Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1916-06-09

had been arrested and courtmartialed
by General William Z. Jones, who was
strict military officer. l believe a
graduate of West Point, and these
soldiers were sentenced to be shot.
think ON the campus at Emory and
Henry College. or, may be. nt Salt
vile. These executions usually take
place early in the morning. n re-
prieve from the death sentence i'm
posed on these men was granted and
dispatched 10 the headquarters of
the army where young llarmun was
cncamped.
When Edwin lIarman was killed.
IN 1861, in the battle Of Cloyd's Farm,
N l'ulaski County, he bore the ranl,
Of Lieutenant Colonel of the 45th
Virginia regiment, but am not in
formed, or, rather do not rccollcct.
whether he was of that rank when
these men were sentenced to death;
anyway, he was 4 commissioned Of
licer.
Edwin llarman was I'm expert horse
man, and had with him ut that time
n bloodcd brown mare, which he rode
even when he was Captain. He vol
unteercd to carry the order of the re-
pricve to these unfortunate condemn
ed men.
| have been told that the ride he
made, was not only worthy of his
b!oodcd stccd but of it's manly and
radiant rider. The tale heard of
this ride so far borders on the ro-
matte, or even marvellous, that ] will
not venture ut this day, to attempt To
describe it. | have been told that
when he reached the place OF intend
ed execution of these men, each was
seated on Il rude coffin and the platoon
of soldiers detailed TO shoot them was
forming ranks. Their lives were
saved.
knew Colonel lIarman from my
very earliest days. His father and
mine were near ncighbors OH Blue
stone, in Tazcwcll County lie WAS
the son Of Granger llarman, and was
really very young man when he was
killed in battle.
Although Colonel Edwin llarman
was older than |, he was my warm
friend, and many Il day have we hunt
cd together. Colonel llarman was Il
handsome man of noble bearing, 1.-the
and active. He was an athlete
Il skillful horscman and lover Of fine
horses. Many Il day have | watched
him and my father swimming in the
backwater at the falls of Blucstonr
River, and envicd the tricks they
would play in the stream. Colonel
llarman withal was a successful busi-
ness man in the short life allowed
him. When the war between the
states began, he was one Of the first
to volunteer. He associated himself
with Colonel William Brown, another
Tazewel boy, who left West Point
-. al Il
gallant youths rose rapidly in pro-
Colonel Brown attained the rank of
Colonel of the 45th regiment and
was killed in 1864, ut the battle of
New Market, only Il short time after
his comradc, Colonel Harman. Col
oncl Browns body now lies in the new
cemetery at TaZcwell, and his grave is
marked with proper distinction.
In addition to these two sketches,
Judge Graham also included in his ad
dress, Il sketch entitled "An Escapade
OF Colonel Henry S. Bowen and Colo
mel Wm L. Graham" This will fol
low some time in the future. He clos
ed his address as follows:
"My comrades will remember that
many of the private soldiers were
equal i'm character and breeding To
their commanders, and that they
proudly felt that they stood on AN
equality with them and only rcco%
niZcd their authority because they had
to have organization to command
them.
"The best evidence of this asscr-
ton, is to remind an audience OF
Colonel Bowen and Colonel Graham,
and Colonel Harman--hravc and proud
men-thc peers in character and in
every way of the general who COM
manded them. or amy other man that
belonged to the Confederate army.
at seems that the modern regular
Of the present day has to be placed
in camp and drilled and taught for
year before he is fit for duty. Such
was not the case with the soldiers Of
the Confederate army. 1t was very
seldom-in fact, very rare-that a
man in the army of the Confcdcracy
did not know perfectly well how to
handle gun, how to ride, how to
camp, and how to take care Of him
self.
In the mighty struggle for the
evolution of the human race towards
its perfection, war has marked its
path from the beginning, and will
continue iicrccr and iicrccr to the
end; and l have long believed that il
takes these heroic efforts to elevate
mankind above the inevitable cifetc-
ness of sO-callcd civilization and fa-