Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1879-05-31

we ask these men who lost their all in
| that cause referring TO the Confeder-
ates in CoDgressl to vote to tax them
selves to pay men who were disloyal
to them as well as disIoyal to us-men
with whom il was good Lord and
good Devil-depending upon the
flag that foated in front OF the
place where they were living
during the war" This is an un.
patriotic, malicious, and ungrateful
thrust, more uukind than the stab of
Brutus, at every Union man in the
Soluble he citizen, statesman, or
soldier, living or dead. Unpatriotie,
because It po1rs cOntem pit upon those
whom all true patriots honor and re-
spect as part of the glory OF cur
cOuntry's history; malicious, because
the aspersi0n is unf0unded in truth /;
uDgrateful, because it ignores the SER
vices they rendered and sacrifices they
sustained for the Union, and seeks 10
rob many of their widows and or
phaDs aud legal representatives Of
just and equitable claims yet unpaid
by the Government more unkind
than the stab of BrutUs, because, in
stead of one, il is aimed 81 thousands
of friends.
1t seems to me that this is a proper
time and an appropriate place
to denounce the unjust and unpTo-
voked imputatioD. 1t seems that it
is no breach of propriety
here and now-in this
solemn presence; in sight of the graves
OF the dead soldiers of Tennessee, Ken
lucky and of other Southern sections,
whose dust is cOmmingled with the
dust OF their brothers of the North
and West with whom they persisted
on fields of carnage, here and now in
the presence, and with the approval
of this multitude of both sides, eiti-
zens and soldiers-Southern Confeder.
ates aud Southern Uninnists-to resent
the cowardIy insult, aimed alike at the
living and the dead, and to put the
brand of falsehOOd and shame upon
the assertion and its author. I know
that / bat express the sentiment that
throbs in the heart of every true aad
tried soldier with whatever cause, in
the war, he may have been identified
when / declare that the tongue of no
true soldier ever msligned or slandered
a fellow-soidier even though in arms
opposing him. No true soldier
or brave man could plant
his heel upon the mound
that covers the remains Cf the
dead, who gaze their lives in defense of
their principles, and thrust bastard
sword among the fleshless bones and
the Wondering dust of the fallen
brave even though that dust and /
those bones be all that remain OF A.,
gallant enemy. A man that would I
do this, as General Bragg has shown |
be would do, is destitute of any of the /
elements of a true gentleman or soI- /
1ier-is unfit for the association OF
honorable men in peace or war-and q
disgrace to the distinguished civil
ians and military gentlemen with
whom be is politically affiliate in the
American Congress. If this language |
Is adjudged to be severe, / trust TO the |
provocation for my Justification. 1 |
speak in vindicatiOn of the speechless !
dead, whose good name and motives /
have been assaulted in a high place. |
To say nothing of other communities /
his side Of the MasOn-Dixson line,
how was it in cur own section-how /
was il in Eastern Tennessee? AS an .
index to the sentiment which pres /
Eailed here it is only necessary that / 4
should state the fact that Including |
he regularly organized regiments and /
Individual men who fled early and /
connected themselves with North /
srn and Western commands
mostly Western-there were 30 /
700 East Tennesseeans, as good /
metal as ever faced a foe in the /
army of the United States-represent- |
ing voting population OF scarcely /
fifty thousand ! |
strike a line through Wisconsin, /
Territory, cutting eff fifty thousand |
MI
Braggis district, and can she boast of /
such record Go to the heart OF |
Union sentiment in the North and /
East; segregate fifty thousaEd voters,
and can better record be found? l /
challenge comparison. What! hypO- |
critics Men after the order O. good I.
Lord and good devil men-WhO dared
% act out their convictions even in the
presence of hostile flags and hostile /
from the very beginning, |
perish property! perish slavery /
perish everything! survive this
live the Nation .
Disloyal men! who consecra-
led upon the altar of their country the
of home, all their earthly |
possessions and even life itself! No /
genuine UniOnism at the South a
voice comes up from thousands Ct
lameless graves among the lonely hills /
and blooming valleys of the South
and-from scores of historic battle
Greek, Stone River, |
Chickamauga, Atlanta and /
echoes in sepulchral elO /
luence from the tombs as hundreds I
over which waves our couu-
.ry's f1Ag-its hollow tones are heard /
from these narrow vaults around Us
. We shed our blood for the cause of /
iberty-we gave our lives for the 4
Union"
Sir, would ask the defamer of our /
cherished dead what evidence more in /
dubitable-what proof more abundant /
and sublime, can men furnish of tie
genuineness OF their patriotism and sin /
certify of their motives when they lag I
down their lives in their country /
cause? Has human virtue no ex pres /
sion in human actions? Have the /
of human motives no ties, IL /
the crucial fires of adversely? Does
patriotism have no tangiblesig in the /
sacrifices, privations, heroic /
deeds and death of its devotees? Tben |
our Revolutionary faith
ere, and all that illustFioushOst of he
roes trod the wine press of Great Brit /
aims, wrath in vain? The blood /
of the Nations armies has flowed in
vain! The glory of their deeds is but
an empty name Then these graves
hold the dust of the slain sons of the
Union, whose memory we honor TO-
Il -