The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1885-08-26

'ue ASSERTION oil SoverelSnty-ue nrSt re-
sp"nsr OF her youthful and chivatrous sons tn
iherali OF their mother, standing among ,hcl
of the earth, II free, sovereign and
commonwealth, 4
You Witnessed the fall of Furt Sumter,
and supported the guns which impcllcd the
of the heroic Anderson, there re-
cciring the baptism Of fire.
You wee among the foremost Of the rcgi-
mcnis to rally to tho call for aid from the old
state ct Virginia, mother of States and Of
Statesmen.
fau shared the dangers and the glorics of
every great battle fought upon The soil Of
Virginia. MARYLAND and Pennsylvania. You
planted your b'onhY Hug far in the front on
turhil waters with the blood of your best and
bravest. You shared the disasters, and en-
dnrrd the Smiirrings Of I.ongstrrct's winter
campaign amid the maintains of Tennessee,
and crowned rour splendid career as soldiers
Mt ArerySborough and Rcntonsvillc, amid the |
dying thrncS Uf Cnnfrdrracv. Let me say, MS
emo who ms the right Ia speak. that ynrr noble
record has never been stained hv Il single
thilur" To perform the duty III The hour, II,
amy and all hazards. Surely deeds like yours
should find its chroniclrr.
As l write. memories multiply and cr wd
The mind. lncidSntS and adventures NOR,
than would fill volumes press for mtterancc. |
There would be no want for material for the |
historian who witnessed YOUR achievements
ana your suflrrin"s. But this is not the
time or the occasion, nor mine the pen for
such work as that. 1t must be left to some
less busy brain-to some more accomplished
pen to perform this grateful task. Let me
mention n few fucts, to which your historian
may refer.
Your regiment numbered when it entered
service: in Virginia, I presume about one
thousand men. or these the statistics show
that you lost in battle six hundred sixty men
at the following places:
Malvern Hill, 9 officers and IS men.
Savage Station, 2 officers and so mon.
Maryland Heights. 6 officers and I07 men.
Sharpsburg, IL officers and l2i men.
Fredcrickburg, 6 officers and 80 men.
Chanccllorville, Is men.
gettysburg, Is officers and % men.
C~hicknmauga, IL officers and 72 men.
Knoxville. IL men.
Bean Station, 4 men.
In diminishing, | officer and 9 mcu. Total
GEO.
In the battle Of Chickamaura, the entire
strength of the regiment present for duty,
was ~ officers and 2i5 men. or these, YOU
lost, as ! have said, eleven Offices and seventy
two men.
This record includes all the engagements
UP. TO the Wilderness campaign. In that cam
p1ign, from the 9th MAY to the 25th june
1864, including the battle of the Wilderness,
SEottyslvania, South Anna and Cod IJarbor,
Win the intervening skirnishes, and the de-
fence OF rctersburg to TINT date. your. losses
were 10 officers and $50 men. From the 2Sth
OF July in the Valley, TO the 29th Of August,
1861, when we cncnmped ut Brucctown, You
lost II men. In the skirmish in front of
Strasbnrg, October 18th, you lost II men.
On the Bid and 18th of September 1864 your
losses were 6 men. AT the memorable en-
ga!Sc'nent of October 18th, that day of glorious
victory and disastrous defeat, your losses
were 2 officers and AZ men. regret to have
TO add that l have no further reports Of your
which | have given above is 904 officers aud
men, out of n regiment Of Il thousand, with
other battles of which the casualties are not
h"o"h Maiv OF You, my coinrndes. bear
upon your bodies marks Of this noble strug-
gle some of YOU, MANNED and broken, are
doubtless in perjury and want, and m.n are
ionHa who forget your SufrringS and sacri-
fces III behalf of your native State, vet your
names arc written ON the rolls Of impcrish-
no'e tar e, ana The generations 20 come will
DlcSs your memories and emulate your noble
deeds. Lives like yours are no, lived in vain.
FOR somewhere in the future, Eternal Justice
must provide meet compensation for all YOU
have done and suffered for your native land.
"ish'h% You many happy rc-nni"ns in the
coming years, with the best of the BLESSINGS
which The future may have in store fnr our pco-
pie, | am with great affection aud respect. YOUR
friend and conradc. JOS. Is. KEnsuAw.
GENERAL KENNEDY's LETTER.
Camden, 5. c., August 10. 1885.
To The Survivors of the 9TH. Rcri,nrp. &
{. ", Dear friends and comrades.
! regret that my engaa cments are such ns
10 prevent my being with Won on the 2Ist.
inst. 1t would afford ME inexprcSsib!c rl.p,-
nrc t" look once more in your faces, n-rr
which twenty years have doubtless made
many burrows and grasp your hands cm,,ny-
Ell Tor The same period III civil pursuits: lands
which when | last grasped them had lust I,ii
down the sword, or musket borne for four
years, IN defence of your country. 1t would
ben pleasure c"nmingled with sadn. : far
our minds would revert ia tInsn y,t,, II .,, .>
distant fields, or ut home: brave gallant souls,
as true ana noble men as ever rallied,
in the defence of truth Justice, aud
pulls: lysS be the Southern heart and.
them '''Rebels." AS ! write Bland, Hard.
White, and a host of officers and ]priyut.s of
Your band too numerous to mention, rise M
before me; my mind revcrts also to Manassas,
Salvage Station. Sharrsburg, gettysburg,
C~hicamauga, Knoxville, the Wilderness
Richmond, Petersburg, Bentonsvillc, and
scores OF tights and skirmishcs, in all of
which the 9TH. was ever to the front, over
ready aud ever true. The achievements Of
your regiment, i'll common withthc whole big
ado deserve to be rcrpetuatcd in song, aud
story. From first to last, YOU lost nearly ns
many men as YOU carried TO Virginia in 1861.
What a record: And when you furlcd Your
tattcred lag with a remnant only to rally
around 1t, YOU furled it without one spit or
blcmish on its blood stained folds. You
have cause To be proud, comrades, of your reg
imcnt! And you should tell your children,
that they in Jurn may tell it to theirs. aud
thu, send it down the ages to The re,nn:,.St
generations, of the gloricS ami achievements of
your noble command. II is Your duty as
we'll rs your privileges WE:;.r tn. oGlira-
tons van shonld feel, rs true m-n to y,ur
country arc Imperative, ana we haze ut lax. Il
common country, with ono flag, and una dcs-
tiny, Yet the past is sacred to US, and those Ia
come after us, should know and appreciate
what we fought for and what we d;l. 1t is
right, aye, 1t is a duty we owe, not 70 ourselves
alone III justification Of nur cnndnct, bnt to
yindicate that of our dead comrudes.
1t will not detract from the full measure of
an enlightened citizenship, on the part of
your children, but on the contrary, cond,cc
to ;heir more thorough appreciation OF their
duties ind responsibilities, to know that his
toric blood courses through their veins
and if your means permitted, you should
erect n monument at some central point to
your dead. In this day of
gnsh and sentimental tears, there ara some
who in their apparent a~nXietfes lately to show
their entire reconstruction have lost sight of
what is becoming, and dignifed. Their con-
l,tnf 10 t.n Les, ~, 80 -. SOL