Clarksville evening chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn) 1886-1890, 1888-10-04

Headed by the Clarksville band, and
then came the Dixie Drum corpse
from Nashville, followed by the
Frank Cheatham Bivouac, next came
McEwen Bivouac of Franklin, fol-
lowed by Caldwells Bivouac in a
body, followed by members of Forbes
Bivouac. Tie procession moved to
Henrys' grove where dinner was be-
ing prepared to accommodate the
large crowd in attendance. Before
the exercises were formally opened,
there were several cannon salutes by
the Nashville Artillery, while the
band plaid Dixie and the old rebel
yell went up again.
Capt, Polk G. johnson called the
crowd to order, and Immediately the
exercises were opened with fervent
prayer by Rev. DR.. D. G. Kelly, of
Nashville.
CAPT. POLK JoHNsoN's SPEECH.
After the close Of DIR. Kelly's
prayer, which met with devout
amen all over the audience, Capt.
johnson said:
Ladies and Gentlemen, and Fellow Com
rades:
The Confederate soldier who remained
steadfast to the last, will always receive a
hearty welcome from any people who value
fortitude, devotion and self-sacrif1ce, for the
facts of the struggle have already been re-
corded and will be handed down to the ages
that follow.
The Confederates, with armies, first to last,
of little over 100000 men, fought for four
long years the armies of the United States
composed of 2, $3.50, ,l32 men, being two million,
two hundred thousand more men and nearly
five times their number.
1t cost the Government of the United States
to defeat them So, IS9, $780, 800 in money and the
lives of 27S,8S6 men. these figures may seem
extravagant, but they are taken from the
official records at Washington.
The glorious fields of battle upon which
their banners waved in triumph the eighty
two National cemeteries with their thousands
of monuments erected to the memory of the
b ave Federal soldiers, the graves of more
than a quarter Of d million OF men, and the
annual expenditure now Of $50 900 in pen
sions, tell the earnestness of the struggle and
the valor and courage of the Confederate SOL
diers.
The loss sustained in single battles are un-
paralleled in all the annals of war The
greatest loss sustained in any single battle
on either side was that of the Twenty-Ninth
North Carolina Regiment of Hollis Division
at the battle of Gettysburg, where it lost
eighty per cent; that is, eighty-two men
in every one hundred fell dead or wounded
In this engagement. Many other regiment s
loss in single battle was from fifty to eighty
per cent. Our own Quarles' Brigade in a
single charge at the battle of Lick Skillet
Road, Atlanta, lost fifty-two per cent, and
the Forty Ninth Tennessee Regiment forty
three per cent. at the battle of Franklin.
In the charge of the Light Brigade, which
has been immortalzed by Tennyson, the loss
was only thirty six per cent, and the heaviest
loss in a single battle in the Franco-Prussian
war was that of the Sixteenth German In
! fantry, which was orty-nine per cent.
With snch record, history will take care
of the motives which Influenced the Conted-
crates and accord them patriotism worthy
or their forefathers of rs. No thought or
question Of expediency was theirs. great
principle was involved, and they were will
ing to endure any hardship and make any
sacrifice rather than surrender it. No COM
promise could have been made whereby they
would give up their convictions. The leaders
would never have consented, and the men in
/ u Ct1lN tod m
They accepted the issue as a life and death
struggle to be determined alone by the results
of war. So they fought for four long years by
night and by day, half-fed and half-clothed
Their ranks were nearly destroyed, but not
demorallzed. II defeated to-day, new to-
morrow. Their final overthrow came not by
defeat in battle, for the army of Northern Vir'
ginia in its last battle at Appomatox drove
the enemy two miles, capturing two cannon
and many prisoners, and the Army OF Ten
nessee in its last battle at Bentonville, de-
feated the enemy in every engagement, cap
| turing its breastworks, four cannon, and nine
hundred and three prisoners, and their killed
and wounded exceeded four thousand. Ac'
cording to official reports the Confederatet
had fourteen thousand men and the FederaiS
seventy thousand, the enemy having five
times their number.
But they were com mpelled to yield to over
whelming numbers and resources. They pre-
ferred that their flag should go down by the
irresistible force of the enemy, rather than
yield one iota of the principle for which they
began their struggle. They stood in line o
battle as eager and ready for the fight on the
last day of their military life, as they had Oh
the first. Pending the negotiations between
Generals Lee and Grant at Appomatox, Sher
idan demanded the immediate surrender o.
Iieutenant-General John b. Gordan's com
mand, which was in advance and engaged
with the enemy, with the threat that in the
event of refusal his army would be annihi
lated. Gordon refused to surrender and in
vited the annihilation. The struggle ended
they returned to their homes, in the Language
of General Lee, with the satisfaction tina
proceeds from the consciousness of duty faith
fully performed"
For such soldiers, the people of Montgomery
county and the city of ClaTksville have always
q hearty welcome. a county which cast al
of its votes except thirteen for separation, ant
a city which cast all but one A county
which furnished its full quota oftroops to thu
Con moderate Army, all of whom we're volun
teers, and whose dead heroes sleep on nearly
| every field of battle from Donelson to Gettys