CHARLES M. BARTON, OF WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA;
FIRST LIEUTENANT, CUTSHAW'S BATTERY.
Among the severest losses of the South, in her late struggle, was that of her youthful population, the choice spirits of her youth first volunteering to take part in the contest; in too many cases the first sacrificed; a loss, in its very nature, irreparable. The material wealth and resources destroyed and wasted may, in time, be replaced. The various sources of prosperity, closed up, may again be opened; and the operations of trade and commerce, suspended or deranged, may again be resumed more successfully than ever. But not so as regards the waste and loss of life with these youthful warriors. Too many of these, forsaking home and its endearments at the first call of patriotic duty, never again returned; and too many others, spared to return, came back as mere wrecks, ruined and broken alike in mind and in body.

The subject of this memoir belonged to the former of these classes. Responding to the call of his native State for defenders, during the summer of 1861, his brief career terminated in the spring of 1862. He fell in battle in sight of the home of his nativity, amid the natural objects with which he had been familiar from boyhood, and within a few miles of the home which he had left when entering upon military service,—a sacrifice in the moment of victory upon the altar of patriotism.

Charles Marshall Barton, the eldest son of David W. and Fanny J. Barton, was born in Winchester, November 30, 1836. He received his early tuition at the Winchester Academy, and the Episcopal High School near Alexandria, and entered the Virginia Military Institute at the beginning of the session 1853, graduating on the 4th of July, 1856. During the last session of his course at the Institute, Cadet Barton was brought under decided religious impressions, in a season of special interest, during the spring of 1856, and made a profession of religion only a few weeks before the session terminated. He was confirmed by Bishop Johns in company with some thirty or more of his comrades from the same institution. This most important step was taken in an earnest and decided spirit, and his subsequent course was in accordance with it. The writer of this sketch was present when the profession was made, had opportunity of conversation with him in reference to the feelings and resolves by which it was dictated, knew him intimately during most of his subsequent life, and it is grateful to think of that life as characterized throughout by an unostentatious, but unbroken consistency.

Soon after his graduation, Mr. Barton selected as his vocation that of a tiller of the soil, and settled upon a beautiful farm, the property of his father, within a few miles of Winchester, in one of the most desirable sections of the Valley. Here, with his feelings of interest thoroughly enlisted in his occupation and with a genial soil making its abundant returns, he was rapidly surrounding himself with the comforts and enjoyments of rural life. His marriage, in the fell of 1859, with Miss Ellen Marshall, of Fauquier, brought the joys of domestic life to his home, and added a brighter sunshine to all its duties and pleasures. About this time, or soon after, he removed from the farm which he had been cultivating to one not far distant, Springdale, on the main turnpike from Winchester to Staunton, and between five and six miles from the former place.

It was from this home of comfort and abundance, of healthy and interesting occupation, of peace and domestic enjoyment, that the youthful farmer was called to a sterner class of duties, —the privations and hardships and dangers of military life. At the demand of patriotism the farmer became the soldier, and, within less than a year, yielded up his existence; offering his services to the State of Virginia, he received the appointment of second lieutenant in the provisional army of the Confederacy. His military education did him good service in his new position. And his brief but efficient career, like that of so many other of her sons, reflected credit upon the training of his Alma Mater. During the summer and fall of 1861, Lieutenant Barton was assigned to duty as inspector of fortifications surrounding Winchester, at that time regarded as the gateway of the Valley, the granary of the State. During the winter of 1861-2, as first lieutenant, in conjunction with Captain, afterwards Colonel, Cutshaw, he organized a company of artillery, well known as Cutshaw's Battery. As part of the army of the Valley this organization rendered efficient and arduous service during that memorable campaign of the spring of 1862 in the Valley of Virginia.

