The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-04-22
MEN Of VIRGINIA
At BALL 6 BLUFF {
They Will Divide the Fl Hon
With the Brave Men From
Mississippi.
.Hun1oN HERO OF THE. DAY
The Famous Eighth Virginia In
fantry, the Cavalry and the
Richmond Iowitzers.

fantry, the Cavalry and the
Richmond Howitzers.
Editor Of the Times-Dispatch:
5'7- Sir.-This paper on Balls Fluff was
rarity prepared some weeks ago. nut
laid aside on account Of an eye tronple'
& which prevented writing, and the cNaii,i-
nation requisite to accuracy In INC
meantime captain McNeilS's account
tppcared, but as he writes from nv
standpoint of a Missipplan ana !, lron,
that of yirginian there VIII pc lounn
enough variety of treatment to keep
& tha interest of readers Of war subjects
and Virginia historic battles.
Respectively,
Tho proposed appropriation py Congress
of 5000 for the purchase q so much
Of the BALLS Bluff battlefield as may pc
necessary for the preservation or inc
Y National Cemetery there located, ana tor
macatlamsng a road leading thereto from
tho Leesburg and Point of Rocks turn
pike, recalls one of the most rcmarka2le
Of the minor battles OF the war nol
only because Of the laures SO gallantly
( won 0S TIE VlClOIlpt.'-E ' ~ So 49,
hIississippians, tho disproportion OF enc
my,s loss to tho number engaged on
our side, the tragic character OF the DIS
astcr which overlook the Federal en-
yadens but also recausc OF is 1ar-
{ reaching effect in the arrangement ana
check 1t caused to McClelland's whole
aplan Of campaign Apart from these
larger results, the battle hristles VIVA
thrilling exploits and Incidents OF me
xI,r ,,{n ,x,ll r11 ~
II with an enduring interest to all stu
dents of the military end general his
tory OF our country.
The significance Of battles cannot be
gagged fairly by the number engaged.
4 The results immediate ana remote, must
he considered In his Fifteen Decisive
Battles of the World" beginning. with
4 Marathon in 400 B. c., and ending with.
Waterloo, in 1915, Greasy gives BurSoy-
q mes defeat at Saratoga, where the AlnerE-
cans largely outnumbered the British,
4 as the decisive battles of our Revolution,
4 because 1t led to tho French recognition
and alliance, which proved so opportune
at yorktown. Southern historians, with
pardonable native pride, advances the
claim Of Kings Mulnt&ins TO the dis
tinction Greasy nccords to Saratoga; ana
with much show OF reason, because at
K Kings Mountain the militia of the back
woods frontier Of: SOUTHWEST Virginia and
the adjacent copntcy. of'Tenncssee, North
Carolina ana kentucky, TO the number
OF 9l0. under such master spirit ms Camp
bell, Shelby. LEVER, Cleveland, Mcdowell
& and Williams, with their hunting rifles
met and destroyed CORVALLIS advance
guard under Col, Ferguson, composed Of
z 1,OlG Of the flower of the British army,
equipped with muskcts and bnyonets.
Less than two thousand We're here en-
&. gagged and the battle lasted only nm
hour. hut that hour was largely fraught
with the natinns' fate, In that 1t dis.
PEELED at once and forever, the fatal
illusion that our colonial militia could
not successfully contend with British
regulars, and taught lessons Infinite In
value, and full of Inspiration, to our
struggling and detected countrymen.
While mono of tho splendid triumphs
achieved by Southern arms III tho war
I between the States can be called de
cisive" in the sense, the terms applied
to these battles of the Revolution for
q the reason that the government for whose
establishment they were fought, was
finally overthrown, yet they will live in
history forever as models of the highes,
y attainment in the science Of war and
in all the Southland the names and
deeds of its champions Will be enshrncG
3 in the hearts of It's people as long as
men cherished honor and women lov'
courage.
TO understand battle Thoroughly III,
train Of events which led up to 1t, tn
circumstances under which it was fought
and what II accomplished. must be con
sidered; or more briefly N me nhfaa
of the military writer's, the Genesis Q
Prelude, the Ba'tle, ana me lEesui's'
NH Along these lines we shall try to de
scribe Balls bluif, awaiting ourselves