Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1895-12-19

dience or commando more general
! respect than he. q End Mary.
land Infantry, to wIh Murray's
company was attache< served dur
ing the severe winter 62-3 in tbs
Valley, where it knevIlp such thing
as rest. Insufficientl clad, miser-
ably shod, without ca to protect
from the Winters sl6sens, with q
food SUPPLY -of iha :. .asasre
kind. hurried from point to point
to ward of threatened attacks.
without the least regard to prevail
ing weather, the only infantry COM
mand in the entire Valley, this reg
iment won for itself reputation
second to that of none in the army
of Northern Virginia and no SOL
dier in the regiment was more true
or bore his hardships with braver
spirit than our young sergeant.
At the beginning of the summer
of '63 there was abundant evidence
that the curtain was about to be
lifted upon a new and startling
scene of the great war drama. Our
immortal leader, Lee, had but re-
Gently hurled back in utter rout
1.-THE finest army on the planet,
that had come out under Hooker so
boastfully, and it now lay powerless
within it's lines. Lees army had
been reorganized and equipped, as
far as our limited means would per.
nit, for active movements. Lee
now felt that the time had come for
q bold stroke that rs a soldier he
felt must, for veal or woe, be de-
cisive of his country's fate, and he
prepared for the invasion of Penn
sylvania.
In order properly to appreciate
the character of the soldiery of Lees
army, it is well to glance at the
numerical conditions prevailing be-
tween the opposing forces. just
prior to the movement of Lees
army, his report shows an aggre-
gate present of something over S1,-
900 men. His opponent, at the
same date, reports an aggregate
present of a little over 122, 900 men,
with 3S7 guns. In addition, the
reserve forces reporting in Wash
ington and Baltimore, Numbered
very nearly 100000 more. Con-
sideration of these naked figures
will best illustrate the character of
the men composing the army of
Northern Virginia, Of whom young
Blackstone was type, marching so
cheerily at their loved command
er's will, to meet, upon their own
soil, their vastly outnumbering foes.
The movement began in the lat
ter part of May, Lee moving away
from all possibility of support, his
foe, falling back upon his reserves
and supplies. The onward move
ment invoked many minor engage
ments. entailing loss to both contest
ants. easily made good BY the Feder-
al force, but not so with Lee. The
most important of these minor en-
gagements took place at Winches-
ter, where the End Maryland was
warmly engaged, and where our
young sergeant of Company A won
fresh laurels for distinguished cool
ness and insrepidity under fire.
Here the End Maryland was attached
to the Brigade Of Ger. Geo. III.
Steuart. of Maryland, in the Divis-
ion of Gen. Edw. johnson, End
Army Corrs, under Ewell.
At length on the let day of July
the two armies found themselves
face to face in the Immediate vi
cinity of the town of Gettys
burg. Once more to consider the
numbers engaged. We have seen
that Lee reported at the end
of ssMay a little over 1000 ag-
gregate present. We have no later
report, but we know we had no in
crease of force, except the small
number he gathered mp in the Val
ley. He met, of course, with con-
siderable losses in the many minor
conflicts during June-and some
de:atchments from his force he was
compelled to make. II is not then
unreasonable to claim, as do those
best acquainted with the facts. that
Lees aggregate force present on the
1st of July, 1863. lay some where
between $4,000 and 10000 men,
probably nearer the former number.
With regard to the Federal force,
We can be more certain Of oul
ground. Meade, who had succeed.
ed Hooker, reports on The 50th 0i