Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-01-23
THE ROLL OF VIRGINIANs.

third OF June has come. lt IS lo5o IL Is
tramp, tramp, the boys are marching.
Ewel is at the head of the Second Corps. Vir
ginia people have a peculiar reason for being
specially interested in these events" Major
Daniel said he did not sympathize with any
people who sought to glorify themselves at
the expense of others, but of all the Southern
States Virginia took the most conspicuous
part and bore the brunt of the battle of Gettys
burg And this reminded him that Augusta
county mustered more soldiers. so far as he
could observe than any other county in the
State
Major Daniel here related a characteristic
anecdote of General William n. Pendleton
the famous Episcopal divine of Lexington
and General Lees chief of artillery 1t was
at the battle of Balls Bluff that General
Pendeton was directing the cannonading and
gave this unique command. God have
mercy on your souls Fire "
The Confederate army al Gettysburg, con-
tinued Major Daniel. was led by Early and
Ewell. OF its twelve divisions, eight of them
were commanded by VirginIans; of seven
brigades, six of them were commanded by
Virginians Of three d, isons of artillery,
two were commanded by Virginians of the
fifteen battalions of artillery, niue out of the
fifteen were commanded by Virginians. Of
the seven battalions of artillery. four of them
were commanded by Virginians Lee a Vir-
giniar, commanded the whole army: Stuart, a
Virginian, commanded all the cavalry. and
L Il Ii,
all the artillery.
AFTER MILROY AT WINCHESTER
1t was about the middle of June that the
Army of Northern Virginia broke camp and
marched towards Gettysburg. In a few days
the head of Lees army was at Martinsburg
and the rear at Fredericksburg, confronting
the Army of the Potomac under Hooker
Hooker wanted to make an attack on Lees
rear but Mr.. Lincoln, in his characteristical-
ly quaint way wrote back as follows: IF Lee
should leave rear force at Fredericksburg,
tempting you to fall upon it, he would fight
you in intrenchments, and have you at dis
advantage; and, so, man for man, worst you
at that point, while his main force would IN
some way be getting an advantage of you
uorthward. In word, | would not take any
risk of being entangled upon the river, like
an OK jumped half over fence, and liable to
be torn by dogs front and rear, without fair
chance to gore one way, or kick the other"
1t was three o clock in the afternoon of the
18th day of June-the Augusta county bows
know all about it-that Ewell and Johnston
advanced upon Milroy in Winchester and
made a sweep around the town and captured
Winchester and nearly five thousand prison
ers Major Daniel told here an incident that
illustrated some of the humors of war. While
part of Ewelfs division was entertaining a
part of Milroy's force in the vale below, the
Federal garrison in one of the forts were OBJ
served strutting around inside the ramparts
WIN great odHS itOlI SluOhlllS GlSdtS. 1t was
not long after that, continued Major Daniel
that the Louisianians and other Confederate
troops rushed on those ramparts and climbed
them and had captured guns and prisoners.
Now the Yankee camp had plenty of provis
ions. including coffee and fiddleS and baniOes
and flutes and mandolins and all kinds of
stringed instruments. If there was anything
a Louisianian liked it was music and some
thing to eat, and when other Confederate
troops marched into the earthworks, they
found half the Louisianians eating and drink
ing coffee and the other half PLAYING on the
fddIes, the banjoes, the flutes, the mandolins
and the other musical instruments. The same
day Rodes' division was going through the
same performance at Martinsburg on small
er scale. At Winchester Augusta had eight
companies in the 18th Virginia regiment and
seven companies in the 9th Virginia reg-
ment Gallant Charlie Hayes had his arm
shot off as he brought his men over the ram
parts and fell amid the shouts of victory.
Thus is tragedy and comedy commingled in
war.
ON TO THE POTOMAC.
1t was while Lees army was thus long
drawn out This line of battle, as it were, was
now expanded the length of hundred miles,
thai President Lincoln again wrote to General
Hooker one of his enthusiastically quaint
letters. Said he, IF the head of Lees army
is at Martinsburg and the tail of it on the
plank road between Fredericksburg and Chan
cellorsvile, the animal must be very slim
somewhere. Could you not break him ?''
