To-day spent in the hospital; a number of wounded there from
the fatal field of Gettysburg. They are not severely wounded, or they could not
have been brought so far. Port Hudson has fallen! It could not be retained
after losing Vicksburg. General Lee's army is near Hagerstown. Some of the
casualties of the Gettysburg fight which have reached me are very distressing.
The death of James Maupin, of the University of Virginia — so young, so gentle,
so brave! He fell at his gun, as member of the Second Howitzers of Richmond. My
heart goes out in warmest sympathy for his parents and devoted grandmother.
Colonel James Marshall, of Fauquier, has fallen. He is yet another of those
dear ones over whose youth we so fondly watched. Yet another was Westwood
McCreery, formerly of Richmond. Another was Valentine Southall. They all went
with bright hope, remembering that every blow that was struck was for their own
South. Alas! alas! the South now weeps some of her bravest sons. But, trying as
it is to record the death of those dear boys, it is harder still to speak of
those of our own house and blood. Lieutenant B. H. McGuire, our nephew, the
bright, fair-haired boy, from whom we parted last summer at Lynchburg as he
went on his way to the field, full of buoyancy and hope, is among the dead at
Gettysburg. Also, Captain Austin Brockenbrough, of Essex County. Virginia had
no son to whom a brighter future opened. His talents, his education, his social
qualities, his affectionate sympathy with all around him, are all laid low. Oh,
may God be with those of whose life they seemed a part! It is hard to think of
so many of our warm-hearted, whole-souled, brave, ardent Southern youths, now
sleeping beneath the cold clods of Pennsylvania. We can only hope that the day
is not far distant when we may bring their dear bodies back to their native
soil.
SOURCE: McGuire, Judith W., Diary of a Southern
Refugee, During the War, p. 230-1
No comments:
Post a Comment