Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1866-07-25
rreyet Col. and Asst. ms. General.


The above communication came to hand
last week, in the absence of the editor from
the city, and as itrefers to q public matter,
we use our columns ogive publicity to the
comments it naturally calls forth.
Answering the Colonel sent here from
Head quarters at Charleston to investigate
tie ecavc offence, we would state that" the
infnrrnat,on upon which Has based tae article
IN Our issue of the 9TH instant, in Wrch We
speak Of the Temple of Mourning, and OF
Confederate Gags being placed therein, was
our Own persona! eye sight, And that there
may be no misunderstanding as to the lam
gage uttered on. the OCCASION, we reproduce
the Objectionable paragraphs. Referring to
the Temple OF Mourning, We said:
"Twiled around its pillars, hanging from
It's arches, and intersaoEen in every beautiful
shape TereiSa Wreaths, ercs2es and testoons
already described, while dottiug the whole
structure were cards bearing the names or
the dead, peeping out among the leases.
lfottoes, small Confe ierate flags draped in
black, Grape twisted sround swords, which
recalled The memory Of DeSsussure, Glad
Ge7, johnson, Gregg and ,nkins, and q
hundred other details cf beauty, were there
10 remind enc not more Of the ga'lantry OF
the dead than. the affection of the living"
And again, referring to the silent encamp-
meat of the dead, We observed:
1As if by magic the enclosure was illsed
with ladies and children, ;and;one hundred.
and fifty mounds of earth bloolned in flowers
and wrea.hs Of green. Numerous little Con-
,:,,lerate flags, too, peeped ont of the new
covering to tell that if in life the soldiers
were remembered, in death their cause was
not forgotten"
To these simple exhibitions of woman's
Ioye-ttcse little tributes offered by children
10 the memory Of the dead, General Sickles
leads 80 much Importance as to send to 20
lambda o BreYet Colonel of the United States
10 investigate the c;rcuUctaEces, and learn
whether treason" be really again rampant
in onr midst. We trust that officer has been
satisfied. He reed have gone no further
than the courteous officer commanding this
post, or his subordinates, to have learned that
there is no locality in the South where better
order, better obedience to law, and better
manifestations of loyalty to the General Gov
erameat,. are observable than in this city OF
t,alumh;s. 0n the other hand, he need only
IN have accosted the first woman or child
he mot on our streets to be informed that it
il is crime to wear in memory of our dead,
q Confederate flag orer their hearts, theE is
every drop Of blood that courses through
Them dyed with the so-caled in'quity.
The occasion was to cali forth the saddest
"Reminiscences, and as Grape was used as an
emblem of sorrow for departed friends, SO
dimnu.iye Con!ed crate flags were employed
to tiply sorrow for a'loSr esuse.
Much as some Federal officers mag desire
to discover evidences of dis!oyalty in the
South that shall keep up standing armies and
continue liberal salal ;es, we think that in the
present instance Gen. Sickes has shot far be
low bis mark in taxing the mpulses Of women
and children as text for his report TO Sec
,etary Stanton on the unreconstructed condl.
,ion Of South Carolina. From Beast But
Ter we might have patedit-from man
of the world, like Daniel L. Sickles who
knows something of life and its sympathies,
aud who expects, young man as he is, one
day to doa his uniform and hold high civil
offices, we had NO thought that so small
cite his fears.
With such acute eyes upon us, one scarcely
knows where disloyalty ends and patriotism
begins. We may be indicted for not celebra.
ting the 4th of July: or called upon to an
swer for the colors of our wifes ribbons; or
held to account for dissipation that leaves
too much red at the tip of ones noGe. The
day of small things appears to have come
We can only say ID conclusion, that if the
commander of the department will leave the
care of Columbia to Col. Green, his officers
and regulars, now stationed at this post, than
whom we have not had more quiet OF conrte-
Gus soldiers since the close Of the war, he
will be promptly ndmonished of any distur-
bance OF the public peace sufficient topro-
woke the sending of q paragraph to Wash
ineton, and we shall be spared the trouble of
writing editorials to explain why the ladies
and children of Columbia, on mourning oc-
casion, indulge in theinnocent display OF. that
which will be remembered and respected for