The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-31

the rynited states are educated gentle man allsof them and men of high sense of honor. and am satisneu that every man of them sent in his ress nation, and have today learned tnat the naval register published ourlns tne war and possibly the army Fesis.er' designated some of those who nao re- sier1ed As deserters or dishonorably dis charged. Dishonorably discharged as different thing for they are not tech nically deserters, and while those om-t cers are all pretty well dead ana gone, scarcely any living, if they were hving that would never reach them. Ihey were not deserters any more tnan was any man who had taken an oath 10 support the Constitution of the Unated States as civil officer and then went into the war of the rebellion. so caileo, and they have never been esteemed as deserters. If the register was marked thus it was really not with the approval of the Government The Government of the United States today does not regard any of those officers as deserters, who in obedience to a sense of duty and attachment to their States, resigned their position and went into the Confederate service.
 Mir. Dent-Mr. President, l fully sympathixe with the object sought to be accomplished by the distinguished gentleman who has just taken his seat, but 1t seems to me that the words used In this Section cover all the cases that have been alluded to by the dis tinguished gentleman. ''honorably served 2" Surely man who deserted his colors did not serve honorably. l know something, Mir. President. of the sacrifices, the endurance and the cour-5 ago of Confederate soldiers. l hope I will not be considered as egotistic in saying that derive that knowledge not from hearsay, not from history. but from four years and three months &C., tual service in the State of Alabama and in the Confederate service. I want to say another thing of the soldiers of the Confectionery, that many of them were men of character and education and intelligence. Many private in the ranks would compare favorably with many gentlemen in this Conven- tion as to their intelligence and abil- ity. They understood the situation of the Confederacy, and however it may have been in other fields, and in other armies, know that after the battle of ChickaEnAugaa where the Southern general failed to secure the fruits, of his victory, there were plenty of men In the Confederate service who recog- nized right then and there that we were engaged in a hopeless struggle. When they charged in that battle they charged with an enthusiasm and cour- ae that never was excelled on any battle field, I do not care when or where it was fought. While they stood by their colors and fought after that time 1t was with su!len courage and without hope of success. and 1 tell you it required the highest sort of patriot ism and the highest sort of courage to remain true, under the circum- stances. and honor them the :nore because they did remain true under those conditions and circumstances. want to state an incident that happened in my own command. and I would ask the distinguished gentleman what he would do with an exceptional case of that kind. If the Convention will pardon me moment while indulge in this personal rcrniniscence. | When we crossed the Tennessee River. when Bragg fell back from Shelby vile. Tenn. and reached Chattanooga. had a man in my conhland. good soldier. a faithful soldier. always at 1 his post. always ready for duty. who came to me and stated that he had | received information that his wife and | children had been DLlndered and | robbed by Federal troops. and that they were suffering and on the point ct I starvation. He procured some money | from me to send to his family. tay l or two later he received letter--when | the Knowledge first came to him 1t was | by information-and this letter froin | his wife gave the conditions and her | surroundings, how she had been treat | ed, and she appealed to him to come home and make some provision for her | and the children. I was so interested in it myself that I made an application | for a furlough for ten days. and did
 not send it through the regular chan nel. but went in person with the ap- | plication to see if 1 could not procure
 a furlouRh for him. I did not suc-
 ceed. When I came back and told him.
 could see the effect which It had
 upon him. think 1t was the very Esxt | morning we were ordered from Chat tanooga down towards Bridgeport. to
 a little place called Taylor's s'"r,. to
 act with the brigade of General Pat
 ton Anderson. This man came 10 me
 and called me off and had long talk
 with him. I could see that hs was
 disturbed and had something on his
 mind. He referred repeatedly 70 tie
 condition of his family and how lnuch
 he felt for them and how anxious he
 was. not knowing exactly how they
 had fared since he had received the
 letter, While we were talking he
 handed me back the amount which he
 had gotten from me day or two be-
 fore. Where he got the money dc
 not know When We parted We had
 been talking a long time, and told
 him that we had better get some rest
 as we had to move the next day. He
 grasped me by the hand and said. Cap
 tain I will never forget you, you have
 been wonderfully kind to me. Next
 morning at roll call that man was
 gone. Now tell you gentlemen. you
 may look upon that as desertion
 technically it was, but who of us
 would have better stood the test?
 I want to tell you the further history
 of that man. I had to report him as
 deserter. made inquiry to find ou
 what became of him and l was tolt
 that he went back and arranged asou
 his family, saw them cared for ant
 then afraid to come back to join hi;
 command he joined John Rody's Cav
 airy and fought with that commauc
 through the remainder of the war
 What would you do in a case like that
 Technically he was guilty of deser'
 ton.
 Mir. Sanford (Montgomery)-Absen
 without leave.
 MT. Dent-Yes that is true. as m!
 friend suggests, and yet technically i
 was desertion. do not de;end desert
 CTS. The gentleman who spoke reterre' | (, lr.xnv Iey.