Tllti UUi'LIIJ TIMES
1LMK
By MILDHED BEASLEY STEVENS ; f
Nearly a quarter of a century has
. elapsed Since '"A Confederate Vet
eran That I Knew" has passed over
' thtS river to be with his beloved
comrades of the 23rd Virginia Reg
,; intent To them he was "Sam", Just
; another ; boy '- from Albemarle
County Virginia, -who Hke xthent-
he was "Captain Johnson", but
to me he was "Grandpa". Not a
Confederate Veteran, not an old
soldier but Grandpa-, -who -would
gladly pay me a picket to have me
scratch his head.
Never did it occur to roe that this
quiet, dignified man had suffered
- selves had enlisted . In Richmond and survived the horror xa war,
v on May 23rd 1861 to fight for the t because he was unlike the old Hoi
. rights of man. - to the townfolks idlers that I knew; who sat around
of his adopted North Carolina town ' the court' house green regaling the
Duplin Theatre
Warsaw, II.C
VELCOHElO VARSAVf
V . ; .""""'"-"" ' "
SUNDAY, MONDAY, Nov. 9-19 :
N Calciifb
With Alan Ladd and Ayffliam Bendix.
TUESDAY. Nov. 11th. ARMISTICE DAY
Vigilantes Return
' COLOR -...'-
With Jon Hall and Margaret Lindsay.
' , Shew will open at 12:99 noon on Armistice Day
: and ran eontlnaoiuly. Last Show at night wffl Vs
gta at 8:30 P. M.
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 12
DOUBLE FEATURE
Gunsmoke Ranch
With Three Mesquitecrs.
The Crimson Key
With. Kent-Taylor.
THURSDAY, FRIDAY, Nov. 13-14
Golden Earrings
With Marlene Dietrich and Ray Milland.
SATURDAY, Nov. 15
DOUBLE FEATURE
VesTTo Glory
e Dean.
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Beck
With Eddie Dean.
With Ron Randell.
publla with fantastic talci of their
heroism. But among his notes there
were reminiscences that proved to
posterity the things that he Was too
modest t talk about'. I find that
the. "Conferedate Veteran That I
Kaew- saw quite a bit of service
during the hostilities of the- sixties.
A taw recruit, with only sixty days
training, he began his -travels thru
tha valley of Virginia that were to
continue for the next four years.
It Is impossible to record the en
tire valley , campaign, but a para
graph written by "A Confederate
Veteran That I Knew" will give an
excellent insight of hi character,
"We moved from Richmond to
Staunton by rail, then took up a
march of ninety miles across, the
Alleghenles and Cheat Mountains.
The weather was exceedingly warm
(June) and the march tested to tha
full the endurance of tha newly
made soldiers. Some had been
trained to work, but none anticipa
ted the labor necessary t to carry
a wardrobe, bedding, twelve pound
musket and' 'forty round of am
munition. Sore feet and blistered
backs were the order of the day
and the men decided bef or we
reached Laurel Hill in Barbeur
County,' that the place- as welt as
the' enemy was on the retreat. We
covered the "distance- In five days.
We thought well of the speed at
the time, but afterwards we dis
covered it to be easy."
And then again:
"We marched about eighty miles
parallel with Cheat mountain be
fore beginning the ascent, and all
the marches of war, this perhaps
was made under the greatest diffi
culty. There was no order in the
march, there could be none. The
ascent in some places was almost
perpendicular where we had to
pull up by inches, the men behind
would push the men in front up.
I think we went over ground that
had never been pressed by human
foot since the Indians vacated. At
no point of the ascent was there a
sign of a cabin or evidence that
there had ever been one. After
eight hours of the hardest climb
ing I ever did we reached the
river. This is perhaps the only
mountain in our country that has
a river on its top.
Evidently these marches, togeth
er with many more, In the snow,
and with no ' food except stolen
cattle, butchered and cooked Im
mediately to quell the pangs of
hunger, gave the "Confederate
Veteran That I Knew" a distaste
for walking, for when I knew him
he had chosen railroad engineer
ing for a career. One that furnish
ed adequate transportation.
