Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1896-05-25

This morning the cemeteries near
the city were visited by committees
from Lee Camp and from the Ladies
Auxiliary and the graves of all the Con,
federate soldiers buried there were
strewn with fragrant flowers. The
Confederate monument at the intersec.
ton of Washington and Prince streets,
a work of art in itself, and the Confed-
ferate mound in Christ Church yard,
| which is ever kept green, were also
decorated during the day and made to
look lovely with beautiful flowers.
This evening the exercises proper
were held. Shortly before 5 o'clock
the procession formed on Washington
street, right resting on Cameron.
The procession was composed of a
squad of police, the Third Regiment
Drum Corps, the Friendship Drum
Corps, Lee Camp, the Sons of Confed-
crate Veterans, the Alexandria Light
Infantry and the Columbia Fire Com.
pany.
Capt. W. A. smoot was chief mar
shall and had for his aides Major Robert
w. Hunter and Messrs. A. G. Wye
koff, Lawrence Washington, G. III. Rob
inson, Geo. Petty, Geo. Uhler and VIM.
Simpson.
AS many of the Confederate Veterans
are old men and unable to bear much
fatigue, the route of procession was
shortened. Shortly after 5 o'clock the
command to march was given by Capt.
Smoot, and the procession moved over
the following route: Down Cam
eron to Royal, down Royal to King, up
King to Patrick, down Patrick to
Prince, down Prince to the monument.
When the monument is reached the
procession will divide and form on the
four sides.
The exercises will commence with
the singing of a hymn-Rock of Ages.
by chorus composed of members of
different church choirs and led by Mr..
II. K. Field; prayer by Rev. Bergman
Green, of Christ Church; hymn, Some
Time Well Understand, by choir; mu-
sic by Drum Corps.
Rev. ]. T. Williams, of the M. E.
Church South, the orator of the day,
will speak as follows, he having kindly
given the GAZETTE a copy of his ad.
ress for publication in this issue
To ask an old soldier on an occasion like
this to speak fifteen minutes, is to tell him to
only bow to the subject and pass on Very
few of us can tell one good story of the old
days in less than twenty minutes. You, my,
comrades, have come to another anniversary;
year and dayof the year you turn to; one
you cannot forget, and would despise your
selves for forgetting, and it is right that it
should be celebrated and our dead comrades
remembered.
desire to take With you backward and
then forward look.
Back, first TO the good year 1861, with its
intense exciteuent and joyous enthusiasm;
with the bright uniforms, polished guns, rat
ting sabres, and grim cannon waiting for
their first baptism of fire. The music, the
cheer5, the laughter. The sweet faces of the
girls as they blushiugly told the boys good bye,
and the proud step of those same boys az they
marched away under the bonnie blue flag. 1t
did not seem much like war until the first
Manassas, and then the South settled down
with grim determination to nigh: it out-and
she did Some names came into prominence
snd then grew familiar, and then became the
strong towers and the watchwords Of the best
army the sun ever shone on. Those names
are Lee, Jackson, Stuart, Ashby, and so many
moro that to US arc aeatlless. We have
nothing to do to day with the great battles,
we rather grow dreamy ard reminiscent as We
think of the men of those days, and Why they
were what they were.
Some of you, m, o,mrades. marched on a
certain day in 1861 over this spot seeking
the rebel lines and giving up your city for
awhile rathcr than have trouble with the blue
people who we're prospecting on this side Of