Sunday morning globe., 1901-09-29

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! and herOism.
Another illustration Of great cool
ness and courage under desperate cir
cumstances was the action of a young
/ officer who was making a reconnois-
sance between the lines Of the armies
| of the Potomac and Northern Virginia
| He was looking for the evidences Of
action and the presence Of the enemy,
and endeavoring to obtain all the in
| formation possible concerning the to-
Biography Of the country and the num-
| Der and position of the enemy's troops.
| lie had with him for escort one troop
of cavalry.
After making a reconnaissance for
several hours, he turned toward the
/ Union lines, intending to return by
| that route; but, wishing to gain still
more information without requiring
| the escort to make a long detOur, he
| directed them to return to their sta
| ton by a shorter route, while he him
self went by a more CirCuitOus way
/ Before he could reioin his command he
was discovered by a troop of Confed-
crate cavalry on a reconnaissance sim
/ liar to his own. The commanding Of
/ icer. seeing that he was unaccompa-
MED, Immediately gave chase, and a
rapid pursuit followed. The Union
| officer was but Is years Of age; he was
well mounted and a light rider, and
| thought he had a fair prospect of es-
/ cape. especially as, in his opinion, his
/ horse could outfoot the troop Of Con-
| federate cavalry.
The Confederate commander, how
ever, was mounted on a powerful thor
oughbred, and, soon leaving his troop
well to the rear, gained rapidly on the
/ young officer As they struck into a
well-beaten road, it was evident that it
was a race for life. The young officer
! seeing that the other, who had left his
| troop far in the rear, gained upon him.
| resOrted to a strategem TO effect his
| escape
/ Coming to a sharp turn in the road
/ he passed for a moment completely out
| of sight, and wheeled I'm behind some
| thick evergreen trees Springng from
| the horse. he waited with cool deter
mination the approach of the Confed-
crate officer. AS the latter swept
round the turn of the road, the Union
| officer fired upon him, rolling him in
| the dust Then springing, upon his
| own horse again, he seized the bride
! of the Confederate charger whirled
round toward the Union lines and
swept back over the few miles that
separated him from them. His own
forces, who had awaited his return
with much anxiety were much reliev-
ed when he dashed up to them, leading
the captured charger This is but one
of the many desperate encounters
which characterized the great war
Another instance Of great daring was
observed at Malvern Hill This was
the closing battle of that campaign
known as the seven days before Rich
mond,' where the siege Of Richmond
was raised and Mcclellan changed his
base of operations from the York River
to the James. There had been six
days deperate fighting I'm which both
contending armies sustained severe
| losses. but I'm the end the ground was
held by the Confederate forces and the
gradual retreat of the Federal forces
toward the James River was the re-
suit. On the afternoon of July 1, 1862
the Army of the Potomac had taken
position on the strategic ground of
Malvern Hill, a very strong position
7
There were a few undulatiOns, but
mostly wide fields Of flowing grain and
rich green grass that In places was
from 10 to Is inches in height, pre-
senting one of the most beautiful and
picturesque midsummer prospects that
could possibly be imagined. The scat
tered trees Of the open forests in full
foliage and the green fields inter
spersed with flowers, would have form
ed under ordinary circumstances a
scene most fascinating to behold.
The artillery was placed in position,
and the infantry was drawn up in line
of battle along the most commanding
crests, preparatory to the final strug-
gle of that remarkable campaign. The
Confederate army followed In pursuit
OF the Union forces after the desperate
battle of Glendale, or Nelson's Farm,
as 10 is sometimes called. They had
taken position I'm the stretches of tim
Der some three miles from Malvern
Hill. They did not long allow the
Union forces to remain in inactivity.
The first lines that were advanced by
brigades divisions, and corps received
a terrific fire from the Union batteries
on the crests of Malvern Hill, but they
still moved on up the slope occupied
by the Federal troops In these ad
vances and assaults the destructive
work of our artillery was very evil
dent. and when they reached the infan-
try line they were hurled back with Sc
rious loss. In one Of the advances
made later I'm the afternoon was a Con-
federate regiment led by a bold young
colonel who moved forward over the
plain with his command with great
spirit
After they had debouched from the
timber, the artillery cut wide gaps in
the line, but they closed in toward the
center on the colors, and moved for
ward with splendid martial spirit. As
they ascended the slope and came un-
der the scattering fire Of the infantry
line, their pace slackened, and they
seemed to move with a less elastic
STEP a growing semblance Of hesita-
tion, and gradually moved more slowly
and with less impetuosity. Impatient
at this apparent caution and trepida-
tion on the part of his command (as
A, u Nfrrg.n L..