Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1903-01-11

1 even then no etda ones were ON Of
the beaten track.
q.
!
cateu es,sir adVersarlss. q ni..s.
az ~ LIZ .
sup sac anu
ron TO carry OUT Coiohei !, La M, :
nIuilstlolis 20 up allo ST. : nss
Woaiu sNesan1 OUT Tor nali OF
sIs ol q hiiie. ana round ~ De
pursued with merclless enece oy .n ~ =.
/ warm Work. and we couid see lhat we we
/ were 1ni1icuns injury even beyond our
expectations. Finally, the men save a
1 great cheer of triumph as one. me sup
fairly collapsed. waved fear1ully over 10
/ one side. and waSfkStoWed outsof me llne
I by another vessel. we continued the
long-range bombardment until the squad
----- = -
Recoilections of Major Rreathed.
| 5.,..1.
10 lug Guieoi u TUG
So little is known OF she carry NE a 40
ancestry OF Major James Breathed, the
fearless dashinp artillery officer who
! =, 1,,1,jc,,
commanded commanded tne ceieorateo Oa'.eis ~nl.n
mas always been known as bre ss1A=' :.
Battery. since the death Of the immortal
PaIbano IN March nth 1864 at Kelly's
-, =. 49,. ~ 8,,h,;o 1ro,,,d
oiu' y d ei'oushe Tug puotio
| perhaps be gratlhed by recital OF MS
early life up to and after the Civil War.
/ Please pardon the length Of this letter, as
| 1 find It impossible to do him Justice In
shorter one.
Major James Breathed, Of the Stuart
/! Horse Artillery, Confederate States of
America, Army OF Northern Virginia,
was the son Of John Breathed and Ann
| MacGill Williams. Of Hagerstown, Md,
His ancestors came from England and
| the north Of Ireland. and to Maryland in
174n. John Breathed moved into Virginia,
| at GAINESVILLE. sold his large landed es-
| tates in West Virginia and Maryland
! that he Inherited from a bachelor uncle
and purchased Durrgauess, originally the
| old Randolph estate Major James
| Breathed was born on February 18th,
1883, in Virginia, at Fruit Hall, Morgan
| county. near Berkely Springs At an
early age his father and mother moved
| over near Hagerstown. Nd. Young .Jin''
1 Breathed was sent to st. James Col
| lege, near that place. After being there
| some time he concluded to study medi-
cine. which he did in the Office Of Dr..
| NcGill for two years; he went to Balti-
more and took a course Of surgery I'M
| der the celebrated DR. Nathan Smith
He received his diploma and graduated
as an NJ. D. at the age Of q years. He
| went to ST. Joseph, Mo-, shortly after
ward and began the practice Of medicine,
] remaining there until Virginia seeded,
on April nth, 1861. All of his relatives
+ were strong Southerners. The late
1 Governor Jackson, AIarnaduke, JEFF
( Thompson and Price were making war
! speeches, advocating secession. Brea thed
| was with them, being relative, and in
/ the fire of youth, he determined to go
| ~
] his fortune with them.
1 When Jeff" Thompson, Marn1aduke
/ and Price were compelled to leave their
! homes and fresides by the orders of the
| United States Government, Breathed
| went with them, determining to stand by
!! them and the views they advocated to
| he END. Breatheds parents begged him
OF to be too precipitate, and had him to
! return to Maryland En- route to Mary
| land, and while he was on the cars. he
! sat in the same seat with the then
/ Colonel J. E. B. Stuart, who was return
| ing to Virginia. to offer his services to
! the Governor OF the State Of his birth.
] Breathed two days after reaching home.
| crossed the Potomac river at Williams
port, Nd, went to Nartinsburg, w. Va.
and joined a company Of cavalry that
/ was being organized at that place under
\ the command Of Captain John Blair
/ Hoge, afterward Company B, First Yir-
1 ginia Cavalry, Army Of North Virginia.
| While in this command he again came in
contact with ColonelsJ. E. E. Stuart, who
1 at that time was Colonel Of the First
1 Virginia Cavalry When they met Stuart
/ recognized Breathed as his travelling
/ companion Of Few weeks previous, when
/ they We're both en- route for the South
| with the same purpose in view-to join
!! the Southern Army of Virginia. Stuart
| was struck with Breathed's manly and
/ bold bearing. and when Pelham organized
/ the celebrated battery Of Stuart's Horse
Artillery at Centreville, Va, in the fall Of
| 1861. he was transferred from Company
1 3, First Virginia Cavalry, as a private
! to the battery. Later at the election Of
/ officers and ct General Stuart's sugges-
! ton, Breathed was elected first lieuten-
! ant OF the battery and started on his I'M
1 paraleed record as the hardest artillery
| fighter the war produced. $50 said Gen
| eral r. z. Lee, his con1mander) The or
| gani2ation to which he attached himself
was not only known throughout the
| breadth of this fair land, but also in
| Continental Europe. The names, of the
Incompatible Pelham and the intrepid
reckless, dashing Breathed will be hand
| ed down to generations yet to come.
hand in hand, as true types Of Southern
valor and manhood. Breathed, at the
time I am writing, was only q years
of age, being Major Pelham's senior by
one year. After the war, he returned
to Hancock, Md, where his sister, Mrs