The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-05-14
THE SOL DIERS IN DRESSES
| FOUGHT GREATEST BATTLES
BY REV. r.. II. WHITAKER.


Ing i'm history. as if their great deeds
of valor and their wonderful achieve
ments were but of yesterday
So. too, the names of modern heroes
and statesmen are, as household
words, with which even the children
are familiar so faithfully has history
done it's work.
Yet, historians continue to write of
them as from more advantageous
standpoints, they catch new views and
discover new features of interest
connected with them, and the times in
which they lived, hitherto overlooked,
worthy of being remembered.
Thus, the chain of history lengthens
as time rolls on.
The heroes of our Revolution, like
mountain peaks, loom up in history;
and, the time will never come when
their names and their glorious
achievements-durin those long
years of heroic suffering cease
10 be dear to the American heart,
No, we can never blot from our
remembrance, nor erase from the
pages of history, the valor and hero
ism of that old Continental Army,
commanded by the immortal Wash
ington; nor dim the glory. of the scene
at Yorktown, when Lord CORVALLIS
surrendered his army, and American
Independence was secured.
Nor will it ever be forgotten that,
during the first century of its HE,
this great Republic of ours, so far
forgot the lessons of its early history
COT hardship and suffering), as to en-
gage in sectional and political strife,
which terminated in war and blood
shed and in the setting up of a new
Republic-'The Confederate States of
America"
That, for four years, that new Re-
public had its President Cabinet and
Congress; its army and its navy; and,
during those four years, hundreds of
battles were fought, and hundreds OF
thousands of men were slain; in which
battles the armies of the Young Re
public. though outnumbered two or
three to one by the armies of the
North, won more than half of the vic
tories; and they could never have been
conquered, but for the fact that the
whole world had become one vast en-
listing field for the Northern army,
which army was daily receiving scores
and hundreds of recruits. to swell it's
ranks; while the Confederate army
was daily growing weaker, because
the South had no more men with
which to replenish its ranks.
The history of those four years viii
live forever; and although the flag
of the young Republic will never again
be unfurled to the Southern breeze.
the great principles for which it stood
are yet living.
So deeply were they engraved upon
the minds and hearts of the thinking
men and women of the South. during
that unequal struggle, from Bethel to
Appomattox; and SO rapidly are they
taking root, even among the people,
who were enemies of the South, l
think | can foresee the time when
those very people will be constrained
to acknowledge that the principles
which that flag represented. are the
true principles for which the Revolu-
ton was fought, as set forth in the
Bill of Rights and as written in the
Declaration Of Independence
The South was right. Her cause was
Just; and history, finally, will tell the
truth. =
At the formation of the government
twelve of the thirteen States held
slave property. But owing to climate
and other circumstances, New Eng
land soon found that the price of a
negro, i'm silver and gold, or in bank
stock. was worth more than the negro
himself: and. So the negroes were
sent South, to work in the cotton,
zee and sugar fields; while, with the
money received, for their slaves, New
England built factories with which to
supply the South with clothes, hats
and shoes.
For awhile that worked all right.
But, New England thought the South
was getting prosperous in her cotton,
rice and sugar productions, with slave
labor; and, forthwith. she began to
decry against slavery.
There was no more honesty or rea-
son in the outcry of Abolitionism
against slavery, than there would be
In the cutlery of a receiver of stolen
goods. against the thief who stole
them after he-the receiver-had sold
them and pocketed the money.
believe history will correct itself.
and / predict, the day will come
when the descendants of those Abo-
litionists, who were jealous of, and
hated us, without cause, will be con-
strained to admit that their ancestors
spent millions of money and sacri-
feed thousands of lives in the cause
of a sentiment that was born of a
blind fanaticism.
1T will be hard struggle, l am sure,
with many to correct the creed of
their fathers, by yielding to reason
and truth.
Nevertheless, / am confident that,
before another generation has come
and gone, there will be great changes
I'm thought and feeling, and many
things which have been said and writ
ten, prejudicial to the South will be
retracted or corrected; and the world
will behold the remarkable spectacle
OF the victor endorsing the principles
for which the vanquished contended.
History will yet do justice to JEFF
ferson Davis, and the principles for
which he stood; and when, in future,
the liberties and the rights of this
country are imperilled. as fear
they will be-Jefferson Davis will be
referred to- by the historian as. the
great Apostle of States Rights. Our
great captains who led victorious
armies-armies that were never de-
feated-will have assigned to them
inches. high up in the temple of fame.
and the impartial verdict will be:
1.-THE men of the South. and, the cause
for which they stood. were right"
Until that time shall come, how
ever. the South is keeping its own
memories green and writing its own
history; hallowing the recollections of
It's sacrificial sufferings and teaching
Co its sons and daughters. by precept
and example. that, it is not ashamed
of its record; but, with a devotion
as sacred and as earnest as that of