"Nihil quod erat, non tetigit; nihil quod tetigit, non ornavit.' "The death of Major-General Whiting deserves more than a passing notice. Born in a garrison, the son of an eminent officer of the old army, a graduate, with distinguished honor, of the first military school on this continent, he was peculiarly qualified, by education and association, to render his country marked service. "Constantly on active and varied duty, whilst an officer of the United States army, he was enabled, by experience, to improve a mind already well practiced in his profession, and cultivate a taste for that arm, of which, at an early age, he was regarded as a brilliant ornament. Upon secession, he promptly resigned his commission, and offering his services to the Provisional Government at Montgomery, was appointed Major of Engineers in the regular Confederate army. "Assigned as Chief Engineer Officer at Charleston, his engineering skill was recognized as of essential benefit in the operations which reduced Fort Sumter. "Transferred to Virginia he was selected by General J. E. Johnston as Chief of Staff, and, after the first battle of Manassas, received the merited promotion to the rank of Brigadier-General. "The commander of a splendid division in the Army of Northern Virginia he served in the campaigns of 1861 and 1862 with conspicuous credit. In the seven days' battles around Richmond, his command did gallant service, contributing in a large measure to our successes. The ability evinced by General Whiting in the disposition on that occasion and handling of his troops, combined with his coolness and self-possession, elicited the highest praise; the President himself, an eye-witness, bearing cheerful testimony to his worth and valor. "But it was not in the field only, that General Whiting's abilities and talents were displayed. Assigned to the command of the defenses of the Cape Fear, he exhibited, in the works which constituted those defences, a genius and skill as an engineer which won the unstinted praise of every military judge-praise that was even accorded by the enemy. "His administrative capacity was of the highest order- a perception wonderfully quick; familiar with all the details of his command, thereby conversant with its wants; always accessible; prompt in the dispatch of business; firm, yet courteous, in his intercourse; reconciling, with unusual facility, conflicting interests; establishing with great success, regulations for a trade requiring commercial, rather than a military knowledge; harmonizing the civil and military authority in his department, he possessed the entire confidence of the community in which he was stationed. "Placed in a subordinate position in the department which he had so long and ably commanded, and the successful defence of which was his hope and pride, he was doomed to witness the great disaster of the war, unable, by protest or remonstrance, to change the tactics which, in his opinion, induced the fall of Wilmington. "In command of Fort Fisher, sharing the privations and dangers of its garrison, twice wounded in leading it against the assaults of enemy, captured with his troops, he died a prisoner, cut off from those kindnesses which affection can only prompt, and love alone offer. "General Whiting possessed those rare personal qualities most to be appreciated, in the intimate associations and familiar intercourse of private life. "Unpretending in the observance of the duties of the church, of which he was a strict communicant; aiming to be just, without fear and without prejudice; sincere in his friendships; frank, generous, who felt a dream of meanness like a stain;' his character was the embodiment of truth and honor. "Of the noble sacrifices made for the cause, of the gallant dead who have fallen in its defence, the name of none will be more inseprably interwoven with its history than that of William Henry Chase Whiting. "How sweet his sleep beneath the dewy sod, One who served under him, describes him thus: "I always thought him a very handsome man-commandingly handsome. He was not tall, but he possessed a striking carriage. He was well put together, compact, well-formed, sinewy. His face was strikingly handsome. His head was shapely, and hair thick and iron-gray. He was an ideal soldier and commander." Says Major Benjamin Sloan, Chief of Ordnance, in a recent letter to Major Fairly, of the General's Staff, and now Colonel J. S. Fairly, of Charleston: "I wish I could find words to express my admiration for the man, for the soldier, whom the men in the Department of Wilmington loved, trusted, honored-yea, worshipped. His military perceptions were so clear, his nerve so steady, and his hand so vigorous, that under his direction we all felt absolutely secure. A skilled engineer, he had left nothing undone for the defence of the Cape Fear, and if on the night that Fisher fell, Whiting could only have been on the outside, in command, with the troops that stood idly by, and saw Ames from the land side overpower the little garrison, a very different story would now be history. "Once, in Virginia, I was sent by my commanding officer to General Lee, bearing a note of complaint (and with good reason), that he had been, by General Lee's order, improperly subordinated to others; and I remember Lee's endorsement upon the note, in substance: What do you care about rank? I would serve under a corporal if necessary." “General Whiting did the thing which General Lee said he would do. Without a murmur, giving up the command of the defences, which he had so magnificently planned, he went down into Fort Fisher, where the presence of such a gallant commander as Colonel Lamb made it unnecessary, and gave up his life in its defence. "The peer of any one in intellect, he died as he had lived-the modest, Christian gentleman, the lovely man, the brave, unflinching soldier. I think his death was sublime. "The last time that I ever saw General Whiting was on the boat which carried him for the last time to Fort Fisher. I had followed him down to the landing, and had just stepped from the gang-plank to the deck, when he spied me. 