Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-04
SEE PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT
Extend an Invitation for Him to Stop
at Nashville.
ALONG PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE
March to Capitol, Congressional Ii
brary and Thence to White House.
officers Present.

With clanking sabers sheathed forever in
the love of reunited country, one hun
dred former confederate cavalrymen who
rode with Forest swooped down upon the
capital city at noon today. Their mission
this time is one of peace. They came to
call upon the chief executive of the nation
and to march along Pennsylvania avenue
to show that their love for the nation is
uppermost in their minds. and that the
wounds of war are healed. The visitors
dsembarked from the neon train of the
Seaboard Air Line from Richmond. and
are under command of Gen. George w.
Gordon one of the surviving brigadier gen
erals OF the confederate army. On the
same train were the surviving members of
Company 4 of Memphis and a number of
veterans from Jaskson, Tenn. Capt G. F.
Hager was In command of the cavalrymen,
while Capt G. B. Malone and l.. E. Tai
bolt We're at the head of the other COM
panies.
AS the train came to a standstill the
veterans of the army of the gray stepped
from the coaches and took places in line.
The cavalrymen marched first, followed by
the infantrymen Many of them had seen
service with Jackson in the Shenandoah,
Albert Sidney Johnston at Shiloh and Lee
at Gettysburg. With battle-scarred flags
borne by color bearer at the front they
looked the part of strife-scarred heroes.
With empty sleeves silent stories oe the
battlefield and with here and there a limp
that told of the work of mimic balls. they
stood at attention in uniforms of gray.
In Pickett's Division.
The youngest soldier in the party, it was
stated. is fifty-one years of age, and the
Oldest eighty one Some of the members
were in Pickett's division that charged up
the slope at Gettysburg which caused the
observers from European countries to de-
clare that lit showed the dauntlessness of
a race that has won glory upon thousand
battiefiefds.
When the order came to march. the
tramping was slow and regular. and the
precision with which the veterans moved
told of years of training in the great school
of war AS they passed through the gates
into the waiting room of the station, in
columns CT twos. cheer arose from the
large attendance of men, women and chill
dren who had gathered to welcome the
visitors to Washington
Authority to Garry Arms.
Representative John Wesley Gaines of
Nashville. with authority of the Commits
sioners of the District of Columbia that the
former confederate soldiers might carry
arms upon the streets of the CITY, met
them and -ushered them to Pennsylvania
avenue, where they formed on the pave
1Uent OF the south SlOe OF the thorough
fare for the march to the Capitol.
/ Col b. NJ. Johnson of Loudoun county.
who was unable to attend the recent re-
union at Richmond and who a mem
Der of Picketts division at Gettysburg,
rode up and announced: Il was one of the
10th Virginia Regiment. and have brought
my horse for Gen. Gordon"
The march TO the Capitol was then begun,
From the Capitol the visitors proceeded
to the Congressional Library and next
headed for the White House.
Invitation Extended
The sons of the southland Shook the hand
of the executive of the nation and pre-
sented to him most cordial invitation to
visit Tennessee rs follows:
1.-The people of Nashville are hopeful that
you will accept the invitation they have ex-
tended to you on several occasions, and
which We now renew, to visit them when
you leave Memphis on your return to
Washington in the fall. The undersigned
representative citizens of Nashville only
give indication of the number of Nash
vile people who desire your presence, in
order that they may be honored by a visit
from the chief magistrate of the nation,
and that they may give manifestations of
the sentiments with which they regard
you. Aside from our interest in the PreSi-
dent of the United States, the citizens of
Nashville feel special interest in the au
thor of Winning of the West 1t is I'M
necessary, of course to remind you of the
part that Tennessee and Nashville have
played in making the history of the ma
ton, and in most of the many scenes in
which Tennessee has played part Nash
Vile has been the center.
I'VE desire especially that you should
pay a visit to the Hermitage. the home
and the last resting place of Andrew Jack
son, and by your presence there give re-
newed assurance to the country of your
ri, i,N1n 19tnt
which he taught
Names Appended.
After the signatures of Gov. Patterson
and Mayor Morris the following names
were appended: S. G. Douglas. president.
and L. S. Shannon, secretary, of the Nash
willie board of trade; j. II. Kirkland, chan
cellor of Vanderbilt University; G. B. Win
ton. editor of the Christian Advocate: w.
]. Ewing, managing editor of the Ameri-
can; E. B. Stahlman. president of the Nash
willie Banner; V. NJ. Sutro. editor of the
Tennesseean; James Palmer. president of
the State Fair Association; J. w. Russ
mann, president, and NJ. I. Bryan. Secre-
tary, of the Cumberland river commission;
Thomas Sebastian Byrne, bishop of Ten
nessee, and Isidore Lowenthal. rabbi of the
Vine Street Temple of Nashville.
The President responded with a short adj
dress.
1t was the first time in history that the
White House had been stormed by armed
confederates. The veterans stacked their
guns before entering the White House.
Some of the visitors laughed and said that
they would have been on Pennsylvania ave-
nue. with arms during the war if they had
known as much about the defenses of the
city then as they found out aftsrward.