Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-06-11
GRAFTON BY GEN Bradley JOHNSON.
Eulogy Of the Confederate SOldier--Th.
South Vlnditated.
THE MONUMENT UNVEILED.
Ths Bronze Statue Greeted by = salve
OF ARTILLERY and n saout-Decoration
of che Graves aud an Address by
General Corse--ActIon OF the
Grand Camp of Confede-
rate Veteran.
fsnncInl ,elorrnm % the pI.patch.l

before in the history OF this city have such
imposing and elaborate exercises been wit
messed as those which occurred to-day. the
occasion being the unveiiing Of the statue 10
the Confederate dead and the decorating of
their graves. Early in the morning special
trains from both North and South came
into the city crowded with Veterans, Sons
of Veterans, and visitors to participate in
the exercises, and by noon the number of
strangers in the city were estimated at
5000.
RECEPTION OF TIE VETERANS.
The visiting Veterans were met al the
depot BY committee Of Many Camp and
the visiting Sons Of Veterans by q commit
tee of Il. s. Chew Camp, both OF this city.
The headquarters for the Veterans was the
courthouse aud the Opera House Hall for
the Sons Of Veterans. where an address or
welcome was delivered 10 the latter 10y Mr..
w. III. Merchant, of X. ). Chew camp
THE PROCESSION.
promptly at $3.50 the procession formed
on princess Anne street, the riRH resting
on Commerce street, and after paradlng
the principal thoroughfares proceeded to
the cemetery. where they were called to
order by Captain John G.. Mason, OF Maury
Camp. The orator of the day, General
Bradley r. johnson, was then introduced
by Captain Mason.
address of General Bradley r. johnson.
Fellow Confederates, Men and Women -
For the last twenty years have been ob-
serving with growing wonder the phe-
nomenon of feeling toward the actors on
the Confederate side in the war between
the States.
When hppomattox temporarily termi-
mated the struggle for liberty and self
government which our race has been
making with heart and brain and muscle,
in discussion and in battle, from the days
of Alfred TO the present, 1t seemed as II
rebellion crushed and LOYALTY triumphant
could only result in odium to the unsuc-
cessful side. / never agreed with that
estimate Of the situation. for l believed
If the Confederate people were true TO
their ideals of honor and fidelity Their
glorious achievements would be certain OF
appreciation by the generations TO cUfne,
and believe they would be true.
But did not anticipate what has oc-
CURED. Never in my most highly-colole
dreams did | see hope OF such speedy re-
aliZation of our aspirations
IL is fact, and wonderful fact that the
pathos, the sentiment. the romance OF the
war between the States is concentrated,
crystalliZed about. and emanates from the
cause of the Confederacy.
In the North TO-DAY no name stlrs human
hearts like that Of LEE, no fame electrites
the people like STONEWAIL, no flag
flashes, no sabre glitters like that OF
STUART. Neither GRANT nor SHER-
MAN nor SHERIDAN, the great and sue
cessful soldiers of the victorious side. have
left such an impression on the imagination
or the hearts of the people as have the
leaders Of the Confederates, who died IN
battle or yielded to overwhelming force,
where further resistance would have been
criminal.
/ do not mean to intimate, for dc, not
believe, that the North has changed ITS
opinion as TO the wisdom of our course.
They thought then and they think now 1t
was foolish TO attempt to break M q mon,
because, first. il was so profitable, and Sc
cond. because il was impossible before
overwhelming forces tor US TO succeed.
But | do mean TO say that the idea IS
dimly pressing itself upon the northern
mind that we tried TO avoid war, did not
want war, but that war was brought on,
waged and continued for the purpose OF
keeping faction in power and enabling
the controllers of the faction to make a
profit out OF II.
IL was not a patriotic war 10 preserve
the Union, but a contractors war to secure
the men in power permanent control In
Government
Pensions and bounties are the degrading
consequences Of the mercenary motives
which brought it on.
RESULTS OF THR VICTORY.
And victory has been the source OF I'M
utterable evils to them, while defeat mas
developed enormous good in character and
in conduct with Ia. Discussing TINS inter
esting relation of the Confederate cause to
northern sentiment the other day with Q
northern man, he said: You know all
men are willing 20 throw flowers over the
corpse." Yes" SAID !, but over the
corpse of the good the pure, and not the
corpse of the vile and the low
Men will not do honor to that which
they despise. The reason why the Con-
federates are respected as | understand
il. Is that honorable and high-minded men
and women respect those who possess the
same qualities, and as the high ideas and
noble conduct of tho Confederates is more
and more understood, then they Will at
tract the admiration, the love, and the
respect of all noble people.
l yield to no one in my estimation OF
the genius. the courage and the valor OF
the great Confederate soldiers, the great
est the English race has ever produced.
England has brought forth Mari bOro' and
Wellington, Lawrence aud WOlseley at diff
ferent times and during different epochs,
but there never has been an hour, day, q
year from Hastings to Tel-El- kehir, when
she could show at the same time, such q
roll of illustrious soldiers as Lee, Johnston,
t0tESOn. OIudTI hlDtIi plultg oOhhobbbf
Hampton. Wheeler, and Fitz Lee.
But above all, in the solid attributes
that make manly character and ennoble the
people do place the private Confederate
soldier-the man who carried the musket
or the sabre or the rammer for four years,
without pay, half clad, not haif fed, with
no hope or desire for promotion nor fame,
but compelled and directed by the sole and
simple conviction of duty. just think OF
that, try 10 take it in, and appreciate 1t.
THE CONFEDERATE SOLDIER.
This simple. country boy, sent of by his
mother land she widow with o new suit
of homemade clothes. not penny in his
pocket, puts himself in the first company
that leaves for Manassas Junction.
In cold and in wet, in rain and in dark
ness, half frozen and half starved, in battle
and on the march, he does his duty.
Night after night for months on the
pieket-line. ease and comfort and pay are
within ten minutes walk. A prisoner at
Camp Chase, or Elmira, or Point Lookout,
utterly without hope OF exchange, with
the distinct alternative Of taking the oath,
or dying Of starvation in prison, he deter
mines, for he never debated il, to die thus
rather than disgrace himself, his people,
and bis State.
How many cases have you and known
like this? How many men formed, mould
tus dlu uaihue1tl W huNtISllY uuLtl lney
become the models of a higher social
standard and the perpetrators Of higher
moral code?
These are the men who. coming home
after the surrender. were invincible TO mis-
fortune and superior 20 circumstances.
They were masters of fate, and the spirit
that kept the man firm on the pieket-line
at Petersburg and amid the ice and snow
ct Camp Chase upheld him TO restore his
ruined home and his blasted fortunes.
Through all trials he had maintained hi,
own self-respect and bis love Of honor ant
truth, his belief that comfort and cas-,
were purchased al too higha price wheI
bought by an exchange for those. There
fore during the struggle with want, NOR,
trying than the defence Of Marye's Heights
he stood aud has never yielded his fidelit,
20 the principles for which no fought
The days of the reconstruction were NOR
trying than the strain Of war. Ease, com
fort, plenty, and relief from care wer
freely offered the Confederates II the
would deny their cause and take side
with It's adyersaries.
Our men were reduced 10 manual labo