Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-07-17
A GLORIOUS RECORD.
NOBLE DEEDS DONE ny THE OLD
FIRST VIRGINIA REGIMENT.
ANNIVERSARY OCCURS TOMORROW.


The survivors Of the old First Regiment
will celebrate their thirty-seventh anniver
| sary at Blandon's Park Tomorrow
Thirty-seven years ago the gallant "Old
| First" was given the post of honor at
| Blackburns Ford where the direct road
| from Centreville to Manassas crosses Bull
Run, and here the battle was fought on
July u.s. 1861, which resulted in a repulse
to the enemy, and the old First gained its
first laurels To commemorate this glo-
rious day the survivors have kept up the
custom Of meeting each year OF that day
to have joyful time but there is also a
sadness mixed with these gatherings,
when the many empty chairs are noted.
The boys of 1861 have added thirty-seven
years To their ages, and these years have
left their marks. but only those who have
heen there can describe the feelings when
those who have not seen each other for
months and years meet once more and re-
call the stormy times when they stood
side by side in the ranks and faced death.
\ PROUD HISTORY.
The old First has a history to be proud
of; Bull Run was but the first leaf in its
laurel wreath.
III tue Ddklle OF w llildHlSDulR, May .,
1862. the First captured Webber's New
York Battery, the only guns taken by the
Confederates in that battle. At Seven
Pines the First led the charge made by
the brigade which captured the enemy's
works; at FraZer's Farm Kempers Bril-
gade, with the First, made history i'm that
wonderful charge through the brush and
swamp, reaching the enemys lines and
seiZing their batteries They were COM
PEELED, however, to relinquish them TO the
enemy who outnumbered them ten to
one.
SECOND MANASSAS.
Second Manassas came and here the
First served under General Corse. and to
them fell the duty OF taking and capturing
the enemy's lines and guns at the Chnn
house. There was no failure in this; the
batteries were taken and held. and here
IT was that Colonel Frederick G.. Skinner,
of the First, charged singly far ahead of
the advancing lines into the firing bate
ries, sabring the cannonerS at their
pieces. At Boonsboro', Sheepsburg,
Fredericksburg, and Suffolk the history
making was continued.
Pickett's charge at Gettysburg tells the
story of what brave Virginians will dare
and do. The First, led by the gallant
Lewis h. Williams. who fell TO rise no
more on that CORY field. was the central
regiment of Kemper's Brigade. and the |
record of 120 killed and wounded out Of !
$50 tells the story Of duty performed as |
they charged into the jaws of hell"
STARS AND STRIPES WENT DOWN. |
Newberne, then Plymouth, where the !
First took part, i'm the three-days' siege, |
until the Stars and Stripes went down |
with it's defenders followed. ana then
,ame Drewry's Bluff. What record the |
First made there. 1t broke w the right !
wing of the enemy's line. and together
With the Seventh, it captured General |
Hickman, together with his staff and
most of his brigade, four colors from as
many regiments of his brigade. formed
part OF the First Brigade's display on
he streets OF Richmond on May 70, 1861
Milford Station was the next point
listed by the First. Here the First and
eleventh fought for hours the advance
4 Hancock's Corps, with the result that
hey brought Grants army to halt. The
inc Of works west of the Mattoponi river.
opposite Milford, which may be seen this
ay, will testify TO the fact that the
nemy thought he had Lees army before
i'm, which was at that time twenty
niles away.
FINAL HISTORY.
On June le, 1864. at the Clay house,
ieneral Lees courers called 20 the men
D stop the charge, but as General Lee
aid himself. The could not stop Pickett's
len from charging" and the enemy was
ent flying from the trenches Dinwid-
lie Courthouse. Five Forks. and Sailors
reek close the history of the old First,
nd the flag which carried the First to
ctory on so many bloody fields was
'lded, TO be unfurled no more. but ! is
Try will not forget the men that dared
j for the cause they loved so well. They
ave not lived i'm vain; their deeds will
spire the coming generation and show
the world at large that the American
tizens can be turned into soldiers and
sroes.