The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-07-03

N. b. Perhaps it may be of interest to
give here an extract from an article on Ma
sonic Renaissance of the War;" by r. A.
ShOtwell, heretofore printed. He was the
officer alluded to In the account
THE DEATH OF COL. FLETCHER WEBSTER.
Any one who passed the thirtieth day of
August, 1862, on the plains of Manassas, in
Virginia, will agree with me that the after
noon was decidedly hot. 1t was hot in more
than one sense. The Southern sun beating
upon parched and rock-ribbed hillsides,
heated the atmosphere like a furnace; but
the atmospheric temperature was not to be
compared with the holiness OF that swift
SIMEON Of lead and iron which for many
miles surged and swept from hilltop to hill
tOp-a fierce hurricane of death, growing
hotter as the sun declined, and sweeping
away whole regiments every hour A nun
dred and thirty thousand men, nearly equal
~ divided in two powerful armies, were con
tending for a field already rendered historic
by the first great battle of the war. The
particulars of the engagement being we'll
known, | need only mention those which are
intimately connected with the subject Of my
sketch.
1t was, [ think, a little past 8 o'clock on
that lamentable afternoon when the federal
line IN our front gave way, after IA fierce
struggle in defense of a battery which occu-
pied a Hill on the right of the Chinn house,
not tar from Groveton, and had been pound
ing us with murderOus persistence for several
hours. \ regiment OF Zouaves supported
the battery, and stood up mantully, as m ht
be seen, even after 1T was routed, by the fact
that the red breeches lay III regular files just
as they had fallen. My own regiment looked
the battery in the mouth, and suffered Sc
yerely from Its teeth SO much indeed, that
$500. -o.l.I Ill., H.. l.l Il
Texans. When this took place, | fastened
with one or two brother officers to { plore
the field in search of our dead and wounded.
Alas there was no difficulty IN finding only
too many OF them Our ownand the enemy
dead dotted the ground for a half mile ike
the squares OF a draught-board, and the
groans of the wounded were even more al
~iicting than this spectacle.
Passing from corpse to corpse to identify
our own men, Lieut.. G-and | came up to a
ragged confederate in the act of helping
himself To the fine glazed boots Of a fallen
federal officer. Such robbery was not un-
common on the battle field, and in the pres
ent instance was In some measure pallated
| by the circumstance that the Texan was alto
| gether barefooted. But we ran forward, and
ordered him to desist, and on his making "a
| surely reply Lieut.. G-drew his sword. At
this moment, to our great surprise, the sup
posed corpse said quietly, DO not hurt the
poor fellow-he needs the boots, and | have
no longer any use for them We now per-
ceived that the PROSTATE federal wore the
eagles of a colonel, and being impressed
BY his gentlemanly appearance and self pos
session, we inquired concerning his wounds,
and whether we could be of any service to
him. Are you masons, gentlemen?!' Lieut..
G-respondcd affirmatively for himself; [,
of course, could not. We now learned that
he was Fletcher Webster the only surviving
son of Daniel Webster) and the colonel OF
the 18th massachusetts, regiment that he
believed himself to be mortally wounded
and that he desired to send his watch, pa
pers, etc, together with a last message O
affection to his beloved wife. | need scarce
ly say my friend gave him immediate assur
ance Is All honorable man, and amason, that
he would execute his wishes to the best o
his ability.
During the latter part Of the conversation
| was entreated by a wounded man to fetcl
him a sup Of water. | picked up a canteel
and h~astcned to a tiny rIyulet which ran o
rather oozed through an adjoining meadow
but it had been rendered both muddy ant
bloody BY the hundreds of wounded who hac
crept thither to Stake their thirst. Returning
to the hill | found Lieut.. G constructing
temporary shelter over Col. Webster; Tor th'
heat was still intense, ana 1t was though
likely he could not be removed that night
The shelter was easily made by sticking
few musketS. Of which there was plenty ~
inc idle, on the ground on either side 0
him, and spreading a blanket over them
and when | left the vicinity he was lyins
very comfortably.
As we were III momentary expectation OF
renewal Of the engagement, the ambulance
wagons were slow III coming to the front
But about sunset, when the thick column
OF dust drifting In the direction of Centre
vile, told to our joy, that the whole fedora
army was in retreat, details OF men from tn
different regiments, We're dispatched Z
bring in the wounded of both armies; an,
Lieut.. G.. FASTENED to have Col. Webstel
removed to the nearest farm house. wher
he had careful treatment by the surgeons
No care and attention, however, could avail
and death came as "a boon to the sufferer