Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1909-06-11
HONORlNG THE MEMORY OF
THE CONFEDERATE DEAD

soldiers than the men who wore
the Southern gray. They were led
by able generals, for the military
authorities of other nations, as well
as our own, have accorded the Con-
federate leaders a place among the
great commanders of the world.
Henderson, the British authority,
ranks Stonewall Jackson as the
most original military genius of
modern times, and Lord Wolseley
gives Lee a place with Marlborough
and Wellington as zone of the
three greatest captains Of the Eng
disappearing race"
But their qualities of leadership
and military genius would have
been ineffective if they had not
been enthusiastically supported by
thousands of private soldiers and
minor officers as brave as the cold
Guard" of Napoleon. The Confed-
crate soldiers endured hardships
that were unknown to the men who
had a wealthy and stable govern
ment to provide them with food,
clothes, arms and ammunition.
The Confederacy was indeed "a
"storm-cradled nation" born in
the heat of tremendous conflict,
never to see one hour of peace or
to be allowed to build up a civil
government that would permit pro-
duction sufficient even to properly
support an army.
No material rewards tempted the
Confederate to enlist. He was not
a mercenary, for his pay was most
| ly in promises, and even his food
supply was precarious and uncer-
tain. He received no large money
bounty, and often furnished his
own uniform, his own arms and his
own mount. Only devotion to his
principles, love of his State and
home, and faith in his leaders could
have enabled him to carry on the
unequal struggle for four long
years. They were titanic years,
crowded with history. And
though often he had to 60 hungry
and his uniform was reduced to
rags, the Confederate fought on
with a courage that nothing could
daunt and daring that snatched
victory after victory from the very
jaws of defeat.
And when the end came at Apo
mattox the Confederate tramped
back to his ruined home, and with
bare hands, in the ashes of defeat,
began to build up the structure of
a new civilization. He has made
the rebuilding of the South the
wonder of the world, and in a sin
gle generation has brought wealth,
prosperity and vast new empire
out of that chaos of war and desc
lation. Most of those who restored
the South are now in their graves,
close by those who fell fighting be-
side them on the battle field. They
are one in honor and memory.
ut is sweet and honorable to die
for ones country" and the brave
men who laid down their lives for
the South they loved are rememb-
cred with a tenderness and devo-
ton that victory could never win.
The willow that waves over their
graves is more sacred than the lau-
rel wreath that any conquerer ever
wore. The men and women of the
South place on their graves the
blossoms of spring, fresh as the re-
collection of their deeds, inspiring
as their bravery, fragrant as the
rich memory of their courage and
devotion.
Stoop, angels, hither from the skies
There is no holier ground,
Than where defeated Valor lies,
By mourning Beauty crowned.
Baltimore Sun.
Many of our citizens are drifting
toward Bright's disease by neglect
I L