The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1902-01-08


were sent to Nashville to get steam
boat and bring it up the river to
Beech Grove (Mill Springs) 50 that. if
wc got whipped, we should have some
way to get to the south side of the
;.vcr. We came down and took the
Noble Ellis up to Beech Grove, and
later, when our leader was killed and
the ba,,lc vas lost. we had the boat
there TO carry Us over the river. We
kept Z. plying to and fro all day and
late into the night. About midnight
it vas abandoned, wrapped in withcr.
lnr flames, to drift down the stream,
but the Cumberland River was be-
tNccn us am. our foes. We could see
the flash Of their guns and hear the
roar Of their artillery, but the bcaut-
rul Cumberland flowed between Us and
them. The Noble Ellis saved us, and
then ceased to be- This shows the
wisdom of soldiers in worldly warfare.
But for such precautions on the part.
OF the leaders i'll the army to which
We belonged, our bodies might to-day
bc in neglected bitches far away, and
this Soldiers Home never have hccn
thought Of
We are engaged in struggle for
life here as long as We live. The hu-
man race is u warfare from the cradle
to the grave, fighting for existence.
Some ha"r an easy time, some have u
hard time; but nevertheless it is q
battle for life, and we are destined to
lose the battle Mt last. 1t matters not
how strong we are, we are all abso-
lutcly certain to fall on this field of
battle. We are growing older and
weaker every day, and death will final
ly defeat and destroy us. We must
then cross, not the winding Cumber-
land, not the broad, beautiful Ten
nessee, nor the mighty Mississippi,
but tho deep, dark, dreaded river of
death, the river that silently and
ceaselessly rolls between tho shores of
feeting time and never-ending cter-
nifty.
Now, as we look back to our bloody
war, we commend the prudence of our
leaders as manifested i1 the case of
Zollicoffer's sending for the Noble
Ellis that saved the boys after he
fell. it is infinitely more important
that we prepare for crossing this deep
er, darker river. We did not know
then that we should ever have to cross
the Cumberland River; our general
did not know that we should ever
need that boat, but he did know it
would be we'll to be ready for an emer-
genoy. We absolutely know we must
cross the river of death. The wealth
and power of a thousand worlds could
not keep US from crossing that dark
river. We should be prepared for the
crossir E; and, as We know neither the
day nor the hour when We must
pass to the other shore, we should be
prepared every day and every hour.
Now, the question for each to ask
himself is: cam l to be saved?" 1t
is hard for me to realize that only
small remnants of the armies that less
than forty years ago followed the Stars
and Bars and the Stars and Stripes
are left now. It is hard for me to
realize that those who were boys then
are old men now, the SHOWS that never
melt gathering upon their locks; and
1t is just as hard for me to realize
that few more days, or years g: most,
and not Confederate soldier can be
found on earth, but this true. There
will be Federal soldiers on earth, per-
haps, while time lasts; but the day is
near at hand Cor the burial of the last
Confederate soldier. Realizing now
that this little remnant is soon to
cease to be, that most of the boys have
joined the solern bivouac of the
dead, and those who are left must
soon pass over to that silent camping
ground, we ought to press this ques-
tion home: tAm to be saved?"
When nc ask this question each
ought to say: II can and I will be
saved" and then carry out that re-
solve.
There never was Confederate SOL
dier who had not enlisted in the Con.
federate army. There were certain
laws, rules and regulations Of enlist
mcpt in that army; and, in order to
become Confederate soldier, those
conditions had to be observed. We
who were in that army can tell our
children just how we became soldiers.
When we, who were Confederate SOL
diers, however, have all passed away,