Towards the close of this period the contest for the Valley raged within the vicinity of Winchester. The retiring Federal army, endeavoring either to hold this position, or to secure their retreat from serious molestation, made a brief stand at this point on the morning of Sunday, the 25th of May. South of the town the range of hills rises to a crowning elevation. From this, looking north, maybe seen, thirty miles off, the gap and neighboring mountains of Harper's Ferry. To the east, treading to the distant south, range the gentle undulations of the Blue Ridge, and, intervening between this range and the beholder, lies stretched out a country of hill, and valley, and cleared spot, and forest growth of most beautiful and diversified character. It was upon this elevation that Lieutenant Barton's battery was situated; and with him the contest was literally one for house and home,—a contest carried on upon a spot with which he was perfectly familiar, connected with all the associations of youth and opening manhood! Beyond the ranks of the enemy was the home of his childhood, of his yet remaining parents; while only a few miles back was that home of his early manhood, forsaken at the call of duty. But it was just here, with the prospect of victory and reunion with his beloved ones, that his death-wound was received. While manning one of his guns, and exulting in the prospect of success, he was struck by a fatal shot, the last one of the opposing battery, and rendered immediately helpless. Borne by his comrades to the shade of a neighboring grove, he soon breathed his last, almost in hearing of the welcome given by his parents, as yet ignorant of their loss, to his victorious comrades. That bright May Sunday, of patriotic joy and exultation among the people of Winchester, will never, by its participants, be forgotten. But there was at least one sorrowing household, one darkened home, in which that rejoicing was mingled with mourning.

He now sleeps in the cemetery at Winchester with two brothersin blood, and with many brethren in arms not far off, all, likehimself, yielding their lives to the cause of a common country. Among the individual records of the great revolution throughwhich this country has passed, there is scarcely one to be found which more strongly than this contrasts the blessings of peace and the evils of war. If this brief record of a good citizen and fearless patriot should in any manner tend to the securing of these blessings of peace and the warding off of these evils of war, its purposes will have been more than accomplished.
(Source: Biographical sketches of the Graduates and Eleves of the Virginia Military Institute who fell during the war between the States, by Chas. D. Walker. Published 1875. Transcribed and submitted to Genealogy Trails by Linda Rodriguez)

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CHARLES E. LAUCK, M.D., OF WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA;
SECOND LIEUTENANT, 4TH VIRGINIA INFANTRY.
Charles Edward Lauck was the third son of Jacob and Comfort W. Lauck, and was born in Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia. In early childhood he was distinguished for truthfulness, industry, and obedience to parental requirements. It was at this place where, being placed under the charge of the most competent instructors, the foundation of his education was solidly laid.

After passing through the highest schools that were then at Winchester, he spent a few years with his brother-in-law (S. R. Atwell), a successful tobacco merchant; but finding that there was too much sameness and tameness in such a vocation for one capacitated for the " arts and sciences," he sought a change that would be more agreeable to his tastes. A vacancy occurring at this time in the Virginia Military Institute, which was to be filled by the appointment of a " State cadet" from the senatorial district in which he lived, he deter mined to apply for the position.

There were a number of applicants, some of whom were highly recommended; but, as he preferred entering the Institute on the ground of true merit and qualification rather than on the recommendations of influential friends, he visited, and was examined personally by, the Hon. C. J. Faulkner. Shortly after his return he was notified that he was the successful applicant.

A new field being thus opened before him, and one in which he could pursue his favorite studies to greater advantage, he immediately made the necessary arrangements, and, with a heart fully fixed on the work before him, entered upon the realities of Institute life.

Having pursued his studies faithfully and advantageously for four consecutive years, he graduated on the 4th of July* 1854, with the fourth honor of his class.

In mathematics, which was his favorite study, the writer is satisfied that he had no equal in the Institute, and not a great many superiors anywhere else. The most difficult problems and abstruse propositions contained in any of the text-books were mastered with the apparent readiness and ease with which a child's toys are disposed. He also "stood high" on all the other studies, excepting that of languages. It was because of his deficiency here that his aggregate standing was brought down.

On entering the Institute it was his purpose to qualify himself for engineering; but his mind having undergone a change, after teaching the requisite time in the State, he determined to prepare himself for the medical profession. Being equally successful in his studies in that department of science, he graduated at the medical college in Winchester, Virginia, in the spring of 1859.

He then removed to Rockbridge County, Virginia, where, according to a previous engagement, he was united in marriage, June 5, 1859, to Miss Sallie Agnes, daughter of Jonathan and Catherine Eads.

