Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / May 10, 1908, edition 2 / Page 5
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CIIARLOX TE DAILY OBSERVER, MAY lOj. 1D03. nasi - life. SB C3C3 Biisl Immortal Dead II Of I II IBS a ?'Tears and Love For. the 1 Gny Bv DAVID FRANCIS DODGE T CesyrigkC tsta, by A. B. LewrU Pead i'liiii iilsii f :',V A-True Story of j the Civil Wa-Vv, V , By DAVID J. WALTON yV i v JCowriihi, wos. by c ft Urie '': IBEEE VIIJ t sound or revei- ;J7 bT night" In ? ylcksburg, the " famous Coofed- derate 'strong- ; hold. It -.was 5 : Christmas eve - light? to con' 7j ; tlnue the pt '. . f , , Byronl , o,uota- " ' tion, "shone -TS.' ,;o'er fair worn : : 5sr v en and brave ;-VT-JrK' men," The men V-; '. ' were Confeder- ate officers. Tie women were the beahtiful belle of (be MIsaimippr city. '. . For many weeks General Grant. . the enemy,, hod maneuvered at the outer gate. - Though he had retired tern , porarlly. It.tfna but to devise and ex--' ecute new plans for taking the city. Itf ' reductnt.v Vleksburg the Union . Torres would control the Mississippi to the sen. tutting the , Confederacy " in . twain. vThe Importance of holding this position. was paramount tbe Con- Christmas Is Christmas, whether In ' war or hi peace. Fair' women? and , brave men will dnuce tonight what- ever mar Lefntl tomorrow. . Oenernt Martin I Hinltlu temporarily In com , inn nd. was a wntial figure at tbe bait. - ', Another , officer present, , unmarried. handsome, ' chivalrous, daring, was ,i General Stephen D. Lee. only twenty nine years of igv nnd a' noted leader.-, v.' Shortly after midnight-the begin ning of Christmas day-a muddy, be draggled, uncouth soldier In gray bant suddenly (Into the ballroom. The In ' trnder rushed between , the" waltzing couplet, , who iii n d d j" boots 81 king straight ' np ' to General. Smith, be saluted, ' .Well." jr, ' what do"' yon want?" tbe .gen ernt ; Inquired . somewhat' an- grlly, ' white the . - . . 1 A paused aud the ; . ' tnerrr most c , ckskhai. bwtii continued. 5 -U rAUt- "Ucnernl.; I have to report." said the tntruaer, tnar suty-six gunooau ana transports h&re passed .Lake - Provk ' deoce. and more are still patslngp " ' ; General Smith, turned very pale." A moment later be cried In a load voice: "This ball Is at an end! Tbe enemy la coming, down the river. ' All non combatants must leave the city Then the commander turned to the bearer of this Important hews, thanked blm for tbe service and apologised for bis narsh reception. . - . . On Christmas day General Lee taor- : ed out of Vicksburg with six regiments of Infantry and two batteries to check General Sherman In bis binding on the rtwmf i4ttn ' rv Hit, A ta n f . General Lee occupied the' bluffs and other high ground along a line of ten miles. ' There, on tbe' three days fol - lowing Christmas,, was much bloody ' skirmishing, and on tbe 29th was fought tbe decisive battle of Chickasaw Bayou (or Bluffs, as some authorities call It). Lee defeated Sberman," who finally assatied his well placed forces, and the northern general abandoned bis attempt to get Into Vicksburg. Thus the city was saved to tbe Confederacy .. for more than six months. ' v - v Tbe man In muddy boots and 'drip ping clothes who broke op the- ball and brought -about tbe sanguinary con flict at Chickasaw bayou, a brilliant Confederate - victory,- was Philip : H. Fall, a soldier detailed as a telegraph operator. Lee 8. Daniel, another Con federate telegrapher,'' bad co-operated with blm In. saving Vicksburg. The details of 'this important service, fur nishing one of tbe most romantic sto ries of the war between the states. have been supplied recently by General Lee himself, tbe duty surviving lien tenant general of the south.-, . ' Telegraphers - were . scarce In the south when the - war began. Most of the operators were northerners and went borne, r When young Daniel and Fall - enlisted . at Vicksburg - the dis covery that . they ' could handle the Horse key and code caused them to be .detailed for telegraphing. Horace B. Tibbotts; a -rich planter in- Louisiana, owned a private telegraph line, run- ting from bis estate a few miles sooth of Lake . Provi dence to De So 4o. Ls. across tbe ' Mississippi directly opposite , Vicksburg. The distance . be tween the sta tions was sixty five miles'. The upper station, for military purposes, was established In the woods.. Dan lcKwas placed t :r ; '-; -ther ti opera-' ctntsoATr SAin , tor, with Fall - mix. , at operstor at Ie SotOk . Daniel was Instructed to keep a strict wstch of tbe river, which by the fall of Memphis bad been open ed to Federal gunboats down to tie' vicinity of Vicksburg. lit was to re 1 1 f t IP"' . : ' ' j - BASHED ytrH THK TZLX OHAPH STATION. ' 1 --.'