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May 1894

CAPT. GEORGE B. LAKE.

Thanks to James T. Bacon, editor of the Edgefield, S. C., Chronicle, for notes concerning Capt. George B. Lake, of Edgefield Court House, who started the movement for having the VETERAN made official organ of the United Confederate Veterans at Birmingham. Capt. Lake is a native of the Edgefield District, born January, 1841. His father was an eminent physician and a zealous Christian. His mother excelled in brilliant literary achievements. The son enlisted in Company C., Gregg's First South Carolina Regiment, the first organized for the great Confederate conflict. It was the first regiment that went to Virginia, and evidently fired the first gun on the Southern side in the war. The Gregg regiment was disbanded at the end of six months, the time for which it enlisted, and young Lake immediately reenlisted in the 22d South Carolina, and was made a staff officer of the regiment. He was healthy, active, and was constantly on duty until his burial at the Crater by Petersburg, Va., July 30, 1864, when he became a prisoner. His men were so situated there that they fired over a four gun Confederate battery. When the mine, charged with 8,000 pounds of powder, was fired they were all buried, and thirty one of his thirty four men, including himself, were killed. Capt. Lake and the other three survivors were dug up by the Federals after two hours. He was sent to Fort Delaware where he was kept until the end came. Capt. Lake had never missed a battle in which his command engaged. Confrere Bacon concludes:

Capt. Lake, with a lovely, noble wife, promising children, and a happy home, is now one of the most honored, beloved, and useful citizens of the town of Edgefield. He thanks God that it was his privilege to go to Birmingham, and there to cheer 

Dixie" and "The Bonnie Blue Flag" as lustily as, when a boy, he followed Lee and Johnston in Virginia, and fought under J. E. Johnston in the West."

Desiring the experiences of Capt. Lake in that awful disaster, the explosion of the Crater, request for an account was written to him and this is his reply:

"That would be hard to put on paper. The Federal troops had been mining for some time. We knew it, and to prevent the destruction of the battery and the breaking of our lines, we sunk a shaft on each side of the battery about a dozen feet deep, and then tunnelled out twenty feet or more to the front, but the enemy's mine was under our tunnel a good many feet. Our officers around the mine believed that we were going to be blown up. My command was in the rear line of works, and we were all asleep. I knew nothing of what had happened until the most of the dirt had been taken off of us. Before I was taken out, however, I came to consciousness, and talked to Lieut. W. J. Lake, of Newberry, S. C., a Lieutenant in my company, who was lying on my side. We knew we were buried, discussed the probabilities of getting out, and thought they were very slim. His thigh was broken, and he was otherwise badly injured, but finally recovered. The brave fellows who took us out of the ground, working away while exposed to shot and shell, I think were members of a New York heavy artillery regiment. They showed other evidences of their courage, for they soon turned one of our guns, that had been blown out of the trenches, upon our men, and handled it as only brave men can in such a place. When I found that nearly all my men had been killed, and the remaining few, with myself, were prisoners, it was gloomy indeed. We were kept in the Crater for a considerable time, exposed to shells from our own batteries. These shells made terrible havoc with the Federal troops who had charged through the break, but after being driven back stopped in the Crater for protection.

I was in some of the hardest fought battles of the Confederate war was at one time for two weeks in Fort Sumter, when all the Federal iron clads would steam up to within eight hundred or a thousand yards of the fort, and they and the land batteries on Morris Island would hurl shell and shot in the fort by the ton, but I never saw any thing to equal the horror of the Crater.

T. C. Monroe, of Auditor's office, Little Rock, Ark., who was of Company K., and acted as Adjutant 8th Alabama Regiment, Wilcox's Brigade, Anderson's Division, A. P. Hill's Corps, desires to learn of Col, John P. Emerich, if living, who commanded this noble little regiment in its last days. The regiment was first commanded by Col. John A. Winston, then by Col. Y. L. Royston, the "Tall Sycamore of the South," then by Col. Hillery A. Herbert, now Secretary of the Navy, then by our Dutch Colonel, John P. Emerich, a noble soldier, who, at the organization of the regiment, was Captain of a company, the German Fusiliers, from Mobile, Ala. Maj. Monroe desires to hear from Col. Emerich, if living, as well as any other member of that noble old regiment, through tne VETERAN. He adds, " Success to the VETERAN at any price. "

CAPT. B. H. TEAGUE.

Capt. B. H. Teague is a native of Aiken, S. C. His early years were spent in Charleston. While at school he became a member of perhaps the most youthful military company in service, the Pickens Rifles, of Charleston. At the age of seventeen years he volunteered in Company B, Hampton Legion Regiment, Mounted Infantry, Gary's Cavalry Brigade, Army Northern Virginia.

Young Teague was a brave and faithful soldier to the end, and surrendered with his command at Appomattox. He boasts that he never " held horses during a fight." After the war he joined his State militia as soon as organized, and has advanced through the grades of office until he is now Lieutenant Colonel of Infantry.