He was residing at Buffalo Forge, in Rockbridge County, and engaged in the practice of his profession, when his heart, like that of every true patriot, was made to quiver at the alarm of war!

He was conscientious in the belief that his allegiance was due first to his native State. And when the time for reasoning had passed, when the lines of demarkation were distinctly drawn, when the " clash of resounding arms" was heard, he laid aside the " art of healing," and applied himself with a decided will to that of making patients.

His first service was rendered in the Valley of Virginia, at Winchester. Having accepted the appointment of "drill-master," he spent the summer of 1861 in training the militia of Frederick and the adjoining counties.

When the militia of those counties were taken into the regular service, he returned to Rockbridge County to arrange his domestic affairs preparatory to entering upon another and regular campaign.

During this interval he was urged by some of his friends to take a position as surgeon, to which suggestions his reply was, "That, I know, would be an easier position, but there are plenty of others who were educated solely for the medical profession who can attend to all those duties. I can render more efficient service elsewhere."

Believing that bullet-distributers would render the most acceptable service to the Confederacy, and without waiting for an appointment, in March, 1862, he volunteered, as a private, in the 4th Virginia Regiment, " Stonewall" Brigade.

He participated in all the marches and battles of that brigade during the memorable campaign of 1862 in the Valley of Virginia.

A few days after the battle of Cross Keys he was elected second lieutenant, in which capacity he served through the "seven days' fight" against McClellan in front of Richmond. This was the last engagement in which he participated. Being overcome with fatigue and drinking the impure water of that swampy region were the causes, in part at least, of his contracting the disease of which he died, on the 7th of August, 1862*.

Had he left the brigade sooner, in order to receive the medical treatment, the rest, and the nursing that his disease (typhoid fever) demanded, he might have recovered; but he was too anxious to be always at the post of duty.

It was only after considerable effort that the writer succeeded finally in getting him away from camp while the brigade was lying near Gordonsville. He was taken on the cars to Albemarle County, to the residence of Mr. Hart. Here he received all the attention that friends and relatives could bestow, but the disease was too deeply seated to yield to human skill.

It is due to Mr. Hart and his estimable wife, and also to their servants, to say that they did all that friends could do. Their kindness will never be forgotten.

His remains were taken to Rockbridge County, and interred at the Falling Spring Church.

It is a source of comfort to all his real friends to know that his life was given in defense of his native State, and that he died in the discharge of duty; but it affords the greatest consolation to believe, as we have every reason to, that he died as Christians die, and that his spirit is at rest!
(Source: Biographical sketches of the Graduates and Eleves of the Virginia Military Institute who fell during the war between the States, by Chas. D. Walker. Published 1875. Transcribed and submitted to Genealogy Trails by Linda Rodriguez)

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FRANCIS B. JONES, OF FREDERICK COUNTY, VIRGINIA;
MAJOR, 2D VIRGINIA INFANTRY.
Francis Buckner Jones, son of William S. Jones and Ann Cary Randolph, was born at "Vaucluse," his father's residence, in Frederick County, Virginia, on the 14th of June, 1828. He was the great-grandson, on his mother's side, of Beverly Randolph, former Governor of Virginia, and his paternal ancestry from the Revolution were men of wealth and influence in the country. Up to the age of eleven years he received instruction at home under the care of a private tutor, when, on the 13th of October, 1839, he was entered at the Episcopal High School, near Alexandria, Virginia, then under the management of the Rev. William N. Pendleton. His school-boy days were marked by no distinguishing characteristic or incident except the striking effect produced upon him by his first religious impressions. He enjoyed the advantages of this institution for several years, and it was here he received these first impressions. They remained with him through life, exhibiting their effects in boyhood and manhood with a peculiar and marked distinctness, constantly widening and deepening until they seemed to constitute the mainspring of his whole action, and formed, perhaps, the most prominent, as they certainly did one of the most lovable and attractive, features in his character. His intimate associates here were youths of exalted piety, and he moved in an atmosphere greatly conducive to the growth and culture of vital religion. As a boy, he became an epistle read of all .boys, and as his character strengthened and developed into that of the man, the benign and wholesome influence of his life and example was only widened and enhanced.

