The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1902-05-16

sum it ali uT, he fought, not to distrOy
the American urion, but to save the
principles upon which it was founded;
not to keep thel egroes in slavery, but
to keep himself aad his children forever
free.
The men who 'ught in the ranks Of
the Confederate armies were marked by
some great and notable qualities.
They were absolteIy devoted to their
cause. They understood it and believed
in it. They ught for it, not because
they we're forced to, but because they
approved it and loved it with passionate
devotion. Indeed this feeling Of su-
prem9 devotion to the cause was general
throughout the South. It pervaded all
ranks, classes and ages 1t was strongest
perhaps among our noble women, from
whom it was communicated to the ranks
Of the fighting men Mothers. wives
and sweathearts almost forgot to weep
as they sent their heroes forth to battle,
Beardless boys, tender and delicate,
marched to bloody death with the zeal
and martyr and the courage and pre-
cision Of veterans. Indeed the armies
Of the South, especially toward the close
Of the war, were made up largely Of
mere boys. To such an extent was this
true that our great President Jefferson
Davis, cIdrum et nOmjne, lamented that
the stress of war had compelled us to
use up the very seed corn Of the Con
federacy
1 have read beautiful poem which
celebrated the devotion to the cause Of
the South of a little lad from Tennessee.
and which illustrates more beautifully
than words Of mine could do, the spirit
which animated the martial growth Of
the South.
Out of the focal and foremost fire;
Out of the hospital walls as dire;
Smitten of grapeshOt and gangrene,
Eighteenth battle and he sixteen;
spectre such as you seldom see,
Little Gifin, of Tennessee
Take him and welcome, the surgeon
said,
Much your doctor can help the dead "
And 50 we took him and brought him
where
The balm was soft on the summer air,
And laid him down on a wholesome bed
Utter Lazarus, - heel to head.
Weary war with abated breath.
Skeleton boy 'gainst skeleton death;
Months Of torture, how many such,
Weary weeks with the stick and crutch
Still a CLINT in the steel blue eye
Told of a spirit that wouldn't die.
Yea, more that didn' ;1-,J q ,,Jtsssla daspite,
The crippled skeleton learned to write
Dear Mother" at first, of course, and
then
Dear Captain" inquiring about the
men,
Captains answer, "Of eighty and five,
Gifin and are left alive.
"JohnsonIs pressed at the front" they
say
Little Griffin was up and away;
A tear, his first ere he bade goodbye,
Dimmed the CLINT of his steel blue eye.
'I'll write if spared" There was news
of fight,
But none Of Gifin-He did not write
I sometimes fancy that were I king
Of the princely knights of the golden
ring,
With the song of the minstrel in mine
ear
Aud the tender legend that fingers here
I'd give the best on his bended knee,
The whitest soul of my chivalry,
For little Gifin of Tennessee.
The poet was right, for in very sooth
there was never in all King Arthur's
goodlY company Bev idere or a Gala
had who was worthy 10 stand in com
parison with little Gifin. Aud there
was not one little Gifin only in tht
Southern armies, but thousands. They
fell on many a bloody field. They pined
and wasted away and died in prison
pens of the North They sleep in un-
marked graves from the Rlo Grande UC
the Potomac. Some of them yet LIVE
though growing grizzled and old an(
worn. Some of them are here today
joining in the solemnities of this oc-
casion and hallowing it with their pres
ence.
We will hold them in honor while
God shall spare them to u.s. and will
cherish their memories when they shall
have passed over to join their comrades
on the other side.
Another notable trait Of the Southern
rank and file was their wonderful self
restraint and willing submission to con