The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-04-09
AFFAIR OF
FORT STEADl-MA1tN',N''

r.
FORT STEADMA[N
AS Observed From the View
Point of a. Man of the Ranlss.
rho location ard movement of tho
Thirty eiRl,th battalion of Nirsi'lia s-NiS
ttillery (I,inutnnant-C Colonel stribltng, cont
tinantllna,, during the period elnhtaeed
| from the 15ttiitc. the Slst of March, 1885,
Including the day last: nientioneii inal-
Gated, first, THAI something aside from
line OF defensive warfare might soon
occur, and, SECONDLY, conveyed 70 INC
members OF tile command evidences OF "
military condition that could lie is;es,rcels'
mistaken, To- denote tho shrdows thnt
!nresugett Etfie e,,d. The revival OF the
thought. suggested by the two above
n1cntfoned causes. ayreeabiY enough. w
/ the esprit duE corps alike OF the men
anu officers Of the battalion. tut their
command Was IL unit, regarded u no
light esteenlS by General Lee' WIZ, DO
doubtless accepted by tho reader as t'pur-s
donally natural font of reminiscent
thought upo,,tile part of tile writer. TING M,
" btvouack camp, m
a glade OF scattering wood, upon tie out
skirts OF the city. aud less thanh mite
1dist;ntsS from tlicS lines of, Petefsp
lii tile wee sina, li0urs' Of the morn
ing OF March twenty-tfth, 1865 two de-
taclnents, from Captain Marsliuil,s bat
terry Company G. of said bnttalon,i5
formed into IL column or four, We're
marched noiselessly and swiftly by COL
onel Stribling to a point upon sn'alt
stream Huwi,lg into the AppomattoN, near
5"Coluiitt's Salient From this point the
one, IA ling duly into line, was led by
Colonel Stribl!ng in person in rear Of the
infantry OF walkers division. Gofdons !
corps, To be- used BY litm :sGartillprists,t
to man tho guns of Fort eadn1nll,5 III /
tile event ofSits capture, whilst toathei
other undcrstlie commend Of Lieutenant
HelirS4, Stiibling, was assigned the duty
OF serving tlle4gnns of co'Gnitt,s snle
10 this detailFthe writer belonged. having
the honor of being gin-mate with john
Smonton, then. as now, OF the city of
Baltimore, and l may be parloned for
expressing the opinion rs brave n soldier4
rs ever foughttin any Of the worltils bat
ties. IT. may be known to the reader,
through magazine and other literature,
that this military coup de main' ttermedf
by Long In hisilife of Lee s''the affair Of
Fort Steadnian,D was the conception Of
the brilliant and glorious soldier, General
John b. Gordon, approved by Lee. and
the retrospective act of the writer I'M
reproducinggr results Of what he saw upon
this occasion is attcndcd with the agree-.
able. thought that the genial secretary
OF the Virginia Military Records. Major
r.. W.. Hunter, breathed the local att
Of that historic morning. star
lit, cool and clear With the Writer, as
the chief OF staff of the immortal
Georgian. s.sS ts:Es1as
From the memory Of the writer at
this distant day;.tt seems that Colquits.s S.
salient was s4pnder restrictive orders
,tr,I'r .listf
lery picket.;duty. We did only desultorS
work, apprizipg the Bee Hive as$ the
Federal BAIT eiy,t,to the left Of STEAD
man had S9Iiia to be KIN own, by an oc-
.casiona shat THAT q 81 llery picket duty
was being Mrforpiea;;;shnd this. ro1e.e 81
Lieut. i styihS,E rrossdan effective 81
from tllaaseiious wtttsss that was going
on below It's. During sintcrvalsa of firing
whilst inhaling through the port hole Of
the casemate the iiivlgorating air of an
incense breathing morn my friend and
myself could hear words Of command
and Of encouragement, addressed to the
men struggling with tile ''chevauX- de-
rrisc" tliat retarded their Irosl'css, AZ
with uneasy anticipation We began to
detect, the Jealous dawns coming light
Broken only by the occasional discharge
Of our, two guns, the silence increasing
with the successful advance of tho in--
fantry below. increased. til 1t reached
the hush that presaged the storm; grad,
llally. one by one. the several Federal
forts within our range of view ava kencd
to the realization that their largest 1ort,
e. .Stcadman' had turned it's guns against
them and fronl5the line OF Federal forts,
east ana vest Of, tho same, battery an
swcred battery, witllSa concent1ated flame
Hof{ fire. directed K against tho doomed
prize representing the nrtlllerys phase
+ OF What Major General Walker ias8teri
cd for Its period Of duration one. or the
severcst engagements Of the civil WAR;
The order, Cease firing" having been
given, sitting upon the trailfof our gun.
suddenly the light Of tho 'bomb-proof. s.
is sllaaowod and = gee. wl,lz. the Case .1ls e,
mate Is filed with men! Across the PLAIN
out Of The smoking Stradnl'll WY, VIII !,
tho order to retire our gallant Goloh Ei
had rushed hiss,menl under CROSS ~. y :
cannon to tboSleft Of them.' and cam
non behind them,""i across tho plain Or
six hundred wards or more. and upsth
nrecipitous entrance To t'Colunltts salient,
INTENDED only for tho enemS!)5 into the
"bomly-proof'' lie had brought tlotll;
and despite the terrible eSperlenceL 9,
{ tho protractcdR baptism Of ire- reieIrs i..
TO. stood among hem WIN q silsi'..s ~
pcrceptiblc pallor tito only evidence o y,
Inc ordeal through which he had passed.
b Among the casualtics or this battle was
the death OF Sergeant Brent, ofsA xaM y
I whose name appears upon the monl,m ne :
erected by that ctysto her ss'o con .
I dead !, X !. Z, n
minatad in the defeat ut Waterloo!
a"d Sstsr n' sss s sasn o' D
- GENERALS, thnS Bona
part iS" Of Tie l!alian tampalgn, did no
Then exist" maysest1n,sd; as AZ IN ap p g
ln'n truth, tlat Sttea az ID 'i Had it
"e SiTi' in General Pickett, who fale,t
10 carry out the orders, Of MI ,i G9a exc
c cut movement 81 General Gordon
or. all sad words.
or tongue or pen,
The saddest are hose,
II might have been,
Upon FRIDAY. the Inst day, Of March
1865, We were taken from What. have g! desig