The Scranton chronicle. (Scranton, Miss.) 1897-19??, 1901-07-20
ADDRESS OF COL. ]. L. POWER
AT the Annual Reunion OF stockdale Camp
L. c. L., McComb City, June
rs, 1901.

gives me more satisfaction than the years
In which wore the uniform and dis.
charged the duties of a Confederate sol.
dler, There Is no legacy | may leave my
children that / wish them 10 prize more
highly than the fact that their father
esponsed the cause and followed the tag
Of the southern confederacy. There are
no gatherings of Mississinnians more con.
genial TO me than those composed of the
men who fought under Lee. jackson, Joseph
l.. and Albert sidney Johnston, Beauregard,
Gordon, Hood. Polk Stuart Pickett, Bragg.
A i. and d. ii. Hill, Price, Forest, Gle.
burn, Fitzhugh and stephen u. Lee, Wheel.
federacy; Nalthall, Martin. Humphrtes.
Barksdale. Davis. Harris, rosey, benton,
4. and Robert Lowry, sears. sharp; Tucker,
Adams, Burt, Holder, Reynolds. Brandon
Clark. Withers GholsOn, Sharpe, stock.
dale and scores Of others who commanded
Misslssi ippians on nearly every battlefield
during the four years struggle. There are
no women now living, none that ever have
lived, or that ever Will live, that | yener.
ate and admire as do the mothers and
daughters OF the Confederacy. tod bless
them They were with us from 1851 10
1865, many Of them are with us still, ana
they will be with us when we cross over
the river and rest under the trees In the
biyouac of life eternal. They were with US
when we donned the jacket Of gray IN
their prayers they were with us In the
march and on the battlefield, they were
with us in the hospitals and received from
the lips of our dying comrades the last
words about home and wife and mother
and thousands OF them who never saw their
loved ones after the heart breaking good.
bye on earth, have since been singing with
them the Sweet Bye and Bye In a
falrer and a brighter land.
Yes. my comrades, | am glad to be with
you today. | feel that Ii Is good TO be
here No man can meet and mingle with
more congenlal associates and friends than
those who espoused the same lost cause,
and who stood shoulder 10 shoulder ia
one OF the greatest wars since the world
began. 1t is real satisfaction TO know
that the survivors on both sides THE bloody
chasm" so cherish its memories as to be
willing and anxious to meet and talk over
those times that tried mems souls. The
prestige of victory does not lend its charm.
to our reunions. but the consciousness of
duty faithfully done is our ample reward.
The highest and best compliment paid 10
the patriotism and the valor of the Con
federate soldier was by ono who knew
him best. When the peerlesss, the i'm.
mortal Robert Il. Lee. on the tenth of
April, 1865, surrendered his sword TO the
successful and magnanim0us leader Of the
Union Armies, he spoke these farewell
words to his followers:
After four years arduous service,
marked by Unsurpassed courage and fortl-
tude, the Army of Northern Virginia has
been compelled to yield to overwhelming
numbers and resources. | need not tell
the survivors of 80 many hard fought bat
ties, who have remained steadfast to the
last that | have consented 10 this result
from no distrust OF them, but, feeling that
yalor and devotion could accomplish moth
Ing that could compensate for the loss that
would have attended the culmination OF
the contest, l have determined to avoid
services have endeared them TO theii
countrymen.
by the terms of the agreement officers
and men can return to their homes ano
remain there until exchanged. You viii
take with you the satisfaction that pro
ceeds from duty faithfully performed ant ant
extend to you His blessing and protection
with an increasing admiration of YOU
constancy and devotion, and gratefu
remembrance Of your kind and generoul
consideration Of myself, | bid you an af
fectionate farewell.
son in the Valley, and other dashing lead
ers at Manassas, Savage station. Malverr
Hill, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg. Chicka
Harbor, Petersburg the Wilderness, Shiloh
Corinth, Bakers Creek. Vicksburg, Atlanta
Appomatox, and the scores of other battle
fields of the Old Dominion and all ovel
Southland, read above your honorable dis
charge-as rich legacy as you can leave
your children and your children's children
Let 1t be engraved upon their hearts. Lei
IL be printed In all our text books, and
let 1t be memorized and spoken by. the
descendants of those who not only believed
they were right, but who knew they were
they did not succeed. For myself. / claim
TO be thoroughly reconstructed, and | re
joice that Old Glory Is again floating ovei
reunited people, but l have no patience
with that excessive loyalty, or conservatism
or penitence-or whatever you may Dt
pleased to call it--that prompts orators, or
some reunion and memorial occasions, to
say, II am glad we were whipped, am re,
Joiced that the Confederacy did not sue
coed; 1t Is all for the best and such IKE
gush. 1t may be all for the. best; bui
the wise anG patriotic leaders of the south
In 1861, and the half million sons Of Dixie
who stepped to the front, did not think SC
then, and a very large majority of the
survivors do not think so yet. One thing
Is certain the women of the South didn't
think so In 1861, and 1t is feared that a
good many OF them never Will get recon.
structed. And this reminds me OF what
Corporal Tanner, of the Union Army, said
when he hobbSd to the platform on pair
OF artificial stumps at the Richmond reun-
ion a few years ago III it had not been
for your women, we would have whipped
you, Johnny Rebs,. In six months The
Southern women always were, are now, and
ever will be, on the side Of right, and truth
and duty.
Another great captain, who had ample
reason to know and appreciate the vaior of
the Confederate s0ldler-General Grant
when his staff officers had started salute
in honor OF the surrender at Appomatox,
he exclaimed: stop that firing We have
no great victory to be proud OF, for we
have been four years capturing these eight
thousand men who have laid down their
arms" And General Gordon relates how.
when his battalions marched In front Of
the Federal lines to stack arms, the Union
General in command gave the order "Pre-
sent Arms J"
Ii Is only American soldiers that could
deserve such generous recognition, or
enough to accord II.
My friends 1t would be a trespass upon
your patience, and upon the proprieties Of
this occasion for me to enter upon a
lengthy discussion of the causes or Of the
conduct of the Civil War. Great volumes
have been written to show both sides Of
the question. In the splendid report Of the
Of which Gen. s. y. Lee was chairman,
occurs this paragraph
"The objects OF the Union were to es-
aGf9 9nfg hSdentS RsSe bessngs dSe coa 5a
not be realized as long as one. section per;
sistently and prejudicially intermeddled
with the affairs of the other. While the
South made no encroachments upon the
rights or the property OF the North the
latter, on the assumption of a higher law
than the Constitution, grew more and
more aggressive In intrenching upon the
South made no attempt 10 prevent New
England from carrying her mills into the
territories which had been obtained by the
common blood or treasury OF both sections,
but New England denied the South the
right TO carry her slaves into that terri
tory, and yet slavery and mills we're alike
constitutional Institutions. Again, the
south made no attempt, as the North did,
to enhance her own interests at the ex-
pense of the other section by means OF a
protective tariff on her products,
reunion two years ago, Misslssippi's silver
tongued orator. Chas. +. Hooker. stated the
case in one brief sentence; "On. the part
Of the South. the war was not fought Tor
the maintenance Of slavery, but for the per.
petuity Of the Union and the sovereignty OF
the States"
slaves were property; recognized and pro
Court had decided that such properly
might be taken and should be protected IN
the. common territories; but Mr; sewara q