Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1903-09-09
REUNION OF rAaLr's BATTERY.
Capt. Courtenay Sends The Surviving Hounialu
Artlllerisis a Stirring Letter.

HfuiISTtsto u othttHU suuots tgI 81
Greenyille, August 2S. - Y Yesterday
two hundred people, including about
thirty survivors, attended the reunion
of Earle's Battery, which was held in
the city park. Two prominent mem
bers of the Bar, Capt. A. Blythe and
J. j. McSwain, delivered addresses,
and Capt. Blythe read an inspiring
and patriotic letter from Capt. w. A.
Courtenay, of Newry, former Mayor
of Charleston.
All day the old soldiers fought
their battles o'er again and exchanged
"reminiscences AT noon dinner
was served that would satisfy the
appetite of the most fastidious. Be.
sides turkey, chicken, cakes pies, and
other similar picnic things, barbecued
meat was served. This was an
especially pleasing article on the
menu and was thoroughly enjoyed.
Before the survivors left for their
homes in various portions of the
county a meeting of the survivors Of
the association was held and the
following officers elected for the next
year: J. p. Scurggs, president; w
M. Campbell and N. p. Whitmire,
vice presidents; HI. B. Diver, secre.
tary and treasurer. The association
decided to hold the next annual
meeting at Greenville.
Earle's Battery was formed in
Greenville and nearly all of its few
survivors live hereabout. Originally
it was the "Furman Light Artillery y
of Greenville, and the late Rev. W.
H. Campbell was its first captain
Earle soon succeeded, on Campbell's
promotion to major. 1t was a very
fine command, over 100, and all large
six-foot men, and "Earle's Battery
was afterwards it's designation.
Capt. Courtenay's letter, which
was perhaps the most impressive
feature of the formal exercises, reads
as follows:
(Newry, s. c., August 25, 1908.
N. P. Whitmire, Esq, Secretary
Survivors Earle's Battery, Green
vile, S. C.-My Dear Sir: l value
highly your kind invitation to attend
the reunion of the survivors OF
"Earle's Battery" on 9th instant, in
Greenville, and l rejoice to see that
you keep up your annual meetings
and 80 preserve your precious memo
ries of those four years of supreme
public service and costly sacrifice
even though that cause be lost and
we are now living in strangely
altered times.
At the Confederate Reunion in
Louisville, in 1900, the late eloquent
and scholarly DIR. B. M. Palmer, in
bis grand oration, said cit is some
times asked why we should stir the
ashes of that ancient feud j; why we
should not bury the past in it's own
grave, and turn to the living issues
of the present and the futurep To
this question, comrades, we return
the answer, with voice loud as
seven thunders, because it is history
because it is our history and the
history of our dead heroes, who shall
not go without their fame as long
as there are men surviving who wore
the "grey" they will gather the
charred embers of their cid camp
fires, and in the blaze of these re-
unions tell the story of the martyrs
who fell in defence of country and
truth"
About forty-two years have passed
since / first met Capt. VIM. E. Earle
and his hundred or more noun
taineers, on the coast of South
Carolina, with their field pieces, just
"mustered in for the war;" Strange
as it seems now, the unprepared
condition of the Confederacy for the
giant struggle was shown in Capt.
Earle's remark that "neither officers
nor men had any knowledge of the
light artillery drill, and no manual
could be had for instruction" l had
a copy Of the United States Manual
for Light Artillery, just issued, in
1860, containing the latest informa-
tion, with detailed drawings of the