Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1888-09-28


great gathering of men and women to pay re
spect to the memory of the great Stonewal
jackson and to show by their presence that il
their hearts there was no feeling that he was
t.aitor. And SO again, he had seen another
gathering at the memorable field of the yellow
Tavern, where the great cavalry commander
Stuart, had yielded up his life for his coun
try. They came to show respect to the mem
DRY of men who had made every sacrifice tt
their Country and their State-the men who
fell fighting for one of the principles of gov.
eminent.
He wanted it put on record-the under
standing they had of their duty. The mer
who framed the constitution of tho United
States did not say no State had the right te
withdraw from the Union, but left that ques-
ton for the States to settle. Had they done
otherwise no Union could then have beer
formed. When Virginia withdrew, she exer-
cised right she had, and some of the most
eminent jurists of the North agreed with those
of the South in that construction, which gave
her the right. Therein lay the secret of
Jefferson Davis not having been brought to
trial. There were two peoples at the North One
of them believed with us that the war was a
war between the States The other upheld
the theory that it was rebellion, and wanted
to see the brand of TRAITOR" on the brow of
every Southern soldier. 1t was this last class
that did not want jeff Davis to be tried, as
the verdict would have swept away forever all
excuse for the use of the word ''traitor" in
connection with the Southern people.
But that was all over now, and we were as
sembled here to-day to commemorate the
brave deeds of the men who are no Longer
with u.s. Some of their comrades are left;
some who stood side by side with them in this
Valley and with them wrote the name of the
Army of Northern Virginia high on the roll
of fame. Since the war, he had been reading
the histories of Caesar, Napoleon, Wellington
and other great leaders in war, and had yet to
find where one of these great warriors had
fought four years and lost their cause, but new
er lost battle, (cheers). The famous Eng
lish General, Lord Wolsey, after reviewing
the careers of the greatest Captains of the
past, including the great Wellington, says that
above them all, taking in,o consideration his
resources and the odds against which he
fought, stands the name of Robert E. Lee,
(cheers). To make great generals they must
have the right kind of men behind them, and
who shall say of the Army of Northern Vir-
einia-that made such Generals as Lee, Stone
wall jackson, Beauregard, Lorgstreet, Stuart,
and in twenty eight battles won all but two,
which were considered drawn-was not COM
posed of that sort of men? (Applause). He
did not desire to take away any distinction for
seen them rushing against our ranks with the
highest bravery. and he knew that many of
their disasters were due in this section of the
country to the incapacity of their leaders. He
had said to Northern soldier lately that he
never wished to detract from the reputation
of bravery in their soldiers, and he thought
when they attempted it with the Southern
troops it detracted rather from their own
troops to which they had surrendered.
But short time ago, he had had occasion
to make summary of the strength of the op-
posing forces-the Army of the Potomac and the
Army of Northern Virginia. He was surpris-
ed at the discrepancy which had existed. Gen.
Lee had once said to him that it would be
difficult to convince Europe of the odds against
which we had fought, and on looking at the
rolls of the two armies he had agreed in that
opinion. He found that in the Seven Days
Battle around Richmond there were los, 600
Federals and so, 1852 Confederates engaged; OF
the End Manassas the Federals were rs, sol in
excess of the Confederates at Sharpsburg 81 =
900 in excess; at Fredericksburg FTP in ex-
, cess; at Charlottesville $4,000 in excess; at
Gettysburg 43, 600 in excess, and in the cam
paign of 1864, II, 176 In excess.
But all that was over now. We belonged to
the same country, were under the same flag
and obeyed the same laws. The Confederate
soldiers had duty to perform-they would
do their old duty to the government and make
our country great and our State prosperous
(applause.) The question of construction Of
the constitution which came up for settlement
has been settled on the battlefield, the poison
has dropped from beneath the wing of the
| eagle, and it has been decided that we are te
| remain in the Union and help to make it
glorious. So, accepting the decision, we arr
here to-day to pay our tribute to the memo
| riac of our departed comrades
THE UNWILLING.
A signal was here given, and Miss Carrie
Johnston, grand daughter of Gen. Albert
Sidney Johnston, who was standing at thu
monument with a group of young ladies
| representing each State which had repre-
sentatiyes among the dead buried there
pulled the cord and the veil fell from thu
statue. The following is a list of the
young ladies', Mary Rodefer of Md, and
Edna Weeks of s. g., from the Stauntor
Female Seminary; Ella Use of Texas, and
May Fielder of Tennessee, from Sherwood
Female Seminary; Lily Kelly of Mo.
| Eula Brown of Ark, Hattie Howard o.
| N. g., and Lucille Foster of La, from the
Augusta Female Seminary; Mamie Hall
| of Va, Maytie Keller of KY, and Gent
Jones of Ala from the Virginia Female
Institute; Margaret Turnbull OF Fla.
Hannie Frazier of Ga, and Lula Clarke
of Miss, from the Wesleyan Female In
stitute. Miss Johnston wore large sill
badge of royal purple on which Virginia
| was printed in gold, and the other young
ladies wore large badges of pure white
silk on which the names Of their States
were printed in blue.
LT.-GEN. EARLY.
President Pratt here introduced It,
Gen. Jubal A. Early as the hero of Sharps
burg, who would address them:
| Gen. Early said he did not come here t.
make speech. He came to join in paying
| tribute to men who had lost their lives in de-
Tense of justice and constitutional liberty. ant
to meet old comrades who had not forgotten
[ the principles for which they fought. HI
thought the man who had deserted his prin
| ciples since the war was infinitely worse thai
the man who deserted during the war; Dur
ing the war there might have been some ex
tenuating circumstances, such as starving
| dG uOIuE, UuG lOI tlo Qc50IGcI oluCo Ill
war there was no excuse He had done s.
for greed and selfish gain. He hoped al
present were willing to join him in the wisl
that if ever he disowned and repudiated tn
principles for which Lee fought and jackson
died, the lightnings of heaven might bias
him, and he might become an object of scorl
for all honorable men and pure women. zap
plause.)
Mai-Gen. Thomas L. Rosser was mex
introduced by President Pratt, and dellv
cred a brief address full of the lofties
eloquence, which was loudly applauded.
On the Invitation of President Pratt
1t. S. L. Mccullough, of Annapolis, SOL
in-law of Maj. Jed Hotchkiss. closed tn
event. His address, though very brief
was such pretty and timely concelt, an
| sn we'll deliyered that it unite capture