The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1899-03-24

! house Nhe.. he asked TO Ea commi
. .ioD q captain Of n hundred patriot
= who hiatt elected him their leaier q
the age OF 81. Young men were v,u
log ~ the front in 1865 because of tn
immoneo armies ia the field aud Il
lack OF trained old heads to take th
lead. For that reaoou the hiyhes
battlefield valof has been associate,
i with nssncs like Sheridan, Custer
NI patrick, Wilson, the fiery Cetu-ne
An | John IL. Gordon, wno were al
undsr the average age for ocmmi:sion
Ell officers ~ 1t stood iu the last yeal
Of the war,
Contedelat, vetemAs are familiar
with the episode III the Wilderness
~AeA Hobart l.. Leo, toen approach
1nS tlreescoro, wished 60 lead charge
81 Lbe iexau Rr4sss.ie. Albert Sidney
~ohsseu, pisIlt~lI 'soiuier upon whom
the south Test-e her high hopes iu the
! os4 titnlnx, ~as Killed ~ Shiiv i
III the Iiest vi u charge. This John.
'si''n- hsa he lived, might have become
the .tt.aerai-lu chief f the Confederate
hru,y, ahd at Tie clos, OF the war
wouiu have been 81 yer, old. Joseph
A.. johnson Was 5, when he fought his
Dattle III the Caro- .inas, aud Lee wxs
Tie saue age At AppomAtt,x.
But Ions before that gray locks of
fighting warriors had been conspicu.
GUS OH scores of bloody >battIefslds,
aud the bullets of Yankees and Con-
federates spared them not. Gen.
Leonidas Polk, the ex bishop. know as
the surpliced warrior of the South,
was killed in the defense ot Atlanta
at the age of SO; Mansfield, in his co.
year, tell at Aniietam while deploying
his army corps, regiment by regiment,
for grand charge, and Con. Wads-
worth was 81 wh,n he leaped hi, horse
over the Confederate works at the
battle of the Wilderness, and fell !!e, d
within the enemy's lines. But the
oldest hero of them all was Gen. Sum
ner, VIII, led the fighting Second corp,
OF the Army Of the Potomac when he |
was G6 years of age. Tho nickname
given To Sumner on account of his |
fiery arlor in battle, "Old Bull of the
had reference to his impet-
uosity when the hour came to charge
That Dswey had mauy gray -hairel
compeers in the battles against Spain
is shown by the long list of veterans
who made history for the army at
Santiago. First to fall was Col.
Wikoh, soldier who had held com
|Si p;iefiaf more ;Ihti than ri years. BY Wikofs
side almost, When killel, was the
second in command ofthe first brigade
Col. Worth, with nearly 40 years OF
service to his credit. Worth fell
within few feet Of his dead chief. /
Next in rank came Lieut.. Col LIS
cum, who at chat moment was climb
ing the rough hillside at the head CT
his negro regiment. That young
staff officer, Charles f. Tayman, men
toned in the official .eports as the
brerthless messenger sent by Gen.
Kent to summon the SsveDty.first to
the front, awed his breathlessness to
race after Liscum to tell him that the
command of the brigade devolved
upon him. Liscum was 5S and hadn't
much the start of Tayman at the bank
of the river, but the youngster nearly
gave out before he could deliver the
message. Almost instantly the Old
man disappeared into tie tai grass
wounded; but gray hairs were st'll III
evidence on that part of the field.
Major Ellis and Major Auman OF the
Thirteenth charging abreast OF LIS
GUMS colored troops, were war veter'
aus hard crowding three scoie. Ihey
| vert down before San Juan block
house was reached. Then Col. ESer's
of the Ninth, gray beard who had
fought in that regiment under Grant
as far back a. 1862, took command OF
the victorious line.
Meanwhile, Just to the right o
| Wikoff's brigade, Hawkins, a soldier
who began his career in 1852 wa
| leading on the Sixth and Sixteenth
under Egbert and Theaker, gray
boards, who were to fall outside TIT
breastworks. Hawkins crossed TIT
trenches and was shot the next da.
while repelling the Spanish counter
assault. Next to Hawkins. Wheele
was the oldest man on the firing line
; and how valiantly no battled unit
the victory was won has been told.
It should be noted that with on
| aa.A;an auaru raninent hattaliO