The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1918-08-08
A Soldier of Other Wars
By Frederick J. Haskin

Gibson, the oldest living general of our
Civil War. recently celebrated his
ninety first birthday. He is the only
surviving member of the class of 1847
of the West Point Military Academy.
which furnished many gallant and no
table officers to both sides of the con-
fiict. He was the close friend of
Hooker, Mcclellan and Burnside and of
the confederates, ]. E. johnson and
Bragg. He was the acquaintance of
Meade. Sherman, Grant, Custer, FIRE.
mont. Douglass, Buchanan and Scott.
He Is veteran of two wars and has
lived throughyfour of them. He has
seen the advent of the railroad. the
steamship. the telegraph. the electric
car, the automobile and the aeroplane.
In the second year of the administra-
ton of President John Quincy Adams,
General Gibson was born at Baltimore.
His father was the Rev. John Gibson
and his mother Elizabeth Jameson Glib
son, a member of the old Maryland
family. Young Gibson was named for
General Gates, the hero of Saratoga. a
friend of some earlier members of his
mothers family. Most of his boyhood
except for year in CIncinnati-wa
spent in Baltimore, and with an uncle
who lived or the eastern shore of Mary
land. AS far as the General can recall
the pastimes of that day consisted of
hunting, fishing, marbles and "Town
Ball." Town Ball" or Three old
Cat" was the embryo of modern base
ball.
Young Gibson attended a private
academy at Long Green, Maryland, a
suburb of Baltimore. From the very
first the idea of being soldier attract
ed his imagination, and shortly after
his twelfth birthday he announced it
would be military career or nothing
for his. Those were the times when,
on festive occasions, the famous Rim
gold Battery paraded the streets OF
Baltimore Respondent in red coats and
waving plumes. Gibson's admiration
for this organization was such that he
made the further decision to become an
artillery officer His mother encourage
ed him in this and in 1843-when Gibson
was sixteen-obtained for him an ap-
pointment to West Point.
The Generals recollection of his ca
reer at the academy seems rather d
clear one. He remembers during his
first days as ''plebe" to have seen a
rather untidy looking upper classman
ride into the parade ground on horse
back He was hailed by the rest of the
cadets as good old Sam Grant"
The next time saw Grant," says
the General. was in California. He
was out of the army and in disgrace.
When | saw him again he had redeem
ed himself and made his way to high
command. talked with him last as
President of the United States. On all
of these occasions but one he was on
horseback.
The roster of the Military Academy
at that time was to become one of the
most illustrlous.inlthe history of the insti-
tuition. 1t contained such names as Nc
Clellan, Grant, Hooker and Meade.
Eat graduation" remarked the Gen
eral, Il stood between Ambrose Burn
side and Ambrose P. Hill (of the Con-
federacy). Each of them has dozen
statues now, but haven't one.
After graduation Gibson was made a
second lieutenant in the second artil-
lery. Shortly afterward war was de-
clared on the Republic of Mexico and
Lieutenant Gibson went with his COM
mand to the border He was with Gen
eral Scott in the occupation of Vera
Cruz, Pueblo and Mexico City. There
he became acquainted with Franklin
Pierce who was at that time an officer
of General SCOTS staff.
The commander of Gibson's battery
was Captain Martin Burke, frequently
mentioned in the memoirs of Grant and
Sherman. Captain Burke was a gradu-
ate of the War of 1912 and more than
seventy years of age. He was an
avowed antagonist of modern warfare,
and stubbornly refused to learn the
tactics of Scott and Hardie, though
they had been made the regulation
ones. Captain Burke continued to drill
his men In the close order formations
Of Baron Won Steuben. The Captain
had a special aversion to the breech-
loading musket which was coming into
use about that time.
"What!-load gun from the wrong
endv exclaimed Burke in horror.
why you may as we'll teach a baby to
walk on its head"
After the fall of Monterey and the
subsequent surrender of Santa Anna,
Lieutenant Gibson was returned with
his regiment to Fortress Monroe. He
volunteered for Western service and
was assigned to San Francisco under
command of Braxton Bragg, afterward
! L