Commander Teague organized the second Camp of United Confederate Veterans in his State, that of Barnard E. Bee, No. 84, and his comrades, appreciating his zeal in their behalf, have kept him in command. He is a dentist by profession, and is held in high esteem as a skillful practitioner. He is an inventor of several useful appliances in dentistry, upon which he has letters patent. Dr. Teague is ex President of the Dental Association of his State, a place of honorable distinction, and he is President of the Young Men's Christian Association of this city, which position he now holds. His standing among his people is that of an exemplary and honorable citizen, and though he sought not political preferment, he was made President of the Central Democratic Club of his county for nearly ten years after the overthrow of radical Republicanism in his State.

As a labor of love, and for the purpose of preserving them from oblivion, Commander Teague has for many years been collecting relics and souvenirs of the Confederate war. He has filled a suite of rooms with these precious treasures, many of which are of historical and inestimable value, contributed by his many friends and his comrades. To these rooms all veterans are welcomed, and they have been visited by hundreds. He affirms he is a crank at collecting, and at the parting at the Birmingham meeting he said, "If you want to make a fast friend send me a Confederate war relic."

A WORD OF EXPLANATION FROM DR. J. WM. JONES.

I have not cared to correct the many misstatements concerning my position on inviting the G. A. R. to hold its session in Atlanta, which have appeared in the papers. But I avail myself of the columns of the VETERAN for a brief explanation, in order that my comrades may know just where I stood on the question. I opposed the proposition to send a committee to the Grand Army and invite them to hold their next session in Atlanta on the ground that it was a question with which we had nothing to do that just as we would consider it an impertinence for the G. A. R. to send us a commission to suggest where we should meet, so they would regard such a commission on our part as an impertinence.

After there had been a good deal of fine rhetoric about "fraternity," "forgetting the bitterness of the war," etc., I replied, in substance, that I did not mean to revive bitter memories of the stormy past that I had no sort of objection to meeting old soldiers who fought against us, and, as a matter of fact, had frequently done so and that if we could eliminate from the G. A. R. all who were not soldiers I would be glad to welcome and fraternize with the true soldiers who wore the blue. But, I added, truth compelled the statement that very many of those most prominent in the G. A. R. reunions were men who never smelt gun powder, who were soldiers "for revenue only"who were only solicitous to have their names on the pension rolls, and who belonged to that class of whom Ben Hill, of Georgia, had wittily said that they were "invisible in war and invincible in peace."

The convention voted the other way, though it was very far from being the "unanimous" vote that some of the papers claimed, and I acquiesced in the decision. But from the thanks which have since been showered upon me for the stand I took, I incline to the opinion that I expressed the sentiments of a very large minority, if not a majority of Confederate veterans, and of our Southern people.

I am quite sure that if the G. A. R. does meet in Atlanta and conduct their meetings in their usual style, that it will be the well nigh unanimous verdict that this invitation was exceedingly unwise, and that it will be many a long day before it is renewed. University of Virginia, May 7, 1894.
Dr. Cicero R. Barker, Salisbury, N. C.: Please ask if Harry Love, a member of the 42d North Carolina Regiment, who moved to Texas in 1870, is still alive. If so, send me address.

 

Confederate Veteran June 1894.

CONFEDERATES CAPTURED AT FORT DONELSON.

Capt. J. H. George, Howell, Tenn., writes: My dear old comrade in arms: Years have passed since we last viewed each other's face. But when the VETERAN puts in its appearance it is like a visit from some old friend who wore the gray. Then we sit down for an enjoyable chat of trials and deeds of valor in days gone by. How vividly are brought to memory scenes and incidents of the camp and field while reviewing the pages of this monthly visitor. May it still increase and continue to grow better and better.

I enclose the names of the regiments and commanders, as I remember them, that were captured at Fort Donelson, February 16, 1862: Tennessee regiments 3d, Col. Brown, 10th, Col. Heiman, 18th, Col. Palmer, 26th, Col. Lillard, 30th,.Col. Head, 32d, Col. Cook, 41st, Col. Farquharson, 42d, Col. Quarles, 49th, Col. Bailey, 50th, Col. Sugg, 51st, Col. Browder, 52d, Col. Voohies, 53d, Col. Abernathy. Kentucky regiments 2d, Col. Hanson, 8th. Mississippi regiments 1st, 3d, 4th, 14th, Col. Baldwin, 20th, 26th. Alabama regiment 27th. Arkansas regiment 7th. Texas regiment 8th. This last was commanded by Col. Gregg, afterward General, who was killed in Virginia.

Curtis Green, Leon Junction, Texas, gives the following concerning the scouts commanded by Lieut. J. J. O'Neil, Co. K, 6th Ga. Cavalry: "They dressed in blue and went through great perils." Lieut. O'Neil lives at Rome, Ga. The addresses of the others are given in part: Sergt. Wm. Chaney, Curtis and Lee Green, Leon Junction, Texas, Z. T. Lawrence, Cedar Bluff, Ala., A. T. Thomas, Riverside, Ala., JoWilson (one eye out), Mancel Hawkins, Oscar Chateen, Wm. Andrews, James Milican (deceased), John W. Mattox, now in U. S. Congress, from Georgia. Comrade Green cannot recall now the names of the other two.

WAR RECORD OF PRIVATE L. T. DICKINS0N, OF CHATTANOOGA.