'Where are you going?' he said. 'With you,' was my reply. You must go back,' said he; 'you can serve me better here than in Fort Fisher.' With a heavy heart I went ashore, and stood watching him while I could see him. With Whiting penned up in Fisher, our faith was badly shaken. "I believe, Fairly, that there are not many of us left who used to assemble in headquarters, on the corner of the main street, in Wilmington. In spite of the stirring war times then, my life was full of hope, and I recall many and many a happy hour I spent in your company in the little cottage under the shadow of the City Hall." Page after page might be multiplied with one and the same testimony from glorious heroes who served under him; they all speak the language of devotion, of veneration for his matchless power, and of the strong, manly love in true souls for the chivalric quality of self-sacrifice. With an exquisite illustration of this grace so tender, I bring this review to a close, conscious, in the light of my own remembrance of his princely soul, of how far this portraiture falls short of the embodiment of his moral and mental grandeur. The incident referred to is this. Sergeant Glennan writes to the speaker: "At headquarters there was a detail of couriers, consisting of youths from 16 to 18 years. They were the bravest boys that I have ever seen. Their courage was magnificent; they were on the go all the time, carrying orders and messages to every part of the fort. "Among them was a boy named Murphy, a delicate stripling. He was, I think, from Dublin county, the son of Mr. Patrick Murphy, I think, and brother of Dr. Murphy, of the Morganton Asylum. The former was a citizen of Wilmington for many years after the war, and a true son of the 'Lost Cause.' He and I were intimate friends and companions. He had been called upon a number of times to carry orders, and had just returned from one of his trips, I think to Battery Buchanan. The bombardment had been terrific, and he seemed very exhausted and agitated. After reporting, he came to me, and tears were in his eyes; 'Sergeant,' he said, 'I have no fear personally; morally I have, because I do not think I am the Christian I ought to be. This is my only fear of death.' "And then he was called to carry another order. He slightly wavered, and General Whiting saw the emotion; Come on, my boy,' he said, 'don't fear; I'll go with you.' And he went off with the courier, and accompanied him to and from the point where he had to deliver the order. It was to one of the most dangerous positions, and over almost unprotected ground. The boy and the general were companions on the trip, and they returned safely. There was no agitation after that on the part of my companion. "That evening he shouldered his gun, when every man was ordered on duty to protect the fort from the charge of General Terry's men. The boy met death soon, and his spirit was wafted onward to a Heavenly home. "The General received his mortal wound in the same contest, in the thickest of the fight. "I tried to find the remains of my dear boy friend, but in vain. He rests in a nameless grave, but his memory shall ever be treasured." When, a few days hence, the patriotic women of this city and State shall see the fruition of their hopes and labors, and amid the thunders of cannon and the acclamations of thousands, yonder superb memorial to our dead shall flash upon the vision of the multitude, may that proud figure, which surmounts it in manly dignity, stand forever the majestic symbol of duty performed-of heroic courage, of sublime fortitude. May it tell forever the story, that when the sun set upon the cross-barred flag at Appomattox, it could not set upon the character that makes North Carolina what she is. May it speak to every youth who passes under its shadow the words. of glorious Whiting: 'Come, my boy, have no fear in the path of duty; I, the Spirit of the Dead, will go with you!" From the Montgomery, Ala., Advertiser, Dec. 8, 1897. TO THE CONFEDERACY'S SOLDIERS AND SAILORS. Monument Unveiled on Capitol Hill, Montgomery, Alabama, with Impressive Ceremony, December 7, 1898. Instructive and Eloquent Speeches by Prominent Men. Southland Moans for its Heroes. Reverence and Patriotism Guiding Spirits of the Occasion. Splendid Oration by Ex-Governor Thomas G. Jones, with Inspiring HISTORIC TRIBUTE OF ALABAMA WOMEN. Five thousand earnest persons yesterday witnessed the unveiling of the Confederate monument on Capitol Hill. Close to the historic structure in which the "Lost Cause" was born, a marble shaft now rears aloft its figured crest in impressive tribute to those who died under the "Stars and Bars." Cradle and tombstone stand side by side. And around them, their leafless branches murmuring a requiem mass in the autumn breezes, tremble a hundred trees trans |