But there were noble
maidens in those days. The cares and duties of motherhood soon followed,
but the house-cares and the maternal obligations were performed to the
admiration of later generations. The fathers and mothers of New England
were strong and hardy. Their praises come down to us. Witnesses new and
ancient testify of their worth and royalty of character.
* * * * *
A REMINISCENCE OF COL. FLETCHER WEBSTER.
In a private conversation with the writer not long since General
Marston, of New Hampshire, related the following story:
"On the morning of the thirtieth of August, 1862, before sunrise, I was
lying under a fence rolled up in a blanket on the Bull Run battle-field.
It was the second day of the Bull Run battle. My own regiment, the
Second New Hampshire Volunteers, had been in the fight the day before
and had lost one-third of the entire regiment in killed and wounded.
"While so lying by the fence some one shook me and said, 'Get up here.'
In answer I said, without throwing the blanket from over my head, 'Who
in thunder are you?' The answer was made, 'Get up here and see the
Colonel of the Massachusetts Twelfth.
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