The National tribune., 1889-02-28
ANOTHER REBEL YELL.

in 1861 who went South and served In the
rebel army or navy. They held their annual
Reunion and banquet at Baltimore on Wash
ington's Birthday, and brought together
notable array Of adherents of the Lost Cause.
Among them were Senators Wade Hampton
and NJ C. Butler, of South Carolina, and a.
H. Colquitt, of Georgia; 7. L. Rosser, O. NJ.
Wilcox, Geo. q. steuart, Bradley T. john
son and D. G. Mcintosh, who were Major
Generals in the rebel army; Representatives
Charles C. Hooker. of Mississippi, and Chas.
T. O'FerralI, of Virginia, who were Colonies,
and a galaxy of smaller lights.
Among these were II inmates of the
Maryland Confederate Home at Pikesville,
who marched in "attired in neat suits of
Confederate gray" and were given seats of
honor.
The orator of the day was one Thomas L.
Rosser, who made himself quite conspicuous
in the Shenandoah Valley in 1864, until he
unluckiIy attracted the attention of another
gentleman, named Phil Sheridan, by capt
uring battery forge and some other
military trifes. The result was that Sheri-
dan went cunning for him in earnest the
next morning, and few hours later the
whole upper valley was filed with democrat
lied rebel cavalrymen fleeing from the wrath
to come.
The Grafton was identical in swagger and
braggadoeio with that delivered by Gen.
Bradley 7. johnson last year at Baltimore
on Confederate Memorial Day. It exceeded
that notable effort in rank miscellaneous of
fact and ELUSIVE insolence toward Union
soldiers and the Union cause It was also
more notable from the prominence Of the
men who composed the audience, and who
| by their presence and applause Endorsed the
orators sentiments taeitly if not openly.
! Three United States Senators and two Rep
resentatives, high officers of the Govern
ment, sworn to support and maintain it, and
receiving high salaries from it, listened I'M
protesting to fulsome eulogy Of rebellion
and denunciation of patriots and patriotism
An attempt is being made by the sympa-
| thizers with rebellion to break the force OF
Rosser's utteranees by ascribing them to his
too liberal drinking during the banquet, but
| this win not do. The Grafton was carefully
prepared in advance, with view to ex-
pressing the sentiments of his hearers and
capturing their applause. 1t was published
in full in the Baltimore papers, which say
Gen. Rosser was received with a cordial out
! burst of applause, and his speech was frequently
interrupted by oulbursts OF clapping.
None of them mention that syllable Of
dissent to anything that he said was uttered
by anyone present The extracts from the
speech which we shall use are from TIT
Baltimore Sun, which is the generally
recognized organ of the rebel element il
Maryland, and may be therefore considered
as the official report"
Gen. Rosser began his speech as follows
The conflict between the States, styled in fl
inception the irrepressibie. when it came was
surprise to all and ii found no one prepared for ii
| Eleven States ia the South withdrew from th
Federation, whose encroachments they III
/ willing to bear, and organized a Confederacy c
their own-but II was without army, navy, manu-
factories for war material or credit in the societ
/ Of nations In this helpless condition Of orphan
hood and inexperience they assziled by thei
late associates with all the force Of organization
equipment and wealth, sharpened by maliciou
/ sectional hatred and morbid irrational and puri
tauical fanaticism, which eemented them in hol
union for an unholy crusade against u.s. How sue
oessfully this little ConfederAcy of only five an
e-half millions of people maintained this combs
for four long weary years against the united Mort
of over 20 GOO 900 in 8 rough-andtumble fight, Tia
North. in the meantime, resorting TO every devic
and means 10 win foul more frequently than fa
il IS my purpose TO show. And now assert tbs
: the reason why the South was able to maintai
this apparent unequal combat. and why the Sout
was victorious in every battle in Virginia from fir
to last and finally yielded only to starvation, wa
the fact and is still the fact that the Southern ger
tieman, as man TO man, can whip g puritanics
Yankee every time. And I prepared to col
vince poor old, soured decrepit politically disaI
4 pointed blood-thirsty Sherman, and the blatal
big-mouthed Foraker that this declaration is abs
lutely true.
5 Think Of it! At this late day the war f
the Union is denounced as an unhol
crusade" and three United States Senator
two Representatives, and we do not kno
s how many more Federal placeholders listt
r approvingIy to the denunciation.
It Rosser cannot escape the customary soutl
: ern Justification of facts in contrasting Il
r size of the two combatants. "The lit
Confederacy only five and one-half millions
]. This in the face of the census of 1860, aece
d sible to every schoolboy, which shows tn
the II States which tried to seeede had
n population of 9,OO3,132 and the Bord
y States 2,924,745 more. of whom fully OIL
D half sympathized strongly with Secessic
Thus the plain figures show double Rose
estimate.
What can be said in answer to man W
deliberately asserts that the South was
n torious in every battle in Virginia, from Fl
TO I to lastD? Nothing, except that he is pui1