Both sides seized fire when Loudoun Rangers agreed to finally surrender under the condition that they would be allowed parole rather than go into the southern prison war camps.
“I’m sorry to see you so dangerously wounded, lieutenant,” White said upon seeing Slater lying on the church floor, soaking in his pool of blood.
Nursed by his ‘Guardian Angel’
Slater survived his wounds, beating everyone’s pessimistic prediction. He was transferred to the home of one of his college buddies in the north of Pennsylvania since it would be much safer there for him to recover. While in rehab, Slater will meet his friend’s sister and eventually wife, Mollie Yount, whom he endearingly refers to as his “guardian angel.”
He wasn’t mistaken, though. Yount has literally nursed the severely injured lieutenant back to his feet.
When he regained his strength in November 1862, Slater rejoined his unit in the war. His recovery was impressive, but that doesn’t mean his old wounds won’t cause him problems. The First Lieutenant just lost a limb since he couldn’t use it, which stressed the crap out of him. It finally took a toll on him, and he resigned from his commission in the Loudoun Rangers in February 1863.
“He gets to retire, essentially to a quiet corner of Pennsylvania where he is gonna sit out the rest of the war in relative peace and harmony—or is it?” Shaw rhetorically asked.
Shaw continued by saying he may or may not have omitted some details earlier in the story. “Mollie and her family live in a little town in Southern Pennsylvania called Gettysburg,” re-emphasizing the circumstantial luck of his protagonist. “Which, in 1863, isn’t exactly the best place to go if you’re trying to avoid the civil war.”
Leading an ‘underqualified’ Company A
“Luther is a guy that really can’t avoid the sense of duty, the sense of patriotism,” Shaw described, “…and so as the Confederate army […] crossing the Mason-Dixon line and is entering Pennsylvania.”
Because of the rising tension, Slater offered his services to the governor of Pennsylvania. He received his commission almost immediately and was assigned to the 26th Pennsylvania Emergency Militia as Second Lieutenant in Company A, composed of a bunch of inexperienced students. Nonetheless, Slater guided his men to execute their task: delay the Confederate troops as long as possible. But, of course, it was easier said than done.
The now 22-year-old officer marched together with his young troops, most of whom had “never heard a shot in anger” before. They all marched out on the morning of June 26th and were positioned on the west side of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where they would meet the war-hardened veterans of northern Virginia.
Shaw narrated: “Now, in one of those weird twists of fate […] Those Confederate cavalrymen (who were escorting the hardened veterans) are members of the 35th battalion of Virginia Cavalry led by none other than White.”
Brothers against brothers, two cavalries representing Loudoun County on opposite sides of the battlefield, exchanging fire on the soil of Gettysburg. However, it was pretty apparent that the Confederates had the edge in this battle, and with the company treading on a thin, unstable thread, Slater made a run out of the field and escaped.
***
Since then, Slater has concluded his frontline duty. Instead, he worked as a medical officer for the United States Army. He also married Mollie, and the couple had a daughter soon after the war ended and settled in Lovettsville.
His luck ultimately ran out in 1871, when Mollie died shortly after giving birth to their second child. Eventually, his young son would pass away a few weeks later, further shattering Slater’s already mourning heart. To cope, he buried himself in work and eventually moved to Washington, D.C., to take on a handful of essential roles until his unexpected death in 1909.
Briscoe Goodhart, a fellow Unionist of Slater who served with him in the Loudoun Ranger, wrote a heartwarming eulogy for Slater, stating:
“Not only obeyed and respected but loved by all. A large, physically well-built man, a true type of American soldier, and brave as a lion.”
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