The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1870-06-22
Address by General Hampton.

Address by General Hampton.
AS several material errors occurred in
the published address of Gen. Hampton,
on laying the corner stone to the memory
eof the members of the Washington Light
Infantry, in Magnolia Cemetery, Charles
ton, we repnblish it this morning, MS
corrected by the General:
Colonel Simonton introduced General
Wade Hampton, the orator of the occa-
sion, who was received with applause.
The General, addressing the President
and gentlemen of the Washington Light
Infantry Charitable Association, said:
an accepting the position assigned to
me by your kindness, in the solemn cere-
monies of the day, many and conflicting
emotions stirred my heart. On the one
hand, said he, q painful consciousness of
my inability to discharge the task i'm
posed in manner worthy of the occa-
sion, Expresses me and bids me keep
silent; while on the other hand, sense
of duty to my living, as well as my dead
comrades, impels me to Join in this de.
molstraGon Of honor to those who are
sleeping beneath the soil they gave their
livestto defend. Let me, then, place on
their tomb votive Offering, which. un-
worthy as It may be Of our noble dead,
has at least the merit OF coming from o
heart filled with sympathy for the cause
In which they fell; admiration for their
Hevoted PATRIOTS and heroic courage;
respect and affection for their memory,
and profound grief for their untimely
death. There are other motives, scarce
~ less potent, why my voice should not
be silent on any occasion where honor is
paid to the living or dead of the Wash
ington Light Infantry.
Have you forgotten, comrades, OF that
gallant corps? shall always remember
1t with prido, that when our State called
hers to defend her, and that COM
mand was organized-whose glorious
banner, unsullied by any stain of defeat,
untarnished by any breath of dishonor,
was borne SO heroically through the
storm OF nearly every great historic bat
tie OF the war-it was the Washington
Light Infantry that gave me the first
company OF the Hampton Legion. Can
you suppose that have forgotten the
men of Company A?" that company
which for four years of heroic though
unequal war, stood always unshaken on
the right of the Legion? Can T forget
that devoted friend, that unselfsh pa
triot, that gallant soldier, that noble gen
tleman, johnson, who was your first and
one OF your costliest sacrifices laid on
the altar Of our country? Can I forget
the gifted Pettigrew, who lived long
enough to achieve an undying glory for
himself, but who died too soon for his
mourning country? Standing over the
graves which hold the hallowed dust of
80 many patriotic soldiers, looking upon
yonder tomb, where are inscribed the
names of forty-fve of my loved and
Grusted comrades of that single company
Which you gave me, how can forget the
men who fought and died by my sideP
Can I, turning from the lamented dead
to the honored living, looking once again
upon the familiar faces of the men whom
danger taught me to trust--forget the
friends who never betrayed that trust?
Can look upon Conner, as he leans
upon those crutches, which tell proudly
how nobly he discharged his duty, and
then forget the Washington Light Tn
fantry? Oh, no! my friends. Memo
rios and associations such as these, are
amongst the most cherished though sad
dest OF my heart, and they bind me to
my old comrades by ties which death
may, but nothing else, can ever sever
They remind me. too, of my duties to
the dead, and amongst them there is
none more sacred than that which calls
upon me to vindicate their motives, to
praise their patriotism, to commend their
example, and to protect their memory.
These are the duties which devolve upon
us. the sad survivors of that gallant band
who, at the call Of their State, rallied to
her defence. Mourning over the graves
OF ''onr slain," who, ''for faith and for
freedom. lay slaughtered in vain;" stand
ssng amid the wreck of our dearest hopes,
looking at the ruin of our country. wit
messing the steady but rapid overthrow
OF Republican institutions and constitu-
tional liberty, what is left to cheer us to
future exertion but the hallowed memo
RES OF the past-that past which was
made glorious by our great dead. Amid
that noble and, alas, vast throng, mono
have done higher honor to their State,
none deserve deeper gratitude, than the
men who died in her cause. Not until
death has placed his etornal seal upon
the living, and stamped with his irreyo-
cable decree all the actions OF their
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