The farmer and mechanic., 1915-03-02

s',,,arno The President was, how
-, rnef with a frmness Of purpose,
oona1 Ia his own. and Colonel Petu-
grew persistently refused the ap
pointInent TO the admiration an"
somewhat 10 the amusement oil eie
President, who remarked tiia' "
wished the whole country could nave |
heard the converse ton which had |
taken place between them, that ne |
had been beseiged with applications |,
for nrigadier-ship, upon every con- |
ceivable ground, but that tnls "as
The first instance OF an oIhcer reluS
ing promotion because he had nor
demonstrated his abilities % dis-
| charge the duties.
Col. Pettigrex returned TO Ffeder-
! icksburg and remained there Ior
few days. at the expiration OF that
| time General French, his brlSaue
| commander, was ordered 70 report W
Wilmington for duty and Major Cen
eral Holmes commanding the troops
in and around Fredericksburg. sent
for Colonel Petugrew and insisted
upon his writing TO the War Depart
ment and revOking his refusal OF the
rendered commission. For long
while PettigreW conbatted the rea-
lsons Of the General and declined 10
accede to his requaet. 1t was only
/ when the General seriously and earn
estly said, "Col Pettigrew, it Is I'M
portant Tor the command ana the
country that you take the Office and
regard it AS your duty to do So" that
Pettigrew yielded his own convictions
and wrote the desired letter. ] saw
him a day OF two afterwards and ne
was even then chatting at having
given up his own ideas Of what was
proper and referring To some eHperi-
ences We had shared, remarked, ~ Oh
and ought to know By this time that
mans own convictions are the
surest guides for his own action. He
ought not to listen TO nything else -
2 laughed at his earneStneSS and re-
4 piled that on this occes sion | belonged
7 TO the Holmes faction, and was de-
l lighted that the Major General has
L oyer-ruied him with accepting. a
few days afterwards the army was
L removed to Yorktown, and [ did not
{ see Pettigrew again until On the re-
treat from that place, when we met
for few moments at Williamsburg
{ We met subsequently for moment
: as his brigade and that to which
: belonged We're moving together into
, the battle Of Seven Pines. At ths
: close of the fight l learned that IL
- was known to be captured and sup
L. posed TO be killed. The next time
saw him l was wounded in Richmond
=; and he had just returned from For
. Delaware, and was still unfit for dut.
- owing to the wound received at Sever
- Pines but eager to be on the fieli
&c again. He shortly after returned t
~ the field in command Of 8 briga0
near Petersburg, and I was invalide
to South Carolina. We never me
4: again.
y OF his military abilities l nee
hardly speak. They were known an
respected by the whole army. Dis
u tnguished as he was in the pursuit
and employment Of civil life, he Wa
by nature essentially o soldier. Th
ar| life military and anything Connecte
al with it, even to the slightest detail
he of the profession has for him a charl
-. which no other profession yielded.
Possessing many qualities eminen
,,t iy fitting him for command, he po
ia sessed the rare faculty Of inspirir
,ra confidence in those whom he con
s manded. From the company up
the division there was no body
90 troops whom he ever commando
10 even for a short time who were n
II. devoted TO him and ready to folio
ew him regardless Of all dangers. He i
'eu fused his own spirit into those who
'tn he commanded, he shared their per-
lau and privationS and Systematically Iii
me regarding his own comfort he labo
m disciplinarian he was eminently ju
-he his impartiality was q proVerh.
no Doing his own duty fully a.
1st thoroughly he exacted from all und
rn- him the full performance of thei
len and the knowledge that duty had
ra- be performed, and that the neglect
re- it WaS sure alike of detection a
WY punishment, rendered punishment
OF most unnecessary, and made ever
thing in his command move with t
he regularity and precision Of W
Po- regulated machine He watched 0,
on. his troops most anxiously. He
his garded them as {. trust and iabOur
and for them faithfully, and they reps
to his care with devotion which l ha
MI never seen equalled. It is impossi1
sur by any words to give q faithful
the scription of the confidence he insp
kill ed or the enthusiasm he awakened
GER his troops. To realize it one m
, to have lived among them and hes