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 University of NortK Carolina 
 
 This book was presented by the family 
 of the late 
 
 KEMP PLUMMER BATTLE, '49 
 
 President of the University of North Carolina 
 from 1876 to 1890 
 
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ADDRESS 
 
 BY 
 
 HON. CHARLES M. STEDMAN 
 
 OF NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 Delivered at Memorial Hall, District of Columbia, by 
 request of the Confederate Veterans' Asso- 
 ciation, Tuesday, March 21, 1916 
 
 [Printed in the Congressional Record 
 of March 25, 1916] 
 
 34336—15341 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 191G 
 

 
ADDRESS 
 
 BY 
 
 HON. CHAKLES M. STEDMAN. 
 
 Mr. WEBB. Mr. Speaker, under the leave granted to me to 
 extend my remarks in the Recobd I include an address of my 
 colleague [Mr. Stedman] delivered on the 21st of March, 1916, 
 at Confederate Memorial Hall, District of Columbia, by re- 
 quest of the Confederate Veterans' Association of the District 
 of Columbia. 
 
 The address is as follows: 
 
 Mr. STEDMAN. Ladies and gentlemen, comrades : When I re- 
 ceived from the Confederate Veterans' Association of the District 
 of Columbia an invitation to deliver an address here to-night, it 
 could not be aught but a very great pleasure to me to accept. It 
 came to me from a camp named in honor of one whom it was my 
 high privilege to know, to whose division I belonged in the Army 
 of Northern Virginia, and for whom I had profound respect and 
 admiration. Maj. Gen. Harry Heth, by his example and con- 
 duct upon every field, inspired his men with those high senti- 
 ments and great qualities which will perpetuate the fame of the 
 Confederate soldier in ages yet to come. It is an occasion 
 which appeals to the hearts of all who admire moral and per- 
 sonal heroism as exemplified by its greatest exponents. It is 
 a monthly reunion of Confederate soldiers, a small remnant of 
 those who have preceded us by a day's march along the route 
 of the innumerable caravan — the mighty dead — not inappro- 
 priately called the deathless dead — for though they have yielded 
 in the order of nature to the conquerer of humanity, they are 
 not dead but sleeping. Their lives are still continued in their 
 uttered thoughts — their spoken words — in their undying acts 
 and unfading example. Their history shall ever be kept alive, 
 that invoked by the brightness of its record, the pages of the 
 book will be kept still illuminated, that at some future day yet 
 34336—15341 3 
 
farther down the aisles of time, the youth of that generation 
 may be directed to a still unfailing and continuous panorama 
 without tarnish or blemish. 
 
 The historian in ages far remote from the era in which we 
 live will record the glories of this great Republic. He will 
 gild his pages with its achievements in war and in peace. The 
 reader will linger long over their • recital. The description of 
 this beautiful and attractive Capitol will not fail to charm and 
 delight him. He will be lost in admiration and wonder when 
 he learns that within its limits, more than half a century after 
 the close of the Civil War, which shook the continent to its 
 foundations, there was a Confederate camp where representa- 
 tives of every section of our common country met in friendly 
 intercourse, proclaiming to the world the complete unity of 
 sentiment existing everywhere throughout this broad land, and 
 foretelling its grandeur and enduring greatness through all the 
 ages to come. 
 
 I have been requested to adopt as the theme of my discourse 
 " North Carolina in the War. between the, States." A subject so 
 splendid in itself, so replete with great and heroic action, 
 seldom falls to the lot of any speaker. When I reflect upon 
 the self-denial and the unshaken fortitude of the people of 
 North Carolina during that unhappy period, when the splendid 
 and unexcelled achievements of North Carolina soldiers .during 
 that same era pass in review before my mental vision, I can but 
 feel my inadequacy to so great an undertaking. 
 
