The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1897-01-29
BILL ARP'S LETTER.
A HIGHLY INTERESTING RETRO
sPECTWE COMMUNICATION.
Suggests That An Patriotic Aoung Ameri-
cans should Read 81 the Battle
ct Nrw Orleans.

WhrfH Iln troop" iH lH"H IHHN Nn HHHf
Killed AND wounded 1900 of $40 flower ~
and thirteen wounded. NetrrlH the history
uI the world hHs battle befH fought IA
which there WaH s1 great disparity 0i loHs.
IuEruhHm. who was lu command uf 1900
troops. was che hr1Lher.lu-InW of Yelling
Ton and had only g short i'mr before ob.
tanned % great Victory over Napoleon ut
Salamanca. Jackson had ouly 600 uutrain-
ga rHHmDn. and rHkenham Was killed. and
hia army routed and put tU lls1t This bat
ue established The pruWH#s of the nuthem
yo1manry and made Jackson pr idont. Hu
was certainly @ very wonderful man. 10
bad but q little schooling in Hn old neid
snhr.I Hud never learned Boo ths course OF
hi lif % uaatHa F1riIah language correctly.
Wh.. My thirts't year old an English
DhleUr .a. pa uiiI hls sword because b.
refused J1 h.ues hi boots Ills father died
early his brothers were killed iu the reyolu-
tluuaFy war and OFFS mother died from hard
ship and suffering and $50 Dee grew up with
nu Intense hatred OI tha British. The fam
lly were Sruteh-lrsh and my friend, George
AdaIr would sIy chat accounts Tor ull his
wonderful deeds. he had hut little kuuwi-
edge of law, but was made public prOseeu-
tor and was O. terror 90 pyll-doprs. he gave
the new state e. name OF Tennessee. and
wagsd O war OF years against She Indians,
but even IN Alabama. Mississippi and Flori-
da. li0 had 10 cut out roads woreypr ho went
with his troops and almost every great high
way In the south from north Georgia 10 tho
Mississippi Is still known 90 the old men az
JacksOus road. When on the warpath he
paid no respect 90 orders from Washington,
but pursued his own plans in defiance OF the
government lie was several times wounded
In battle and In duels with hs political enc
mics, but seems 90 have lived a charmed
life. He followed no precedents and made
no alliances with political cliques. He was
always original, self-Willed and defiant. John
FCr5ythe was his secretary OF state and Der,
rien his attorney general, both from Georgia.
He hated Adams and Clay and all the follow
ers Of Jay and Hamilton. lie challenged
Winfield Scott for q remark he made about
him. He turned Calhoun out OF his cabinet
because Mrs. Calhoun wouldn't associate
with Alrs. Eaton, the wife of the secretary OF
war. The whig papers had maligned Jack
sons wife aud Jackson never f0rgave tho
party for Il and turned 600 Of them out Of
office the first year OF his administration.
Ills chivalrOus respect for the female sex was
the mos. winsome feature about his charac-
ter Sam Houston and Davy Crockett had
fought under him and were his trusted pO-
litical friends and advisers. Like Grant and
/ Taylor, they had fought their way up IN
| hard, dangerous warfare, and had but little
respect for the limitations Of law or tho
provoking delays Of red tape. Almost all
West Pointers have similar contempt for
| the slow methods Of the civil law, and es-
| pecially for the writ Of habeas corpus and
/ appeals from court to court. / remember
| when General Joe Johnston ordered q court
martial at Centerville, Va, 20 try two soldiers
| for striking their captain. The crime was
| committed at 10 o'clock I'm the morning.
! They were tried on the afternoon OF the
| same day and shot the next morning at sun
| rise. That is the kind OF swift .usjice that
military men admire.
There are some curious things about these
| old-time presidents Three of them died on
! the Fourth of July. The first fourteen wore
! no beard; sixteen no mOustache; twelve had
| no middle name; five We're named James;
| seven had thirteen letters in their names
| and every name had the letter A in it, some
| where, except John Tylers, and he was
! vice president. So it is no use in nominat-
ing man who has not that little vowel to
| give him luck, nor is thirteen an unlucky
number among presidents. 1t is my mis-
| fortune that l never saw q president
| looked toward Franklin Pierce once In New
| York, but he was SO tangled up in n carriage
! with other gentlemen that / could not dis
| tinguish him. But / have seen quito q num-
| Der OF great men-some of them, indeed,
who were greater than presidents. l saw
DhulSl NcDatCL uul Nlhy anu AuOdlc ana
| heard them speak. Mr.. Calhoun put his
hand on my head when l was a lad and spoke
kind words to me. | still reverence his
memory, for he was a great and a good man.
| saw and heard Jefferson Davis on the bat
tleheld and on the platform after the war. |
saw and heard all the great men of Georgia
who figured in politics in the 40's and SOS.
The greatest speech l ever heard from any
OF them, it seems to me, was made by Walter
| Volt hut l. Al
and very susceptible. During the war saw
the great generals quite often. Lee and
Johnston, Longstreet, Beauregard EARLY.
Hard9e and others / never saw Stonewall
Jackson but once, and then he was asleep.
lying upon some straw in General Lees
tent l wish / had a photograph of that
scene. 1t was about MONDAY Lee, with
his staff were dining at their camp tables
put Jackson was tired out with
tho seven days fighting. and
General Lee said, "Let him sleep; he needs
rest more than food" All the great men I
have ever seen are dead, save General Long
street and General Gordon, whom our peo-
pie have delighted to honor. Age is telling
on them now, and they should be retired on
a liberal pension from the national treasury
and so should all our other heroes. Yes, and
their widows, too.
Well, the glad greetings of Christmas
times are over at our house, and so are the
sad farewells. The banquet hall Is deserted.
The long table has been shortened
up to its accustomed length. The
holly and the mistletoe have withered
and lost the glossy green that gave welcome
to the holidays and to the children who
came from afar. A sad, reflective silence
broods around the family hearth, for we are
bordering upon the future and wondering
if we all shall ever meet again. But we had
a happy time, old and young. Old Santa
Claus headed the procession, and the little
folks have not subsidized yet. Last night W.
had to get off our dignity and play with
them. Everything we could think Of, from
"Clubflst" to "lilybright." And we made
an "Aunt Betty, for them and introduced
them to the king and queen, and we had
music, too-sweet, delicious music that sof
tens us down and makes us think of heaven
Home and sweet contentment and lovinf
children bring us rs near to heaven as W,
can get in this subunary world. The tim,
was when l had ambition and wanted to b,
a great man, but all that is nothing now
Domestic love is worth everything else.
| ggcad ic fha homo . hara Iovya 5,.,,o.4s- -