The Progress., 1898-11-12
BILL ARP'S WEEKLY LETTER.
AN APPEAL FOR PRESERVATION
OF HEROES NAMES.
VETERANS WILL SOON Be GONE.
Roster Of Georgia Regiments Should Be
Compiled at Once, Says the
Barlow Philosopher.

Thirty years is the average life of a
generation. Within that time there
is almost an entire change in the pop
ulation of the town or city or commu-
nifty. Death plays the surest hand.
Removals come next, and of the rest
the children have grown to be men
and women, and they are as good as
new,for we old people know them not,
neither do they know us. Often do
young people say to me, "Why,I am a
grandchild Of your old friend" Yes,
friend who has perhaps been dead
for score of years, and I had almost
forgotten that he ever lived. I lived
in Rome twenty seven years, but now
I am stranger in that city. I was
Illuminating about this because I hap
pened to ask Major Foute yesterday
how many of his comrades he remem-
bered. He shook his empty sleeve and
pondered. ''Ihirty-five years ago." he
said, 81 could call the roll of hun
dred men in my company, but now I
do not believe I could mama over twen-
ty without strain of mind and men,
Dry. Most of them are dead, and you
know that when man, common man,
dies he seems to drop out of thought
or recollection. Only great men or
notable men or horoes are remem-
bered long"
How, then, is catalogue or list or
roster of our confederate soldiers to be
obtained. The legislature passed a
law providing that the ordinaries of
each county should make list for his
county and get information from any
source possible, and I suppose they
are doing this, but of course, it will
be imperfect and incomplete. Colonel
Avery exhausted all sources at his
command in 1880 and tabulated only
the officers. OF this list, be says: eft
is admittedly incomplete and painful
ly imperfect"
A generation changes in thirty years,
but onr regiments and companies
changed so radically in four years
that they can hardly be identified even
by their surviving comrades. I find
in Colonel Avery's table that COM
pany a, First Georgia regulars, that
went into service commanded by Cap
tain H. D. D. Twiggs, had twelve
captains. Almost every company had
two or more. The Fourteenth regi.
n. Mt hal four colonies, five lieutenant
cs onels. four majors and twenty cap
tains The Twenty-second regiment
had twenty-four captains; the Twenty
sixth had twenty-seven captains; the
Eighth cavalry had thirty-one, and
the Ninth had thirty-six.
Of course the privates suffered more
frequent changes than the officers and
the men are few who went in at the
beginning of the war and came out at
its close. But even those few cannot
remember all the changes-the killed
in battle, the dead from other causes,
the discharged, the transferred to
other companies and the recruits that
continually came to fill up the ranks.
Then there were some few deserters
and thousands of prisoners taken,
many of whom died in prison and
were forgotten by their comrades.
Georgia sent to the field sixty-six reg
iments and twenty-five battalions of
infantry, eleven regiments and thirty
battalions of cavalry and twenty eight
battalions of artillery. Of all those
who served as volunteers during the
first two years it is estimated that not
over 20 per cent are living. Only five
regiments brought back the some COL
onels they took out.
No; the lists are lost and will never
be made complete, but much can yet
be done to approximate them, and it
should be done quickly and put in
book or pamphlet form and dlstrlbu-
ted. I was Eliminating about this be-
cause that great-hearted woman, Mrs.
Elizabeth Gabbett, of Atlanta, the
widow of q Confederate who fell in
battle, has volunteered to execute the
resolution of the United Daughters Of
the Confederacy to present badges or
crosses Of honor to the veterans OR
their widows or families, and this good
woman is now perple1ed to find them.
Well she may be. Hardly week
passes that I do not receive letters
from Georgia soldiers or their widows
written from the western states and
wanting to know about our pension
laws. Even their kindred here in
Georgia do not know where they are,
for they keep moving and leave no
sign behind. But Mrs. Gabbett must
not be discouraged, for there are few
thousand within her reach and her
work will be grateful to them.