In reply to a request that L. T. Dickinson, Commander of N. B. Forrest Camp, Chattanooga, furnish some data concerning his career as a soldier, that modest gentleman declined, saying he was "only a lousy private," but there was no distinction in that. Thousands of us were like the young pickaninny who, after much abuse by his associates, said: "All de tings whut you say I is, you'se dem." However, Commander Dickinson, who has given pleasure to many thousands by his varied illustrations in the VETERAN and elsewhere, has yielded to importunities to tell the story, and in it he gives much war history that will be read with interest now and hereafter:

I enlisted at Charlottsville, Va., August 25, '62, in a company of Maryland cavaly. This company was attached to the 2d Virginia Cavalry, and was made Company A. It was actively engaged from the day of enlistment until after the return from the battle of Sharpsburg, Md. At Winchester, a battalion of Maryland cavalry was recruited, and our company was transferred from the 2d Virginia, and made Company A of the 1st Maryland, with Ridgely Brown as Colonel, and put in the brigade of Gen. W. E. Jones. Through the winter of '62 and '63 we were used continuously in scouting and raiding through Western Virginia. In the spring of '63 we made the memorable raid through Western Maryland, on through Western Virginia, beyond Clarksburg, passing down the Kanawha Valley, coming out at Greenbrier White Sulphur Springs, and thence back to the Shenandoah Valley. We then entered the Gettysburg campaign. When Gen. J. E. B. Stuart took all the cavalry for a raid on Baltimore, our company was detailed as scouts and couriers for Gen. Ewell. During the battle of Gettysburg I acted as his courier. I believe our company was the last to leave the front of Gettysburg. It was at daylight of July 5th. The infantry, artillery, everything had gone, and we sat on our horses throughout the night, firing as we thought we saw a yankee vidette move, and receiving return compliments. We hastened to join the rest of the cavalry, several miles ahead of us. Covering the rear of a retreating army is not a funny thing to do. We did it after Sharpsburg,and now we had it again to do. It was one continuous fight until we reached Hagerstown, Md., and even after that, for we had skirmishes every day until Gen. Lee recrossed the Potomac. After this campaign, we were taken from Gen. Jones' brigade and placed with Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, east of the Blue Ridge. Here we had fighting all along the Mattapony, Pemunkey, and Rappahannock rivers. In October, when Gen. Lee drove Meade back on Washington, we bad desperate fighting. October 11, '63, I was wounded at Morton's Ford, on the Rappahannock River, but continued in action until we reached Brandy Station, on the O. & A. R. R., where I was captured, with a number of our company, while fighting on foot. I was taken to the Old Capitol prison, in Washington, D. C. Here I remained until February, '64, when I was moved to Point Lookout prison, at the junction of the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. After a five weeks' sojourn here, I was taken to City Point, on the James River, and exchanged. I joined my regiment at Hamilton Court House, where I found it making ready for an active campaign, under command of Gen. Bradley T. Johnson. Our first work was to attack Gen. Kilpatrick, who was moving on Richmond, in conjunction with Dahlgren. Our little battalion destroyed the combination between Dahlgren and Kilpatrick,and, by vigorous and incessant harrassing of the latter's rear, conveyed the impression that he was attacked in force, causing him to change his movements into a retreat. For this gallant exploit, Gen. Elzey, in command of the defenses of Richmond, issued a general order complimenting the command, and Gen. Wade Hampton, in his report to Gen. Lee, distinctly gave the credit of saving Richmond to the little battalion.
After this came the fighting from Beaver Dam to Yellow Tavern, where we lost our gallant Stuart.

Until June 1st we were engaged in almost daily skirmishes in and about Hanover County. June 12th and 13th we were in the midst of that greatest of cavalry battles Trevillian's in which Gen. Wade Hampton defeated Sheridan. July 3, '64, we took the advance of Early's army into Maryland. We were hotly engaged in our approach to the Potomac. Crossing int Maryland, we had an evey day brush with the yankees. July 7th I was severely wounded in the right shoulder in front of Frederick City, Md. Here I was left in the hospital until Early had evacuated Maryland, when I was taken to West Building hospital, Baltimore, remaining there until October, then to Fort McHenry, then to Point Lookout, from which place I was sent, together with about 6,000 sick, wounded, and disabled, to Savannah, Ga., for exchange. The history of this trip would make a long story of itself. I arrived in Richmond about December 1, '64, and was placed in the hospital, as I was still disabled, having a minie ball somewhere inside of me. My shoulder would not heal, if it did, it was only temporary, as an abcess would form, and it would break out again. Anxious to be back with my regiment, I left the hospital and joined my command at Gordonsville, but the first night in camp gave me a back set, and I was sent to the hospital at Gordonsville, where I remained until Gen. Lee's surrender. Eighteen months after the close of the war, I had the minie ball cut out of me by Prof. N. R. Smith, the most eminent surgeon of Baltimore.

Capt. W. C. Moore, Commander of Camp Maxey, Dodd City, Texas: I was a member of the McCulloch Rangers as we soldiered from the frontier of Texas to Salisbury, N. C. Five companies of my regiment came out of the Murfreesboro fight commanded by non commissioned officers, of which I was one. At the end we were Wade Hampton's Escort.

The Southern Christian Herald, of Kenansville, N. C., states: The first soldier killed on the Confederate side during the late war was private Henry Wyatt, of Edgecombe County, N. C., who belonged to Capt. J. L. Bridges' company.

