THE OBSERVER.
FAYETTEVILLE. N. C.
MONDAY. MAY 25. 1896
E. J HALE, Editor and Proprietor.
E. J. HALE, Jr., Business Manager.
HON. A. D. McQILL'S MEMORIAL ADDRESS.
Delivered May 11th, W96.
CONCLUDED.
The Federalists claim to have fought
for the Union. For what did the men in
gray exhibit to the world such prodigies of
valor, and endure with such constancy ana
devotion the hardships and dangers of
these four years of unexampled warfares
To perpetuate the institution of slavery,
as some suppose ? Oh ! no, not so; but
they fought for a greater boon than the
reservation of the Union that of main
taining the sacred rights and principlea
of the! Constitution itself, and the liber
ties guaranteed to us thereunder; a thing
of infinitely greater importance to trie hu
man race. For the maintenance of these
orincioles. the South put all of her men
into the field in round numbers, from
the best authorities obtainable, 600,000
men. The North placed in the field 2,
865,028; these latter figures are absolutely
correct, taken as they are from the records
of the War Department nearly five to
one. The Southern States furnished to
the Union armies 423,996 men an army
in itself almost equal to that with which
Napoleon in 181 2 shook the mighty fabric
of the Russian Empire f.om centre to cir
cumference. From this it may be seen,
that the Southern army did not fight
against Yankees alone. And let it be re
membered that the 2,865,028 Federals,
were not Chinese, Japanese or any of the
inferior races ot the earth; but brave men
and of the same lineage with us. What
a glorious record is this for the Confeder
ate soldiery, who, for four long years,
poorly equipped, and but scantily sup
plied, withstood the shock of such over
whelming numbers backed by unlimited
resources in men and material with which
to replenish and lecruit their armies.
I am ,not suprised that the Northern
people are proud of the men who wore the
blue; they have reason to be, for they con
tended with as great a people and as vali
ant sol J iers as the world ever saw. For
therrreal soldiers, the men who met us on
a hundred battle-fields, I have the highest
respect and the kindliest feeling, and am
not ashamed to call them my fellow-countrymen;
but for those canting hypocrites,
who since the war have been active in fo
menting strife and discord the invin
cible in peace and invisible in war I have
the utmost contempt.
Why' should theijNbrthern people be
grieved, or surprised that the people of
the toouth are justly proud ot the record
of the valiant men who died for their
cause ? It is a record of which any people
or country should be proud a record
which has excited the admiration of the
world. No cause ever had more gallant
defenders. It is eminently proper, that
the fair women of the South should meet
together in the hallowed precincts of their
heroic dead on every 10th of May, to dec
orate their graves with garlands inter
twined with the choicest flowers that can
be culled from Nature's bounteous store.
"Soft be their slumber; in death reposiner,
Dreamless and quiet, they -wait the day
When time and justice the truth disclosing, ,
The world shall weep for the men in gray,"
While we do honor to the memory of
those who fell in defense ot the Southern
cause, let us not forget the noble women
of the South who were just as heroic,
true and unwavering in devotion and self
sacrifice as the men who fought the bat
tles. I believe that the day is not far distant
when the people of the North will hold in
just as high esteem as we do, the mem
orial of our fallen comrades. And why
should they not? They were American
citizens and contended for principles that
can never die. Already I think 1 see the
dawning of that auspicious day. But a
year ago on western boil, a people hostile
during the war, with their own money and
of their own volition, erected a monument
to commemorate the heroism and fidelity
to principle of those Confederates who
died in that far off western city, Chicago.
Constant they were and unwavering in
their devotion, whether in the ranks of
their friends or languishing iu a captive's
prison. "
In the beginning of 1S65, it became evi
dent to all that the fortunes of the Con
federacy were declining. The most de
termined efforts of what. Swinton calls
"that incomparable body of infantry
which carried tha'fortunes of the Confed
eracy upon its bayonets, for four years,"
could not prevent its downfall, though
they were still willing to "die for the land
thev could not save."
How can I tell you? For no tongue is
sufficiently eloquent to describe nor lan
guage strong enough to convey to you a
just appreciation of the unshaken firm
ness and unflinching courage with which
these men defended Petersburg, the la&t
stronghold of the Confederacy. Suffering
the pangs of huuger aud cold for eight
long months oh! how long they were!
of weary watching and ceaseless fighting
day and night, stretched out in Hue for
thirty miles, a mere handfull ofmen, worn
out with contending against overpowering
numb rs, their ranks thinned by death and
wounds each hour, no longer able to pre
sent even a skirmish line of tattered gray
to the deadly missiles of their multitudi
nous foes. At last the utmost limit of
human endurance was reached and even
they could do no more. Cheerfully obey
ing the orders of Gen. Lee, sadly they
turned away from the city their valor so
long and faithfully protected, and filed
through the streets of the city at mid
night. The scenes of distress and heart
rending agony manifested by the ladies
and children of Petersburg as we filed
through their city can never be forgotten.
It brought tears from the stoutest hearts,
as with many a "Gd bless you and pro
tect you," their quivering lips bade us
farewell.
The Army of Northern Virginia was re
treating; whither we did uot know, being
content to follow Lee. The enemy did
not press us closely until Thursday, but
on that day, as on each succeeding day,
they were foiled in all their efforts to
arrest the march of-that matchless band.
The whale fishermm are careful not to
approach the Leviathan in its death
struggle: so Grant's veterans, with the
caution born or their former experience
with Lee's army, deferred the supreme
moment to Appomattox. On that field,
for the' last time, that heroic army un
furled its banners and deployed in line of
battle with the same steadiness and pre
cision a? of yore. The enemy were ou
our front and left and rear. Cox's North
Carolina Brigade attacked them in front
and drove them for more than a mile,
after the flag of truce was in, capturing
the last of all the numerous artillery taken
during the war, and firing the last volley.
