Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1900-01-05
GEN. MERRITT'S RISE.
MADE A MAJOR GENERAL ATT THE
AGE OF 27 YEARS.
He Won Seven Brevets and Promotions
in Two Years and Came Out of the
Civil War Dashing Officer "LittIe
Phil" Praises Him.

Seven brevets and promotions, all for
gallant and lnerltOriOuS service" in
the field, all won in the space of two
years, is the unique record established
by Major General Wesley Merritt. Six
times he was rewarded thus for bray
cry in particular engagements, and
once for his service during the entire
campaign. In 1860, at the age Of -,
he graduated from West Point. He
emerged from the war major general
at ~.
ut was In the battle of Beverly
Ford that Merritt made his mark"
says Gen. L. f. Rodenbough, who
served with him through most Of the
rebellion. HE set it high up, too, for
In that one day he jumped from the
rank Of captain, acting as colonel, to
the position Of brlgadier general, and
the command OF the regular brigade,
Familiarity known as the Old Guard.
"In the spring Of 1868 the Union cav
airy, which had been split up into small
divisions during the earlier part of the
war, was reorganized, and Gen. Pleas
onton was made chief of cavalry of the
Army of the Potomac. Merritt was as
signed to the Second Cavalry, with the
rank Of captain.
"At the beginning Of June it was re-
ported that Lee was getting ready to
move north, and force Of 10000 cav
airy was sent out to see If they could
locate any large bodies of Confederate
troops, with view to determining the
truth of this report. In the course of
our expedition we ran into some 12,0O0
Confederate cavalry under 'Jeb' Stuart,
not far from Culpeper. Fording the
Rappahannock in the early morning we
attacked the Confederates' camp.
"Thc ensuing engagement, known as
the battle of Beverly Ford, is recOg-
nized by military writers as the most
conspicuous cavalry engagement of the
war The numbers on each side were
nearly equal, the ground was favorable
for mounted operat ons, and the fight
ing lasted all day, from in the morn
ing until nearly Z at night.
"There we've two young officers on
the Union side who won great glory
that day. They were Merritt and Gus
ter. both Of whom were Immediately
afterwards made brlgadier generals
Better than all else, Merritt won the
warm commendat Oh Of his old COM
mander, the gallant Buford, of whom
he afterward wrote:
His slightest praise was more
valued by his officers than a brevet
from the War Department
"At the battle of Gettysburg, his next
big fight, Merritt performed service
which was not fully appreciated until
later His command got into the fight
ON the third day, the day after Pick
ett's charge, and engaged the extreme
Confederate left near Round Top. He
was facing a superior force, but he
kent it so busy that when Lee sent
word to Longstreet to move forward
and back up Pickett Longstreet replied
that the Yankee cavalry was giving
him all that he could attend to, and
that he was unable to help Pickett.
Considering the mighty results that
hung on small chances that day, 1t Is
difficult to say how great Merritt's ser,
vice TO the country really was. 1t did
not 60 unrewarded, for Merritt was
breyeted major from July 1, 1863, fol
gallant and meritorious conduct"
On the 18th day Of May, 1864, Sherl'
dan was only six miles from Richmond
when he was opposed by stuart's cav
airy. The latter believed that the safe
tv Of their capital was at stake and
fought like demons. Sheridan usually
knew how his battles were coming out
but he was anxious on that day, ant
for time the issue hung in the bal
ance. Then a great cheer rose on th'
loft of the Union line, and Merritt