Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1870-11-11

fatal, fearful, awful Gettysburg There
was the beginning of the end There fe |
our best and bravest There was ex-
| hibited the best evidence of the herois n.
the Endurance, the galantry of our troops
There the tide of life swept over the Ocean
of death only to be swallowed up in its
depths Oh how many, how very many Of
the gallant spirits of the South there took
their eternal fight 10 the Heaven of the
brave / shall never forget it. It is i'm
pressed upon my mind and heart in char
acters that are indelible-how 1 saw those
brave men rush on with q cheer and a
shout, that never came back TO tell the
story of their deeds! How many loved
ones there went out to battle that never
returned TO make glad the hearts that
loved them Fatal, fatal, fatal fight +
But it is needless to repine. The field was
lost, and that army that had known so lit
tie Of defeat before, returned TO Southern
soil to show 10 the world by its deeds of
gloly; that although il was defeated, yet it
was not vanquIshed, and its subs equent
history, which is familiar to you all, IS
made up of one continuous series of mag
nifcent battles and victories with and over
armies far out-numberiEg it in men and
materials oil war; During these battles it
was that the genins OF Lee became per-
fectlv grand aud magnifcent--unsurpas ed
by anythipg that has ever been exhibited
IN ancient or modern wa fare. But why
cOntiUne the narrative Is il not en-
craven upon the memory OF every one of
my auditors? Time passed on. The
Southern heart was torn with the fearful
looking for of the great coming catas-
tropae. Our army, orr gallant, glorious
army had been WON away by constant
losses and had not been replenished, for
we had no more men. The grand attack
Il D.
lost. Then came the retreat. Then came
combinutions that we could not resist
Then came 8ppomattox Court House, and
the surrender OF Il few ragged. tattered,
barefO0ted, starving brave men and
all was over. The story is told =
The hopes and fond expectations of
the people of the South were forever
blasted, end We were once more citizens of
the Union. We had made the struggle
it was manly one-and it had failed
and our soldiers, when they laid down
their allegiance to the United States, with
determination fully and Ia every particu.
lar to observe it. How much and in what
degree the sincerity of that determination
has been appreciated by the North, it is
probably not necessary or proper for me
now or here to say. But our great leader!
what of him ? How did his spirit that had
borne him aud his army to so many victo
rious fields bear up under that final crush
ing disaste- An who can tell the
throes, the agony of that supreme moment
No one on earth knows. To the eye of the
observer all was calmness end resignation.
He Who had conquered others showed that
he could govern himself. and IN doing So,
he became, if possible, greater than before
for in the language of holy writ 6 he
that ruleth his spirit is greater than he that
taketh a city" AS in the noontide of our
glory of war he was the SUI spreading his
dazzling radiance all about US, so in our
night of defeat his spirit of resignation,
like the light Of the peaceful moon, spread
ard quiet over our perturbed and
sorrow-stricken hearts.
The remainder of his life was spent in
doing good to his fellow-men, and in
teaching the youth of our country, by pre-
cept as we'll as example, how to pursue IN
times of peace the road to usefulness
Although he has gone from the earth
and we mourn for him as for father, yet
what blessed consolation it is to us to
know that he was once among lie and was
exclusively Ours-our own great Captain
that it was in our cause that his genius !
had full development and fruition that if
it had not been for that cause, mankind
might have been deprived of the glorious
heritage which 1T now possesses in his |
greatness; and we iecl that leaving all else |
0ut of the question, the halo Cf his glory !
will forever iliumine the quarrel of the |
States Of the South in the late war, for the |
was the mother of his great
less, having given birth to it in a travail
hat was cotemperaneous with its own
creation and which endured until its ago
~ was terminated in death. A cause
which gave birth to such General, and
which was the recipient of the benefit of
Ill the great genius, as we'll as the full ap
)rOval OF the highly sensitive heart and
conscience of such a man can never be
,ther than honorable among all civilized
people. Let all who would despise it re-
member that Lee loved it, and hide their
leads in shame. Let all who would strike
t in its fallen state remember that the
,reatness and goodness of Lee covers it as
With shield, and tread lightly and rever-
ntly, for it is holy ground
God bless thee, Robert E. Lee No
Southern heart now beats but sweus with
motion whenever thy name is mentioned.
{ Is blessed emblem and symbol of all
bat is great and good and noble V.rtne
nd honor, truth and justice, kindness
nd generosity, refinement AID ele-
nee combined in thee to make
ne human beirg, whom all nature
7as prond to call man. Thine is a
Tory that Will rot die-thine name that
annOt perish-thine a fame that the all de-
troying hand of time cannot obuterate.
But like that grand and mysterious stream
hat flows along our coast, which though
nrrounded by the cod ond chilling waves
f ocean, yet still flows on, warm and ge-
ial, and distinct in its course, bearing
7ealth and health and life aid happiness
q its bosom-a perpetual source of won
er and admiration to all mankind-so
hail thy fame he the Gulf Stream to the
uman ocean, ever to survive as long
8 man exists, and only cea sing when
fe shall be no more.
From the Philadelphia &c.
Official Correspondence VersiGed.
We are willing to do anything In our
over to give general currency to the late
ho