GENERAL AND GOVERNOR ROSS, OF TEXAS.

The Bryan (Tex.) Eagle gives a brief but very entertaining sketch of the career of the Confederate veteran commander of Texas. It says:

Gen. Lawrence Sullivan Ross was born in Bentonport, Ia., September 27, 1838. In the following spring his father, Capt, Shapley P. Boss, moved to Texas, and became Indian Agent at Waco, which was then a mere Indian village. His sister, now Mrs. Kate Padgitt, of Waco, was the first white child born in McLennan County. His early boyhood was spent surrounded by hostile Comanches, and inured to hardships and dangers, thus fitting him for deeds of bravery which afterward characterized him. In 1858, while at home on a summer vacation from Florence Wesleyan University, of Alabama, he won his spurs and the sobriquet of the " boy captain " in a desperate battle with the Comanches, slaying ninety five of their number, capturing three hundred and fifty head of horses, and recovering from the brutal redskins a little girl whose parents were never known, but whom Ross brought up and educated, naming her Lizzie Boss. A dangerous wound received by young Boss in this engagement almost put an end to his brilliant career. On his recovery he returned to his Alma Mater, where he graduated with distinction the following summer. (He named the little girl Lizzie, in honor of Miss Lizzie Tinsley, who became his wife in May, 1861. This protegee was reared in refinement, and married a wealthy California merchant, but she and a child both died, leaving no trace of race or lineage. ED. VETERAN.

Immediately on his return to Texas in 1859 he was placed in command of the frontier by the clear sighted Governor, Sam Houston, and, organizing at once a faithful band of followers of like mettle with himself, he defeated the Comanches with great slaughter, destroying their principal village and stronghold, captured over four hundred horses, and rescued Cynthia Ann Parker. In this memorable battle Ross killed in a hand to band combat the chief, Peta Nocona, whose shield, lance, buffalo horns, etc., were sent as trophies to Gov. Houston at Austin, where they were deposited in the State archives. The incidents of this desperate struggle have been related with pride by old Texas settlers, and listened to with thrilling interest by the young around many a Texas fireside, and form one of the most fascinating chapters in the history of our State.

Entering the Confederate army as a private, he rapidly rose to major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, and at the age of twenty five was brigadier general. He participated in one hundred and thirty five engagements of more or less importance, and bad seven horses shot from under him. But it was at the battle of Corinth, when in a charge upon Battery Robinett, within a short distance of three hundred yards, he lost fifty out of three hundred and fifty men before the fort could be reached and taken, that he won his greatest distinction as the " hero of Corinth." In response to a letter from the Confederate War Department, Gen, Dabney H. Maury gave L. S. Ross as the name of the man who displayed the most distinguished gallantry on this memorable occasion.
After the war, which had left him penniless, he went to farming. In 1873 he was sheriff of his county, and as such succeeded in putting down lawlessness, in 1875, a member of the Constitutional Convention, and in 1881 was elected to the State Senate, in which body he served as Chairman of the Finance Committee. Often solicited to become a candidate for Governor, he only consented in 1886, when he was nominated and elected, and was reelected in 1888 by a majority of 152,000! He retired from this high office with the plaudits of friends and opponents, having given universal satisfaction by his conservative, patriotic policy. He had the honor of affording the State two of the most popular administrations that it has ever had. In January, 1890, he stepped from the Governor's office to the President's chair of the Agricultural and Mechanical College, of Texas, where he is having ample opportunity to display his fine executive and administrative ability.

Gov. Boss has written a thrilling sketch of early life in the Lone Star Republic, including the capture of Cynthia Ann Parker, notes of which may appear in the VETERAN.

At the last Confederate reunion for the State of Texas, held at Waco, Governor Ross declined to be a candidate for reelection, but his old soldiers and other comrades would not have it. No other man was considered, and the yoke of servitude was again put upon him, but the yoke was easy. Such fellowship is exactly suited to his taste. In an address the Governor gave interesting and thrilling reminiscences of early times in Texas.

W. C. Woodruff, who was a member of the First Mississippi Regiment in the Mexican war, was also in the Confederate war. He relates that the feeling toward Col. Jefferson Davis was not kind. His discipline was too rigid for the volunteers, but that after the battles of Monterey and Buena Vista he was very popular. He was a. hero in strife.

Dr. L. C. Campbell Camp and Daughters of the Confederacy at Springfield, Mo., are raising funds for a monument there. In their circular they say: "Can you help us?"

JOHN ESTEN COOKE.

SKETCH BY HIS FRIEND, REV. JAMES R. WINCHESTER, NOW OF

NASHVILLE, TENN.

The facile pen of this brilliant writer, following the romances of the mountains and the legends of the rivers in the Old Dominion from earliest colonial days to the present decade, has enshrined him in the affections of the people of Virginia as their Sir Walter Scott. It is to be hoped that, with such sentiment prevalent, the State he loved so well and for whose welfare he fought with sword and pen shall erect a monument to this gifted son.

The Stories of the Old Dominion

and "The Commonwealth of Virginia" are text books of history, fascinating to old and young. It would be appropriate to place this memorial to John Esten Cooke either in the beautiful capital city of the James, which he loved with poetic affection, or in the historic town of Winchester, the sacred shrine of his birth and early years.

