Brogden in congress, in memory of General Wilson, was worthy of the theme.
"Louis D. Wilson was one of nature's noblemen, and his sympathies was ever on the side of justice and humanity.
"He was a man of strict integrity of character, a friend of the poor and needy, and possessed many of the best traits and qualities of human nature. He was affable and social in his manner, the embodiment of patriotism and the soul of honor.
"Studiously neat in his person, he was a favorite in all circles; he won the sobriquet for years of the Chesterfield of the senate."
Duncan Lamond Clinch, born 1798, died 1849, late brigadier-general in the United States army, was a native of this county.
He was the son of Joseph Clinch, by a daughter of Duncan Lamond, a colonel in the revolutionary war, and a terror to the tories--one of these he hung in Nash County.
General Clinch had attained the rank of a brigadier-general. When the Seminole war broke out in Florida, in 1835, he was in command of that district, and at the battle of Onithlecooche (December 31st, 1835,) displayed the most intrepid courage. He resigned his commission the next year, and from 1843 to 1845, was a member of congress from Georgia.
He married a Miss McIntosh. He died at Macon, Georgia. November 27th, 1849, leaving several children; one of his daughters married General Robert Anderson, of Fort Sumter fame. A son, John Houston McIntosh Clinch, graduated at the university in 1844, in the same class with William A. Blount, Joseph M. Graham, Philemon B. Hawkins, Thomas Ruffin, and others.
Another son, with his father's name, graduated at the same university in 1847, in the same class with James J. Pettigrew, John Pool, Matthew W. Ransom, and others.
The genealogy of this family is connected with that of the Bellamy's, which see.
William Dorsey Pender was a native and resident of this county. He was educated at the United States Military Academy at West Point. One of the earliest and most enthusiastic in the cause he deemed just, he was made, May 27, 1861, colonel of sixth regiment of North Carolina troops, and such were his services that he soon became a brigadier general. He was universally regarded as one of the bravest and most efficient officers in the army. General A. P. Hill pronounced him "one of the best officers of his grade he ever knew."
General Lee, in his report on the Pennsylvania campaign, dated July 31, 1863, thus writes:
"General Pender has since died. This lamented officer has borne a distinguished part in every engagement of this army, and was wounded on several occasions, while leading his command with conspicuous gallantry and ability. The confidence and admiration inspired by his courage and capacity as an officer, were only equalled by the esteem and respect entertained, by all with whom he was associated, for the noble qualities of his modest and unassuming character."
Universally lamented and loved, he fell on the bloody field of Gettysburg, and his remains now lie in the cemetery of Calvary church in Tarboro.
An appropriate memorial window erected by his brother, Mr. David Pender, bears this inscription
"In
Memoriam,
I have fought a good fight: I have kept the faith"
Major General William Dorsey Pender,
born February 6th, 1834, died July 18th, 1863.
His name, so dear to every patriot, has been preserved by calling a county after him, and causes his gallantry and patriotism to be cherished in our hearts.
The battle of Gettysburg, enduring the first three days in July, 1863, was the bloodiest encounter of the whole war, and proved the Waterloo of the unhappy contest. For here the flag of the confederacy fell never to rise
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