Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1891-06-18
Saint Hafg's Beacon.
GEN. JAMES r.. HERBERT.
Continued from Fir.f Page

INC lOOt VI tHc eiope u y "hiIh ehSy
are to charge. Herbert gives the
order to fright half wheel, and
with the GOODNESS OF veterans on pa
rade, the men on the right mark
time, while those on the left come
around at a double quick, until they
are brought face 20 face with the
storm of lead and iron which is al
ready bursting from the crest. For
ward and upward that slope they
go, and at $50 O'Clock that night
they are in possession Of the first
line of the enemy's works. But
the advantage had not been gained
without cost, and he, the gallant
Herbert, who led them on that fate
full night, had received no less than
three wounds, and been carried of
the field in supposed dying con-
ditiOn.
The darkness, which had been re-
lieved only by the fash of rife and
cannon, at last brought temporary
luu to the struggle; the value of the
position gained by our men could
not be overestimated, and during
the intervening time before dawn
Meade is placing guns and infantry
with the view of recapturing it in
the morning. With the first streaks
of day his artillery opened terrific
and Calling fire, to which our men
could make no reply, as their guns
could not be dragged up that steep
and rugged ascent. A little after
sunrise the Federal infantry moves
on them in heavy force, while they
are at the same time subjected to a
calling fire from the enemy's works
on the crest of the hill To their right.
Still they hold the position so gal
lantly won. Then futile attempt
is made, too, on their flank, occu-
pied by another brigade, but fur
thcr away from the crest of the hill.
U-nassisted, Steuart's brigade held
the position which it had so dearly
won the night before. Then came
Ewell's order to.assail the crest of
Culp's hill on the right. Here was
a double line of intrenchments, one
above the other, filled with troops.
The assault would also expose them
to the fire, at close range, of bat
terry to the left aud rear of them.
Ii was to be a march to death and
defeat, but there were no towards
there. Steuart gives the order
left face" lille right" and the
Marylanders leap out of the breast
works and form line of battle with
what remained of the gallant 3rd
North Carolina on their right, and
the 10th. eth and 37th Virginia
and the LIST North Carolina on the
extreme left. Steuart's sword is in
the air. and from his ringing voice
comes the order to charge bayo-
nets" On, oil sweeps the little
brigade to within thirty PAGES of the
enemy's works, only to be hurled.
torn and bleeding, back to those
which they had just left.
They had obeyed orders; they
had taken desperate chances; they
had done all that brave men dare
do, and it only remained for them
to hold the works which they had
first captured until ordered to ADAM
don them. No support arriving,
they did this later in the day and
sullenly marched down that blood
stained hillside with a regularity and
precision which the shock of battle
seemed almost powerless to dissi-
pate. Herbert's regiment had re-
gilded the gold on its shield, but
ut what cost! Different estimates
place its loss at from goo to $50
killed and wounded. One COM
pany alone, the iamented Can't.
William II. Murray's, whose life
formed part of the sacrifice, lost
sixty-two out of ninety-two men,
according to the testimony of his
own first-sergeant. Balaklava's re-
cord is beaten, and we of Maryland
and the South, into whose homes
those two days brought so much of
mourning, must rest with the con-
ISOLATION that drawer men never left
more stainless record in battle than
that made by this little band of
heroes at Gettysburg.
A word more, and l have done.
Weary weeks of suffering, lowering
between life and death, followed by
a long incarceration in Federal
prisons, did not permit Col: Her.
bert to rejOin his command until
December, 1864, and then it was