Hooker made movement toward the Potomac
and Lees army crossed the Potomac and
headed for Harrisburg, Pennsy lvania's State
capital, as its objective point. The cavalry
under Stuart had crossed SabreS with PleaSan-
ton at Brandy Station, in the heaviest cavalry
combat of the war, and without discredit
Lee, with his customary skill, had taken
every precaution to use the eyes and ears of
his army. Stuart has been criticised for not
making Lee aware of the approach of the
Federal army at Gettysburg. There has never
been written about the war statement that
had less justice and truth in it. Stuart had
operated in the discretion given him. He
had less than half the cavalry of the Army of
Northern Virginia with him. Major Daniel
then went into Stuarts manoevres in detail
On the 18th day of June, 1863 a column of
Confederate infantry under Gordon, with
Early in immediate command, reached Co
lumb ia on the sou h bank of the SuSQuehanna
and but for the burning of the bridge across
that river he would have been in Harris burg
Major Daniel then related an amusing in
cident at Hanover when General Fitzpatrick of
the Federal army captured Colonel William
Payne The latter. in trying to escape, had
run into a lanyard and fallen into vat
When he emerged, Colonel Payne was both
wet and discolored When they met, the two
officers stared at each other for some time
Presently, Fitzpatrick noticing the stars on
the coat collar of Colonel Payne, smiled
reached back to his hip pocket, pulled out
silver flask, handed it to his prisoner and said.
Colonel take a drink" And further"
added Major Daniel your deponent saith
not"
THE COLLISION AT GETTYSBURG.
The battle of Gettysburg was the result of
the accidental collision of Federal and Con
federate troops. Neither Lee nor Meade (who
had a short time before succeeded General
Hooker in command of the Army of the
Potomac) knew the stragetic nature of the
ground. Thus is war game OF skill and
chance, of chess and blind mans buff. Thus.
without previous design on the part of either
General Lee or General Meade. the greatest
battle ever fought on this continent in the
greatest war of the 18th century was put to
tue issue. Fate rather than foresight had ap-
pointed Gettysburg, that quaint Pennsylvania
village, as the scene of this desperate strug
gle
While A. P. Hill was continuing his ad-
vance on Gettysburg, his advanced division
came into collision with Buford's Federal
cavalry: The sound of Buford's artillery
caused Hill to hurry up his divisions, while
Reynolds and Howard reinforced Buford.
The fight was fierce and sanguinary. Ewel
and Early. hearing the sound of the cannon
aiding, and taught by Jackson to always go
where the guns told the fight was raging,
pushed forward. At 3 o'clock in the after
noon Early made fierce assault upon the
Union right, while Rodes charged the Federal
centre, the key point to the field and, break
ing through, swept away the right of the Fed
eral First Corps and the left of the Eleventh
Fhe break was disastrous one, and the Fed
erals fled unanimously through the streets of
Gettysburg, Early in pursuit and capturing
more than five thousand prisoners. Major
Daniel related as a remarkable instance the
fact that band of Rodes' division followed
the Confederate troops into Gettysburg. THE
private soldier" continued Major Daniel
had had two years experience in war and
understood war as well as did their officers"
Their cry was, ''go on p go on" Early
asked A. P. Hill to order up all the troops;
but General Ewell rode up and news came
that the rear of Lees army was threatened
and the Confederates Withdrew. though it
was afterward found out that the report was
a false one The situation is to be judged
not as it existed but as it was reflected at the
time.
Major Daniel then went into an elaborate
description of the ground around Gettysburg.
Cemetery Ridge lies south of Gettysburg
quarter of mile away and runs due South =
just beyond the limits of Gettysburg this
ridge makes curve to the eastward, and then,
turning to the right again, falls off toward the
Sou h. forms a hook whose convexity Is
turnpd toward Gettvsburp and is % Hold Cana