The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-10
COL ONEL RUSSELL SPEAKS
 TO COMRADES AT REUNION.
Mobile Man, as U. (. v. Orator, Lauds General Lee and Cause For Which Southern Heroes Fought.

Birmingham. June s--tspecial,-col- E. Ll Russell. of Mobile. selected os the late General stephen D Lee as orator of the annual reunion of confsd- arata Veterans, delivered his address this Afternoon to an audience of cheer ing thousands.
 Colonel Russell was In fine form ai- though his voice filled with emotion as he referred to the dead commander-in- Chief of the Veterans
 Colonel Russell Speaks.
 Colonel Russell spoke as follows.
 "Commander and Comraaes' a.,,a.n..
 .It is with the greatest diHioence and migaiving that undertake 10 per- form the duties assigned to me by our late r-in-Gnief. so as 70 meet vour expectations. l recognize my un- fitness for the performance of these sacred duties, and when Ienerai ss Lse Invited me to be the orator on tnis occasion. l frankly wrote nm mat it was impossible for variety ot req sons. and positively declined to speak to you at this reunion. .. earnest letter urging me to reconsider. It was so earnest and full Of anectlnn that could not gracefully further re- fuse to do as he wished. Alter read ing his letter wired him that l had reconsidered and would accept the ap- aHe then wrote me the following lct- 'e.' ..colunbua. Miss. March IA. 1908. Col. D. |. Russell: .o,
 ,My Dear Comrade--l have your tei- axram of March IS saying that ak my aarnest personal request, you had re- considered your deciinatton to deIiVeI the oration before the NeteEahs Birmingham. and would deliver tn" ao- ArAc afssI sT write to thank you. for had my heart set on your doing thus iast military duty for me, ana oid hoa aesi aeWith s kindSst wishes for you and Mrs Russell, am Sincerely your comrado and friena
 IStgned) "'Stephen D. Lee.
 .srt Is useless to say to you that value this letter above gold and dia. monds General Lee was acquainLe,o with my record as Confederate so,s dier. lie knew that was appointed color bearer of Mississippi regiment by General Jake Sharp, who lived m the same city with General Lee Coiun~ Dus "f have have read you general Lees let ter in order that you might look upon my Shortcomings with forbearancs and indulgence. Whether come up to the stnndard of past orations, or not cantad fhe fast request of the match less and fearless soldier, our Wortnf Commander, General Lee.
 "The death of our brilliant comliAn. a.s der compelled me to change my en- fire speech to be made upon tbts occa- ston. My close personal relations wlth General Lee for the past thirty years have been such that reel lt Iny ,.l auey e.f his character, not only as a soldter. but as a Christian citizen. In his con : duct and intercourse with hls tellow men, his example in support or the Christian religion was as peerless as that of General Robert P. Lee.
 I've have every reason not only to admire the character of General Slepn- en D. Lee. as q soldier, but such was his character as both soldier and ctti- zen. as to excite tho admiration and pride of every Southern man and worn-
 Tn Gloom and Sorrow.
 "Comrades. we meet surrounded by A pail of gloom and sorrow. Only few days ago our incomparable Com- nlander was in full health. heroically and patrioticaly discharging the im- portant duties that had been confided to his trust by the President. of the United States.
 T"Generai Lee lived at Columbus, Miss, a point on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad hence this gave me the op- portunity of seeing much or nm our- Ing the past thirty years; and such nas been my occupation that it has brought me into personal contact with great many of the leading men of this coun- try during the period above .mentioned, s--soldiers and statesmen of large af- sairg.-and I can truthfully state that In my opinion Gen. stephen D. Lee was the most conscientious man, both as Q soldier and as citizen, that ever knew. Often have we sat and talked over the campaigns and battles that we fought. He was Lieutenant Gen. eral commanding the corps, and l was \. private, until appointed color bear CT of a Mississippi regiment, which un- der the act of the Confederate Con- gress, caused me to rank as First Lieutenant. Lee was near Atlanta, two or three days after the bloody battle or what IS known as the '22nd day of July, lS64' and it was during this engagement that General McPherson, who commanded the left wing of Sherman's army, was
 You will recall that President Davis removed Gen. Joseph B. Johnston ana appointed Gen. John B. Hood as ms successor to take command or the corps commander, and on his promotion Gen. stephen D. Lee. as Lieutenant General, was appointed to take com mand of our corps, which was Hoods us drawn up in line of battle and made us a speech. stating that he had been assigned to command our corps. He ApQcdlcu IO OuE " ferred with pride to the record that the troops composing the corps had made during the war. On the night of the 2Tth of July. 1884, he marched Hindman's Division of his corps through Atlanta to point on the extreme wing of Hoods army.
 My recollection is that it was about eight miles southwest of the city of Atlanta. On the morning of the 2Sth of July, Hindman's Divison, to which I belonged, under the direction of Gem eral Lee, assaulted the right wing of Sherman's army. After two hours of fierce and bloody fighting, we, having failed to drive the enemy from his a ridge from the point where we had started. General Lee then reformed us and supplied us with ammunition, and then ordered us to renew the assault but to move fur- fher to our left and the enemy's right In this assault we succeeded in turning the enemy's right and were pressing them back, when we came suddenfv into contact with an entirely fresh corps of the enemy's troops. We were not in condition to fight fresh troops, for the reason that we had been fighting for i've or six hours, and the day was one of the hottest l ever experienced. We were without any water. and on account Of the thirst and heat. our tongues were so swollen asto protrude from our mouths. l can see before me now. as plain as on that day, the fresh corps of troops pressing down upon us with their magnificent silk flags, emblazoned with great golden