Evening star., 1901-04-30
MESSAGE TO VETERANS
CALL FOR ANNUAL MEETING OF EX-
CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS.
Gen. Gordon, COmmander-in-Chfef
Sends Greetings to Comrades and
Outlines Program.

Gen. John B. Gordon, commander of the
| United Confederate Veterans has issued
an address to the members of the organ
fzation. in which. after calling attention
! to the fact that the eleventh annual meet
ing and reunion of the veterans will take
place at Memphis, May %. 20 and 30 next,
/ he makes what may be termed report OF
| the operations during the past year, and
foreshadows some of the matters of busi-
ness that will be brought forward at the
| annual meeting. In part Gen. Gordon
says:
All confederate soldiers and sailors of all
arms grades and departments, Daughters
! of the Confederacy and Sons of Veterans.
| are cordially invited to attend this elev-
! enth general reunion of the L. c. VS.. He
! also announces that 1,i3l camps are al
ready enrolled in the organization. with
| applications in for over 1919 more. EX-con-
| federate soldiers and sailors are urged to
| form themselves into local associations
where this has not already been done, and
/ all associations bivOuacs, encampmentS
| and other bodies not members of the l. I.
/ V \. are earnestly requested to send III
! applications to headquarters without de-
/ lay. so as to be organized in time to par
| ticipate in this reunion, and thus unite
! with their comrades in carrying out the
/ Iaudable and philanthropic objects of the
! United Confederate Veterans Association.
/ Gen. Gordon heartily approves of the
Z
/ lection of the bluff city" the great me-
| tropolis of the proud Old state of Tennes-
! see. as meeting place for their eleventh
| annual reunion, saying it Is SO situated
| geographically as to be accessible to very
| large majority of the L. c. V. camps. In
/ addition this. he states. Memphis and
| the entire state of Tennessee are famous
! all over the civilized world for boundleSs
/ hospitalities and for the love and devotion
/ her ''golden-hearted sons and beautiful and
/ accomplished daughters have always be
/ slowed upon the survivors of that thin
! gray line" which stood so long and so he
| roically before such overwhelming odds.
Third Extension of Courtesy.
"Once before at Chattanooga, in 1880;
| again at Nashville, in 1897. and now for
| the third time in the beautiful progressive
| city of Memphis, Tenn, through her noble
| and gallant sons. has invited the remnant
/ of the survivors of the great war between
| the states in which she bore such a con-
spicuous part. and to which she furnished
| so many of her heroic sons, to assemble
/ again upon her soil as her honored guest:
not as of yore, amidst wars wild
| alarum, but under the white ban
ner of peace, to commune and
| mingle together: to rehearse old stories of
! trials and hardships and sufferings and to
| clasp hands once again in comradeship be-
| fore they reach that haven of rest which
! they are nearing so closely and rapidly that
! they can hear the sounds of the waves
| dashing upon the shores"
| Gen. Gordon urges the officers and men,
| bers of all camps to commence, without de-
| lay. to make preparations to attend this
reunion. as to make it the largest and
most representative reunion ever held.
| The general calls especial attention to the
increasing age. multiplied sorrows and cor
roding cares of many of the gallant old SOL
diers who risked their lives and fortunes
for what they considered to be the right
during the eventful years of 1861 to 1865.
Other Matters.
Other business of the greatest Importance
will, he continues, also demand careful
consideration. such as the care of the
graves of the known and unknown confed-
| crate dead buried at Gettysburg, Fort
| Warren, Camps Morton, Douglas Oak
| wood cemetery at Chicago, Rock Island,
Johnson's Island, Cairo and at all other
| points. We must care for the graves of
! our dead, and see that they annually
| decorated, the headstOnes preserved and
protected and complete lists of the names
| of our dead heroes, with the location of
| their last resting place, furnished to their
! friends and relatives of our camps, thus
rescuing their names from oblivion and
| handing them down in history; the best
| method of securing impartial history and
! preservation of the history of her citizen
| sOldiery; the consideration of the different
| movements, plans and means to complete
| the monument to the memory Of jefferson
| Davis, president of the confederate states
| of America, and to aid in building monu-
| ments to all of the other great leaders. SOL
| diers and sailors of the south; to make
| such changes in the constitution and by
! laws as experience may suggest, and other
| of a1 into