.piii'U.r port to Fall, who kept a aklff In which to row across to Vicksburg.,, At night a red light in the bow of the skiff pro. tected blm from being fired opon by the ; Conf edcrateV batteries Y on the belghbl of. Vicksburg. , ; ; ,. Earjy la : December General Grant had ordered General Sherman to as- j semble at Memphis a large force of ' men and munitions, proceed on trans ports down tbe rtrer under convoy of Admiral David ' D Porter's gunboats and capture Vicksburg. General Bber i man's plan was to disembark up the Yazoo river, which empties Into ' the Mississippi, a few 'miles above Vicks burg; and attack the city from the rear. lie had about i 80,000 men- and ' strong artillery, in " addition to Admiral r Por- ters flotilla of, gunboats. , , At about 3:43 o'clock- on the night be fore ! Cbrlstmas ' Oi- ( orator Daniel 'and Major E. O. ' Farnbart were pi ay lag "old. sledge': in their little tbantyv lookout , station near . fhe river. A small colored girl who lived on the plantation rushed Into toe ahsck, crying: ; Marse 'Arnhsrt, yo' an Marse Dan iel better come out byabi Ah beaba a boat 8-comln'.". ' " . "Come, bow, Artie, said the major, shuffling tbe , cards; "you must be drcamlpg." - , lio. sah, Ab beahs It say choo-cboo- oat-Dat-patr By this tbe girt meant tbe sounds of i the steam escspe -and tbe paddle wheels. Earnbart and Daniel went out side and listened Intently. The major carried In his mouth the stem of a big meerschaum pipe, wblcb be was puff ing placidly.- Tbe placidity evanesced, however, when presently there came to the ears of the two Confederates tbe "choo-choo-pat-pat-pat"-which bad been caught by the keen ears of little Artie. Tbe men bad not. beard that sound for months. Tbey ran to the bank of tbe river and peered far up stream in the darkness. They watched. Sua ID , Buun uiuq men rje w held coming around a bend In the river two miles above the huge black bulk ofasteam vessefc i -,v;." "Gnnboatr said' Daniel In a .whis per, at the same Instant snatching the meerschaum from the major's mouth. Some sparks were ; flying from , the pipe. Daniel extinguished tbe Are un der cover,..-" . ' - The men stood still, watching. Short ly the black" monster was-abreUst of them, ber engines puffing, ber paddle wheels patting tbe water rhythmically ; with each downward -chug. Back of tbe ; first black monster was another and another and yet another. Seven gunboats tbe men counted, and vessels were coming around the bend seem ingly ' without end. Fifty-nine trans ports loaded with Uncle Sam's- bine coats they counted. , Satisfied at last "r- that there - were no more vessels tn the fleet Dsn- lei leaped to the, tack of the lit tie bay mare be -. kept close - by i and dashed for tbe, telegraph i atatlon t b r e o miles back In the woods. . His desr. old home. Vicksburg. : was ' in imminent per- j 1L It was Just ' after midnight when be reach ed; his Instru ment -r. , i.' 1 wss (Imply frantic," be said many years later. "It took less than half a minute to can np Fall, who was right ; on dim joo, out it seemea nours to me before he responded. G6lly, old fel low, what's opf was Fall's greeting." " ' Operators, show nervousness on tbe wire. Just as men do speaking orally. Fall knew that Daniel bad something startling to tell. The man In the woods swiftly ticked off his news: , ' , River lined with gunboabt and transports almost a hundred Jnst passed my lookout counted seven gun boats and fifty-nine transports chock full of men.".' - "Cod bless yon, Lee! Goodby. - TVe JJ S i mI jfA WW WttLXiY V - I "VZJZO -V' ' .JLLK. I 3l ll.t bwj -- hi mmmm Recumbgnt Figure of slobrt LlUxington.V. TlTll 'HAT deeds were theirs, the soldier dead Of Dixie, what heroic deeds TJfion a thousand battle meads .... " ; That quaked beneath their martial tread! . " 'V What hearts .were theirs, what hearts of hope - ' ! ,r That urd them on to doom's eolipie V" To lie with cold and bloodless lips . . . 