF
your fame, and rejoice that human ma.
ture can attain such excellence as
yours.
The Confederate Relief and Histori.
cal Association of Memphis, of which
| General Ewell was a member, can
write no wOrthier name upon theiI
rolls than his; no loftier deeds than
his can adorn their undying annals.
Profoundly realizing the extent of our
bereavement, let it, therefore, be
Resolved, That in common with all
who admire greatness and reverence
virtue, we do lament the death of the
patriot, the friend, the hero. the
christian; aud that we will cherish, in
our heart of hearts, the remembrance
of his unsullied life and heroic achieve.
ments.