History and genealogy of Peter Montague, of Nansemond and ...

314 DESCENDANTS OF PETER MONTAGUE.
Where the child has found its mother,
Where the mother finds the child,
Where dear families are gathered,
That were scattered on the wild :
Sister, we shall meet and rest
'Mid the holy and the blest
"
!
1102.
Col. Edgar Burwell Montague, son of Lewis B. [324], b. Aug. ;
2, 1832, in Essex Co., Va.
Educated at Va. Military Institute, and William and Mary College.
At the latter school he took the degree of Bachelor of Law. He ;«.,
Oct. 28, 1858, at Nesting, Middlesex, Miss Virginia Eubank, dau. of
Mr. Joseph C. Eubank, and sister of the wife of his brother, the late
Judge Robert L. Montague. Soon after his marriage he purchased
his estate, called " Afton," in King and Queen Co., where he resided
and practiced his profession, that of law, until the breaking out of
the war between the states, when he at once gave his services to the
Confederate cause, raised a battalion of men and entered the southern
army as Major of Montague's Battalion. He commanded this
battalion at the battle of Bethel, and there acquitted himself with
such valor, ability and credit that he was promoted to Lieut. Col. of
the 53d regiment of Va. infantry, and afterward was again promoted
to Col. of the 32d regiment of Va. infantry. His regiment formed a
part of Corse's Brigade, Pickett's Division, [Maj. Gen. George E.
Pickett commanding], first corps, army of Northern Va. As a mem-
ber of that famous division, Col. Montague participated in many of
the bloody battles of the late war, and was always found with the
foremost in the heat and danger of the fight. In his official report I
to Gen. Lee, Gen. Pickett says, " To the commanding officers of reg-
iments, my thanks and those of our state are due for their mainte-
nance of discipline in their regiments, their continual and unswerving
confidence in the cause, and their personal activity on the many
battlefields, in leading on their men to victory, or sustaining them
under their various hardships. Such names as those of Montague
[and others of his officers] should not be forgotten in Virginia's his-
tory." Col. Montague served throughout the entire war. After the
surrender at Appomattox he returned to his home and resumed the
practice of his profession.
He was a fine lawyer, an eloquent debater and speaker, enjoyed