The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-01-22
THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL.
GEN HOWARD. U. $. A., APPEALS FOR
AID THE NEW UNIVERSITY.

JincOln'E Memory and the Names Of
Grant, Lee, Thomas, jackson and Others.
To THE EDITOR OF THE suN-Sir: 1 very
much desire TO place before your readers in as
strong a light as possible tho enterprise of a
few OF us who are veterans in two fields. that
OF war for the Union and that of education.
When the Hon. Edwin NJ. Stanton called me
10 Washington after the battle OF Bontonville.
in the spring of 1865. he gave into my charge.
as Abraham Lincoln had previously requested
in the then chaotic condition OF the country,
the interests OF freedmen and refugees.
The next day after receiving this charge.
whore destitutiona appeared to be simply fright
full. Mr.. Stanton asked me what I proposed to
do with such large numbers who had been dis
turbed by the operations OF war, and had hith-
erto been kept from starving by our commits
sariat.
answered that the true relief was in educa-
ton.
Since that conversation moro than seventy
institutions Of learning of the higher grade
have been established. ranging from Philadel-
phia and Washington to the Rio Grande. and
from the Ohio 10 the Gulf OF Mexico.
About one-third OF tho destitute. according to
our m were what we called refugees.
The law ntcndcdt to cover the whites. especially.
without naming them. For various reasons.
over which ! had no control. these whites did
not get their proportion of the funds that were
devoted by law to educational purposes.
Ia my last interview with Abraham Lincoln.
when my corps was ordered West. he called my
attention to those who were in the Cumberland
Mountains. chiefly within the limits OF east
ern Kentucky and East Tennessee. He said to
me: General. they are loyal there: they are
loyal"
The Hon. Charles A. Dana. who entered the
mountains with me in the inception OF Grants
battles about Chattanooga and the subsequent
march to Knoxville, always remembered those
loyal mountaineers; how men. women and
children rushed to the sides of our marching
column. and had barrels OF water and provis-
ions. such az their scanty means would allow,
ready for us: and how the men would sit down
on the ground ana pull off their shoes and give
them to those of our soldiers who were bare
foot, and how surprisingly they brought out
the hidden stars and Stripes and swung them
joyously to the breeze as we passed.
May we not pause a mOment and ask who are
these highlauders that occupy the Cumberland
ranges, of which the fumOus historic Cumber-
I IL an IHap on ~ the c onr Re 1 ri Gas "a a"n n I'M
600 in number. They are descendants OF HuRuc-
nnots, and Scotchmen, with :; sprinkling OF the
made them lovers of liberty.
In the days OF the Revolution it was they who
%, 1880. Of whom President Jefferson said:
That glorious victory was the Joyous epun-
citation Of that turn in the tide of success which
seal of Independence"
The valor and patriotism. nay. more. the hero
ism Of these brave mountaineers was little in
the early days compared with what they passed
through during, our terrible civil strife be-
cause the Cumberland Mountains were long
the very backgrounds of the contcndinE
armies. Feared by the seceSsionists because Of
lost their crops. their fences and their homes.
SO that their women and children became sub
(ected to extreme suffering. Mountain guerril-
lng ~ nj, chat lINp n "a .AE u "a md apn a. Att1 ~,
On the one hand, hostile raiders swept across
the bridges, which SPAWNED their, mountain
streams and destroyed them. Union troops.
also. in their operations burned bridges or re-
PLACED others by. the timber from their houses.
ana a. the i = mnG2qntai me-, rS,i th nH tie hs often broke se
the hope of protecting their wives and children
and their homes against the raids OF irregular
cavalry, Their, uneNampled devotion to the
old flag is plainly evinced in many a Cnnfed-
crate record ami repeatedly referred to by our
W commanders.
Further. may we not remember that 10000
Of these mountaineers from that same East
Tennessee loined the forces for the preserva-
If glory is given to us veterans. who made
smaller sacrifices, could we not remember the
night all alone, 100 miles. to save Spears army
from capture. She has received no tribute.
Another carried Grants message to Louisville.
Tenn. and delivered It to a boy. who crept
through the lines and brought in his message
with safety. Neither the woman nor the boy
to remember such SINAI service. tits well how
ever. for their countrynen to record their
Now that a word has been said for these ster-
ling people Of the south. of their suffering. OF
their matchleSS devotion, of their ieSolated
homes. of the days when they were made ref
uGces. with the white spectre Of starvation
stalking through their cabin doors now that
the terrible and bitter arbttraments Of war. and
now that new events have come. Il foreign foe
tiOns having been driven back at every point.
his, fleet destroyed and slave people set free.
and now that the gallant sons Of the South.
from the mountains and the lowlands. have
joined the men OF the North in Il rally round
t ne i insrd and nat ia y TH o 55G 0 @Eai pr6 SnS IN grf ths e TjaP-
est on the globe, shall we not, in these days OF
triumph, of peace and returning prosperity.
South and give them some substantial recog-
milton of their, high service? IL can best be
ton, an education theOretic and practical, such
as is given very thoroughly TO other portions OF
our country.
Not much can be gained by the study OF sta
tistics. yet a slight extract from the eleventh
may help us. Noticing the record Of
since the census to some degree. we have as
follows:
For Kentucky 2l.6 per cent. of which 1911 per
North Carolina a5.7 per cent. of which aa.1 per
Tennessee 26.6 per cent. OF which ls per cent. is
white.
white.
The i~lllteracy in the States referred to is
chiefly in mountain districts, where families
are isolated and have poor means OF commune
cation.
When ! first visited East Tennessee there
were many counties grouped around Cumher-
land Gap in which there We're few schools of
any kind. This has been lately obviated to a
though the school money is very little
and the schools short enough. In counties
desoIated by the war. and whore there, is a
tendency to very early marriage, you find large
families. but little done In the line of progress
or the accumulation OF property.
wish to emphasize one fact moro In behalf
OF Mr.. Linco,n's early constituents, or rather
their descendants. to wit. no people on the
globe receive education more, gratefully and
more eagerly when it comes within their reach
the inhabitants OF the Cumberland
Mountains.
am now proposing something which ] hope |
will meet the favor and help OF all our people.
IL is to carry. forward and complete q monu-
mcnt already begun to Abraham Lincoln.
Again and again IL is asserted that there is no
proper monument to him, who was greater
than any Of our greatest Generals. and whose
heart felt sympathy for the humblest. vertically
n man of loving Kindness and tender mercy.
If plead with. every railroad CORPORATION,
every board OF trade. every partnership and
every humane man of means would contribute
freely to IA large granite monument liko that to
Gen. Grant, which %gloriiles New York and
adOrns the banks of the Hudson. But, oh my