In the "Old Chapel" cemetery of Clarke Co., Va., among many illustrious heroes, sleeps this brave Confederate, the prose poet of Virginia. On the footstone is the inscription, " Credo." It reminds the reader of his simple Christian faith as a communicant of the Episcopal Church. On the headstone, a marble cross, is a wreath of laurel, indicative of his military and literary success, and under it are the exquisite lines from Tennyson :

For though from out our bourne of Time and Place

The flood may bear me far,

I hope to see my Pilot face to face

When I have crossed the bar.
This selection, was chosen for two reasons: (1) Because Mr. Cooke was an ardent admirer of the poet laureate of England, and when the first American edition of Tennyson appeared, and critics en masse spoke disparagingly of the poems, pronouncing them vapid sentiment and juvenile effusions, Mr, Cooke and his brother almost single handed fought for the true poet whom the world now recognizes as England's sweetest bard, and (2) because the special lines expressed his heart's own sentiment, for he lived and died a firm believer in his own immortality, with the certain hope of seeing the Saviour who had guided him through many trials.

BORN NOV. 3,1830,

DIED SEPT. 27,1886.

Between these dates are fifty six years marking off a useful life that found pure thought in every landscape and made it reappear on the pages of his books.

It was a privilege to know this fascinating Christian gentleman in his home, "The Briars," of Virginia, where, surrounded by his library and relics, the welcomed guest found the hours quickly speeding. It was there I ministered to him in his. last moments on the morning of September 27, 1886. On account of close intimacy with his family I gladly present this sketch of his life to the VETERAN, to which he would have contributed many interesting reminiscences of the war, being more familiar with all the details of the great leaders and private soldiers than any other man I have known.

His family is an honorable one in Virginia. In " The Manual of American Literature," Hart, the impartial critic, thus describes John Rogers Cooke, the father: "A lawyer of the highest order of ability, a man of much sweetness of disposition, elegance of manner, and one greatly beloved by his eminent associates, among whom were Chief Justice Marshall, Judge Tucker Watkins Leigh, and Judge Stannard."

In his diary, speaking of his father, John Esten says: " My first recollection shows him on horseback coming from Winchester, telling me, No humming tops could be had,' but giving me a common top, which I was soon spinning. My father was rather a dignified and most affectionate being, of superior nature to the rest of the world." The diary also describes the home, "Glengary," which was destroyed by fire, at which time reckless servants and visitors madly dashed mirrors from the upper windows to the ground. His brother's little baby was discovered safely tucked away between two feather beds, carefully carried to one side. He describes his father as the one calm figure amid the terror and dismay at the burning of his boyhood homo, likening him to a king whom danger and destruction could not affect, whom ruin could not daunt, whose brow was neither pale nor flushed, a man "with a pleasant voice, a ready smile, a bold, calm eye." These allusions show the son's admiration for the noble father from whom he caught inspiration for his own life's work, and to whose gentlest wish he responded with filial devotion.
The diary again refers to domestic troubles after the destruction of the home: " The surge and the big waves took us." The death of his brother Edmund, a brilliant and lovable boy, just rounding off for college, cast a shadow over the father that was never taken away. John Esten began his education in the academy at Charlestown, W. Va., and continued it in Richmond under Dr. Burke, a very excellent master of languages. At sixteen years of age he began not only to support himself, but to assist his father. At this early age he began also to study law, being admitted to the bar before he
was of age. During this time he showed extraordinary literary talent, his first regular production being a novelette called " The Knight of Espalian," published in the Southern Literary Messenger in 1847. His last work, yet an unpublished novel, " The Strange Adventures of Dr. Favart," is now in the hands of the publishers. Mr. Cooke not only read most of the magazines, but contributed to a number of them.

Judge Bassett French, of Manchester, Va" with access to the official records of the Confederacy, has furnished the military promotions of Mr. John Esten Cooke in the following: "Entered the service with the Richmond Howitzers, April, 1861, lieutenant and ordinance officer to Gen. J. E. B. Stuart, April, 1862, captain and ordinance officer to same, July, 1862, inspector general to Brig. Gen. Pendleton, 1864 (after Gen. Stuart was killed), recommended by Stuart and approved by Gen. Lee for promotion, frequently favorably mentioned in official reports for gallant and meritorious conduct." The literary work of this Southern patriot is a library of fascinating history, charming romance, and graceful biography, which the VETERAN can furnish to all promoters and lovers of Southern literature.

The picture in my mind giving constant pleasure of this true gentleman is that of a tender father with three motherless children, being to them both father and mother, going with them to church and other places, reading, writing, and conversing for their sake. The country home had its " old mammy," where hospitality greeted every visitor, and whore the time, interspersed with reviews of books, choice quotations from classical authors, and amusing anecdotes, left the fragrance of pleasant flowers. Among the most highly educated and charming women of Virginia to day is his daughter, among the young men with bright prospects are his two sons.
E. T. Tollison, of Belton, S. C., wishes information of T. M. Tollison, of Company B, Hampton's Legion, who served in Jenkin's Brigade, from South Carolina. He has been missing since the battle of Sharpsburg, September 16,1862.

GEORGIA IN TABLEAU AT THE REUNION.

