Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-02-09
WHOLE NO. 1924.
To the Survivors OF the Army Of
Tennessee and fam Frfem1s.

To the survivors OF the Army ol
Tennessee and its krfendE.
DEAR SIR:-We respectfully I'm.
vite your consideration Of the sub.
ject Of this cirnular, and nsk your
cooperation in carrying out It's sug-
gestions.
The Southern Historical Society
at Richmond, Va, Is doing great
| work in rescuing Confederate his
tory from oblivionand neglect. The
high tone Of honor and truth which
characterizes this publications have
I justly given them a high rank with
all English speaking people. But
I this society has a vast field Of labor
before ii, sufficient 90 engage its at
tention until after the present gen
Grafton Of Confederate soldiers has
passed away. IL has already COLI
lected into its archieves great
mass Of historical material, IN the
shape Of official reports Of battles
never published, besides other val
liable manuscripts. But rs pages,
thus FAR, have been devoted mainly
to the discussion of battles and 9th
er important events In connection
with the Army of Northern Nir-
ginia. This special field of labor
alone, from It's great importance
and extent, viii, and should, do
Justice to ii, occupy the Richmond
publication Office for years TO come.
In the meantime, the interests of
Western history will materially
suffer for the want OF timely atten-
tion, simply from the fact that the
living actors in our great events are
fast passing away and Il Is TO them
alone can the future historian look
for a correct knowledge Of moOted
and obscure questions.
Now 1t is fact, that the people
of our Western States are too in
different to the fate of their own
history. AS Col. Vim. Preston
Johnston says: ave leave to 9TH
ers to tell the story of our achieve
ments." And ii is q further fact
that they will remain Indifferent
until their interest Is aroused by a
public discussion of the events In
which they took part. There are
many aspects to every battle, al
most as many as there are individ-
ual witnesses, and il is only out of
the general mass of testimony con-
cerning battle that a correct analy-
sis can be formed and its true place
assigned it in the make up Of his
tory.
Then it seems to us that our true
history can be gotten at only by
discussing ii ourselves, while the
actors in its great events are still
living. The Richmond reports are
published too far away, and do not
with the masses In the
West to excite the lively interest
to proper performance
of the vast work at hand and inn
periously demanding attention.
There is another feature of the sub
iect demanding our attention. There
has been since the beginning of the
war change, covert with some but
out spoken with many of our breth-
ern of Lees army, of a dereliction
of duty on the part of the West.
Again, our character, conduct and
achievements have been perverted
by the great mass of Northern
writers and held up to the reproach
of the nations Of earth. The falsi-
fications Of these writers are un-
PARALLEL, too ''gross and palpable"
to be received by the future histO-
rian. All of these things should
impel us to put our battles I'm "A
proper light before the world and
place the responsibility for failure
where IL belongs. Few Of the bat
ties of the West have ever under
gone searching investigation and
critical analysis rose colOred Off
cial reports have too often and too
long averted the public gaze from
the real facts Of the case.
The object Of this circular Is to in
augurate a movement i'm the Army
Of Tennessee looking TO the estab-
lishment of n home organ which
will meet the wants and necessities.
1t is only in form of suggestion,
but timely and pressing, we think,
and If generally needed and adopt
81, the plan and details of the work
IAN be readily arranged.
IL Is not intended to come I'm con-
lict with the Southern Historical
Society, but to follow its example
IN spirit and intention and lend a
helping hand in its great and noble
work of erecting to Confederate
achievement a monument which
shall be "more lasting than brass,
and more durable than marble"
In closing, we again invite the at
tentiOn of yourself, comrades and
other friends Of our history TO
his subject and bespeak the CO.
operation of your counsel and per-
'Onal efforts TO give form and
to the above project.
An early response Is solicited, adj
dressed to f. l.. DRAKE, Sec.
Fayetteville, Tenn.