Year: 1863

Orange.


A private letter from the 36th regiment
mentions the death, in the hospital, of Lieut..
VIM. L. Howe, of Co. IL. One who for a
period of nearly ten months, was his broth
er soldier and intimate friend, would pay a
tribute to the many beauties of his personal
character, his patriotism and his manliness.
When the regiment was formed, Lieut.. Howe
was in the middle of his college course at Am
herst. The exhibition of a patriotism so pure
and unalloyed (and it was but one snatched
from cluster Of many was fragrant and re-
freshlng. The call of struggling country
was not unheeded. He rcsolutely turned his
back upon the enticing allurements of college
life, upon the genial society of college friends,
and the ties of the natal hearth, and enlisted
as private. How ought not so noble an ex-
ample to plead with young men who have not
lifted hand Tor their country in the midst Of
her dire perlI


The town of Orange furnished some thirty
OF the men of Co. IL, and i'll accordance with
the recommendation OF the selectmcn of that
town, by a vote OF large ma jority OF the com





lieutenant, compliment merited by his su-
perior abilities and attainments, and by the
peculiar diSinterestedness of his sacrifice. 1t
is singular fact that though he acted in that
capacity till the middle of November last, he
was not commissioned till several months
after.


In November the writer was assigned to Co.
ii as first lieutenant, and Lieut.. Howe was
ordered to go into the ranks to do duty as a
private. The event called forth in him the
display of the most noble and generous traits
which can adorn humanity. Though the bit.
terness of the humiliation was increased by
the repeated promotions which, for period
OF three months subsequent, were made in ex-
cluSIon of his just claims, the writer never
heard an angry remark about it, or witnessed
sign of disappointment. The captain and
lieutenant OF the company made urgent repre-.
sentatlonS to the commander of the regiment
and to the governor Of Massachusetts, and in
March last, after having acted in that capacity
for several months, and having subsequently
returned uncompainingly to the ranks, he
was commissioned second lieutenant and re-
ported to Capt. Sawyer of Co. IL.


In the traits of his character, and the quail
titles Of his mind, he was every way calcula-
ted to secure good will and respect Those
: who have been initiated into the realities and
practices Of military life will be better able
than others to appreciate the exemplary and
high toned refinement of his actions and man
ner OF life. Well versed in many branches
of general and scholarly information, he was
a valuable and valued companion for leis-
ure hour. Frank, sincere and considerate, as
well as clear headed and sagacious. he was a
safe and trusty friend. In all the minutiac of
military drill, as well as its higher and more
prominent branches, he was thoroughly in
formed.


How often death takes those whom we can
least spare. The bright and noble qualities
which so beautifully adorned aud illustrated
his character, seem to have attracted the un-
erring arrow of the destroyer, as beng too
pure for the corruptons in the midst of which
their light was shining, and which the CON
trast made all the more hideUus and repulsive.
1t reached him, too, IN far distant theatre of
warlike events, at the very hour when the
victory at Vicksburg was being crowned by
its after part of Port Hudson. BY the side of
the "Father of Waters" he sleeps the quiet
sleep of death. Far away from the green
hills which he loved with New Englander's
true love, and amid scenes of misery that
would melt even strong hearts, an inhospita-
bic soil embraces his mortal remains.


Ihe writer has no acquaintance with the
parents and near relatives of his departed
friend; but yet it aft )rdS him joy, not indeed
unmiXed with sadness, to be able to afford
them the comforting assurance that their
William, so loved and fondly cherished
through infancy and youts, and so much the
just object of their pride in that budding man
hood, when SO suddenly he Is cut off, died
without stain upon the pure and snowy
whiteness of his good name. J.w.G G.