Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1889-01-17

| W"s~A a9 tS<tA<4 " Sc eUtG8attif& ~
what be regarded as inevitable fate
| | said TO him: Have you 20 defence
L. it possible that Jon ab indoned yeul
comrades aud deserted your colors il
the presence ofthe enemy without any
| reason p
1 He replied: There was q rsason,
bat ii viii not avail me before a mill.
tary court"
| said Perhaps yon srs mistaken;
ron are ebarsed wiak ths highest crisas
sao~nto niii4ax, law. as3 Il i ID
iusy to make known the Gauss that
influenced your actions"
For the frst time his manly fos m
trsmblsd. and bis blue eyes swan in
tears. Approaching the president Il
the court he presented letter, saying
As he did 90: There. General. is what
did it,"
| opened the letter. and in mo.
ment my eyes filled with tears. It
was passed from one 10 another OF the
court until all had seen il, and those
stern warriors who had passed with
Stonewall jackson through q hundred
battles wept like little children. Soen
as ! sufficiently recovered my self
possession, / read the letter as the de-
fence of the prisoner. Il was in these
words:
My Dear Eatcard II have aiways
been proud Of you. aud since your con-
nectiou with the Confederate Army I
have BEEN prouder Of you than ever
before. | would not have you do any,
thing wrong for the world; but before
God. Edward. unless you come home
we must die. Last night was aroused
by little Eddies crying, / called and
said whats the matter, Eddie p
and he said, "Oh, mamma, I am 30
hungry" Aud Lucy. Edward, your
darling Lucy. she never complains,
but is growing thinner and thinner
every day. And before God, Edward.
unless you come home we must die.
YouR MARY.
Turning to the prisoner ! asked,
What did you do when you received
this letter ?"
He replied, II made application
for q furlough aud it was rejected;
again ! made application and il was
rejected; a third lime I made appli-
cation and it was rejected. and that
night as | wandered backward and
forward in the camp. thinking of my
home with the mild eyes of Lucy
looking up to me. and the burning
words of Mary sinking in my brain, I
was no longer a Confederate soldier.
but | was the father of Lucy and the
husband Of Mary. aud I would have
passed those lines If every gun in the
battery had fred q. me. went TO
my home. Mary ran out to me, her
angel arms EN- braced me, and she
whispered: "Oh Edward, am so
happy am so glad you got your
furloughr" She must have felt me
shudder, for she turned pale as death.
and catching ber breath at every
word, she said: "Have you come with.
out your furlough? Oh, Edward
Edward, 60 back go back Let me
and my children 90 down together to
the grave. but Oh, for heavens sake
save the honor of our namel" And
here I am, gentlemen, not brought
here by military power, but in obe-
dience to the command of Mary, to
abide the sentence of your court"
Every officer of that coart-martial
felt the force Of the prisoners words.
Before them stood in beatific vision
the eloquent pleader for husbands
and . fathers wrongs; Dut they had
been trained by their great leader,
Robert E. Lee. TO tread the path Of
duty. though the lightnings fash
scorchsd the ground beneath their
feet. and each in bis turn pronounced
the serlict-guilty. Fortunately for
humanity. fortunately for the Confed-
eracy. the proceedings of the court
were reviewed by the Commanding
Gsseral. and upon the record was
written:
HEADQUARTERS A. n. ".
The finding of the court is approy-
cd. The prisoner is pardoned aud
will report to his company.
r. Z. LEE, General.
During the second battle of Cold
Harbour, when shot and shell were
falling "like torrents from the noun
tain cload," my attention was direc.
ted to the fact that one of our batts-
ries was teipg sileneed by the concen-
tratsd 6re OF the eneny. When /
reached the battery every gun but ons
had been dismaniled and by it stood
a solitary Confsdsrase soldier. with
the blood streaming from his side. As
he recognized me he elevated his voice
above the roar of battle and said
General, / have one she'll left.
Tell me, have saved the honor Of