On the 18th of July, 1845, he matriculated at the Virginia Military Institute, and was graduated July 4, 1848. Here he received a military education, and became acquainted with many afterwards distinguished graduates of that institution, who, with him, responded to the call of their State in the assertion of her just rights and her attempt to defend those rights and to protect herself from the encroachments of Northern aggression. It is to be remarked here that Major Jones's natural aptitudes and dispositions were all averse to the necessities both of life and study which he encountered at the Institute. With a fine intelligence and a keen relish and appreciation for literature and science in whatever form presented, it may be yet said that he had no taste for mathematics, and a positive distaste and aversion for practical military science with its necessary accompaniments. The life of a soldier was not that life which was congenial to his natural tendencies and inclinations. While his endurance was equal to that of most men, and his resolution and power of will unconquerable, except by the failure of his physical powers, the rough and irregular life inseparable from a soldier's experience was not such as commended itself to his preferences, nor one from which he could derive those habitudes of thought and feeling best suited to his delicately strong moral and religious organism. The experiences of the Institute were, therefore, a great trial to him, and he would probably have receded from them had it not been that the same sense of duty which carried him through the war carried him also through this ordeal. He could not reconcile it with his self-respect and the proprieties of the case to abandon a position which he had deliberately assumed simply because it was a disagreeable one, and he passed through his three years' probation with a conduct and bearing which won for him the respect and esteem—may we not say admiration?—of both professors and cadets. A classmate, writing of him at this period of his life, uses the following language: "He was a favorite with all, and beloved both by professors and cadets. He was admired for his high sense of honor, his unbending integrity, his consistency as a Christian, his great conscientiousness, and his uniform and undeviating purity of life. He was in every sense a high type of a noble Christian gentleman, never guilty of the least deviation, so far as I know, from a course of life and conduct that demanded and received the respect and love of all who knew him. His influence for good was felt by all with whom he came in contact. He was, indeed, the object of an esteem and affection altogether singular towards so young a man, and which had their foundation in the deep and universal conviction of his perfect integrity of purpose, his unbending sincerity and truthfulness, his Christian generosity of spirit, and in the persuasion that he was a man who lived near to God, as was evident from his holy walk, his spiritual and lovely character, and his singularly amiable and affectionate temper and disposition.
"As to his standing as a student, he had no turn for mathematics; and he took but little pleasure in applying his mind to this subject, but in all other branches he stood high in his class. His talents were of a high order, and as a speaker he was much admired, and was chosen by his class to deliver the valedictory at its graduation."

His friend and classmate, in the above recollections of him, has only described him as he was throughout his whole life.

