The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1902-01-29

a little WnlJe pun OF smoke IneIe
And anon the valley was wreatbed in
fame.
Yet louder the thunder of battle roar
Yet deadlier fire on their columns
poured:
Slaughter. internal rode with Despair,
Furious twain, through the smoky
air.
Not far off in the saddle there sat
a gray bearded man with black
slouch hat;
Not much moved by the fire was he
Calm and resolute, Robt. Lee.
Quick and watchful, he kept his eye
On two bold rebel brigades close by
Reserves that were standing land dy-
ing) at ease
Where the temple of wrath toppled
over the trees.
The grand old beard rode to the space
Where death and his victims stood
face to face,
And silently waves his old slouch hat;
A world of meaning there was in that.
Follow me- Steady! Well save the
day.
This is what he seemed to say:
And to the light of his glorious eye
The bold brigades thus made reply
"We'll go forward, but you mus go
back''
And they moved not an inch in the
perilous track
Go to the rear and we'll give them
route
Then the sound of the battle was lost
in their shout.
Twining his bride, Robt. Lee
Rode to the rear. Like the waves Of
the sea
Bursting the dykes in their overflow,
Madly his veterans dashed on the foe;
And backward in terror that foe was
driven,
Their banners rent and their columns
riven.
Wherever the tide of battle rolled,
Over the wilderness, wood and world.
Sunset out of crimson sky
Streamed o'ec field of ruddier dye,
And the brook ran on with a purple
stain
From the blood OF ten thousand foe
man slain.
Seasons have passed since that day
and year,
Again o'er the pebbles the brook runs
And the field in richer green is drest
Where the dead of the terrible conflict
rest.
Hushed is the roll of the Rebel drum:
The sabres are sheathed and the can
non are dumb,
And Fate with pitiless hand has furled
The flag that once challenged the gaze
of world.
But the fame Of the Wilderness fight
And down into the history grandly
Calm and unmoved as in battle he sat,
The gray bearded man with black
slouch hat.
History tells US that there was moth
ing he undertook before asking Gods
guidance and direction and whatever
came to him be always said Gods
will be done.
he was called the great captain of
his age. The great general of the
South, a good knight, noble of heart
and strong of purpose both soldier
and gentleman.
These beautiful words were said Of
him soon after his death.
General Lees fame is not bounded
by the limits of the South or by the
continent. I rejoice that the South
gave him birth. I rejoice that the
South will hold his ashes. But his
fame belongs to the human race.
Washington too was born in the
South and sleeps in the South, but his
fame belongs to mankind. Let us
then place the name of Lee by that OF
Washington They both belong to the
world.
There is one thing more I wish to
say before 1 close. General Lees
fame ought to rest On its true foun-
dation. He did not draw his sword
in the cause OF slavery: be did not
seek to overthrow the .. S. Govern
ment.
He drew it in the defense of consti-
tutional liberty. That cause IS not
dead, but will live forever. Our hon
ored Lee was not only soldier brave
and true, but also an educator. it
is an honor to all the Southern schools
and colleges, that this pure and bright
name is joined by the will of him that
bore it with the cause of education.
We believe that so long as the name
of Lee is cherished by Southern
teachers, they will grow stronger in
their work.
They will be encouraged to greater
effort when they remember, that Lee
was one of their number, and that his
great heart bore also, amid its latest
aspirations, the interests and hopes of
the teacher. AS time rolls on, statue
~. p,,f tho