4 i On sodden plain or purple slope! ' -.' .. . .... . , . . What Talor theirs, and all for naught! . 3; WjLaf knightly high deroted aouls - Upbore them bmely toward the goait . Where only' wreck at last was wrouglxfl ,"; ,! Call lee's battalions back today,' ' Their whited phantoms from the past, v ' And mark the eager heroei masted And marshaled into lines of gray! And, hark! Along the moving lines,- -The "stoutest foeman to Appall, The "rebel yell," the southland's: call Is thrilling through the aisles of pines! Kirn I Wid with I OW5BOATS." StCf t-:-.-'"' - c 1 ' '''''' ' I ' BSBBBWSBSBStaMMMMMi"""i"ii"i""..i"MriBSiwiBB They ride, as oft they rode in pride, . . With Stonewall, Jackson in the ran. '- . ' And here, behold, is Stuart's clan, . ' " And yonder. Forrest's rangers ridel. - ' :.. '---'-'.' -s .- ' 1 . ' '. They charge, as Once they charged In rail ; i When peerless Pickett flamed and flashed ' Against the heights where cannon crashed And rifles poured a leaden rain! - V - Attack! " Becoiir Advance! ; Betreat I j ' And forward to the fierce assault I , ; ! Four yean of hell ' and not a halt- :'tyf. Four years, and thendefeat, defeat! Tea, let .their ghosts in eerie pty:t'S v Stand guard o'er Dixie's broad expanse ; And let. the order be "Advance !" ".. . ' Denyi them not this boon today. , T For Xorthron, knows, as Southron knew,, ' That neva? war's demoniac breath : Hath smitten . with immortal death - Men's hearts more valorously true. . - may never meet Sgaln." answered Fall, who made a dash for bis skjff. - . The night was dark, cloudy, cold and drizzly. The sharp wind tossed the liississtppi's surface Into angry whitecaps,. Tbe frail craft whicb Fall was pulling serosa, right in front of tbose terrible batteries trained down on tbe stream,' rocked frightfully on the tumaltuoua current Fall feared that bis red light would go out That meant that his own side would anni hilate htm with cannon shot before be eould reach the eastern bank. " Hr did reaclr fBeTtnufeiy and rtr oke up tbe ball, ss related. Tp at his endj of the line Daniel shortly tried the wire a ciln, but found no battery. Later be learned that the huge flotilla had landed men at several points be low and cut down tbe poles and chop ped the wires for a mile. ' - Cheerful Dave Saddjer, v Dave Saddler was a brave Confed erate soldier who was in a Richmond : hospital and who. In. spite of his suf ferings, always took a cheerful view of the situation. 'One day when be was recovering a visiting minister ap proached his cot and tendered him a pair f homemade socks. , j '"Accept these," said be. "1 only w4sb the dear woman who knit them could present them to you In person today." - ,'-.. -: ' "Thank you very mach." said David gravely. "But I have decided that 1 never shall wear another pair of socks while I live." - '- .. The preacher protested, but to no purpose, end finally be sought out tbe boy's sister to tell ber bow foolishly tbe invalid bad behaved when be called upoa blm. -' fWhy," exclaimed she, "both his feet have been ibot offr The Real Cause of Pnenmoulaw Chicago Dlfpatch to The New Tork . Times. ' ; .'. -A '' ."The unnovincement of a new theory as to the causa of pneumonia and the discovery of a remedy, for t,he dirase was made last nlffhl by) Dr. 11. Man ning Fldh. .1 Dr. Fish said that the sat of trou ble In nneomonla csiws wss not the lung, -but in tbe small cells In the bony framework at the top of the noa. - "From these cells.? said Dr. w Fish, "the dlaease works rapidly down to the Ivngs and to all - appearancea theee ' organs Immediately ; brcpnm the M-at of trouble. . However," the f nel which Is feeding the flames of disease still Is bfina furnished from the cells l4U--tbe4s--of -tbe-iteser---' '. "The simple, remedy consequently Is to draw this dangerous pus- from thew cello. That In what wss done in. thi caw which J have dcscrtlxd, aud in twenty-four hours the 4ltue had disappeared. Th luns of course, were still affected, lind it tooit las before the fa'nt finally was able to leave his bed." i Jsffersen Davit Living Daughter. One child stilt survives each of the war presidents, Jefferson Davis of the. Confederacy and Abraham Lincoln of tbe Union. Mrs. J. Addison