Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1903-02-25

Louisville In the rail- or loOz, henr!
passed through his old home. The
meeting Of the lovers was delightful
absorbing, but II only rendered thci
separation more painful. Lille held t'
her lover as if he were going to certain
DEATH begging him to do anything l.
avert the recurrence Of the long alb
sence they had endured. The Uni ::
troops marched ON. but Captain MOI
gan remained. Then came Il detac!'
ment of the Confederate army whic.
occupied the place and captured hiri
1t was q relief both to him and to Lii
lie, since Henry was put on parole ano
permitted to remain at home. ANON
the men who had captured him were
many of her old friends, who convinced
them that the recent Confederate sue
cesses precluded the possibility of the
north ever restoring the Union. This Is
not remarkable when at that time
some Of our most prominent Union
generals were of that opinion. Proba
bly, what influenced Henry most was
that the southerners would probably
never be driven away from his hom9
again and he would not have to endur
a long separation from Lille. Yielding
to the persuasion Of all except his fa
Their, who was absent from home com
handing q Union regiment. he accept
ed the appointment of captain in the
Confederate army. Lille, not fully
realizing what he had done, was de.
lighted.
"While we were lying at Murfrees-
boro in the spring Of 1868, in one of our
brushes with the enemys cavalry Hen
ry Morgan was captured, recognized.
tried for desertion to the enemy and
sentenced to be shot. was acting as
provost marshal at the time and had
charge OF the prisoner A few days
before his appointed execution he sent
for me. Dwelling on his unnatural
taking off, he was planning to render
1t as light as possible to his sweet
heart Could she not be led to believe
that he had died in battle, or, better
yet, be left under the impression that
he was among the missing and would
some day come back to her? | have
never seen a case of such unconscious
ness of the disgraceful act for which
he suffered. He gave me the whole
story, not the bare synopsis | have
given you, but much to show me that
he and Lille Storms were actually
what with married people is often an
empty name, one At any rate. her
misfortune had obllterated his own.
He begged so hard that after consul
tation with the general commanding !
consented, on his making a written re-
quest, to q secret execution and prom
lsed him that / would do all in m?
power to prevent the fact Of his iden
tity being known.
1.-THE papers in his case were sent to
Washington for approval, and before
they were returned we had moved on
Tullahoma, from there advancing TO
Chattanooga, where they were handed
to me approved. a few days befor"
the day fixed for the execution came
the battle Of Chickamauga. In which
all of the Army of the Cumberland OK
cept Thomas corps was routed.
never saw Captain Morgan again
Whether he fell into the hands of the
Confederates and fought during IL
rest of the war with them dom
know"
A gentleman on the opposite side of
the table had listened TO the recital
with a singular and at times panied
interest.
Gentlemen" he said, Il can tell you
what became of Captain Morgan. AT
Chickamauga he fell into the hands of
Colonel Elliott Brown, al
old friend of his father, to whom he
told his story. Colonel Brown advised |
him to go and state his case to his fa
ther He did So and the visit led to
Colonel Morgan securing a pardon for |
his son, who served the rest of the war
Sighting for the Union"
The speaker abruptly arose and left /
the table.
"Who is that MANI" asked the mar
rator of the story.
Colonel Henry Morgan"
"Well," said the other, after recover
Ing from his establishment, "he was
handsome boy, and he's a handsome
old man."
Gle has never bppn ia ono of orr rn
unions before" rejoined the other 'IIe
would be great addition to them. bit
It Is impossible to get him away from
his wife"
ADELBERT POINDEXTER.
The Elements of True Greatness.
We have all longed to be great. We
rave thought that greatness consisted
,nly In few great deeds such as are
Usually attributed to heroes, but Christ
caches that true greatness consists IN
he sum total of little acts of kindness
70 architect ever built q great cathe.
lral with one large unbroken piece OF
tone, for all cathedrals are construct.
d with many bricks and many broken
'ieces Of stone. So you and will ere
ong find that the sum total Of the lit.
lie deeds that we have performed
through the years will constitute u
more glorious life than any Of the
reat deeds of the most famous heroes.
Rev. John Lloyd Lee. Presbyterian.
lew York.