Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1911-03-15
j. i 10 !. ]. ]. IL !. j. ]. !. i.
!. TUE y.
!. CONFEDEIsATE SOLDIER. j.
]. j. I. !. !. ]. ]. !. ]. Il 4. Il.

IAN aduFeSS Qcllfefed DeIOre the
veterans and the mothers and daugh-
ters Of the bloody struggle in the
sixties. Ridge Spring, S. c., by j.
Russell Wright
We have met together to-day, my
friends, not to perpetuate triumph,
hate or civic discord, or to stir afreSh
the fierce passions that once filled
| the breast of every true Southern
man, but simply to pay a tribute to
| the chivalry and courage Of the Con-
| federate soldier. | thank God that
| the gray and the blue now live in a
| reunited country. Why should it not
! be so? We all claim protection un-
der the same flag; we are governed
by the same laws; we read the same
Bible and worship the same God; and
| our future hopes and dcstinies are
the same.
am glad to be here to-day to look
into the faces Of these old battle
Scared veterans again. see men
here who charged across the bloody
field at Shiloh; ! see men who
stormed the heights, Of Malvern Hill;
there are men here to-day who quail
ed not at the destruction of Antie-
tam. | see men who swept around
the beautiful plains OF Chickamauga
and | see men who charged up the
rocky sides Of Gettysburg and i'm
printed on the cold, pittiless stones
there, in letters Of blood, their chiv-
airy and their courage.
To-day this great republic is at
peace with ali nations. The little
birds come and build their nests in
the cannon's mouth; the guns are
stacked, the sword has been return
ed to the scabbard, the tramp Of
mems feet is hushed. Yet the picket
is at his post; but let bush shake
or let there be a rustling among the
dry leaves, and there will be an army
awake and ready to march.
There is nothing OF an earthly ma
ture that gets SO close to my heart
and soul as d( the tender associa-
tons that cluster about the old Con-
federate cause and her flag. The
Confederate soldiers are the most
wonderful men that ever lived, upon
whom the Lord God Almighty laid
the sword of His eternal knighthood.
They mad' fight that echoed
around the world, and this continent
tn itc
The very throne of England was
made to quake and tremblc! And
to-day the Confederate soldiers are
the admiration Of the world, consti-
tuting class absolutely unique,
having filled a place in history no
other men ever filled. The armies
under which Alexander conquered
the world, the army which followed
Caesar across the Rubicon, and that
which Napoleon led across the Alps,
hlled no such place in history as did
the armies Of the Southern Confed-
eracy. They marched. watched and
fought as no other men ever did,
with their old slouched hats, their
Jackets torn, their trousers rent, their
blankets in shreds and their hayer-
sacks empty, often pressing the ice
and snow with their bare and bleed
ing feet. They fought to the last
ditch and to tho death, and they
were wrapped in the winding
sheet Of a nations love and laid to
rest in their CORY beds. No monu-
ments can mark their resting places
but the hills-God's sentinels of the
plains; no flowers to deck their
graves but the stars--the touch-me-
nots Of the angels; no tears were
shed but the showers from the sky:
no prayers in their last moments but
the signing Of the winds through the
pines. But with angels and arch
angels and all the company Of heaven
their spirits went to the great be-
yOnd.
The Confederate soldiers were as
grand In defeat as they were in vic
tory. They obeyed to the letter the
last and noblest command Of their
mighty chieftain--to go home and
rebuild the fortunes OF their dcvas-
tatcd land.
These were mcn-the full meas
urc and stature Of perfect men
born to meet any situation contrary
to Lincoln's philosophy. And when
the struggle was over and peace de-
clarcd, and though it was like a