 If aught I say shall seem to detract in the slightest degree 
 from the merit of any Confederate soldier from any State or 
 from my loyalty to this great Republic, whose flag protects and 
 shields all its citizens, I ask that you do not so construe my 
 words, but ascribe them to the enthusiasm which characterizes 
 all the children of North Carolina for her great name. The 
 character and reputation of every Confederate soldier will ever 
 be near to my heart, and the glory and honor of our common 
 country will ever command my sincere and unchanging fealty. 
 
 The part acted by North Carolina in the greatest drama of 
 modern times — the War between the States — history will preserve 
 without blemish upon its pages. It has long since passed be- 
 3433G— 15341 
 
yond the pale of legitimate controversy that in the number of 
 troops furnished to the Southern Confederacy, in proportion to 
 its white population, and in the losses sustained by those troops, 
 she stands first of all the States which made up that galaxy of 
 great names. 
 
 It is likewise true that no troops in any corps of the Con- 
 federate Army were more thoroughly equipped and provided for 
 in every way necessary to their efficiency and comfort, both as 
 to arms, food, and clothing, than were the soldiers from North 
 Carolina. 
 
 In considering the number of troops furnished by North Caro- 
 lina to the Confederate Army, her attachment to the Union of 
 the States will ever demand your consideration and attention, 
 and her loyalty to her sister States of the Confederacy when 
 once her faith was pledged, will claim the admiration of all 
 who have an honest pride in national honor, wherever it may 
 be found. North Carolina was next to the last State to secede 
 from the Union, and in February, 1861, voted against secession 
 by more than 30,000 majority ; yet with a white population of 
 629,942, and a military population of 115,369, being one-ninth of 
 the military population of the 11 seceded States, she sent to the 
 Confederate Army 125,000 men, one-fifth of its entire enroll- 
 ment, which was 600,000, according to the accepted estimate 
 approved by Gen. Cooper, the adjutant general of the Con- 
 federacy. Maj. A. Gordon, who was on the staff of the adjutant 
 general of North Carolina, and who was thoroughly conversant 
 with the organization of the North Carolina troops, estimates 
 her contribution to the Confederate Army at 127,000. Gov. 
 Vance, after a thorough examination of the records of the 
 adjutant general's office, stated the number to be 125,000, and 
 Capt. S. A. Ashe, who, at the request of the State Literary and 
 Historical Association of North Carolina, gave to the consider- 
 ation of this subject careful research, adopted the figures given 
 by Gov. Vance, and in his report says they are as correct as it 
 is possible to make them. Lieut. Gen. Stephen D. Lee, in an 
 address delivered at Asheville, N. C, stated North Carolina 
 furnished 22,942 more troops than any other State. Of the 
 troops furnished to the Confederate Army by North Carolina, 
 34336—15341 
 
6 
 
 four regiments of infantry and one of cavalry were sent to the 
 Army of Tennessee. 
 
 Of the soldiers present for duty, North Carolina had a larger 
 proportion than naturally fell to her lot. They were ever ready 
 in camp or upon the field of battle. Of the 92 regiments which 
 assailed and defeated the right flank of McClellan's army in 
 front of Richmond, 46 were from North Carolina. Of the 16 
 brigades engaged in the first day's fight at Gettysburg, 7 were 
 from North Carolina. 
 
 The First North Carolina Regiment, commanded by Col. D. H. 
 Hill, later a lieutenant general, was the first regiment sent by 
 the government to Yorktown and the first to arrive at Bethel. 
 Over S00 of the 1,200 present when the action commenced were 
 from North Carolina. 
 
 The first Confederate soldier killed in battle was Henry L. 
 Wyatt, of the Edgecombe Guards, Company A of that regiment, 
 who fell at Bethel on the 10th of June, 1861. 
 
