Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-06-07

"'oO 1he uhIhlClaCeu vince and StOp
their ears, but old soldiers said it caused
their blood to tingle and they for the
instant were awaiting to once more
hear the commands of Lee, or Jack
son, or Stuart ring forth.
After the cerem onies the concourse
marched to Hollywood and there deco
rated in sweet sentiment and bathed
with tears the graves covering the
heroes that have shaken off earth's tolls.
Speeches and Receptions.
On Friday, as stated, convention halls
and other places reverberated with
speeches, song and dance. Senator
John w. Daniel moved to tears the old
soldiers before him when recounting
incidents of the great strife. But it
was left to Col. Bob" Lee, the grand
son of their immortal chieftain. to turn
pandemonium loose. The session of the
convention was broken up by the old
fellows who crowded around Col. Lee To
grasp the hand of the young representa-
tive of the house of Lee. His Grafton
was splendid. 'The speech made todav
by Robert e. Lee was the greatest and
most patriotic address ever delivered at
Confederate reunion" was the COM
ment of Gen. Stephen D. Lee, the pres
ent Commander-in-C Chief.
The singing of war songs by the five
hundred children of the public schools
of Richmond, all clad in spotless white
forming pyramid behind the grand
stand, set the veterans on fire, as did
also sight of the only daughter of Jeffer-
son Davis, and her son and daughter.
Mrs. General Stonewall jackson, Mrs.
General j. E. B. Stuart, Mrs. General
William Malone and Miss Mary Custis
Lee were at the headquarters of the
Richmond Chapter, United Daughters
of the Confederacy meeting and shak-
ing hands with the veterans.
At night most magnificent ball was
rendered the sponsors and maids of
honor. Beautiful girls of Rich
mond and from all parts of the
South were present-from Lou
isiana, Alabama, Missouri, Texas.
Mississippi, Tennessee, the Caro-
linas, Georgia, Maryland-each chosen
to represent her State because
of her undisputed "belleship." 1t was
battle of beauty, waged with all the
daring and skill of charming women,
and ending with all the honors of war
when the fair army retired in the small
hours of the morning after fearful exc
cution and the slaughter of many hearts.
The list of casualties will never be
known; the names of the victims will
never be recorded, but those who heard
the cries of the wounded and observed
their signals of distress will bear wit
ness thatno man escaped without injury,
and that many will carry their honor
able wounds to their graves-or more
happily to future engagement. Vete-
rams of many an engagement and more
than one disaster took courage and
bravely attempted the siege of an un-
known force; but led en- by the wiles of
strategy which, like the poet, is "born,
not made in woman, fell an easy prey
to the battery of smiles, supported by
volleys of infantry fires from eyes
trained to deadly execution. In the
langu age of the gentleman who wrote
Latin books for unwilling students
They came, they saw, they conquered"
and with mere glance of the eye,"
according to Beau Brummel. What a
sight twas The old warriors, not one
of whom but had seen his sixtieth birth
day, and some who confessed to seventy
five years of perennial youth; the wo-
men, daughters and granddaughters of
the cavaliers, who never grow too old
to forsake the delights of chivalry.
Probably the most noticed was the
bevy of beautiful girls from Memphis,
Tenn, who enacted the Southern Cross
Drill. This drill was devised by Lieu
tenant Dugan, of South Carolina, while
a prisoner at Johnson's Island with
1000 of his comrades. The veterans,
all In uniform, and the seventeen young
ladies all in white, wearing the Con-
federate stars and bars as a corsage,
were greeted with a great burst of ap-
plause, for the 'Drill'' has become a
part of the program of every reunion,
and is the entertainment which most
delights the veterans from every section
of the South.
Union Soldier Addresses Vets.
81 extend to you, one and all, the
cordial greetings and best wishes pos
sible from the surviving soldier in blue
to his camrade in gray, and long for
the coming of the day when we will
gather together in Washington, and on
bended knee, under the shadow of the
monument of that greatest of all Vir-
ginia's soldiers, the immortal Washing
ton, pledge ourselves and our children's s
children to the upbuilding and uphold
ing of the greatest nation that ever
existed on earth. colonel j. M.
Schoonmaker, Federal Veteran, in ad-
dress at Lee Camp.
Colonel Schoonmaker is of Pittsburg,
Pa, and is the Federal officer who was
with raid down the Valley of Virginia
during the war. and, when they reached
Lexington, Colonel Schoonmaker re-
ceived orders to burn the Virginia Mill
tary Institute. He refused to obey,
saying that he had not enlisted in the
army to make war on institutions of
learning or to destroy property not con-