Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-10-04
GRACE

w nile Lieutenant 1OmpklnS was mus
engaged in dispensing the two companies
of cavalry and shaking things up gener-
ally, as above stated, there was very in
teresting little drama being enacted at
the Methodist Church. where the Warren
ton Rifles were stationed. This company
was one of the crack companies Of the
State, having been composed of the very
elite of the youth of Fauquier county.
There were a number of relatives and
sons of his nearest friends IN the COM
pany, so
GOVERNOR EXTRA BILLY SMITH
had accompanied them to the village, and
the'Old war-hOrse liked to be near at hand
when powder was to be burned anyhow.
When the firing began in front of the
court house the company was hastily
formed in front of the church, and Gov
ernOr Smith was soon in the midst of
them dealing out oratOrical encourage
ment. ore r0tuHdO, to fight bravely for flag
and State. Soon Colonel Ewell, who had
been routed out of his quarters by the fir
ing and yelling, came up to the company
as il was moving off down side lane to-
ward the firing, and as he was in his shirt
sleeves (he had taken off his captains
coat-it was the only one he had-he had
worn in the regular army. because, as he
said afterward, he never wanted to night
in that livery again }, and did not con-
descend to explain who he was, his per-
emptOry manner and rough handling of
some of the men who did not move to suit
him, came near getting for him the butt
end of a rifle over the head. However,
/ Governor Smith soon explained things,
and his orders were ebeyed.
BADLY MIXED.
When the command reached the gate of
StevensOn's farm, where the lane made a
| bend toward the turnpike, a squad of cav
airy suddenly burst through the centre of
the column and threw the whole line into
mOmentary confusion, in which there was
/ considerable leaping of fences into the
fields. 1t is not known to this day what
cavalry this was. whether Confederate or
Federal; buta number of shots were fired,
a portion of the company rstreated toward
Manassas, and when order was restored
Colonel Ewell found he had only about
forty men to aid him. With this force,
accompanied by Governor Smith, he
marched to the turnpike and took posses
sion on either side facing the way the Fed
| eral cavalry had gone. And here | may
state that | happened to be pres
ent at the only real fight of the night,
owing to the fact that / was sitting up
with sick father, and was awake when
the firing began. | took my dOuble-bar-
relied shotgun and sufticiency of buck
shot, and made my way cautiously some
800 yards Off toward the point where the
]
fell in with one of the Rifles, who was
lying in wait behind fence on the side of
the pike. Soon a dark mass appeared,
moving slowly toward the position taken
by the Rifles. 1t was evident they were
cavalry, from the height of the mass; but
it was impossible to distinguish the forms
Of the riders from those of the horses.
FIRING IN THE DARK.
When they had approached within fifty
yards Colonel Ewell stepped out in the
middle of the pike, revolver in hand, his
white shirt making him conspicuous, tand
cried out:
''What cavalry is that?"
HSreiterated the demand twice, when
suddenly there belched out from the front
of the dark mass three or four tongues of
flame, and Ewell, staggering to the right
of the roadside, shouted, Fire on the --
--," and sank down beside the fence
behind which his troops were posted.
Then the riflemen blaZed away, loading
and firing as fast as possible, while the
Federal cavalry kept up pyrOtechnic fire
from their pistols. Strange to say, they
did not use their carbines that night. The
cavalry, not approaching the fierce flsi-
lade which greeted them on their first APP
pearance, retired for few hundred yards,
but soon they came Oh again, and the or
der was distinctly heard for the charge;
but the men were 10th to obey; they We're
as much in the dark as to what they were
opposed to as had been the COnfederates
in the early part of the melee. The officer
OF the Federals cried out: % it. they
are nothing but citizens; charged A
voice from the ranks replied: sSNO citi-
zens fire that way In the meantime.
Colonel Ewell, though sorely wounded
through the shoulder, had gOtter his rifle
men in better shape, now that the posi-
ton OF the enemy was known, and as they
came up for the second time by order one
half the men reserved their fire; but they
went back again without hurting man
on the Confederate side by their return
fire. All this time Governor Smith was
exposing himself in eXhOrting the men
both by voice and example, and he was
only silenced by being forcibly admOn-
ished by his kinsfolk that he was doing
more harm than good in revealing the po-
sitiOn to the enemy. After an interval of
10 minutes or so, and just as an order had
been given for the company to form in the
turnpike, the pickets who had been sent
in front fired and came running in. 1t
was yet too dark to see objects distinctly,
but the outline of man and horse could be
well noted. The Federal cavalry advanced
at a trot, and the Rifles, stretched in
double line across the pike, with Missis-
sippi rifles without bayonets, stood firmly,
and at eighty yards poured in a we'll
directed YOlley that sent them to the right
about once more. They then (the cav
alry) retreated northward, and as was
seen by daylight by the line of dead horses,
had gone off finally by the right and to the
rear. AS soon as it was fully light the
loss began to be estimated.
EwELL WOUNDED.
As far as then known, Colonel Ewell
was painfully wounded, one of the Kappa
hammock Cavalry MORALLY, and several of
the Rifles had received slight scratches.
There was no telling then how many had
been captured, for Captain Mari, with
one-half of his company, had disappeared,
and only a few of the cavalry had re-
turned from their skedaddle. In company
with others, about sun up, | was search
the field where the infantry was first bro
ken, when came upon an officer lying upon
his face in the high grass, with his sword
and belt in his left hand ana pistol living
near his hand, which was flung forward.
| lifted up his hand and found that he was
dead. / went up TO the rifle company,
then drawn up about a hundred yards off,
and told what | had seen. Instantly
cOlOred man behind the ranks cried out:
''MY GOD, IT'S MARsE JOHN"
And sobbing and crying he broke into a
run for the place had indicated. 1t was
too true 1t was the body of John Q.
Mari, the first officer killed in battle ON
the soil of Virginia during the late war.
He had been shot through the heart by a
bullet from a carbine held by a hOrseman.
The direction Of the wound proved that.
Lieut.. TOmplDns, in his official report,
states that he lost one man killed and five
wounded, including himself. His small
loss may be attributed to the fact that
owing to the darkness the Rifles fired too
low and hit the horses instead of their
riders. 1t was lively little fight at any
rate, and of importance as the first clash
of arms between the hostile forces in Nir-
ginia.
l have written the above from memory
only, and may have too much cOlored
some facts and omitted others, but at least
| have tried to write honestly. In what
! have stated about the harshnesS of
General EwelFs discipline and ill-treat-
ment of the volunteers and civilians with
whom he came in contact at that period
l have only to say that afterward they
came to know him better, and his men
loved and trusted him as he in turn loved
and trusted them.
How Diamonds are Cut.
Cleyeldnd HeTald.
''There are three processes necessary to 4
be gone through with between the rough
stone and the diamond as you see it here"
replied the Jeweler. First, piece of
stone the required size must be cut off.