The University memorial; biographical sketches of alumni of the University of Virginia who fell in the Confederate War

Preface

No fipology, it is believed, will be required for the publication of The University Memorial. The people for whose eye it is intended do not believe that the sword is the arbiter of right, nor have the}'' ceased to cherish the principles which they made so gigantic an effort to maintain. They are not ashamed of their kinsmen who fell in the great Confederate struggle, and who, sleeping now by mountain and river, in forest and field, in glen and dale, have benjucathed to them as a proud heritage the glory which their heroism achieved. Though poor and oppressed, the Southern people still have — if only this — a wealth of affection to lavish upon their dead ; too poor to raise but here and there the costly marble shaft, they are yet rich in the highest and holiest offerings of the heart. They give honor themselves; they would that all might give it. AVhen in the soft days of sjn-ing they go, men, matrons, maidens and trooping children, witli garlands for their graves, they greet with hearty God-speed him who can bring but a single blossom : even thus will they welcome this offering to their memory — this wreath of cypress and laurel and oak, fashioned by many hands for the brow of the grand Old Mother that sits mourning for her martyred children.

Some words of explanation, however, may not be out of place here. The preparation of this work was suggested to me during the recent war, by the death, in rapid succession, of so many young men whose fiicmiship 1 had enjoyed when a student at college;

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but the pressure of professional duties gave me no opportunity to undertake it until about two years ago, when, with the prospect of a season of comparative leisure, and encouraged by some of the warmest friends of the University, I began to collect the necessary facts, with the view to binding together the names of all the Alumni of that institution who fell in defence of the South. Even then I was painfully aware that the task I assumed was a difficult and delicate one : the material was to be gathered from every quarter of what was once the Confederacy, and I felt that when this was collected, I should, in digesting and arranging it, be handling as it were the very ashes of the dead, and meddling with memories so sacred that not to touch them reverently and lovingly would be to profane them. Far beyond my expectation it has proved difficult and laborious; and, but for the encouragement and cordial cooperation of those to whom the work especially appealed for sympathy, it might have been abandoned. For two years all the leisure consistent with the proper discharge of other obligations has been industriously devoted to it; and, after all, the catalogue of names, though grown to more than twice the anticipated length, is probably incomplete.

No improper feeling will be attributed to me for limiting my work to a single class of men. I could prepare but one chapter for the great record-book of the Southern dead, and it was natural enough that I should turn to those to whom I was most closely bound by the bright memories of my youth. Other classes were not less distinguished for gallantry, not less devoted to duty; and if for the alumni of every institution of learning in the South some should be found to undertake what I have attempted for those of the University, they will receive warmer encouragement from none than from myself. Indeed, in this event they would find that in doing my own work I have incidentally and in part performed theirs too ; for many of the University men were alumni of other institutions as well.

In the pre]3aration of memoirs, my highest aim has been to secure fidelity in the life-record, and accuracy in the delineation

PREFACE. 9

of character. To this end I have sought the aid, whenever it was possible, of those who were able not merely to state the bare, skeleton facts of a life, but, from intimate personal acquaintance, to give those delicate touches and subtle shades of character which make the man to stand out instinct with personality. How fortunate I have been in securing such aid will be seen by a glance at the Index, which is studded with the names of those who responded to my appeals. To all these I record here my grateful acknowledgment for their graceful contributions. Their articles, not less than their names, are a warrant that the MEMOiii/VL will not fail to meet approval. Some memoirs I have marked anonymous either because the writers wish it so, or because they are not distinctly enough the product of any one pen to justify other credit.

It will be noticed that the articles vary much in length, and some may be disposed to censure me on this account. To these it will be needful only to state that it was never intended to measure merit by the amount of matter in a memoir. As was anticipated from the beginning, there was in some cases a lack of material, in others an abundance; and to this fact the inequality of leno-th is due. In some instances the want of material is to be traced to those who alone were able to furnish it; in others, life had been too short to give more than tlie promise of excellence, or to justify more than a brief notice. "Causa drfficilis laudare puerum ; non enim res laudanda, sed sj^es cstJ'

Some attention has been given to the subject of genealogy, under the belief that this feature of the book would be valued by those who do not sympathize with the convulsion;^ of society consequent u{)on the disastrous termination of the war. In this connection Bishop Meade's Old Churches and Families of Virginia has been of invaluable service. In the frequent use that has been made of this work, tiie proper credit may not always have been given.

In the matter of arrangement, it seemed to me to bo desirable to follow out a plan by which, while each article should be of special interest to some family, the whole scries might be a contribution to history. Accordingly, the memoirs appear in their

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chronological order, so as to present the great events of the war in their proper succession. Of course these leading events are referred to in more than a single article ; but the reference being in most cases to different companies, regiments, or brigades, moving simultaneously to battle, the record of the Southern forces is thus made only the more minute. And it may be added that the statements here made of military movements are based not simply upon the histories that have appeared, but in the main upon the authority of those wlio tookpart in the actions described. Tliis is particularly true of the minor features of great battles — a fact which may not be without interest to the future historian.

The work thus perpared and arranged, contains the names of nearly two hundred Alumni of tiie University of Virginia ; among them representatives of every Southern State, every religious denomination, every arm of the military service, and every grade short of Major-General. No invidious distinction is made among these, for they were brethren ; and whether they perished on the gallows, in prison, in the hospital, or in the fierce conflict of arms, they deserve alike to be remembered. The list comprises not a few of those who achieved the highest honors of their Alma Mater; twelve Masters of Arts, two Bachelors of Arts, nine Bachelors of Law, and two Doctors of Medicine are found in it; while the Literary Societies are represented by six Valedictory Orators, four Readers, thirteen Presidents, and five Magazine Editors.

With these notes of explanation I conclude my task. If the Memorial receive but a tithe of public favor as compared with the labor it has cost, I shall be more than gratified. If any object that it abounds in eulogy, I re[)ly tiiat the words of strong affection or glowing admiration, found here and there, are feeble when contrasted with the praise in the simple statements of the great deeds of these men. If Cicero, and Pericles, and Robert Hall could count the dead a worthy theme for their princely eloquence ; if Collins, Thomson, Dryden, Cowley, Wordsworth, Johnson, and Tennyson could sing in elegiac strains to the memory of

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broken friendships : surely we, without fearful heart or faltering hand, may write a word, even of praise, for our kinsmen Avho, though they died so soon, laid not down their lives before they had made them sublime. History v/ill yet inquire for them, and the fulness of time will accord them honors which the present denies. They were men of whom friends and foes will, ultimately, alike be proud. Already in a distant land the prophecy has gone forth that their great chieftain, the beloved Loe, will hold a place in the heart of the entire American people; and what ever liglit shall gather about his name, will radiate theirs also. For them, as for him, may the })rophecy be recorded here : " Not yet," said The London Weekly Dispatch, in speaking of General Lee, irarae<liately after his death, — '^not yet, perhaps, v/ill the bitter feelings of the war have sufficiently passed aM'ay to enable his countrymen of Pennsylvania, of Massachusetts, to appreciate him at his true worth ; but the day will come when the men of the trans- Atlantic Republic will recall his name with as much pride as we do those of Hampden and of Falkland, without inquiring whether they fought for King or for Parliament. Even now it will soften the memory of his fame if they recall that in declaring against the Federal Government after having held a commission in its army he only followed the example of George Washington, the friend and fellow-soldier of his grandfather, who in the same way disowned his allegiance to King George when he believed that his duty to his native land required the sacrifice."

J. L. Johnson.

CiiAiiLOTTESYiLLE, Va., February 3d, 1S71.