Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1864-03-22
ADDRESS OF THE GENERAL ASSEM-
BLY, TO THE SOLDIERS OF VIRGINIA.
ADOPTED MARoH 9, 1864.

| ADDRESS OF THE GENERAL ASSEM-
BLY TO THE SOLDIERS OF VIRGINIA
ADOPTED MARoH 8, 1854.
Soldiers Of Virginda IN the armies Of the Con
| .federate States:
It is now nearly three years since yon lef
| your homes and iresides at the call of you
State 10 fepel the invasion of her soil.
! Before taking up arms every effort to obtaiI
| the peaceful enjoyment of your rights under tht
| Constitution had been exhausted, your appeal
| for justice spurned with contempt, and war Il
subjugate our sister States of the South com
menced by Abraham Lincoln.
| By this lawlass proceeding the Federal Ad.
ministration threw off the mask it had hitherto
worn. In such a'eontest Virginia could not re
| main an Indifferent spectator. Bound by ever,
| tie of blood, sympathy, common interests ant
common wrongs to TIE States against whom thi
hostile preparation was set on foot she with
drew at once from an aesociation which no lorg
er respected written Constitution, and resoly
ed to receive on her own bosom the threatened
shock of invasion. She invoked you to rally te
defend your homes, yonralfsrs and your honor
and this appeal was not made In vain. Promptly
and generously you responded TO the call of du-
ty. Most faithfully have you performed it. In
your long and arduous service you have shrunk
from no toll, no danger and no sacrifice. During
your absence in the field, your wives and little
ones may have suffered want; your homes been
ravaged and the fruits of industry destroyed by
q ruthless and barbarous enemy. But in des-
pite OF every temptation you have never looked
back. Your eye has always been fixed on the
foe and your ear waiting for the summons to
battle. Amid the toll of the march, the weary
watch, the labor, the hunger, the cold, the pri-
yations OF the camp, you have never complained,
but have always rendered cheerful obedience
to the State which honors and cherishes you
with mothers love.
You have been present in most of the impor-
tant battles of the war, and in all, your yalor
h as been conspicuous. 1t has made you the
theme of praise by your heroic companions from
other States, and by the whole civilized world.
Many OF your comrades have fallen in battle,
or from disease contracted in service, and been
transferred from the roll of life to that of immor-
tality. There are many more whose mutilated
forms attest their honorable devotion to their
country,
In your prolonged absence from home, your
sacrifice of personal interests and of ali the en-
Joyments OF life has, indeed, been great. The
war, forced upon US by the malice of people
whom wehad not injured, hes entallsd upon us
deep sorrow and cruel suffering It's unavoida-
Die calamities have been greatly augmented by
the refusal OF the enemy to respect the laws of
civilized warfare, and by their fiendish attempt
to wrest submission from US by visiting the most
relentless barbarities upon women and children,
the aged and the helpless. Unbridled license
has been given to their cupidity, untold millions
OF property have been wantonly destroyed by
their malice, or swelled the Golfers Of the PAM
pered villains, who, unwhipt of justice, have
been openly rewarded and promoted for their
crimes
Aged and unoffending men have been dragged
from their beds to dreary prisons and solitary
labor. Refined and virtuous women have been
brutally insulted, and, manacled by rude, unfeel-
ing soldiery, have been led captive from their
homes as hostages for negroes.
Farms have been desolated, dwellings have
been laid in ashes, unprotected women and help
less children have been turned on. from their
homes without bread or shelter. The tonlbs of
the gallant dead have been robbed and desecra.
ted by feEds, who have ruthlessly invaded tie
sanctity OF the grave and outraged the sensbil>
tiles of the living
Under the hypocritical guise OF ofliberating from
slavery population happier and more virtuous
than themselves, they have sought to subject us
to yoke more CALLING than they have essayed
to remove. -
Within few days past an expedition has been
and an abortive effort made to carry
ting (as we have reason to belieye) from the
Government at Washington, to sack and FIRE the
city OF Richmond, and in the darkness of right
to ccnsign its inhabitants, without moments
warning, to flames and to death. For this pur-
pose special s'burning party" was organized,
provided with implements OF destruction, and
orders to carry into execution the fell design -.
Among its blazing ruins the released prisoners
from "Belle Isle" and sThe Libby were to u
mite with the bands of Dahlgren and Fitzpatrick
in dealing out death aud slaughter upon unof.
tending and peaceful citizens, and in1ieting out
rage upon pure and unprotected women more
horrible than death.
The heart sickens at the contemplation of the
enormities that would have been committed had
the nefarious scheme succeeded No prayer for
mercy would have been heard, 20 scream for
help would have been needed. Fire, rapine,
slaughter and lust would have held undisputed
dominion in this fair city,
We forbesr to enlarge, but make this recital
that you may know more clearly the character
OF our foe, and that he may be held up to the
odium and execration of mankind
La shameless disregard of al the rules of civil
lied warfare, Your Chief Magistrate and his
Cabinet were, by special directions, to be denied
the rights OF prisoners Of war and killed in cold
blood.
1'SAy oPSSiOo VI PuUAC duu prlfdL0 pTUptfty
was to be destroyed, and the entire country with
in their reach laid waste.
Stimulated and encouraged by the precepts
and example of their leaders, this band OF rob-,
bers and murderers entered private houses, broke
open ladies' wardrobes, destroyed OF their rich
contents what they could not appropriate, car
ried Oft jewels and plate, consigned to the flames
stores OF provisions, burnt mills and other hou--
ses, desotated some of the fairest homes of the
State, and left whole families without food.
Thanks TO the gallantry of citizen soldiery,
they were routed ard repnlsed, in the midst of
this carnival of crime, which must outrage the
sensibilities of the civilized world. Many of
them, with awakened Consciousness of their des-
erts, now contemplate their doom within the
walls of a.prison from which they hopedsto re>
lease their companions. .---e -
An syeBgng God suddenly summoned their
atrocious leader from the scene of his wicked>
ness to the bar of judgment, and on his slain
body were found his atrocious instructions
stained with his own blood. The name of Dahl
gren will be handed down to history as fit as
sociate in infamy with Butler and host of les
ser criminals, who have disgraced humanity and
shocked the moral sense OF the world.
But in these very atrocities you will discern
the motives, if any weie needed, for continued
service and fresh sacrifices Virginia takes no
step backward. Every consideration of honor,
interest, duty and safety demand that we shall
go forward in the grand struggle for human
rights and human liberty, so bravely begun, and
f,,ll spfoi 74AsaI1