The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-06-17

every condition tending TO a success
full reunion, Nashville today officially
welcomed the United Confederate Vet
Grams and their friends, constituting
a host c~onservatively estimated at
thirty thousand people.
The exercises of the day took place
in the tabernacle and every bit of
space was taken long before the
veterans were called to order by Gen
eral George w. Gordon, of Memphis,
commander of the Tennessee division.
Spirit of 81 Will be Perpetuated.
1t was the first convention in the
history of the organization that the
Sons of Veterans sat with their faith
ers, and the cheers from the Threats
of the younger generation at almost
every expression by those who took
part in the strife forty years ago,
made it plain hat the spirit of 81
would be perpetuated in generations
to come.
California was represented on the
floor; from far off Montana a delega-
ton was sent, and Ohio was on hand
with four delegates.
1t was the fourteenth annual meet
ing, and the first at which the distin-
guished cavalry officer, John B. Cor
don. did not preside. y few steps to
the rear of General Stephen D.. Lee,
who occupied the chair, sat Genera
Gordon's widow and WI daughters,
Mrs. Burton Smith, OF Atlanta, and
Mrs. Orion Bishop Brown, Of Maine.
To the right and to the left Of them
were seated many of the chief figures
of the Confederacy and a charming
array of beautifully gowned division
and department sponsors.
Their was A noticeable curtailment
of the n feature of the reunion,
and il was announced from the stage
early that only the sponsors accred-
tied to departments and divisions
would be given seats on the stage.
On the stage were General Stephen
D. Lee, the acting commander-in-
chief, Columbus; General William
ID. Jones, of Richmond; General c. H.
Tebault, of New Orleans. chief sur
geon, c.. S. A. and Miss Corinne Te-
bauIt, sponsor-in-chief; General w. z.
Nickle, of New Orleans, adjutant
general; General w. S. Cabell, COM
manding the trans-Mississippi divi-
sion; General A. j. West, Atlanta,
commanding the North Georgia Bri-
gade; General G. Irvine Walker, COM
manding the department of Virginia,
and General Clement A. Evans, Allan
TIA, who succeeded General Stephen
d. Lee as commander of the depart
ment of Tennessee
North carolina Drum Corps Causes
Great Enthusiasm q.
The convention hall was we'll filled
by IL o'clock. The long wait of an
hour and a half before the gathering
was called to order was enlivened by
the ~peara of the Kentucky del
egaticn. with their band, and later by
the arrival of the only surviving drum
corps of the Confederate hosts. a
band of three or four men from
North Carolina. AS they marched
down the long aisle to the tune Of
Dixie escorting a North Carolina
camp, the enthusiasm Of the old vet
Grams was unbounded. A few mo-
ments later the Seventh United States
cavalry band, stationed at Chatta-
nOoga, came into the hall playing a
spirited march. They marched down
To the stage and were escorted up TO
the gallery, where they took a posi-
ton in the extreme, end over the
platforms, their uniforms forming
the only variation to the predominant
ing gray of those assembled.
Governor Frazier's Address.
After General Gordon had called
the veterans to order, Chaplain Jones
delivered the invocation. Governor
j. B. Frazier welcomed h delegates
to Tennessee in a splendid address.
vice he started to his seat, MY TO
be recalled and urged on in behalf or
the veterans. Among the other
things. Governor Frazier said:
when that grand man, that patri-
at, thai noble. Christian soldier. Gen
eral Robert E. Lee. surrendered at
Appomattox he spoke with a heart
too full for deceit in that no southern
mother swore her son to bitterness.
She swore him to love AMI honor.
All accepted the inevitable finality.
When you saw furled for the last
time the stars and bars you had fol-
lowed for four years, when you had
made your last final march back to
your homes, a a final farewell tour
OF comrades and found the sainted
; mothers grave sleeping in the family
cemetery, the beautiful home in ruins
aad ashes, when YOU pressed upon