The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1891-05-07

States Cavalry.
The following is General Hampton's
speech to his old soldiers at Augusta on
Monday of last week, as reported for
Columbia State:
Mr. President, Comrades, Friends and
Men of my old Brigade: My first duty,
as it is my greatest pleasure, is to make
my acknowledgment to this grand organ
ization of yours-the Survivors associa-
ton of Georgia. In no State, in no
Southern State, has any association of
that sort been so successfully kept alive,
and I trust that the resolution adopted
by the association to-day will be the
sense of the men who fought in the army
of Virginia and of Tennessee, and that
our children, the children of the surviv-
ors of the old soldiers who have crossed
the river, will take the place of US VINO
are here to-day. That when that is done
that the stories of the soldiers of the men
who followed Lee and Jackson and
Johnston may 60 sounding down the
ages to the last syllable of recorded time.
When received the invitation, my
friends, to join in this reunion, my ex-
pectation was that was simply to give a
welcome to that old brigade as men whom
you have loved to honor. I had no
idea that I was expected to make an ad.
dress, and after the one have listened to
to day I am afraid to attempt it. But I
do want to say to those men that want.
ed to look in the faces once more that [
| had so often seen; 10 see them kindling
| with the fire of battle; to grasp their
hands and to ieel that we belong to q
common country and that they belonged
to command that I honored more than
life itself, and that it would have been to
me the greatest possible honor to have
commanded the old first brigade, for I
believe that this was the best brigade in
the whole army. (Applause.) At any
rate I thought so, and good many of
our friends on the other side seemed to
think so, too. wanted to come and see
you, my men, again. When parted
from you in Virginia there are perhaps
some Of you present who remember that
when I returned to my headquarters at
II o'clock at night on the day when
General Johnston surrendered, found
that that part of the old brigade, Hart's
battery, said that they would not surren-
der, and had taken up their march to
seek fields of action elsewhere, even if
across the Mississippi. I sent q courier
at once, telling him to overtake them and
| stop them until I could see them, but in
an hour 1 was on my horse, and as the
| first rays of the morning, sun lighted the
| forests of North Carolina, I reached the
| spot where they had stopped. I found
the men, some Of them lying down, tired
by their nights ride, but holding the
brides of their horses and some of them
asleep stretched out on the grass. When
I reached them I told them that they
would have to remain and surrender !;
and telling them that I held an order
from Mr.. Davis and assuring them that
I knew they we're willing to go with me
anywhere as they had always done; that
if they went otherwise they would 60 aa
outlaws, which 1 could not bear to see,
and I told them that T wanted them az
| good soldiers to remain there and be
surrendered; that their commander in
chief had surrendered them, and I begged
them, as the good soldiers they had
always been, to obey that order, even
though against their will. And, oh
men, do you remember? do you remem-
ber how those men crowded around me,
caught the rein Of my horse, caught nv
stirrup feathers and in whose eyes saw
the tears from eyes unused to weeping
oh, men, when I recall that scene, even
now, when I recall that scene, tears un-
biddeu force themselves to my eyes.
have never forgotten that scene, and il
is the last one shall remember upon this
earth. (Applause and cheers, and 8
voice Il remember it too-good for the
old governor"
But it was not only the old brigade
that I was proud of, for it was my good
fortune to have cavalry from all over the
South, and among the. commanders
can name my old friend General Wheel
er. (Applause. l wish that you would
remember that when I speak f.r the
cavalry I speak fer all the cavalry hae
the honor to command. I know that oul
| good friends of the infantry used to chat
US a good deal. They used to say tha
they never saw dead man with spurs
on, but in that great fight at Trevilyar
Station, fought by the cavalry sgaina
overwhelming numbers of infantry, there
were 719 killed and wounded in Butler
division, and in the Sixth regiment there
were lost 1872 killed and wounded
(Applsuse.) And I will say that in th'
great campaign Of Gettysburg where th'
desperate fighting was by that invincibl
infantry of ours, the cavalry corps los
more in killed and wounded than an.
other division in General Lees army
Now ne the cavalry, did do some fight.
| ing, and while I do not intend to detail
you by telling you what I think of th'
cavalry, want to show you what Goner
al Lee said:
| Just after the war General Lee wrot
to me and requested thatI would Civ
him connected narrative of the opera.
tions of the cavalry corps of the last cam
paign in Virginia. He was, as yol
know, about to write history of tn
war, and it was great misfortune to th,
South that he was not at that time pre-
pared to finish it. In this he used tn
following language: "After the conven