Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-03-30
GEN'L WISE Is DEAD.
CONTINUED FROM FIRST PACED


and the typical oId-time black SLOUGH hat
covered his head When he saw my Lee
Camp uniform ne asked:
land where did you come fromF
IL replied that | came from Richmond,
We
'He said: 7 NJ all along there during
the war and them are the best people
ever saw. When / was sick and wounded
and in hospital. the best ladies' In the
land dressed my wounds. ana washed
my feet They read the Bible to me,
and they nourlshed and nursed me back
to health and 20 the Confederate army
''He added. in a rambling sort of way:
T TUX a great many things In Virginia,
and the curious part Of 1t all was that
although ] swept a great many planta-
lions Of their chickens and their eggs, the
next time | got back there the latch
string was on the outside. and had new
laid eggs for breakfast. But / never re-
GREETED anything l TUX IN Virginia. except
one thing. You see. Rogers was my
friend. He and | went foragin' together.
one night. when Rogers and | were out
foragin.' we came across the house OF
wilder There was a dim light In the
window. and there was a dead baby In
the house. He examined the commits
saries and found eleven chickens and
three pieces Of shoat But. recollecting
the dead baby. I said to Rogers, Rogers,
suppose we move on" and we moved on.
We marched many a mile. but we found
nary a chicken, nary sn egg, and nary
a piece of shoat and we turned back to
camp sorrowful. BY and by we came 10
the widder's house again. There was the
same dim light i'm the window, and we
know that behind It were the wilder and
the dead baby. and j said to Rogers
Rogers, what shall we do?' and Rogers,
he said, suppose we divide Wild herg'
Here / interposed and asked rather
sternly: What did you do. sir? and he
replied Rogers. he TUX six OF them ar
chickens "And what did you do, sir2'
/ asked, still more sternly, and he an
swered: Il TUX two of them ar pieces
Of shoat. L have always been sorry
about this, but 1 am going to Virginia
next year; I'm going to find that wilder,
and 1 am going to work for her the bal
ance Of my days
why, what | said, can you do for
the Widder? The SHOWS Of winter have
frosted your head; have taken the pith
out of your arms. and. in he nature Of
things you must shortly di
Oh he replied the wilder may die,
but amt a gwine TO die
"'When did you come 10 the conclusion,
! sir / asked, that you amt a gwns TO
der and he answered Ever since 1
was 80 years Of age, and was IN the Con-
federate army
THE plth Of the story IS that the old
veteran was right when he said, L amt
a gwyne 10 die but he was wrong when
! he added that the wilder might die
| The wilder couldn't die-she was the wild
der of a Confederate soldier-and the
baby wasn't dead--it only slept, and we
| shall find it again, up yonder, in the
bosom Of the Father, lisping praises TO
the God Of all salvation becaust He
doesn't let his Confederate children die.
"In the name of tho wilder and the
] baby Of the Confederate husband and
/ father, who had passed OF the weird Old
veteran surely come TO Virginia 20 work
for the wilder and Rogers. In the name
| Of our dean comrades-JeffersOn Davis,
Jeb. Stuart, and 1900 others who dwell
| in lakewood and Hollywood but who
| still live-and of all your comrades Of
! Richmond who live and move. l will give
/ you glad greeting. Your comrades OF
Richmond who live and move. l Will give
deed, and altogether after the manner OF
the Old veteran and Rogers, but with a
division mat knows no limit, and with
hearts that leap 10 Welcome you"
HIS TRIBUTE TO RICHMOND.
The speech Of General Wise inviting the
Confederate Veterans 10 hold their next
reunion in Richmond was O masterpiece
Of polished rhetoric, matchless I'm its ex-
/ preston Of sacred sentiment. peerless in
| its rythmc flow OF impassioned eloquence.
| General Gordon stated that it was the
gem Of the 1925 reunion. General Wise
said in part:
/ come TO invite you 20 make your next
! encampment in my city, 70 sound the
| bugle-call Of another and a different ION
! 10 Richmond to those who have a right
10 be there with or without invitation, be-
cause they shed their blood 10 save, not
20 win her. Her official bodies, her Coun-
ell, and her Chamber Of Commerce greet
you through us and bid you to come and
stand upon her hills and by her flowing
river; to see how the city Of your love,
which is our very own, the chosen seat
Of your 0nfederacy has Jared as trust
in their hands; how they have built her
up in forms Of beauty and things Of life
20 be worthy Of your renewed adoption.
The very stones Of her streets cry aloud
/ to be trodden again by those who tra-
versed them on their way to her battle
fronts-to every field where charged to
victory the Army of Northern Virginia,
and where swelled unon the air the cho-
rus of the rebel yell. Her monuments
majestically summon you TO come. In her
eastern section, upon the hill Of the
church where broke from Henry's frenziel
lips the cry of Liberty or death" stands
In human form the echo of that cry-the
private soldier of the Confederate States.
the soldier that multiplied. whether hungry
and tentless or fed and sheltered, whether
trave-stained and weary, or fresh from
slumber upon the bosom of Mother Earth,
made the best army that the world ever
knew. The earth cannot contain his
glory because it ascends TO Heaven, and
because he is unique-the one soldier that
earth ever produced who was general
as well as soldier. lie stands, they say,
upon Pompey's pillar. Not so. He was
no selfish conqueror. His lofty column
IL his own; standing upon his own SOIL
made of stones dug from the bowels OF
his own hills, and fashioned by his own
people.
But there is a monument which shall
be, but which, God save the mark! IS yet
unbuilded which, most OF all, orders
you 10 come. Did l say yet TO be build
ed? Again, / say, God save the mark
BY the riverside Of Hendrick HudsOn's
flowing river, just away from the bust
est hum Of the most multtudinous city
just on the skirts of a progress seem.
!ngly the most splendid, because it i.
the most selfish. rises apace In erection
the free gift. without cleaning from th'
public stores, Of a free people, lifted
above their progress, stealing away from
their hum, TO be grateful TO the saviour
Of the peoples union. An illustriOus sol
der and President is to be canonized II
the affections Of a.people every way
composite, and the Suppression OF thu
affection Is TO be a heayen-kissing mOnu
ment. Let Grants monument rise, th'
fitting. He deserved IL. He was no
composite; he was genuine, unadulte
rated. unlimited Saxon pluck and per
! tinacity, lighting always in the splendid