After leaving the Institute, he commenced farming at Carysbrooke, in the county of Frederick, some time in the year 1850, and in 1853 married the eldest daughter of William L. Clark, Esq., of Winchester. Here he had a fair field for testing the pleasures and profits of agricultural life,—a life that he loved above all others, and for which his habits and associations from boyhood peculiarly fitted him. He seemed -to draw his vital breath from rural scenes. The son of one of the most extensive and successful farmers of the country, accustomed to the high style of living and of acting characteristic of the old Virginia farmer, he was enamored of the pursuit from his earliest days, and always spoke of it as the only one he could follow with any degree of satisfaction. The naturalness of country-life, with its freedom from artificial restraints and from the political and social conventionalities—may we not say servitude?—of the day, was in perfect unison with his most cherished aspirations. He pursued his calling with a sleepless vigilance, and soon discovered such a wide-reaching grasp and methodical accuracy in the management of his affairs as to attract the attention of the whole farming community. This was, perhaps, the happiest period of his life. The results of his operations were eminently successful, and at the beginning of the war, although his plans were scarcely matured, he was on the high road to prosperity and affluence. He had no political aspirations. His was a character not in consonance with that usually found among political aspirants. Modern degeneracy is fast teaching, if it has not already taught, men of observation and experience that the most exalted character is to be found elsewhere than among those who occupy high places of public preferment and responsibility. Demagoguism in its various forms, political, professional, social, and, it may be even said, commercial, has been for years past the ruling spirit of the country, aggressive in its character and so successful in its encroachments that it has well-nigh reached the pinnacle of power. Holding this power in an iron grasp, and wielding it with blind and fearful recklessness, it is mercilessly preying upon the peace and security of society, and now holds high carnival over the prostration of all elevated public character and integrity. An election to a public office or position, contrary to the rule that formerly obtained, is prima facie evidence against character, and one who is the envied recipient of such an honor must prove himself without taint before he can enjoy that respect and consideration which all good, men covet in the estimation of their discriminating fellow-citizens. Office seeks no man; all men are in search of office, and virtue finds here no congenial soil in which to thrive. The arts necessary to be used in manipulating an election, for instance; the agencies which must be employed to insure a successful issue, are of such a character as to be wholly inconsistent with the methods by which virtue and high-toned honor effects its purposes, and cannot be handled or tampered with by those who would retain, much less cultivate, such lofty traits. In fact, such terms are derided rather than respected in this connection. The same principle runs through all the phases in which modern society presents itself; and to all this Major Jones presented a striking contrast in every movement and emotion of his life. The natural genuineness of his character violently repelled the specious and plausible and all his instincts led him to pursue the real and the true, uninfluenced by any external forces calculated to swerve him from their manifest suggestions.

Devoid, as he was, of all desire for political promotion, he was not, however, unnoted by those who managed the affairs of the political world. A friend, writing of him, mentions the following fact we produce it in his own words:

"At the time that most important assembly, a sovereign 'convention' of the State, to decide upon the issues of the war, was called by the Legislature of Virginia, it was found a difficult matter, because of past animosities and political differences, to effect unanimity between the parties of the day upon any one of our leading men. A conference was held of leading gentlemen of each of the old political parties, and after an interchange of opinions for a few moments a venerable gentleman arose and said he thought he could suggest the name of one who, although a Whig in name, was yet so thoroughly imbued with the doctrine of State rights as to make him acceptable to the most exacting Democrat, who, although young in years, was cool and deliberate in the hour of danger. He would suggest the name of Francis B. Jones, a gentleman upon whom all parties might unite, and in whose election all might rejoice. The suggestion was approved, and a committee was appointed to wait upon Mr. Jones to secure his consent to become a candidate; and well do we remember his surprise when informed of our mission. He expressed his appreciation of the compliment, but promptly and decidedly declined to become a candidate. There were others, he said, better qualified for the position, who could render the State more efficient service. "He would leave home only at the call of his State to defend her from actual invasion."

He remained at home until the outbreak of the war, pursuing quietly and unobtrusively the duties of his vocation, and avoiding everything that might interrupt the calm quiet and content he enjoyed in the circle of his happy and devoted family; at the same time he was a deeply-interested and anxious observer of the tendency of passing events, with an already matured determination to meet whatever personal responsibilities the issue of those events might devolve upon him, and to cast his lot and destinies with those of his native and beloved State. Unobtrusive and retiring as he was, he was nevertheless devoted to intelligent and refined society, and no one excelled him in the true and genuine hospitality of a Virginia gentleman. These terms we dare to use, notwithstanding the vulgar aspersion which it is the fashion of the day to cast upon them, as expressing a type of humanity unsurpassed, perhaps unequaled, unless by that of the old English gentleman from which it is immediately derived, and to which it is bound by the closest ties and sympathies. The traditional and written history of his State was a theme upon which his interest never flagged, and his admiration for many of her distinguished sons, and his jealousy of their public reputation and character, amounted almost to a passion. Descended himself on one side from a family so noted in her history, he ever dwelt with pride and pleasure on her high and commanding position in the past, searching into her antiquities for the gratification of those feelings, and fondly cherishing the hope that her future would be but a brilliant reflex and confirmation of her past. He little imagined that the generous cession of her Northwest Territory to the Federal Government would be recompensed to her by that Government, under the vulgar power of the sword, by a dismemberment of her own empire, and an attempted destruction of everything he held dear in her past history and future hopes.

