The Berkeley Brothers. 371
an editor, though I may be over-cautious, I will ask, as there is no necessity of it, you will not make public my letter. The whole brigade measured up to its full standard of duty, made its reputa- tion and there let it rest. Ever since the close of the war I have had a great longing to visit the Valley of Virginia, but the time never seemed opportune, but I still cherish, perhaps, the vain hope of 'doing so. As age advances, my heart instinctively turns to old friends and old things, many of whom (that is, friends) I fancy, I would meet in the Valley. I shall be pleased to hear from you any time when when you are at leisure, and in the meantime, I remain,
ARTHUR C. CUMMINGS. Abingdon, May 16, 1898.
From the Richmond News-Leader, January 21, 1907.
THE BERKELEY BROTHERS Of the Eighth Virginia Regiment, C. S. A.
Colonel C. Edmund Berkeley, of Prince William County, Va., spoke at the banquet Saturday night, January 19, 1907, at the Hotel Kernan, of the Society of the Army and Navy of the Confed- erate States in Maryland, in Baltimore.
The Sun tells these interesting facts about the distinguished guest:
Colonel Berkeley is one of the most interesting survivors of the Confederacy. He was born February 29, and, while his birthday comes only once in every four years, he will be eighty-three when February 28, 1907, shall have come and gone. On that day the average age of his two brothers and himself will be eighty -one years a remarkable coincidence.
Colonel Berkeley was lieutenant-colonel of the Eighth Virginia Regiment, "The Bloody Eighth." His brother, Colonel Norborne Berkeley, who lives with him in Prince William County, was colonel