Hayes of Colorado Springs, wife of a banker. Is a daughter of Jefferson Davis and the sole remaining member of the Confed erate leader's family. - sir. Davis died in 1880 and Mrs. Davis tn 1006. Their daughter Valine, more familiarly known as Winnie and celebrated as "tbe Daughter , of tbe Confederacy." died In 1808. Ail arc buried la Hlca mond, Ta. -: ' : " ' ljjlll,LaejUJfl-TYashuiateu l . General Bobert E. Lee was indeed fully Washington's equal as a bero and a gentleman and much his superior as a soldier, says the London Times. It b only la the larger political or semlpo llttca! sphere that be standi lower, and there perhaps only becsuse bis oppor tunities were so much smaller. OINIBAt STEPBXIf D. LEE. DDLt enougb, - thai observance of Memorial day ; In -tbo northern states Is of southern origin, . It was the southern people who first began, to deco rate with flow ers the '- gravel of fallen sol diers. The Con federate Memo rial day, except In Virginia, does not Tall upon Mayv 80, the northern' Memo rial day. v la Alabama, Flori da, Georgia and Mississippi the 26tb of April Is observed,. In Sunday In April, In and South Carolina Tennessee tbe second Texas tbe last North Carolina May 10 and In Friday of May. The birthday of Jef ferson Davis, June 3, ls known as Confederate Memorial day In Louisi ana. Tbe date is particularly Interest ing this year because on June 3, 1808, Just 100 years ago; Mr. Davis was born In Christian' county (now Todd county), Ky. It Is a bappy comment upon tbe res toration of the fraternal spirit to be able to say that In many places the Union veterana place flowers upon, tbe graves of blue and gray alike, and this , tribute Is duplicated by the United Confederate Veterans in many ceme teries where the deed of both sides are burled. Tbe first "Decoration day" recorded la authentic history was early in 1867, Just two years after the close of the war between tbe states. In the ceme tery at Columbus, .Mlsa, the tender hearted women of that town placed beautiful flowers on the graves of both southern and northern dead. An Ithaca (X. lawyer, who sometimes wrote excellent verses, but never pub lished them,- read of this Incident In tbe newspapers. : He wss deeply tbuqhed. ; After thinking the matter over be sat down at bis desk and penned the lines of the most fsmous lyric having to do with the civil war. This lawyer-poet Francis Miles FIncb, author of "Tbe Blue and tbe Gray; died only last year, having enjoyed for forty years tbe reputation, of writ ing a poem which perhaps more than any-other single piece of literary work contributed to tbe healing of tbe wounds of war and tbe reuniting of the two sections In fraternal bonda. He was Induced to have the poem pub lished shortly after be wrote It, and at once It "went tbe rounds" of tbe press. It was clipped and pasted Into many a scrap book now grown sear with age. Tbose who could not procure printed copies wrote out the lines for preser vation. "Tbe Blue and the Gray" goes Into ail the anthologies and is read and reread with the same appreciation both north and south throughout cut united country. ; : Tbe next year after this poem was printed Geueral John A. Logan, com mander In chief of the newly organ ised Grand Army of tbe Republic, Is sued an offlcjal order designating May 80 as Memorial day. State by state tbo norta accepted tbe suggestion, making the day official. The in cident at Colum bus, Miss, and Mr. Finch's poem. Inspired thereby, un doubtedly Influ enced General -iarj, Logan la pro- ', ' ". mitigating . bis waora "tbi stra order and the , , AJDTMOaAT," ttBte- tewpt. Ins; tbe suggestion. ' Tbus it may be said that those devoted southern wom en were tbe real authors of Memorial day, , which la many places Is called Decoration day, tbe nam by wblcb It was first known. Camps" of . the United Confederate Veterans are scattered ail the way from Maryland to Texas. - Local organisa tions of tbo United Daughters of tbe Confederacy and of tbe United Bona of Confederate Veterana are sprinkled over tbe same wide area. Each Memo rial day. whether It be May 20 or an earlier date, hundreds of tbe veterans of tbe south march to the cemeteries and observe the beautiful custom of decora ring soldiers' graves, while tbe sons snd daughters Join the veterans la