The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-20

the Pensacola campaign. 1861; Island Number Ten campaign and prison hfe, 1862; Port Hudson campaign, lse2-eS' Meridian, Mobile and Georgia cam paigns, 1S63-64; Tennessee campaign. 1864. and campaign in the Caroiinas. ls64-s5-throws a hood of light and Of glory upon the Confederate side in the war between the sections.
 The interest of the story Is further intensified by the chapters devoted to "reminiscences and incidents to the dead of the lst Alabama regiment at Madi- | son. Wis, and Mrs. Alice Whiting | Waterman, and to the official report | of Colonel (Surgeon) I. 0. W. Steedman and his "reminiscences of prison life Upon a number of gallant officers | and men of the 1st Alabama regiment the author of the history bestows well 1 deserved praise for bravery In battle, | endurance in the trench and fortitude .r prison, bct upon no one does he lavish such ecomiums for all the mtii- tary virtues as upon the distinguished | commander of the regiment during the | war; Colonel I. c. W. Steedman, Citadel graduate, class of 1856.
 It was in the assualt of the Federals on lslsnd No. 10, Mississippi River, where he was in command of the heavy batteries on the east bank. and in the famous siege of Port Hudson. in which he commanded the left wing of the Confederate forces, that Coloned Steed- man displayed his military ability and his dauntless courage on the held or battle. At Island No. 10, his biogra- pher says, Colonel steedman exhibited in a high degree all the qualities of an able commander" and at Port Hudson We are told that he during the siege, won the highest ecomiums from his men and superior officers, and would have received a brigadier generals commission soon afterwards had he not been captured and sent to prison"
 The first colonel of the 1st Alabama regiment, whom Colonel Steednan suc- ceeded, became General Clayton. c. s. A. Referring to the absolute trust re- posed in Colonel Steedman by his men of the regiment, the author says: Nowhere did Colonel Steedman have a greater admirer than the big-hearted General Clayton himself. Speaking of |, Colonel Steedman in The Union Springs Herald, September, 1865. General Clay ton says: If Colonel Steedman had been in the field instead of being con ! fined to garrison duty during the war he would have risen to the rank of ma jor general long before did"
 This. there Is every reason to be- lieve, is eminently true. No soldier can order his own goings. He has to obey orders. It was reserved for Colonel Steedman to win his fresh laurels on the banks of the great Mis- sissippi, the vital artery of the Con- federacy. Had it been otherwise de- creed for him to fight on the plains of the West he doubtless would have won addition wreaths of superb soldiership. | put An1x nj soldier that Colonel steedman served his country in the Confederate war. Doomed to spend one-half the war in prison, being a leader or one of the leaders in more than one forlorn hope 1t was as Surgeon Steedman, in prison at Johnson's Island, serving his fel- low prisoners of war, that Colonel Steedman added high civic to military virtues. The admired officer became the beloved physician, illustrating the saying of the poet that Whoever is brave should bc T man of great soul !"
 Colonel l. c. w. Steedman after the war established himself in St. Louis where he had won his wife, a victory of peace better than any the war could have brought to him. He Is now, al 6S. an honored citizen of Missouri al the city of St. Louis. an honor to the State of South Carolina, and to the | NNdLei, oI WHICH ne le most appre' ciativc and devoted son.
 l> This extract Is from the History ol the South Carolina Military Academy It holds good for 1904 as well as 1892 No other family has record of the s. (. M. A. of four graduates and two undergraduates. such as the Steed nansi of Lexington County. furnish ol their sturdy stock. As to Dr. Steed. man 1t is the privilege of the historiog rapher of. the Academy to present hin as one who, having distinguished him. self on the historic banks of Calhoun. great inland sea. by his gallant achievement at Island No. 10 and al Port Hudson, and by his heroic en. durance of a long prison life as a Southern martyr to defeated cause has further illustrated his AIama Mater and his native State. in the great com. monwealth of Missouri. by citizen. ship rich in good fruitage of science and crowned with the radiance of hon. orable success in life. Him, in hts dis. tant home, at the country's geosraph ical centre. the Academy greets as ar honored son.