Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 08.djvu/492

480 credit for eye-sight a little better than Lieutenants Snow and Howard, for he thinks he saw "twenty five men of Harris' brigade."

In the same number, page 22, in a letter to General Wilcox, late his division commander, General Lane says. "You may not be aware that Harris's brigade has been given in print all the credit of that gallant defence." If such is the case, there certainly must be some good reason therefor, and I shall leave it to those who read this, and the papers annexed, to determine that reason. Sufficient for me to say, that what has appeared heretofore, has not been printed by any one connected with the brigade, or at their instance; and singularly there has been a great unanimity on the part of foe, friend, and stranger in giving the credit of that defence to Harris' brigade.

With this, and the annexed certificates and statements, we cheerfully submit the facts to our old comrades of the Army of Northern Virginia, and by their decision we are willing to stand. Lieutenant-Colonel James H. Duncan, who commanded the regiments in Battery Gregg, survived the war only a few short years, and his memory is loved and cherished by his surviving comrades. Captain James H. Duncan, who commanded the 16th regiment on that eventful day, a true son of Virginia, has "crossed over the river," and fills an honored grave in the bosom of his adopted State. The lips of these two noble officers are sealed in death.

Whilst it is far from my intent, in the preparation of this statement, to deprive the gallant soldiers of the old North State of any of the laurels won by them on so many well contested fields, it is my intent to demand and preserve for the gallant officers and men of my brigade the glories they won and achieved. It is somewhat remarkable that during the long term of fifteen years, when public prints, both foreign and American, as well as many eye-witnesses of the day, have accorded the defence of Battery Gregg to the Mississippians and the gallant Louisiana artillerists, that others who at this late day now come forward and claim all the honors of that occasion, should have remained utterly silent. I have obtruded myself most reluctantly upon the public, but I have written only in the spirit of self-defence, and have purposely avoided the enumeration of many facts that might be construed as severe or harsh reflections upon others. Nevertheless it is, and will hereafter remain with me a matter of duty, to defend the reputation and honor of the brave fellows who fought and died at Gregg, as earnestly if not as manfully, as they defended the trust committed to them on that memorable day.

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