The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1866-03-01
The Confederate Soldiers.

exchanges, IDere is lnuuUlCaole Plooi .i''0
he has not forgotten how to talk. In dis
coursing of the bravery of Confederate
soldiers, Mr.. Wise said:
The noblest bands of mon who ever
fought, or who ever fell in the annals OF
war, whose glorious deeds history eyer
took pen to record, we're, I exultingy
claim, the private soldiers in the ar
mics of the great Confederate cause
Whether right OF wrong in the cause
which they cspouscd, they were earnest
and honest patriots in their convictions,
who thought that they were right to de-
fend their own, their native land, its soil,
its affairs and its honor. They felt that
they were no rebels and no traitors in
obeying their State sovereignties, and
they thought it was lawful to take up
arms under their mandates, authorized
expressly by the Federal Constitution to
repel invasion OF to suppress insurrection,
when there was such ';imminent danger
as not to admit of delay"
The only reason for the delay which
could have been demanded of them was
to have appealed to the invaders them
selves for defense against their own inva-
sion; and whether there was imminent
danger or not, events have proved. They
have been invaded until every blade Of
grass had been troddon down, until every
sanctuary of temple, and fame, and altar
and home has been profaned. The most
of these men had no stately mansion for
their homes; no slaves to plough and
plant any broad fields of others; no
stocks OF investments in intercstbearing
funds. They were poor, but proudly pa
triotic and indomitably brave. Their
country was their only heritage.
The mothers and wives and daughters
buckled on the belts and sent husbands
and brothers forth, and women toiled
for the bread and spun the raiment of
"little ones" of shanty homes in the coun-
try, or of shops in the towns, while their
champions of defence were in their coun-
tr's camps or marches; or trenches, OF
battles! They faithfully followed leaders
whom they knew and honored and trust
od. Nor Cabinets, nor Congress, nor
Commissiarat, nor Quartermaster's De-
partment, norspeculators, nor spies, nor
renegades, nor enemies emissaries, nor
poverty, nor privations, nor heat, nor
cold, nor sufferings, nor toll, nor danger,
nor wounds, nor death could impair their
constancy. They fought witha devotion,
confidence and courage which was uncon-
querable save by starvation, blockade,
overwhelming numbers, foreign dupes and
mercenaries, Yankeedonl, niggerdom and
death
Prodigies of valor, miracles of victo-
ries, undoubted ard undoubting devotion,
and endurance to the last, entitled them
to honors of surrender, which gilded the
arms of their victors and eXtcrted from
them cheers on the battlefield where at
last they yielded for peace Alas how
many thousands had fallen before their
few surviving comrades laid down their
arms. Of these men Of the ranks, their
beloved leader, General r. e. Lee, said TO
me during the last days Oil the lines: "Sir,
the men of this war who will deserve the
most honor and gratitude are not the men
of rank, but the men of the ranks-the
privatcs.
After telling what he had seen them do
in battle, he added:
And have seen them fire their last
vollics at Appomattox; and often in the
marches, on picket in the trenches: in
camps and in charges, have seen them
sad and almost sink, but never saw
their tears until their beloved Comman-
der-in-Chief ordered them to surrender
their arms. Then they wept, and many
of them broke their trusty wcar ons. The
blessed and ever glorious dead werc not
there to surrender, and they arc not here
to defend their memories from the taint
of the reproach of rebellion and treason
Alas am alive and here, and am bound,
at every hazard, to dcclarosshat those
men were no rebels and no traitors. Let
whoever will swear that they were rebels
and traitors, will contradict the oath,
and appeal to God on the Holy OF Holes
as high as Heavens throne, and swear
that they were purc patriots, loyal citi-
zens, we'll tried and true soldiers, brave,
honest deroted mon. who proved their