Harvard memorial biographies ...

Goodwin Atkins Stone.

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had just been ordered in towards Baltimore, and was preparing to leave. It was a great trial to Goodwin to part
with the officers and men. They came in one by one to bid
him good by; the men wept as they took leave. Goodwin
asked the Colonel if he could not be taken with them,
saying, "I think I shall be able to take the saddle in a few
days, -it is just the campaign I have been longing for."
He felt assured that he should recover, although the pistolball had pierced the spinal column, and was lodged in some
muscle where the doctor thought best to let it remain. His
body was partially paralyzed, and he was able to move only
his arms. He began to talk of the best route homeward,
and thought he could get to Alexandria and take a steamer
to New York. The vicinity of Falls Church was full of
guerillas, and it was thought best for his brother and the
surgeon to remain in Washington, and come out every day
to see Goodwin, so that his mother and three men who assisted in the care of him alone remained. He grew daily
more restless and feverish, but was always cheerful and quiet.
The weather was intensely hot, but he was kept supplied
with ice and every possible means of relief. He said very
little about the engagement in which he was wounded, excepting when delirious, but talked more of home and old associations. He said, however, that, if he had only had his
own company, he might have driven Mosby, after all, and
that "it might just as well have been the other way," but
he accused no one. In moments of wandering, towards the
last, his mind invariably turned to the scene of the disaster,
and he called to the men, trying to encourage and rally them,
and more than once gave the signal for a charge..
On the 14th his condition was so encouraging that the
doctor expressed a strong hope that he might yet recover,
but the next day a sudden change of symptoms intervened,
chills and violent distress came on, and all hope was abandoned. The doctor informed him, in the presence of his
mother and brother, of their fears. Goodwin looked up with
evident surprise, and said, "You know, doctor, I have been