The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1897-07-15

sAsee of the French princes present in
Ihe battles around Yorktown and Rich
mond-Prince de Joinville, whose title
Of prince despended to Henri, and his
nsphews, Louis Philippe, Comte de
Paris and Robert d'Orleans, Duo de
Chartres. The princes, who served as
voluntary aids on McClellan's staff,
were soldiers Of no ordinary ability,
and their example was of great benefit
in encouraging our inexperienced off,
rers and men at the early stage Of the
war. 1t was customary in certain cir
cleS to sheer at this feature of McClel-
lan's headquarters encourage, but the
fact was that these cool and disinter.
ested aids often knew just what to do
when others could not or did not aot.
''At the time Of their service here the
count was about % and had been with
the French army in Algiers. The duke
was q novice in war, for he was only 30
years old. He acted with the impulse
of a schoolboy. He was brave even to
rashness and always at the front, like
Prince Napoleon among the Zulus. That
he did not, like that unfortunate youth,
lose his life in the campaign was due
rather to good luck than to good man
agement. His first exploit was in very
brave action at williamsburg, the 40
ton where Hancock won the sobriquet
The Superb. It was deed such as has
lmmortalized some men. Several of Han
cocks guns, planted in an opening, had
been ambusCaded and all the gunners
and supports killed or driven off. The
Confederates had guns trained on the
spot, but the duke took two companies
Of cavalry and dashed in. With his lit
tie band of troopers he circled the whole
field in the face of shell and musket
Ehots at close range and only retired
when he discovered that the captured
guns had been hauled away and that
the Confederates were protected by in
trenchments.
IA few days after that the duke dis
tinguished himself at the battle Of
Gaines Mill. That battle was fought on
the Federal side under the immediate
direction of General Fitz-John Porter.
Porter's troops became SO hard pressed
that supports were sent in from distant
camps, among them the division of
General Slocum, in which I served.
We were led to our position in Porter's
fighting line by the French princes act
ing as aids to Mcclellan It fell to the
lot of our First brigade, Phil Kearny's
Jerseymen, to be sent in at the center,
where that hard Confederate fighter,
General A. P. Hill, was forging ahead
with his usual pertinacity. Our center
held Oh so long that when the right and
left wings were pushed back it became
an angle and desperate spot to uphold.
The Jerseymen went into action about
3 O'Clock in the afternoon to relieve
some of Porter's exhausted troops. The
Fourth New Jersey, under Colonel
Simpson, went so far and hung on SO
long that it was surrounded after dark
and captured. It had been led to that
exposed position, where it did splendid
execution for the army, by the young
Duo de Charities. When the duke first
assigned the hazardous position in the
name of General Mcclellan, Colonel
Simpson thought it must be mistake
and refused to go in. Then the duke
rode back in the face of a pitiless mus
ket fire across a long, exposed space to
headquarters for constructions Having
received them, he braved the dangers
for the third time and set the matter
right. The stubborn battle of the Jer-
seymen there in the center delayed the
Confederate advance so long that Gen
eral Porter was able to save his army.
General Porter and General Butter
field, who commanded division that
LAY, often mentioned the gallantrv of