The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-02-10
At GETTYSBURG
Proposed Northern Trlb.
ute to- Great Con-
federate.
Norfolk Landmark, Jan. 2S.)

Az oiSoAAANAAS 'NS AAAN
yesterday at Harrisonburg, Pa, be-
fore committees Of the Pennsylvania
legislature, by Colonel A. X. Mcclure,
in favor of Mr.. Cooper's bill provId-
ing that Pennsylvania and Virginia
shall unite to erect an equestrian
statue of General Robert E. Lee on
the battlefield of Gettysburg:
(The Proposed Equestrian Statue tol
Lee at G~ettyspurg.)
Gentlemen Of the Senate and House,
Committees:
I come before you. not to plead thaI
cause of the Confederate: it is crys-l
talized in history, and adds lustre toI
the annals of American haroism. II
come to plead the cause of the Union
the great republic Of the world. It Isl
today not only a union of states, but al
union Of hearts and homes. whose ilagl
iOats over the noblest and happiest
people of the world, and now extend
To the West Indies and to the Orient.
and I come specially to plead thei
cause of Pennsylvania, an empiTeI
within itself, with douDle the pOpula-l
ton of the entire republic when it vas
founded, and with such names % In
dependence Hall and Valley Forge and
Gettysburg as sweet incense in every
patriotic memory.
The bill now under consideration
proposes that the state Of Pennayl-
vania, in cooperation with the st@teI
of Virginia, shall provide for the er"c-
ton of an equestrian statue of Gen
eraI Robert f. Lee on the battlefield
of Gettysburg. You may ask, why
should Pennsylvania take the lead in
placing a statue of General Lee on
Seminary Hill? 1 answer that the
ba title Of Gettysburg is an integral
part of Pennsylvania. While it be-
longs to the nation as a battlefield. il
belongs to us as Al inseparable part of
ourselves, and to whatever extent it
shall be made an honor to the nation
it must be ever to a greater extent an
honor to Pennsylvania.
The visitor from a foreign Ian t.
the battlefield Of Gettysburg would
traverse its magnificent avenues, stldvI
the positions occupied by the two
great armies, and could not fail to be
impressed with the equal v2lor Of the
forces there locked in deadly conflict.
He would inquire why one side of the
story is given in imperishable monu-
ments while the other has nothing to
tell of the equally skilled n valiant
chieftains, who gay over twenty
tnOuSdnO Oh lIelT nSIOtS W lilS uCoN
and wounded of the battle.
I regard it as the imperious duty of
Pennsylvania to make the battlefield
Of Gettysburg it's own complete histo-
rian. / plead for this. and for this
alone. I want the lines on Seminary
Hill like the line on Cemetery Hill. to
record in beautiful statues the story
of the southern warriors who there
fought for and lost the cause of the
confederacy. With the equestrian
statue of General Lee placed on Semi
nary Hill by the great states of Penn
sylvania and Virginia. there would be
open invitation to the people of the
south to embellish Confederate venue
with monuments TO the herOlsm Of
those who fought for their cause: and
in a few years this great battlefield
would be covered at the points of its
varied conflicts with statutes and
monuments which would tell the COM
plete story of all, many Of them das-
perate battles within themselves.
which strewed the field with the dead
ard wounlad of both fl"s This *
not a mere sentimental proposition. 1t
is simply a proposition to make the
history of Gettysburg complete by the
tributes of north n south to tn
men whose brave heroism mak:s Gre
clan and Roman story pale before it.
, VIRGINIA AND PENNSYLVANIA.
: There is special fitness in Pennsvl-
vanla and Virginia going hand in hand
in the performance of this duty. NJ
two states Of the union have been so
~inseparably interviewer in all the
great achievements of war and peace.
1t was the Virginia Statesman Jefer-
! son who wrote the Declaration of In
dependence, the great charter Of our
o T.
in Independence Hall, in Pennsylvania
that that immortal proclamation OF
freedom was adopted.
In the second war with England the
men who fought the battles of tn
northern frontier and shed fresh lustre
upon American arms were General
Brown. the Pennsylvania Quaker
warrior, and the towering Virginlar
General Winfield Scott. In the wal
with Mexico the two young officer:
who came out with the highest rec
ords of achievement were Robert E
/; Lee. Of Virginia. and George B.. Nc
: Clellan, of Pennsylvania: and later
they met on the Peninsula. command,
ing great armies, which for seven days
were engaged in deadly conflict. Later
at Antietam, the two armies aGair
! fought one of the bloodiest battles
of the war under the Command of Nir.
ginia Lee n Pennsylvania McClel-
ian.
Finally these opposing forces met al
; Gettysburg. where Lee. OF Virginia
again commanded under the stars and
bars and Meade. OF Pennsylvania
commanded under the stars and stripes
! Never before in all the many terrible
conflicts between these opposing ar
mics was the struggle so desperate anC
bloody as at Gettysburg. 1t vas &C.
certed on both sides that the issue O
that struggle must be fatal to the van
pushed. When the last desperate as.
sault was to be made. Pickett. tn
Nirginian, vas summoned to make
the fatal charge on the centre of tht
union lines. His orders to his brave
men who were to face the graves
peril was. Charge; remember Virgin
ia" The Bloody Angle vas the near
est point for the charging column Il
reach the union line, and it was th'
Philadelphia Brigade, to receive thu
shock of ha~nd-to-hand conflict.
Tho commander Of the union forces