Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1913-07-23
JULY TwENTY.oNE, 1851.
Fffty-Second Anniversary Of the iriISt
Battle of Manassas.

Last Monday, July 21st, was the
fifty-second anniversary Of the frss
battle of Manassas, in which many
Oconeeans participated, and the i'm
cident is recalled annually by those
who had peculiar reasons to have the
events Of that day impressed upon
their minds.
J. w. Hlleman, one of the iurvi-
vOrS of Orr's Regiment, in speaking
of the matter, stated Monday tnat. OF
all those from Oconee who partici-
pated in the First Battle of Mar as9as
he knows of but two in this cOmmu-
nifty who fought at this Opening OF
hostilities" and are still here 10 re-
call the actual happenings of the day
from personal observation. These
two are c. l.. Reid and John d. Perry.
both of Walhalla. Mr.. PERI is
quite young-looking man stiU
though there is no questioning the
fact that he is on the downward side
of the hill, in spite of his compara-
lively youthful looks. Mr.. Reid was
less fortunate than Mr.. Perry, he
having been literally shot to pieces
during the four years Of hard SER
vice, and he is still suffering from
the effects of numerous bullets that
found their way to his body, soWe OF
which he carries with him yet.
Mr.. Holleman recalled the fac that
1t was an indirect result of the First
Battle of Manassas that gave him his
first sight of a dead soldier OF the
Confederacy. Two Oconeeans, Waddy
Hillhouse and Michael Bellotte, were
participants in the battle on the 2lst
of July, and on the following day
these two were walking about the
field when they espied a large shell
that had not exploded. Their curl
osity got the better Of them, and
they began to examine into the mys-
teries of the deadly shell, picking at
it with their knife blades. The re-
suit was disastrous, as the shell ex-
ploded with terrific force, and the
bodies of both Hillhouse and Bel
iotte were brought to Sandy Springs
for burial.
On the same day that McGowan's
Brigade was engaged in the thick OF
the fight at Manassas several compa.
nies of Orr's Regiment were being
formed at Sandy Springs. Orr's Reg
iment formed portion of Nc
Gowan's Brigade. First and last.
they were a gallant aggrega tion.
Orr's Regiment, in the height of it's
glory, numbered in excess of 200
men. After Manassas. Frederick
burg, Richmond, and numerous otter
battles, including the
tateful fourth at Gettysburg, Orr's
brave band of men
as ever fought on a CORY field
emerged few in numbers, bullet-scar
red and battle-worn, but soldier
still and loyal to the Southland and
her Cause.
The results of these fifty-two
years show that they but emerged
from the bloody battlefelds of earn
age and death into scarcely less
fierce fields Of battle where they
fought poverty, amid ruined homes
and desolated country. We OF to-
day realize but in a small degree
what we owe to these men who wore
the grey. We see but the grand ~
suits OF their sacrifice and labor, but
the obstacles against which they
Fought and the difficulties they over
came are too remote for us to even
picture in our Imagination with any
degree Of accuracy.
All honor to the members of Orr's
Regiment who still live! All honor
to those who have gone before! And
no less do we feel pride in the enrira J.
armies of the Confederacy, ana no
whit less do we honor them, whether
they be in the spirit or still in the
flesh! In war they were foemen
worthy Of the steel of their brethren
OF the greatest nation on earth. In
peace they have proved themselves,
even in defeat, more than conquerors.
the fortunes of war were
mercilessly against them, they have !
brought forth from the ash-heaps of |
their homes and the devastation of !
their lands country far greater |
than that which was swept away be-
fore the hand OF the enemy fifty
years ago.