Campbell, W. L. Dukes, T. C. H. Dunsby, G. W. Foster, H. P. Fisher, W. E. LeBleaux, L. F. Lawton, P. T. Lynah, E., Jr. Martin, H. O. Mintzing, J. F. Matthews, Chris' r McCabe, B. F. O'Brien, A. F. Porter, J. H. Pemberton, G. W. Ravenel, Dr. W. C. Smythe, E. A. Stocker, J. B. Torley, J. E. Walker, Joseph Walker, C. I. Willis, J. L. E. Webb, W. T. L. Calder, Alex'r. Fisher, S. W. Mikell, W. E. Prince, A. Robertson, J. L. Smythe, A. T. Walpole, J. L. Yates, C. H. NEWRY, S. C., July 1st, 1902. To the Trustees of the W. L. I. Annuitants' Fund: DEAR FRIENDS,-As duly advised, from time to time, during the negotiation, I now report officially that the settlement author ized by you, with the city of Anderson, for the exchange of our 7 per cent. bonds, not yet due, for a new issue of 5 per cent. twentyyear bonds, has been fully completed. The difference of interest, to the maturities of the bonds, amounted to $1,420, and the total sum of principal and interest was $16,420. Sixteen bonds, numbered from 1 to 16, of $1,000 each, and four hundred and twenty dollars in cash, were duly received and turned over to the Treasurer. This cash, and the surplus cash on hand, authorized a deposit of $1,000, with the Chicora Bank, at Pelzer, S. C., interest at 5 per cent, semi-annually. The total fund now stands at $17,000, and the annual income, $850. It is the only permanent Confederate benefaction in all the Southland! As in all human probability this is the last service of moment I can expect to render to the corps, I enclose the letters and papers in my hands, to be in the hands of the Secretary; and with every good wish for the future of the W. L. I., and the expression of my high regards for each of you personally, I remain, Your very obedient servant, WM. A. COURTENAY, Chairman. THE GREY GRANITE OBELISK, in honor of the dead of the W. L. I., stands in Washington Square, is 45 feet high, and bears, in a bronze panel, this pathetic inscription "At every board a vacant chair, Fills with quick tears some tender eye, And at our maddest sports appears A well loved form that will not die. And, weeping, though no word is said, This shaft commemorates The Washington Light Infantry In the war between the States, 1860-65. Besides the maimed, wounded and capured, To a sentiment of honour and the call of duty They were of the very flower of this [From the Baltimore Sunday Sun, August 30, 1903.] IMBODEN'S DASH INTO CHARLESTOWN. A War Incident in Which the Ninth Maryland Federal Regiment Figured-An Act of Kindness that was Remembered. About the 15th of October, 1863, General Imboden's Brigade was encamped in Rockingham county, Virginia, when he received an order from General Lee to proceed to Berryville, meet General Stuart there and in conjunction with him make an attack on Harper's Ferry and Charlestown, and, if possible, capture both. General Sullivan's (Federal) Brigade was at the Ferry, and the Ninth Maryland (Federal) Regiment of Infantry and a squadron of cavalry at Charlestown, which is eight miles from the Ferry. Imboden had to guard all the gaps in the mountains from Beverley to Harper's Ferry, and consequently never had his full brigade in camp together at one time. At this time he had less than 1,000 men with him. General John D. Imboden raised the Staunton Artillery before the war, and it was the first battery that took the field in Virginia. It took a very conspicuous part in the first battle of Manassas, and on account of the skillful way his guns were handled that day Imboden was promoted from captain to brigadier-general. Both Johnston and Beauregard complimented him in their official reports of that battle. Imboden's Brigade, at the time of the order mentioned above, was composed of the Sixty-second Virginia Mounted Infantry, commanded by that distinguished officer, Colonel George W. Smith, a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute; the Eighteenth Virginia Cavalry, by the General's brother, Colonel George W. Imboden, now a prominent lawyer in West Virginia; White's Battalion, by Major Robert White, late Attorney-General of West Virginia; the Maryland Battalion, by Major Sturgis Davis, of Maryland, who had won his laurels under Turner Ashby; Gilmor's Battalion of Rangers, by Harry Gilmor, of Baltimore, who was as rough and daring a rider as ever drew a saber; McNeil's Rangers, of Hardy and Hampshire counties, West Virginia, commanded by Captain John H. McNeil. This was the company that later in the war, under the immediate command of Jesse McNeil, son of Captain J. H. McNeil, first lieutenant of Company D, rode into Cumberland, Md., and brought out two major-generals, Crook and Kelly, from the very midst of their commands. Finally, McClanahan's Battery, commanded by Captain John H. McClanahan, a Texan, who had served under Ben McCullough in Texas until it got too peaceable there for him. So, as may be seen, our General had in his brigade a lot of choice spirits, and was well equipped to make a daring raid into the enemy's lines. The writer had the honor to command a section of McClanahan's Battery. Some years ago a Yankee major, giving an account of the capture of Charleston, said: "The Johnnies had some pretty darned smart officers during the war, and some of them that did the most effective work were the least heard of. Imboden was one of them. He was a smashing good soldier, had the true instincts of a cavalryman, and was as much at home in the saddle for a three days' ride to raid an outpost, as he would have been playing bean poker for apple brandy in a crossroads grocery in the Shenandoah mountains." Now, nothing delighted a Confederate soldier's heart more than to be ordered to the lower valley of Virginia. They used to speak of it as the "land where the flowers always bloomed and the birds always sung." They never failed to meet a warm and cordial welcome there from the noble women who were so devoted to the cause we were fighting for. Every may from that section able to carry arms was in the Confederate army. Some belonged to the StoneBrigade, some to Stuart's Cavalry, and some to Chew's celebrated Battery of Horse Artillery. There were two companies of cavalry -the Clark Cavalry, Company D, 6th Virginia, and Baylor's Company, Company B, 12th Virginia. Most of the men in these two companies were from the counties of Clark and Jefferson, sons of well-to-do farmers, who from early boyhood were accustomed to riding and handling the fine horses for which that section was celebrated. On one occasion I heard a distinguished Confederate officer say of them that he did not believe there were ever two finer bodies of mounted men on earth. Our advance arrived in Berryville late in the evening of the 17th of October, and drove a scouting party of the enemy out of town. We did not find Stuart there, as we expected, our scouts reporting that he could not cross the Shenandoah river on account of high water. The General decided to attack Charlestown alone, if he could find out what was there. A council of war was held and Major Davis volunteered to go to the vicinity of Charlestown and find out. To this the General agreed, and went into camp to take a short rest before his return. The Major knew two renegade Southerners who lived within a mile of the place, and he aroused one of them about midnight and demanded the information he desired. The man told him that his brother (who held a position under the bogus Yankee Virginia Government), was in the town and that the (loyal) people there were very much incensed against him and that he was afraid he would be handled roughly if he was captured. But he said that if the Major would allow him to get his brother out he would give him the information he desired. This was agreed to, and the Major obtained the necessary information, and returned to camp in time for us to get to Charlestown by daybreak. The rays of light from the approaching day began to peep over the Blue Ridge and a long stretch of fog hung over the Shenandoah like a lake reaching toward the ferry. The landscape around the town was dotted with handsome country residences, for Charlestown is in the midst of a rich farming country. The town lay sleeping before us, the inhabitants little dreaming that their friends and deliv |