The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1913-02-22

It's progress wi.l ;-s much Of blood
aud suffering, with his a., ut
pose, h. tGc,t HE tia 0ge. +, eu5 *
unsyres &. warfare uncompiP jugl =,
anG when the time came, he offered
up his life courageousl y, unAinchipg-
ly.
Am Z his fellow-men he was full Of
the impulses OF generosity, fidelity
and tr.th, and to his relatives and
friends he was bound as with hooks
OF steal.
The accompanying extract is taken
from Il letter written by cC:nrade Of
the deceased, and is an eloquent and
truthful tribute to his memory:
81 saw on yesterday, B., one of the
six men Of the Tensas cavalry, who
we're at first reported to have been
killed in the late battle near Denmark,
Tenn, instead of being killed, was
captured by the enemy. He with DR..
Litman, our surgeon, buried the dead
on the End day of September, the day
after the fight. They found four OF
the Tensas cavalry dead on the field,
They were buried and their graves
mark ed--they we're Lieut.. Montgom-
ei y, dll'i pi1' a'oo i~O"io' La "hu
Swayze,
MY brothers body was not found
on the field, he and his horse were
seen to go to the ground within few
feet of the mouth of the enemy's can
non and he has never been seen or
heard from since. Mr.. John =. Lewis
was shot by grape above the right
eye, his horse was killed at the same
instant, SO that horse and rider fell
dead together.
"ln communicating to you this mel
ancholy fact, l cannot let the occasion
pass without speaking of Mr.. Lewis
who was a cavalier without fear or
reproach. Every man who has ever
been ia the Tensas cavalry, can tes-
tify that his department on all Occa-
sions was that of the high-tOneG gen.
tleman, the devoted patriot, and the
intrepid soldier. remember that ON
the night preceding our retreat from
Corinth. that Mr.. Lewis and my bro
ther collected all the lead which was
to be left behind. and buried it be-
meath an OLD OAK tree around which
our tent, We're pitched. That was in
| u dark hour of our history. We ware
falling back before the advancing le
gions of the West. under Halleck,
| while Mcclellan with the flower of the
Fedora, army beleagured our Canitol
in the East Mr. Lewis said that
| when our armies were dispersed and
our land over run by the invader,
| when our ammunition should become
| scarce or exhausted then he said he
would repair to HE old oak Tree at
Corinth, dig up the lead there de-
posted, and continue to use it against
| the invader as long as Ole re-
manned on our side
''On one occasion the enemy c"me up
on us, surprised US completely and were
within thirty yards of us, and opened
| fire before we were aware OF their pre-
| sence. The officers, seeing that it
would be difficult, if not impossible, to
| form the men in line under fire, or
dered a charge, but all remained i'm
movable, no one stirring, till John G.
Lewis, driving his spurs into his
! horses side, and dashing off at the
enemy, cried out, 'charge them boys.'
His gallantry had the happiest effect
it was contagious, the entire regi-
ment charged with him, routed the foe
| and drove him back with considerable
loss to the main body of the Federal
| army.
"He was regarded by the whole COM
| pany as one Of the best soldiers in the
| Confederate army. He served for over
year, and was never absent from
duty but once, and then he bad the
camp fever
During that time he was a parti-
cipant ia twelve skiirmishes ami two
| battles, and had two horses killed under
him, one at Corinth and one at Den-
mark. He fell within ten feet Of the
! lannon's mouth, as B tells me, and
the last words he was heard to utter
were charge the enemy The South
had no drawer son die in her behalf. "
! THOS. II. LEWIS.