The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-04-08

fnrlo,,s oi,tcrv over the rout and Bakers
death was almost MS grent MS thnt oc.
cnsioned q few months before by Bun
Kun. Out OF the depths Of rage ana hu-
initiation the North and tile leaders ~
literally iowled for q victim
of what WIS regarded MS II great halioilii
sacrifice and shame.
Aud II, securing n s%capcgont d far more
real and abiding shnilo was perpetrateu.
10 ,lncate the h,,e md cry for revenge,
n brave and capable officer, Gen. Charles
p. stone, was degraded and driven from
service. rho day before tho blow de-
seconded Upon him he went to Secretary
OF War Stanton, and nslted personally for
investigation Of any chnrges against him.
lie was assured there were none--to re-
t,irn to his command md set his nina
at rest. Remaining In washington over
night. he was arrested IN his bed atter
midnight. and was hustled away to Fort
Delaware. There he was confined for over
eight months, his appeals for trial, for q
copy Of the charges against him, passing
t,nheeded. After his release he published
his full vlndication from the newspaper
assaults, but his repeated and persistent
applications for official Investigation wero
vain. He was never able to. even ma
out what no was charged with, or y
whom he was accused. General Stone
WIS simply and basoly ignored out o.
service. protesting his wrongs and MS
extreme desire to serve his country on
tho field. OF ali the Victims to ignoble
defoat and blundering incapacity in
others. General Stone, OF Massachusetts,
was tho chief. Ills case was for more
cruel than that OF Gen. Fitz John Porter,
who, after years OF living under q cloud,
was investigated and completed vindl-I
Gated.
Bakers Amazing Error.
In the light OF hlstory St Is known that
the battle Of Balls Bluff wns lost through
the almost Amazing neglect Of Col. Baker
to grasp his opportunity. While deter
mined to brIing. on q battle, which he was
ordered nor expected to do, with
"time to burn" he failed to even try to
"Ect there first with the most men,.
"Push. II you can, to q strong nositloh
near Ieesburg." WIS his order. lh.enu,
inw to fight, nll.tho aggresslvchess seemed
to ooze out OF him. when the rifles began
to crack. Instead Of pushing to the
strong position near Leesburg.' when ne
Ind hut n handful Of men In his front, nc
fatally fnltered on tho blufr W1ere ne
could neither deploy his mon to advan-
nor use his artillery. He was circled
by the higher wooded ground which shel-
tered the Confederate riflcmcn. Thus held
ulISl iItS " ESIi 80
is no wonder TINT men who had crossed
the river in the morning eager for battle,
became discouraged and pAnicky by.'the
time they were, assailed. When the New
York reglment,EEtl the lastt to cross the river
Joined him, MS SOON us its Colonel, CoEs-
we'll, was shown the situation he urged
an immediate advance Ito. OCCUPY the nils
lin front which were not then occupied
This was an hour before the 18th Missis-
rt..i ~ Il -, ~, ~ n rri,,o1 on fine Scnnp--1nH
hour which was wasted as the. morning
had been.
Nor did Colonel Baker carry out General
order ITO report frequently. The
nrst news that the cooperating force
ut Edwards Ferry had of the battle was
that he was defeated and akillod:s1
Mississippi and Virginia.
Vhen tho Federal Government crects
the monument to the brave men OF the
Union army who died there, the field
should be marked by Virginia and Mis-.
in honor Of their sons, whose
courage was signalized by n victory that
was as greatly applauded at Richmond
rs Bakers defeat was deplored at wash
OF tho three Mississippi rcgi-
ments engaged, two were commanded BY
Congressmen-William Barksdale and
Winfield Scott Featherstone-the other BY
Il. r. Burt. the State Auditor. One OF
his companies was commanded by eX-
United States Senator a. G.. Brown. and
by ex-Congressmnn Singleton.
Eighth Virginia Regiment %:as com
manded by Eppa Hunton, who afterwards
served In tho United States Senate. The
brigade these organizations formed was
commanded by Gen. N. G. Evans, of
South Carolina, OF the regular army.
Commanded by mon of political distinc-
ton, these Regiments were composed OF
Tho very flower Of the young manhood OF
the South. Tho hero of tho hnttle on
tho Confederate side by the title OF life
was Col. j. r.. Burt. OF the
circumstances of his death, In after years
Brown published the fols:w-
ing exceedingly interesting story In the
Jackson Clar1on:
Col. Burt, Of Mississippi.
clip the following suggestion and
paragraph from n report of congressional
proceedings: The Joint library commit
tee of Congress has directed their chair
man In accordance with the act Of June
10. 1872, md March ., 1873, to contract
with Horatio Stone, sculptor, for q statue
Of heroic size of the late Senator Ed
ward D. Baker, who WIS killed Mt Balls
Bluff. The statue will probably be cut
In Rome, and will DO n copy Of the
statute now In possession of the
family" Tlhf
"a statue of heroic size of tho late
Senator. Cen. Edward p. Baker, And
yet, I doubt If IN humble stone marks
the grave of the man who slew him in
a hand-to-hand fight at the battle OF
Leeshurg. That man was Col. Erasmus
Burt. of the Eighteenth Mississippi
Regiment. Since Congress- Is to erect q
OF heroic size to tho memory Of
General Baker, ] think it is time Jus
tlcc should be done, IN at least n very
small pnrt, to the memory of tho heroic
Colonel Burt.
T Mn, perhaps, the only living man who
knows tho facts attending tho killing of
General Baker: and I Beg n little space In
your paper to state them. AS the battle
waxcd hot, Col, Burt became detached
with n part OF his regiment from the main
body Of It md In n very few moments
engaged In what may be tcrncnd
n hand to hand fight with tho enemy.
lie was instantly shot down and was
borne to the rear by his mon, AS Is we'll
shown, tho Confederate forces were vi!c-
~torio,s ana captured many prisoners. Tho