Year: 1878

was just completing his detour ant
bringing his veterans into connec


tion with this party when, perceiv


ing the desperate position of Jack


sons guns, he sent him word Il


retire. He replied that it was nov


more dangerous to withdraw thar


to hold his position, and that if they


would send him fifty veterans ht


would rather attempt the capture O


the battery, which had so crippled


his. Magruder then dashed for


ward, losing his horse by fataI
shot as he approached him, and
found that he had lifted a single


gun, by hand, across a deep ditch tC


a position where it could be served


with effect and this he was rapidly
firing, with the sole assistance of a


sergeant, while the remainder OF


his men were either killed, wounded


or crouching in the ditch. Another


piece was soon brought over, and in


few moments the enemy were


driven from their battery by the


rapid and unerring fire of Jackson


and Magruder. By this time the


storming parties had passed the


castle and the enemy were in full


retreat upon the city.


It will be seen by this history that


two regiments Of infantry under


Col. Trousdale accompanied the


section of the battery under Jack


son, all under the command of Pill


low, and that much of the credit of


the victory is due to Pillow, Trous-


dale, Magruder and Jackson. / in


tr0duce this historic sketch because


our late friend, Lieut.. Robert w.


Humphreys, was III command of


his company under Col. Trousdale


in that great battle which resulted


in a glorious victory to cur arms
and in effect closed an eventful war


in a blaze of glory. Often has ne


informed me that he attributed his
personal safety to the horses that


were killed in that battle immedi-
ately before the place where he
stood at the head Of his company.
Often did he thrill me by describing
the heroic courage and grand self
possession of Col. TrOusdale in that
terrible hailstOrm of lead. There
Trousdale stood, and there Hum
phreys stood by his side, as firm as
the rOck-ribbed mountain on which
the Castle of Chepultepec stood.


StOneWall Jackson and Hum
phreys were in the same brigade,
one a Lieutenant in the artillery
service, the other in the infantry,
and participated in the battles of
Contereras, CherubuscO, Mellino del
Rey and Chapultepeck. Hum
pareys entered the city at the
head of his company on the
18th Of September, 1917, and was
there till the treaty of
peace was fully ratified on the 26th
of May, 184S, and finallyleft Mexico
on thes12th of June, 1S4S, when the
army returned home.


The treaty of peace between the
United States and Mexico was
signed and, fully ratified on the 26th
of May, 1913, by which she ceded to
the United States all New Mexico,
all of upper California and accepted
the Rio Grande from its mouth to
FL PassO as the Southern boundary
of Texas, thus adding to our terri
tory 100000 square miles. 1t is
glorious incident in the history of
anv young man to be connected
with that war, from its inception to
its close. After the surrender Mr..
Humphreys remained with the
command in Mexico till its return
home, a period of nearly nine
and was quartered in the
national palace and with StOnewall
Jackson-slept in the halls of the
On his return to
Tennessee he commenced the
practice of his profession, cOurted
and won the heart and hand of
Miss Meriwether, daughther of Mr..
Meriwether, whom he
on the I'd Oct, 1851, and
died on May %, 1873, leaving his
wife a widow and children-three
and four sons, to mourn
his loss. After the Mexican war
was over and he was discharged
from the public service, he entered
upon the duties of his profession as
a lawyer, and very soon acquired a
lucrative practice.


When deeply interested in the re-
suit of his cause, he was an earnest
and effective debater. / have seen
him, when he was warmed with his
theme, not only eloquent but sub
lime. He had more genuine humOr
and wit than any man at the Clarks-
vile bar. and was very happy in il
lustrating his case and the actors in
it by some quaint character drawn
by the graphic pen Of Shakespeare or
Dickens.


In conducting his causes in court,
he was perfectly fair and honorable
and lacked, it may be, little en-
thusiasm in his appeals to the court
and jury. As scholar, he was a
well educated man and had a de-
cided taste for historical reading,
and in this department his knOwl-
edge was accurate and large. | have
never met any man, outside Of the
who had read the bible |
with more care and whose mind |
was so full of biblical Illustration. |
1t was to him the Book of Books, as
well as the book of life. 1t was the
book of his preference over all |
others, and the deep fountain from
which he drew his illustrations, as
well as the sublime examples on
which he based and moulded his
own character. He was an uneffec-
ted and sincere Christian man, and
tried to do unto others as he would
they should do unto him. This
golden rule was perpetually in his
heart and mind, and it was the
chart and compass by which he
Steered his bark over the stormy
ocean Of life. No man searched
more earnestly for the truth in law,
in politics and religion. In all
these ne held that he alone is free
whom the truth makes free, and all
are slaves besides, and was one Of
the few


''Who never sold the truth to serve the


hour,


Nor faitered, with eternal God. for power"


He was pious and conscientious
all his life in the discharge Of his
duty. Whether on the field, the
courts, or in the domestic circle.
He believed, and acted on his be-
lief, that the "path of duty was the
way to glory" Instead of reaching
after hOnOrs, it seemed to be his
aim and effort to repreSs every as
piration of his heart after the
fading glory and the vanity of this
world. He had talents and emil
nent virtues enough to have adj
orned any station and yet aspired
to none. The truth is, he was really
too good for this world, and was fit
at any moment to be translated to
the realms of a brighter and better.