Southern Historical Society Papers/Volume 27/Dabney Herndon Maury
[From the Richmond, Va., Dispatch, January 14, 1900.]
DABNEY HERNDON MAURY.
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, 1900, 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, "Rose" wife of Robert Pollard, residing in Houston, Texas, and the other, Mrs. Sue Mason Halsey 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. 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.
HIS COMRADES AT 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
. Generals Maury, A. P. Hill, and Birket D.[Davenport] 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 brig 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 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, 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 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 Fè. 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 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 mail-bag 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 Winfield Scott offered him in 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.
TRIP FROM SANTA FÈ.
General Maury's ride from Santa Fè 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.
IN THE CONFEDERATE SERVICE.
A Record Exhibiting a Signal Display of Courage and Genius.
General Maury 's career in the Confederate army is history.
The niche assigned him in the temple of fame is a high one. It is in more than one respect unique. A distinguished soldier of the Confederacy remarked to the writer recently, that had General Maury achieved in the East the things which he achieved in the Army of the West, his final rank would have been higher and his fame greater.
As it is, he is known to the student of Confederate history as one of the bravest, one of the most skillful, and one of the hardest fighters in the Southern army. His heroic defence of Mobile, in the spring of 1865, against the land attack of Canby and the attack of the great Farragut by sea, is alone sufficient to give him a lasting place in history.
General Johnston and General Maury were old army comrades and warmest friends, but General Johnston felt he had been improperly treated in having General Lee assign officers to his army. He claimed to outrank Lee. General Maury was much embarrassed by the view which General Johnston took of General Lee's action, and, with the former's permission, returned to Richmond and requested assignment elsewhere. General Johnston, after General Maury returned to Richmond, wrote to Mr. Davis, protesting against the injustice of General Lee's action and the then existing state of affairs. He said he would raise no protest until after the achievement of the independence of the Confederacy, when he would use all proper means to have his rank rightfully established. The gauntlet thus thrown down was accepted by Mr. Davis. General Maury always said this caused the ultimate removal of Johnston from the command of the Army of the Tennessee, and, as many thought, the downfall of the Confederacy.
General Maury's request for a different post was answered with an assignment to the Army of Fredericksburg, under General Holmes, at Brooke's Station. After the victory of Manassas, both armies lay quiescent for many months. General Maury had had no opportunity for active service when, in February, 1862, he was made chief of staff to General Earle Van Dorn, in command of the Trans-Mississippi Department. This distinguished honor illustrates the confidence reposed in General Maury at headquarters in Richmond.
FOUGHT WITH GREAT MEN.
It is impossible to go into detail regarding the career of General Maury in the Confederate army. It is interwoven with the history of the great men who led the Southern armies in the West—with
the great Albert Sidney Johnston; with Forrest, the unique and wonderful; the brilliant, but unfortunate, Van Dorn; with Leonidas Polk, the "Fighting Bishop";
with Stephen D. Lee—with a dozen other men whose names are famous in the history of the greatest war of the world.
General Maury was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general for conduct in the Alcorn campaign. His first command in the field was of the famous Missouri brigade, at Corinth, and in the affair at Farmington. On the evacuation of Corinth, May 31, 1862, he was assigned to command the rear guard of the Army of the West. The next day he was assigned to the command of the First division of that army, with which he subsequently fought at Iuka, Corinth, Hatchie-Bridge and Vicksburg. Maury's division of the Army of the West went into action at Corinth 4,600 strong, on October 4, 1862. After three days of fighting, it was reduced to 1,200 men, who held Ord's corps in check, repulsing every attack from 9 A. M. to 3 P. M., and saved Van Dorn's army and trains.
In April, 1863, General Maury was ordered to take command of the Department of East Tennessee. While in this command he received a dispatch to this effect: "General Van Dorn was killed here to-day. Representing the wishes of his whole corps of cavalry, we desire to know if you will accept its command." This was signed by all the generals, including Governor Ross, of Texas, and General Frank Armstrong. This, the highest compliment ever paid General Maury, he found proper to decline.
