The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1909-03-04
Lincoln and the South.
CContirued from first page

through wounds or sickness. This
was a wonderful compliment and
when he told General Hoke, as they
rode together one day, OF what he
had done Hoke expressed his aston
ishment that he should have been
thus distinguished and said he could
not think of such command when
there were so many officers OF supe-
rior rank and ability, to which Cen
eral Lee replied in his grave yet kind.
" way that he knew perfectly well
what he was doing. This condition
OF affairs naturally brought about
very marked confidence between the
two officers. Hoke was then and is
now one of the most modest OF men.
He has never made "a speech in public
and it is strange but true that he has
never granted interview to any one
except urcorrespondent; one inter-
view covering the statement OF Lees
choice of HOke to be his successor in
case of his emergency and the other
the true story of his capture OF Ply
mouth and it's large Federal garri-
son. General Hoke most kindly gave
his opinion of President Lincoln, pre-
facing his well-balanced words by
saying that he would not have made
any statement whatever to any other
person than your correspondent, he
began by expressing his high opinion
of Mr.. Lincoln, and then said:
"The Confederate army, rank and
file, deplored deeply the death OF Mr..
Lincoln. He had no enemies in that
army. 1t was fully recognized by the
time the closing days came that Mr..
Lincoln was IL man OF generous and
true impulses, and would favor the
restoration OF all the State govern
ments under their respective Cover
nors. Yet his death, while seeming
to be the tremendous public calamity
which it was, came When he was in
the very zenith OF his power, for in
his efforts to restore and recognize
the State governments in the South
he would have had from Congress
and from not a few of the bitter
leaders of his party intense Opposi-
ton. How far this could have af-
fected his success we are not to know.
He was so masterful a man; he had
the real true heart of America behind
him; he had Grant and the army with
him. These great forces may have
enabled him to succeed and thus have
avoided every horror which came
upon the South in the days of the re-
construction of the governments OF
the States which composed it,"
When the war with Spain began
General Hoke was rendered COM
mission by President Mckinley, but
declined it upon the ground that he
thought he was too old for active
service, and that of course he would
not be willingfo render any other.
His age is now ~. His resemblance
to General Robert f. Lee has been
for n number of years SO marked
that great numbers of persons have
mistaken his picture for that of Lee.
A good many years ago he happened
to be at West Point on a visit and
dropped into a class room, no one
there knowing him, and heard an
instructor tell the story of his march
upon Plymouth and his capture OF
that town, as an admirably planned
and carried out movement. This af-
fair, suggested by General HOke. was
Immediately approved by President
Davis, WHO made IL secret order,
| directing that no note of it be made
by the War Department or the Navy
Department. by which HOke took his
division from the army of Northern
Virginia to a point about 100 miles
from Plymouth and from there
marched upon the town, which was
| one of the Federal keys to the com.
mand of Eastern North Carolina. He
met and instructed Captain Cook
the commander of the not quite com.
| pleted Confederate ram Albemarle,
built in Il corGfieid on the Roanoke
river above Plymouth, as to the part
Cook should take The ram and the
land force co-operated fully and the
victory was complete, General Yves.
sells surrendering his stores, garrison
flag and entire garrison of 5000
men. For this action Hoke received
tiiC oiilihS VI toll IeSS anu bile per
sonal congratulations of President
Davis.
Chief Justice Walter Clark, who at
| only II years of age was the lieuten-
ant colonel of the 10th North Caro-.
lima Regiment, having entered the
Confederate army in the spring OF
1861, at the age OF IA, has held
many prominent positions in North
Carolina, has for some years been at
the head of it's Supreme Court and
has a wide acquaintance in the United
States. When Justice Clark was
asked for his opinion of Mr.. Lincoln,
he wrote the following: "Two SEN
fences by President Lincoln will live
as long as our language. They are
both his photograph and his me.
mortal: In charity to all and with
malice towards none Government
OF the people, by the people and for
the people But for his untimely
death the North would have avoided
the terrible blunder and the South
would have been spared the unspeak.
able woes, sufferings and destruction
| of reconstruction"
State Auditor Benjamin Franklin
Dixon has had the honor of serving
in war both the Confederate States
and the United States. As a youth
he entered the Confederate service in