F. M. Stovall, Esq., of Augusta, demurs to the description of the tableaux at the Birmingham reunion. He quotes from a report furnished the VETERAN the statement that " Georgia had grown restive and threatened to withdraw," etc.:

Under what was Georgia supposed to be restive? and from what was she presumed to have been desirous of withdrawing? Surely it does not mean that she contemplated withdrawing from the sisterhood of the Confederate States! If that was the idea intended to be conveyed by the tableau, it was a most unwarranted aspersion upon the honor of a State that stood the peer of any in patriotism and loyalty to the cause of constitutional liberty for which the South fought. If the tableau was intended to suggest that Georgia had, even for a moment, entertained the dastardly thought of deserting her beloved sisters in the hour of their sorest need, I wonder that any Georgian who might have witnessed it did not rise up in righteous indignation and denounce the insult to his native State. I can only account for this not having been done upon the supposition either that the tableau must have had some other meaning or that the meaning was not understood at the time.

The people of Georgia never faltered in their devotion to the cause which we still believe to be just. Her troops did the last fighting at Appomattox and were driving the enemy before them when the truce was announced. They were largely represented, and did gallant service in the battles immediately preceding Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's surrender in North Carolina. Her militia, composed of old men and boys, were the only militia that ever went out of their own State to fight the battles of the Confederacy. When Sherman was marching through Georgia, they confronted him at Griswoldville and stood up nobly before an overwhelming force of his veterans, losing heavily of their own number and inflicting severe loss upon their opponents. The Charleston and Savannah railroad having been threatened by a large column of the enemy from the coast of South Carolina, this same militia hastened to that State and by their heroic conduct contributed largely to the repulse of the enemy. These events occurred when the fortunes of the Confederacy were on the wane. Do they indicate that the dear old State of Georgia entertained any purpose of deserting the Confederacy or the noble sisterhood of States that composed it? No! From first to last her heart and hand were with them, and to day she loves them all for the sufferings they endured alike with her to the end in a righteous cause.

The foregoing was submitted to the author of the article, and he replied:
No one in or out of the Confederate army ever questioned the magnificent gallantry and fighting qualities of all the Georgia troops. They were always where the fight was thickest, and stayed there. So nothing at all about Georgia troops was even hinted at. In the tableau referred to the State is all in black, Georgia rises and goes a little way by herself, Virginia goes to her puts her arm around her and together they walk to their places in the group. This idea was suggested by a rumor current about that time that Gov. Brown was dissatisfied with the condition of then existing affairs. He was Governor of the State, and his attitude, as I recall, gave rise to discussion. Small matters are emphasized in pantomime because there is no speech. One person may see a meaning by an act not intended. It is the mystery which gives rise to speculation without which a scene might be flat. It was no reflection on the other State to magnify the importance of and bequeen the State of Virginia after she cast her fortunes with her sister States, and yet that was attempted in the tableau. No one might have so construed it as shown. The person who presents a tableau must have an idea to manifest. It is the unseen spirit of an acting.

R. H. Cunningham, Adjt, of Henderson, writes: "At a meeting of the Henderson Confederate Association held May 30, 1894, the CONFEDERATE VETERAN was indorsed and adopted as its organ. It was also decided to convert the Association into a regular Camp."

Mrs. L. A. Witherspoon, Columbus, Miss.: "You are certainly doing a noble work in collecting the records of that wonderful and eventful period of our nation's history, The " Souvenir " number has also been received, and I must add my praise for its excellence

VICKSBURG.

SOME NEW HISTORY IN THE EXPERIENCE OF GEN. FRANCIS A. SHOUP.

The May VETERAN contained an interview with Gen. Shoup about Shiloh which was well received. Indebted. ness is again acknowledged to Mr. Lynch Perry, of Columbia, for another chapter from the same gentleman. Although Dr. Shoup was closely engaged in preparation for Commencement at Columbia Institute, of which he is rector, he was pleased to talk again for "love of the old Confederates" through the VETERAN.

General, you were in the siege of Vicksburg. Would you tell me something of your experience? The people, young and old, are showing an increased interest in the details of the war.

I was ordered from Mobile to Vicksburg only a few days before Grant crossed the Mississippi against that place, and was assigned to duty in command of Gen. S. D. Lee's old brigade of Louisiana troops, consisting of Col. Hall's Twenty sixth, Col. Marks's Twenty seventh, and Col. Thomas's Twenty eighth regiments, all very full and all splendid bodies of men.

Almost immediately after my arrival Pemberton moved out to the Big Black to meet the approach of Grant. I say nothing of previous operations. My brigade was left in the city as a garrison, so that I was not in the somewhat ridiculous battle of the Big Black. All I need say is that through heat and dust the troops came tumbling back into Vicksburg in utter confusion. The man I remember most distinctly in it all was Gen. Bowen, whom I knew well. He was commanding Missouri troops, and they were in an awful plight. They were in utter confusion, and he represented the rest of the army in like case. He said that every thing was lost. Of course it was not so, but there is no denying the fact that the retreat was very disorderly, and that many of the commands were rendezvoused by establishing centers at which they could assemble.

