Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1875-06-11

lovingly bestowed by those he held |
most dear, the Southern soldier has
tened to meet the invader at the Dor
der, prepared to die for his country. |
And thus tn, contest began.
Captain Ashe then rapidly sketched |
in a vigorous manner the various cam
paigns Of the war. Referring to the |
disasters of July 1863, he remarked:
Before those memorable days, the |
ship of State had sailed along on the
rough and troubled waters obedi mt to
the will of the helmsmaD. Our enter
prises had generally been successful
Victory had followed victory in quick
succession. The Southern cross had
won impershable glory. The world
was filed with the renown Of our
soldiers. Jackson's name was Ell
shrined in the hearts of all who cher
ished liberty; and Lee. the peerless
Lee. stood colossal lion. hewn by
Divine will from the whitest marble,
alike the admiration and the wonder of
the age. But now the turning point
WIS reached, aud an era is ushered in
when Notwithstanding all the herOism
of our soldiers, all the patriotism Of
our citizens, our victories bring US
only mourning.
The campaign of 1864 opened with
Lees army much reduced in strength;
while its adversary had been largely
reinforc. d, and stood ike the sea thai
eucircies the lowlands of Holland, as
if ready to rend the slight barrier and
dcluge the unprotected country. This
is the most memorable of ali cam
paigns.
1t rises far superior to any OF the
immortal deeds OF Alexander, Caesar.
or Napoleon. We will search the
pages OF history in vain To find its
counterpart. No where, III no age,
in NO land, in no cline, do we discov
er such grand achievements, such for
titude and endurance, such sublime
heroism, such abandon in the very
jaws of death
He then gave a review of the cam
paign of 1864, and of those disasters
of 1868 that brought the war to its
final close. After reference to the
victory ut Bentonville he continued:
But this was the last. The light OF
the Confederacy was extinguished.
The struggle for Southern independ
ence WAS over. The doom of slavery
was sealed. The past, with all its
bright anticipations, with all its glories,
was only the dead past. Then came
the settlement of all those woeful ques-
| tions-whose settlement we had hoped
to avoid by a separation from the
North Bat this was Lot permitted
us. We had struggled, and struggled
! manfuily, but all was IN valn-ln vain?
no. Nothingis in vain that has such re-
suits as the late war. True we failed
| to gain our independt nee as a separate
nationality, true we lost our property,
| amounting to billions of dollars, true
| the races are now declared by Con-
| gress to be in all things equal. These
things would have come without re-
sistance; resistance failing, they have
come. But no war is in vain that
brings a people such q sheen OF glory
as fell to our portion in the late strug
| gle; no war is in vain that illumInes
the pages of history with such feats of
valor, such deeds Of patriotism, such
grand works of heroism as render I'M
mortal the name and fame of our
| Southern Confederacy.
No disasters, no calamities are in
vain that give to the world SO many
examples of sublime fortitude-so
many illustrations Of human capacity
| to endure illimitable woei
When it was realized that our long
and arduous struggle had come to
naught-when the gloom of defeat
| had moved across our land like a hid
eous night, appalling in its blackness;
when hope that had so long sustained
US, at length departed, leaving us
alone with our dead, bereft of all but
reason, we'll might we have courted
despair-and ike Sampon Of old have
sought at once ve.geunce and lmmo-
| latlon.
But behold the picture: with chris
| tan resignation, with wise fOrbear-
ance, with a self,control that has no
counterpart in history, we practiced
calEnness and Submission, and were
greater under the accumulated mis-
| fortunes of defeat than in the full tide
of our glorious victories. No more
sublime spectacle can be presented to
human SIGHT than an entire people
buryihg the passions OF a civil war III
the graves of their loved ones, and
| turning again to rebuild the affairs OF
common country. We have bur ed
our passions [ say, but the memories
that cluster around the past, our sOr-
rows, our glories, the recollection OF
our sufferings, of our self denials, and
! IuS u0IOlSh anu NdIOI vi our
these we treasure, these shall live for
ever. The speaker then paid a glow
ing tribute to the Confederate soldier,
and said:
They had no ambition but to serve
their country they had no thought
but of home and their duty. Whether
weary, shoeless and ragged, or wheth-
| %I,o frn,1ohnc yx7ithn17t
out food, suffering from privation,
whether in some dread prison dying
of hunger and illusage, or in the fore
front of battle amid the crash of can
mister and grape, their ears pierced by
the agonizing shrieks of their dying
comrades stricken down on either side,
they stand alike the representative of
all that is heroic i'll poor mortality.
And their steadfastness, their courage,
their fortitude, their patriotism claim
our highest admiration, and make us
wonder that those we know SO well,
who in peace are SO gentle, so loving,
so tender, SO kind, can in war become
such stalwart soldiers, such famous
heroes.
And yet not by them alone was vic.
tory achieved. It required Lee to
plan-a Jackson and others to execute.
And among the officers of the army OF
Northern Virginia none excelled in
manly bearing, in soldierly conduct,
whether in battle or on the route,
those sons of Carolina whose fame is
our fame, and whose names are con-
secrated to the cause of liberty. A
Pettigrew, q Branch, an Anderson, a
Burgwyn, a Haywood, a Register, an
Iredell, Bryan.
These and their comrades in death
are the jewels of our State and their
names sparkle like diamonds amid the
lustroua glory with which they have
crowned North Carolina.
Peace to their ashes! May they rest
beneath the green sod. And when
you and shall have passed over the
river, and shall meet the spirits of
! tLasa hernas comrades in