USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > The heroes of Albany. A memorial of the patriot-martyrs of the city and county of Albany, who sacrificed their lives during the late war in defense of our nation 1861-1865 > Part 30
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Toll the bell sadly, and toll the bell loudly !
The wailings to drown of the friends of the brave- Who pictured his pathway to glory so proudly,
But who weep that fame's pathway led him to the grave. Friends of his youth, and his manhood, round standing, On him through your tears come now look your last,
On that month, once so smiling, that brow so commanding, Ah! that eye by the signet of death is sealed fast.
Sad are your hearts-sad the sisters, the brothers, The fond ones he lived for, he doated upon; But what is their grief to the grief of his mother, Who weeps o'er the corpse of her young gallant son ?
Weep, he was worthy your pride and your mourning, Weep, though your tears are as painful as vain; Weep, for no more from war's perils returning, Will he rush to your arms and embrace you again.
McDONALD, when life-blood in torrents was flowing, Was first in the charge of our loud-cheering band;
On our lines, when their shells the foemen were throwing Impulsively brave, and unconsciously grand!
Yet was he gentle, and kind as a maiden, Full of frolic and mirth, generous-hearted and free,
And many a heart that with trouble was laden, Grew bright in his sunshine, and glad in his glee.
There hang the green flags he gaily marched under, There is the cap-there his belt and his sash,
And there is the sword which when bellowed war's thunder, In the hand that's now lifeless, would quiver and flash!
Yes, scatter sweet flowers where valor reposes, They are trophies becoming the brave soldier's bier;
And freshen your lilies and brighten your roses With love's liquid gem, with affection's sad tear.
Well, he was worthy our praise and our sorrow, His country's remembrance and friendship's sad sigh,
Only from this, some relief can we borrow, The spirit survives though the body must die.
He has stamped on our bosom love's unfaded token, And time will but make his remembrance more dear,
Whenever we meet his loved name shall be spoken,
When alone, we shall think of his worth with a tear.
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MAJ. MILES MCDONALD.
Yes, when marble shall crumble and earved work be rotten,
That repels passers-by from the haughty man's clay, Good MILES MCDONALD shall not be forgotten,
His name and his virtues shall not pass away.
This country, when crushed shall be this sad rebellion, His name shall enroll 'mid her bravest and best, And his soul in the bosom of God shall be dwelling, Where sorrow is soothed and the weary have rest.
Toll the bell sadly, the crowd is now moving That bears to his last home the corpse of the brave Then let the pen of the poet, and the living, Inseribe these true lines on the patriot's grave :
" Here lies MCDONALD, a soldier true hearted As ever for freedom the battle-field trod; Here lies a Christian, who calmly departed And unmurmuring gave his young spirit to God!" IN CAMP, NEAR PETERSBURG, VA., July 9, 1864.
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MAJ. GEORGE W. STACKHOUSE.
XXII. MAJOR GEORGE WASHINGTON STACKHOUSE.
GEORGE W. STACKHOUSE was the son of JOHN B. STACKHOUSE, and, in the spring of 1861, enlisted as Second Lieutenant in Company A, Twenty-fifth New York Regiment. He was after- wards made Captain, and in March, 1863, for his gallantry and efficiency, was promoted to the position of Major, in the Ninety- first Regiment New York Volunteers. He was with General BANKS, and fought with great bravery in the battles at Irish Bend, Gonzales' Plantation, and in the three general battles at Port Hudson. On the 27th of May, 1863, he was shot in both thighs, and lingered until June 19th, 1863, when he died. He leaves fond parents, and a wife and four little children to mourn his loss.
Major STACKHOUSE was a faithful and earnest patriot, and an honest man. His soldiers placed the greatest confidence in him, and entrusted him with their money to send home. He sent tens of thousands of dollars to his father, who kindly dis- tributed the same to the families of the soldiers. When the war closed, the veterans who returned presented to the father, Mr. JOHN B. STACKHOUSE, a valuable and beautiful watch, as a token of their gratitute for his faithful services.
Major STACKHOUSE had two brothers in the army, JAMES and WILLIAM. They were in the battles with him at Port Hudson, and, on June 19th, 1863, JAMES was badly wounded in the head, but recovered from his wound.
