The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1902-04-30
THE HEROES
WHO WORE THE GRAY.


Texas, on the 22nd of April.
The grounds had been converted into
o camp named after Albert Sydney
the dashing leader who fell
at Shiloh, and the tents were crowded
to the limit on the first day.
The great mess shed, seating IL 900,
was opened at 10 O'Clock. An army
of cooks and walters worked like
beavers, while the veterans, with a
hunger born of a night in the open,
did their best in an able manner TO |
keep the cooks busy. Tea, coffee
and milk by the barrels; beans, meat,
hard tack and accessories by the wagon
load disappeared In marvellous fashion.
en- boys is eatin' as If they'd been
separated from the wagon train for
about three days." is the way one
Louislanian put it.
The convention was compelled to
open with General Gordon, the com
manderi in chief, absent. General Cor
don, accompanied by Chaplain General
Jones, was delayed.
Among those on the stage were Judge
John III. Reagan, the only surviving
member of The Davis cabinet; w. IL.
Cabell; General Stephen ID. Lee, a
cousin of II. Il. Lee; Governor Heard,
of Louisiana; Mayor Capdevielle, of
New Orleans; Colonel Lee Crandall,
who was on "Stonewall" Jackson's
staff; Miss, Lucy Lee Hill, of Chicago,
the sponsor in chief of the u. e. V.
and Miss Virginia Paddock, of Fort
Worth, Texas, the chief maid of honor.
Louisville and New Orleans are both
candidates for the next reunion. AS
Louisville had the reunion two years
ago it is expected hat the honor will
go to New Orleans.
When the convention opened, the
veterans, many Of them comparing the
bounteous plenty of their breakfasts
with the starvation they were often
called upon to endure during the war,
were in high good humor. The build
ing, seating $500 people, was filled to
the topmost row oon after the con-
vention was called to order by General
X. M. Vanzandt, president of the
Texas reunion association. From
pillar and post hung bunting and flags
and pictures of old Confederate chief
tains. Electric lights in profusion
gave q perfect light and added material
ly to the ornamentatiOn of the interior.
The crowds were composed not alone
of veterans, but of their sons and wives
and daughters. Maids of honor and
sponsors, some-notably those from
Louislana-in brass buttons and Con.
federate gray, but the majority in COO
wbite-lent an air of o~rnamentatlOn to
the cene. No applause was more n
thusiastic than theirs, and no sympathy
more apparent, as they were familiar
with the heroic sufferings of the old
men they had come to honor.
Following the opening of the meet
ing by General Vanzandt, Chaplain
Young, of Texas, delivered a touching
invocation.
Governor Joseph ID. Sayers, on be
half of Texas, then welcomed the
visitors to the State. Governor Saye-s
said i'll part.
"TodaY this mighty gathering, after
30 many years, from every part of the
Southland, attests with convincing en-,
phasis the enduring affection for then
among the living. OF our dead it may
in all truth be said:
"'How sleep the brave who sink tc
rest,
By all their country's wishes blest
When spring, with dewy fingers, GOLD,
Returns to deck their hallowed mould,
She there shall dress a sweeter sod
Than fancy's feet have ever trod.
"'By fairy hands their knell is rung,
o. forms unseen their dirge is sung;
Q honor comes a pilgrim gray
To bless the turf that wraps their clay;
And freedom shall awhile repair
To dwell a weeping hermit there"
"But magnificent beyond all descrlp-
ton as was the exhibition of Ameri-
can genus, courage and steadfastness
70 duty in this great conflict of arms
the reconciliation that has taken place
between the States, that had varied so
fiercely and 80 long, will give to history
q theme with which to adorn its
brightest and fairest pages. To its ac-
complishment it is gratifying to recall
the ex-president of the Confederacy
contributed in no small degree. In
one of his latest public utteran ces to
the people of the South he said:
"'Men in whose hands the destiny
of our Southland lies, for love of her
l break my silence and speak now a
few words of respectful admonition.
The past is dead. Let it bury its dead
with its hopes and aspirations. Let
me beseech you to lay aside all rancor,
all bitter sectional feeling and take
your place in the rank of those who
will bring a contamination devoutly to
be wished-a reunited people,"
In welcoming the veterans on behalf
of the Confederate veterans of Texas,
Hon. G.. B. Gerald, of Waco, paid a
tribute to the Confederate soldier, both
in war and in peace ; condemned i'm
perialism and opposed the admission of
Confederate veterans to homes for I'm
ion soldiers, though he said he hon
ored President Mckinley for his ex-
p%ressions upon this subject, adding that
she thought he voiced the sentiment
of the South when he said that Nc.
Kinley's death was the greatest cal.
amity this land has known since the
death of Lincoln"
Mr.. Gerald's welcome to the vete.
rams was in the following words
Comrades, Ladies and Visitors /:
An old time Greek has said, Guild
monuments of imperishable marble TO
commemorate victories over foreign
foes, but only those of decaying wood
to perpetuate the memories of civil
strife.' Perhaps it would have been
better had this sentiment taken deep
root in this land of ours, but it has not
dime a0 and the Oroanizaf;on nc fho