I do not now remember exactly how long it was before Sherman made his appearance I think the next day. I have no time to look up the records now, but I have this remarkable story to tell: I received an order from Maj. Gen. Smith, who commanded my division, to send a regiment out on the Graveyard Road to cover a party sent out to drive in cattle from the Yazoo bottoms. I directed Col. Marks to move with his regiment, but it was such a precarious business, and it was such a large body of men over a thousand, as I remember itthat I thought it prudent to go with it myself. We moved with the least possible delay, and just as the head of the column reached the line of rifle pits, which constituted the famous fortifications around the city, a man came in on that road at full speed on a gray horse with hat off, yelling that the enemy was upon him. He was brought to me, and disclosed that he bad been chased and shot at just a few hundred yards outside, and that the enemy in force was at hand. He did not appear to be a soldier, and I am now sorry I did not ask who he was and how he came to be there. There was no time for curious inquiries, however, though I have often wondered since if it could be possible that there were no picked guards, nothing between Pemberton and the Federals. I never heard of anybody but the terrified countryman, as he seemed to be. I acted upon his information, halted the command, and, deploying the two flank companies as skirmishers, manned the breastworks with the remaining companies. This was all done in a very few minutes, but by the time the skirmish line had reached the crest of the opposite ridge, a distance of less than two hundred yards, they were engaged. I had sent the man who had brought the news on to Gen, Smith, and a courier to Gen. Pemberton with a report of what the citizen said. The news reached Pemberton and Smith at the same time, for Gen. Pemberton had assembled all the general officers to communicate the orders of Gen. Joe Johnston, directing Pemberton to retire from Vicksburg at once. When Pemberton received my communication he told them that the question was settled and read them my note. He ordered them to their commands at once, directing them to move their forces to the line of breastworks. "Do you mean to say that the lines were not manned?' There was not a man in the trenches or near them, from the Jackson road to the river on the left. I cannot say how it was on the right. There were some men at the point where the Jackson road passed out of the lines, but I doubt if there were any to the right of that point.
What would have been the effect if you had not happened to be where you were?

The probabilities are that Sherman (for it was his corps which had struck us) would have quietly marched in and taken possession of the lines.

Did he press you after he did encounter your skirmish line?

Not at all. The firing continued till dusk. It was about the middle of the afternoon when it began. This delay on Sherman's part saved us. If he had pressed us, there would have been no question of his success. It was a long time (at least it seemed so to me) before my flanks were secured. It was in one respect fortunate that the news found all the general officers assembled. They got their orders at once, and their movements were much expedited.

What did Sherman do?
Well, of course I could not see how things went on with him. Our troops were rushed to the lines as rapidly as possible. There was a system of outer works on the loft of the position I occupied. I was not much more than half a mile from the Mississippi on my left.. Immediately to the left of my position, and something like a quarter of a mile in front, extending to the river, is another ridge. This also had on it a line of rifle pits, and troops were sent to man them. Sherman moved to his right, and as darkness came on the firing was continuous all along our front almost to the river. It was a beautiful sight, and continued late into the night. The junction between my left and the right on the ridge in front was topographically very poor, and Pemberton very prudently abandoned that front line before morning. But this long line of environment shows that Sherman was in sufficient force to have made his way into Vicksburg at once if he had had enterprise enough to force me. He always showed a lack of this excellent quality in a soldier.

The fortifications about Vicksburg were a poorly run and poorly constructed set of earthworks, but there was no point of the whole line which could not have been carried by a simple assault without ladders or any sort of machines.

Didn't the Federals try to carry them by assault?
They made several attacks, but not one that had any promise of success, or was worthy of being called a serious assault. The first one was on my line the third day after that. Sherman formed assaulting columns, and moved out far enough to get a great many of his men killed, but he did not get near enough to make it seem anything more than a gratuitous slaughter. Young Florence, of New Orleans, who had volunteered as an aid on my staff, was killed that day. We were standing together in a battery of six pounders and howitzers, when he turned to me in great excitement and said: "See, General, they are running!" He fell, and never uttered another word. My adjutant was shot, too, while looking over my shoulder. Poor fellow! a minie ball struck him in the neck, and he died at once. I bad two others wounded, but the fatality was not serious with my command. The most shocking sight I ever beheld was of a young man who was, acting as my clerk. He had amused himself in gathering every variety of shell thrown at us by the enemy. He had a number of shelves filled with them in a hole in the ground covered by a tent fly, just adjoining my quarters of similar structure. I had often cautioned him of the danger, but one fatal day he was engaged in opening one of the 64 pound shells the Federals complimented us with every afternoon for a few hours, when I thought the world had come to an end. It was in the heat of the day, and I was lying down when the explosion took place. The poor fellow was mangled so as hardly to retain the semblance of a man. There was very little harm done by these heavy shells of the enemy, however, during the siege.
I did a thing one night which I do not feel particularly proud of, but which I thought then, and still think, was right. The enemy were approaching my salient with a sap roller, which is a great roller made of withes and saplings about six feet long and four high, which is pushed along in front of a sapper who is digging a trench running up in the face of the enemy. Word was brought me one night that this operation was going on in our front, and they did not know how to stop it. I went to the point, and found that the Federals were uncommonly bold, exposing themselves very freely. I ordered the colonel in command at the point to put an entire company on the parapet silently and take aim at the object. They fired at the word, and immediately afterward we heard one of the yankees say: "That was a shabby trick." I hope nobody was hurt, and do not wonder that they were surprised, but we were not troubled any longer with the sap roller,
They were very industrius, however, under ground. It was not many days before they had moled up to within a few rods of the ditch of the lunette. We had not been idle on our part. We had run galleries out in all directions of their possible approach, and soon we could hear them working underground, and after awhile we could almost hear what they said. The question was which would get the move on the other in the explosion. We worked very silently and allowed them to get very close to us. So long as they were working we felt pretty safe, but it was rather uncanny in those galleries, not knowing at what moment they might fire their mines. At last we thought it best to put in our charges, and we got them all tamped while they were still working and only a few feet distant. At last we touched the match, and the earth trembled. I have never heard how much damage we did, though really the object was not so much to kill as to stop their operations. They were* ended at that point with that explosion.

