Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-12-07


and was in turn mildly chided by the Gen:
raj FOR risking the life OF the President of
the Confederacyp whcn gallant h.tle a;
Y. HillD (as Alr. Davis called him) dashcd
MP and exclaimed This is no place Tor
either OF you. and az commander of this
part Of the line / ordsT you both 10 tho
rear %
We will obey orders" was the laughing
reply as they feli back short distance and
began an earnest conference about tho
situation"
oRpKRrp TO rHE REAR.
But the Ere becoming very bot A. p. Hill
galloped mp 10 them again and exclaimed:
Did ! not tell you 20 90 away from mere.
And did you not promise toobcy my or
dersf Why. ono shell from that battery
over yonder may presently deprive the
Army of Northern Virginia Of is COM
mander and the Confederscy OF rs Pre,l-
dent And with many other earnest word.
! he finally persuaded tho President and
General Lee TO move back 70 more secure
place.
/ was exceedingly fortunate during those
seven daye Of battle in seeing a number OF
our leaders, and / have indelibly photo
I graphed on my memory their appearance,
dress, equipment, aud bearing.
oUR GENERALS.
! Lee the superb. mounted on Traveller.
/ calm. diCnfed. alert and every inch tho
/ soldier: old Stonewall. Of rather ungaiDly,
; awkward figure, clad IN d,ngy gray, and
mounted on Little SOTcl." sucking
lemon. and seeming very impatient that
/ tho battle should begin "Jcb Stuart IN
} his fighting Jacket" rafting sabre, and
/ iingllng spurs. superbly mounted, aud BIS
/ VERY appearance denOtlng what he abrn-
dently proved that he was indeed the
/ flower Of cavaliers stern old L~ell. who
cared little for dress or equipment. but
had proven himself "Jaokson's right arm"
IN his brilliant Valley campaign; A. J..
/ Hill. dressed in q fatigue jacket OF gnW
flannel. his felt hat slouched over his noble
brow, sitting his noble charger with easy
/ grace. aud glancing with eagle eye along
his famous Light Division" as Il hurried
into battle was the hoCg deal Of a soldier;
and scores oI others of subordinate rank
who were just beginning 70 KIN their
spurs" " and formed a galaxy Of chiyalrous
! knights such as were rarely. n ever, con-
gregated. ON the same battlefield.
ABoRN SOLDIER.
Bat DO not hesitate TO ssy that the ac-
compishcd horsemauship. the martial
bearing. the general appearance OF our
! President AZ be was greeted with tho en-.
thusiastic cheers % the soldiers impressed
me as deeply as any OF tho grand saw
on those fields of carnsoo, and made mo
6el then. what a subs quen, study of his
/ career has made me ktft,. that Jefferson
/ Davis was q born soldier. and that his bril-
liant career in the Mexican war WAS but
prophecy OF what no would have been hn1
he been able TO carry out bis own cherished
desire to serve the Confedefacy IN the field
instead of IN the presidential chair.
AsAS ORATOR.
Afior this saw Mr. Davis several tImes
! in Richmond. but bad never heard him
| apoak until af tho faulrua mi uiotttfnw az
the Ola African church IN Richmond aftor
] tho Confederate commissioners had r.
turned from the Hampton Roads Con
| ferencen and made "a III 'ir report that Oh"
| Government at Washington would gran.
/ no terms but unconditional submission.
mad heard a great deal ot aud bad form
! ed f. very high estimate Of Mr. Davis as an
| orator. had read some Of hls speeches IN
the United States senate, ard especially
his chastc and eloquent " "fnreweu to the
senate" | had read his inaugural address
and "a number II bis other addresses 10
soldiers and citizens.