 At Reams Station, on the 25th of August, 1864, after a 
 previous assault by other troops had failed, the three North 
 Carolina brigades of Cooke, Lane, and MacRae, in number less 
 than 2,000 men, drove the Federal troops from the field, captur- 
 ing their breastworks, with 2,150 prisoners, 3,100 stands of 
 small arms, 12 stands of colors, 9 guns and caissons. The 
 result of this brilliant engagement was hailed with great re- 
 joicing throughout the South and shed a declining luster upon 
 the Confederate battle flag, upon which the sun of victory was 
 about to go down forever. Gen. R. E. Lee publicly and re- 
 peatedly stated that not only North Carolina but the wbole 
 Confederacy owed a debt of gratitude to Lane's, Cooke's, and 
 MacRae's brigades which could never be repaid. He also 
 wrote to Gov. Vance, expressing his high appreciation of their 
 services. From his letter I make this extract : 
 
 Headquarters Army Northern Virginia, 
 
 August 29, 186}. 
 His Excellency Z. B. Vance, 
 
 Governor of North Carolina, Raleigh, N. C: 
 I have frequently been called upon to mention the services of the 
 North Carolina soldiers in this army, but their gallantry and conduct 
 were never more deserving of admiration than in the engagement at 
 Reams Station on the 25th ultimo. 
 3433G— 15341 
 
The brigades of Gen9. Cooke, MacRae, and Lane, the last under the 
 temporary command of Gen. Conner, advanced through a thick abatis 
 of felled trees, under a heavy fire of musketry and artillery, and car- 
 ried the enemy's works with a steady courage that elicited the warm 
 commendation of their corps and division commanders and the admira- 
 tion of the army. 
 
 On the same occasion the brigade of Gen. Barrlnger bore a con- 
 spicuous part in the operations of the cavalry, which were no less dis- 
 tinguished for boldness and efficiency than those of the infantry. 
 
 If the men who remain in North Carolina share the spirit of those 
 they have sent to the field, as I doubt not that they do, her defense 
 may securely be trusted in their hands. 
 
 I am, with great respect, 
 Scur obendient servant, 
 
 R. E. Lee, General. 
 
 The regiments from North Carolina engaged in this battle 
 again illustrated those high qualities which will perpetuate the 
 name and fame of the Confederate soldier in years to come. 
 Unshaken by the fall of Vicksburg and the disaster at Gettys- 
 burg, undismayed amidst the general gloom which was settling 
 upon the fortunes of the South, they exhibited the same en- 
 thusiasm and valor which had marked their conduct upon every 
 field where they stood for the honor, glory, and renown of their 
 State. 
 
 The greater part of the Confederate infantry who were en- 
 gaged in the last battle fought at Appomattox were from North 
 Carolina. They were commanded by Maj. Gen. Bryan Grimes, 
 a North Carolinian. 
 
 The last charge made and the last volley fired at Appomattox 
 was by a North Carolina brigade, comm inded by Gen. W. 11. 
 Cox, of North Carolina. 
 
 The last capture of can on by the Army of Northern Virginia 
 was made by Roberts Brigade of North Carolina cavalry. 
 
 No State stacked so many muskets at Appomattox as did 
 North Carolina. 
 
 These facts are beyond dispute. The accuracy of the first two 
 just mentioned in connection with the fight at Appomattox has 
 been established by a statement made in writing in the year 1879 
 by Gen. Grimes, which will be found in volume 11 of Moore's 
 History of North Carolina, and which has never been contra- 
 dicted. The statement of Gen. Grimes is corroborated by a 
 statement made by Gen. William R. Cox, which wa. also pub- 
 34336—15341 
 
8 
 
 lislied during the same year in volume 11 of Moore's History of 
 North Carolina. If more evidence could possibly be needed, it is 
 furnished by the statements of Brig. Gen. W. L. London, of the 
 Second Brigade in the North Carolina division of the United 
 Confederate Veterans, who was serving on Gen. Grimes's staff 
 on the morning of the surrender, and of Hon. Henry A. London, 
 of the Thirty-second North Carolina Begiment, who carried the 
 last orders at Appomattox. Both Gen. W. L. London and Hon. 
 Henry A. London are now living in Pittsboro, N. C, model 
 examples of the highest order of citizenship represented by Con- 
 federate soldiers, equally distinguished in war and peace. 
 