Gen. Gordon who witnessed this last
uarg, exclaimed: "Gloriously and well
done!" North Caroliua first at Bethel
and last at Appomattox.
SadljT, vet proudly, furling the banners
that had floated in the storms of a hundred
battles, they turned their back on the
fields of theirglory and the graves of their
comrades, and set their faes homeward.
God bless their memory!
Faithful to the last they stood by their
colors, though they knew it was a failing
cause. Refined in the fiery ordeal through
which they had passed, every man of that
valiant 8,000 was not only a veteran but a
hero !
After the surrender there was no firing
of cauuon, no cheering nor other demon
stration of joy. But a few minutes after
the firing ceaed, Grant's men swarmed
into our Hues. One young, good looking
fellow came to us laughing, and extended
his hand, saying; "How are you boys; I
never Wis so glad to meet you before in
my lift !"
In the fierce struggle thus terminated
at Appomattox, Cumberland county, did
her full share, furnishing 22 companies,
aggregating 2,682 men. General Lane,
oue of the ablest of Lee's officers, has paid
Maj. Hale, of our county, a very high,
and doubtless, deserved compliment. Gen.
Lane states that on the last day at Peters
burg, "Maj. Hale performed an act of
heroism even greater than that, which
made Sergeut Jasper famous." The chief
engineer of Lee's army paid a personal and
formal visit to him on the field of Battle,
to thank him for a highly important dis
covery in field engineering, and authorized
him to apply the same to several miles of
field works before Richmond, with re
markable results, who, in Cumberland
county to day, is not proud to know that
Maj. Hale, out county man, lead Lane's
Brigade, in which Scale's, Cook's and
IMacRae's Brigades participated in tho
, famous assault at Reams' station.
The officers of the LaFayette Light
Infantry Company, the first to leave the
county tor the seat of war and among the
first in tho South to reach the bcene of
conflict, were commissioned ou the 17th
of April, 1861, just two days after Presi
dent Lincoln's proclamation. But one of
these 22 compaius now remain, the gallant
old Independent company, an honor to
the county and State, still proud to wear the
historic gray; itself the living representa
tive of three wars, more than a century
old and yet apparently with the dew of
youth still upon its brow. Cumberland
couuty was represented in nearly every
battle, and the acts of individual bravery
performed by her sons, if they had hap
pened under the eagle eye of Napoleon,
would have secured for them the Baton of
a Field Marshal, notably McKethui, J.W.
Atkinson ami others. Many of the brave
hearts that constituted these 22 comparies
now sleep on the hights of Gettysburg, in
the valley of Antietam, on the plains of
Manassas, aud Brandy station, in the
tangled wilderness of Chaucellorsville and
Spottsylvania, in the silent, mysterious
swamps of the Chickabominy, beneath the
dim pines of Charles City, on the slopes of
Malvern flill, on Roanoke Island, Peters
burg: and Morris Island. Their graves
may be unknown; perhaps no loving hand
will ever place a wieath or flower upon
their tomb, but their fame is linked with
the fame of Lee and Jackson, and is as
enduring as tho everlasting bills. Some
of them are slumbering on the banks of
Cross Creek, McNeill, Strange, McKethan,
Hale, Hu-ke and others; it was fitting
that these .should be buried here by that
historic stream, the song of whose rip
pliug w.tiers, having mingled with their
boyish glee iu their springtime of life,
should be the first to greet them on the
morning of the resurrection.
Anil now, Mr. President and ladies of
the Memorial Association, a word to you
and my duty is done. Wnen your invita
tion came to me, my first impulse was to
decline, because I felt then as I feel now,
my insufficiency for so great a task. I
expressed to you tears of ray inability to
perform the duty assigned me with credit
to myself or satisfaction to you; but upon
reflection, I felt it was my duty to aid you
in your pious labors of keeping alive the
memorial of my comrades dead. Aud if
the reminisceuses of the men and the days
that are gone, shall serve to awaken re
newed interest in the cause you represent,
I shall feel that my labors have not been
in vain.
A word now in conclusion to my old
comrades here assembled. As soldiers you
did your duty fearlessly and well, and a
mong the noblest of all your achievements
was the rescue of your State from the
thralldom of the corrupt political adven
turers who infested the country after the
termination of the war. Now that our
country is again being agitated by corrupt
methods in high places, Labor strikes aud
troubles, anarchy, and oppression of the
weak, the conservative element of our
people will naturally turn to you, as the
older and more experienced of our citizens,
to be guided by your sober judgment and
patriotism.
As comrades and brothers we stood to
gether, shoulder to shoulder, in the long
ago in defense of a cause wo believed then,
and still behove was right; as good
citizens let us continue to stand shoulder
to shoulder in defense of the right, aud
while we live, at least, endeavor to insure
to our country good government, with the
least possible admixture of the evils of
ignorance aud passtou. It is becoming
painfully evident as each year rolls around
that our numbers are getting smaller, our
ranks are being thinned not by the shell
and bullet, but by the scythe of Time.
The day will soon come when the Confed
erate veteran will no longer be present on
these Memorial days; the boys of to-day
will be the orators then, and the little girls
the matrons and ladies who shall continue
the observance of this beautiful custom so
happily inaugurated by their mothers.
That knightly corps, the Independent
Company, will uo longer have the satis
faction of acting as escort of honor to the
Confederate Veterans; for we shall have
answered to the last roll call and passed
over the river to rest with our comrades
"under the shade of the trees." and. I trust.
to receive from the Captain of our Salva
tion, as the reward of a !ife well spent, the
welcome plaudit Well done!' "
-
awarded July 1
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