In 1858 he was urged by Brigadier-General Carson to act as inspector of the 16th Brigade, which position he reluctantly accepted, and discharged its duties with great credit to himself and the perfect satisfaction of his friend and commanding officer until the Virginia troops were sent to Harper's Ferry by the Governor, in the spring of 1861. His strongest reason for occupying that position was that he would thus be brought in contact, as he said, with a large class of character which otherwise he could never reach, and would be enabled to effect, through the medium of tracts and other instrumentalities, an amount of good which he was not at liberty to neglect. The matter presented itself to his mind, therefore, in the light of a duty, and he acted in this position as a missionary of the Cross, as well as an officer of the Government. He always left home on his round of duty fully equipped with these silent but potent missives, and of their effective use, with whatever other means of influence he could command, his own zeal and earnestness is a sufficient guarantee. At Harper's Ferry, General Carson immediately selected him as his chief of staff, and not only has he ever testified to the invaluable services rendered by him in the formation and disposition of the troops which were rapidly and without order assembled there, but has spoken of him to the writer, on more than one occasion, in a strain of unaffected eulogy and affection scarcely admissible within the proprieties of this publication.

When Colonel Jackson—afterwards the immortal Stonewall—arrived in command of all the forces at that place, and a new organization of the troops was effected, he was at once invited to act as his adjutant. This position he assumed, and in the discharge of its duties and responsibilities he remained until some time in the winter of 1862, although he had previously received a commission of major in the infantry, and had been assigned to duty in the 2d Virginia Regiment, commanded by Colonel James W. Allen and his intimate friend, Lieutenant-Colonel Lawson Botts. His first battle was fought at Manassas, July 21, 1861, close by the side of Jackson, and he was with him when he led his troops to their "Stonewall" baptism. The army, as is well known, remained inactive at and near Manassas during the following fall and winter. He writes under date of Fairfax Court-House, October 14, 1861: "Our policy is clearly to act on the defensive, and I never knew so well before that we are obliged to do it because we are weak. I have given up all hope of peace. A gloomy war, a long war, and a bloody one, you may depend upon it, is before us, and we may as well make up our minds to it. I dread the separation from my family for so long a period; and the prospect of losing my life, whilst three young children require my care, is at times very depressing; but my duty is plain, and it, of course, I must pursue regardless of all consequences. "What a world of meaning is in that simple declaration! In the winter of 1862 he resigned the adjutancy and went to his regiment. On the 23d of March, when the memorable battle of Kernstown was fought, General Jackson again called for his services on his staff, and he rendered the old hero in that hard-fought battle such efficient aid as only one could do who was familiar with the field of action, fought as the battle was in sight of his own home, and on ground over which he had roamed a thousand times. These services were officially commended by General Jackson in his report of that battle. About this time he was attacked with diarrhea, which soon became chronic, and greatly afflicted him during the remainder of his life. But, although his system was greatly prostrated, he was rarely absent from his post, and, unless confined to his bed, participated with the Stonewall Brigade, of which his regiment formed a part, in all its toils and honors and battles, until he received his death-wound, at Cold Harbor, June 27, 1862, in the charge made by the Stonewall Brigade on McGee's Hill, felling at the same time with his friend and colonel under the terrific fire of the enemy. Colonel William S. H. Baylor, of the 5th Virginia Regiment, who subsequently fell in the battle of second Manassas, describing this charge in a letter to a friend, says, "That day was hard fought and well contested. Our brigade, for a wonder, being entirely in the rear, held as a reserve, was brought into action late. The roar of musketry for a distance of miles was such as warriors of more experience than this horrid war has afforded say they never heard before. The enemy had been repulsed on our right, but on the left a strong position, McGee's Hill, was still stubbornly held by him with artillery and infantry. It seemed that he could not be driven back. Several unsuccessful attempts had been made on this position during the day, and it is said that General Jackson, at the request of General Lee to furnish him a force adequate to the emergency, ordered forward our brigade. And forward we went For three-quarters of a mile a shower of shell fell around us, but our boys kept up gallantly through the thick woods and miry swamps, until we reached an open and wide field which gradually ascended into a commanding hill, where the enemy was posted, already receiving us with his artillery, and now with his small-arms. Our lines were thinned by many having fallen from exhaustion in the terrible effort to keep up at the rate we were going, and I do not think the brigade numbered over eight hundred men. Our lines were formed by a sort of intuition,—my regiment the extreme left, the 2d next on my right, and so on. We stopped but once, and that when poor Allen and the beloved Jones fell. It was now quite dark. The 2d only hesitated a moment, and their yell told us to charge, and in two minutes more my boys had taken the guns, but did not stop to triumph until they had pressed the reluctant Yankees a hundred and fifty yards beyond. The entire hill was gained, and gained, I may say, by a handful of men against a much superior force."

