The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-06-15
WAR STORIES.
a Disappearing Host.
News and Courier.

Conceal the fact as we may under
r8he guise of hearty welcomes, joyful
greetings, speech makings, receptions,
.parades and music, the prevailing feel
iDg'of every reunion ofsour Veterans,
whether it be at the State conven-
tions, or at the larger reunions where
the survivors from every part of the
,South.mcet together yearly, is one Of
sadness. Each year familiar faces
are missing, and well known voices
fail to answer the roll l-call; and al
though the thinning ranks close up,
and those who remain march bravcly,
with gray heads as erect and shoul-
ters as square as in the brave old
days Of long ago, yet we cannot help
seeing how the host is disappearing
before the assaults Of Time, that most
zelentlcss Of all foes. tNor is it al
ways the oldest CT the Confederate
soldiers who fall out of the ranks and
rest under the shade of the trees; for
many Of those still in line must have
reached maturity before the war, and
have brayely borne their part in many
battle, and yet they have lived to
see their sons, and other men, who
were but striplings in those times,
called away before them.
Not having pension roll, like that
Of the union army, from which to
gather statistics, we cannot accurate
ly compute the yearly decrease of num-
bers. We saw recently some figures
from o trustworthy source with re-
gard to the Northern army, in which
1T was stated that in 1895 one-half Of
the men who had been in the Fedora;
army were still living; aud that it was
probable when 1915, the semic CEN
tennial of the close of the war, ar
rived, there would still be one hun
dred thousand veterans to celebrate
,4he occasion; and :h;s nc.w!lhstand-
ing the fact that the percentage or
deaths steadily increased with each
year. The writer did not allude to
4he strong inducement the Northern
veterans have to 60 on living, aud to
transmit the gift Of longevity to their
families; but he did not hesitate to
compare the feeling with which they
are regarded by their neighbors with
the sentiment of the South as to its
old soldiers.
He said: "It is probably true that
the place which the Southern vet
erans hold in the affections of the
Southern people is more exalted
position than that which is held by
the Northern veterans in tho affection
of the people in this section of the
country, and this because of reasons
which we will briefly try to explain.
We believe there was more patriotism
shown in the defence Of the Union
than in the efforts to dissolve it; and
that the enthusiasm with which our
men rushed to the Defence OF the
country in the early period Of the war
was all that the most devoted patriot
could desire. Later on, it is true, we
had our system Of drafts and bounties,
but these were paralleled in the South
by the most rigorous form Of en-
forced enlistment, which was said
to spare neither the cradle nor the
grave
"At the close Of the wsr The vet
Grams of the Confederacy represented
not only LOST cause, but they and
eheir families were financially ruined
Those who during the war had suffer
ed physical impairment, and the fami
lies Of those who had lost their lives,
could look hardly anywhere for sup.
port except to those who were almost
as destitute as themselves. AS they
could not count upon aid, there was
encouraged in them that admirable
spiris of self dependency and self
suffioiency which tended to draw to-
wards them the sympathy Of their
friends and neighbors, and to inspire
S.1r Ahese latter high regard and rever-
aaeeGor them. The contrast between
these sentiments and those entertain
ed byso many of our Northern sol.
>diers is what has led to the difference
In popular estimation; especially
among the great mass Of our citizens
who have come to man 8 estate since
the close of the Civil war. From the
very firstsc large number Of the North
e1nSyssercsas have made arrogant de.
eAsssn n.ds for special consideration, aud
these demands have tended to in.
orsase as time has gore on. They
have swelled our enormous pension