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Major-General C. S. Army-patriot and scholar.
Sketch of his honored career.
A Veteran of two wars, who won distinction in Both—Was the oldest surviving Confederate officer from
Virginia.
Major-General Dabney Herndon Maury, the oldest Confederate officer of his rank in
Virginia, died at 5 o'clock Thursday morning, January 11, 9000, at the home of his son,
Mr. Dabney H. Maury, Jr., in
Peoria, Ill., in the 78th year of his age.
General Maury had been in feeble health ever since going to
Peoria from
Richmond, a year ago. Last summer he was quite ill there, but his strong constitution enabled him to rally.
Death came unexpectedly, as gently and as peacefully as a tender benediction, after a long life of active and honored usefulness.
General Maury's wife has been dead a number of years.
He leaves a son, as above, who married Mary daughter of the beloved
Dr. James Brown McCaw, of
Richmond, and two daughters—one,
Mrs. Rose, wife of
Robert Pollard, residing in
Houston, Texas, and the other,
Mrs. Sue Mason, wife of
James M. Halsey, in
Philadelphia.
These ladies are both distinguished as educators and are well-known contributors to periodical literature.
The former gave essential assistance to her father in his publications.
Among the relatives here are
Mrs. Mathew F. Maury, wife of the distinguished naval officer and scientist;
Mrs. James R. Werth, and
Colonel Richard L. Maury and family.
The death of
General Maury removes another of the Virginians of a type of other days.
The story of his life reads much like romance, yet it is a story such as that of many
Virginians—the gentleman soldier, a character frequent in ante-bellum days, when the old Commonwealth was the first of all the States; when the army claimed so many of her noblest sons, and when Indian fighting gave army officers constant opportunity for adventures, which to-day sound like the inventions of the story-tellers.
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General Maury was a perfect type of the old-time Virginia army officer—brave, high—spirited, adventurous, rollicking, always ready for fighting, ready for sport in any form, ready for any undertaking that offered adventure, or, if honor and duty required, ready to sacrifice life for either.
Virginia gentleman and
Virginia soldier, he was a splendid type of each.
His descent.
General Maury was born in
Fredericksburg, May 21, 1822.
He was descended from the old-time
Virginia families of
Maury,
Fontaine,
Brooke and
Minor, scions of which have illumined pages of the history of the
State and nation by their achievements in war and in peace.
He was a son of
Captain John Minor Maury, United States Navy, and a nephew of the great
Commodore Matthew Fontaine Maury, the geographer of the seas, and probably more esteemed and honored in other countries than any American scientist who ever lived.
General Maury's father died of yellow fever in the
West Indies in 1828.
Commodore Maury became the guardian of his dead brother's two sons—
William Lewis and
Dabney—and to the day of his death
General Maury spoke of his uncle as having been to him all that a father could have been.
William Lewis Maury died at the age of twenty.
General Maury grew up at
Fredericksburg, where he received his preparatory education, and when quite young entered the University of Virginia.
He graduated in the A. B. course, and also took the junior course in law. He prosecuted his law studies at
Fredericksburg under the celebrated
Judge Lomax, but he finally determined that the law was not to his liking, and applied for, and received, an appointment to
West Point.
In the corps of cadets at the Military Academy during
General Maury's four years there were many men destined to become among the greatest in American annals—
George B. McClellan,
Thomas J. Jackson,
Ulysses S. Grant,
A. P. Hill,
Winfield Scott Hancock,
Bee,
Franklin, and dozens of others.
The stories
General Maury loved to tell of incidents connected with the school-life of these great captains were of the most interesting nature, and his description of their early character attractive in view of the after greatness of the boys who were then students of the art of which they became past masters.
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Generals Maury,
A. P. Hill, and
Birket D. Fry were standing together in the south barracks one afternoon, when they saw a new cadet enter in charge of a cadet sergeant.
General Maury described the new cadet as dressed in gray homespun, a hat of coarse felt on his head, and a pair of weather-stained saddlebags over his shoulder —altogether an uncommonly awkward and green appearing specimen.
There was such a sturdy air about the new-comer that
General Maury remarked to his companions, ‘That fellow looks as if he had come to stay.’
As the sergeant returned from installing the new arrival in quarters, he was asked the name of the stranger.
He replied: ‘
Cadet Jackson, of
Virginia.’
General Maury always spoke of
McClellan as man, student, and soldier, in the highest terms.
Grant was good in mathematics, but did not try to excel in anything save in horsemanship.
In the riding school he was very daring.
In the Mexican war.
