Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1917-09-12
j. j. j. j. i. i. i. j. !. i. # =
=. THE TWO FLAGS. i.

| Editor KoOwee Courier: ! am go
ing to give my personal experience in
regard to 1.-The two flags"
On the 10Th day Of April, 1861, |
volunteered in Company G, Seventh
S. c. Regiment, under the Confede-
rate flag, the STARS and Bars" I'm
der its pure folds ! marched, and
watched, and fought, and bled.
Three OF my brothers fell and died
under it's tattered folds on the field
Of battle, and three other brothers
we're severely wounded, three times
| each, in different battles.
The Stars and Bars noated proudly
and beautifully on land and sea for
four long years. But on the 9th of
April, In the cool Of the day, "our
mighty chieftain," Gen. Robert Il.
Lee, told us to stack arms and go
back to our homes and rebuild the
fortunes Of our devastated land, and
take care Of the women and children.
with sad hearts and wet eyes we laid
down our rifle for the hoe, our saber
for the plow, and our sword for the
pen. But the flag! l held 1t with q
| firm grip, not thinking Of giving it
up. for loved 1t, and still love 1T,
as a mother loves her first-born. l
made no attempt to hide 1t from the
Federal soldiers. | decided to cut 1t
from the STAFF and bring 1t home with
me. About the time l was ready to
cut away the STAFF a tall, lank, blue
eyed Yankee walked up and said:
"Il take charge Of that flag, SER
gcant.' | told him l guessed lie
would not. We both had hold Of the
; colors, and were about to come to
blows when my captain came up and
told me that | would have to give
it up. just rs had given up my
gun. said. "Is that a fact?" Yes"
replied my captain. "Well" | said,
to the fellow in blue, "that being the
case III do it; but I'd rather die
than for YOU to have it," AS he held
out his hand to receive the precious
emblem I said to him. "You know
that you &ave run from this flag
many time" 1t vas hard for me
to have to give it up, but did, and
as he left turned my back and have
never seen it since.
Shortly after had given up the
flag. Gen. Lee sent an order to the
army that every man would be pa
rolled and all could go to their
homes. So the paroling officer began
to write up the paroles for the men
to sign. We had to take oath never
again to take up arms against the
United States. Then we had, fur
thermore. to promise and swear to
stand by the Constitution of the
United States, and to defend the flag
AS read the document over I said
to my captain, 1T will be mighty
hard for me to sign this document, ="
and he replied: You will have either
to sign that and go home. or not sign
1t and 80 to prison." WELL" said.
Gen. Lee said for us to take this
oath and defend the Stars and
Stripes. and l will do 1t, so help me,
Cod" And from that day 10 this
moment have been ready to raise
my hand and strike to the death an
enemy who might dare to pollute its
pure folds.
And now I'm so glad that the sons
Of the men who followed Lee and
Grant in the sixties will be marching
side by side with equal courage and
equal glory to national victory
upon the hills of France! Let the
South Carolina boys be instructed to
carry their victory to the imperial
castle at Potsdam. and there tell the
Kaiser that no South Carolinian ever
took orders from prince, king, noble
or emperor!
No Trenches for Them.
Our soldiers don't want the trench
warfare; they want to have it out
with "Fritz" in the open. man to
man. 1t will make the veterans of
the old Confederate armies smile
good-natnredly to hear that trench
warfare is contrary to the traditions
Of the American soldier! Sharps-
burg Gettysburg, Chickamauga,
fredericksburg and The Wilderness
were fought in the open.
would sacrifice my life for "Olt
Glory but | am free to say that |
never have. and | never will, love the
stars and Stripes" as ! loved the
Stars and Bars AS have stat
ed. | will continue TO love tho Con.