The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1907-01-25
Location of Confederate Monument.
Continued from Page One.)

with pride and recall fond memories.
But our thoughts are then first to CEN
ter upon our dear departed loved ones,
who laid down in the bivouac of to-
night, and were struck down in the
battle OF the morrow.
These are the memories which the
survivors of the army cherish nearest
their hearts, and with which they go
back to their battle fields not as to
scenes of either triumph or disaster,
but as to holy ground on which brave
comrades fell, but fell not in vain.
Those dead, those dashing dead, they
have not died ip' vain Not in vain,
my friends. their r'wondrous courage and
achievements Not in vain their high
est virtue ,Of magnificent fortitude; not
in vain their unbought and unpaid SER
vice in, the field; not in vain did the ia
therS die unbountied, as their children
lived unpensioned; not in vain did they
walk through the dark tragedy of war,
or do they now lie in the dull panto-
mine of death.
Their deeds were not in vain, be-
cause we who survive shall teach our
children and thus preserve an heroic
race OF men capable OF such sacrifices
as these men made, and equal to such
heroiSm as may serve When lapsed
from virtue, to recall us to ourselves
and join us to the eternal God
When we recall our small but peer
less army,--from its birth, through its
life of arduous toll and danger, to the
hour when its unstained sword drop
ped from its exhausted hanu. the words
of the English poet to the Fallen Oak"
it seems are peculiarly applicable:
No. still It's thine, though fallen, i'm
perial oak,
To teach this lesson to the wise and
brave:
That tbs far better, overthrow and
broke,
In freedoms cause to sink into the
grave,
Than in submission to a tyrant's yoke,
Like the vile reed, to bow and be a
slave
Efforts to draw parallels between the
great Lee and renowned commanders
OF former times. have always to my
mind been most unsatisfactory. Where
shall we turn to find the peer OF our
great and pure soldier and hero? Ger
tainly we shall not find one among the
mythic heroes oi Homer. nor shall we
| ind one among the Grecian command
crs oi later period though i'll the de-
votlOn OF the hero OF Thermopylac,
and the daring oi the victor oi Mara
thOn, may be found SimileS iOr like
qualities III our hero. But there is too
much OF fable and the license OF heroic
verse i'll the narrationS OF their deeds
to guarantee their reliability.
! Alexander, who at the head OF his
Serrlcd phalanXeS encountered the ef-
terminate masses oi Asia and scattered
them like sheep before ravening
wolf. and while signing for new worlds
to conquer could not control himself
but fell miserable victim to his owl,
excuses. In the march OF Hannibal
the great Carthagenian patriot, over
the Alps, and his campaigns in Italy
we might lind similarity to General
Lees strategy, but the system OF war.
Iare then, the implements oi war anc
itc;rd. wfhich had neither baggage noI
supply trains, but ioraged on the coun.
try through which they operated. make
such a vast difference that the parallel
ceases at the very beginning. Besides
Carthage and Rome were then nearly
equal i'll power, and Hannibal was able
to receive rciniorccmcnts from Car
thage by sea, as the Carthagenians
were great maritime people, and the
hostile ncighbors to Rome readily fur.
| -.
Nor do we find in republican Rome
4 parallel. Certainly not in Julius Cae
sar the greatest OF Roman generals
who at the head OF the legions OF the
Mistress OF the WOrld' Over-ran tn,
countries OF barbarians and then turn
ed his sword against the liberties O
his own country
We shall search in vain for on,
among ali the great generals OF tn,
whole Roman empire, nor shall W,
ind one among the leaders OF the bar
barrie hordes which over-ran the terri
tories OF the degenerate Romans; no
III the dark ages; nor among the Cru
SadcrS, who under the standard OF tn,
cross committed such crimes agains
religion and humanity; nor among tn,
great chieftianS of the middle ages, tc
advance whose ambitious projects tn,
nations OF Europe were, by turns, tori
and ravaged
Gustavus Adolphus might be no un
worthy parallel OF the great Lee, botl
in regard to his purity OF life and un
selhshneSS OF character, and the com
parison has not been inaptly drawn
but the career OF the heroic king o
Sweden was cut short by death il
battle at so early period and before
unlike Lee, he had stood the test o
adversely, that material for completing
the parallel are wanting.
Marlborough has been compared tc
our great chieitain, but owed his pro
motion in the first place to the dshono,
OF his family and the patronage of
debauched favorite OF the court.
utterly repudiate the comparison Be
sides, Marlborough commanded tn
armies OF the greatest maritime powe
in the world i'll alliance with the Who'll
Iof Europe, against France alone.
Shall we compare General Lee witt
antagonist, Wellington? True Napole
on was captain OF most extraordinar
genius, but success was always neces