The Savannah morning news., 1901-09-11
ON TO SPRINGFIELD
WAS THE CRY OF EFFINGHAM
COUNTY VETERANS.
THEIR GREAT REUNION
EVENT A MEMORABLE ONE IN HIS
TORY OF THE COUNTY.

The Confederate Veterans Made n
Parade One of the Features of the
Day-They Marched Through the
Town, Escorted by the bingham
Hussars-Dinner Was Served by
! the Ladies' and Speeches Were
Made Afterwards-Col. j. III. EstiIi
| and Hon. Morgan RawIs Addressed
the Crowd-veternns From Far
| and Wide Were in Attendance.
The Confederate Veterans of Efing-
ham county held a reunion yesterday,
at Springfield. and. according
! fngham has never had such
celebration. 1t seemed that the
whole white population, from the Sa-
vannah river to Bulloch and Screven
counties, had set apart the day to visit
the old town of Springfield, have a good
| time themselves and see that all visit.
ors were treated in the same way.
| The reunion was got up by the
Confederate Veterans of bingham
county. There was no question that
| the countless invitations to their
friends to come was hearty, and the
response was equally generous, be-
cause there was no end to the coming
of the invited.
| At about noon the Eff1ngham Confed-
crate Veterans and visiting comrades
were formed in line, under the com
the escort of the Efingham Hus-
sars, in uniform and under
| the command of Capt. c. F.
Berry, with Middleton's Brass
Band, marched through the town. The
parade was under the command of the
chief marshal, Capt. ]. d. Grower, and
the assistant marshal, Capt. James
Bird. With the marshals, mounted.
! were Col. ]. H. Estill, Maj. l.. L. Ell
kins, Lieut.. ]. C. Tison, of the Savan-
nah Cadets, and ex-Capt. H. r.
Dasher, of the Effingham Hussars.
The parade returned to the Court
House, its point of starting and was
dismissed. The ladies served a dinner,
after which the immense crowd was
called to order by Judge Tarver. at
whose request Rev. Mr.. Bodie. pastor
|
offered an eloquent prayer. Judge
Tarver then introduced Col. Estill, who
| spoke for about fifteen minutes.
| Il am here to-day" said Col. Estill,
ito take part with you in honoring the
veterans of Effingham county, and to
| add my tribute to their valor and
patriotism. TO me Effingham is sacred
| ground l never think of the county
| without recalling to my mind its first
settlers, those religious enthusiasts the
sturdy Salzburgers, who travelled from
the far-off confines of Germany, beset
| by foes on every side, and
only saved from death at the
hands of their prosecutors by the
timely aid of that defender of religious
liberty Frederick the Great, of Prus-
STA. Those brave men and noble women,
many of whose descendants are here
to-day, braved everything that they
might worship God according to the
dictates of their consciences.
AND it is appropriate that this
county, the asylum of the oppressed,
should perpetuate the name of the pa
triotic Lord Efhngham. A gallant no
| bleman, who, rather than fight his fell
low subjects in America, resigned his
position in the British army, in which
his ancestors had served with distinc
ton, and in which he had hoped to rise
to preferment.
MY friends, with these surround
ings, how could the people of your
county be otherwise than patriotic? At
every call of the country for soldiers,
Effingham has responded with men as
steady in battle as they were sturdy
at home. Its representative company
was and is that gallant old troop, the
bingham Hussars. 1t carries the
banner of the county; on it's rolls are
to be found the names of Bird,
Strobhar, Brewer, Gibson, Morgan,
Metzger, Feuger. Gibbons and host of
other patriots, but in every command
that left Lower Georgia, the sons of
bingham were to be found, among
them your distinguished fellow citizen
Hon. Morgan Rawls, colonel of the
Fifty-fourth Georgia. l knew a num-
Der of the men of Effingham who gave
up their lives on the field of battle, and
others who bear honorable wounds in
an honorable service. 1 kept step in
the same ranks in which marched the
Dashers, Gnanns, Sniders, Zettlers and
other brave boys of old bingham.
1.-THE Confederacy and it's gallant
armies are a precious memory to their
veterans; to others they are a dim re-
membrance of childhood, and to the
greater number they are few pages of
history. Soon those who took part in
that great drama of the few against
the many will have passed away. In
lew years Iile DuRle Will nave SOUNDED
over the last veteran of the Confed-
crate armies. He went to battle to de-
fend principles which he believed were
right; the question was arbitrated on
the field of battle, and decided against
him.
"A third of a century has passed
since that struggle for independence
closed, and in spite of the ravages of
war and the succeeding years of out
RACES by political Adventures, the
South is to-day enjoying the blessings
of peace and plenty. Its veterans have
forgiven, and are trying to forget
These reunions are not to mourn over
the past, but to commemorate
The gallant deeds and pa
triotic sacrifices of American soldiers
battling for what they thought was
right. IL woman's tears and woman's
prayers could have brought success,
il would have been ours; if hardships
sufferings and valor of soldiers could
have commanded success, ii would
have been ours. But it was destined
that the South should be a part of a
| new union.
II do not like the name of the New
South, but there is a new South and
there is a new North. There is a new
nation, so strong and mighty that II
seems destined to carry the ideas of a