Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1894-01-11

AnS ANSktt1eDt II tne summer OF 1901
was admirably trsined. Col. George II.
Stewart was soldier by instinct and edu.
cation. and be had passion for detail
which. while trying to The scholar, was the
making Of the school. We were in the
first Manassas fight and in the fall in many
little slirmishes at Jpton's and Mason's
Hill. All this was training for the Lieut..
Colonel as well as the men, and he needed
10 more than any, for be was a. ignorant a.
the most, and had greater necessity and re.
sponsibliity for skill. Therefore. when
Col. Stewart In March. 1862, became Brig.
adler, Lieut.. Col. johnson became Colonel,
and the Regiment under his command was
IKE finely tempered, highly polished To-
ledo blade. In his hands II could be used
Tor offer'ce and defence Will perfect conf.
dence -aad certain results.
During the winter Stewart had put the
picket duty on the Lieut. Colonel, who had
then got hold Of the men and of confidence
In hiinief and in them, and they in him.
They were superb body. They had no
interest In slavery. There were Lot ten men
In the command who had any connection
with it. They did not believe in secession.
Very few ofthem understood what i, meant.
But they did know that the Yankees were
invading Virginia. They fel, that "blood
is thicker than water" and at the first call
to arms TO attack her, we rushed 10 ner
side to defend. They were the only vol
unteers in either army.
Fugitlyes from home, they could have
remained in the Confederacy unmolested,
for they were not subject to the Conscrip.
ton; but they had came TO help, and the
the place TO do it was in the field and there
they went and stayed until they were
forced cut by an unworthy intrigue at
Richmond in August, 1862
The Regiment was the advance corps Of
Jackson in his Valley campaign and the
rear guard in his retreat. 1t was in the
Seven Days battle and never for second
did it lose its head or become ratified.
1t was superb in its self-control. On the
retreat up the Valley, pushed by Fremonts
cavalry, our cavalry broke and ran all over
the country. The Marylanders were march
ing through Edinboro when the stampeded
horse few by, leaving nothing between us
and the pursuing enemy. Col. johnson
jerked his regiment across the street and
literally drove back the Virginians with
the butts of his rifles.
Two days afterwards, going back with
Ashby and Ewell TO attack Fremont's ad-
vance, the 5Sth Virginia in front, in the
dusk in the woods, broke at volley poured
into them and ran back like flock or tur-
keys They were running over everything,
and Col. johnson rode out in front of the
colors. Stand fast, First Maryland Steady
Battalion! Virginians, form behind that
WALTZ And, as they got together, the Ma
rylanders went forward TO take their places
in run to the front.
As they rose little rise in the woods, a
volleY took them full in the face, knocked
down 30 men, and men at the colors, I'M
Ill Dan, Sharks grasped them and raised
them; KILLED, Ashby, Capt. Mike Robert
son and Lieut.. Nick Snowden, of Company
ID. The Colonel had gone down, his horse
was hit shree times and killed dead, but the
rider was on his feet in second and shout.
ing, forward Corporal Shanks r-togeth-
er we went to the fence, and there potted'
the Yankees as they flew across the field.
The Regiment had the compliment of a
general order by Ewell, compl:menting
them for that exploit. They had yet an
other fnom Gen. Jos. Z. Johnston in the
preceding June. A fine thing was done by
the Regiment at Cold Harbor June 81, '62
II got on the field after sun down and in
tie dusk. Everything was broken and
coming back. The ground was SO full of
dead and wounded that you could not
march, hut had to step between the bodies
A six gun battery, 600 yards off in an or
chard, was getting the range, and heavy
fire Of miusketry from an earthwork, or ri
file pit, in front was pouring over our heads,
and things looked very shaky. The Colo
mel ordered, Battalion, halt Right dress
order arms,-shoulder arms,-present
arms-all through the manual as solidly as
If on dress parade, and Dan Shanks stood at
his coiofs and dropped them at the present
as coolly as II a hundred pesticoats were
looking on. Then the command, For
ward, guide centre! Right shoulder, shift
arms, dOuble-quick, charger And with
yell they went over the earthwork and az
ter the battery, for il had limbered up as
soon as it saw the charge. At this Dress
Parade Of Battle, or as prefer to call it,
"The Manual Before the Battery" Dan
Shanks carried the beautiful flag that he
had held up a: Harrisonburg when Ashby
was killed andat those close quarters the
flag drew the fire. In all that circle of
of knights he was the kindest, the
courtliest, the gentlest, the bravest. Plant
the budding cross OF ST. Mary's over his
grave-that for a thousand years IL will
bloom in perennial beauty in testimony of
as chiyalrous, as brave, as true knight as
ever rode with Sir Galahad on the quest
or followed Arthur to Avalon.
BRADLEY I. JOHNSON.
downtown Locals.