The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-07-06
WAR STORIES.
N ew Commantlerin- Chief Of Veterans De
ivers n oted Address to Famous
Heroes OF War.

were consumed 10 the common dis
aster, 1T seemed for while as if the
South has to face the bitterness of
poverty for generations to come
craftsmanship, literature, art, cul-
ture, flowers of leisure and oppor-
tunity, were to remain forever with.
cred on the soil once so cougenial;
nothing was to be left but the hard
struggle with adversty till the bitter
end.
81 think we are convinced now that
the South is fully on it's feet again.
In material prosperity we have now
not only reached, but surpassed the
achievements Of our fathers; yet, when
l look about me for the men, who Gre
to enter into the garden, which you,
my brave comrades, have made bloom
under such hard conditions, I cannot
but be sensible to the incompatible
loss which the South sustained. The
tongues which would have commanded
the applause Of Senstes, were never
heard after the cry Of battle was over;
the genius that might have directed
the counsels of nations, breathed its
last upon some forgotten skirmish
line. The very flower and pride Of
our people perished in the battle
front, and the blood of our race lost
much of it's most magnificent strain
when they went to their graves.
II hold no view of southern degen.
eracy, but deplore the irreparable
loss to my country and the coming
generation when those splendid men,
the bravest and best the world has
ever held, went down in death. Some
one has said that every generation
must have it's war. If SO, in Gods
name let it not be real war. The
burning houses, the wasted fields, the
ravagcd cities-I could see them all
go until the wilderness was back again,
and contain my grief; but I can never
bear to think Of the strength and
beauty, the manly courage, the stub
born nerve, the pure chivalry, the
peerless devotion, the unstinted faith
and loyalty, which went into the bat
ties deadly front aud never returned.
1t is tie loss of men like these that
made the South poor indeed,
loss that can never be restored, not
in forty years. No! not in forty CEN
turies.
But, my comrades, it is great
comfort to know that the South had
such men to lose. 1t was revelation
to the world. It was o revelation to
ourselves. What magnificent race
of men, what splendid type Of
humanity; what courage; what gran
deur of spirit; what patriotism; what
self-sacrifce. It was sublime. It
is wonderful beyond compare. Not
all were conquered. Some of these
men came back. I see them before
me now. God has bountifully pro-
longed their days, that they may illus.
trate to the next generation the civic
virtues, that they may tell tie von-
drous story OF those days, that they
may stir up in the hearts Of youth
the emulation of virtue, the passion
for noble achievements, the spirit of
sacrifice.
GAS the close of our days draw near,
and the work of upbuilding our coun-
try passes on into younger and stron-
ger hands, let US make it our mission,
comrades, to tell the story. Do not
let your children or grandchildren for
get the cause for which we suffered.
Tell it not in anger. Tell it not in
grief. Tell it not in revenge. Tell it
proudly as fits soldier. There is no
shame in all the history. Dwell on
the gallant deeds, the pure motives,
the unsel6sh sacrifice. Tell of the
hardships endured, the battles fought,
tue men who bravely lived, the men
who nobly died. Your dear comrades
shall live again in your words.
"The Infinite pity and glory of it
oil will awake the hearts Of those who
listen, and they will never forget.
Tell them Of Albert Sidney Johnston,
of Stonewall Jackson, of Stewart with
his waving plume, of Forrest with his
scorn of death. Tell them of Wade
Hampton and Gordon, the Chevalier
Bayards of the South. Tell them of
Hollicoffer, of Pat Cleburne and Frank
Cheatham, of Pelham, of Ashby.
Tell them Of the great soldier with
the spotless sword. and the spotless
soul, who sleeps at Lexington, in the
Valley of Virginia. Tell them of the
great president who hore unon his