The news & observer., 1902-02-05
GOVERNOR AYCOCK
10 OL0 SOLDIERS
Continued from Page one.)

LILY HdS Dttu IOund on Cdllll Ho
snch soldiery rs the soldiery of the Con-
feoeracy, and the flower of that soldiery
was the soldiery of North Carolina. They
sent more to the front than any other
state; they surrendered the most men
'hey charged furthest at Gettysburg
and History will yet do justice to that
.nanhooa bf North Carolina, and TO that
woSnahhood that stood behind it and made
q what it was
The Governor went on to speak of how
'hc men by degrees were compelled TO
throw aside all necessares to life, al
l ost, and how they fought for the last
two years half starving and half clad.
But shat is not the most glorious tri-
tImph of these soldiers. At last they
went back to homes that had been desc
lated. These old men went back to
homes that were not homes, for Sher
man had returned from his march TO the
s'sa. and blackened chimneys marked the
SPOT where many q nome had stood.
did these men sit down and hold
their hands and weep? They waited
scarce a week before they went to work >
Then the Governor touched upon the ter
ribln reconstruction period how men ac-
Sustomed to liberty and power had found
themselves disfranehised, and their for
p:er slaves with the ballot in their
hands. and a standing army over them.
They stood against the mighty power
of the triumphant nation until they had
~Eested the power from them.
These are the men that did it, for
all North Carolina was in the war We
young men who came along later will
never know the struggles Of the men
who returned homo ir that terrible time
Dc we find great improvements in agri-
culture? These are the men that did IT,
DO We find great manufacturing indus
tries? These are the men that started
them. If The young men are doing great
things for the good of the State. from
whom did they learn it? They learned it
from these high minded men who suf
fered that they might earn liberty.
The Governor then passed from the
stage OF action, and spoke of the rapid
thinning in the ranks of old veterans.
and the great debt the State owes those
who are left. Let us make smooth,
he said, this remnant of their lives.
They have crossed over the hill, and
heir feet are pointing downward on the
ether side 1t was a powerful, moving
conclusion.
GEN. CARR'S SPEECH.
There was an interval of music by the
boys Of the Blind Institute, and then Mr..
a. II. Stronach, in a few words, intro
duced General Julian S. Carr as one who
had been ever in close touch with all
work for the Confederate veterans and
with the work of the Soldiers Home here
in Raleigh
Gen Carr began by saying that in his
limited experience in addressing North
Carolina audiences he had never yet
taken the hbertY of making an apology,
ont that for ten days he had been strug
Cling with the unfriendly grip, and was
only present because the call that came
to him was one he could not fail to an
swer. the call from the old soldiers of
North Carolina.
The speaker went on to say that it was
with profound thanks that the Confeder-
ate veterans received this noble dormi-
tory from the State of North Carolina.
The pledges made in 1860 that the brave
soldiers should be cared for are being
fulfilled and this is successive step in
this direction. He paid high tribute to
the work of the noble women and the
valiant work of Gov. Aycock in ban
ishing iliteracy so that six years hence
no white boy can rise and ask: Where
is my birthright?"
General Carr declared that there was
no greater educational power than re-
cording the heroic deeds of forefathers,
and paid a deserved tribute to bravery
in the Revolutionary and successive
wars. The people have recorded their
valor in marble. But if the veterans now
living were neglected then the historian
would indeed write in vain, Here Cen
eral Carr in eloquent terms described
some Of the heroic achievements OF
North Carolinians in the civil conflict as
at Bull Run. Gettysburg. Hanover Court
House Cold Harbor, Chickamauga.
Spottsylvania, Petersburg and other
points He paid a deserved compliment
10 General Hoke's conduct at Plymouth.
No wonder the valor of North Carolina
soldiers called forth eommendation 10
Governor Vance from General Lee. Fort
Fisher and Bennettsville were other in
stances of the glory of the Old North
State. The last stand at AppomattoX
mo braver commander lived than
General l.. OBJ. Branch. said General
Carr amid applause. He cited, many
examples of the admitted heroism of the
men who went from this ola State Maj.
IT. A. London, of Chatham, carried the
last message. On every Confederate
monument in the State should say: First
at Bethel, furthest at Gettysburg and
Chickamauga and last at Appomattox.
General Carr in eloquent terms said
the South despised the terms of rebels
and traitors" when applied TO their
Christian patriots. For eighty years it
was the Southern statesmen and South
ern soldiers who took the lead.
For years after the war these brave
men covered up their sufferings and
their needs but North Carolina has not
forgotte her duty. And marble began
10 pcrpetuate their memory Then the
work Of caring for these heroes began,
and the Daughters of the Confederacy
swore in their hearts that these heroes
should taste the sweets of gratitude OF
a noble people. More than 10000 North
Carolinians lost their lives in the war.
more than those of any other state.
General Carr quoted from the \. G. Reg
I,1S