The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-12-18

and danced On the thin crust OF a vol
cane Even that great genius. Vol
taire, had o even a glimpse Of the
catacysm. Dense as was the darkness
which overspread France on the eve OF
the revolution. it did not exceed II IL
equalled the inexcnsabse ignorance and
blindness OF the meaning Of events
which possessed all the leaders OF the
north and all the leaders CT the south.
save John Bell and jefferson Davis. in
the months Immediately preceding the
outbreak of the civil val 1 know that
Lincoln has been placed On a pedestal
alongside OF Washington. II anyone
believes that Lincoln appreciated even
slightly the gravity Of the crisis which
existed when lie was elected, | ask him
to read his Cooper Institute speech and
the many speeches he made On his
journey in February. 1861, from
Springfield, ILL.,, to Washington. and
then his inaugural address. In an Of
them he said there would be no a
He said that the crisis was artificial
and would soon pass away. lie even
insisted To Horace Greeley that his in
augural address would settle all diff
ferences between the north and south.
He told General Sherman when he call
ed. in company with his brother, then
senator from Ohio. and rendered his
services to the government, that there
would be no war. This was more than
a year after the insan- attack on Har-
pers Ferry, made by Jpnn Brown.
HOUR HAD STRUCK.
After that criminal and dastardly as
sault Captain Thruston and all the
people of the south save the leaders,
knew that the hour had struck. They
knew that if they TO preserve
their civilization and their industrial
system, their government and their
self-respect. they must grid on their
armOr and do battle for their homes,
their firesideS, their wives and their
children. When the storm burst. Cap
tain ThrustOn hurried with his com
mand to Virginia. He was in nearly
all of the battles of the army of Nor
thern Virginia. He was at Big Bethel.
at Yorktown and in all the battles
around Richmond. When General Lee
by that most marvellous of all military
campaigns, converted a dispirited mob
into a victorious army, raised the
olCSC vi ollu SChG
Ian covering to his gunboats for pro-
lection, Captain ThrustOn was ever in
the van and his plume was always
dancing on the red wave of battle.
When Lee, by another or his most mas
terly movements, turned upon General
Pope. defeated him disastrOusly and
penned his and McClellan's armies in
the Notifications of Washington, Col
onel Thruston was in it all. At South
Mountain he commanded the skirmish-
ers Of Ripley's brigade and when dark
ness settled down upon him in the
laurel thickets, there he stood, keeping
at bay McClellan's vast hosts. At
Sharpsburg, under Lcngstreets eye,
he stood in the very front of battle and
as McClellan's mighty hosts surged up
against him, he and mis- brave COM
rades in arms hurled them back time
and again in utter defeat. In the crisis
street in person ordered him to hold
his line as long as he had a man to
of that dread battle, General Long
every panel OF the fence behind which
his command was ranked. He told
General Lees warhorse" that he had
but one man to ten panels, but that he
"oulu " LID 1iHC ~ Tx idSt, civ Lt
did. On the line at Fredericksburg he
saw Burnside's army hurled back in a
ruinous defeat. At Charlottesville
he commanded C%oIston's brigade. He
charged headlong into Towards corps,
routed General Deven's brigade and
captured in person that doughty war
rior's sword, uniform and horse. As
there he stood in the darkness, he saw
the rifles of his own comrades blaze
out in the fame which sent his great
commander. Stonewall Jackson, TO his
grave. In this battle he and two other
colonies of his regiment were seriously
wounded and at its close a captain
commanded the brigade.
REJOINS THE COMMAND.
AS soon as Colonel Thruston was
nursed back to life, he ~rejoined his
command then at Mine Run. In the
Mine Run campaign he was ever at the
front. When Grant assailed Lee in the
wilderness there was Colonel Thruston
in command of his regiment. and al
ways leading the brave old Third North
Carolina to victory. At S~pottsylvaIia
courthouse he was again painfully
wounded. AS soon as he recovered he
hurried back to his command, then
on the march to Washington. He was
with Early in that Inflated campaign.
He stood in the lines and saw the dome
of the capitol rear its imposing front
to heaven, and then, too, he biaZ;d out
in indignation because General Early
did not seize the glorious prize which
lay there ready for his clutch. the city
Of Washington. When Sheridan. urge1
on his remorseless pursuit Of Early
down the valley of the Shenandoah in
August, 1864, Colonel Thruston was
desperately wounded at the battle Of
Winchester. In a crazy ambulance. and
over rough and uneven roads, he made
his painful way TO his home. then at
Wilmington, n. G.. There he remained
until December, 1864. When the Union
army in the last stages of the war. APP