As I read on I find that the
"Confederate Veteran - That I
Knew" enjoyed a sense of humor:
"At dusk the order to fall to the
woods was given, I failed to hear
it - - to my surprise when I looked
around I was alone with the cap
tain and a few wounded men. A
company of Yankee cavalry that I
had been watching for several min
utes was advancing and something
had to be done very soon. I asked.
the captain if we should run for
the woodsy distance about five hun
dred yards, he replied that he was
broke down and could not make
the effort' While I lay Tio -claims
to gallantry, or to anyi great 'ac
hievement in battle I do contend
that on this occasion I made one
of the best runs of the war. The
cavalry was running parallel with
me on the other side of the fence
and one man in the lead on a gray
horse -was intent on stopping me,
Every time he called out 'Stop you-
damned rebel he would fire his
revolver, at me. But 1 if he had
wished to stop me he should have
ceased firing. I thought when I
started I was up to my best, but I
increased speed at each shot and
I some of his shots came disagree
ably near."
' -Compassion was another charac
teristic of "A Confederate Veteraa
That I Knew". Not something he
had developed with age, but some
thing he possessed even as a young
soldier:
p Va. the fight we captured a wo
man, the first we had ever captur
ed and L wag detailed the next day
aa officer of the guard, I hoped she
would be the last.' Her husband,
she aict was in the army and she
had become on that account a camp
retainer, and followed where she
thought there waa no dangen She
was Irish of the true blue and
told-me in no polite language what
she thought of me and the South
in general for making her march
with, the command. The first day
her feet got sore and she wept
copiously over her misfortune but
she ceased to be quarrelsome. Her
condition touched my sympathy
and I began to cast about for an
avenue of escape. She was not ex
actly a prisoner of war so regard
less of the consequences 1 deter
mined not to march her another
day and told her that when we
went into camp that night I would
send her for water without a guara,
and She must make her way to the
nearest house, remain there until
the army had all passed, then make
her way as best she could to
Washington. The plan worked out
all right, she went for water and
never 1 returned and nobody in
authority aver asked me what be
came of that woman."
Another thing about "A Con
federate Veteran That I Knew"
was that I never hoard him speak
of the men who wore 'the blue as
"damn Yankees"; There was no ill
will, no bitterness,, instead praise
for their courage, for instance,
' "At Gaus Mill I saw where a div
ision of the enemy fought there
as they lay,' reflecting credit on
them aa soldiers; a line half mile
long could, be traced by the deac'
men, they lay in almost a perfect
line as they stood in ranks. Ex
posed to raking fire of grape, cani
ster and musketry; they had stood
like the heroes that they were, and
I don't think there was an average
interval of more than five feet be
tween them."
Gallant, yes,' and So was -'A Con
federate Veteran That I Knew"
No bitterness for these men he 3iet
in open conflict, but for those men
in charge of United States Prisons,
he had only condemnation. Often
as a child I had bragged that my
grandpa was a member of the "Im
mortal Six Hundred." To me only
words, but to him hardship.-! and
bitter memories.
"On the 20th Jay of August, 1864,
six hundred officers confined at
Fort Delaware were drafted from
a lot of twenty hundred and singled
out as subjects on whom "the best
government the world ever saw"
was to work ' Its vengeance. Men
whose names began with the first
twelve letters of the alphabet were
taken, five hundred and fifty Hue
and-fifty field officers. This, was
announced In the prlsost harness
as men wanted for exchange Aa
our names were called we gladrjr
formed ourselves into a battalion
with Dixie in view. So much-elated
were we at the prospect of exchange
ing prison life for the tftekt agaia
that 'we sympathized with the leas ,
fortunate that must be -left Until
another exchange could he effeo
ed. Men that were left offered large
sums of money to be allowed to
take some of our places. One man
did sell his chance for a told watch
and five hundred confederate dol
lars. When we left prise we were
given letters and messages fog
friends In Dixie by those- left be
hind. On the 7th of March, 1889,
we that survived met our -friends
in the same prison after aa absence
of six of the most fearful months
that any of those present had ever
experienced, and without seeing
Dixie, only as Moses saw the -pro
mised land. We saw it from a cuV,
tance, but were never, allowed to.i
go over and possess it."
Space does not permit a record
of the indignities suffered on board
the Steamer "Cresent City" or en
an old condemned schooner that
had not been cleaned since it was
used to transport live stock for the
cxmy, or of the stockade pen on
Morris Island in which "A Con
federate Veteran That I Knew" had
to live and suffer. Always Just
though in regard to his fellowmen,
even though he was of another race.