 Wherever the flag of North Carolina floated on land or sea it 
 was without tarnish, the emblem of honor, of courage, and un- 
 changing fortitude which endured to the end. 
 
 The Shenandoah, commanded by James Iredell Waddell, a 
 North Carolinian, flew the Confederate battle flag at its mast- 
 head more than six months after Gen. Lee's surrender. 
 
 Shall their immortality be reckoned by their blocd? Forty 
 thousand two hundred and seventy-five soldiers from North Caro- 
 lina gave their lives to the Confederacy, more than one-third of 
 her entire military population, and a loss more than double in 
 percentage than that sustained by the soldiers from any other 
 State. 
 
 The entire Confederate loss during the Civil War, killed on 
 the battle field and died of wounds, was 74,524. The loss of 
 North Carolina soldiers was 19,763, more than one-fourth of the 
 whole. 
 
 Of the 10 regiments of either side which sustained the heaviest 
 loss in any one engagement during the war Georgia, Alabama, 
 Tennessee, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey fur- 
 nished one each, and North Carolina furnished three. 
 
 The Confederate loss at Gettysburg was 2,592 killed and 12,707 
 wounded. Of the killed 770 were from North Carolina, more 
 than one-fourth. 
 
 Wherever the tide of battle was strongest and the harvest of 
 death greatest on that field of carnage, there could be seen the 
 battle flag of North Carolina. Her dead sons were found far up 
 its blood-stained slopes. 
 34330—15341 
 
The three brigades at. Gettysburg suffering the heaviest loss 
 were Pettigrew's from North Carolina, with 190 killed ; Davis's 
 from Mississippi — composed of three regiments from Mississippi 
 and one regiment from North Carolina — with ISO killed; 
 Daniels's from North Carolina, with 1G5 killed. 
 
 No brigade in Pickett's division, whose laurels won upon that 
 field I trust may grow brighter with each revolving year, suf- 
 fered so great a loss as the Twenty-sixth North Carolina Regi- 
 ment. Its loss was SG killed and 502 wounded, the largest 
 sustained by any regiment on either side during the Civil War. 
 Company F of that regiment, with 3 officers and 84 men, lost 
 every officer and 83 of the 84 men in killed and wounded. 
 Thirteen standard bearers of the regiment were shot down. 
 Upon that same field one company in the Eleventh North Caro- 
 lina Regiment lost 2 of its 3 officers killed and 34 of 3S men 
 killed or wounded. The color company of the Thirty-eighth 
 North Carolina Regiment had every man either killed or 
 wounded. 
 
 At Sharpsburg the Third North Carolina Regiment lost 330 in 
 killed and wounded of 520 men which it carried into action, 
 and upon that field Company C of the Fourteenth North Caro- 
 lina Regiment lost every man, either killed or wounded. At 
 Chancellorsville the same company, which carried into the fight 
 43 men, lost every one in killed or wounded but 1. 
 
 The charge of the Fifth North Carolina Regiment at Wil- 
 liamsburg ranks in military history with that of the Light 
 Brigade at Balaklava. The regiment lost 197 in killed and 
 wounded of 240 men which it carried into action. That charge 
 gave to immortality its illustrious commander, Col. D. K. 
 MacRae. 
 
 At Seven Pines the Fourth North Carolina Regiment went 
 into the fight with 25 officers and 520 noncommissioned officers 
 and men and lost in killed and wounded every officer and 462 
 men. At Bristoe Station the Twenty-seventh North Carolina 
 Regiment lost 291 of 42G men in less than half an hour. 
 
