The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-07-10

- Mr.. Dawson remained in Sussex uu
- he had completely recovered from h
II severe wourd, aud his fri, nd, Gar
il ltoDGIt Is. Pcg-am, was only two nit
distant He was ON the way 10 ia
Capt Pcgram Il visit when they met
Lhc road, and Pcgram gave him nO
g from Mrs G. w. Randolph the wife ,
the Secretary of War, announcing til,
{ nor husband mad ordered commlssio
to issue rs First Lieutlnmn OF Arti,ler
Tor his friend, Mr.. Dawson This new
came unexpectedly and unsolicited, an
nc learned afterwards that Will
tcgram recommended the uppoiptmcu
on account of his behavior at Mechanics
yllle 1t was made under IN act Of tn
confederate Congress, providing for tn
appointment of forty First Lieutenant
ot Artillery for assignment to duty u
ordnance officers He asked TO be as
signed To General Longstrcct's corps
with which nc was connected for tn,
next two years, and he Joined the corp.
on the march to Maryland On the re
| t"rh from lagcrstOwn he was ordurc,
| ny General LongstrcCt 20 take charge OF
'hc ordnance trains of his corps auC
| move to Williamsport and in the cxecu
| lion OF this order he fell into the hands
| OF the enemy and was taken to Fort
(
snort time and thcnCcforW ard shared
IN" fortunes of Longstrcct's corps. in.
c.uulng the campaign in East Tennessee
iIo was pres 2nt a the Wilderness and
was with Longstrcct as he rode down
Tue plhuk-road at the head Of his corr s.
Whch victory Was turned into disaster
by tnat fatal mistake OF the Sixth Nir-
Sinia, which fired the volluy that NOR.
lAlIy wounded the gallant Micah jenkins
Auu gave LOngstrcct disabling wound.
SpottSyivania, Cold IIarbor, the siege Of
Petersburg, quickly followed, and an
'NpcIition to the Valley in the summer
was succeeded by = return to Richmond,
Wpcn an order came in November, 1864
for Dawson TO report as ordnance officer
10 General FltH Lee, upon whose stair
ne served until the close OF the war
narch 81, 1865, ut the battle of Five
Forks, Lieut.. Dawson was again
wounded and he was sent to Richmond,
where friends Cal ID for him, and when
ne aWokc the next morning the city had
been evacuated by the Confcdcratos and
thc enemy was in possession. A week
i"tcr came the surrender OF Lee, and the
nopcs OF a people were buried forever.
The military history Of Capt. Dawson
was full of interest and adventure. and
ms experience as y staff officer served
him admiral y in many respects, as it
gave nm an acquaintance with men
rom every State, and he had the happy
faculty ot making friends wherever he
went. But he was vcritably ashore
|hcn the collapse came in April 1868. !
!nd those who would lave been CAD to
render him aid were themselves without !
means. lie had no occupation or pro. !
esNlon and there was little opportunity 7,
n inpuVcrlshcd Virginia for a stranger |
- SuVWcu TO earn even the most mcaurc !
lFihg. Ills energy and determination |
!iU nov sNcCumo To the surrounding |
gloom and dependency, and he sought .
nc means FOR gaining subsistence, not /
NMt'nS Tor II TO turn up lie was with
rIcnGs III Sussex for q time after re
'oVcrng from his last wound, and then
vent 10 Petersburg in search Of employ
hcht lie WAS on the point Of securing
lucrative position as the driver of n
ray. lu[ INC owner thereof concluded
. employ st0lwart negro, and Capt
)aWsoE was scn' adri(t. 1t is ludlcr0us
.oN 10 look back at this incident, when
ne gallant, courageous officer was will
hS % engage IN Incniul service, but was
uelCu the place aud preference given to
common darkcy. 1t is strange that he
urncd away from this disappointment
hu Dcgan making arrangements for
publishing small weekly newspaper in
I'chmond, in connection with a Mr..
vans, who had influential relatives.
he Richmond Wing loaned them tyne
hd INC press work was TO be done in
nat oliicc, but the Whig had offended
nc military authorities, who closed up
nc cstaO ishment and strangled the
iloryo newspaper in its very birth,
inich ended for the time being tho
ambitions of one who was
cstincd to make his mark in this idcuti
al field Of labor.
V.
The next effort of Capt. Dawson was
4 harvesting wheat, by which he earned
10, and then he tried book k-kccpinp in
'ctcrsburg, for which he received $40
cr month and paid $50 for board. : He
hen decided to make another effort on
NC farm, but went over co Richmond
or the purpose Of saying good bye to
ricnds. On arriving there he was in.
ormcd that Mr.. ii. Riycs Pollard, who
nd been the managing editor of the
Examiner during the war, was about to
cSumc its publication and wanted to
ccurc him as local reporter. He closed
trade with Pollard at 500 week. and
lsions OF coming wealth were before
i'm. Mr. II. Riordan, who had boon
onncctcd with the New Orleans Delta
nd was afterwards the managing editor
i the Charleston Mercury, was one OF
he most conspicuous members of the
ditorial stall, and there sprang up be.
wccn him and Capt. Dawson an init
macy and friendship That ripcned into
loser business relations in a few years
lndcr the firm name Of Riordan e. Daw-
on, Charleston, 8 g. The Examiner
'ad been under the editorial manage
ncnt Of Maj. John NJ. Daniel during the /
var, and was chiefly read for the ability |
md caustic style Of its editorials, which ,
criticised rclcntlcssly the conduct Of the !
var by Mr. Davis and his cabinet. Mai. |
Daniel served on the staff Of A p. Hill, |
md was seriously wounded at Gaines /
Will. III. Rivcs Pollard was the assis !
ant editor at that time, and afterwards
became the managing editor He was
not gifted or brilliant like Daniel, but
nc had an inordinato ambition, and il is
not surprising that hc made tho Ex-
amner after the war the vehicle of
abuse and caNumny upon others, which
brought him into noto icty and caused
hostile meetings with those from whom
he differed. He was arrogant and self
cOnccited, full Of brayado and EXTREMELY