General Maury graduated in June, 1846, and was attached as second lieutenant to the Mounted Rifles, now the 3d cavalry.
The regiment was commanded by
Colonel Persifer Smith.
General Taylor was then winning his victories in
Mexico.
Excitement in the country was at a high point.
This was especially true among the cadets, and
Lieutenant Maury was delighted with the prospect of fighting.
He sailed from
Baltimore on the trig
Soldana, with a squadron of the Mounted Rifles on board, under
Captain Stevens Mason.
Rough weather was encountered, the vessel was unseaworthy, and it was the thirty-second day after leaving
Baltimore before
Point Isabel was reached, long after the transport had been reported lost with all on board.
The squadron was marched overland to
Monterey, where it entered the command of
General Zachary Taylor, who had just captured the city.
Lieutenant Thomas J. Jackson had charge of the siege pieces, which the Rifles escorted from
Point Isabel to
Monterey.
The Mounted Rifles were soon detached from
General Taylor's command and sent to join the army of
General Scott, who was preparing to attack
Vera Cruz.
Lieutenant Maury took part in the siege of the city, and bore himself so gallantly that
General Scott mentioned his name in general orders.
On the 17th of April, 1847,
Lieutenant Maury had his arm shattered by a ball at the
battle of Cerro Gordo, and he was sent home.
The citizens of
Fredericksburg presented him with a splendid sword as a token of their appreciation
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of the gallantry of the young
Virginian, and soon afterwards he received his promotion to the rank of first lieutenant.
After spending a few weeks at home,
Lieutenant Maury was ordered to
West Point to assume the duties of assistant professor of ethics and tactics.
He remained in this position for four years.
How he met his wife.
Just prior to the
Mexican war,
Lieutenant Maury went with his mother and sister to Warrenton Springs to spend a few weeks, at what was then a favorite
Virginia resort.
The day after their arrival he was descending the steps of the hotel, when he met a party of young people coming up. As they reached the top, one of the young ladies missed the step and fell.
With his accustomed gallantry,
Captain Maury sprang to her side and picked her up. When she was on her feet the young soldier was introduced to the young lady.
It was
Miss Nannie Mason, daughter of
Mr. Wiley Roy Mason, of
King George county.
The exigencies of the service demanded the departure of
Captain Maury for the front in a week or two, but he was a great deal with the little
Virginia beauty, and when he left they found they had lost much happiness.
While
Lieutenant Maury was on duty at
West Point he had opportunity to come to
Virginia with comparative frequency, and he often saw his sweetheart.
After several trips, they were married at ‘
Cleveland,’ the fine country home of
Mr. Mason in King George, in 1852.
The occasion was one of a generous hospitality, which was long remembered in the county.
There were eight bridesmaids and groomsmen.
Lieutenant Maury asked his old classmates—McClellan and
Burnside—to be of the number, but they were stationed far away on the plains and could not come.
Burnside and
Reno, afterwards famous, represented the army.
Turner Ashby and his brother,
Dick, were also guests at the festivities, which lasted a week.
Burnside never forgot the hospitality shown him by the
Virginia people at that time, and, after the war, learning that one of the bridesmaids at the wedding had been turned out of a position in one of the government departments, which reduced circumstances had compelled her to take, left the
White Sulphur, where he was staying, and hastening to
Washington, he had her reinstated.
Four years in Texas.
At the expiration of his fourth year of service at
West Point,
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Captain Maury was ordered to rejoin the Mounted Rifles at
Fort Inge, on the
Leona river, in
Texas.
He served four years in
Texas.
His life there was full of adventure, chasing
Indians, chasing buffalo and deer, and engaging in all the other pastimes which offered themselves to the young officer.
The stories
General Maury loved to tell of the adventures of those days were humorous and thrilling.
In 1856
General Maury was ordered to Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, to assume the duties of post commander and superintendent of cavalry instruction.
During his service there
Lieutenant Maury, by authority of the War Department, published a new system of tactics for mounted riflemen, which was used by both armies during the war between the States, and is still embodied in the tactics of the United States regular army.
When ordered away from
Carlisle, in 1860,
Lieutenant Maury was promoted to the rank of captain and appointed adjutant-general of the Department of New Mexico.
Captain Maury left his wife at her father's home, in King George, and proceeded to
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
The march across the plains to Fort Union was a succession of stirring incidents, fights with Indians being the chief.
The headquarters of the regiment were at
Fort McIntosh, near
Laredo.
