The Savannah morning news., 1901-02-17
SOME MILITARY MATTERS.
CONCERNING THE VETERANS OF
THE CIVIL WAR.

THE CIVIL WAR.
Comments on the Recent Meeting OF
the Florida Daughters of the Con-
federacy-The Death of Congress
man Albert ID. Shaw Brings Recol-
Iections-Tbe Favorable Comments
ON the japanese Soldiers In China.
HazinG at West Point and other
Matters of Interest.
Pine Crest Villa, Maitland, Fla. Feb. 1s.
BY a slip Of the pen, presume, the
name Of DR.. J. Scott Todd, Of Atlanta,
was given as DR.. J. S. Scott in my last
Sundays letter. OF the Georgia Military
Institute cadets in the state forces OPP
posing Gen. Shermans march from At
lanta to the sea-" there was no Drawer
boy than Cadet Todd. who lost his arm
in defending some bridge on the Central
Railroad, think. At the Blue and Gray
reunion in Atlanta last summer I intro
duced Dr. Scott, with his armless sleeve,
to Gen. o. o. Howard. U. 8. A. (retired),
who also wears an armiess sleeve, and
their greetings were most cordial. Gen.
Howard succeeded Gen Mcpherson in the
command Of the Army OF the Tennessee,
after the latter was killed in the battle
of Atlanta, and his noble tribute to the
heroic conduct Of the Georgia cadets
made DR.. Todd blush like a young mai
den. But the tribute was well -deserved.
! am done with my protests against
"old vets" and 'old veteran soldiers as
failed to convince Editor Sweat that
he was fully wrong; and then comes Rev.
DR.. Alex W. Bealer, formerly an editor in
Atlanta, and tells of an ''old Federal vet
cram" Newspapers are daily using these
terms, right or wrong, and, as St. Paul
said 1t is no use kicking against the
pricks or words meaning the same thing.
Hereafter l will omit grammar and spell
ing In my list of corrective evils abroad
in the land. Still. l am willing to pay
big price for an "old veteran" of any
kind to put in my collection as 1 have
never seen, one in all my long and busy
life.
1t is said that a truth seldom overtakes
a lie. However, this may be- one thing
is certain. 1t is very hard work to cor
rect a false impression. l was ten years
or more in correcting fully the false idea
that Gen Lee remained in the United
States army as Gen. SCOTS aide, to act as
a sort of spy until the last moment. And
it will take twenty years to convince
some editors that Gen. Lee never gave
his sword to Gen. Grant Editor Angel
of Boston, praising the heroic conduct of
my old classmate Gen and ex-Gov. J. L.
Chamberlain. of Maine, says Grant select
ed him to receive the sword Of Gen. Lee
at the final surrender. Like the sword of
Damocles, this visionary sword OF Lee
hangs bv an unseen thread.
Gen. Chamberlain, however, figured in
another capacity, and it may have given
rise to the above mentioned error. Gen.
Edward w. Whitaker, U. S. ", chief or
staff to Gen. Custer, who announced the
surrender 10 the Union forces then in
line of battle says: Gen. Chamberlain of
Maine, was the officer on the infantry
line to whom I announced the uncondi-
tional surrender of Lees army" This
was early in the morning and Gen. Lee
and Gen. Grant did not meet to complete
the terms of surrender until soon after
dinner.
Brevet Brig. Gen. Lewis B Parsons,
U. S. ", now visiting Florida, was
railroad official in 1861 and became ia
nous for his great feats in transporting
Union troops by land and water during
cited general at its close. He was not,
however like BIT Maj. Gen d. C. Nc
Callum, L. S. v, in charge of railroads,
only transportation. In the Confederate
Army Mai Campbell Wallace of Tennes-
see, and Col. William M. Wadley, A. d.
c., of Georgia, were noted for their able
supervision of military railroads. This
service, like that of transporting large
armies, required able men of ripe ex-
perience and who had the firmness to
enforce their orders.
The death Of Brig. Gen. George Nancy,
c. S. A, of Tennessee, takes away an
other of the very few surviving cavalry
commanders, who won an enduring fame
under gallant little Joe" Wheeler's mas
terly leadership. One by one they have
"dismounted," and gone down through the
dark valley and crossed over the river
and are resting under the shade of the
trees with Stuart, and Forrest, and others
long gone. Anderson and Allen and Hume
and Morgan and Young and Crews and
others are in that list, while the distin-
guished survivors are Lieut.. Gems. Hamp-
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