A messenger
had been despatched to call me to her side. I found her clinging to
the body of her murdered husband, stained with his blood, yet
resisting all attempts to remove her. Dr. Thornton having severely
punished a case of insubordination, the culprit swore vengeance, and
had fulfilled his oath in a most complete though cowardly manner. Just
after dark, as the doctor was sitting at supper with his wife, a voice
at the gate called his name. He answered the summons at once, followed
closely by Mrs. Thornton, who, standing upon the doorsteps, saw and
heard the murderous blow which laid him dead at her feet, stabbed to
the heart. For many hours horror and grief dethroned the reason of the
wife. After I had persuaded her to go to her room, she continually
insisted upon washing her hands, which she shudderingly declared were
red with _his blood_. Subsequently she struggled successfully for
composure, pitifully saying, "He liked me to be brave; I _will try_,"
and with remarkable fortitude she bore up through the trying ordeal
which followed. In my ministration to Mrs. Thornton I was assisted by
a lady whose name is well known and well beloved by the soldiers of
the Army of Tennessee,--Mrs.
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