The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-05-18
CARE OF CONFEDERATE GRAVES
Colonel Elliott Establishes His Office
I'm Washingfon-A Sketch of the
Movement OF Which Colonei ElIiott.s
Office is the elimination.
tB r. NJ. HARNER, in News and
Courier.

tB r NJ HARNER, in News and
Courier.
Washington, May Especial: Head
quarters have been established here by
Col. William Ellliot, Of Charleston,
South Carolina, who was appointed by
Secretary Taft commissioner ito ascer-
tain the location and condition of al
graves of Confederate soldiers and sail
ors, who died in Federal prisons and
military hospitals in the North, ana
who were buried near the places of
confinement" Col. Elliott was APP
pointed pursuant to an Act, when
passed Congress and which the presi-
dent approved March 9, 1906, and will
cause 10 be prepared registers in tripli-
cate, n for the superintendent Of
fee in the cemetery, one for the quar-
termaster generals Office and n for
the war records office, Confederate
archives, showing place of burial, num-
Der of grave, name, company, regi-
ment or vessel, AID State Of each Con-
federate soldier d sailor who so died;
to cause to be { 9 ted over said graves
white marble ! 1dstOnes similar ID
those in the &c .Lfederate section" at
Arlington, Va, : .lilarly inscribed.
For carrying ct this project $780,
600 has been reprinted, and il is
expected that the work will be com
pleteC within two years, when a repOr:
on the subject will be made to Con-
gress.
Statistics in the war department show
that there were buried in eighty-niDe
localities throughout the country so, 15c
Confederate prisoners of war, cOmpris-
ing 455 officers, 2S,490 enlisted men, .26
unknown and 481 citizens. Approx
mately $500 Confederates are buried in
national cemeteries.
Congress vas prompted to pass this
law by a resolution Of Gen. Stephen D..
Lee, adopted by the United Confeder-
ate Veterans at Memphis, Tenn, in
May, 1901, requesting appropriate ac-
ton looking to the care and preserVa-
ton of the graves of Confederate dead
now in the various cemeteries in the
Northern States. Gen Lee, in support
of the proposition, wrote as follows:
81 believe the passage OF the reSOlu-
ton at Memphis was done in apprecla-
ton of the noble and humane sentl-
ments expressed by our late lamenteI
President in his speech at Atlanta,
Ca, December IA, 1898. There was DO
object so near his patriotic heart as
that to obliterate sectional feeling Incl
dent to our unhappy civil strife. He
seemed t o take advantage of every
incident in his administration of pub
lie affairs to cause it to bear in the
welding together of sections OF his
country once ~estranged. Had he lived
he no doubt would hove brought about
his cherished project in causing the
Government to share in the expense OF
the care and preservation of the graves
of the Confederate dead, whose va!or,
with that of the Union dead, is now the
valor of the American soldier, a sacred
heritage of the American people. |
think that Mr.. McKinley's speech at
Atlanta, Ca, touched the Southern
heart more than any other act Of any
President, and the South mourned his
death as sincerely as any part of our
great Republic"
An excernt- PRESIDENT McKir-
ley's speech at Atlanta appears in the
proceedings of the United Confederate
Veterans at Memphis in May, 1901, as
follows:
"A nation which cares for its dis
abled soldiers, as we have always done'
will never lack defenders. The ma
tional cemeteries for those who fell IN
battle all prove hat the dead, as Well
as the living, have our love. an
array of silent s%entinels we nave, ana
with what loving care their graves are
kept. Every soldiers grave MADE our
ing our unfortunate civil war IS d
tribute to American valor.
when these graves were made we
differed widely about the future OF
this but these differences
were long ago settled by the arbltra-
ment of arms. In the evolution OF
sentiment and feeling, under the Provi-
dence of God, the time has now come
when in the spirit of fraternity we
should share with you in care or the
graves of the Confederate soldiers.
Cordial feeling now happily exist
ing between the North and South
prompts this gracious act, and II 1t
needed further justification it is founc
in the gallant loyalty to the Union and
the flag so conspicuously shown IN the
wear just passed by the sons and
srandsons of these heroic dead
Having investigated the condltlon OF
the graves Of the Confederate dead at
Arlington, Va, and ecouraged by Pres
ident McKinley's address, Charles
Broadway Rouss Camp of United Con-
federate Veterans, at Washington, d:
c., petitioned the President June D.
1899, setting forth the condition of the
graves of the dead in that cemetery,
and requesting remedial measures. n
petition was received by the President
in the most kindly manner, with an
expression that it was a matter IN
which he was deeply interested. IS a
result Congress passed an Act, which
was approved June 6, 1900, approprlas-
ing $4,000 for carrying out the remedial
measure requested. Secretary Root, or
the war department, gave order Tor
he execution of the work April 20, 19ol
and it was completed October l, 19o1.
This was an entering wedge or a
--1: uh;ob hos illuminated IN q