I regret that I have been unable to obtain fuller information in regard to this patriotic family, for they certainly deserve a more extended sketch than this. But in the name of our city, our State and our Nation, we tender to the survivors our heartfelt thanks, for their noble contributions to our country's honor and prosperity.
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ADIT. RICHARD M. STRONG.
XXIII. ADJUTANT RICHARD MARVIN STRONG.
From ABRAHAM LANSING, ESq.
RICHARD MARVIN STRONG was the second son of ANTHONY M. and SARAH M. STRONG. He was born in the city of Albany, JJune 10th, 1835, and died in the military service of the United States, at Bonnet Carre, La., May 12th, 1863.
He received the elements of his education at the Albany Acad- emy, which he entered at an early age, while it was yet under the supervision of the late Dr. T. ROMEYN BECK, and remaining there during the succeeding administration of Dr. WILLAIM II. CAMPBELL, and for a short time under Prof. G. II. COOK.
When, in 1851, Dr. CAMPBELL resigned his charge in Albany, RICHARD had made most valuable progress in his academic course, and was nearly fitted for college. Few connected with the Academy at that time will fail to remember the class of young men, well advanced in study-the senior class of the school-which the Doctor had gathered under his especial care, and particularly instructed in the classics and belles lettres. Undoubtedly the instruction thus received by those young men, who daily went before their principal with unfeigned alacrity, and with the esteem and affection of children towards a father, exerted an important influence upon their moral, as well as their intellectual characters. Certain it is that there is not an instance in which the subsequent life of any member of the class has put to the blush its moral training. Its majority are still reaping the earthly benefit of its admirable discipline, and delight to recall its pleasant associations. As a member of that class, RICHARD'S standing was second to none. The impressions he then received, and the habits then formed, partially furnish the explanation of his remarkably pure and upright life, and of the
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accuracy, industry and thoroughness which distinguished him in all his relations.
In 1851, he received from the Academy for his proficiency in mathematics, the CALDWELL gold medal, and at the same time his friend and companion, CHARLES BOYD, received the VAN RENSSELAER classical medal. These rewards of scholarship were presented by the principal (Dr. CAMPBELL) at the anniversary exhibition, with evident pride and satisfaction. "These young gentlemen," said he, as they stood before him on the stage, " have never given me a moment's uneasiness throughout all their academic course." They both entered the junior class, at the college of New Jersey, at Princeton, in 1852, and as they had graduated from the preparatory school with the highest honors, so they took at once the rank of the first scholars in their class. They became members of the same literary society, were room- mates together, and in 1854 graduated together; the one pro- nouncing the valedictory, the other the mathematical oration, the first and third honors of a large and intelligent class.
As a student Mr. STRONG endeared himself to his class-mates by his companionable and social qualities, as well as won their admiration by his ability as a scholar. Prof. STEPHEN ALEX- ANDER, of Princeton College, says of him, in a recent letter:
"He greatly distinguished himself by his attainments in scholarship while a member of this institution. The college records exhibit his final standing (at his graduation) to have been third in his large class, and within the veriest fraction of the second position. Those who knew his previous history as an academy boy, will not be surprised to learn that the honorary oration assigned to him was the mathematical. Of his unexcep- tionable conduct and his kind and genial manners, I have still a lively recollection."
During his senior vacation he was invited by Prof. ALEXANDER, who was acting in connection with a large committee of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, to accom- pany him to Ogdensburgh as an assistant in an observation of the annular eclipse of the sun in May, 1854, and accompanied him
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together with Mr. WHATMAM J. Ginsoy, to assist in those important observations. Prof. ALEXANDER, in his report, says:
"I was assisted in my observations by two of my former pupils in the college of New Jersey, Messrs. WILLIAM J. GIBSON and RICHARD M. STRONG, both of Albany, New York. Their presence with me, was not only a matter of sincere personal gratification, but was important also, as we were together enabled to note some phenomena which might otherwise have escaped me, and they by their aid contributed not a little to the accurate observation of those which I might have noted if alone."
