The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1913-07-18

four" then after having received and
squandered near half million dol
lars, the government has allowed
him as pay, he within the present year
begs the government for pension
| would much rather doff my hat to
the equestrian statue of General War
rem, mounted on the cliffs Of little
Round Top.
The most casual student Of the his
tory of that battle we'll knows that this
great engagement was the result OF
an accident and miscarriage Of or
ders. Had the Federal cavalry gen
eral, Beaufort, received the orders to
retire should his outpost be attacked,
or had General Reynolds received the
orders from Meade to fall back to
Ennettsburg, should A. P. Hill move
forward, no battle of the first day
would have taken place. Had not Gen
eral Warren, Meade's chief of ord
nance, rode up on Round Top in the
afternoon of the End and put the army
in position to meet the onrush
of Longstreet, nothing could have
saved Meade from total destruction.
After A. P. Hill had defeated the
first and eleventh Corps, under Rey-
nolds and Howard, the latter taking
refuge on the bold and PERCEPTIONS
cliffs of Culp's Hill, half mile south
east of the town, Meade naturally con-
cluded the battle would be renewed to
the north of the town. He was rush
ing his whole army along Rock creek,
Just in rear of Cemetery Hill, where
he had light line formed. When
Warren rode to the brow of Round
Top, what he saw was enough to
freeze his heart. Hoods division had
already formed around the southern
base of the mountain while McLaWs'
and Anderson's were preparing for
the assault and not Federal soldier
in sight, save Weeds Brigade down
in Devils Den. Without waiting or
ders from his chief, ne ordered all
troops marching toward Gettysburg to
turn to the left The infantry came
alta run and lined the slopes Of the
mountain behind boulders, stone
fences, hedges and every conceivable
place of vantage. The artillery came
like mad and as the Confederates
emerged from the groves in which
they had formed, little and great
Round Tops were one sheet Of fame.
While General Warren was not kill
ed here, his apprecjatiye countrymen
have erected an equestrian statue of
heroic size on the very rock from
which he saw first the Confederates
forming. From here, after drinking a
cool drink from the marble lined
spring at DEVILS Den, 1 proceeded to
the rear of the Federal lines, along
Cemetery Ridge. Near Meade's head
quarters is the "city of the dead" in
which ten thousand of the Confeder-
ate and Federal dead lie sleeping. A
headstone is to each marked Gun
known" They do not lie promiscuous-
ly but each in plot to itself, and
well might we say
"Under the sod, under the clay,
Here lies the blue, there the gray"
Along the ridge and the valley of
Rock Creek had stood Meade with the
flower of the Federal army, 1880
strong. Beyond lay Lee, with barely
10000. Even with this disparagement
between their forces one would ask
why was Lee, with all his prestige,
military training and transcendent
genius of war, repulsed pitted as he
was against military mediocres not
long enough in command to have won
the confidence and ardor of his troop?
Look at the ground today and the ans
Wer is easy. 1t was a. physical i'm
possibility to drive any troop from
this natural fortifcation. From the
abrupt bluff, at Culps Hill to Round
Top, runs several series Of stone walls
with cliffs in front, behind which
troops lying down out OF danger, max
ing a double line Of defense, perfectly
shielded from the mass of bullets from
the Confederates, the Southern army
having to march to the assault,
through an open and unbroken field
of mile in length. The best Of this
worlds military critics, who have Wis
tied this field, pronounce it the best
natural battlefield for defense on the