Louisiana capitolian. (Baton Rouge, La.) 1879-1881, 1879-05-24

4 q
|, All who use the weed must bring thei
own tobacco and pipes.
At "taps" all lights must be extin
guished and each man retire prompt,
8 to his own quarters.
| At the conclusion Of the collation., th
} following order was observed:
let. Toast-The Army Of Virginia, b.
, C0mrade A. L. Guslnall.
Mr.. President and Comrades-In be
, half Of the living members Of the arm!
of Northern Virginia, present and absent
l thank you for the compliment implied
or by mskinglthatarmy the recipient o
the first toast Of the evening. But il
accepting the compliment l must, how
ever, emphatically disclaim any as
sumption, in consequence, Of supremacy
superiority Oh the part of the army O
Northern Virginia over the other armies
of the Confederacy. ! am sure ! but re-
feet the sentiments Of every living mem
, Der of that army when Ireailily, willing
", gladly and joyfally recognize as
military peers and compeers the men
who upheld the Southern standard in
Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia
the Trans- Mississippi Department and
the Gulf States. It is true that because
of strategic and political considerations
the army Of Northern Virginia was call.
ed into existence earlier, and sent into
action Oftener than the other armies,
but these facts surely do not give it any
rights to supremacy or superiority, nor
entitle it to preferential positions in
the hearts Of the Southern people. ]
therefore assume that the compliment is
really due simply to the conclusion that
since the army Of Northern Virginia was
first started it should in consequence be
first called upon-a recognition Of elder
ship, and nothing more. s o
As to the toast itself, I know it is
unnecessary for me, surrounded as am
by men we'll posted in the history Of tho
civil war, to enter upon an historical
sketch Of the army of Northern Virginia;
and that, for the same reason, whatever
remarks may offer as to it's services
should be few in number. / am salts
fed that all claim for it has long since
been accorded it by every one within the
sound Of my voice f; or that it has his
torically =, established by deeds and
actions, that its members, taken as a
whole, were destitute of none of those
qualities that fit men for the cold camp
and sanguinary battle; soldiers that, un-
dismayed by hardships, unchecked by
privations, unsubdued by dangers and
undaunted by reverses, bravely and
honorably struggled on to the last in an
unequal contest and that if success did
not finally crown their heroic efforts it
was not because they were either whip
ed or conquered, but simply because
they were literally crushed to the
earth by overpowering and overwhelm-
ing odds. :.
And what, Comrades, is true of the
army of Northern Virginia, l say with
undisguised State pride, is especially
true Of it's contingent of Louisiana. Ten
regiments and three battalions Of infan-
try, and six companies of artillery, az
gregating from first to last, about four
teen thousand IA, OOU men, formed this
States contribution, and of these IA, 900
men, it is sad, but perfectly true, his
tOrical fact, that over 5000 laid down
their lives in Virginia, Maryland and
Pennsylvania during the continuance of
of the war-a monrnful, but free and
noble sacrifice to the now Lost Cause"
of States Rights and Southern indie
pendence. These figures surely sutfi-
Gently attest the severity Of the conflicts
they were engaged IN, the magnitude
of the dangers and perils they were
called-upOn to meet, encounter and con-
qMer, their capacities for sOldierly en-
durances and heroic deeds, and their
rights to q prO-rata share of encomi-
ums with their brothers in-arms from
other States forming the army of North
ern Virginia-and as it was with these
Louisianians, so it proved, Il add with local
pride as great my State pride in Louisi-
ana'scOntingent, with the two companies
from this parish that served in Virginia,
Maryland and Pennsylvania. The war
records of the Creole Guards and Baton
Rouge Fencibles show more than seven
ty men killed, and over forty died from
diseases during the war; thus unques-
tionably establishing that these men
were sharers and participators with
their brothers from other parishes in the
hardships, privations, risks and perils of
The war; that with them, they fear
lessly went, whenever called upon to do
so; (and the calls were numerous, can
personally testify where not only the
hardest blows were to be dealt, but also
where the hardest blows were to be re-
ceived.
Mr.. President and Comrades, could |
continue in the same strain for a long
time, for when one comes to speak Of
the services of the army of Northern
Virginia he stands as it were upon tue
sea-shore, with vast, expensive ocean |
Of truth spread-Out before him upon
which to sail the discoursive bark not |
only for tens of miles but also for hun
dred and thousands of miles; but my
promise to be brief, and the lateness of |
the hour and the fact that several other
toasts are to be proposed and responded |
to, admOnish me that must close but |
before ! do so, let me at least add my |
personal hopes, as one of the original
founders of the Baton Rouge Association
of Confederate Veterans, that the re-
unions so auspiciously inaugurated to-
night may long continue of annual re-
currence, tightening, strengthening
and solidifying the bonds of social amity
and military fellowship among the mem
bers of the association.
I'd. Toast-''The Army Of Tennessee"
This toast was responded to by our
genial friend, Thomas d. Dupree, who
was called upon rather unexpectedly in
of the delinquency of the
party originally selected. He gave a
short biographical sketch of the generals
who commanded the army, referred
briefly to the different campaigns and
ended by handsome tribute to the pri-
rate soldier-"who was the true hero of
The war" The thought was happy
me indeed, and struck the keynote to
he "rebep heart.
Sd. Toast-"Our Dead" by Comrade
John Preston.