Robert Alonzo Brock

“ General Maury was in every fibre a soldier. He not only had the personal courage requisite, but despite his whimsical manner of disparaging the army as an occupation, it was plain to see he was by nature a man who loved and was fitted for army life. ”

“ In the short span of years allotted to man, it falls to the fortune of but few to serve through two wars and be a hero in both. Who that saw the gallant boys in gray, so bravely led under the Stars and Bars, could, even in fancy, in little more than a quarter of a century, see the same brave spirit leading the boys in blue on to victory beneath the Stars and Stripes? ”

“ Died at the home of his son in Peoria, Illinois, January 11, 1900, Dabney Herndon Maury, the eldest surviving Major-General of the Confederate States Army, and who was born at Fredericksburg, Virginia, May 21, 1822.
Drawing his life-springs from lines which have shed lustre on the annals of his native State, and of our common country, he nobly exemplified in his "happy" and protracted life the worth of his descent. The lessons presented by his dutiful career, and as limned in his delightful "Recollections," can but be potent in inspiring posterity. ”

“ The years roll on, men come and go and are forgotten, the popular idol of to-day may be fallen ere the morrow, but the memory and the sacrifice of Pelham will live for aye. The passing years but leave an ever deepening tinge of gold upon "red danger's amaranthine wreath " that crowns the youthful patriot's brow. Alabama's crown holds no jewel purer or brighter than the memory of the gallant Pel- ham, and his name shall be cherished with pride and spoken with loving reverence so long as honor and purity and fearless chivalry are dear to the people for whom his life-blood was so gallantly shed. ”

“ General Maury 's career in the Confederate army is history.
The niche assigned him in the temple of fame is a high one. It is in more than one respect unique. A distinguished soldier of the Confederacy remarked to the writer recently, that had General Maury achieved in the East the things which he achieved in the Army of the West, his final rank would have been higher and his fame greater.
As it is, he is known to the student of Confederate history as one of the bravest, one of the most skillful, and one of the hardest fighters in the Southern army. ”

“ The presence among us here to-night of our old Confederate leader recalls to many of us scenes, incidents, and emotions of a past that has been immortalized in history by the achievements of the Confederate soldier. He needs no introduction. He is one of us. His battles have been our battles, his cause our cause, his achievements our admiration, his fame our joy, his services our nation's pride, and his whole life an offering to the welfare of his countrymen. ”

“ General Stonewall Jackson, observing his action in that battle, said : ' 'Every army ought to have a Pelham on each flank. ' ' A few days before the battle of Fredericksburg, at Port Royal he attacked the terror of those gunboats, with such success that they were driven down the Rappahannock River. His daring and dashing courage in directing a detachment which checked the opposing army at Fredericksburg, impelled General Lee to exclaim: "Is it not glorious to see such courage in one so young!" ”

“ The death of General Maury removes another of the Virginians of a type of other days. The story of his life reads much like romance, yet it is a story such as that of many Virginians the gentleman soldier, a character frequent in ante-bellum days, when the old Commonwealth was the first of all the States; when the army claimed so many of her noblest sons, and when Indian fighting gave army officers constant opportunity for adventures, which to-day sound like the inventions of the story-tellers. ”

“ Alabama is the mother of many brave, heroic sons, but second to none is the young hero whose memory we honor to-night. I say young, because to us, over whose head since then the storms of many years have thundered, that earnest, boyish face comes back as the friend of yesterday. ”

“ The days when Pelham and Stuart rode together and won immortal fame and deathless victory have passed into another age. The men who "though vanquished yet conquered disgrace and preserved unharmed the shrine of the public honor," are the foremost figures in the brilliant achievements of these modern times. ”

“ General Maury often spoke regretfully of the failure of Thomas to go with his State. He has said that no man was ever more devoted to his State, which had greatly honored him, having voted him a sword for gallantry in the Mexican war. Thomas applied early for command in the Virginia forces, and Governor Letcher held an important post for him. General Maury has stated that Thomas carried to New York with him, after Virginia seceded, his resignation from the army, and that he went to that city to bring away his wife. ”

