The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-07-17

thought it?' The
veteran soldier whose taking off the other
day was heralded by local biographical no
tices about the length of a page in a child s
primer was one whom future generations
must class with the fighting Putnams,
Waynes and Starks of the Revolution.
The life story of General Francis G. Bar
low is the history OF the Second army corps,
and General Barlow had as much to do
with making the history Of that famous
body OF soldiers as any man in it, and per-
haps more than any, not excepting Han
cook himself. Barlow was there first; he
was there last, and without such gallant
lieutenants as Barlow neither Hancock
nor the corps would have achieved the dis
tinction in battle which fully entities the
latter to be called the ''Ole Guard of the
Union army. Barlow led in every charge
of that corps but one, and then he was
lying wounded.
Barlow, first of all, was u volunteer, and
that means that he had to fight again as
hard and achieve again as much as West
Point graduate before he could obtain
chances for distinction and the promotions
which would open up other chances to him.
How he won his first chance Is told in his
own official report of his first battle. This
report, by the way, is one of the curiosities
of that kind of war literature. The bat
tie was the second day at Fair Oaks, when
General Howard was ordered to take his
brigade out and try to recover ground
which the Confederates had captured the
previous day. Barlow's regiment, the
Sixty first New York, was one of the four
under Howard. Howard started with two
regiments only, the Sixty-dr and Sixty
fourth New York. Early in the action
Howard was disabled and turned the COM
mand of these two regiments over TO Bar
low This is Barlow's account of his first
stewardship:
The two other regiments of this brigade
were not in sight. The firing in the woods in
into the woods of tall trees thickly inter
spersed with an underground of young oaks
which rendered it impossible for us TO see any
great distance before US. The ground in some
places was muddy and marshy.
After advancing some $50 yards we came upon
the - Pennsylvania volunteers briskly en-
gaging the enemy. requested Colonel B
to cease firing that we might pass in front OF
him. This was done, and we advanced upon
the enemy, who was drawn up in line before us
and kept up a heavy firing After advancing
some 25 yards beyond Colonel BIS regiment
halted among thick underground. Not will
ing to deliver our fire until we could see those
opposed TO US ordered the regiment to cease
firing. We then moved forward in excellent
order some $50 yards, meeting with a heavy
fire, but not seeing the enemy with sufficient
distinctness to warrant, in my opinion our
hating and renewing the fire. On arriving
upon the crest Of hill within some 20 yards
of the road running parallel to the railroad
and directly opposite the (former) camp of
Caseys division, which the enemy had Occu-
pied, the battalion was halted, the enemy be-
ing plainly in sight by the roadside and at
once opened fire, receiving a very heavy one
in return. This continued for a considerable
time, and it there that principal loss
occurred. We drove the enemy back and he
ceased firing.
The loss of Barlow's own regiment was
10 killed and wounded, % per cent of its
fighting strength. Every American sol
Hill command, "Wait till you see the
whites of their eyes, - when the enemy is
advancing, but how many of the thousands
of the fresh colonies and embryo briga-
diers of the last war had the wisdom and
GOODNESS to go on a still hunt for the white
of their enemies eyes through a swampy
forest, raked by the fire of unseen rifemenP
Most biographies state that Barlow's
gallantry at Fair Oaks was rewarded by a
generals star. That is untrue. He was
colonel at Antietam, in commard of q
demibrigade in the Second corps, which
included his own regiment. In fact, il
was half Of the Howard brigade of Fair
Oaks and the peninsula. 1t is a matter of
well known history that the Second corps
divisions of Sedgwick and Richardson
made one of the most desperate charges of
the day at Antietam. Richardson was
killed while driving the fiery a. p. Hill
from the famous sunken road which