Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 37.djvu/294

286 The Colonel was of a noted New York family; drifted into lumbering at an early age in Tioga County, Pennsylvania; and in the Spring of the year accompanied rafts down the Allegheny, Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Such a life inured him to hardships, but it was probably also through it that he acquired a taste for strong drink, and on rare occasions he was liable to indulge beyond the point of safety. With this exception he was the right man in the right place as Commander of a regiment; and it is a pleasure to mention, that though badly wounded before leaving McPherson's, he stuck to the men until they reached town.

In the Chancellorsville fight, the Company C boys, in playful humor, nicknamed him "Gobble-em-up," which stuck to him ever after.

It pains me to say ought against my old-time friend, but truth, historical accuracy, and justice to my men, demand that the curtain be drawn aside and the Colonel's condition during the engagement on the McPherson farm be revealed. Especially is this incumbent upon me, because in his official report he ignored (unknowingly it may be), the desperate struggle of my men to save the colors and retrieve his own mistake in neglecting to recall them; then, too, his report is so misleading and at variance with facts, that it leaves room for the false claim of a recapture that has done endless mischief; not only putting a stigma on my regiment, but doing great wrong to the actors in our color drama, tending to rob them of their laurels, and, what is worse yet, expose them to the shafts of slander.

That Col. Dwight was drunk during the fight is well known to the men of his regiment. This statement is confirmed by comparing the testimony on both sides with the following extract from his official report, which says:

" * * * * Whereupon Col. Stone ordered me to move my regiment forward and take possession of the railroad cut, about 50 paces to my front," (it was over three times that distance); "also, to plant my colors about 20 paces on the left flank of my regiment, all of which was accomplished in good order. * * * The enemy had planted three or four pieces of artillery in an orchard on our left, about one-half mile distant, commanding the