A single incident of the college life of Adjutant STRONG, will serve to illustrate the force and fearlessness of his character, even at that early age. He had been one of the founders of the Kappa Alpha, a secret society in the college, and besides having a strong attachment for the society itself, and for its individual members-an attachment which lasted throughout his life-he had been an applicant to existing chapters in other colleges for authority to establish a branch at Princeton, and he felt in a measure responsible for its success and prosperity. The faculty had concluded to suppress the secret societies, and, among others, RICHARD STRONG was summoned before the President to sign a pledge not to attend the meetings of any such society, and to dissolve his connection therewith, so long as he remained a mem- ber of the institution. He replied substantially to the demand, that his obligations to his society were contracted when there was nothing in the college rules preventing him from assuming them, and that the standing and reputation of its members were ample proof of its harmlessness. He begged the President not to insist upon that which he should be obliged to refuse, and declared that greatly as he deprecated the consequences, he should prefer rather to suffer them, than commit himself to such a pledge. A further interview was appointed with him at an. unspecified future time, and the fact that he was not afterwards called upon to sever his connection with the society, or to sign the pledge proposed, shows the appreciation in which the worthy President of the college held the character of the young man
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who preferred rather to suffer detriment to himself, than prove false to a trust confided to his care.
Though he had few superiors as a classical scholar, Mr. STRONG was naturally inclined to the study of mathematics, and the natural sciences, and his early preferences were towards those pursuits as a profession. At one time he had determined to become a civil engineer, but though his constitution could not be called feeble, he was led to abandon this choice from a belief that he was not sufficiently robust, to endure the hardships and exposures sometimes attendant upon that mode of life. His next choice was the law, and soon after leaving college he entered the office of REYNOLDS, COCHIRANE & REYNOLDS in Albany, and became at the same time a student of the law department of the Albany University. He brought to the study a mind naturally excellent, improved by careful training. He pursued his studies with diligence, and the results were satisfactory to himself and his instructors, giving promise of usefulness and distinction in after life. His studies were interrupted for several months which he passed in visiting Europe, traveling in Great Britain and on the continent, and resumed again on his return. In 1856 he was admitted to the bar. His connection through relatives with important mercantile interests in Albany, threw him at once into practice, and his zeal and ability soon gained for him an extensive business.
About a year after his admission to the bar, he formed a part- nership with FREDERICK TOWNSEND, now Major of the Eighteenth United States Infantry, and WILLIAM A. JACKSON, afterwards Colonel of the Eighteenth Regiment New York Volunteers, now deceased, and upon the dissolution of the firm by the withdrawal of those gentlemen to positions in the service of the Government, he became associated with Mr. GEORGE L. STEDMAN, with whom he was connected in business at the time of his decease. The firm of STEDMAN & STRONG having succeeded to the extensive business of the firm of SHEPARD & BANCROFT, Mr STRONG was enjoying the emoluments of a handsome practice when he gave his services to his country. His ability as a lawyer was marked and decided. He was accurate in his conclusions, and rapid in
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reaching them. He analyzed facts with thoroughness, and ar- ranged them with method. His counsel was clear and reliable. It was always the deliberate conviction of his judgment after careful investigation of the facts, and was often sought and fol- lowed in preference to that of others of longer standing in the profession. He presented an argument to the court with a terse- ness, completeness, and ingenuity which always commanded at- tention. With the members of the Albany bar he was a general favorite, as he was among all who knew him. Fond of social enjoyments, cultivated and interesting in conversation, he was welcome everywhere, and often gave himself to the social gather- ings of the city. As a companion and friend, he was true and unselfish. He was cordial with all, and where his affections were enlisted. he was warm and enthusiastic. In countenance he was genial and joyous, but there was an earnestness in his expression as in his manner, which was the index of his character.
Mr. STRONG'S professional career was varied by attention to other interests of a more public character. He possessed an activity of mind, and a readiness of perception and execution, which enabled him to attend faithfully and successfully to numer- ous diverse matters without neglecting his professional duties. His industry was remarkable. Hle wasted no time, and it was surprising to see one so young, so zealous, and so constantly employed. In the truest sense of the term, he was public- spirited-not from ostentation, but from love of well doing and natural energy of disposition. He was connected with many important enterprises in his native city, and the assurance that he was actively engaged in any project was almost a guaranty of its success.
Not long after the commencement of his professional life, he became a member of the First Presbyterian church of Albany, Rev. Dr. JOHN N. CAMPBELL'S. Hle was a faithful, carnest, and exemplary Christian, ever mindful of the obligations of his reli- gious profession, and living the life of one whose actions were prompted and guided by the purest faith. When the project of erecting a new Presbyterian church on State street, in Albany, was canvassed among the members of his denomination, he en-
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tered warmly into it and became a leading spirit in its accom- plishment. In November, 1859, he became one of a committee of fifteen appointed from the different Presbyterian churches of the city to carry forward the enterprise, and afterwards was secretary of the committee.
