Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1913-06-20
The Confederate Monument.

Mr.. Editor Il was present at the cere-
monies attending the unwilling of the
Confederate monument on June 3rd, and
was much impressed by the graceful speech
of Judge Peter, with its broad treatment
of local history; by the brilliant addresses
of Representatives Heflin and Clark by the
decorations, the intermingling of the Mary
land, Confederate and United States colors,
with the beautiful flag of our country"
floating high above them all and by the
assemblage, which was wonderfully repre-
sentative of "Old Montgomery"
However, of those things which most
stone. and the other in memory only.
The plain, but handsome. granite shaft
bears upon its face the following inscrip-
ton:
That we through life may not forget to
love the thin gray line"
while below. the intertwined letters &C. S.
A." are surrounded by laurel wreath and
flanked by the dates "1S6l-1865."
What flood of recollection is thus I'M
locked; what memories are refreshed by
those dates and the references to "the thin
gray line"
Well-known military tactics demand
that the respective lines of battle be of
equal length, otherwise the longer and
heavier line will turn in and flank and
crumple up the shorter line.
How could the few men of the Confed-
eracy present line of equal length except
it be thin line?
At Charlottesville Lee confronted Hook
er 3 seventy-three thousand men with four
teen thousand. and held them in check while
the remainder of his army, under jackson,
executed one of his famous flank move
ments. and in the two-days' battle COM
pletely defeated an army twice its size.
Fitzhugh Lee. in his book General Lee"
says: I'm some places the men in Lees
thin gray line in front of Hooker were six
feet apart"
At Shiloh. at Sharpsburg. at Bull Run,
and many other places, the difference in
numbers was almost as great, and steadily
as the war progressed and the able-bodied
men were killed or wounded. and the old
men and the boys went forward to try to
take their places. the line grew thinner and
weaker, until in the defense of Petersburg
and Richmond it had reached the last ex-
tremity.
Referring to the defense of Petersburg,
Fitzhugh Lee says: From the Appomat-
tOx to the right center the thin gray line
was so stretched that it was not so formi-
dable as well-prepared skirmish line.
Though holding with tenacity to his right.
Lee must let the bars down elsewhere.
Thirty-fve thousand muskets were guard
ing thirty-seven miles of entertainments"
A few days later the hungry, WORKOUT
fragment of the once almost invincble
Army Of Northern Virginia was forced to
surrender to the overwhelming Army of
the Potomac.
THE thin gray line" recalls so much of
hardship, hunger and strife that our hearts
90 out to honor the memory of the men
who SO valiantly fought against such ire
mendous odds in the defense of what they
believed to be right.
To the stirring strains of Dixie" the
Confederate battle flag and the Maryland
State flag, which had been entwined around
the statue, were drawn away and grace
fully draped in front and back of the bronze
figure of private in the cavalry arm of
the service, and thus presented beautiful
allegOry of the flags.
The figure is strong. graceful and digni-
fed. 1t faces South. At its back, floating
in the gentle breeze. was the flag of Mary
land To the front, waving him on, was
the brilliant battle flag of the Confederate
army. All beautifully symbOlical of the
history of the times and of our people !;
of Maryland men in the Confederate army.
Men who. at first entwned about with the
State and Confederate love. sympathy and
ambition. yet turned their backs on their
native State. and. facing South. nobly fol-
lowed the battle flag of the COnfederacy
until they merged in the thin gray line.
But we were concentrating memory
deep and tender. but not bitter. and when,
to the strains Of THE Star Spaneled Ban
ner" and the most enthusiastic cheering,
"0ld Glory" was broken out and floated to
the breeze, all felt that now and forever
we have zone people, one country. one
flag" 7.