The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-04-25
PANORAMA OF THE WAR.
Largest and most Important Reunion of
Confederate Veterans Ever Held.

-
Confederate Veterans Ever Held.
! There will be held in Birmingham,
Ala, on April 25 and &c, the largest and
! most important reunion of Confederate
| soldiers ever held since the war days
says the New York Herald. Twenty
five thousand of the ninety thousand old
fighters who are left are expected to be
there and Confederate union will be
| passport everywhere in the CITY," There
are now in the United Confederate Vet
Grams Association 40 camps. The
following is list of camps. by States:-
Texas, 1871; Alabama, ~; Mississippi,
az; Louisiana, "a; Arkansas, 81;
Kentucky, ~; South Carolina, ~; Flori-
da, 26; Georgia, 81; Tennessee, II;
North Carolina, IA; Virginia, 10; Okla
homa, 4; Missouri,3 ; Indian Territory,
2; Illinois 2; District of Columbia, Ii;
and West Virginia, /.
The old soldiers propose during this
reunion, which is the fourth annual
convention of the order, to transact
much business of Importance.
They propose. for instance, to ddter-
mine the best methods of securing i'm
partial history relating to the war and
to enlist each State in the complication
and preservation of the history of her
citizen soidiery; also to provide for the
benevolent care, through State aid or
otherwise, of disa bled or aged veterans
and the widows and orphans of their
fallen brothers-in-arms; furthermore to
arrange for the care of the known and
unknown dead buried at Gettysburg,
Oakland Cemetery at Chicago, sJohn-
sons Island and all other points: to see
that they are annually decorated and
their headstones protected and preserved,
and complete lists of the names of the
Southern victims of the cruel war
complied.
A Monument for Jefferson Davis.
Consideration of the different move
ments, plans and means to erect mon
ument to the memory of Jefferson Davis,
President of the Confederate States of
America, will also be given, and steps
will be taken to aid III building monu-
ments to the other great leaders, soldiers
and sailors of the South. A direct effort
will also be made to secure for Mrs.
Jefferson Davis handsome pension from
the States lately composing the Confed-
crate States OF America. These are
chief among the matters of business to
be considered.
The laying of the corner stone of
large Confederate monument in Capital
Park, Birmingham, will take place on
the afternoon of the Goth. General
Stephen D. Lee of StarksvilIe, Miss.
has been invited to deliver the Grafton Of
the day. The occasion will be one of
the most interesting of the reunion.
Gen. John B. Gordon, commander in
chief of the United Confederate Veterans
Association now United States Senator
from Georgia, will preside over the
deliberations of the convention.
A series of historical and dramatic
entertainments have been arranged for
the evenings of the 25th and 26tn. Old
negroes will sing famous plantation
songs. musicians will render favoriUe and
famous Southern melodies, veterans will
appear in tableaux OF camp scenes, and
the domestic side of Dixie during the
war will be properly illustrated.
But the tableaux in which the galaxy
of beauty will participate will be the
feature of these entertainments The
first of these tableaux will represent the
States in the act ssof secession. The
States, Represented by their fair
daughters, are on the stage. Each
Young woman holds banner on which
10 worked che coat of arms
of her commonwealth. The time is the
fail OF Of 1860, and the States are excited
over the election news, when a mes
senger comes in and announces that
Abraham Lincoln has been chosen
President. There is alarm, excitement,
uncertainty among the group. Then
South Carolina steps forward with the
announcement that she will secede.
The other States are in alarm and
doubt what to do, when Mississippi
steps to South Cardinals side followed
by Florida and then Alabama. Then
the other States advance in the order
of their secession. When all come to the
front the States group themselves about
Virginia, and the curtain falls to the
music of Dixie
The second'ss ia bleau will represent the
"South after the battle of Gettysbura,n
the turning point of the war, when the
back of the Confederacy is broken and
the elastic tread of an invading army
has been converted into Lees retreat
across the Potomac. Ali of the blueness
of defeat is now staring the South in
the face.
The glory and pastime of war are now
things only to be remem bered. The
conflict has become matter of serious
and fearful Importance. The young
women have now DOTTED their festive
attire. Dressed in black they may be
seen working busily for the soldiers.
Distress and privation will be depicted
in many ways, and this tableaux will
be exceedingly pathetic.
The third tableau will represent the
solid South of to-day. Kentucky, Mary
land and Missouri have now joined the
group. The young women will in this
tableau be attired in becoming
Grecian costumes.
The fourth tableau will represent the
union of the blue and the gray. A fed
eral and confederate soldier, each
dressed in his representative uniform.
will stand with clasped hands, Their
armswill be stacked in front of them. In
the rear of and suspended above them
is Colum bia, the Goddess of Liberty,
beautiful girl of Birmingham, with
her graceful arms outstretched in
silent bened tction A legend under
meath will read, United We Stand. y