Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1886-05-01
A CONSOLATION TO THE SOUTH.

1O~>'
A CONSOLATION TO THE SOUTH.
General ID. FL. Hill contributes to
the May Century paper on THE
Battle of South Mountain, or Boons-
boro." From it we quote the closing
paragraph: off we had to be beat
ell it was better to he beaten by
former friends. Every true sol
dier loves to have ii sfoeman wor-.
thy of his STEEL Every true man
likes to attribute high qualities to
those who were once friends, though
now alienated for time. The tenn
porary estrangement cannot obliter-
ate the recollection of noble traits of
character. Some one attempted to
cond0le with Tom Yearwood, IA
nous old South Carolina bully, upon
the beating given him by his own
son. Hush up said old Tom. L
am glad that no one but my own
flesh and blood had hand in my
drubbing.'
"The sons Of the South struck her
many heavy blows. Faragut of
Tennessee rose as a reward of merit,
to the highest rank in the Federal
navy. A large number of his asso-
ciates were from the South. In the
Federal army there were of the South
ern blood and lineage Generals
Thomas, Sykes, Reno, Newton, j. J.
Reynolds, Candy, Ord, Brannan,
William Nelson, Crittenden, Blair,
r. w. Johnson, L. j. Wood, N. B.
Buford, Terrill, Graham, Davidson,
Cooke, Alexander, Getty, French,
Fremont, Pope, Hunter. Some of
these doubtless served the South
better by the side they took, but
were fine officers, and some of them
were superb.
"Then the South had three hun
dred thousand of her sons in the
Federal army in more subordinate
capacities. Her armies surrendered
when a Southern born President and
a Southern-born Vice-President were
at the head of the United States
Government. Surely we have the
comfort Of old Tom Yearwood, and
it is comfort. That the wounds of
defeat and humiliation have been so
healed has been owing largely to
this balm to mortified pride. The
sting of shame to proud and sensi-
tive Frenchmen is that their mag
nificent capital was captured by, and
their splendid armies surrendered
to, soldiers of an alien race and re-
liglon, speaking a different language,
and unlike themselves in manners
and customs and in all those charac.
teristics which constitute their pride
and their glory. On the other hand,
the civil wars in England have left
no bitter memories behind them.
Who now knows or cares whether
his ancestors fought on the
side OF the White Rose or the
Red Rose 2 Who now knows or
cares whether they were for King or
Parliament for James III. or for
William Of Orangeg Compare this
forgetfulness of civil strife in Eng
land with the bitterness which Ire
land still feels over her subjugation;
compare it with the fact that the
Roman occupation of England for
five hundred years made no impress
sion upon the language of the ma
tlNto, gu HUH iutcICOuiS St WAS tfIcfG
between them and their conquerors :;
compare it with the fact that for
four hundred years OF the Norman
conquest there was no fusion be-
tween the Norman and Saxon.tongues.
In truth, all history teaches that the
humiliation of defeat by foreign
foe is felt for ages, while that OF de-
feat by the same race is temporary
and soon forgotten. The late Civil
War was relieved of very much Of
its sectional character by the pres
ence Of so many Southerners in the
Union armies. Therefore, it will be
in the United States as in all tue I'M
sectional civil wars of the worlds
history in which race and religion
were not involved,-the waves of
oblivion will roll over the bitter rec
elections of the strife. But we trust
that fragrant forever will be the
deeds OF heroism, patience, fortitude,
self-denial. and constancy to princi-
pie; whether those deeds we're per