The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1899-09-29
How the Southern Soldier
Returned.

soldiers and one eX-COnfederate sat
down. The latter had ridden with
J. Z. Is. Stuart. He is now Grid
ing" about for a northern concern.
The talk turned on the home-com-
ing Of military heroes, and the
man said:
81 was asked the other day in
Pittsburg, as we watched the wei
come of the people TO the Tenth
Pennsylvania back from the Phil
ippines, what sort of reception we
Johnny Rcbs got when we went
home after the civil war. Whip
ped soldiers are not often required
to march in bodies when they go
home. The Confederate did not,
as whole. They did not in any
way, so far as | ever heard. They
went back in twos, or threes, but
oftener one at a time. You will
know some day that the civil war
was unlike any other war of history.
When the Confederates realized
they were whipped they were heart
broken. am not making any ar
gument for the cause. But you
must consider the temperament of
a Southern man to find out what de-
feat meant TO him.
you people in the North would
have recovered if the North bad
been whipped. You would have
been at Richmond, if we had sue
ceeded, with your Yankee inven-
tons and schemes. You would
have got the contracts for the Con-
federate States public works. You
would have had the contracts for
building our navy, for making our
guns. You would have built our
railroads. You would have reviv
ed your industries from our Golfers.
You would have become partners
in our commerce. All this would
have been characteristic of you.
"With the Southern man it was
different. He was whipped but he
was sullen. He moped and would
not play. You people had the adj
vantage in-the play, of course, but
you might have given the sulker a
show for his white alley if he had
shown a disposition to let you in
side his yard. But he barred the
gate and scOwled at You through a
knOt-hole. And this trait chung to
him for years, and he awOke one
morning to find some of you folks
IN his field and on his plantation,
his soil, while he was
starving. Then he quit looking
back and went to work. And now
when you have "a trade with a South
srn man you do not take advantage
IF him as you once did.
"BUt just after the surrender he
vas in 10 mood to be received.
The town from which he had en-
listed was in no condition to turn
,ut in welcome and hurrah, even i'll
. regiment had returned or any
body of men. Gentlemen, believe
ne, there was not a healthy hurrah
IL the whole South after Lees sur
ender. 1T was nothing to brag
bout for some time before that.
some of us saw the handwriting
TX months before the meeting of
Grant and Lee at Appomattox.
''Your soldiers returned home III
battalions and regi-
nents. They were received by the
as we are now receiving
oldicry from the Philippines, and !
5 we recently received them from |
,Uha. But the Confederate sneak
d back, not because he was asham-
q Of what he had done, for to this |
ay we are mighty sensitive on that
oint, but because he had been |
It takes brave man to
cknowledge a licking such as you
ave us. We acknowledged il alright
} YOU, and at home, but we did not
ant any hurrah made about it.
lar people were III no mood to
ng the bells or fire the guns when
e went home. A man going into
is old home in the night, climbing
he back fence and going through
ne garden, making peace with the
og, knocking at the kitchen door,
not an inspiring spectacle. That's
he way most of us went back.
every often there were no bells
, ring. You Yankees shot them
at of the church steeples, or our
eople had TO melt them for ammu-
ition. We were mighty short to-
ards the last. There were few ,,