"In a few days after our being
nlased In the pen the white guard?
were removed and theif places :ta
ken by negroes. These for the most
part were fugitives from South
Carolina that had been formed in
to a regiment - - It is a fact that
they treated us in most cases as it
they were conscious of our super
iority. In a few instances they were
guarding their former masters, and
be it said to their credit they
sought to take no advantages of
their position or did anything to
make our imprisonment more un-
?vVCtCE DAY
Welcome To .Warsaw
ARMISTICE DAY
Make Our Store Your
HEADQUARTERS
Clark s Cut Rate
Your Prescription Druggist
III WARSAW
oomfortabhiMtuMtwtt wul - J
were our custodians for forty-three
days. Once each day, beutin A,
M., the negro corporals lsaed K
tions consisting of three ounces .of
salt pork and three ounces of army
hard tackv This was prescribed no! '
by the V. S. Qorvrwneatt but by
Mar General Foster." : i
These are a tfev. scattered inci
dents of. the hardships endured by
"A ! Confederate Veteran That I
new", but (hey left no bitterness.
Time only enhanced, the great qual
ities he displayed aa a young man.
And fifty years after .The War Bo-'
tween The States! remember the j
entnusiasm with which he donned
hint new gray uniform to travel
back to Gettysburg to join once
again his comrades of the sixties.
"Hushed is the roB-of the rebel
. . .;-. drum
The sabres are sheathed and
the cannons are dumb'
And Fate, with pitiless hand.
has furled
The Flag that one challenged
the world."
But the memory of "A CnnfaH.
erate Veteran That I Knew" still
abides. An able soldier --a sincere
Christian- and an honest . man . -
such a legacy to bequeath to sons,
granasons, ana great-grandsons.
who have so recently nmvei that
they too could keep the faith and
noio nign me torcn of liberty en
trusted to them by "A Confederate
Veteran That I Knew."
The above paper was read by
Mrs. Stevens at a meetit g of the
U. D- C in Warsaw last week.
Uncle
" Many tribute will be paid news
paper boys on anaaal Newspaper
Boy Day this month. Thnammm (
newspaper boys are members ef
tkrtft cmba, sponsored by the In
ternational Circulation , Managers'
Association. Perhaps- greater
honor will come to these bey than
to point them out as school beys
who are demonstrating how to gs
into partswrsnip wnh their Uncle
Sam in building a growing rand for
fatare education. By Investing their
newspaper boy earnings ha U. S.
Barings Bends regularly, they are
getting their Uncle Sam to pay part
' of the expense. Yew bend officer
or banker will explain hew regular
bead hayings can provide fear years
ef college education, sac year ef
which will be paid for by year Uncle
Saas as Interest ea your investment.
V.S.TrtmryDtfartmnt
Dcsa Theatre
WALLACE, N. C.
SUNDAY & MONDAY, Nov. 9-10
Welcome Stranger
Starring Bingr Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald.
TUESDAY, Nov. lltkv STAGS SCREEN ATTRACTION
THREE SHOWS. 345, 7:15, 9:15.
On Stage - IN PERSON
"ESQUIRE VAUITIES"
On Screen
Comedy Carnival
All Star Cast.
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 12
Bells Of Angelo
With Roy Rogers.
Son OfRusfy
With, The Wonder Dog.
THURS. it FRI. Nov. 13-14
Foxes Of Harrow
Starring Maureen O'Hara, Rex Harrison.
SATURDAY. Nov. 15
Flashing Guns
Starring Johnny Mac Brown.
Hardboiled Mahoney
With, The East Side Kids.
OWL SHOW:
SfepChild
Starring Brenda Joyce, Donald Woods.
terJ Cfi!:si Iny Day, Any Warehouse In
LL
"BEST MARKET IN THE STATE'
SPECIAL i;0TE-
? A large numher of farmers from great dis- ;
tances are taking advantage of our SUPERIOR
MARKET and tobacco isjbeing sold in GREEN--VILLE
this year from sectionsofje state that
have never before sold their tobacco in Green-
Till
IMMEDIATE SALE OF YOUR TOCACCO
d Cm Sell Ad Return Home Same Day
Phone Any of Our 15 Warehouses
Cannons Phone 2135
DM Phone 2242
K"Pfr Phone 2421
Cold Leaf Phone 2193
Growers Phoae 2138
Harris 3c Soc-ers No. 1 Phone SMS
Harris Borers No. 2 Phone 2493
Keels , Phone 2249
HeOewana No. 1 Phase 2395
McGowana No. 2 Phone 2185
Mortona j Phone 2799
New Carolina ' - Phone 2741
Smith and Sacr No. 1 ' Phone 2771
- Smith and Sacs; No. 2 Phone 2198
Victory-, Phone 3717
' " , 7.
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