HIS DEFENCE OF MOBILE
Soon afterwards he was transferred to the Department of the Gulf, which he defended until the battle of Mobile closed the war between the States, on April 12th. The fighting began March 26, 1865, against Canby's army of three corps of infantry, a heavy force of artillery, and Farragut's fleet. General Maury conducted the defence with great skill, destroying twelve of Farragut's vessels.
On the 12th of April, pursuant to his orders from General Lee, General Maury marched out the remnant of his little army, now reduced to a division of 4,500 men. As he marched out with the rear guard, a flag of truce was sent out to the fleet, to apprise the enemy that he might enter Mobile, without firing a shot into the town. On the 14th of May, he and his army were paroled.
General Maury in Civil Life Teacher Minister to Columbia.
General Maury's life after the war was that of many a soldier of the Confederacy.
The close of the war found him penniless. He has often remarked upon how little fitted he was by education and training to be a man of business. He was fond of borrowing General Dick Taylor's opinion of the education of officers of the United States army: "Take a boy of sixteen from his mother's apron-strings, shut him up under constant surveillance at West Point, send him out to a two-company post upon the frontier, where he does little but play seven-up and drink whiskey at the sutler's, and by the time he is forty-five years old, he will furnish the most complete illustration of suppressed mental development of which human nature is capable."
Though without business training or inclination for business life, General Maury went to work with a will. Being a graduate of the University and of West Point, he decided to establish a classical and mathematical academy for boys at Fredericksburg, where he lived. Though he always spoke in humorous depreciation of the school, it succeeded. But teaching was not at all to General Maury's tastes, and when offered a lucrative position with an express company at New Orleans, he accepted. After he had been in the employ of the company for some time he resigned to embark in the manufacture of rosin and turpentine in St. Tammany Parish, La. For a year General Maury succeeded profitably in his new enterprise, but owing to the embarrassments of the old army friend who was advancing him money for the business, he was unable to carry it on successfully. General Maury continued the enterprise until he had lost nearly every cent.
ORIGINATED THE SOUTHERN HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
He went to New Orleans with only $2.50 in his pocket. He went to the office of an old friend, General Simon B. Buckner, to whom he told his plight. General Buckner told him the office of secretary of the Southern Hospital Association had just been created the previous night, at a salary of $125 a month. He asked General Maury if he would accept it.
"As that is just $125 more than my present income, of course I will accept," replied General Maury. He received the appointment. The salary was soon increased to $200 a month.
It was in New Orleans, in 1868, that General Maury set on foot a plan for the systematic collection of Southern war records, which resulted in the formation of the Southern Historical Society. In August, 1873, at a convention held at the White Sulphur Springs, the domicile of the society was removed to the Capitol at Richmond, and General Maury was made Chairman of the Executive Committee.
NATIONAL GUARD ASSOCIATION.
During the contest of Tilden and Hayes for the presidency, and soon after the great labor riots in Baltimore and Pittsburg, General Maury called a meeting in Richmond for the purpose of taking steps to improve the militia of the State. At this meeting the co-operation of other States was invited. Many accepted, and the National Guard Association of America was formed as a result. A further result was the securing from Congress of a small annual appropriation for the purpose of arming the State military. General Maury always said this meeting aroused such vital interest in the subject in every State that the United States now has the most efficient national militia in the world.
In 1885, General Maury was appointed United States envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the United States of Colombia by Mr. Cleveland. He remained at Bogota until after the election of Mr. Harrison.
MADE HIS HOME IN RICHMOND.
Since his return from the United States of Colombia, General Maury had resided with relatives in this city and with his son, Mr. Dabney H. Maury, Jr., at Peoria, Ill. Few men and women in Richmond are unfamiliar with his rather small, spare, but stiffly erect figure. All who knew him loved him. General Maury angry was
something few persons ever saw. He was the soul of good fellow-ship. He was a man with a heart a big one in a small body. He
was an inveterate story-teller. His long life and his varied experiences prevented his stories from ever growing tiresome.
OFFER FROM THE LOTTERY.
His frankness and his honesty were probably his most striking characteristics. The latter is splendidly illustrated by an incident of General Maury's life after the war, one which he often told. He was in very destitute circumstances, and had no idea whither to go to find the dollar. One afternoon he received a letter in an official-looking envelope. He broke the seal and found it was from the Louisiana State Lottery Company, offering him a salary of $25,000
per year if he would accept the position of president of the company.
