The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-05-13
CAPT. ASHES ADDRESS
Speech Delivered at the Con-
federate Memorial Day
Exercises Yesterday

Ladies of the Memorial Association.
Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Again the day has arrived when the
patriotic people Of our southland cease
their daily toll and pay loving tribute
to the memory of their heroic dead.
1t is be honoring their heroes and
perpetuating the fame of their most
worthy sons, that nations foster an
elevated patriotism and nourish that
public spirit which ennobles the human
race.
In strewing flowers on the graves of
the Confederate dead, our thoughts
dwell on the unhappy fate that cut
short their precious lives, and upon the
terrific conflict in which they fell I'M
fortunate victims.
They were honorable and patriotic
men, who unsheathed their swords in
a righteous cause. and feared not
death that right and justice might pre-
vail Their marvellous victories were
unsurpassed in the annals of warfare,
and they won the applause OF the civ
ilized world bv their lofty courage,
their endurance and steadfast devo-
ton.
DuI dlI lIlcII HtTOlSIl, dIu 5ulIGTllSS
and s~elf-sacrifice, were in vain. After
a sea OF blood had been shed, the re-
sources Of the South were at last ex-
hausted. and the spotless flag of the
Confederacy was furled and the sepa-
rate country we had created was blot
ted from the map of the nations. We
buried our cherished hopes in a grave
from which there is no resurrection.
1t was a great sorrow in
tensif1ed by overwhelming miseries
Indeed, u defeat and ~subjugation was
an appalling calamity. Hard as it was
to the strong men who had battled for
the right on a hundred fields of terri
BILE carnage, 1T bore still harder upon
the destitute widows, pressed to the
earth and crushed beneath their be-
eavemen and upon the poor or
phans-thOse children of desolation,
whose fathers and brothers had been
slain in the bloody conflict. That
mournful period was in ruth an ex-
perience OF human vicissitude, SO full
of horror. that no Imagination can con-
ceive, and no owe of language a
properly Portray it
Still it is well that the inevitable
conflict is passed. For my own part, 1
rejoice that it came in my day. I re-
joice that it was my privilege to have
witnessed the severe trial, and to have
Deheld the great i~ntrepidity of soul
with which the people of the South met
il.
1t was indeed a heroic time: a time
of great thoughts, of noble action, OF
deeds, when the souls OF
men were hardened into unyielding
iron, and their spirits were aflame with
the hot fires OF a holy patriotism. New
er could any country boast OF men
and women more worthy Of high
praise and laudation. Never had any
country greater cause to crown with
honor hor hnlnuoa 1oodarS ar r. mourn
the loss of her fallen sons. To un-
surpassed bravery and undaunted cour-
age, they united patriotic ardor and
exalted worth. In honoring them and
pe~rpetuating the memorials of their
fame, we display to the world our ap-
preciation of their excellence, and give
some assurance that we ourselves are
not wanting in those elements Of char
acter hat make true men in time OF
trial and of deadly peril They were
objects of our owe in life; and we cher
ish their memories, and v%enerate them
for their virtues.
But it is not only love and reverence
hat direct our footsteps to this hal
lowed spot. We come also to learn
the lesson of patriotism. In commun-
ion with their spirits our souls are up
lifted, and we are eva and en-
nobled by contemplating their lives
They are noble patterns for us to fol
dow, and in them we find examples fol
fashioning the youths Of our land.
In the great volume of human >ex-
perience, their careers stand out bold
ly challenging the admiration of man
kind; and we need not turn to distant
spochs or to other countries to find IL
Illustrations OF exalted manhood, or o1
cheerful sacrifice in a sacred anC
righteous cause.
In the dim ages of remote past, skill.
full bards wove into rhythmic song thu
stories of their tabled heroes. Here OF
the Cane Fear our own fathers coulC
proudly boast of the men of the older
time, who pledged their lives and for
tunes and sacred honor, to win tn
freedom and independence of thei
country. mmorta patriots they were
whose fame will resOund eternaLy down
the corridors of time. Yet to their chill
dren descended mantle of the fathers
The spirit Of &c was r~e-incarnated il
81 There was a new birth of the pa
triotic devotion that had made memoir
able TIE days of the Revolutionar.
epoch. At no time. in no country. ha!
there ever been displayed a highe
courage than that which animated tn,
men and women OF the Cape Fear whel
the furious storm of war burst upon u
SO suddenly a generation ago. The!
not only rivalled the Revolutionary pa
triots, but were it possible ~surpasset
them in those high deeds that 1luStrat
q perfect manhood.
In vaIor, in endurance, in suffering
their bearing was superb, noble, grand
The victories of Lee and ackso attes
their magnificent conduct on the bat
tie field. At the end of the four yon!
years OF terrific struggle, it was LIE
himself who cried. God bless Nortl
Cardinal" With the part the Confed
crate soldiers bore so bravely, so reso
lutely, so gloriously, we all are some
what familiar. But while the grea
theatre of action was on land, ther
were perils also Of the deep. Beleagur
ed and blockaded as were the Confed
crate States, the Stars and Bars wer
borne across the ocean and were car
ried in tiumph around h world. Their
were heroes of the sea, as we'll as Of tn
tented field. 1t is of such a noe I woul
speak to you today-whose career is O