 The four regiments of North Carolina infantry — the Twenty- 
 ninth, the Thirty-ninth, the Fifty-eighth, and the Sixtieth — and 
 the Sixth Regiment of North Carolina Cavalry, upon the field 
 34336—15341 
 
10 
 
 of Chicknmauga, rivaled the deeds of their brothers in the east 
 and linked their names forever with imperishable renown. It 
 has been established by the highest and most impartial testi- 
 mony that " the point where the topmost wave of the tide of 
 southern battle broke nearest to the unbroken line of Thomas's 
 defense " was reached by the Fifty-eighth North Carolina 
 Infantry. 
 
 This was the unanimous report made by five commissioners 
 appointed by Gov. Carr, of North Carolina, to locate the posi- 
 tion of the North Carolina regiments upon the field of Chieka- 
 mauga. One of the commissioners was an officer of high repu- 
 tation in the Federal Army who afterwards made his home in 
 North Carolina and won the friendship and esteem of all who 
 knew him. I allude to Judge Clinton A. Cilley. 
 
 When stating the exceptionally great losses sustained by the 
 troops from North Carolina there is no intention to assert that 
 they were braver or better than those of any of her sister 
 States. The soldier from North Carolina desires no praise, no 
 laudation, no eulogy, at the expense of his brother Confederate 
 soldier. The fortune of battle on many different fields fur- 
 nished North Carolina soldiers the opportunity for their great 
 achievements, and they ever proved themselves to be equal to 
 the occasion. 
 
 It has been said by some writer that the qualities which dis- 
 tinguished the soldier from North Carolina were like unto tbose 
 which made the legions of Julius Csesar famous. 
 
 Lieut. Gen. A. P. Hill, when asked what troops he preferred 
 
 to command, replied : 
 
 Unquestionably North Carolinians ; not that they are braver where 
 all are brave, but brave as the bravest ; they are the most obedient to 
 command. 
 
 To tins trait of character, obedience to orders, many have 
 ascribed their preeminence. 
 
 Without underestimating this great quality in a soldier, it 
 will be found upon scrutiny that a higher, nobler, and more 
 exalted virtue than even the spirit of obedience to orders gave 
 to the Confederate soldier, from whatever State he came, his 
 superiority on the battlefield. 
 34330 15341 
 
11 
 
 A supreme sense of duty was the cardinal trait of char* 
 acter which gave to him that moral power against which it is 
 vain to hurl trained legions and endless battalions. It was the 
 dauntless moral resolution of the soldiers of the South which 
 made their great deeds possible. 
 
 Without that moral power to sustain them, the incomparable 
 legions of Lee would have in vain struggled for so long a time 
 to roll back the tide of invasion across the banks of the Potomac, 
 and the marvelous campaigns of Stonewall Jackson would have 
 found no place in history to gild forever with a romantic luster 
 the beautiful valley of Virginia. Neither famine nor pestilence 
 nor mighty armies carrying in their track the destruction of all 
 that was near and dear to them could subdue their invincible 
 will. In the splendid future which awaits the southern portion 
 of this Republic there is no character the study of which will 
 more elevate its citizens and fit them for its blessings than that 
 of the Confederate soldier. The capstone of the arch of his 
 glory was the moral power which sustained him upon the battle 
 field and which will forever perpetuate his fame. 
 
 An incident which illustrates the supreme sense of duty which 
 can only be imparted by moral firmness, as exhibited by a 
 North Carolina soldier, deserves to be recorded amidst the 
 feats of heroes. The conduct of a private by the name of Till- 
 man, in the Forty-fourth North Carolina Regiment, had at- 
 tracted the favorable notice of his brigade commander, and he 
 was at his request attached to the color guard. Tillman's name 
 was also honorably mentioned in orders of the day from 
 brigade headquarters. Soon thereafter, in front of Peters- 
 burg, the regiment became severely engaged with the enemy and 
 suffered heavy loss. The flag several times fell, as its bearers 
 were shot down in quick succession. Tillman seized it and 
 again carried it to the front. It was but an instant and he, 
 too, fell. As one of his comrades stooped to raise the flag 
 again, the dying soldier touched him and in tones made weak 
 by the approach of death said, " Tell the general that I died 
 with the flag." The tender memories and happy associations 
 connected with his boyhood's home faded from his vision as he 
 34336 — 15341 
 
12 
 
 rejoiced in the consciousness that he had proved himself 
 worthy of the trust which had been confided to him. 
 