“ Alabama, in former times, sent forth another son who, on the battle-fields of Virginia, gained the names of "gallant " and "vigilant." This is, therefore, an auspicious and fitting occasion, chosen by R. E. Lee Camp Sons of Veterans, to present t<> the sponsor Veteran Camp, the picture of him whoso worthily won, and wore his characteristic designations. Major John Pelham was a marvellous development of the age in which he lived. Great was he of whom the London. Times could say, " no one of an equal age in either army has won an equal reputation." ”

“ Lee Camp Hall was filled to its full capacity and upon the entrance of General Wheeler (accompanied by the Committee, the distinguished gentlemen named, Gov. J. Hoge Tyler, Hon. John Lamb, and others) , the audience rose with one accord and cheered him to the echo.
Commander E. Leslie Spence called the assemblage to order and Chaplain J. E. Cook, of the Camp of the Sons of Veterans, offered a beautiful prayer. ”

“ Also, he did not believe in separate technical schools, but thought 'that scientific and professional studies could best be taught when surrounded by the liberalizing influence of a literary institution.' Hence, he sought to unite all these in the development of Washington College.
"Especially General Lee did not believe in a military education for others than army officers. Military education, he used to say, is an unfortunate necessity for the soldier, but the worst possible preparation for civil life. ”

“ None of his brother officers blamed him. He frequently said they told him they never expected him to pursue any other course. But there were a number of Southern men who could not bring themselves to sunder the old ties, and, drawing their sword in defence of the new nation, turn it against the old. General George H. Thomas, a native of Southampton county, Va., and a warm friend of General Maury's, was one of these. ”

“ He had no words in which to express his sense of women's power in the world. The press of the country in its kind and generous reference to the Amer- can soldiers, in the late war, has spoken of victory as attributable to " the men behind the guns." He wished to qualify that, and say that victory was due, in large measure, to the "women behind the men behind the guns. " (Loud applause.) He cited a number of instances to prove the courage of woman in times when death was the almost certain end. ”

“ Though without business training or inclination for business life, General Maury went to work with a will. Being a graduate of the University and of West Point, he decided to establish a classical and mathematical academy for boys at Fredericksburg, where he lived. ”

“ A thousand things might determine a contest, without regard to the justice of the cause, the speaker said, but the thing that lives is the story of heroic deeds and heroic men. Perhaps nowhere on earth were there gathered together so many noble achievements as in this historic city of Richmond. ”

“ His- tory can't be written with the Confederate soldier left out," said Judge DeArmond, and this statement was greeted with much laughter and applause. He paid his compliments again to the pen- sion laws, and concluded by again expressing appreciation of the honor shown him, and expressing the ardent hope that through the coming years the sons of noble sires will keep alive in their camps the spirit of nobility of their fathers. Virginians must in future, as in the past, "blaze the way," and stand as a solid phalanx against wrong. ”

“ He prosecuted his law studies at Fredericksburg under the celebrated Judge Lomax, but he finally determined that the law was not to his liking, and applied for, and received, an appointment to West Point.
HIS COMRADES AT WEST POINT.
In the corps of cadets at the Military Academy during General Maury's four years there were many men destined to become among the greatest in American— annals George B. McClellan, Thomas J. Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, A. P. Hill, Winfield Scott Hancock, Bee, Franklin, and dozens of others. ”

“ Ah! fellow-citizens, I do not, no one can, wonder at your sublime faith, as you feel you are the de- scendants of the noblest men the world has ever known. Noble sons of veterans, making your way proudly in the world, you have no pensions to sustain you (loud and prolonged applause) ; nothing to rely upon except your individual efforts; the world is all before you, in which to make your way, and there are none better quali- fied. ”