Under his legal counsel and conduct the church was incor- porated, the land was purchased, the edifice erected and the pulpit supplied. In each step he not only performed his part as a lawyer but as an enthusiastic lover of the work, and with a refined taste and excellent judgment gave valuable advice in the manner and economy of construction, and rendered efficient services in the accumulation and management of the funds. He was made a trustee of the church and remained one until the time of his death. He entered the Sunday school, taking charge of an important class of advanced scholars, composed of two classes which he had previously instructed, every Sunday, and which showed its confidence in its instructor by volunteering unanimously in his regiment, and going with him to the war. The committee to whose management this church enterprise was given, threw the legal responsibility of the proceedings entirely upon his shoulders. With characteristic energy he entered into the law of the subject and in a few weeks had at his command not only the statute law applicable, but its sources and history. It was afterwards suggested to him that a volume on the subject would have both a historie and practical interest, and he was urged to undertake its compilation, and is supposed to have had it in contemplation.
The rebellion of 1861 made hurried calls upon the time and services of the efficient young men of the North. The Albany Barracks were placed under the command of Brigadier General JOHN F. RATHBONE. Mr. STRONG was then his aid-de-camp, and took an important part in organizing the regiments formed there. These barracks were the rendezvous of thousands of volunteer recruits, who came without discipline, without organization and utterly unaccustomed to the rigor and restraints of eamp life. There were frequently at one time from four to five thousand, and the position of aid was no sinecure. Mr. STRONG was not,
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unequal to the task; he had had military experience as a member of the Albany Burgesses Corps and the Albany Zouave Cadets, and in those model organizations had become proficient in the drill of the company; he soon acquired the experience of a general officer. When Gen. RATHBONE was relieved of his com- mand at the barracks, Mr. STRONG received the appointment on his staff of Judge Advocate of the Ninth Brigade New York National Guards. His duties at the barracks ceased with the departure of the troops for the field, and, the General Govern- ment having, as it was supposed, sufficient for its purposes, he returned to the practice of his profession impressed, however, as he stated, with a sense of obligation to the country, and a deter- mination to give his services, should the occasion seem to make a demand upon them. On the organization of the One Hundred and Seventy-seventh Regiment New York Volunteers, formerly the Tenth Regiment National Guard of the State, he accepted the laborious position of Adjutant, and turned his attention, with his accustomed energy, to placing it on a war footing. On the eve of departure, he addressed the regiment, publicly congratu- lating the officers and men upon their unwearied and at length successful efforts, to organize for the war.
They left Albany in December, 1862, with the " BANKS' expe- dition," landed at New Orleans, and were thence sent to Bonnet Carré, La., an important post on the Mississippi river, being one of the main defences of New Orleans. Large numbers of the unacclimated men of the One Hundred and Seventy-seventh were soon prostrated with diseases peculiar to the country and to camp life; and Adjutant STRONG, besides being the acknowledged friend of the individual members of the regiment, became an unwearied attendant upon the wants of the sick. His assistance was freely bestowed on all sides, regardless of danger from infec- tion, and the strain upon his strength. With a rare skill and a joyous and genial manner peculiar to himself, he watched with and assisted in the care of the sick, and administered to the dying the consolations of that religion he had himself experienced. His labors in this respect, while attending punctiliously to the duties of his position, rendered him liable, through loss of
ADJT. RICHARD M. STRONG. 369
strength, to take the fever, to which he has fallen a victim. In a letter from Bonnet Carré, written on the day after his death, full of tenderness and affection, addressed to the father of Adjt. STRONG, Dr. O. H. YOUNG, assistant surgeon of the regiment, says: "The tenderness of his heart and his unresting desire for usefulness, prompted him to visit the hospital often, in the hope of adding to the welfare of the sick soldier, and many will remember the kind solicitude which made him their constant visitor, and the cheerful words which infused new hope into their drooping spirits. Indeed, the frequency with which RICH- ARD made these visits, had more than once attracted our atten- tion, and creating some solicitude for his health, had made it incumbent on us, as medical officers, to advise him not to spend too much time among the sick and dying.
