The blood of the first Martyr has flowed. A Virginia citizen, defending the flag of his country, has been cut down by the murderous minions of despotic power. But, glorious death! There exists not a mortal man in Virginia who does not envy his fate, who will not emulate his example, and who would not rather die than live to breath an atmosphere polluted by such moral and social lepers as the degraded and murderous wretches whose hands are bathed in his heroic blood.
But he did not die unavenged. He sent the bloated miscreant, who claimed the glory of pulling down the first Confederate flag, to the infernal shades where he belongs, and gave him and his ruffian crew a foretaste at the threshold of what they have to expect from the South, at every step of the long and weary road they have begun to travel.
The noble Virginia patriot who has been butchered by this invading horde, was one of the most exemplary citizens of Alexandria.—His family and his country have been despoiled of a precious jewel. But his fame will last for generations, and his example will be followed by every man and boy in Virginia and the South who can pull a trigger.—Henceforth, let us have no more words, no more hopes of peace. We are in war, with depraved, brutal and merciless savages, and our only motto, by day and night, should be—"War to the Knife."