Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-07-04
LON GSTREET'S
WIDOW TELLS
Of REUNION
Describes Meeting Sharpshooter
Detailed to Kill Husband,
Whom General Captured.
By HELEN D. LoNesTREET.

/ standing on the DOTderland OF eteT-
4 nifty with its shadows touching their
/ bent forms and silvered heads, these
/ last survivors of an army the like
/ Of which the world shall see no more
1 have gathered here, not Northern, not
Southern, but all American bridging
/ the bloody rift Of the sixties with
| fraternal unity more ancient than
seCuonalism, more lasting than hate.
To the youth Of this nation the in
spirauOnal value Of this day on Get
| tysburgs field will outweigh the
sordid accumulations Of all the
Rockefellers the world will ever pro-
| ducc.
Where did you lose your arm p"
| asked Of one melancholy faced sol
der in blue. who walked a little
lamely Notwithstanding his brave eff
forts
Detailed to Kill General.
After the battle Of Chickamauga,"
he said Il was one of twenty sharp
shooters detailed to kill Longstreet.
He captured us all and / lost my
right arm Did you ever see Long
street, he inquired pathetically.
How sorry I am that he did not live
to be here
Gazing over seas Of Old Glory.
miles Of which stream from the
houses and dot the hillsides, swath-
ing the trees and bridging the
streets, until a loyal canopy Of red,
white and blue almost COnceals the
blue heavens above
"Oh, isn't it glorious" | said to
veteran in gray How could you
look on the old flag and know its
meaning and fire on it2'
The veteran in gray said, brokenly,
as he looked with me upon the shin
ing ColOrs Of our COuntry's standard
That's Ny Flag Forever"
Il didn't stop TO think so much
about what we were fighting about
my land and my people called to me.
They were in trouble, il was about
the same as If il had been my
mother Right or wrong, / would
rush to her rescue"
But now you are glad" / said.
glad that you didn't win; glad that
the American Union lives"
He barred his head and, pointing
to the glorious sweep of color said
reverently.
That Is my flag. the flag Of my
fathers, the flag Of my country, my
childrcu's flag forever. God keep il
in the skies. IL means strength and
progress and peace that will endure
Il hlazed the only road to national
happiness and greatness"
A melancholy eyed veteran in worn
gray, gazing wistfully across Gene
terry Ridge, had gone back to the
daring days Of the long past. Lost
10 the present, oblivious of surround
ings, he said sadly:
Mourns Over Piokett's CHARGE.
IF Pickett hadn't made that charge
we stood good chance of whipping
the Yankees"
But / said ~ is best for us all
IN you didn't whip them; and they
are no longer Yankees, just Ameri-
cans; and, looking toward the East
shoulder to shoulder, heart beating
close to heart, our Country's mighty
destiny is our common hope and
glory"
81 know all that" he said. but 1
| Just sometimes cant help feeling
powerful sad when think of them
| brave boys who had to die out there
| for nothing"
"Oh" replied, nobody ever dies
| for nothing who dies for right"
| on this field of fearful memories a
| sea Of brown tents stretching miles
! i'm all directions, II is learned that no
| provision whatever has been made
| for the participation i'm this greatest
| event in the Countrys peace history
| Of the women who sent husbands
and fathers and sons and sweethearts
! to answer the call at the first tap of
the drum in 1861. The hardship. the
suffering, the agony of the women
who waited in the war homes of the
nation may never be told.
Veteran Longs for Wife.
Some day "a grateful Government
viii erect "a monument that will
pierce the blue heavens from Gettys-
burg's stateliest. sunniest slope, and
IHh 1RHil 81 hA s,f So,