Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1896-06-05
GEN. ECHOL s MILITARY LIFE.


= 1896, the following resolutions; offered |
Comrade Ranscn, were unanimously adOp
ed:
Whereas, this Camp.learns with profoun
J. sorrow of the loss it has sustained in til
death on yesterday of our friend and con
q rad General John Echols. and desires
q enter upon it's records, with the expresslo
!. of this feeling brief memorial OF his mil
a itary services
: Resolved, that we, the members OF Stone
G wall Jackson Camp, tender to the family
. our deceased comrade, John Echols, tn
assurance of our heartfelt sympathy il
n their bereavement.
He was among the first to enroll himsel
in this organization, and from the beginning
it has had no member more loyalty devote.
, to its purposes, nor one more true in hi
allegiance to principles which justif,
its existence.
In war and in peace he was distinguished
for his services to his state, and to render
such service he was eminently fitted BY
his natural gifts and by a thorough educa
tion. At the Virginia Military Institut,
he was :. clasSmate of Col. John Lewis Pew
ton who proceeded him but few hours tt
the grave. There, as at Washington Col
lege and at Harvard University he achieved
the same success which has marked his
course through life. A born leader of men,
he stood mentally, as he did physically, a
head and shoulders above his compeers.
| II F,1
enterprise and determination.
A prominent member of the Virginia
convention at the time the ordinance OF
Secession was adopted by that body, he was
prompt to offer his service, and in May 1861
was commissioned Lieut.. Colonel Of the
9th Virginia Infantry of the ''Stonewall
Brigade, and was for some time engaged
in the duty of mastering in, at Staunton,
the various companies formed in this Sec
ton Of the state. AT first Manassas he
commanded the regiment, and was soon
afterwards made it's Colonel. the health of
Col. W. w. Gordon having occasioned the
resignation of that officer.
He continued in command until the bat
tie of Kernstown, where his regiment
brought on the engagement, and where he
was severely wounded. Upon recovering
from his wounds he was promoted to the
rank of brigadier and assigned to the COM
mand of a brigade under General Loring,
accompanying him to the Kanawha Valley
in the fall OF 1862, and taking an active
part in the his operations. In October,
1862, he was ordered to relieve General Lor-
ing and to take command of the department
Of Southwestern Virginia. He marched
the army back to Charleston and held that
place until driven out in the latter part of
November, 1862, by an overwhelming Fed
eral force.
In the spring OF 1868 he resigned COM
mand of the department and resumed CON-
mand Of the brigade. During the summer
of that year he was ordered by President
Davis to Atlanta, as a member of a court
Of inquiry to investigate the causes Of the
fall of Vicksburg, General Howell; Cobb
and Generel Robert Ransom being the
other members.
Later in the year he commanded the Con-
tain, where he was defeated by Averill. In
1864 he commanded Breckinridge's right
| wing at the battle of New Market, display
ing there as elsewhere (for instance at Sec
ond Cold Harbor) conspicuous gallantry
and contributing no little to the onors won
that day. Afterwards he was actively en-
gagged in the operations around Richmond.
In the fall of 1864 he was again assigned to
command Of the department. of Southwest
ern Virginia. General Breckenridge having
been made secretary of war, In the spring
of 1865 he was ordered to relieve General
Early in command, at Abingdon, and re-
manned in command until the surrender of
of General Lee, when he marched his troops
to North Carolina, and after escorting
President Davis to Augusta, Ca, and re-
naming there for some time in command,
returned with his staff to Greensboro, n.
c., and was paroled with Gen. Jos. b.
Johnston. The persecution to which be
was subjected in the courts of West Wiz
ginia, on account Of his military career in
that region, is a matter of his tory. lie
did yeoman service with the committee OF
nine in achieving the restoration Of his
native state to it's relations with the gener.
al government. To wi sdom in counsel. he
added boldness in action. He has honor.
ably and ably filled many positions of trust
His duties in later years called him to Ken
lucky, but his valuable services to the PEG
pile of that state never alienated him in al
lection OF interest from this community
which had no more public spirited or use
full citizen than John Echols. We mourn {
good man gone. He has gone to the reward
of faithful service. Wecherish the mem
DRY of a worthy comrade, of genial spirit
a hospitable and charitable gentleman-on'
On whom nature set her stamp to give tn
world assurance of man.
Figures of the Staunton Election.
: Our city edition Friday morning gave tn
detailed vote of the c1tV election We max