Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1883-08-30

was about to leave his eyes, would try tC
raise his head from the ground to gaze into
the face of q comrade that he might behold
something which he was accustOmedt to look
at in the golden hours of his boyhoOd. The
thrOb of the war drum had hardly thrilled
the heart of CorOlina, the sacred standard OF
the State had scarcely been raised, when you
babe adieu to the hearths and homes around
which clustered the charming and cherished
recollectons of your childhood, when you
responded to the call Of danger and duty
The pain at parting from parents, from
wives and children, who were dearer to you
than life itself, did not deter you from the
performance of a proud and patriotic duty
You were not unmoved by the tears which
freely flowed down your mothers cheek
In the mute, melancholy look Of your low
for tears. Your child as it nestled in your
arms and gazed at the bright buttons on
your coat was all unconscious of the sacrifice
you were making, of the sadness OF that
scene, which brings forcibly to mind the pa
thetic parting Of Hector and Andromache.
OF your services on the coast of Carolina
am not able to speak intelligently as we
were not thrown together until Gregg'S
Brigade went to Virginia, but 1 am conf:
dent you there gave proof of your unchllled
fidelity and displayed that courage which
afterwards blazed in one continuous chain
from Petersburg to Gettysburg. | cannot
mould my thoughts into finished figures, as
others of your annual orators have done
When our battle-scarred commander, Gen
eral Samuel MCGOWAN addressed you, his
sublime and soul-stirring sentences caused
your blood to throb in every pulse and to
tingle in every vein. 1t was the voice which
cheered and inspired us as the dauntless and
devoted hero led his brigade into many a
battle. His voice is the very music of man.
hood. Goodness and generosity are seen IN
every lineament of his face and in his breast
beats heart as faithful as it is fearless
What have said, what am about to say
to you, has at least the virtue of sincerity
They are the words of q comrade, one OF the
proudest recollections of whose life is that ne
stood alongside of the men of the Twelfth
Regiment for four years and saw their bat
tie flag stream meteor-like over fields where
they have conquered or heroically died !;
who in the presence of the survivors of that
splendid command to-day feels the force and
magnetism of emotions as stirring and pro-
found as ever thrilled the human breast ;
who recognizes in this gathering many ia
milar faces that he so often saw wreathed
in the curl of battle smoke and lit up by the
reflection of the fire flashing from their
guns-guns the sound of which swelled the
dread chorus Of war and the echo of which
still fingers upon the ear of fancy. Your
cheers as they broke the stiffness of this
charming scene made my blood flow faster,
for they awakened in my breast the recol-
lections of that old rebel yell which l first
heard in the sunny hours of my boyhood,
when inside of a gray jacket my heart bound
ed with hope and happiness. Who that
were near you can ever forget your in:spir,
ing cheeras you eagerly entered the fight at
Gaines',Mill, as you breasted the breakers
of battle at Cold Harbor, when you followed
McClellan'S flying forces to Frazer's Farm
and into White Oak Swamp, when you
stood ready to charge up the murderous
slope Of Malvern Hill My heart went out
to you on the wings Of admiration and every
other member of the First Regiment felt as
1 felt that you saved our Regiment from de-
structiOn on that dreadful day at Manassas,
when assailed in front and flank by superior
numbers of desperate and determined men,
confident of victory over the thin line which
was bending before the storm of battle un-
til you came charging up to our assistance,
routing the foe, sending him flying from the
field, saving our lives and what was even
more precious, that blue flag which my gall
liant comrades brought with them from
Charleston to add to the interest of your re-
union and in testimony of the affection they
feel towards you. The survivors of the
Twelfth and the First are linked together
by the tenderest ties and the strongest SYM
pathieS-tieS that time cannot seVer-sym-
pathies which only death can dissolve. l
saw you as you moved forward at Ok Hill,
where Pope left two of his Major Generals
and many of his men dead on the field from
which he fled. | beheld the Twelfth as it
crossed the Potomac after a forced march
from Harper's Ferry, and rushed into the
fight at Sharpsburg, where y. p. Hill's light
division saved the army from destruction !;
where the chivalrous Colonel Dixon Barnes
rushed to danger and to death, whose beau
tiful and benignant face was encircled in a
halo ofglOry as his spirit assembled to Heav-
en-. You were unmindful Of the perils
which encompassed you as the brigade adj
vanced, exposed to the fatal fire of forty
pieces of artillery at Bateler's Ford, when
the Potomac ran red with Federal blood. |
recollect how splendidly you behaved on
that December day at Fredericksburg where
our division lost larger number of men
than were killed and wounded in the re-
mainder Of the war; when part of Meade'S
Corps got into our rear when the rear rank
of the brigade had to face about and fire to
the rear, whilst the front rank was keeping
back the enemy in our front, where the tro-
phieS which we won were forgotten in the
gloom occasioned by the death Of that noble
old Roman, MaXcy Gregg, for whom so
many precious tears have been shed, whose
last words breathed message to Carolina,
whose final heartbeat throbbed with devo-
tion to her liberty. l shall never forget the
part you took, the daring you displayed,
when McGowan's Brigade entered the town
of Gettysburg, when their valor placed the
wreath of a Brigadier around the stars of
1,por md, fOr ca1 ynS ".
ing fame. The Wilderness where the front
and flank of the brigade were exposed to the
fire of the foe, who Outnumbered the scrub
oaks, through which with difficulty we
| forced our way. Nearly every tree showed
the mark of a bullet, where the tide of
Grants triumph rolled refluently and his
| 1900 veterans were unable to withstand the
shock of Lees thin line, numbering not more
than $4,000 men, but they were men who
were ready to do, to dare and to die where
it was difficult to get you to stop in your
pursuit of the enemy where another OF
your ColOnelS, brave }. l.. Miller, perished.
How shall describe your bold bearing and
unfinching heroism during the struggle at
may sound, the Twelfth was the First
mean the first to reach the "Bloody Bend"
This was by no means an uncommon occur
renee. It seemed to me that the Twelfth
was always in front, except when we were
retiring, then they were fond of tagging
behind so that they could have the last shot
at the enemy. 1t was there that your brave
boy, Colonel II. f. Clyburn, led you into
| that furnace Of flame, where you remained
for eighteen hours; where every one of your
men was a hero, for whom death had no
terrors where so many of them fell on that
ood-deluged field. have always regard
ed the charge of the Twelfth at Spotsylyania1