The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-06-08

ribbed heights behind which lay the Army
of the Potomac Yet IL hours before that,
when Meade proposed that Slocum should
move out the whole right wing, half of the
army, and assail Lees left flank, the latter
had advised against assault. The ground
was unfavorahle, he declared, and Meadc's
chief engineer Warren, agreed with him.
Slocum' columns must descend steep and
rugged slopes in order to get at the Con
t,dcrates and also march over wide open
space commanded by artillery, much the
same formation as that which discounted
Pickett's line i'm its fatal charge next day.
Cool Judgment held that Meade position
was not place to attack from, but when
with the army half licked, it was proposed
to beat "a retreat, then was the time to
throw caution to the winds. Retreat in
that hour would demoralize the army, and
10 was better that 1t should lose the day
and save its honor than that field and honor
both be given up without a blow.
These two incidents give the key to Slo-
GUMS character as a military man-cau
ton when everything might be gained and
nothing lost by it, holdness when there
was nothing else to do but ''be bold, be
bold. and ovCrmorc be bold He was one
of the few able and faithful commanders
who escaped hero worship, but left behind
"a war record to stand the test of time,
~l0cum's career opened with promise,
but not with brilliancy. He always ac-
cumulishcd what was expected of him and
climbed up slowly, grade by grade, from
the command Of "a regiment TO that of an
army, giving good account Of himself as
. a rugimcntal, brigade, division and corps
leader successfully, and that without a
single backward step Yet he was often
placed I'm positions where an error in judg-
mcnt or a blunder in action on his part
might have resulted in disaster or even
changed the course of the war And his long
service did not pass without some stirring
battle incidents. In his first battle spuri-
Gus Confederate dCserter attempted to lead
him into ambush by "a trick worthy Of
savage cunning, and in his last a real de
srrer was given a chance to prove his good
faith and save the Union cause from jeop-
ardy.
1t is not necessary to account for the gen
crul confusion at Bull Run; it was there
and early in the fight Colonel SlOcum was
leading his regiment, the Twenty
New York, toward what was supposed to
be- and really was, the encmy's line. All
at once a regiment in gray was seen NOV
ing in direction which would soon bring
it into collision with his own. He halted
the Twenty seventh and prepared to fight,
when some of the New Workers began to
shout frantically For Gods sake don't
fire on our own menu
The Twenty was brigaded with
the Eighth New York. which was uni
formed in militia gray, and in the forward
movement the Eighth had disappeared
from view in a direction which might have
brought it TO the position whence the
strange regiment had come. The excite
ment among the men was intense. The flag
of the grayCOats was fured and its true
character could not be made out from a
distance
suddenly man, struggling between the
lines, ran to Slocum, and pointing back
ward to the strange command said, That
regiment yonder wants to surrender. y
Slocum drew his sword up for a down
ward cut and shouted, Tell the truth, or
Ill split you in two, " but the fellow with
ont a vince repeated the words Mean
while the regiment i'm question was coming
to close range Colonel Slocum, his adju-
tant and the captain of the nearest COM
pany advanced TO the front, bearing a
linen havclock for flag of truce, and get
ting within hail called out, What regi-
mcnt is this" Instantly the flag was UNI
furled, showing the stars and bars and
some stray shots We're fired at the truce.
Slocum at once called back to his men,
Give it to them, boys" but nearly all OF
them waited for the truce party to retreat
before acting on the order. The Confeder-
ates, who were the Fourth Alabama, wait
ed for nothing and poured a singing vol
ley into the New Workers. Twenty fell
chiefly from the advance company. The
Alabamans meanwhile had found shelter
behind some bushes making the contes
unequal, and Slocum promptly led hi
men toward a sheltcring ridge. Abou
that time he fell with bullet in his thigh
but his men rallied in the position he hat