The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1900-08-17
The Confederate Soldier.

Ladies and Gentlemen-Permit
me to thank you for the kind invita-
tion to be present and join in the
exercises of this reunion Of the
survivors Of the brave men who fol-
lowed the fortunes of the COnfed-
eracy through four years of unequal
war.
AS time rolls on the Confederate
volunteer will hold a high place
in history as the best type of the
soldier.
He entered war without prepare
ton, and from the beginning was
outnumbered both in men and equip
ment.
He did not fight for conquest,
but to keep the institutions and
customs of the old domain.
Hewas not mercenary, for every
drop of Southern blood shed on the
field, and every Southern soldier
whose dead face looked up at the
plying stars, was unbought and un
purchasable.
So, without the allurements and
incentive, which the dream of con-
quest brings, and without price, he
endured untold hardships, and
fought the bloodiest battles of
modern times.
We have recently passed through
a war the result of which has added
another glorious page to the military
annals of the republic. While the
guns of Dewey were sweeping the
proud Spaniard from the Eastern
sea, and the Southern Marylander
was pursuing with his flagship, like
relentless fate, the very rose of the
Spanish navy, until she stranded on
the beach, when the Confederate
Bugadier, Wheeler, was at a de-
cisive moment, urging an advance
and not a retreat, it is true the
national heart swelled with pride
and the national pulse quickened at
the wonderful achievements of the
American sailor and soldier.
But if stranger, ignorant of the
fact that the country was at war,
should at that time have appeared,
he would suppose we were engrossed
with business and industrial pur-
suits, for the farmer, the artisan,
the merchant and the banker were
each pursuing his accustomed and
peaceful vocation. The great re-
serve forces of the nation were not
touched.
Not so, however, in the war be-
tween the States.
The one was a contest between
the Latin and the best strains of the
blood of the races who became free
born citizens of America.
The other was a struggle between
men of this same high and daring
race, whose patriotism was equally
intense, and who believed in the
\ justice of the cause they respect
lively espoused.
Is it any wonder then that when
the time for separation came, and
the struggle began, the great repub-
lie was shaken to its very center,
and rocked on its foundation, as if
in the embrace of an angry storm?
1t is not my purpose to recall the
causes which led up to that struggle,
or to argue the now abstract ques-
ton of the right or wrong of
secession.
Suffice it to say that the Southern
soldier fought for the right as he
saw it, and is in the Union today
without apology for his course, but
with pride for the record he has
made.
This occasion naturally suggests
not only the heroism and self sacri-
fee of the Confederate soldier, but
the military genius of Southern
commanders who have contributed
so much to military knowledge, and
whose campaigns have excited the
warmest admiration of the best
military critics of Europe.
The skill of the leaders of the
Confederate armies, the reckless
bravery of the soldiers, the battles
fought and lost or won, are a part
of history.
A distinguished writer has said:
"The Southern States share the fate
of all conquered peoples. The con-
querers write their history"
In common with others we think |
especially that the school histories
should be less partial; but we are
almost reconciled to misrepresenta-
ton, when we remember, that our
children are taught at the home and
the freside, that the odor of treason
does not live in the memories of Lee
and Jackson and Davis.
Great as was the Confederate
soldier in war, it was only after the
shadow of disaster had fallen that
his character shown out, just as the
stars do when the shades of night
have fallen.
The student of events will here
find new and profitable lesson, full
of honor for the vanquished, and
yet not altogether discreditable to
the victor.
When Robert K. Lee surrendered
his stained sword at Appomattox,
to one worthy to receive it, the Con-
federacy was shattered, and the
dreams of those who had built their
hopes upon success was gone forever.
The Confederate soldier again be-
came the American citizen, but un-
der conditions how changed!
He had gone out from comfort