Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1907-11-27
THE
. LATE UNPLEASANTNESS.'
An Historical Comparison of
Grant and Lee. ~
by j. Russell Wright.

Written for The Keowee Courier.
We read an article, ably written,
some time ago, by professor from
North Carolina, in which he calls the
great civil war between the States
"The Late Unpleasantness." He
would, 1t seems. make it appear to be
a very small affair. We say without
fear of contradiction that 1t was the
biggest thing the American people
ever saw Or felt 1t shook the con-
tinent from center to circumference
for four long years. This professor
also says that every Confederate
and every Federal soldier, and all
their children, will have to die be-
fore q correct history of the war can
be written, and that by some other
nation; and then he says the subject
should not be aired too much.
You see at glance that this pro-
fessor has very little confidence in
the truthfulness OF a soldier who fig
nred in this war. We believe there
are men living to-day-some who
wore the gray and some who wore
the blue--who would and could write
n correct history Of the civil war. We
are informed that this man Is ma
tive Of North Carolina. Does he
know that North Carolina furnished
$4,000 soldiers during this "unplea-
santness,' as he calls it, of whom
1000 died either in battle, from
wounds, in prison, or in hospitals?
Does he know that North Carolini-
ans, led by one Of her sons, Gen. Will
liam r. Cox, delivered the last charge
made by the Confederate army under
Gen. Lee? And that Major-Gen.
Robert f. Hoke, with 14,UOU North
Carolina heroes, held $4,000 Federal
soldiers at bay for three dreadful
days at Bennettsville? 1t Is also
stated as an historic fact that North
Carolina furnished one-fifth of the
entire Confederate army, and at APP
pomattoX one-half of the muskets
stacked for capitulation were from
North Carolina troops. And yet he
says the subject Should be aired but
very little! No; let it be told from
Dan to Beersf ,ba and from Beershe-
ba back to Dan.
This professor stated that in some
history he saw that there were so
many pages contributed to Gen. Lee
and only one or two to Gen. Grant.
Everybody North and South knows
that there YVES great deal more to
be said of Gen. Lee than Of Grant. If
Gen. Grant had been pitted against
Gen. Lee at the beginning of the
bloody struggle, he would have gone
where Scott, Mcdonald, Banks, Burn
sides, Hooker and host of others
went. We admit that Gen. Grant
was great man. What did he say
at AppOmattoX, when the Federals
began to punk their artillery to find
a salute? stop it," said Gen. Grant,
"you have nothing to salute for. You
have been four years with over 10O,-
900 men trying to capture these 3d.
600 Confederate veterans" The
truth Of the matter is, the South
just wore herself out whipping Yam
KEGS. And 1t is a fact that cannot be
denied that the Federal army never
did gain a decided victory in Vir-
ginia. The South made a fight that
echoed around the world, and the
Southern soldiers made for them
selves name that is immortal
You have but to remember the gal
liant deeds Of 100000 men in gray
who, without an arsenal within the
limits Of the country, with every sea-
port closed, narrowed and hemmed
in by land and sea, with no resources
save our mar-riven land, fought two
million seven hundred and fifty-five
thousand men for four years, and had
victory wreathed with chaplets OF
glory on their banners in nine bat
ties out of ten. And you say, Tell
it not" No; let the marble stones
that mark the resting place Of every
Confederate soldier crumble into
dust before the deathless devotion OF
the Southern soldier be forgotten.
| wish to prove to this professor
that there is a great deal more to be
said about Con. Robert T.. Lee than
about Gen. Grant. and we will only
examine two witnesses, our enemies
themselves being the judges. In
1865 Mr.. Rayman, Of New York, ask
ed in Congress what specific act the
nna