 Wolfe died upon the heights of Abraham the death of a hero, 
 and his spirit took its flight to another world and left as a 
 legacy to his countrymen words which will forever live. 
 
 Nelson, at Trafalgar, illustrated by his conduct and speech 
 his supreme sense of duty to England and her glory. 
 
 The Scotchman who died at Waterloo with his bagpipe in 
 his hand, by the sabre of the curassier of the guard, whilst 
 thinking of Ben Lothian and playing an air of his native land, 
 has been immortalized by Victor Hugo. But which of these 
 three — aye, who of all those who live in song and story — is 
 more worthy of the crown of immortality than that humble 
 country lad whose grave to-day is unnoticed and unknown? 
 
 It would be idle for me to attempt to-night to give a record 
 of the achievements of North Carolina soldiers upon the differ- 
 ent fields of their glory. There was not an engagement in 
 which the Army of Northern Virginia participated in which they 
 did not contribute to its immortal renown. The day has come 
 when our whole united country accords to them the full meas- 
 ure of praise to which they are entitled as representing the 
 highest and best type of American manhood. 
 
 I am greatly indebted to Chief Justice Walter Clark, of 
 North Carolina ; to Hon. Henry A. London ; and to Capt. S. A. 
 Ashe for assistance in securing, as far as it can be furnished 
 with accuracy, a statement of the number of troops furnished 
 by North Carolina and their losses. I have used for reference 
 the History of North Carolina Regiments, edited by Chief 
 Justice Clark, to which work he gave great and unstinted 
 labor without renumeration or reward, except the gratitude of 
 the Confederate soldier. I have also been aided by the infor- 
 mation gained from an eloquent speech of Hon. Henry A. Lon- 
 don, of North Carolina, delivered by him a few years ago, which 
 was reproduced in the fifth volume of the History of North 
 Carolina Regiments, and by the report of Capt. S. A. Ashe, 
 of North Carolina, made to the North Carolina Literary and 
 Historical Association. 
 3433G— 15341 
 
13 
 
 For the splendid organization which equipped and supplied 
 North Carolina troops, they are largely indebted to the provi- 
 dent foresight, practical business ability, and untiring efforts 
 of Gov. Z. B. Vance, the great war governor of their State, 
 who thereby endeared himself forever to all North Carolinians. 
 
 North Carolina not only clothed her own troops during the 
 entire war, but furnished clothing for troops from other States, 
 and when Lee's army surrendered had in store and ready for 
 use 92,000 suits of uniform, with many thousand blankets and 
 a large amount of leather. During the winter succeeding the 
 battle of Chickamauga, North Carolina sent to Gen. Longstreet's 
 corps 14,000 suits of clothing, and when the great drama was 
 drawing to a close North Carolina was furnishing food and sup- 
 plies to a large part of Lee's army. 
 
 Gov. Vance in a memorable speech delivered at White Sulphur 
 Springs, W. Va., 18th of August, 1875, stated that he was told 
 by Gen. Joseph E. Johnson " that when his army was sur- 
 rendered at Greensboro he had in his depots at North Carolina, 
 gathered in the State, five months' supplies for 65,000 men and 
 that for many months previous Gen. Lee's army had been almost 
 entirely fed from North Carolina." 
 
 For the comfort of her soldiers when at home sick, wounded, 
 or traveling to and from the army North Carolina established 
 hospitals and inns at many different points in the State along 
 the lines of railway. 
 
