Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1880-01-03

! brigade. Gibson soon appeared by my
| side, and in my admiration of such coli-
| duct exclaimed, Gibion those are the
best men ever saw you take them and
| check the enemy Gibson did lead them
and did check the enemy"
As the shadows fell OH the Confederate
cause and the gloom became deeper, Glib
sons sterling qualities shone forth more
conspicuously. His fortitude, bis persis-
tency and his large experience in actual
war now bore valuable fruits. In Can
by's campaign against Mobile, Gibson
was detached from the mai: army with a
division and sent to confront him on the
east side of Mobile BW, near Spanish
Fort. Here with less than $500 men, he
held at bay for more than two weeks the
Federal army under General Candy. The
fighting was tremendous from beginning
to end. General G.. G. Andrews, the
Federal historian of the campaign, say IS
the garrison made at least dozen sor-
At last, when Candy broke in upon him,
he prolonged the contest until nightfa.l,
and then withdrew the garrison under
cover of darkness along narrow tread
way only eighteen inches wide through
the swamp. General Andrews in his his
tory says: ''The garrison commander,
General Gibson, was competent and ac-
tive, and inspired his troops with enthu-
siasm. He was highly compllmented by
his superior officers for his conduct dur
ing the SIEGE"
During the siege Gibson was about to
put his eye to 'tpeep-hole," when a sol
dier seized him and pulled him away,
crying out: sFor Gods sake, General,
don't look through there; three men
have been killed there to-day" He NOV.
ed on along the line, and a few minutes
after returning met the body of Colonel
William Burnett, the Chief Of Artillery,
who had been ki!lsd at that very spot.
General Richard Taylor, commanding
the department. was so pleased with
Gibson's conduct at Spanish Fort that he
enlarged his command. But the war was
at an end, surrender came and he was
now appointed by Taylor the commits
soner to meet the Federal officers to pa
role the army. In his farewell address to
his troops Gibson says: 'Your banners
are garlanded with the emblems of every
soldlerly virtue; more than twenty bat.
tle-iields have seen them unfurled; they
were ney"r lowered save over the
bier of Il cOmrade. Comrades!
henceforth other duties will devolve upon
you. Adversities Can only strengthen
the ties that bind you to your country
and increase the obligations you ow to
her interests and her hon or. AS soldiers
you have been among the bravest and
most steadfast as citizens be law-abid-
ing, peaceable and Industrious" The
war was over.
General Gibson found himself with ru-
ined fortunes at the close of the struggle.
His fathers mag gniticent estate, too, was
a hopeless wreck. He began the practice
Cf the law in New Orleans and at once
met the most brilliant succers. He be-
came the counsel for several largs corpo-
rations, and justified the wisdom of tEeir
choice by the sound Judgment w ith which
he conducted their business. In 1867 he
married Miss Mary Montgomery, q beau
tiful and accomplished young lady, the
eldest daughter of the ,ate r. w. Mont
gomery, President of the Canal Bank of
New Orleans. She was educated in Eu-
rope and speaks both French and Ger
man fuently. They have two SONS and
daughter living. He was elected to
Congress i'll 1872, but was denie1 his
seat. In 1874 he was again elected, and
again in 1876 and 1873. When General
Gibson first appeared in Congress his
most pressing duty was to secure c for his
State the right of self-government, so
long dcn.ed to it. Diplomacy rather
than legislation was of IFS representation.
For the mission Gibson was we'll fitted.
During his residence abroad and at the
Nortl he had formed friendship with men
who were low leaders of the Republican
parry. Their aid, the respect accorded to
the military career, and his own tact and
moderaticn n enabled him to render servi-
ces which should never be forgotten by
Louisiana. Ably seconded by his collea-
CUES, Messrs. Ellis, Levy ana Spencer, he
made the beginning of tic reinvesture OF
his State in her political ri gifts. 1t was
to his renonstrances and assurances that
Mr.. Cameron and General Grant first
gave a bearing. By him they were tin-
ally induced to refuse military support to
the Kellogg faction aud the overthrow OF
the (Nicholls) Supreme Court, and to
withhold and cancel the or6rr to disperse
"the armed IL od" which i'll January, 1917,
restored free government to Louisiana.
President Hayes followed faithfully this
line of policy which had been clearly
marked out by General Grant. 1t IS an
,>l;sLad fnct Those Mho do not