“ A dead letter inspires disrespect for the whole body of laws.'
"On another occasion a professor appealed to precedent, and added, 'We must not respect persons.' General Lee at once replied: 'In dealing with young men I always respect persons, and care little for precedent.'
"When General Lee became President of Washington College it had been required that students should occupy the college dormitories; only a few of the older students were permitted to lodge in town. ”

“ He held idle- ness to be not a negative, but a positive vice. It often happened that the plea was made that an idle student was doing no harm and indirectly deriving benefit, etc. General Lee said, ' No. A young man is always doing something; if not good then harm to himself and others.' So that merely persistent idleness was with him always sufficient cause for dismissal.
"General Lee's ideal of education was the training of manly character, and that, lor him, meant Christian character. ”

“ The Sunday he spent there he could hear all day the cannonading at Manassas. He took the first train for Richmond. He has more than once remarked that he expected his wife and old mother to try to hinder him from going into battle. But he never had any more anxiety after that Sunday. Their sole fear seemed to be that he would be too late for the fight. The day he reached Richmond he received an order from General Lee to report to General Joseph E. Johnston at Manassas, and he hastened thither.
IN THE CONFEDERATE SERVICE.
A Record Exhibiting a Signal Display of Courage and Genius. ”

“ Finally, just before dawn, I resolved to decline the offer. I had never done anything which was not honest, and I determined that it was too late to begin in my old age. Sleep was easy to me then, and it was late when I awoke. ”

“ M. told me, in relating the incident, that he then felt as if he wished the earth would open and swallow him.
1 ' To a recalcitrant student, who was contending for what he thought his rights as a man, I once heard General Lee say: 'Obedience to lawful authority is the foundation of manly character ' in those very words.
"On rare occasions of disorder, actual or threatened, General Lee would post a manuscript address to students on the bulletin board. These were known among the boys as his ' General Orders.' They never failed of their effect. ”

“ There were many callers. A recep- tion was held at the Confederate Museum from 4 to 8 o'clock, and many citizens and veterans availed themselves of the opportunity to greet the gallant hero. General Wheeler, with Mrs. Joseph Bryan, President of the Confederate Memorial Literary Society, Mrs. James H. Dooley, and the ladies representative of the several State rooms the Advisory Board and representatives of the Veteran Camps and of that of the Sons received the admiring host which continually thronged the Museum building. ”

“ Forty-three years ago, a tall, erect, handsome young man reported for duty at the Military Academy at West Point. His blonde hair, t.iir complexion and blushing cheeks giving him a delicate, refined apprai mce, in spite of his athletic form and well-krrown superiority in manly sports, would have attracted attention in any assemblage. ”

“ From 2 to 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon General Wheeler was tendered a reception and luncheon by the Woman's Club, and prac- tically all the members embraced the opportunity to meet the old hero. It was thought that i o'clock was the hour set, and before that time the room began to fill. Upon General Wheeler's arrival with his escort Major Thomas Brander, Captains Laughton and Lamb, Colonels Cutshaw and Cussons, and Judge DeArmond they were crowded. ”

“ Still, an official summons to his office struck terror even into the most hardened.
A young fellow, whose general record was none too good, was summoned to answer for absence. He stated his excuse, and then, '/ ”

“ Sketch of the Life and Career of Hunter Holmes McGuire, M. D., LL. D. 267 XXXIII.
General Thomas R. R. Cobb. Extracts from letters of, to his wife, February 3, 1861—December 10, 1862 280 XXXIV.
Washington Artillery Heroes. Roll of those killed and who have died 301 XXXV.
Some Notes of the Confederate States Navy—Treachery of a Canandian—Letter of Captain Robert D. Minor 305 XXXVI.
The Phi Gamma in War. Touching tribute by Colonel James M. Wells. 309 XXXVII.
Mrs. Jefferson Davis—A visit to, by General N. M. Curtis, U. S. A. 314 XXXVIII.
What is a Confederate Veteran? ”