John Marshall. ant to inquire, whether, in the exuberance and the glorious fervor of youth, he thought only of martial display and the glory of mili tary victory, or, whether he belongs to that class of soldiers who thoughtfully consecrate themselves to what they conceive to be a duty to themselves, and to their country; and we must in justice place him in the latter class, and accord to his memory all the glory that such a motive, such a consecration, and such a service entitle him. His thoughtfulness in preparation, his industry, and his intelligence, his patience in camp, his bravery in the discharge of duty in the face of the enemy, and his instant return to the peace ful walks of life, furnish abundant and un mistakable evidence, that he was a soldier of duty, rather than of thoughtlessness and vanity. In his remarks to the company of which he was a lieutenant, and to which I have re ferred, he spoke of a battalion about to be raised, and said he was going into it, and expected to be joined by many of his hearers. Hostilities in the North, and the aggressive attitude of the British in Virginia, soon caused the volunteers of Culpepper, Orange and Fauquier Counties to form themselves into a regiment. Thomas Marshall, the father, became major, and John, the son, be came a lieutenant in one of the companies. This regiment carried a flag displaying a coiled rattlesnake, and bearing the motto, "Don't Tread On Me," and the regiment was known by the British as "the shirt-men." They were dressed in green hunting-shirts, "homespun, homewoven, and homemade," with the words "Liberty or Death" in large white letters on their bosoms, and with bucktails in their hats and tomahawks and scalp ing knives in their belts, they marched to Williamsburg. Under the excitement of the war spirit of the day, this organization of minute men, so equipped and uniformed, drew to itself a vast amount of glory, and must have carried terror to the hearts of the foe. John Randolph once extravagantly said in the Senate of the United States that
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these men "were raised in a minute, armed in a minute, marched in a minute, fought in a minute, and vanquished in a minute." This regiment was in the engagement at the Great Bridge, and in the campaign which resulted in the capture of Norfolk. The British were in a fortified position at the bridge across the south branch of the Elizabeth River, and a detachment of minute men under Colonel Woodford, to which Lieutenant John Mar shall's company was attached, led the ad vance, and secured a position at the cause way on the opposite side from the enemy, and held it until the battle of December 9, 177S> when the British being routed and subjected to severe loss, spiked their guns, and retreated to their ships. On the four teenth of December the Virginians entered Norfolk, where Marshall remained with the troops until the town was bombarded and burned by the British fleet on the first of January, 1776. The battle of the Great Bridge was the first engagement in Virginia, and with it came John Marshall's first actual experience in war, and he is said to have borne an active and honorable part. Marshall gives an ac count of this campaign in his "Life of Wash ington," but forbears giving any prominence to himself. In the summer following, the conditions were such as to require a greater force in Virginia, and as a result eleven regi ments were raised, which were later taken into the Continental line. Thomas Mar shall, the father, became the colonel of the third, in which James Monroe was a lieu tenant, and which was with the army of Washington. John Marshall, the son, was made first lieutenant in the eleventh, and in the following winter went with his regiment into camp with the army of the Commanderin-Chief at Morristown. During the winter of 1776-77 he was promoted to the rank of captain, and was in command of his com pany during the spring and summer cam paign of 1777. On the twenty-fourth of August, and the day before General Howe landed his forces at the Elk River Ferry, the
