_From our own Correspondent._
BALTIMORE, June 16, 1862.
Turner Ashby belonged to Fauquier county, where his family was
influential, if not wealthy. In Washington, Baltimore and Richmond,
the Ashbys were well known among people of superior social position,
and were everywhere esteemed for their intelligence, courage and
honor. But the refinement which seems to have been a characteristic
of the same, must have met with an exception in the “Black-Horse”
Colonel, who is always described as brusque, stern, soldier-like.
His earliest military experience, beyond the mere soldier-playing of
Virginia horsemen, was in command of a company of cavalry, whom he
led to Charlestown immediately upon the apparition of John Brown at
Harper’s Ferry. It was then and there that Ashby’s “Black-Horse” had
their name; his men were mounted on blooded black chargers, and the
chargers were mounted by “blooded” white riders—horse and man alike
were of the first families. His men were picked for their equestrian
accomplishments, and many of their horses were bred and trained on
his own plantation. As for himself, his name as a horseman is famous
from Washington to Winchester, his repute in this respect being equal
to that of the gallant, but reckless Randolph Ridgely, of Baltimore,
to the exploits of whose battery in Mexico, Colonel May is mainly
indebted for his dragoon reputation.
During the John Brown affair, Ashby scouted the Shenandoah county for
negro conspirators, and effectually checked the spirit of servile
uprising. He was one of the first to enlist in the Rebellion, and
waited in Richmond with a proffer of his services, till the ordinance
of Secession was passed. That same day, he hurried to Harper’s Ferry,
by way of Washington the “Relay,” and followed by several Virginians,
was the first mounted Rebel to rush into that storied little town. It
is believed that the movement against Harper’s Ferry was proposed and
organized at Richmond by him.
Turner Ashby was a _gentle_ man—so quiet, taciturn, and reticent, as
to be thought morose by those who did not know him well. If a Rebel
can be pious, he was so. I have heard from two intelligent residents
of Harper’s Ferry, that he especially abominated profanity, and when
in that place, last fall, he was excited for a moment into _damning_
something, he openly expressed his regret and mortification.
It was certain that he was not ambitious of military honors, for he
was twice offered the shoulder-straps of a brigadier general, but
declined, on the ground that he had no special military fitness, save
for the command of cavalry, composed of men whom he knew, and in a
region with which he was familiar. When, finally, he did accept the
brigadier’s commission, it was for expediency, and in compliance with
urgent appeals.
His younger brother “Dick,” a captain in his own corps, was
peculiarly endeared to him by his fine horsemanship, and his personal
intrepidity. Dick Ashby, you remember, was killed in a desperate
affair with Wallace’s Indiana Zouaves, near Patterson’s Creek, on
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. After his horse was killed, and he
was shot, he refused quarter, and kicked at our men as he lay on the
ground. It is said by all who knew him, that Turner Ashby has been a
silent, but a savage, man ever since.
He was about thirty-seven years old, of medium height, weighing,
perhaps, 150 pounds, of very dark complexion, with deeply set black
eyes, surmounted by shaggy eye-brows, and with a most imposing beard
and moustache, covering half of his face, and falling half way down
his breast.
He was devoted to General Jackson, and frequently declared that he
should be proud to follow him in any character, and for any duty. As
for his personal courage, it is enough to say that the very morning
General Banks entered Winchester, Ashby went to his headquarters
disguised as a market man, and in reply to questions from staff
officers, described his Rebel self.
The day before the battle of Winchester, he rode through the streets
of that town, with one of his Captains, in Union uniform.
One of the most gallant Colonels in Shields’s command, who has
observed Ashby in three engagements, said in a verbal report to
Government, a few days ago, that the Black-Horse General had of
late become the most reckless man to be found on either side; that
he seemed to plunge into all forms of danger with delight, riding
wherever the fire was hottest, waving his sword, discharging his
pistol at our best officers, and continually inviting hand-to-hand
encounters. Our Colonel saw him leap his horse over an abandoned gun,
to make such an attack. So peculiar, by its skill and daring, was
his horsemanship, that he long ago became a marked man, and General
Shields predicted that Ashby would surely be killed before Jackson was
driven out of the valley. It was no doubt an intelligent bullet that
took him off. A lady at Winchester said to us, “Ashby is a _devoted_
man; this war has well nigh broken his heart.” ALTAMONT.