But I must confess that ! was not pre-
pared for his speech upon tnat occasion,
J which rang out like a clar'on-cai Co battle
and So touched and thrilled and swnyei
the vast multitude, composed largely ot
soldiers, that We not Culy chccrcd him %
the echo until We w're hoars", uut wefi
ready 10 follow go the death wherever no
should Lead. / haYo over since that day
REGARDED that speech as the grandosi ora.
torical triumph | ever hoard. and hava
placed Alr. Day's among the great orators
Of history.
UI8 Tribute no LgF.
The next time / hoard him sneak was at
the great soldiers lee-mcmDuu meeting
held az the First Pl,s5y. RAN church m
Richmond in November. $50.
| About three years before the caget
eaglen had hccn released from prisoI. and
le came 60 hichmoad to plste ofer 100
meeting called br the oid soldiers ~ Leo
to do honor 80 their Oil eommander VINO
had died seyora! wee IS before.
IL was % grand occasion. and there as-
sembled the nest brilliant galaxy of Con-
fcdorate soldiers that has gathered slnco
the war. Generals DAriy. John b. Gordon,
John =. Preston. I'D Henry 4. Wise, and
! Colonies Charles =. Acuhhle. Charles Mar
shall. William Preston Johnston, and X:
T.. Mithers were among the SPEAKERS. nnt
all of thnn made tou,uiutiy beautiful fri-
butcs to Zee. But Mr. nuis. it Is NO die-
paragement % others to say. made unquc--
tionablv he speech Of the occasion, and
was received with genuine 'nihusiasm,
an rrepresshle ontonfs' oi applause ana
cheers, and % tend respect waich showed
that be still held the warmcst place IN tho
hearts Of ms old soldiers.
HIS ruLooY os sIoNEwALL uoSsoS.
The only other occasion upon which
ever heard him speak Was AZ New Orleans
at the unyeilng Of the statue 81 stone
wall Jackson erected hy tho Louisiana
DIVISION Army Of Northern Virginia.
| General FitZ Leo was the orator ot tho
| dav. aud acquitted himself las our gallant
fftZ always does very handsomely. Sir.
Davis was on the platform, deeply into
rested listener, and had declined ON ac-
count Of his health the invitation Of tho
committee 10 speak. buf the cNowd
called for him 50 yocifer1usly and pei.
si-tently that ne % last arose was received
| with deafening cheers. and Tor about
twenty minutes thrilled the vast crowd
with a eulOgy on Jackson which deserves
place among tho gems Of true oratory.
suppose that The calm verdict or history
will be that Jefferson Davis Will stand IA
the very forefront Of American orators.
AZ WRITER.
OF terse. chaste. vigorous. classic, Anglo
Saxon English, he has had few equals and
no superior among all Of our publio men.
His reports when Secretary OF War his
messages. prOclamatiOns. aud other STATIC
papers when President Of tie toniel"-
racy-his Rise and Fall Of the Confode-
rate States his occasional articles for
MAGAZINES, reviews. or newspapers, and
! his letters should be carefully STUDIED "a
models Of English uudefilod' ~ well ~
| Tor tlt bItAk AAAtN ~ ff.t'f va"
principles yindicated. He was especially
charming
AS LETTER-wEIrER,
and trust that volume Of his letters will
3 be given 10 the public. II the personal al
msion may be pardoned | will say that
| have in my possession fiftv or sixty Of bis
; letters addressed 20 me and marked per-
! sonal" or confdcntial." which j prize
beyond all price, and which l regard as
among the finest specimens OF letter
! writing Of which have any acquaintance
in all the range Of ancient on modern hte-
nature.
THE loss or Bs PRIVATE PAPERS.
One Of the greatest calaInities OF tho
kind with which | am acquainted is thac
there was stolen from Mr. Davis's papers
when stored ia New York a package con-
tanning his strictly confidential coFre-
a spondence with General Leo during the
: war-lettcrs which he did not show even
! 10 his stad or bis Cabinet. and which con:
tanned the secret thoughts and plans of
these two great men and cOngeDial spirits,
! Mr.. Davis spoke % me several times OK
I - Ia "A. o al nd