Johnstown weekly Democrat. (Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa.) 1889-1916, 1890-04-04

"They paused for moment to fire,
but Hood instantly pushed them for
ward. They rushed onward with loud
yells to the very mouth of the guns
which had so mercilessly poured grape
into them. The artillery horses hitched
to the limbers either ran away with the
drivers or were driven off by them y y =
and the gunners who had persisted in
remaining at their posts to the last, also
disappeared in the tide of Texans, which
overwhelmed them in an instant, leaving
nothing behind but corpses lying on the
ground"
Porter's battle field was in the form
of an arc and could be seen from all
points His headquarters were near the
center, and the count, his uncle, Prince
de Joinville, and his brother, Duke de
Chartres, We're involved in the activity
of this fight. Gen. Porter in his story
of Gaines Mill, in the "Battles and Lead
ers of the Civil War" relates that dur
ing the highest excitement of this battle
the count came to him on the field and
begged him to send his uncle, de Join
vile, on some trumped up errand to
army headquarters so that he might
escape the peril of the position. The
message was given. but the old prince
did not go; it was repeated and still he
did not leave the field. He said after
ward that things seemed SO favorable
all at once that he decided to wait for
good news to take back to the command
ing general.
This battle was the first one fought by
Gen. Robert E. Lee as commander of the
Army of Northern Virginia. In noting
his advent in new field the count says:
ellis first efforts in war had not been
more brilliant than those of Grant, and
he personally was but little known to the
troops lie was about to lead in battle,
Always patient, persevering and pru-
dent calculator, yet ready to risk much
at the opportune moment; handling a
large army with great dexterity in the
midst of the thickest forests; understand
ing men, selecting them carefully, and
securing their attachment by his equity;
worshiped by his soldiers and obtaining
from them what no other chief could
have thought of asking them; respected
and obcyed by all his lieutenants; hui
name, Of conciliatory disposition, one
whose only fault as general was an ex-
cess of Difference to the opinions of sub
ordiDates, which at times caused him to
lose a little Of that firmness which is so
indispensable in the midst of battle"
The services of the count ended within
a week after the battle of Gaines Mill
and covered a period of about ten
months. Although an alien, he held
very decided opinions upon the issue Of
the war, and his work shows that his
conduct was not guided by love of ad-
venture, but by conviction. In the
preface to his history he writes:
"Having been kindly received in the
armies of the young republic, which re-
members the support given by France to
the first defenders of its independence,
and has not failed to place the name of
Bourbon among those who are to per-
petuate its memory on its soil, it has
been the wish of the author to present a
grateful testimony to his late comrades
in arms. In writing his personal recol-
lections he has been led to describe the
war, some incidents of which have come
within his own personal observation.
Notwithstanding his legitimate prefer
ences for the cause he served (Union), he
has endeavored to preserve throughout
his narrative the strictest impartiality."
He believed slavery was the sole cause
of the war. "The effects" he declares,
"of the servile institution upon the dom
nant race presents a spectocle-sad and
instructive to historian and philosopher
of fatal decentralization as just pun