The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-09-13

i - has come to me that charming
~ ,afreshing volume -Four Years
\ yT,7ar Marse Robert the personal
collections of Maj. Roberts Stiles of
Richmond, Va.
His experience is unique and its re-
,ita1 win be enjoyed by every survivor
If the wonderful Army of Northern
virginia. and revive in each ones men,
orv some of the instances related by
the gallant artil1erist.
know the following excerpts will
strike responsive chords in the hearts
nj many of the veterans of that army,
eitizens of Savannah. They refer to
two of the gallant souls who esteemed
nrinciple above life and willingly laid
this sublime offering upon the altar of
their country.
The first soldier referred to I shall
give in the authors own words: zone
of the most promising of the young off,
GERS of the Army of Northern Virginia
in the spring of "a. was Col. Edward
Willis of the Twelfth Georgia Regi-
ment. 1 saw him but once under the
following circumstances. Our battery
passed the winter of 1854, not in the
great artillery camp on the Central
railroad, but with the advance line of
infantry, guarding the middle fords of
the Rapidan river. Battalion head
quarters were in pine thicket between
Racoon and Mortons ford. One beau
tiful day in the early spring 1 was
seated in our headquarters tent at
work on one of the battalion reports
which it was my duty as adiutant to
make to artillery headquarters, when a
very striking looking head intruded it,
self in the tent door. and in a very
nonchalant, familiar tone, the owner
OF the head asked: rs Gibbes about?"
We were not very punctilious about
such matters in the Confederate service
perhaps not enough so; but the in
truder and interlocutor was obviouslv
a private soldier--his hat unouestion-
ably a slouch,' his hair long and un-
kempt, his long overcoat of whatever
original color, now by long usage the
color of the ground, and ending In a
fringe of tatters around the skirt; I'M
der it no sign of a coat or anything
save a gray flannel shirt, no badge or
insignia of rank anywhere visible, not
even an appropriate place for any, and
his badly worn pants, turned up around
his very small feet, shod in very rough
shOes-I say, it did stir me a little un-
pleasantly that just this man should
ask in just these words and just this
tone for Maj. Wade Hampton Gibbes
of South Carolina, young West
Pointer, who had recently been assigned
swered differently had not a second
glance revealed a face of such COM
handing intelligence and personal
force that I said, If you will wait a
moment 1 will see,' and a moment
later the very ELUSIVE meeting between
Gibbes and himself, and Gibbes' intro
duction to Col. Cabell and myself of
Col Edward Willis of the Twelfth
Georgia made me very glad had an
swered as 1 had.
They had been at West Point to-
gether, I think, when the war broke
out Gibbes seated himself, tailor
fashion, at one end of a large box of
clothing which had not yet been open
ed and Willis stretched out on the box,
put his head in Gibbes' lap, who be-
gan running his fingers through the
long, tangled tawny hair which hung
almost to Willis shoulder.
They began talking of their West
Point classmates and comrades. l was
going on with my work and not lis
tening closely, yet I could not help
being struck with the yigor and tren-
chant qualities of Willis character
izatiOn of the men. But in a few mo-
and then I dropped my pen and hung
eagerly upon his words. l knew he
had been on Jacksons staff and hoped
he would tell, as he did, how he came
to leave it.
He said after Second Manassas,
perhaps after Sharpsburg, Jackson sent
for him and said: Capt Willis, you
have earned your promotion, sir. You
may take your choice between con-
taf with "a
rank of major, and a majority in an
infantry regiment
ITO which Willis, without hesitation,
replied: TIL take the infantry, SER
geant, general A reply that revealed
the mettle of the man, as jackson in
dicated by saying; Sorry to lose you,
sir; but you've made a soldiers choice;
you'll be assigned to the Twelfth Geor-
gia.'
Ere long he became colonel of the
regiment, and at the time of which /
write it was we'll understood that no
one commanded better regiment and
no regiment a better commanding off,
Ger than the Twelfth Georgia.
Soon Willis began to talk of the cam
palgn against Pope, which he regarded
as Jackson's masterpiece, and as he
had been closely with Jackson through
1t all, I considered what he said of
pass
ing interest. He first expatiated at
some length upon the masterly-I had
almost said dastardly--way in which
Jackson managed to find out all of
Pope's plans and purposes, and yet to
elude and delude and deceive and de-
fraud him in the most heartless and
malignant fashion as to his own move
ments and designs. At last,
Willis said all these tactics of decep-
ton were exhausted! Jackson was
straight in front in the famous posi-
ton in the railroad cut and Pope's
whole army moved upon him.
Just as his disposition-the best he
could make for resisting such an on
slaught-were complete, Jackson heard
from Longstreet, who promised him aid
in two hours. The shock could be de-
layed however, only a few minutes,
and Jackson feeling the imninenee of
the crisis, started down his lines to
communicate to his troops Longstreets
assurance of help. l understood from
Willis that he rode along the line with
him and that all he said was; Two
hours men, only two hours; in two
hours you will have help. You must
stand it two hours
1t was the crisis of the campaign