At  Gettysburg  he  commanded  the  admiration  of
all  who,  on  both  sides  of  the  line,  witnessed  his  lead-
ership. In  advance  of  the  charging  force  at  the  last
(although  he  started  out  in  command  of  the  support-
ing Unes),  with  his  hat  on  his  sword,  he  waved  his
men  forward,  pressing  on  until  he  set  his  feet  on  the
stone  barricade  of  the  Union  lines,  and  there  fell
fatally  wounded  into  the  hands  of  men  commanded
by  his  former  comrade,  Hancock,  who  in  the  Mexican
battles  fought  by  his  side  again  and  again  in  the
Sixth  Infantry,  where,  as  we  have  said,  they  were
both  lieutenants.
Among  the  regimental  commanders  were  noted
men,  one  of  whom.  Col.  Eppa  Hunton,  who  was
wounded,  and  whose  horse  was  killed  under  him,

318


LEADERS    IN   THE    MOVEMENT

was  a  lawyer  of  rank,  later  a  member  of  Congress
for  eight  years  and  for  three  years  a  United  States
Senator  from  his  State  of  Virginia.
The  horror  of  it  all  may  be  stressed  by  summarizing
the  loss  of  leading  officers.  Two  of  the  three  brigade
commanders  were  killed,  and  one  was  terribly  wound-
ed; every  field-officer  but  one  in  the  division  went
down,  killed  or  wounded,  and  among  them  eight  of
the  most  efficient  and  admirable  leaders  of  regiments
furnished  by  Virginia  in  the  entire  war:  Colonels  R.
C.  Allen,  W.  D.  Stuart,  Lewis  B.  Williams,  W.  T.
Patton,  John  C.  Owens,  James  C.  Hodges,  E.  C.
