Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-05-15

have flashed upon scores of battlefelds
before you, as one Of their leaders. !
see men here who followed Lees gray
line of soldiery that were nearly always
invincible; men who fought under Hill,
and Early, and Jackson and Beaure-
gard. I see before men who followed
Joseph E. Johnson and Hood at Frank
lin, and who on a score of battlehelds
from Lookout Mountain to Atlanta,
fought Sherman and nearly always re-
pulsed him.
And, General Hampton, there are
men here who followed your knightly
blade upon hundred battlefeids;
wherever you led-for sir, you always
led wherever there was fighting to be
done. (Applause). There are men here
who were with you when you took
command of the first Confederate cav
airy in 1864, and where, at Hawes' shop,
you planted its dismounted lines be-
fore advancing corps Of Hancock. war
rem and Sheridan, and wrenched Rich
mond from their grasp with an insig-
nificant little body Of dismounted cav
airy. The excuse Of these men then
was that you had been reinforced by
the infantry. That was always their
excuse. sir; but, sir, there was no truth
in it.
And So sir, when Sheridan met you
at Trevilian Station, where the Enfield
rifle was in the grasp Of the cavalry
men instead Of the useless sabre, Sher-
idan, as he rode from the lost battle
field, wrote to his chief that he was met
by Hampton's cavalry. but that 1t was
re-enforced by Early's division of In
fantry, and that their combined forces
were too great for him. But, sir, you
know that you, with a force less than
half as great as his own, had compell-
ed him to retire from the field In utter
disorder.
And now, comrades, present to you
a cheiftain worthy not only of your ad-
miration, for General Hampton has al
ways had that; not only Of your love
and affection, for he won that long,
long ago; but worthy Of the highest
need Of praise that man can bestow
upon his fellow man. I present to you
one who has done more for South Caro-
lima in peace, in war, and again In
peace than all the orators and all the
statesmen that ever came before or ar
ter. When in the dark days that fol-
lowed disaster and defeat to our arms
1t was he who stands before you this
evening, that lent that hope and cour-
age to the hosts of invincible manhood
and womanhood-if I may please say
it-of South Carolina, that carried
peaceful victory when defeat seemed
almost the only result Of the campaign.
1t was due to the sagacious statesman
ship, and the true courage OF him, that
in a campaign which required greater
courage than war; when South Caro-
inians fought for their liberty second
time, that the crowning victory was
gained.
General Hampton, these men come to
pay their respects to you. They love
you, they honor you, and as yonder sun
which Is setting in the west marks the
declining hours Of peerless day, so
these battle-scarred heroes before you,
with their gray hair and wrinkled
faces, indicate the declining day OF
their manhood. But such as 1t Is, sir,
it Is yours, and yours forever.
General Hampton was visibly Affect
ed by the loving tribute that was paid
by his old comrades and when the
storms Of cheers that rose and swelled
on every side subsided sufficiently, in a
voice that was filled with emotion, he
said:
my comrades, I had indeed, as Maj.
Hart said, heard that rebel yell often
before, and when heard it from my
own men, the men whom I had the
honor to command, I knew that we
were safe. I have often heard Of the
poet Of England, who said,. The kite
knows we'll the long leagues swell that
bids the Romans close which might
paraphrase, The Yanks know we'll the
long leagues swell that bids the rebels
close I hope that 1t will not be for
gotten. 1 hope it will be transmitted to
your children and children's children,
not to use, to tell how it used to ring
from the forests of Virginia. How it
rang from Gettysburg to the West, and
how it always told Of men who were
willing to die for the Southland, to die
for the truth, and want you all to re-
member, and to try to teach your chill
dren's children, that 1t was not Lost
Cause. want you to tell them that
we were fighting for the right. George
Washington was a rebel, but Lee was
not. When Great Britain recognized
the United States she did not recognize
the United States, but she recognized
the independence Of each state as SOW
ereign and Independent. There were
thirteen sovereign and Independent
states. They formed this Union and
they had a right to withdraw whenever
they pleased.
I'VE were not successful. It Is not In
mortal to command success. You have
done more, you have deserved 1t, and
HOW III yOuT ueCllHllS years dHu WiCA
mine have extended long beyond the
period allowed to man, you, my old
comrades, whom loved, whom trust
ed, and with whom felt as safe as
am now, I want to say to you that all
the love you have given me has been
more than reciprocated. All that I was
able to do for you, or any one of you,
or for South Carolina, has been more
than repaid by the honors unsolicited
conferred upon me, and this Is the
crowning honor Of my life. may not
see you again. I remember the pathet-
ic words of an old bishop who was re-
firing from public life. Father Abbot,
an old man, whose heart Is broken by
the storms of state, has come to lay
his weary bones among you That Is
all I shall ever ask Of South Carolina.
A few feet of earth where my descend
ants for a generation have lain, and
where. am proud to say, In every gen.
Grafton since they were known in South
Carolina, one or more representatives
Of that generation have filled bloody
grave or bloody graves for South Car
olina. I claim no credit for that. Ev-
cry South Carolinian who was true was
willing to give his blood, his life for the
old state. I am sure that was willing
to do so. think can say, my men,
that never turned my Ddck upon any
Of you when your faces were turned to
the enemy, and the greatest honor that
I felt during the war was when I was
with a private when he was dying who
said, I am happy that am dying for
my state and fighting under you I
pray that God may bless you all; give
you peace and prosperity; give it to the
old state; give 1t to each one Of you,
and that you will go home and tell your
kindred that you have seen your old
comrade, and that he thanks you for
them."
LOCAL LACONICS.