The National tribune., 1883-09-06
A LOVING MISSION.
How Frank Smith Decked His Dead
Comrades Graves at AnderSOnVille.
i Correspondence National Tribune.

Of the many who marched away,
And the children who clung TO our skirts, trow,
Are as tall and as strong as they.
There unmarked graves IN the lonely South,
There are spec.ers that walk at viii,
But the flag that you saved at the cannons mouth,
Is the flag that is over you still.
Frank ". Smith, general secretary of the
Railroad Mems Christian Association, has re-
turned from his mission of decorating the
graves of the I3,701 Union soldiers who met
| death in its most ioathsome forms, at Ander-
sonville prison. And who is Frank w. SIuith,
| and how came he to go to Georgia upon such
mission? To which, it may be replied that
| Mr.. Smith is veteran soldier, humanitarian,
| and best of all, a Christian. He was all these
| when he entered Andersonyile prison. after
| that hard fight at New Hope Church, May 27,
| 1864, against the gallant Pat Cleburne-after
wards killed at Franklin-where he, day by
| day, took his little testament from his breast
pocket to kneel by his dying comrades and
read to them the words of Him who smoke as
| never man spoke, to comfort the departing
| spirit in its flight from the poor, emaciated
| body. He was all these still, when that
| peaceful August day, 1888 he took that same
little testament from his pocket, old and soiled
| and the covers all gone, to announce once again,
as did the angels on the plain of Bethlehem,
peace on Earth; good will towards men"
Frank w. Smith served as a pri vate in COM
pany d, One Hundred and Twenty fourth Ohio
volunteer infantry, enlisting at Cleveland in
1862. He served with his regiment in the East
| Tennessee and Georgia campaigns until his
capture; his prison-life extending over nine
months. from May to November in Anderson
vile, from which he was transferred consecu-
| lively to Blackshire Florence and Millen pris-
ons from which latter place he was exchanged
and mustered out
1T was astonishing, what that man would
do" said John McElroy, of the Toledo Blade,
| to-day who served with him in prison, and,
/ txxrip Of nd is
nized authority Nov, | could do anything
in the world fer the boys when the duty did
| not involve personal contact. | could divide
| my clothing, or give up my poor rations to
some furnishing comrade. But / have seen
| Frank Smith wash the filth from some loath-
some, scurvied body, or comb the verinin from
the tattered diSheveiled hair, and all as cheer
fully and gladly as if engaged in the most de-
lightfal occupation" And yet all who know
| hm will bear witness to the fact that Mr..
| Smith has q finely organized, sensitive organi-
zation; the secret is. that he has the Christ
| like enthusiasm for helping the needy and dis
| treSsed This desire has kept him at the front,
and to-day he is known far and wide for his
efforts in aid of the young men employed on
the great railway lines centering at Toledo.
This morning, entering the Railway Bethel,
a neat little chapel adjoining the Union Depot,
| the main audience-rooIn of which serves both
as reading-room and place of worship, your
| correspondent saw numbers of young men
seated at the table reading, writing, or playing
simple games, and in a few moments the uerv-
Gus, wiry fguGe of Mr. Smith was seen to APP
roach, and frank clasp of the hand, joined
| its welcome to that already accorded by the
quick black eye.
Well; it was a success" Mr.. Smith.
20 yes, and l wish | could tell you how
great success it was Think of ito stand,
| inside of twenty years, upon the spot where
an armed rebellion starved to death nearly
4,0G0 OF as good men as ever took up arms for
| their country and see upon every one of those
graves the flag of the Union, placed there
| through the efforts of the very men whom
they had met On the field of battle aud the
| very women whose determination to hold out
| to the end kept the men al the front, when
defeat stared them in the very face
1t was the eeX-ConfedeTates then. that made
| your mission a success?o
Yes; the very men who met US hand to
hand, manned and wounded men, but now, by
the blessing of God, as staunch friends of the
| flag as khose who followed it over q hundred
[ battlefelds to victory
Now, viii you not kindly say to the 60000
or 7g,800 comrades who read THE NATIONAL
TRIBUNE just bow you came to undertake that
mission and how you were enabled to carry it
through"
Nothing could give me greater pleasure.
| You see had been reading a good deal about
posed of FedeTals and ex-Confederates, and of
their cordial reception in the North Toledo
was making extensive preparations to welcome
them upon their return from Boston. | was
glad of this, and thinking it all over one day
In my Office it suddenly came to me that the
North was not alone in the desire for reconcil-
iation and that If | should go down and make
my long hoped for visit to the old prison, |
would receive just as warm a welcome from
the men Of the South. Then and there was
matured the plan for decorating the Union
graves. Bat where was the money to come from
and how was TO get the flags? Soon after hap
pened to meet General Charles L. Young, Past
Senior Vice Commander, g. A. R., who was
actively engaged in arranging a reception for
the Continentals. told him my plan and he
in turn communicated it to the Continentals,
who were delighted with the project, and at
once sent me $50 as a starter"
Then your first subscription came from the
Confederate side? That certainly had a show
of reconciliation about it.o
Yes; the first came from the x-Confeder-
, ates, which set me actively at work. | received
leave of absence from the board increased my
funds by contributions received at the soldiers
and sailors Reunion at Columbus, bought my
, flags, and set out for Macon, Ga. The saperin-
, tendent of the Adams Express Company, at Gin
cinnati, himself an old soldier, forwarded them
through free of charge"
Upon arriving there you sought out your
comrades of the Grand Army, did you"
Not at all; my first inquiry was for an ex-
| Confederate who had fought at the front They
directed me to Captain w. w Carnes now in
command of the Second Georgia battalion, or.
: ganized in 1925, and composed very largely
: of cx-Confederate soldiers. went to his house
found him to be whole-souied, earnest fellow
; greatly resembling our Past Department Com
: mander Kountz. He had just returned with
his company from pleasant tour in the Nortl
z and gave me a warm welcome. i told him my
+ mission and that | had box of flags with me
t which would have to be arranged and properly
e forwarded 20 their destination"
4 Send your flags over to battalion headqusr
. ters," he said, and leave it all to me-" Ant
9 there gathered these brave men of the South
4 with their wives and sisters and daughters
The flags were unpackcd, neatly ironed, ant
made ready to be planted After they were al
in order they were again placed in the box
upon which was laid a larger flag and pinned t.
= that the roster of the Second Georgia battalion
> printed In blue on white paper, the Confeder
u u ate recognition of my mission"
= And did many turn out to the exercises a
Andersonville ?"
They came in great numbers. Their repre-
= sentative men were there, and the man wht
= made the response to my address at barbecue
: rendered at Marion, Alabama, has eight bulle
= = wounds in his body, with an arm gone besides
I. he was a private in the Fourth Alabama,-
u B. Shivers by name,-ap the leading lawye
!, at Marion. Mr.. c. w. Wyant, who entertaines
Il