"The temptation was a terrible one," said General Maury. "To say that it was otherwise would be to say I was more than human. I was almost penniless, and there was no prospect of my being otherwise. Twenty-five thousand a year was wealth which to me seemed fabulous. I did not say anything to any one concerning the proposition. When I went to bed I could not sleep. I tossed and , turned for hours, trying to make up my mind. Finally, just before dawn, I resolved to decline the offer. I had never done anything which was not honest, and I determined that it was too late to begin in my old age. Sleep was easy to me then, and it was late when I awoke. Almost as soon as I did so I arose, and writing a letter of refusal of the company's offer, posted it. I have never regretted it."
INTEREST IN SPANISH WAR.
General Maury was in every fibre a soldier. He not only had the personal courage requisite, but despite his whimsical manner of disparaging the army as an occupation, it was plain to see he was by nature a man who loved and was fitted for army life. All his stories
were of war; all his recollections of incidents of battle and adventure in the field. When war broke out with Spain, the old fellow would go to the Governor's office every day and ask the influence of Governor Tyler in securing appointment to the army. The old warhorse scented battle once again, and wished to drink once more of the excitement of war.
General Maury was a man of the simplest tastes. He abhorred anything which favored of display. About five years ago he was taken ill in this city, and it was feared his death was not distant. He spoke to a friend concerning his wishes as to the funeral.
"There must be no pomp," he said. "Let the services be simple. Let the coffin be hauled to the railroad station on a caisson, followed by a few of my old comrades. I want my body to be sent to the old family burying-ground, at Fredericksburg, that I may sleep with my people."
There was general sorrow in Richmond last night at the news of General Maury's death. At no other place was the expression more general or hearty than at the Westmoreland Club, where he spent much of his time when in Richmond. He was a great favorite with the members of the club. A fine painting of the General adorns the walls of the club-house, and in the Lee Camp gallery is another, given by the Westmoreland.
The old soldier has well earned the rest upon which he has entered, and his sleep will be dreamless and sweet in the bosom of the old State for whom he risked all save honor, and lost all save honor and
life. THE FUNERAL.
Beautiful Services held in Richmond.
All that is mortal of General Dabney H. Maury was laid to rest Saturday in Fredericksburg, beside the graves of his mother and wife, and in the city where he was born and much of his earlier life was spent. The funeral services were held here.
The remains of the distinguished Virginian and Confederate soldier reached this city Saturday morning at 8:20 o'clock. Mr. Dabney H. Maury, Jr., of Peoria, Ill., the only son of General Maury, and with whom he made his home and at whose residence he died, accompanied the remains to Richmond. His daughter, Mrs. James M. Halsey, of Philadelphia, was also here, but Mrs. Pollard, his other daughter, who resides in Texas, was unable to be present.
When the train of the Chesapeake & Ohio road pulled into Richmond, quite a large number of people were gathered at the station to receive the body of the dead chieftain. Among those who waited on the platform were delegations from Lee and Pickett camps. They formed an escort to the body as it was taken slowly through the streets of Richmond, where he had so often visited, to St. James Protestant Episcopal church. From this time until the funeral service began, at 10:30 o'clock, the body lay in state, and was viewed by quite a large number of people. The following gentlemen acted as guard of honor: Comrades T. B. Ellett and A. O. James, of Lee Camp, and Comrade Alexander Jennings, of Pickett Camp.
Just as the services were beginning, a detachment of the Richmond Howitzers, Lieutenant Minson in command, appeared on the Capitol Square and fired a salute of thirteen guns. The detail was composed as follows: Lieutenant F. W. Minson, Sergeant C. L. Epps, Corporals E. W. Bosher, G. F. Delarue, H. P. Poindexter, Privates O. E. Leath, C. C. Gebhardt, and W. W. Poindexter.
BEAUTIFUL SERVICES HELD.
