Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 29.djvu/261

 .1 Maryland Warrior and Hero. 245

termediate is the monument to the lamented Captain Wm. H. Mur- ray and his men, and surrounding all these are five hundred men and officers of the invincible armies of the glorious Confederacy.

' 'Ah ! realm of tombs ! but let her bear,

This blazon to the last of times: No nation rose so white and fair, Or fell so pure of crimes."

From early manhood the career of Major Goldsborough was re- plete with the stress and storm of arms. As a lad he ran away from home to enlist for the war against Mexico, but was overtaken in Baltimore and taken back home. During the war between the States his life was full of adventures, perils, battles, wounds and prison hardships. By nature he was, he admitted, ' ' a man who loved fighting," and was always in the thick of battle.

Among the many brave, daring and skillful line officers of the Maryland line in the Confederate army, Major Goldsborough stood in the forefront, surpassed by none, if indeed he was wholly equalled. Descended from a distinguished lineage in Maryland, he inherited all the best faculties that typify the true Maryland soldier, added to a fine, cultivated intellect, a charming, magnetic personality, with a romantic, sanguine temperament, ever alert and ripe for perilous service, he commanded the admiration and confidence of all within reach of his voice or example. His superior officers were impressed with his exceptional worth, and he received less promotion than he deserved; but his fame will descend through generations following those who were his comrades in arms.

The genealogy of the Goldsboroughs appears in "Old Kent." The grandfather of Major Goldsborough was a native of Dorchester county, Maryland. He removed to Frederick county in 1800, where the father of Major Goldsborough, Leander W. Goldsborough, was born and spent part of his life, removing to Hanover, Pa., in 1845. His son, William Worthington, was born at Graceham, Frederick county, Md., October 6, 1831; was educated at Hanover, Pa., and learned the trade of a printer, afterward becoming foreman of the Pittsburg Dispatch, but he went to Baltimore about 1850 and found employment on newspapers until May, 1861. As a compositor and proof-reader he atttained great proficiency. In politics he was always an old school Democrat.

In 1857 he joined Captain D. E. Woodburn's company in the