Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1921-11-01
THE CONFEDERATE SOLDIER
Speech Delivered b. Col. H. B
Baylor, Of Atlanta, Georgia, At the
Confederate Reunion at


In 1851, 1t Bull Run the Confed.
crate soldier came into existance al
fAppomattox, and on April 9th, 1866
he disappeared from the worlds
arena. His like courage mien anc
loyalty to his State and the Confed.
eracy will never be seen again. Nc
General ever led such loyal and
heroic men, no men ever had such g
chieftain as Lee and one who loved
his boys in grey better than the
English language can partray. The
noble charge of Pickett and his mer
lat Gettysburg has never been equal.
led nor surpassed.
challenge the past, present and
future, to match the Confederate
Soldier or his Chieftains. With the
infantry inland, Lee, jackson
johnson, Gordon and Early. With
the calvary Ashby, Rosser and
Stuart. With the artillery Chew
and Pelham, and on the seas Semmes
Maury and John NJ Brooke.
Well may the Confederate Soldier
be proud of his record both in battle
on the march and j ncamp; well may
he point with pride to the only Pres
ident of nation with thirteen in her
flag who rose like meteor at Bull
Run and sank like bright constel-
lation at Appomattox beneath the
horizon with no stain on her flag, the
stars and bars of a nation whose
lustre shone with bright light in
her noble President and his illust-
rlous cabinet, and whose commander
and chief of her armies was peerless
and matchless, who both in war and
peace stood head and shoulders
above Caesar, Hannibal, Napoleon
and our own illustrious George
Washington. With Lee to plan and
jackson to execute with an army of
Confederate soldiers, the world has
never seen or will it ever see again
see such a combination of strategy,
gigantic marches and such result
with so small body of men.
Neither the Spanish-American War
or the Worlds War has produced a
soldier his equal. Match him if you
can.
Pardon me for citing an individual
case of thirteen year old Confed-
crate soldier, William H. Cabell, of
Virginia; dying at New Market, Va,
May 18th, 1864; while his cadet COM
rades shouted victory in his ears,
thinking of his three mothers, Vir..
ginia, who gave him, his own dear
mother who had nourished him at her
breast, and his own dear Alma Mater,
the V. M. l., who had trained him
mentally, morally and physically both
for war and for peace, exclaimed
with his fleeting breath sDulce ct
decorum patria mort" and with these
beautiful words his spirit took its
flight to the God that gave it. ]
could In my own young experience
as a youngest soldier of the Confed-
eracy and as an unsurrendered rebel
tell you of other examples of in
dividual prowess of Confederate
soldiers, but / must pass from war to
peace to show him in as equally as
brilliant a light. Since Appomattox
Sc years, 6 months and 18 days, have
elapsed, few of these old soldiers of
the Confederate States Army re-
main, / see those few here today be-
fore me, step feeble, eyes dim, hair
white, soon they will cross over the
river and join Lee, Jackson, John
son, Forrest, Hampton, Ashby and
Jeb Stuart In rest under the shade
around Gods white throne to hear
the last roll call, and to hear pro-
nounced " well done thou good and
faithful servants, you fought a noble
and brave fight. Rest, thy warfare
is over, dream of Brandy Station,
Malvern Hill, Antietam, and Gettys-
burg no more, for thy God is a God
of Peace and thy Savior Gained the
troubled waters of the deep. If
ever again led in war, Christ will be
your ,chieftain, with Lee, Jackson
Stuart his ieutenants. / have
shown you this Confederate soldier
peerless and matchless in battle on
the march and in the camp. Let me
show him to you when Mars Robert
had told him goodbye April 9, 1866,
vending his weary way to the home
desolated by the war under an order
to devastate it so that "a crow flying
over it will have to carry his rations. !"
With Grant to order and the two IS
Sherman and Sheridan to execute
the Southland look like a sirocco has
passed over it. Bound by a patrol
never to take up arms until surrend-
cred. History records no violation
of this patrol. Law abiding them
selves, they taught their Joseph and
BENJAMIN and their Marys and
Marthas to respect the law.
When Spain entered into war with
our country, under our banner, Old
Glory, this Confederate Soldier was