Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 12.djvu/139

Rh march across the mountains to join Beauregard and win the great victory of First Manassas. Learning that the Rockbridge battery was in position near by, I went to visit it, and found as private soldiers seven masters of arts of the university of Virginia, twenty-eight college .graduates, twenty-five theological seminary students, and among the others many of the most accomplished young men of the South, including R. E. Lee, Jr., son of the great commander. This was by no means an isolated example, for many other companies of artillery, infantry and cavalry were composed of similar splendid material. The Thirteenth Virginia infantry gave to the Confederacy three generals, who were its original field officers: A. P. Hill, who rose to the rank of lieutenant-general, one of the most accomplished, skillful and successful soldiers the war produced; James A. Walker, who commanded the Stonewall brigade until he was severely wounded at the "bloody angle" at Spottsylvania Court House, May 12, 1864, and afterward led Early 's old division to Appomattox Court House; and J. B. Terrill, who was promoted only a short time before he was killed at Bethesda church in June, 1864, and would have won higher distinction had his noble young life been longer spared. Besides these, there were many among the rank and file of that regiment who were the peers of these distinguished soldiers and would have worn the "wreath and stars" of generals as gracefully and achieved just such official distinction as they did win in patiently doing their duty as "unknown and unrecorded heroes of the rank and file." I give several illustrations of the general Confederate morale drawn from the personnel of this fine Confederate regiment. When the war broke out, there lived at Orange Court House, Va., a young man named Wilson Scott Newman, who had graduated in law, was commonwealth's attorney of his county and thereby exempt from military service, and who had been recently married to a beautiful young