their noble task. Just as In tbe north tbo Sons of Veterans snd the members of the Women's Belief corps partici pate in the G. A. R. ceremonies at the cemeteries.",. -r:y . ' ' In recent years many efforts have been made to identify and mark the graves of southern dead who were buried without Identification. - This task obviously Is highly difficult While sotno have beea Identified with tbo aid of 41 rcor4a, diagrams f burial places and tbe like, tbe majority of the unknown dead must remain al ways unknown. , Recognizing this pa thetic fact, a few years sgo the people of Winchester, Va- a town fasious in civil war annals, erected la tbe local cemetery, where lie tbe bodies of many soldiers of both tbe -south a&d the north, a handsome monument bearing this significant Inscription::' rritp , "None Know Who They Wert,' but Air Know What Tbey Were," ; The United States government has done much In recent years toward beautifying southern "cemeteries con taining the dust of northern dead, such as those at Sbarpsburg CAntletami, Arlington and South Mountain. The southern people have done much of this sort of work for their own fallen heroes,, funds being raised chiefly by private subscription. In many ceme teries which bad been woefully neglect ed In tbe terrible stress of reconstruc tion days a wonderful transformation Instance, around which city was some oflbeflercest, flgbtinr of the war, nearly every one of the thousands of Confederate graves has been marked io 'some way. .: Several of - tbe finest memorial ' monuments to tbe United State are In the Atlanta cemetery. - Thousands of unidentified Confeder ates were buried at Marietta. Ga. At this late day it Is of course Impossible to Identify them, but all tfiese "graves hsre been marked with blank stones. Each Memorial day the nameless . stones are decorated with blossoms. . Every year there Is a great gather ing In tho cemetery ft Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, for tbe dec , oration of tho vi Sfh a and of unknown soldiers who fell in tbe ranks. There Is buried gallant "Jeb" Utne srw sal 1m ah ertse w arasasas was tbe field of Yel low Tavern, sev en miles distant He wss but thirty-one years of age, and be died a major general, leaving an en during fame as a great cavalry leader. General George Pickett, who led the splendid but dlsaatroua charge at Gettysburg, perhaps the most fa mous charge la history, also lies there. Upon a lofty eminence overlooking the James river sleeps Jefferson Davta, soldier, statesman and president of the Confederacy, with bis devoted wife and "tbe Daughter of tbe Confeder acy" beside blm. Tbe latter was Miss Winnie Davis, beloved alike both north and south. - ,;. "And on Memorial day." writes Lan don Knight in a recent magazine arti cle, -flowers from the hills of Ver mont commingle over her grave, with those from the plslns of Texss and tbe land of tbe, setting sun as a. tribute to ber worth and hi attestation of a re united country." . , . i DKOOSATlSa THB aAMXLZSS CBAVES. mines. VaW-kaV-l 1 . sl" V1 s-V V V - if mrxr. i mm m Waiting For the Bugle. y HANK H. )WI(T, tCopyrisht. 130. by rraak K. Sweet . ( . mgnv etwi are eeldV v The bmbe tho soidiero feel . Jssed "and eldr ; The field of eur blveuae . is windy and .-rrvs There is lead in ear Joints. there Is frost . in eur tiairi . Tbes future "is- yelled ' and Its fortunes. As we lie with bushed breath tHI the bugle io blown, t. . ; At tho sound of the bugle eaeh oom- . rsso will spring. Like an arrow released frees the ' strain of the string.' Tho courage, tho impulse of youth ' shall some book Te banish the chill of the drear el ' vouae - .v.: -,'...;" And sorrows and losses and earws fade : away - . ' When that life giving signal see-. claims the new day. ;. - ' . :. : - -'.--. . Though tho bivouao of ago may put, .lee In our veins, -';-; And no fiber of stool In our sinew re-,- - . maine; . V ,'.-.' . ' Though tho com- radea of yoo t o r d a y ' a mereh are net hero And tho sun- light seoms pale and the branches ar Mir; Thou a h t h Sound ef tu eherirg c . dawn t V.' 8'-a1 I -- '. y i k hen t' - C it I '
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
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May 10, 1908, edition 2
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