The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1866-07-13
OUR WOMEN.
The 1rWth Every asOTd Of it.-Whas a
Union Soldier fhiaks Of tie Ladies Of TIE
sSouth.
bon De Ner York citlzen.l

in certain loyal papers on the ladies of the
recently rebellious States, for their disloyal
temerity in forming associations 10 deck the
graves Of soldiers who fell in the Confeder-
ate cause. This is cant, and something
worss--cant combined with cruelty
These ladies were conscientious rebels at
heart. They were more fiery and enthusi-
astic in the cause than the men who did
actually battle for it. Their song were
rebel. Their coIors were rebel. Their
hearts were rebelliously romantic. They
had nothing but Womanly contempt for the
able bodied paltroon who failed to follow
the standard of his State.
They gave their jewels to the Cause. and
their souls to the cause. Their hands to
the upholdsrs of the cause. Their bestasilk
dresses to be used for balloons of obssrva-
lion by the rebel armies. They foreswore
hoops for the cause. They wore homespuu,
and made it themselves, that the cause
might have more money at home and pay
less to Europe for costly imports Of vanity.
For the rebellion they accepted hOmely fare
and the sacrifice of every delicate indul-
gence, SO dear to their sex. They scraped
lint assiduously. Served as nurses in the
rebel hospitals. Saw sons, brothers, faith
ers, husbands, lovers killed for the cause;
and gloried in th4ir mourning as in robes
of hottest triumph. In word, they were
80 far as We saw them-the heart and
brain of the rebellion. They gave tits de-
yotion of affection and poesy. The rebel
men were the mere brute or grossly mate
rial part Of the struggle. The men were
mere sinews and bones. 1t was masculine
blood that was spilled, however, and mascu-
line flesh that was hacked or pierced. But
the songs, the Inspiration, the beauty.
passion and glory of the late rebellion-for
it had all these, and we may as well confess
it-all these came from the Southern wo-
men, whose kisses had greater recruiting
cogency than all the. bounty y-swindling ar
rapgements of Baker or Spinola; and whose
rye coffee proved circe-cup, capable of
changing Southern gentlemen, heretofore
loyal and essrvative, into the 'fnsane
swine of an evolt.'
Would no pen Of the South, there
epsc hey must be of their
m1ssSsgs1ss99-5-s ,.,.ssussaass z'susla &C
Cured on the Southern side of The iats
struggle-be false to every impulse of JUS
tice and honor, untrue to every instinct of
womanly nature, and deOeitful as the paint
ed profigatss who form the shame of their
sex-did they not feel in every fibre Of
their hearts, and moment Of their lives,
that repentant SORROW Hhlch now seeks
cSnfessiOn if not expiV by their efforts
to beautify and immoFtslizs the graves of
the faithful dead whom they sent forth to
battle? Far from quarrelling with the
manifestation of such q sentiment, We think
it hopeful indication Of returning healthy
opinion.
Let the Southern women decorate the
graves Of their own dead, and the graves Of
Northern soldiers in the South will there
after be safe from deseoration. The equali-
ty of death has terrible logic in its teach
ings; nor will women who have garlanded
with flowers the last resting places of soma
or husbands be inclined to forget that other
women, holding similar relationships in the
North, have similar sorrows for the dead Of
the Union armies who take their last sleep
under the live oaks. yellow pines and dark
magnolias Of that warmer aud richer cline.
Sooner or later-if we are ever to repos-
sess true Union-the bitterness appropri-
ate only to the active days of the recent con.
test must cease; aud We of the winning
party must be willing to confess that there
was much real nobIeness, romance and moral
grandeur in the courage with which the Eve
millions of whites of the South, faced aud
fought the overwhelming resources and
numbers srrayed on behalf of the national
life. The day cannot come too soon. DR..
Cravsn's book on the imprisonment of
Jefferson Davis, is a step in the right dirsc-
ton. Let il be followed, aud heartily, by
similar acknowledgements of respect from
the victors to the worthy aud gallant of the
vanquished.
Kind words from toe cong ueror soothe
defeat, aud take away the sting Of former
hostility. Let US have genuine reconcile
alton with our recent foes on the basis of
restored Union, whose integrity they shall
never again attempt to violate; and let the
women Of the South, not only be allowed to
decorate the graves Of their dead without
molestatiOn-but likewise be encouraged in
the task. aud be furnished By our quarter
masters with whatever facilities are given
in like cases % the women Of the loyal
North engaged in similar Ofioss Of pisty
snd pure affection.