The Washington herald., 1914-12-28
HISTORY BUILDERS.
How a Confederate General Saw the
Truth.
Cwntten EITrcssly for The HersiN
BY DIR. f. J. EDWARDS.

BY DIX. r.. D. ED " AhDS.
The Rev. DIR. John Eershaw, who is
now the rector OF the venerable 81
MIchaers Church at Charleston. :. c. a
church around which are associated
many traditions Of romantic interest, IS
"A son Of Gen. Joseph b. kershaT. who
was one of the highly distinguished Of
ficers OF the Confederate army. Not un-
Ill he was about sixteen years nf age
was he able TO take service under the
Confederate nag lie was sixteen years
of age about four or five months befuie
the close Of the war, and, young as he
was, he was then accepted AS soldier.
lie was assigned to A position upon the
stan Of his father. and was in that s"TN-
ice during the SeIGe Of richmond, and
was with his father when the retreat
from Richmond began. With his father.
he was captured AT the battle of Sailor :
Creek on April =. three days before Ap-
pomattox lie and his father were
brought as prisoners to Gen. Custer, who
Wa.S in command OF the troops that had
made the capture. In fact, Gen. Custer
caused search to be made for the son,
who in some way had been separated
from his father at the time both were
made prisoners, and II was Gen. Custer
who restored the son TO the father
A few days after Grant and Lee met
Kershaw and his son were sent North
for the purpose Of holding them as pTis-
oners OF war at Fort Warren. in BOs-
ton harbOr. They parted from Gen. Gus
ter as though the relation was one OF
friendship not marred in any way by
military differences.
When the train arrived in Jersey City.
Gen. kershaw heard a great shouting
and looking from the car window, hr
t..V 1r.rr VVRRV
boys. NeWsboys were running hithrr ard
thither. and from one OF them Gen. krr-
shaw bought a paper and learned that
President Lincoln had been assassinatcd
the night before at Washington.
The sUlGiers who had Gen. kershaw
and his son in charge were COuN InCed
that it was the part Of prudenre TO take
them across New York City as spe edily
and as secretly as possible, so that they
might he safely placed in the through
train for Boston. No one suspected that
the two officers placed aboard the train
had recently served in the Confederate
army. At the various stopping places be
tween New York and boston Gen. keT-
shaw and his son saw great thrOngs a.
scmbled at the railway stations and in
the streets. At bridgeport at New Ha-
ven, at Hartford, and at Springfield
thronGs were gathered. and conspicuous
among them were young men Of military
age. but who appeared TO be clerks or in
civil Efe. some Of them mechanics. They
were waiting TO learn any additional
news about the assassination.
After the train left Springfield Gen.
Kershaw said to his son: Il have been
observing a very strange thing from the
car window. have seen thousands of
young men at the various railroad sta
tiOns I have seen smoke rising from
the factory Chimntys, indicating that
manufacturing IS in progress every
where ] have seen busy streets. so far
as that has been possible from the car
window All this has been a revelation
to me. Ny son. We were often told
and most OF Us believed the report
that in the North there was as great
exhaustion as that We are familiar with
in the South. For that reason We were
persuaded that the North could not carry
on the war much longer. But what have
| seen? l have seen young men In great
numbers at the stations and on the pub
that kind in the South. l have seen in
dustry and business in progress every
where. | haven't seen anything to indI-
cate that a great war has been in prog
reSs II occurs to me that We were all
mistaken. I now see that this war. so
far as the North was concerned. could
have been continued for years, and | will
say TO you that, not from a military
point of view. but from the point Of view
of resources, the CunfederaCy was
doomed at least two years ago"
(CoryriEht. 1914. by Z. ]. Edwards. Al rights
tcrVedl
Tomorrow DIR. Edwards will tell of "A