soothed his anger; and when the brilliant charge of the Mississippi Rifles under the leadership of Davis retrieved the almost desperate fortunes of the bloody day of Buena Vista, unable to repress his admiration any longer, the stout old General hastened to the front where Davis was lying desperately wounded, and seizing his hand, exclaimed: “I forgive the hasty marriage, my dear lad; any father might be proud of such a son!” Jefferson Davis is alike wary in council and fiery in the field; but his swift audacity is guided by a cool and powerful intellect, and is the servant not the master of a resolute will.
Robert Edmund Lee, of one of the most distinguished Virginian families, entered the Military Academy a year later than the President, and passing into the Engineers, served under Scott in Mexico; he was present in all the battles on that line; was severely wounded at the storming of Chapultepec near the capital, and was twice brevetted for distinguished gallantry. In 1852 he was appointed Superintendent of the Military Academy, and in 1855 was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the newly-raised 2nd Cavalry, which he held at the commencement of the present troubles, when he commanded at San Antonio, Texas. His late career has only confirmed the reputation for eminent ability he has always enjoyed in the army. My reminiscences of his personal appearance are vague and dim.
Albert Sydney Johnston, of Kentucky, entered the Military Academy in 1822, and after serving in the 2nd and 6th Infantry, and acting as adjutant-general of the volunteers in the field during the war with the Sacs and Foxes, headed by the renowned warrior, Black Hawk, he in 1834 resigned the U. S. service, emigrated to Texas, and took an active part in severing that State from the Mexican Republic; having been adjutant-general to its army in 1836, and Secretary of War from 1838 to 1840, while it was struggling for independence. When the annexation of Texas to the Union issued in the Mexican war, he commanded a regiment of volunteers, the 1st Texan Rifles; was some time Inspector-General of one of the divisions of the army on the Rio Grande; and specially distinguished himself at the battle of Monterey. He was one of the paymasters of the army from 1849 to 1855, when he received the colonelcy of the 2nd Cavalry. He became a brigadier-general in 1857. He was of noble and commanding presence; courteous and affable in his address; of very generous and kindly disposition, and was universally esteemed and beloved. His death was a great misfortune for the South.
Joseph Eccleston Johnston, of Virginia, entered the Military Academy in 1825, passed thence to the 4th Artillery; and retired in 1837; but, on the Florida war’s breaking out shortly afterwards, entered the Topographical Engineers and served during the war. In 1846, as lieutenant-colonel of the Voltigeurs, he served during the Mexican war—being present at all the engagements between Vera Cruz and the capital,—was twice wounded and twice brevetted. In 1860 he left the line and became quartermaster-general to the U. S. army, with the rank of brigadier-general. He is very simple and unassuming in his bearing, but his countenance is expressive of great resolution and capacity, as far as I can remember.
Thomas J. Jackson, of Virginia, entered the Military Academy in 1842, as a lieutenant in the 1st Artillery was attached to Magruder’s battery during the Mexican war, and was twice brevetted for gallantry therein. He retired from the army in 1852. I do not recollect ever having met him, and certainly his military genius had not been discerned by his quondam associates.
Peter Gustave Toutant Beauregard, of Louisiana, entered the Military Academy in 1834; was attached successively to the 1st Artillery and Engineers; was in all the battles in the Valley of Mexico; and was twice wounded and twice brevetted. He was only a captain of Engineers in 1861.
Edmund Kirby Smith, of Florida, a cadet of 1841, served through the Mexican war, at first as a lieutenant of the 5th Infantry—wherein were two other officers of the same name, both of distinguished bravery, and both slain in action—and afterwards in the 7th Infantry, and was twice brevetted for gallantry. He was for a time mathematical professor of the Military Academy; and in 1861 was a captain in the 2nd Cavalry.
Braxton Bragg, of North Carolina, a cadet of the Military Academy in 1833, was known by name at least throughout the Republic for his heroic defence, when a lieutenant of the 3rd Artillery, of Fort Brown—the little earthwork hastily thrown up by General Taylor on the bank of the Rio Grande, opposite the city of Matamoras—and by his subsequent conduct at Buena Vista, when his battery, supported only by the 1st Mississippi Rifles, charged and routed the Mexican army, after the volunteer infantry had fled en masse. He received four brevets during that war, and was considered by the soldiery the preux chevalier of the army. In 1854 he was only a captain, and retired from the service some years since.
James Longstreet, of South Carolina, a cadet of 1838, attached successively to the 4th and 8th Infantry, was present at Monterey, and all the battles in the Valley of Mexico; was wounded at Chapultepec, and twice brevetted. In 1858 he passed from the line into the paymaster’s department, and belonged to it at the commencement of the present struggle in 1861.
Richard S. Ewell, of Virginia, a cadet of 1838, served through the Mexican war as a lieutenant in the 1st Dragoons, and was only a captain in that corps in 1861.
William F. Hardee, of Georgia, a cadet of 1834, a captain in the 2nd Dragoons during the Mexican war, was twice brevetted for his services therein, and in 1860 became lieutenant-colonel of the 1st Cavalry.
Earl Van Dorn, of Mississippi, a cadet of 1838, in the 7th Infantry and 1st Dragoons successively, was on General P. F. Smith’s staff during the Mexican war; was present and highly distinguished in all the battles in the Valley of Mexico, was wounded in the capture of the capital, and twice brevetted. In 1860 he was appointed major of the 2nd Cavalry, the corps which has given so many able officers to the Confederacy.