* * On Sunday, April 26, he and I sat together on a bench in front of my tent listening to divine service. Directly after these exercises he complained of headache, and asked me for professional advice, which was given, on condition that he immediately abandon all official duties which rendered exposure to the sun's heat necessary."
This headache, spoken of by Dr. YOUNG, was the approach of the fever, which soon assumed a typhoid form, and terminated his life. In speaking of his last sickness, Dr. YOUNG informed his parents that it was not attended with physical pain. During his last moments his physical prostration was too great to permit his articulating, but his response to the question, whether he desired to be remembered to his father and family at home, was audible and intelligent. He answered, said Dr. YOUNG, distinctly "yes," and a few moments after, with his brother's name upon his lips, expired. His remains were encased in a metallic coffin, and deposited in Greenwood Cemetery at New Orleans, to await their conveyance to Albany.
Thus has another valuable life surrendered itself a voluntary offering to the institutions of our country, freely given in the morn- ing of usefulness, with bright promises for the future unfulfilled. The misgivings as to his physical endurance, which in earlier years had swerved him from the pursuits of the studies which he
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loved, had no power to influence his action when he felt his ser- vices were valuable to the country, but he freely gave himself to the risks of the field of battle, and the exposures of camp life, and in doing so, none who knew him will say he was otherwise actuated than by a sense of duty, and a desire to be of service to his country, in whose institutions he had an unshaken faith. To that faith he has borne testimony with the seal of his life-a life full of the brightest promise, and endeared to him by the ten- derest family affections, and throughout which, with all the opportunities and successes which attended him, there is not one moment over which his friends would desire to draw a veil. The memory of his chaste and noble nature, like the lingering rays of the setting sun, remains to soften the gloom his death has caused, and is the assurance of a triumphant future. Sweetly he sleeps the sleep of death among those,
" Qui fuerunt, sed nunc ad astra."
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ALBANY BAR.
At a meeting of the Albany Bar, convened in the Mayor's Court Room, in the City Hall of Albany, to take action regard- ing the death of Adjutant RICHARD M. STRONG, on motion of Mr. C. M. JENKINS, Mr. J. I. WERNER was called to the Chair. On motion of Mr. J. B. STURTEVANT, Mr. WILLIAM LANSING Was appointed Secretary.
On motion, the Chair appointed the following committee on resolutions: Messrs. WILLIAM A. YOUNG, JOHN C. MCCLURE, HAMILTON HARRIS, J. HOWARD KING and GEORGE WOLFORD.
Hon. JOHN H. REYNOLDS then addressed the meeting as follows:
One by one, and in rapid succession, those who for a time travel with us on the highway of life, drop down and are seen no more. At short intervals of time, some, that we have known and who have in some sort been our associates, disappear, and we know them no longer. At a little greater interval, those with whom we have been more intimate, fall by the way side, and then we pause a moment and perhaps shed a few tears, and
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pass on, intent only upon reaching the end of our own travels, and a season of repose which never comes. We find but little time to linger beside those who falter, and less to stand around the graves of the fallen. As we move onward, at intervals which seem to grow less and less in duration, we are compelled to pause, from time to time, for the reason that our most intimate associates can no longer keep us company, but leave us to con- tinue our progress as best we may. It is then that we tarry a little longer, and feel it a duty to give some expression to our regret and regard. We have met to-day to perform this duty, in respect to one of our professional brethren, who, under cir- cumstances of painful interest, has, in the very morning of life, left us forever. It is not long since that, under like cireum- stances, we were assembled to pay the last tribute of respect to the memory of another of our brethren, who in obedience to the call of his country, left home and friends, and wore out his life, in defence of the flag, which an army of traitors seek to trample in the dust. And now, after a little while, we meet again, to pay a like tribute of regard to one of gentle nature and of high promise, who more recently gave up the pursuits of an honorable profession, and severed the tenderest ties that bind our common humanity, to brave all the privations and dangers that attend the patriotie citizen and soldier, who takes up arms in defence of the insulted flag of his country. It is fitting that this mournful event should not pass unnoticed by those who were bound to him in the ties of professional brother- hood, who knew him intimately, and loved him well in life, and whose early death falls with crushing weight upon so many hearts.
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