Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-05-30

ago when they made history. and now
they are only part OF history. For
the great majority there is neither
stone nor historic PAGE nor mention
save as their names are carried OH the
muster rolls. For those who still live
and remember---thcrc is the annual re-
union. which will bring hack to them
the memory Of other days. the recount
:nE OF the stories of their silent bivou-
acs and Of the glorious charges they
made in the steady marc of minnie bali
and shell 1t is for these remaining
few, rather than for those who have
listened at their fathers and grand
fathers knees that the reunion is to
be held, and Richmond. as she has done
| always In the past, Will pay to them a
just tribute and display the hospi-
tally which would have made the Con
federates linSer even after General
Lees order to evacuate the city shortly
before he stood and surrendered att
Appomattox
II has been the effort OF the general
committee. headed by Captain John
Lamb. himself veteran--for he was
member OF the Charles City County.
|
clared--to have every citizen interested
in caring for the veterans and for the
guests who will be here for the oc-
casion. Captain David A. Brown, Jr.
has seen TO IL that every provision for
the comfort Of the veterans, who will
be quartcred At Camp Stuart. at the
state FAR Grounds. has been made.
| What he may have missed or forgotten
OF left undone will be remembered and
done by the women of the Confederacy.
by the various committees headed by
Mrs. Norman V. Randolph. To every
veteran. whether he be allied with any
Confederate camp or not. will be ac-
corded that welcome and reception due
TO the man Who fought for his coun-
try's cause. The mearest private will
have no less share in the citys hos
pitality than he upon within an officers
stripes have fallen. and that officer will
be no less cordial than in the days
when he and the private fed upon the
same rations and shared their suffer
ings together.
HISTORIC CIRCUMSTANCES
CENTERS AROUND RICHMOND
Necessarily in Richmond there will
= be more OF historical circumstance than
in reunion held in any other city in
the Southland. 1t was TO the defense of
: Richmond that Lee and jackson turned
8 their best efforts. 1t was with Rich
mond that Lee and jefferson Davis were
/ most closely associated.
| So ii is fttinE that here and during
this reunion that tablet in memory
! OF the women of the Confederacy is to
be unveiled In Hollywood Cemetery
where sleep so many, and that monu-
ment is to be reared in the name OF
| Stonewall jackson. Lees chief lieu
! tenant and recognized master of
| strategy day. II is fitting that here
| should be erected n Battle Abbey
! which shall he memorial. not to one.
| | but TO all. and that within its walls
| should he kept those things which will
| remind all the generations to come OF
those days when the country was in
its making. The Battle Abbey, owing
10 unfortunate circumstance, is not vet
completed, but its doors will be thrown
open. and the veterans will be invited
to enter For most OF them IL will
he the first and last opportunity TO
look upon this other memorial to their
! raior, and, perhaps. in its state OF un-
| completeness il will suggest moro than
| II they looked upon a cold and finished
exterior and a finished reproduction of
battle scenes within. Completion would
leave them only the memory Of a pic
! ture; the vague indehniteness OF in
completion will leave them with the
dearer memory that something unfin-
ished. and better loved because il was
unfinished, always leaves behind.
THIN LINES TELL.
| STORY OF PASSING YEARS
| 1t is peculiarly fitting, for other rea-
sons. that the tuenty-ffth anniversary
Of the survivors Of the armies of the
Confederacy should be held here 1t
is probable that this will he the last
| reunion held in Richmond; it is fact
| that, as the years go on, the reunions
must he less largely attended by those
| who wore the gray and who went from
Bethel to Appomattox. Only few
| thousand are living to-day: Tomorrow
they will he with their fathers II was
| around Richmond, within the vicinity OF
| the Confederacy's former capital tina I
| the Southern armies fought their in
| tensest battles; it was here that they
offered greatest resistance to General
| Grant and his leSions. II is near Rich
| mond that most OF the Souths un-
named dead sleep their last sleep, near
here that they lie awaiting the reveille
which will muster them in the final
roll Of honor What else could Rich
n'ond do then, but welcome the sur
| viNors for this last great reunion
| what elke can Richmond people do but
| bring these heroes into their homes
| and oner them OF their bread and wine
and give them warm beds in which to
| lie" Richmond and her people have
prepared for the coming of the vct-
GRAMS. and Richmond and her people
viii keep the faith. II is done The
day for the feast is set. and the feast
is spread. 1t remains now only to hold
out tho embracing arm and the vel
| coming hand, to bring tho visitor to
the hoard. to light for him the hearth
and to set in the window the candle
which will bring him to the nights
| resting place. Richmond is ready for