Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-04-27
THE CONFEDERATE DEAD.
THEIR GRAVES DECkED WITH
THE LAUREL AND CYPRESS.

Thronged-Rich Offerings of Fragrant
Flowers.
Yesterday-the twenty-siXth Of April
the graves of our honOred soldier dead
throughout the South were covered with
the laurel and the cypress and strewn
with beautiful flowers. There is not
hamlet i'm the whole South, however insig-
niticant in size. but gave soldier to the
Confederate cause: there is no village but
contains within the little cemetery the
bones Of some patriot who returned, battle
SCARED and weary. today himself down to
rest from labOrs well done, or who fell
in the heat of battle. There
is scarcely n family but to-day
misses a once familiar face. Our peO-
pie are Joined TO their dead by that
tie which death fails to unlOOse-affec-
tiOnate remembrance-an0 on each re-
curing anniversary strew the graves
of the nOblest of their sons with choicest
flowers of rarest and richest fragrance.
No honor is too great that patriotic and
grateful people can do to the memory of
those who persisted to maintain principles
of right, and defend their native soil from
the invasion of those whom they believed
to be their cOuntry's enemies. Everything
was merited: all was lost through suffer-
ing and trials that make martyrs of those
who fell in the great conflict,
GLOW sleep the brave. who sink to rest
Bv all their cOuntry's wishes blest!
When Spring, with dewy fingers cold
Returns TO deck their hallOwed mould,
She there shall dress a Sweeter sod
Than fancy's feet have ever trod.
Bv fairy hands their knell is rung:
By forms unseen their dirge i sung;
Their honor comes. pilgrim gray.
To bless the turf that wraps their clay:
And freedom shall awhile repair.
To dwell a weeping hermit there!
Yesterday over the green mounds, warm
/ with the April sun. flowers were strewn
| and garlands placed by the affectiOnate
living in memory of the heroic dead.
+ Friends and relatives brought offerings
! and laid them on the graves of those who
died in the VindicatiOn of their rights. and
/ battling for cause they deemed just; in
/ defense Of their affairs and their homes.
/ All Joined hand and hand above the
mounds and laid sweet offerings upon
! common altar. Yesterday over the entire
South tears and flowers fell on the graves
( of heroes and martyrs.
I The following beautiful lines from the
i pen of John +. Hatcher, published twelve
T or fifteen years ago, are suggestive, trlb-
ute to the great Confederate dead, and in
( sentiment recall the dark days when
| clouds hung over Southern heroes:
Again we wander to the gloomy years
Through whose dark scenes we have 80
lately passed.
Where no soft beam OF golden light appears
To gild the cloud of sorrow Ger them cast.
Those scenes are but a solitude of graves,
Where Love and Memory pour their tears
like rain;
And where, in voiceless grief. the cypress
waves
The dead who died, as died that gallant
To shield cause which in their eyes was
shall live enshrined in story and in song.
While ages roll above their scattered dust.
What though for them no marJle shaft shall
Time shall not see their sacred memory
Their scroll of fame expansive as the skies.
Years Of oblivion shall cOrrOde an vain.
Heroic deeds are deathless and they live
Unmarried while empires crumble into dust;
They master fame and life and glory give
To ''storied urn and animated bust
There rose no sculptured monument to tell
Where spartan valor broke the Persian
And vel We know there nobly fought and fell,
Heroic men in ''Old PlatRa's day
! Peace To thee. ashes of our noble dead!
Far distant ages shall behold each name,
Bright ming like morning when the night is
fed.
And ever broad'nng on the disc of fame.
Farewell yc high heroic hearts. farewell,
Inspired lips shall teach the world ere long,
le fought to hallOw story. and we fell
To give a new apocalypse to song'
The day was more generally observed
in Savannah than for years past. The
city government offices. the exchanges
and banks were closed throughout the
day. and by 5 O'Clock in the afternoon all
the leading business houses were closed,
and the streets presented a Sunday aspect.
Very little business of any kind was
transacted after that hour, and the people
went to the cemeteries. The cars on the
Barnard. Whitaker and AbercOrn street
lines ran direct to Laurel Grove, and
began carrying passengers by } O'Clock.
/ By t O'Clock the crowds began to pour
out by car and private conveyance. and
the cemetery grounds were soon filled
with hundreds of ladies bearing in loving
hands beautiful tokens of affection and
remembrance of the silent dead. The
decoration began earlier than usual in the
day. and the abundance of flowers this
year made the display more extensive
than heretofore. The boxes were placed
near theSgate. and held up by little boys
TO the carriages as they entered, and
received generous contributions. Nearly
every car and vehicle carried its load of
fragrant flowers, and there were busy
hands under the bending arches
placing over the mounds and
around the marble shafts tributes
of love. Many whole lots were strewn with
eyergreens and offerings, and hardly a
more tasteful display could have been
made in memory of the loved and hOnOred
dead. The decoration proceeded quietly
throughout the afternoon, and until eve
ming many were engaged within the lots
or lingering at the iron ratings near the
resting places of all that was left of the
once dear friend-the kind father, the low
ing brother and cherished son.
In the soldiers lot the decorations were
not elaborate, but betOkened the work of
loving hands. At the foot of each head
stone was placed a bouquet of flowers.
and many were Circled with wreaths Of
ivy.
In the private lots there were many
costly and elaborate decorations, and
mounds and banks Of roses and wreaths of
fragrant flowers were seen. Among
those especially noticeable were
the offerings around the graves
Of Gen. +. ;. Barlow. Thomas Purse, Jr.,
John W. Anderson, the Habersham
brothers. the tomb of Henry III. and VIM. /
b. Woodbridge, William Henry Crane. !
John l.. Branch. At the grave of !
soldiers lot" was erected beautiful +
monument over five feet high. built of
flowers and evergreens. There were few
graves that were forgotten, and in the re-
hottest corners some slight offering was
found on the almost hidden mound.
In the Cathedral Cemetery there were /
also many offerings. Cars on the Coast /
Line Railroad ran from Bolton street every (
hour after O'Clock in the morning, and F.
early in the day there were numbers of /
visitors. Many also drove to BOnaven- /
ture. and the graves in both cemeteries /
were more extensively decorated than in /
years past.
The monument in the Park extension 7
was gracefully wound with vines and |
wreaths by the ladies who have hereto /
fore performed the task. Immense banks Of |
flowers were placed at the base on all /
four sides, and on the North side was in /
scribed i'm large letters on floral arch, /
s.HonOr to Our Brave Soldiers" and be- |
meath were the silken flags of the. North /
and South.
The simple ceremonies Of the day were
performed with Il sacred devotion, and
hardly a neglected grave could be found
where there was not placed some token of
remembrance.