Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1917-07-11
D THE BOYS OF 1S61-THE
BOYS OF 1917.

up arms in the defense of the South.
We answered that call, and we will
90 again if needed. Many then
said that the war would ast only a
few months; others said that they
would drink all the blood shed in
that war, but those fellows never
did get there. But the war lasted
four years, and thousands, yea, tens
of thousands, gave their lives for a
Just cause. At Appomattox Court
House in 1861, the strife ended.
General Lee in his farewell address
to his shattered army, said: 10
home and rebuild the fortunes of
your devastated land, and take care
of the women and children" 1t
was with wet eyes aud sad hearts,
that we laid down our gun for the
hoe, and our saber for the pen.
And for ten years after the wal was
over; when bitterness and strife
prevailed; when e ructlon
hung like a pail over our land, and
black feet were on white necks, and
we were disfranuhised aud denied
the rights of citizenship in our own
land. These same Confederate
soldiers stood it all with a patience
that was almost sublime, until fore
bearance ceased to be a virtue; I'M
til every nan from the mountains
to the sea, rose up anG in the lang
uage Of the old Scotchman, said
SHY name is McGrcger, and this Is
nv native heath, and by the eternal
God we will rule it or die" And
for ffty-three years we have had
perfect peace. The little birds
have been building their nests in
the lannon's mouth; the guns have
been stacked in the Citadel: the
sword has been sleeping in its scab-
bard, and the beautiful white dove
of peace has been spreading her
silver wings over this great country
of ours proclaiming Peace on earth
and good will to men," But we
have been goaded into a world war.
The cold. icy hand has spread its
inkey fingers upon the bud and
flower of our land, and like the
horse leach, the cry is for blood.
Already we have heard the tramp
of the soldiers feet; already we
have heard the rumbling of the
cannon wheels; we have seen the
b-;stling bayonets and the glittering
sword blades in the morning sun
light drawn and ready to strike.
The boys of 1917 are ready and
eager for the fray. The soldier OF
today has a desire to do his country
a service and gain for himself a
name for heroism. The American
soldier is the product of a nation
which could not wear a woke. They
were born to govern; to be free.
The soldier of today has the Old
time enthusiasm of his race. He
will fghtsss hard, and will go In to
battle urged by the same zeal; he
will fire, fall or die in the same
way. The soldier blood of fore
fathers, flows in the veins of the
boys of 1917. At Kings Noun
tain, at Bunker Hill, Chicamauga,
and Franklin, their ancestors fought
among the killed and wounded.
The sword scar in the fathers
breast makes an impression upon
the boys Of today. The battle cry
is not hushed; the tramp of feet
not stilled. The desire to rise and
meet the enemy is only sleeping,
like the picket at his post; but a
rustic among the dry leaves, a
motion of a bough, and an army
is awake, ready to march. The
soldier of duty, of patriotism, often
times returns a victor to wear the
honors of a nations admiration; or
else he falls for a principle taught
at the ireside at home-he dies o
man, and in the winding sheet of a
nations love, is laid to rest under
the blue sky. The blending of the
old spirit of 1861 with the men of
GelT, makes the soldier of today a
manly man; a soldierly soldier.
He is a creative Of interest every
where; he enjoys a halo" no other
can ever hope to gain; because he is
linked in our minds with soldiers
of other days. This true American
soldier of 1917 will bear our nation
al colors through life, he will wear
them in death. and with Angels
and arch Angels aud all the com
pany of Heaven, his soul passes in
to the Great Beyond.
J. Russell Wright,