Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-07-06
BATTLE OF LOVE ON FIELD
OF GETTYSBURG IS CLOSED;
EACH SIDE HAILED AS VICTOR
Martial Spirit of Old Soldiers of Both
Blue and Gray Exceeded Only by
Sincere Warmth of Affection for
Their Former Foes.

OF maneuVerS that have become more
and more heroic now that the years
have passed-but mostly as is the
way of veterans the world over. of
personal prowess and adventure.
Mrs. H. d. Longstreet of Gaines
Vile, Ga, widow of the great Con-
federate leader, was here and was al
ways the center Of a reverent crowd.
Many men who fought under her hus-
band followed her day after day. tell
ing Of incidents that occurred during
the war.
The first night at the battlefield she
could find no quarters. Everything
was reserved, and she was forced to
sleep on the floor of a farmhouse. The
next morning, however. she found
that a tent had been reserved for her
by General Sickles.
She went to the pump of a farm
house to get a drink Of water and
there met an old soldier. She asked
him under whom he fought, and he,
ignorant Of her identity, replied,
"Longstreet."
And are you glad or sorry that
the war ended as it did," she asked
him.
81 am glad" he said, emphatically,
80 far as the war itself is concerned
but not for the reconstruction days
You may be a. Northern woman, and
If you are, you can't imagine what
we went through-not in the war.
when the soldiers fought US, but in
the days afterward, when the poll
ticians governed us. But I'm glad the
war ended in united nation"
Wore Badge of Union.
Mrs. Longstreet saw everywhere eX-
amples of the reconcilfa ton that ths
Gettysburg meeting has brought
about. She met a soldier wearing a
gray suit but decked with a badge
marked Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteer
Infantry. She asked him why he, a
Union man, should wear a gray suit
Me-" he said, surprised. Il am
not Yankee. I fought under Long
street. and I'm from Mississippi"
why do you wear that badge,
them" she asked.
why he said, "a Yank came
along to-day from the Fifth Pennsyl-
vania and asked me Of I'd trade
badges with him, after we'd had a
talk and found out where we were at
Gettysburg. So we traded. He's
wearing my badge now-FifteenJh
Mississippi. Says he'll keep it as lorg
as he lives"
! Reconciliation is sincere. There was
even talk during the four days of an
amalgamatio lion of the United Confed-
crate Veterans and the Grand Army
] OF the fttbuDllt uiluGl TIE I'D mt nc
United Veterans Of the United
States
Old Nurses Open Hospital,
A band of devoted women were the
survivors of the corps Of nurses who
served during the battle. Mrs. Sa-
lone Ctewart, leader of the band, was
here to open the old hospital. Others
of her staff present were Mrs. Charles
r Dye and Miss Cornelia Hancock,
al, To- TTuV
ilton. Wakefield. Conn; Mrs. Mary
Stevens, Peabody Conn; Mrs. Annie
Irving, NeNburg; Mrs. Helen Cole,
Sheboygan Wis. Women Of the fam
lilies of General Meade General PICK
EFT and General Hill were present, too.
There were reunions between sur
vivors of Bufords division of MeaGe's
army, and Wheeler's division of
Lees, and at the Bloody Angle, be
tween Meredith's Iron Brigade and
Pettigrews men. 1t was these latter,
according to the history of the fight,
who saw the fercest struggle.
Not in all the story of the reunion
is there the breath of an unpleasant
ness among the veterans. serious
fight occurred the second day of the
meeting, when seven men were stab
bed. The fight, however was precipi-
tated by several young men who.
abusing Abraham Lincoln, aroused
the anger of a Union veteran. None
of the seven injured was a veteran.
But among the veterans of the two
armies there was only friendship and
serenity. Blue and Gray snapped
coffee and tobacco, just as they had
done during the war, snapped remi-
nfsCences, and, most of all. traded as
surances Of having forgiven and for
gotten the bitterness and the strug-
gle of half a century ago
President Follows Lincoln.
Tuesday of the reunion was Veter-
ans Day, given over to a great meet
ing Of all the old soldiers, with adj
dresses by representatives of both
sides. Wednesday was Military Day,
when younger soldiers were on dis
play Thursday was Civic Day when
Governors of States, representatives
of the national government, and
other civil authorities made ad-
dresses Friday was National Day,
marked by the address Of President
Wilson.
Every night the veterans sang the
old war songs through, and repeated
on the chorus. The entire encamp-
ment of the Gray veterans IN the
valley below the ridge Joined in, until
a chorus resounded that was thun-
dering even in the vast spaces Of the
battlefield.
The songs were more and more ex-
ultant as the evening wore on. Now
and then the rebel yell punctuated
the melody. The sound spread to the
Blue army, and was there augmented
by the voices of the Union veterans
until the battlefield became each
might a vast theater for the recrudes-
/ cence of the most wonderful martial
spirit of all ages.