The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-12-10

followed his regiment in all it's fights
and | pause to add that North Car
olina in the great crisis of her history
was the last to leave the Union in
1851 and the last to stop the fight at
AppomattoX in 1868. and furthest up
the hill at Gettysburg and first to shed
the blood of her sons at Bethel. Bat
to return-Vance was known as the
Fighting Governor" during the whole
war, and his record for sustaining the
cause which he espoused in 1861 is
not surpassed in history, and chal-
lenges the admiration and memory Of
all succeeding generations. Let Gen
eral II. II. Hill reply to your CORES
pondent. He says in an official paper
that, according to the population of
North Carolina her quota of troops was
81, ,942, for the Confederacy-and that
She would have discharged to the let
ter every legal obligation resting upon
her for furnishing this amount Now
what number did she supply? On No
vember, 9, 1864, Adjutant- General r.
G. Gatlin made an official report to
Governor Vance and compiled by my
friend, John b. Nethery. of the office
as follows; 64.636 and conscripts be-
tween the ages of i s and as. Septem-
ber 13, 1854, 1885. and volunteer re-
cruitS to the different companies. 21,-
sos; serving in other States, 3,163;
regular troops in States service, 3,203;
| total, 111,135. To these must be added
| junior reserves, 4,217; senior reserves
/ $3.50; total in active service. 121,03S.
| Then organized and in service of the
| State. 1852. Total troops mustered
| into service. 125,000. From these of
| fetal figures it will be seen that esti-
| mating. offensive troops alone North
| Carolina exceeded her quota 41,715
men And those doing active duty in
| garrison guarding prisoners and occa~
| SiOn1l fiuhtincr hn tat &c
quota by 51.61S. This number of
| troops far exceeded the State voting
population. AS shown by the census
| of 1850 the total number of men in
| North Carolina between the ages of
20 and so. the extreme limits of mill
/ tary service, was 12S.SS0. Subtract
| from this number the number of
| troops furnished, and it reveals the ex-
| traordinarv fact that in the whole of
/ North Carolina there were only 1883
men subject to military duty who were
! not in martial service. Most of these
were exempted because they were
serving the State in civil capacity as
magistrates, county officers. dispens-
/ ers of public food etc. So, practically
every man in the State was serving
| the Confederacy. 1t may we'll be
doubted whether more striking evil
dence of devotion was ever recorded i'm
| tho history of nations at war; and
| SHOWS the IdIldcN OF MT. DOQQ' S state
lmentS. These statistics officially rem
.dered by the officers in charge of the
rolls, exhibit the remarkable patriot
ism of the State and its Governor in
charge, who has for the first time in
my knowledge been charged with un-
| patriotic devotion to his State. So we
see that North Carolina by far sur,
| passed every other of her sister Con-
| federates IN the furnishing of troops
for the war. and it is a historical fact
| that she lost more men in battle than
any other
This is accounted for to some extent
| in having one of the most energetic
and patriotic Governors who ever filled
the office. Look at his great genius
as he provides his own ship. the "Ad-
| vance," to run the blockade across the
! ocean to foreign countries to bring
| supplies of food. clothing, and medi-
| cine for not only his own soldiers, but
for the whole Confederacy in time Of
| great need, such as the Governor of no
| other State did and continued to do so
to the close of the war See him as he
was at a public meeting in WilkesborO
| in 1854, while he was speaking to the
| vast crowd. when some one asked him
| how long he thought the war would
+, last, exclaimed in laundering tones
that he did not know. but that "we
must fight If necessary till He'll froZe
! over, and then we would still fight on
| the ice" This remarkable exclama-
| tion of the Governor was quoted in the
| newspapers all over the South. and
| there are many still living who heard
| this seeming irreverant speech of the
| great War Governor"
With these facts, and many more on
this line, how can Mr.. Dodd have the
| effrontery to say that Zeb Vance put
every obstacle possible in the way OF
the Confederate authorities" and that
he actually aided and comforted the
| 'shirkers to keep out of the army"
Perish the thought! May my right
hand forget her cunning and my
tongue cleve to the roof of my mouth
ere l should publish such a base
calumny upon the greatest man North
Carolina ever produced. Vance was
/ great in many respects. He had
most sympathetic heart. Let me illus
trate. This writer was one of his aids
/ while Governor. A mother brought
| her 15-year-old boy who had been
conscripted to be sent to fill up the
depleted regiments and asked the favor
to have him sent to the regiment
! where his two brothers were, two haV-
| ing already been killed in battle that
this was the fifth and last son. 1 con-
| Quoted her across the room to the
| Governors office where he sat writing
| at his desk, and as she related her
| story big drops of tears blotted the
paper on which he was writing. and
without turning his head. with much
emotion said to me, Write an order
for this mother to take her boy back
| home with her. for she has done
enough for her country" Although
| Zeb Vance is dead and beyond the
reach of his calumniators, his memory
is enshrined in the hearts of his coun-
| trymen. statesmen Soldiers! Pa
triots! The State will never have an
other Zeb Vancei
| Governor Vance belonged to that
class of conservative, distinguished
North Carolinians. so beautifully de-
scribed by my old friend, Major w. A.
| Graham in a recent article I'm the
News and Observer including the
names of Morehead. Willie P. Man
gum, Gov. w. A. Graham, Judge
| Badger, of his day who were at first
opposed to secession but when the war
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