The Savannah morning news., 1901-04-07
cInNEy HERBERT'S LETTER.
ruE KICKERs AGAINST GEN. FUN
sCToN,s PROMOTION.

Col. n. Frank Cheatham's promotion
No should Have Been Made n Ma
In the hne-MOsby and the
nxsome Comments ON GEN.
su,ith,s CIadm-The National Flow
- of the United States-Letters
u-om disappointed Army Officers.
u Cen. Grant Got His Name.
s.verni other Matters of General
Interest.
pine Crest Villa, Maitland, Fla, April
An accident on the railroad few days
400 nearly cut off two fingers from my
1T hand. consequently much Of this let
tar Is painfully written, and all my pri-
,,.+a correspondence suspended for time.
am also prevented from serving as mil
tory aide TO Col. F. L. Guenther, U. S.
chief marshal of the parade at the
,.r,,eiIing Of Gen. John A. Logan's monu-
want in Washington on April 8, much to
NV regret. . The kickers against
con Funston's promotion are badly at
s.,,lt for he should also have been made
a brevet major general. No man, in the
worlds war history, ever undertook so
dangerous an expedition. Its conception
was wonderful, but it's consummation was
s,,bI,me in its heroic measure. am op-
nosed to ordinary jumping" but Gen
wood and Gen. Funston have won ali
the honors given them, and more, too.
regret to see that Col. B. Frank
cheatham. U. s. ", has been made
W.
,nent of the regular army, even IL he him
sAIs sought that position. His father,
Mai. Gen. B. Frank Chatham was one
Of the most distinguished of gallant Con-
fsderates. and his son has made splen-
did reputation in the Philippine cam
naien. He should have been made major
In the line, where he could do much bet
ter service than as a quartermaster.
When Col. John s. Mosby. c. s. A,
was chasing me around Washington, D.
G.. l never expected to see him a Re-
publican officeseeker, much less an advo-
cate of mixture of the white and black
races as the means of ushering in what
he calls. 1.-THE Dawn of the Real South"
Poor Mosby, step by step he has wan
dered into unfamiliar paths. The oft
1nisouoted saying: THE pen is mightier
than the sword" certainly cannot be ap-
piled to Col. Mosby. whose ever-ready
sword carried terror to all the outlying
country around Washington In the sixties
The sudden death of Col. Clifford W.
Anderson was a severe shock to me, as
I had so recently received long and
cheerful letter from him, in which life
seemed to still have much for him to live
for. When / first became intimately ac-
quainted with Col. Anderson, some TWEEN
ty-hve years ago, he was in his prime,
and one of Georgias most notable mill
tary men. Then there were number of
Andersons all gallant soldiers in war
and princely gentlemen in peace Now,
only two remain of all that goodly COM
pany. But, sadder still, the long array
of my old and honored friends gone
from the same circle-Tattnall, Lawton,
Jackson, McLaws Harrison, Screven, Ow-
ems Thomas, Thompson, Wadley, Whea
ton and others beloved.
I see in the Morning News of Wednes-
day a programme for Memorial Day. on
April Is. AS l said last Sunday, this is
an error. The Ladies' Memorial Associa-
tion of Columbus, Ca, on March II, 1866,
through Mrs. Mary Ann Williams, widow
of Gen. Charles ]. Williams, issued an
appeal for a general Decoration Day."
on April 20, to decorate the graves of the
Confederate dead. Although a Memorial
Association, they chose Decoration,
instead OF Memorial for that day, and
such 1t has remained. On May 5, 1868,
Gen. John A. Logan, as commandment
chief of the Grand Army of the Republic
by general orders, established Memorial
Day. on May 30 for the graves of Union
soldiers. Not long after that time the
titles got mixed with the G. A. r. SOL
diers az he RaItiYnOra ancQfnDrne Mt
In 1882, a resolution was adopted calling
upon all members to be careful and use
Memorial Day. and not Decoration
Day."
Many requests have come to me to
write history of the Civil War, or to
put these letters, properly revised and
extended where needed, into book form.
! have not mentioned this fact before, as
my precarious health makes such an ex-
tended labor almost impossible, but a
letter from an old Confederate, one of
the best-known and most highly respect
ed prominent citizens of Florida, making
this request with such evident sincerity,
leads me to refer to the matter here. Il
see," writes Col. M, your letters in the
Savannah Sunday Morning News, and
beg to thank you very much for them,
as they are read by me with a good deal
OF interest. l consider them of great
value, and trust that the patrons of the
Morning News generally read them with
the same interest. Do you keep a copy
OF them? If so, will you not, in the near
future, have them put in book form? As
matter bearing upon history, think
they are superior to any writings have
seen, and would be glad to have copy
for myself and my children"
Some of the editors are too severe in
their comments on Gen. w. F. (Baldy)
Smiths failure to win in his claim against
that OF Gen. Rosecrans. for planning one
OF old Rosey's" campaigns. knew Gen.
smith in his early career as an accom-
plished and gallant West Pointer, and i
served temporarily on his staff during the
confederate raid on Harrisburg, Pa. / do
not believe he would make a claim for
any honor or emolument that he did not
honestly think was due him. He is an old
man now having long outlived hundred
~xz