The life pursued by
Captain Maury was much similar to that he had lived and enjoyed while stationed on the
Leona river years before—fighting, hunting and fishing.
Last days in the old army.
After serving at Fort Union for some time,
Captain Maury was transferred to
Santa Fe. Life in that city was happy and gay, and many friendships were formed, soon to be broken by the mailed hand of war. In a delightful volume published by
General Maury a few years ago, entitled ‘Recollections of a Virginian,’ he gives a graphic picture of his last days in the old army.
The majority of the officers had been pronouncedly Southern in their sympathies, but as the time drew near when it was apparent that they would have to espouse the cause of the
South or give up their commissions, they became very averse to discussing the subject.
Maury had to be extremely careful in his expressions.
He had the feeling of being watched.
One evening in May, 1861, an anxious group was gathered in the office of
Adjutant Maury.
There was
Loring, the grizzled regimental commander, who had fought through two wars and was destined to win honor and glory in another.
There was also
Lieutenant John Pegram, of
Virginia, who was to gain distinction as
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a general officer of the
Confederacy and fall fighting for his home and his people.
Maury was there, troubled and anxious, fearing the news which was expected with the mail-bag would force him to give up forever the cherished friends of a lifetime.
He felt his sword could never be turned against
Virginia and the
South.
The mailbag came in. The adjutant had to first assort the mail for the entire garrison.
Then they all eagerly seized the telegrams forwarded by mail.
They told of the fall of
Fort Sumter months before.
Captain Maury seized the telegrams and rushed out of the door and up to the officers' quarters, crying, ‘
Sumter has fallen and war has begun!’
A few days afterwards the news came that
Virginia had seceded.
As soon as it could be written,
Captain Maury wrote out his resignation and dispatched it to
Washington.
He prepared to follow it to the States at once.
General Maury never dwelt upon his emotions when bidding his old comrades-in-arms farewell It was a painful subject.
The writer has seen his eyes glisten with emotion when alluding to it. None of his brother officers blamed him. He frequently said they told him they never expected him to pursue any other course.
But there were a number of Southern men who could not bring themselves to sunder the old ties, and, drawing their sword in defence of the new nation, turn it against the old.
General George H. Thomas, a native of
Southampton county, Va., and a warm friend of
General Maury's, was one of these.
General Maury often spoke regretfully of the failure of
Thomas to go with his State.
He has said that no man was ever more devoted to his State, which had greatly honored him, having voted him a sword for gallantry in the
Mexican war.
Thomas applied early for command in the
Virginia forces, and
Governor Letcher held an important post for him.
General Maury has stated that
Thomas carried to New York with him, after
Virginia seceded, his resignation from the army, and that he went to that city to bring away his wife.
His wife was a New York lady, a woman of fine character and considerable wealth.
General Fitzhugh Lee, when en route to
Richmond after resigning from the old army, called to see
Major Thomas, and at parting remarked: ‘Well,
Major, I suppose we shall meet in
Richmond in a few days?’
“Yes,”
Major Thomas replied.
His wife remarked: ‘He thinks you will.’
She was bitterly opposed to her husband's resigning from the army, and succeeded in keeping him at the
North until General
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Winfield Scott offered him an important post in the army.
Like other great soldiers of history,
General Thomas yielded to a woman.
General Maury always said
Virginia lost an able and a brave commander when
Thomas refused to draw his sword for her.
General Maury's ride from
Santa Fe to
St. Louis was not fraught with special incidents, though at every army post he expected to be arrested.
He had to spend a night in
St. Louis, and did so with trepidation, but was not molested.
Still, he did not feel easy until he reached
Louisville.
He reached
Richmond on the 19th of June, 1861.
He reported to
Governor Letcher within an hour after his arrival, and to
General Robert E. Lee, commanding the
Virginia forces.
General Maury has often remarked upon being much depressed by the exceedingly grave aspect which
General Lee wore.
General Maury was appointed colonel of cavalry in the
Virginia forces upon the day of his arrival in
Richmond, and the same day was commissioned a captain of the regular Confederate cavalry, and a lieutenant-colonel in the provisional army.
He was given leave to go to see his people, at
Fredericksburg.
The
Sunday he spent there he could hear all day the cannonading at
Manassas.
He took the first train for
Richmond.
He has more than once remarked that he expected his wife and old mother to try to hinder him from going into battle.
But he never had any more anxiety after that Sunday.
Their sole fear seemed to be that he would be too late for the fight.
The day he reached
Richmond he received an order from
General Lee to report to
General Joseph E. Johnston at
Manassas, and he hastened thither.
