The Globe-republican., 1900-07-12
Resser and Roosevelt.
Chicago Ocean.

{
Those who are at all familiar with the his
tory of the civil war viii recall the fact
/ that it was General Rosser who attempted
! to check Sheridan in the Shenandoah
valley, after Cedar Creek, aud, like
Others, failed However. the dashimg i'm
/ petuosity of the great Union cavalry
/ commander. rather than the bad general
ship of Rosser, accounted for his humili-
| arIng repulse, and the fasco by means
/ impaired his standing among military
men as a skilIful tactcian and brave
soldier. At the beginning of the Spanish
war, upon the recommendation of Gener-
al Fitzhueh Lee, General Rosser was as
signed to the formers corps. Then it
WAS rem eInbered that after the close of
the civil war General Rosser had rivaled
Wade Hampton and even Robert ToomDs
as a persistent and yirulent enemy of re
construction and uncompromising
halter of the North and of Northern peo-
pie. Even as recently as 1895 General
Rosser had not become reconciled, and at
the dedication of a Confederate monument
in Richmond he made 4 speech from
which the following is a verbatim ex-
tract:
ssrhe men who overran ms remind me Of
the Ioeusts which are now affecting por-
tions of this state. They couldn't whip
US, but they devoured our substance. The
army that devouied army of
substitutes. The men whom they repre-
sented stayed at home and made money
and now draw pensions. l despise the
man who gives United States money to a
pensioner. This country can't stand
when one citizen supports another. L
shall never vote for Congressman who
is in favor of government pensions L
would say to Massachusetts,, you pay your
time ago we unveiled monument to the
greatest General who ever lived. Today
we unveiled a monument to the greatest
private soldiers who ever lived, and in
time we Will uIveil a monument to tue
President of the Confederacy. But we
are Knocked at the North, and will live to
see the Yankee Army march gain through
the South and pull down our monuments.
l DON'T know what sort of stuff the rising
generation is made of. but if you and L
are living there'Il be bloodshed when
that is done. -
a great many things have happened of
late to confirm the belief that the old
sores have been healed. The recognition
by the North OF the services rendered by
General Fitzhugh Lee III Cuba, before
and after war was declared against Spain;
the equally distinguished services for the
Wheeler, aud the fact that Southerners
and Northerners fought side by side for
the honor and glory of the nation, have
been referred to as conclusive evidence
that the past is forgotten and forgiven on
both sides of Mason and Dixon's line.
But the following letter from General
Thomas T.. Rosser to the rough rider,
Theodore Roosevelt, is perhaps the
strongest proof yet offered i'll support of
a.,
consequences have finally destroyed ALI
sectional bitterness:
The Hon Theodore Roosevelt: have
hitherto been earnest worker in the
ranks of the Democratic party. but cir
cumstances and conditions have SO
changed that L cannot affiliate with it any
longer. L naturally came out of the great
war of the go between the states soured |
and prejudiced, and it was easy to believe |
all the charges of evil that were made !
against the party which antagonized as |
a soldier. Though a boy L not a
secessionist, in the fierce and bitter fight |
that followed 1 became thoroughly satu-
rated with its venom. When war was I
declared against Spain in 1898, the fear
that my country was in danger passed |
through me like electric spark, clear !
ing my vision and revealing the folIies |
behind which 1 had been sulxing. That |
the South IS unanimous in its political OPP
position to the North cannot satisfactorily I
be ascribed, to my mind, to a difference /
in primary belief, but is founded solely
on a blind prejudice which all candid,
loyal citizens should spurn. If the North /
can prosper, and it does, under Republi-
can administration, the South would blush
to admit that she cannot do the same. for
she has equal opportunities. To say that
alone are dishonest, and that
Democrats alone are honest, is foul black
guardism. 1 most heartily approve the
OF President Mckinley.
and shall do all in my power to insure his
re detection to the high office he now holds,
and, fully approving your political and
your military record, rejoice
and congratulate my country
on our good fortune ia securing your
services as our ce-Presiient. believing
that it plants your feet firmly in the Ger
tain road to further advancement for you
and additional prosperity for our country !