 She did more than this. For the helpless wives and children 
 of soldiers who might be in distress she established depots of 
 grain, salt, and provisions for their subsistence and appointed 
 committees to provide for them and see that they were not 
 neglected. 
 
 The soldier who was sleeping upon some field afar off under 
 the stars in northern Virginia rested calmly as he dreamed of 
 the loved ones at homes for he knew that if he fell in the con- 
 flict of to-morrow that they would be cared for by the great State 
 which sent him to the battle field. 
 
 My friends, can you wonder that North Carolina is still to all 
 her children the well-beloved mother and sovereign, whose name 
 3433G— 13341 
 
14 
 
 ever brings to them when exiled from home by the decree of 
 fate that poetry of youth and memory of early happy days which 
 neither gold nor power nor place can buy. 
 
 If commemorative words were needed to perpetuate the fame 
 of the Confederate soldier, I should be all unhappy here to-night. 
 But it is not so. It will live, transmitted from generation to gen- 
 eration, when the costliest tombs erected by the love of their 
 countrymen have perished by decay and crumbled into dust. 
 
 It may not seem proper for me to make this prediction, but I 
 do so with a reverent love for all portions of this great Republic. 
 The day will come, though I trust it may be far distant, when the 
 intentions and ideas of the founders of this great Government 
 will be disregarded by those who, in the wild greed for money 
 and amidst the dissolute luxury engendered by the vast accumu- 
 lation of wealth, have forgotten the teachings of better and purer 
 days and the very existence of a constitutional form of govern- 
 ment, as framed by our ancestors, will be in jeopardy. Then will 
 be found amongst a people regenerated by fire and blood that 
 high and broad and lofty patriotism which shall constitute them 
 the strongest, safest, and best defenders of the land of our 
 fathers in its entirety, and as the suffering and oppressed of 
 every land and every clime shall still turn their steadfast gaze 
 toward this Western Hemisphere they shall rise up and call you 
 blessed. 
 
 Have we learned naught from the silent endurance, the patient 
 agony, the deathless valor of the Confederate soldier? It can 
 not be. His life and his conduct have taught us the lesson over 
 again which history has ever repeated. 
 
 It is neither on the greatest fields of battle nor places where 
 the most calamitous bloodshed has taken place that the recol- 
 lection of future ages is chiefly riveted. It is moral grandeur 
 which produces a durable impression. It is patriotic heroism 
 which permanently attracts the admiration of mankind. The day 
 may come when the memory of the fields of Gettysburg and 
 Chancellorsville, of Fredericksburg and Sharpsburg, shall be 
 dimmed by the obscurity of revolving years and recollected only 
 as a shadow of ancient days, but even then the enduring forti- 
 3433G— 15341 
 
15 
 
 tude and patriotic valor of the Confederate soldier who fol- 
 lowed the banner of Eobert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson will 
 stand forth in undecaying luster amidst the wreck of ages and 
 survive unshaken above the floods of time. 
 
 Friends and comrades, let us never fail to defend the fame 
 and achievements of the brave men whom the South sent to the 
 battle field. 
 
 Death, which destroys the pomp and power of this world, has 
 only placed the seal of immortality upon their lives. The sacred 
 charge of their fame is intrusted to 3-011, my countrymen and 
 countrywomen. Guard it devoutly, gravely, justly, and truly, 
 that it may remain untarnished in its pristine glory, not alone 
 with this generation but with all those who may come after us 
 until time shall be no more. Let the glorious example left by 
 them be preserved for untold ages and for every people from the 
 rising to the setting sun. If history be false, let tradition pre- 
 serve it, and on every anniversary of our memorial days let 
 eloquence proclaim it as a heritage for all humanity, which it 
 has elevated and adorned with a pathos and glory which 
 belongs to the civilized world. 
 3433C— 15341 
 
 o 
 
is 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00032758034 
 
 FOR USE ONLY IN 
 THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION 
 
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