The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-01-10

not surrender .frsm any fear of Yankees, and this fact pfculd be kept in mind Then, another cause far lessening the war spirit Of the South was the unwise substitute and exemption laws of the Con- federate Congress. These were very un-' just as well as unwise. They were unjust to tse poor man who owned no slaves; and equally unjust to the Confederates who was a slave-owner.
 When my weeks furiough had expirev, I set out to rejcin my command, then moving eastward through Georgia. car- ried with me e young recruit, Arcnie Ar dis youth of fifteen. He was sensi-
 ble, good-natured, intelligent lad, of one of our best families, and hs' aeen placed
 in my care. Reaching Mac s9ssa., in the
 afternoon of the next day went to mil- itasy headquarters for further transpor-
 tation, and was delightfully."- surprised to
 meet here Francis T. Chase and James
 T. Patteson of my company. The former
 had been disabled by wound in the arm
 during the Georgia campaign the previous
 summer. and was now q clerk in the of--
 flee of the post cofnmandatit The latter
 was on the same mission as myself. That
 night, seated around good fire in the tent of Mir. Chase we talked until away after midnight of the condition of the country. At last caused sensation by SdsAh6s VIII CAptCSH hu OpltflOH tltttg you have never heard me utter before, because I have never Entertained 1t be- fore-but believe our cause is lost.' Pat terson and Chase looked at me in aston ishment. There was 6 silence for several seconds when resumed: ,"The women
 of the South have been the spirit of the
 war. and they are losing hope" After. another long silence Chase replied: "If
 thought as you would lay down my gun
 AS NEs- H~fA
 in this reply the sting of amid rebuke,
 and replied with warmth: My fight
 henceforth is to be a hopeless one, but
 never twill lay down my gun while there
 Is Yankee vandal on Southern soil. or a
 Southern flag floats to- a Southern breeze"
 I leave here the thread of my story
 to give a brief sketch of this remarkable
 private in the Confederate service-Fran- cis T. Chase: Born and educated in Con- necticut. a kinsman of Salmon P. Chase. came South to teach. of extreme mod esty he was at the breaking out of the
 war a professor in our Perote) institute.
 had been my preceptor. He weighed | about ninety pounds. had a sallow com
 plexion. and from every view point phy- specimen of humanity. Had you seen him in the ranks of our company. Feb ruary F, 1881, as we marched away from
 im 0s incapasie t % of more tSan nn monts uss serr vice. Yet he was, throughout the foar years service of the company one of It's
 most healthy and efficient members, never
 asking any favors. never seeking an of flee. doing all sorts of army. drudgery; never complaint. twice wounded, always confident of our success intense loyalty to after the war he went inta business in
 freight ofice of the I. c. R. R. until he from ron the railroad. He is iH now VI at the Men ols Soldiers Home of that city. where he Is well cared for. During all these years
 iiSerai dS contributor nt to 'ns soldiers homes. @
 monuments. Confederate widows and or-
 pnans, He was never married
 The next day myself and Cub MA SArSdis) is vile. Ga. late in the afternoon, during a down-pour of rain. For month or more
 previous the rains had been excessive. and
 had destroyed the bridge over the oconee River at MiIledgevllle, and it had not been | rebuilt. For temporary purposes the au- thorities were exerting their utmost to stretch across the river pontoon bridges, but on account of high water were having no success. From this point we wanted I to reach Augusta. Ga, which could be done only on foot. as the railroads thither | were all torn up. However, 1t was given
 out that the pontoons would be across the river in @ day.
 There being no soldiers home here. I
 must seek lodging at a private residence. During the war 1t was the custom of Southern people to give hogs, etc, to Confederate soldiers passing through their communities. and for several req sons the Confederate soldier felt that he was justly entitled to this consideration. Going up a street I soon came to a large
 residence on the right. walked up to the l door and rang the bell. A fine looking | old lady answered. She said she had but | one vacant room and was daily expecting | her son, who was wounded in Virginia. But while she was standing in the door | talking to me, her daughter. a beautiful brunette of about sixteen, was standing | just back of her mother. listening and | looking; unobserved, think, by the
 mother. bade the old lady adieu. and as
 walked out across tho veranda, her
 daughter came running after us, and l saying that she wished to get some flow | CTS from the hot house for us. and re-
 questing that we stop a few minutes at | the gate. She soon came with a pretty | little bouquet for each, and then. woman
 like CD began to ask questions. In the
 meanwhile, a gloomy twilight was thick