The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-06-04
MARCHING BEHIND THEIR OLD FLAGS
TO FAMILIAR BUGlE CALLS.
THE CONFEDERATES' PARADE
Last and Grandest Number on the Pro-
sand Old Confederate soldiers In
Line-The Old warhorse, Gordon, In
the Lead-The North Carolina Divf-
sion with Their Battle Flag CheereG
to the Echo.

Memphis, Tenn, May 30.-Marching
once more beneath their battle flag,
their hearts aflame with the glorious
memories of forty years, their advance
and halt one more regulated by the
bugle's blast, their steps again timed
by the tap of drums, 1000 of the south's
immortals marched through the streets
of Memphis today.
That the recollection of what h
dared; of what they suffered and en-
dured; that the appreciation of their
constancy, their triumphs and their
valor are still as fresh in the hearts
of their people as ever they have been
in the past, the old soldiers received
ample evidence today. AS their col
umns passed along the crowded streets,
the cheers that came to them from the
throngs that lined the thoroughfares,
the fervent applause that fioated down
from balconies, windows and house
tops caused the old eyes to brighten,
the old shoulders to swing backward
and the marching ranks to close up as
If to show that although they were
now less vigorous than of old, there
was a time when they were as manly
as trod the earth n who feared
nothing that could be sent against
them by a world in arms. 1t would
be no mortal man, who, conscious of
duty done as best he could do it, with
his heart filled with the memories of
the manifold hardshipS of war brave
ly come, the alienation of the triumph
of victory n the bitterness of defeat,
could remain unmoVed by the enthu-
siastic acknowledgement of his fellow
citizens of the debt they owed to him
and to all others who had done as he
had done
On this, as on all similar occasions,
there was underlying the joy and
cheers the strong current of sorrow
that swept out toward those men who
in fight, who, their need assured
by the price they paid, had earned
above all others the right to bear the
%plauditS of those they loved and for
whom they gave their lives n whose
hands the old soldiers of today can
never clasp until the years are gone
and there is a full muster of the arm
les of the south beyond the river of
death.
1t was a day ideal for a parade, the
SUI shining at intervals, at times hid
den by clouds, a gentle breeze barely
strong enough to lift to their full length
the banners carried by the marching
men, a temperature warm enough to
be comfortable, but in no sense oppres-
sive.
The announcement was made yester-
day by Commander John B. Gordon
hat the parade today would start
promptly at 10 O'Clock, but ~unavoida-
BILE delays caused fully thirty minutes
to elapse from that time before the
march began.
By s o'clock the crowds had COM
menced to arrive and seek places of
vantage from which to view the page
ant and by 10 o'clock there was no
standing room to be had on any side
walk along the line of march, n the
crowd had overf1owed into the street.
The police vainly e~ndeavored to keep
all sightSeers upon the sidewalks, but
they were ~contending with the propo-
sition of crowding the larger body into
the smaller Space n necessarily gave
up the undertaking.
In front of the grand stand on Main
street there was a solid mass of hu-
mainly which for a time defied all eff
forts to open a passage through which
the parade would pass. 1t was finally
DONE, however, and once the parade
was in full swing it moved steadily on,
there being but few delays and those of
no consequence.
A detail of mounted police led the
way and cleared the streets for a
Gathering squadron of horsemen act
ing as escort to General Gordon, who
preceded by the mammoth band of the
First Ohio infantry, from Cincinnati,
his head as high and his hand on the
bride as light and firm as in his
younger days. His right hand was in
almost ceaseless motion as he raised
his hat to acknowledge the cheers
that came to him from all sides. He
rode a beautiful iron-gray horse, while
Adjutant General Norman, who was
at his left hand, bestrode one as hand
some in form. Both generals are su-
perb horsemen, and a handsome pic
ture they made.
Behind General Gordon came car
riages containing the southern mothers,
Mrs. Mary E. Cummings, Mrs. Emily +.
Ball. Mrs. Eloise Wormsley, Miss Bette
Yancey, Mrs. j. H. Humphreys, Mrs. P.
F. Edmonds and Mrs. Virginia l..
-Sneed.
In the ranks the veterans of the Army
of Northern Virginia were given the
right of line and Virginia had the lead.
First among them came the Monticello
Guards. acting as escort for the spon-
sors of the department of Virginia, who
rode aside the sponsors of all other di-
visions. in carriages a with the con-
federate colors and bearing on the sides
shields Of red, white and blue on which
appeared the name Of their state.
Then came Generals FftZhugh Lee
and Joe Wheeler, the former on the
right. the latter on the left The well
come accorded them rivaled that ex-
tended to General Gordon, and all
along the line there was a continuous
roar of cheers for each as an individual
and for Lee and Wheeler together.
Behind the two generals marched the
men from Smith camp, and Watts
camp, United Confederate Veterans.
each man waving a small banner bear
ing the words "R. E. Lee, Our Com
mander."
The men of the "Old North State"
were next in line to Virginia and they
carried the first battlefags seen in the
parade. The crowd cheered again and
again as The old banners that had float
ed in the smoke of he bloodiest bat
ties of the wal went by. The Second
brigade Of North Carolina troops was
composed of the famous Tar Heels"
Cabarrus camp and survivors of the
Thirty-ninth North Carolina infantry
closed the line of the state, there being
about 200 men in column.
South Carolina came third, and riding