The church was filled with the friends, comrades and relatives of the departed, and the delegation appointed to do this last honor to the memory of one who was so well known and beloved throughout the South. The casket rested in front of the church, and was covered with the flag for which he had fought and with the floral tributes of loving friends. Among the floral offerings was one from the General D. H. Maury Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy. One tribute was sent without the name of the sender being given. The services at the church, which were very simple, but beautiful, began promptly at 10:30 o'clock. The pall bearers and delegations from Lee and Pickett camps entered by the middle aisle and occupied the seats reserved for them. They were followed by the relatives of General Maury.
Rev. William Meade Clarke was the officiating minister. He read the service prepared for such occasions. During the reading of the service, "Thy Will Be Done" was sung by the choir, and "My Faith Looks Up to Thee" as the procession filed out.
The remains were carried to the Union depot and left for Fredericksburg over the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac railroad on the noon train. The details from the two veteran camps here accompanied the remains to Fredericksburg.
REMAINS IN FREDERICKSBURG.
The remains of General Maury arrived at Fredericksburg Saturday afternoon, February 13th, on the 1:37 train from Richmond. They were accompanied by Messrs. D. C. Richardson, George L. Christian, Captain John Cussons, W. P. Smith, Captain C. C. Scott, Rev. James P. Smith, F. B. Elliott, A. O. Jones, Thomas P. Pollard, W. U. Bass, T. R. Gates, A. Jennings, R. N. Northen, Charles T. Loehr, D. H. Maury, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Halsey, Colonel R. L.
Maury, M. F. Maury, and Miss Anna Werth. At the depot they were met by Maury Camp, Confederate Veterans; R. S. Chew Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the Daughters of the Confederacy. As soon as the train left, the funeral cortege, with the following pall bearers, proceeded to the cemetery, where the remains were interred, Rev. W. D; Smith, of the Episcopal church, conducting the services:
Active—W. H. Hurkamp, W. H. Merchant, W. E. Bradley, A. P. Rowe, Jr., W. C. Warren, and M. S. Chancellor.
Honorary—James A. Turner, J. B. Colbert, J. G. King, E. C. Bell, C. E. Layton, S. E. Foster, St. George R. Fitzhugh, Robert T. Knox, M. G. Willis, S. J. Quinn, E. D. Cole, C. W. Eddington, P. V. D. Conway, A. B. Botts, A. W. Wallace, John L. Marye and S. W. Carmichael.
Maury Camp, with Captain D. M. Lee in command, acted as escort.
Among the floral tributes were one from Lee Camp, Pickett-Buchanan Camp, and Maury Camp. As the grave was being filled, taps were sounded, and all present stood with uncovered head. At a meeting of Maury Camp Saturday, a touching resolution was passed out of respect for General Maury's memory. This tribute is paid:
"General Maury was a loyal citizen of this republic, a true son of our Southland, and Virginia never had borne on her bosom a more chivalrous, courtly gentleman. While this city, which was his birthplace and his home in the earliest years of his life, will ever do reverence to his memory, and this camp will always cherish the fact that General Maury, who was one of its honorary members, and who expressed himself pleased and proud that we bore his name, died as he lived, a fearless and stainless Confederate soldier."
The tribute will go upon the records of the camp.
Numerous other glowing tributes which were published, have been paid to the honored memory of General Maury.
At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Southern Historical Society, held January 17, 1900, the following action was taken:
Dabney Herndon Maury—Hero and Scholar.
Died at the home of his son in Peoria, Illinois, January 11, 1900, Dabney Herndon Maury, the eldest surviving Major-General of the Confederate States Army, and who was born at Fredericksburg, Virginia, May 21, 1822.
Drawing his life-springs from lines which have shed lustre on the annals of his native State, and of our common country, he nobly exemplified in his "happy" and protracted life the worth of his descent. The lessons presented by his dutiful career, and as limned in his delightful "Recollections," can but be potent in inspiring posterity.
Resolved, 1st. That the death of General Dabney H. Maury is an impressive loss to Virginia, to our country, and to this Society, of which he was one of the earliest and most zealous promoters, and whose interests and objects have been constantly since, first in his affections—as evinced so signally in results as Chairman of its Executive Committee.
Resolved, 2d. This Society would express its profound sympathy with the family of General Maury in the poignant loss they have sustained.
Robert Stiles,
R. A. Brock, Secretary.