Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1899-05-13
THE CONFEDERATE REUNION.
Over Ten Thousand Vets Get Together In
Charleston.

Charleston.
The reunion of the Z. G. V. in
Charleston, the opening session OF
which was held last Wednesday, and
which is still in progress at this writing
Friday morning-is already charac-
terized in the leading newspapers as
the grandest gathering OF the Kind
that has been witnessed siuce the war.
The veterans began arriving in
Charleston in small numbers on Mon
day morning; but during Tuesday
they came from all parts of the coun-
try by the thousands, and on Wednes-
day morning, it is estimated that there
were no less than ten thousand in the
city. Every Confederate state was
represented by hundreds of veterans,
and there were also half dozen or
more old Contederates from each of
the Union states, including far off Cali,
fornia, and the northwest generally.
The total number of visitors in the
city is estimated at 10000.
The first business session of the re-
union was called to order Wednesday
morning by General c. l. Walker,
commanding the South Carolina dlvis'
ion, in the handsome auditorium erect
ed for the occasion by the city Of
Charleston. Its enormous floor space
was crowded and thousands were un-
able to gain admittance to the build
ing. When General John B. Gordon,
the commander.in- chief, appeared upon
the stage, he was greeted with thun-
ders of applause. The band struck up
Dixie, and the veterans cheered and
cheered again. In calling the assem-
blage to order, General Walker spoke
of Charleston's invitation to the vete-
rams to meet at the birthplace of seces'
sion, and said the gavel he WAS using
was that with which in 1860 had been
used to call to order the secession con-
vention. The chairs used by the ofh.
GERS and the table of the presiding Off
Ger were the same as used on that
memorable occasion.
When General Gordon was escorted
to the front of the stage his appear
ance was the signal for storm of ap-
plause. Cheers and shrill yells for the
commander-in-chief, mingled with the
crash of the band, and hats, handker'
chiefs and flags were waved frantical-
ly. When order was finally secured,
the old Confederate chieftain was pre-
sented by General Walker, and deliv-
cred an eloquent address. He spoke
with all the vigor, eloquence and grace
by which he is characterized as an ora
tor, and after the applause bad subsi-
ded, he led Mrs. Stonewall jackson to
the front of the stage. She was en-
Enthusiastically applauded. AS he pre-
sented Mrs. Jackson and in the hrst
lull, General Gordon said: II will
shake her hands for you ALL" and in
an instant he added, mo, will do
more than that; I am going to hug her
for you," and with that did what ne
said he was going to do, which met
the hearty approval of the vast throng.
1t was at this stage General Lee pre-
sented his resolution with reference to
Federal care of Confederate graves.
The text of the resolution and the
disposition of the same are published
elsewhere in this issue.
General Gordon presented Miss Kate
Cabell Currie, of Dallas, Tex; Miss
Laura Lawendon, of New Orleans;
Mrs. Kirby Smith and other ladies
whose husbands or fathers were Con-
federate leaders. In response to the
repeated demands of the audience, he
also presented Mrs. Gordon, who was
greeted with an outburst of applause.
The session then adjourned.
The parade of the veterans occurred
Wednesday afternoon, and they march
ed through a dense crowd of cheering
people. Led by Generals Gordon and
Wade Hampton, long line of the
grizzled men who had followed these
leaders and the other captains of the
Confederate armies through four years
of hardship and battle, marched stur-
Oily under the blazing sun to the in
spring strains of "Dixie," of the "Bon-
ME Blue Flag" and the irrelevant hut
irrepressible "There Will Be Hot
Time In the Old Town Tonight" AT
intervals along the line the fiuttering
of a war-torn and shot-torn battle flag
called forth cheers, while many heads
were barred as the frayed emblems of a
dead cause cleaned over some organi.
cation whose name is household word
to the south. Here and there camp
appeared in the grey jeans uniform,
black slouch hats and carrying mus
kets of the old pattern, and all the war
paraphernala of "sixty-one."
Here again Hampton and Gordon
were cheered vociferously at every
step and rode almost the entire route
with barred heads. The absence OF
General Wheeler in the line was a
source of considerable disappointment.
He reached the city Wednesday morn
ing, but did not participate in the
parade.
Including the kindred organizations
and distinguished guests and commit
tees, there were probably 5000 per-
sons in line, probably 5000 of them
yatnropc Tho porada waa led nv