The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1904-02-24
"reminiscences ofGen. Gordon.

the late Gen. Gordon lecture upon
THE Last Days of the Confederacy"
at Ocean Grove, N. J. There were
10, 900 people present in the vast au
ditorium, many of whom hardly knew
whether to be friendly or hostile to
the great leader.
shall never forget the opening re-
marks. After the usual preliminaries
Of addressing an audience, he said, in
an intensely attractive and thrilling
way: MY countrymen" With those
words he captured his audience and
held it spell-bound for two hours. l
may say that of all the impressions
the lecturer made, that Of intense de-
votion to the cause for which ne
stood, plus his love for. the whole
united country, were lasting and deep.
In the vast audience were many Of
the Blue and Grey, whose cheers and
yells were abundant. The closing
part of the speech | will never forget.
Some one evidently had questioned
the loyalty of the South to the flag.
1t was an incident that fired the gal
liant sodier-lecturer. Then, too, there
might have been a little inconsistencies
upon his part: for the tribute of un-
dying devotion to his native South
land, what she would do in case our
country was attacked. satisfied the
most skeptic. 1t was an occasion OF a
life time for many of us. Long before
this incident the speaker had caught
the inspiration Of his vast audience;
and, it will always seem to me unpre-
meditated, seizing large American
flag, amid tumultuous cheering, inter-
spersed with the old tiger yell Of many
hard fought battlefield, he said:
"We lift aloft this proud banne~ of
freedom and bid universal humanity
to catch it's inspiration"
The next time l heard Gen. Gordon
was Brookville, Penn. during coun-
ty teachers Institute. The subject
of his lecture the same. During this
evening Gordon spoke Of one batttle
in which men were slain until the
dead were several feet high. He said
he believed more men were slain in
this battle than any other battle dur
ing the war, according to the number
of men engaged. He then said: Il
suppose there is no one here who was
in this BATTLE" Up arose tall gen.
tleman, Major MacMurray, and said:
General, commanded the men you
refer to-" Beth were oblivious to the
hundreds present, as they talked as
men can who fought one another
tiercely. 1t was graphic in the ex-
treme. The Majors comment alter
wards was: He (Gordon) was not
only fine fellow, but a brave man. "
Let me close this narrative with an
amusing incident of Deacon Of the
church l was pastor of in Brookrille.
Deacon L. drew large pension
from the government. 1t was gener-
ally conceded that the deacon's feel
ings were hurt more during the war
than his body was injured. This good
man approached his pastor and said:
II understand you have heard that
rebel Gordon" Now, the deacon was
always in the front seat in church,
until | called upon him to pray. Ever
after he was near the door, when he
was at church. So my reply was:
Deacon, | have heard Gen. Gordon.
You 20 and hear him, and if you are
not satisfied let me know and | will
refund your money He went, and
as usual occupied the front seat. Gen.
Gordon spoke of some battles that
were won by the Federals. Each in
cident increased the deacon's enthuSi-
asm until the audience was amused at
his actions. The lecturer then men,
toned battles which we're won By the
COnfederateS. 1t was a case of quiet,
more quiet, then graveyard stiffness
upon the part of the deacon, when
Gordon turned and slapping him fran
tically upon the shoulder said:
Shout. comrade. Why don't you
ShOut?'
In both Of these cases the gallant
soldier made hosts CT friends. His
devotion to his comrades of the COS
and his country were uplifting to
many. All eagerly listened, laughed,
cried and cheered during his thrilling
. lecture-The Last Days OF the Con-
ledcracy.
/