The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1903-02-26
Ole Confederate Reunion.


in the inscrutable wisdom of Provi-
dence that the pure purposes of the
South were crossed and her brave
armies were overwhelmed.
1t is with these feelings, and feeliilos
kindred to these, that Americans of the
South are looking forward to the next
annual reunion of Confederate Veter-
ans. The local committee is actively at
work Ample preparations are making
to receiv the hosts of ex-COnfederates
that will soon converge upon New Or
leans from every section Of the Union.
The people of this city hope and eN-
pect that the grim men in gray who
forty years ago inperiled all for their
country-and regretted not that they
Imperfect twill come in large num-
Der, to this hospitable Old city of ours
and receive here the welcome. and ben
ediction of their grateful countrymen
The date set for the reunion draws
near. We want the venerable and ven
Ci dtNu liSl Tim Sldt llllN that
is growing thinner every year-to move
with martial tread once more through
the streets. Of the metropolis Of the
South From Louisiana and her neigh
boring States of Mississippi, Alabama
Texas and Arkansas; from far away
Tennessee and Florida; from farther
away Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia,
Kentucky and Maryl3~d nd from the
more distant Nor,. and Eastern
States in which Southern. have, since
the war, found congenial homes and
won enduring reputation--frcm every
point in the Union. we desire that ex-
Confederates and the sors and daugh-
tiers of ex-Confederates shall come to
New Orleans
In the impressive procession will be
men who represent the splendid SOL
diery of the South that was ready at the
call Of duty-and is ready still-to fight
valiantly and to die without a muir
muir. Men who fought not for fame, not
for empire, not (thank Cod for money.
but for friends and kinsmen, for home
and country! In rejecting upon what
the Confederate soldier was, as we'll as
upon what he did, the people of New
Orleans have highly resolved that the
reunion this year shall be the most in
teresting, the most impressive and the
most successful of all that have been
held by the heroes in gray. The organi-
)zation of United Confederate Veterans
has, it is true, reached, if it has not
passed, its zenith. It's meridian splendor
the force and the fire that once in
l1ered to it--has waned with the quick
going years. Against it the fierce gales
of necessity, and the fercer gales of
time ITSELF have blown piti1essly. Mum
erically, its power is necessarily fast
diminishing; morally, its energy for
good is strengthening every hour. The
memories awakened by it and the pride
stirred by sight of the Confederate
veterans as they pass in annual review
on the occasion of these reunions-are
forever consecrated and hallowed in
the hearts of the Southern people. We
need not recount all the names on the
sacred list, nor tell the sad, brave story
over in all its desolate grandeur of ideal
and starving suffering; but the picture,
sketched or finished, is now and always
will be Inirrored in the eyes of every
beholder If it is only for moment the
people of the South will, on these occa-
sions of Confederate reunions, lift the
nobly pathetic picture and reverently
uncover before it; for spite the effacing
influence of time, it may never be for
gotten that what William of Oranges
followers were to Holland, what the
men who fought with Bruce and Wal
lace were to. Scotland, what Marathons
ten thousand" were to Greece what,
indeed, Thermopylae's three hundred
were to Sparta, the Confederate SOL
diers were, are, and will be-always-
to Americans of the Southern States.
It is to the Confederate soldier-to
his high example in courage, in forti-
tude, in patience and in the capacity to
suffer and to be still-that the younger
generation Of the South owes whatever
is worthy in its civilization This debt
may never be paid, certainly not within
the lifetime of the Confederate soldier;
but the heroic sacrifice and the inspirN-
ing example can live again in Our re-
membrane and in the remembrance of
our children. The reunion to be held
in May will remind us of the high civic
responsibility that is ours and will
prompt us to wider and a wiser pa
tir7tism. It will teach us that the lamp
Of idealisn should be kept forever
glowing, and it will ffelp the world to