In this desperate charge, with a system prostrated by disease, his physical weakness obliged him to keep his horse, and he was one of the few field officers who went into the charge under such perilous circumstances. Whilst, hat in hand, in front of his regiment, he was encouraging his men forward to the discharge of their terrible duty, he was struck in the knee by a canister-shot, and fell to the ground, his regiment passing over him to the achievement of their splendid triumph. He remained on the field during the night, a part of the time attended by a single comrade. On the following day he was taken to the field hospital, where he suffered amputation of the thigh. At his request, he was afterwards taken in charge by his former friend and neighbor, Dr. William A. Davis, and removed to his private lodgings in Richmond, where every attention that tender interest and affection could suggest was bestowed upon him. Dr. Davis was aided in consultation by Drs. H. T. Barton and Beverly Wellford. Brothers and friends were around his couch, and the best medical skill was brought into requisition to minister to his relief, but it was all unavailing. His prostrated system never rallied from the shock, and July 9, 1862, he breathed out his spirit as a Christian dies, amid the anguish of sorrow-stricken friends and relations, but with the confident assurance of an immediate entrance upon a higher communion and a brighter inheritance. His remains were temporarily deposited in Hollywood Cemetery, and subsequently removed to Winchester, where they now repose in the Stonewall Cemetery, by the side of his gallant friend and companion in arms, Colonel Thomas Marshall, hard by the graves of the Ashby brothers.

If the course of this narrative has failed to suggest the more striking features in the character of its subject, this will scarcely be accomplished by a studied effort. Such a character is more easily felt and appreciated than either imitated or described. Colonel Baylor, in the communication above quoted, lamenting the loss of others who fell in this dreadful struggle, says further, "And then the loss of Frank JONES! If there ever lived a pure man, he was Frank Jones. With everything that could be desired to make him a friend, he possessed that unpretending yet ever-noticeable piety which is the brightest and rarest of soldierly qualities, together with so much good sense and gentleness of manner that his influence was felt wherever he went, and extended beyond the circle of his immediate acquaintance. His loss will be long felt by many friends, but who can repair the loss to the bereaved companion of his life, and the dear little ones now fatherless? God will temper the wind to His shorn lambs." Truly, the actions of good men live after them, a precious heritage to their posterity, and a beacon-light to remote generations. Duty to God and man—the discharge of conscientious, enlightened Christian duty—was the pole-star towards which all his efforts tended, and on which the whole action of his life was based. It was not a sentiment with him, but a practical reality, and stood prominently forth in every position which he occupied, whether as soldier or civilian. On this shrine he sacrificed his most cherished interests, and all the darling projects of his life. Without ambition, without the hope or desire of worldly promotion, at the summons of this ever-present monitor he entered the service of his country, and fought a good fight in a cause which he pronounced worth fighting for, if any such there be, and suffered and died with the self-abnegation of a martyr and the unflinching courage and calm composure of a Christian hero and soldier.

We dismiss our melancholy task with the single reflection that men die but their characters live after them, and happy is the man who in his day and generation has exhibited so much to be admired and imitated, and so little to be regretted, as the subject of this notice.
J. Peyton Clark, A.M.
(Source: Biographical sketches of the Graduates and Eleves of the Virginia Military Institute who fell during the war between the States, by Chas. D. Walker. Published 1875. Transcribed and submitted to Genealogy Trails by Linda Rodriguez)

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