Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1898-04-28
AN INCIDENT OE THE LATE WAR

time since, the Hon. John Reagan sai,!
while I am speaking Of matters
connected with the war which have not.
SO far as l know, gone into history. |
desire to 90 an act of Justice to the
memory Of Lieutenant General John C.
Pemberton, who was in command at
Nicllsburg when that city was surron.
aered. lie, with tie balance Of his com.
mand, was paroled after their sulren-
der. The great strategic Importance of
Nlcksbnrg. commanding as it did tAe
Mississippi river, and the loss of which
substantially biscctcd the territory a.
the Confcdoracy by the line of that riv
~. was 50 important and was so kcenly
.clt by Our people that it caused deep
regret and great dissatisfaction, and
many CT the people questioned the fidel.
ity CT General PCmbcrton to our cause.
!f Is Il THIS that l wish specially tc
S'o@.i il justice to his memory.
'-4c vas IL citizen Of the state Of
Pennsylvania and Il major Of the FEEDER
al army When tho var broke out His
nothcr lived in Philadelphia and was
wealthy. He believed the people CT the
south were i'll the right and that their
cause was just ana determined to enter
the Confederate service. He notified his
mother OF his intention, saying to her
that he was IL military man, and that
his ego would require him to partici-
patio IL the war, and that he could not
afford to risk his life III q cause which
he believed to be unjust. His mother
protested against this course and threat
encd to disinherit him if he persisted
in it.
You may well understand what
trial it must have been tc him TO refuse
to comply with his mothers wish and
to separate himself from / is own section
Of the country, greatly the stronger,
and unto with the weaker section, plac-
ing his life at stake becau Sc of his con.
scicntious conviction Of duty. On his
mcrits us an officer he rose to the rank
Of lieutenant general i'll the Confederate
service, and on account Of the conf.
dcnco of tho president in his ability an6
fidelity to our cause he was pat in co1n-
mand Of the important military position
Of Vicksburg.
after he was exchanged as a prisoner
and released from his parole I Twas with
President Davis in his office when Gen.
eral Pemberton called on him and stated
that the discomfort on account Of the
fall Of Vicksburg had destroyed his use-
fulness in high command and made II
proper for him to resign his commission
of lieutenant general, which he then
did, and Le asked to be assigned to the
rank of lieutenant colonel of artillery
in the regular army Of the Confederacy
The president, with expressions Of sym
pathy and regret, accepted his resigna.
tion as lieutenant general, and he was
assigned to his line rank of lieutenant
colonel Of artillery. This was the only
instance during the war of an officer
voluntarily resigning a high rank in the
army and askirg for service in lower
one.
"Not long after this General Butler,
in command of the Federal forces, NOV.
ing Il portion Of the army from the
south to the north side of the James
river, with large force attempted to
capture the city of Richmond. Our line
Of works III front CT him was defended
by number of siege batteries and by
infantry The principal attack was by
field batteries Oh the line Of the Will.
liamsburg road Lieutenant Colonel
PembertOn was in command of our bat"
teries, which covered that line Of ap,
proach and in the immediate front OF
the Federal batteries Colonel Preston
johnson of the presidents staff and L
on hearing the heavy firing, rode out tv
where we could witness the contest.
We saw Pemberton standing on the
parapet of the battery on the Williams
burg road, fully exposed to the most
terrific fire of shot and shell, giving di.
rections to his command. Seeing this,
we feared that the disaster at Vicks-
burg and the criticisms to which he had
been subjected were causing him to seek
relief in death. This supposition may
have been unjust to him, and his pur-
pose may simply have been to encourage
his comrades.
"On my return from prison III 1865,
in going from Richmond to Columbia,
S. c., | met General Pemberton on
the cars at Greensboro, n. c., and
learned that he, too, was going to CO.
lumbia to see Mr.. Trenholm, the late
secretary of the treasury, his object, as
he told me, being to try to borrow mon
ey from Mr. Trenholm to enable him to
get on farm as a means of support TO
his family. inquired of him if he UNI
derstood farming. He said he had 10
experience III farming; that he had no
profession but that of engineer, and
that there was no opening for him i'll
that line, and he saw no other way OF
supporting his family except on farm.
He was, then in q destitute condition
financially. l said to him that l under
stood his family i'll Philadelphia was
wealthy and asked him if they knew
of his condition. His answer was, in
character with his past actions, that
they did no. and never should know it
from him.
"From tins we can understand the
Injustice of the criticisms to which he
had been subjected. saw him no more,
but have since learned that he died in
Philadclphia, and frolE this fact trust
that he became rccuucilod with his fam
ilv. Ilcarncd from PrcGidc;.t Davis the
facts relating to General lC,.lhCrton's