The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-12-04
ANNUAL GRAFTON.
BY GENERAL MANDERSON.

b1 dGNIRAI AhNDhAoo0S''
gEroRE THE MEETING OF THE ARMY OF
THE CUMBERLAND, AT cHATTA-
NooGA. SEPT. ls, 1895.
A Splendid Effort by n Master of His
SGbiect-Audience Appreciated the
Address.
Mr.. President, Ladies, Gentlemen
and Comrades of the Society of the
Army of the Cumberland
We celebrate an event. We do more.
we make an epoch!
We commemorate conflict. we
do more. We record new era!
That the celebration Of the event,
the commemoration Of the conflict
the marking of the epoch and the
recording of the new era should be at
the some place, with identical natural
surroundings, is most fitting.
Mighty hosts battling for. the mas
tery made these hills and wales scene
of desolation a third of a century ago.
The earth was torn and scanned by the
dread enginery of war. The fruitage
of those autumn days was gathered by
the grim reaper, whose name is death.
A generation has passed away since
that shock of arms. For thirty-tWo
years the spring rains have fallen, the
summers sun has shone, upon the
soil, once crimsoned by the blood OF
the country's best and its bravest, and
how great the change!
STERN ALARUMS CHANGED TO MER'
.. RY GREETINGS.
Time, the great healer, and nature
the sweet restorer, have labored hand
in hand to wipe out the traces Of con.
fiict and heal the scars of "grim.
visaged war; The salient and the
bastion, behind which shone the
glistening steel and which threatened
the blackmuzzled cannon, are now
leveled to the crop-producing earth.
The soil that then drank, with fearful
thirst, of the enriching blood of battle,
now feeds the plant and nourishes the
flower. Broad fields of nodding corn
and waving grain, yielding abundant
harvest to the knife and scythe of the
husbandmap, gladden. the sight.
! Where was heard the cannon's roar,
/ the sharp rattle of musketry, the
shrek Of shell, the hiss of bullet and
all the discordant din of the votaries
of "Moloeh, horrid king" now the
consonant harmony of piping. peace
pleases the ear, the song of birds
melodiously mingling with the hum
of industry, leisurely rising and gently
falling in symphonic unison. "Our
bruised arms hung up for monuments"
have gathered the rust and dust of the
advancing years and nigh forgot their
mission.
All tells of change
The veterans returning to the field
: of "high surprise" meets difficulty in
finding the "dark and bloody ground, ~
where once the red tide of battle ebbed
and flowed. There are those of us here
present who have seen where
And scattered arms and llfeless warriors,
Whose hard lineaments
Deaths self could change not,
Marked the dreadful path
or the outsallying victors.'
but to find that path today is a vain
and fruitless endeavor. {.
STAIEL1 lshE li1E lave
OF LowLY STRUCTURES.
Peace hath emphasized her victories
The scattered hamlet, the objective
point of military endeavor in 1868, is
the thriving city, the center OF
commercial distribution in 1893
) Stately public edifices, business palac
( es and artistic homes lining the we'll.
paved streets of a metropolis, afford
most marked contrast to the lowly
and homely structures that were
strung along the country roads 8
generation ago. The quiet of the
agricultural village has given place
to the activity of the manufacturing
city. Fed by the rich deposits OF
iron and coal the pulse Of trade
throbs with vitaliZed energy. The
vibration of mighty machinery, the
whirr of revolving wheels, the
tremendous movement of the mighty
: mills, fills all the air and shakes the
very earth itself. A few people IL
numbers with petty ambitions ha'
given place to a greater populatlor
Of enterprising citizens, instinct ant
energy, pursuing their varied voca
tions with forceful power.
LOOKING OVER THE CONFINES OF
FIVE MIGHTY STATES.
1t is transformation wonderful in
deed
And yet mingled with the new
and strange is the old and familiar
With the old time resemblance t.
the crouching lion with paws extend
ed, lofty Lookout mountain still
lifts its proud head, looking out owe
the confines of five mighty states of
mightier nation. Mission Ridge
with its steep sides and thin back
bone, yet forms the rim of the semi
circular amphitheater in which lie
Chattanooga. Moccasin Point is a
prominent in the landscape as Q
yore and Orchard Knob is in evi
dence before us.
The Tennesse, like "Tagus makin
onward to the Deep" still sweep
along carrying its weight of water t
LA Belle Riviere," the old boundar
line of the middle North and South,
rushes on to join the turbid flood 9
the Father of Waters, which now in
deed FLOWS unveXed to the sea.
Chickamauga and Chattanooga creeks
as their waters are swallowed by th
greater stream still tell the story Of tn
past that dignified their names an
even little Citico is here to whisper {
that first days advance of the Army
!