The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1902-07-04
WHERE A HERO FELL.
BY A. A. ARNOLD.

! BY A. A. ARNOLD.
| Near the roadside, one mile north of
Greencaslle, Pa, stands stately monu-
ment. The shaft, a granite obelisk,
reaches height Of twenty-one feet. and
rests upon block of the same material
four and one-half feet square. 1t bears
this inscription on the four sides OF the
| base:
G. a. r., of Greencastle, Pa. East-To
| the memory of Corporal William II.
Rihl, Co. c. First New York (Lin-
coln) Cavalry, who was killed on this
spot June p. 1868. North-The first
sylvania. West-An humble, but brave
! defender of the Union.
| This monument performs twofold
| duty. 1t records an important historical
incident of the Civil Wharf.-The fall of the
first Union soldier north of Mason and
| DlXons line; and perpetuates the men,
CRY of {; hero who sacrificed his life upon
his country's altar. 49,
| Corporal Rihl was, in the best sense of
the term, brave soldier. Friend and
fee unite in testifying to his bravery.
The courage he displayed entities him
to nigh place On the roll Of Americas
was IL Confederate, a member Of
the force that led the advance into Penn
sylvania., and on June %, 1868, wit
messed the fearless behavior of the gal
liant corporal. With sincere regret saw
him fall, and in that feeling all my
| comrades shared.
On the morning, of June %, 1868,
Gen. Jenkins brigade of Virginia cavalry
moved from near Hagerstown Md, to
take the position of advance guard to
the Confederate army now forming col
umn to move northWard. Before midday,
and half way from Hagerstown to Green
Of infantry, and placed his brigade in
the 'front.': This compelled the march
ing order Of the column. The whole
army was in motion. The invasion be-
gan. The fate Of the South hung upon
the result Of the movement. What
would the result be? The answer came
at Gettysburg.
| We were upon hostile soil. The whole
North was aroused as never before.
Thousands on thousands were gathering
to .expcl us. At any moment we might
expect to meet some portion of the Union
army. From now on every precaution
must be taken to prevent a surprise. To
that end Gen. jenkins sent forward
two companies, B and L, of the Four
teenth Virginia cavalry, under Capt.
Joseph n. Wilson, with orders to so
time their march as to maintain dis
| lance Of three miles in front of the bri-
gade. y strong scouting party, tianked
all.
Our line of march was through fer
| tile and attractive section. In every di-
rection the prospect was pleasing. There
were pastures stretching far away in
! gentle. fluctuations, clothed in rich, lux
golden grain, bending with a ripeness
that called for the thrusting in Of the
sickle. long smooth meadows, beneath
| burdens Of new-mown hay, left spelling
in the swath; neat, substantial and, in
many instances elegant dwellings amid
delightful environments, but closed and
silent.
Silence reigned over the whole scene
the unbroken silence of a holy Sabbath
day; for, from the green pastures had
been driven flock and herd; the hus-
bandman had quit the harvest and fed
for refuge: the. affrighted people had
abandon their homes, or had barred
themselves within, and tremblingiy
awaited our approach.
| The day was intensely hot. Frequent
short halts were made to give man and
beast breathing spell. One of these
halts was made three miles north of
| Greencastle.
| SO far our march had been without
! incident Of note.
! Suddenly there came change! From
the front there was heard an irregular
! pop! pop! pop" and, in whirl of
dust, closely pressed by body of Fed
erals our scouts burst in view. In
twinkling every trooper was mounted
and in place. Both parties were upon
us before we were discovered. The Fed
erals wheeled and retreated, answering
the shots fred after them. Every rein
was grasped; every trooper nerved and
leaning forward to catch the word OF
| command; every horse crouching for the
spring. and the word of command was
passing the lips Of the officer, when, with
the rumbling of thunderstorm regi-
ment of cavalry came tearing from the
north upon us. On meeting their re-
treating scouts, they halted only for a
second. and at the command, forward!
Trot! Gallop! Cha-r-rgev' they bounded
All that we could do was to fall back
to more favorable position, and quick
| ~, too, or else be overriden, crushed,
annihilated. On dashed the Federals
"Fours! Rightabout-wheel! Forward!
at our heels. The race was on. A race
| for life and, death. ''','' -
At the first appearance Of the Federals
| right in their front we nOticer a gallant
trooper on dark sorrel. His fearless.
bravery won the admiration of our whole
command. Along the whole course Of
our retreat this brave fellow exposed
himself to the fire of our rear guard.
Hundreds Of missiles went screaming
toward him, but, pistol in hand, and
firing as he came, he paid no heed to
the danger he invited. Hero though
he was, he was rapidly nearing a sad
but glorious grave. Be-
gentle slope, over the depression, up the
next rise, past a farmhouse, on to the
broad level north Of Greencastle, and we
came upon Rhodes Alabama division de-
Ebouching from the road. Now is; our
time to strike. With "A touch Of the
spur, Capt. Wilson's horse carries him