The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1864-02-02

AN OLD SOLDIER on TH1 WAR.
A ysrxgows a os6uss ysvsssy-
thass .yeap pf age, named John Clay, :
frst cousin Of Henry Clay. = KsntaakiaA
BY birth, who lives = few niles from Al
exandria, Mo. He fought under Gen.
Harrison in the war Il 1919, and on one
occasion, With his company. which suf-
fered fsarfnlly in killed aad wounded,
spiked the British cannon. charging sa !
battery in the face offs most terrific FIRE.
He Is devoted Uuion man, and lives o.
land which he obtained q . bounty for
his services from the Government in the
war of 1919.
When the rebel flag was raised at Al
exandria, Mr.. Clay said to the secesh,
Take that Gag down" Some Ons n
Piled, "Why /; are not you in favor Of the
Soathsso Confedefscy I VIII you not
walk under it?' ono, Devsr p indig-
nantly replied Mr.. c. II bsve fought
under the old nag /; ! win live and die
under it. and whom / die let the STARS
and Stripes wave over my grave" Z
You have read about "Southefn Homes
and Firesides," homes and fresides nov
made desolate, and the silvery chains
which once bound them together BY the
ties Of blood and kindred Affections sever
ed BY fratricidal war. The father mourns
bis son, the sister her brother. and the
widow, disconsolate in her grief and dss-
titusion, lsuents the death Of her has
band-her fatherless children there is
none 70 pity-Aany "Raohsl weeps for
her FIRST born and will not be conferred,
because be is net.
We shalt write YOU something about
Southern graves and Southern tonbstones.
In times Of psaOs, he died and vss buried,
is Che simple history Of the majority Of
men, who in few short months are for
gotten. . But to die now is to die a. the
hero dies in the tempest Of battle or on
the tented field, worn out with disease
and wasted away with the fatigues Of
long campaigns. Drowning men, it is
ssid, catch at strsws. Man, It is true,
clings with great tsnaeity to life, but after
Oh that is said shout it death is NOT terri
BILE. Nearly a yssr ago when at Holly
Sprisgs one Sabbath day We attended
church and expected to hear one of the
ministers Of that place, but from some
cause or other the pulpit was filed by two
chaplains. one Of an Illinois and the 9th.
er OF Wisconsin regiment. After .
long prsyer by one aud stiIl longer ser
mon BY the ether, such a. We used to
hear IN our boyhood at country school.
houses and hewed log churches from the
lizard Shelled" Bspsists at some cross
roads In "Hoosier." the service CON.
oladed with clark from the tombs dole
full sound" and We took stroll to the
city cemetery. II was oruamented With
evergreens and abounded with magnif
cent marble monuments, with iron rail.
ings, white wooded paling, with weeping
willows and graveily walks lovely
spot. The grass and roses still in full
bloom grew everywhefe in wild luxu-
rance over the last resting place of those
who were wrapped in the still, cold sleep
OF death. was particularly struck By the
inscription on one little unostentatiou.
marble monument, erected BY mother
to the memory of her son. He had "died
in the Confederate army at Pensacola,
Florida" at the early age Of eighteen.
preceding which the inscription said
"willle. our soldier boy" and concluded
"he has left the confederacy of earth and
gone to join the confederacy Of Heaven .
His fond mother, no doubt, imagined
like the Crusaders following Peter the
Hermit, that to die in the rebellion, o,
lighting for the independence Of the
SOUTH" gave him q sure passport Ia
heaven. s..-,
We have looked q ~ tonbstoaes and
their inscriptions sssryvhsrs orsr the
-hu1dsede 4 niln sAish ~ asss s,6v>h
ed and fosghA. = cuiasA, Boslvn, I.ka
Grssd 0ulf, Uintos. vioksb.sr a,d
other places Of les sote, and q plaats,
tioas sud chsrch yards BY the ~, ND
End to-bs remarkable fact, but never.
theless ,trns, that very few nasivss ia
the manor born survive the age Of thirty.
SIX here in the South. Far the creates,
number die under the age Of thirty
judging from the record-the inscrin.
uons on the tombstone.-great longevity
Is not arrived at BY them. Ali the old
men Or women are shown to have been
born IN other States. The oldess mep
now living, when asked for their ..t;v;,v
tell you they are from Virginia. sou.h
carolina or Kentuekv W. 81. X.