They then resorted to a new expedient. Turning to their right, they ran along the face of a hillside to reach a long stockade which connected two points about fifty yards apart. They constructed a covered way parallel to the stockade by digging a deep ditch and covering it with fence rails, two or three deep, to prevent us from throwing hand grenades and other destructive missiles and explosives over upon them. When they had gained the middle of the stockade they began to run galleries in under it. We were fully alive to their operations, and were hard at work with our counter galleries. This was the state of case when Pemberton opened negotiations for capitulation. All the day of the 3d of July, during the cessation of hostilities, both sides were hard at work on their mines at this point, and we should have been ready to explode far in front of the stockade the moment they were resumed, so that the stockade would have still stood, and no breach would have been effected by the enemy, but the anxious moments of their construction were never to be brought to the issue.
Gen. Pemberton took the initiative for capitulation by sending out a flag to Gen. Grant by Gen. Bowen. It was received by Grant in a discourteous and surly spirit. Pemberton proposed that a commission be appointed to arrange terms. Grant declined, declaring that he had no terms except unconditional surrender. Then Pemberton blundered horribly by going out in person to see Grant. He was received with scant courtesy and made to feel that no interview was desired by Grant. Pemberton was about to retire, telling Grant that hostilities would be immediately resumed. This brought the Federal general to some sense of the magnitude of the matter in hand, and he suggested that two of his officers, Gens. McPherson and Smith, with two of Pemberton's, Gen. Bowen and Capt. Montgomery, should step aside and confer upon terms. They had a short conference and reported, upon which Pemberton retired, with the understanding that Grant would send him his ultimatum by ten o'clock that night.

It seems obvious that if Pemberton had stopped at home when Grant told him he bad no terms to offer, he would have had the whip hand. Grant would never have dared to order an assault with a proposition to surrender in his hands, and he would have been compelled to offer terms and beg that they should be accepted or wait the process of starvation.

As it was, Pemberton called his general officers together in anticipation of Grant's ultimatum. It was a pretty large assembly. The chiefs of the several staff departments appeared and made statements with regard to the state of case in their several domains. These statements were dismal enough. The commissary reported that he had only two or three days' rations, the engineers reported the condition of the lines very bad, and all the rest presented a hopeless outlook.
Gen. Pemberton asked for propositions. Some one urged that we should cut our way out. It was fully discussed, and I do not remember that there was any one who really thought there was any tolerable probability of success. No one denied that we should be starved out in a short time, but there was a strong feeling against unconditional surrender and against surrender at all on the 4th of July.

I was young and perhaps a little bumptious, but as nobody was ready to propose anything definite, I undertook to formulate terms of surrender. I am sorry the paper is lost, but I can give the main points very nearly, I am sure. They were, that on day at hour the
Confederate forces should abandon the line and retire fifty paces within and stack arms. Leaving only a guard, they should then retire to the city, where they should remain until the necessary papers for parole could be prepared and signed. After this was done, the garrison should resume their arms and be permitted to march out, with drums beating and colors flying. That having passed the lines the column should be halted and arms stacked and then abandoned. It was also to be provided that side arms, horses of mounted officers, private property, etc., should be allowed to pass. The object of leaving the date blank was to tide over the surrender by negotiating until after the 4th of July.

While this paper was under discussion Grant's letter stating his terms arrived and was submitted to the council by the commanding general. He proposed to march in one division at eight o'clock in the morning and take possession. After paroles wore signed, troops were to march out, the officers with side arms, mounted officers with one horse each, thirty wagons and such provisions as we pleased from our own stores.

My paper had been actually signed by all the officers except Gen. S. D. Lee, who stood out that he would not surrender, though he offered no solution.

It was handed to the commanding general. He said Grant would never consent, and that if the surrender was not made on the next day Grant would assault. He proceeded to alter and amend the paper by scratching out and interlining, notwithstanding it was over the signatures of a score or more of officers. Finally, not getting it to suit him, he dismissed the council, saying that he would attend to it.

A faint semblance of this proposition appears in the letter he wrote Grant in reply to his proposed terms. Grant answered that the amendments could not be accepted, and that if he was not notified of the acceptance of his terms by nine o'clock in the morning he should regard them as having been rejected, and act accordingly. Would that he had been allowed to "act accordingly!" He never would have dared to send multitudes to destruction while he had an offer of surrender in his pocket.

Pemberton accepted Grant's terms unconditionally, and white flags were flying all along the line by nine o'clock in the morning. Guns were stacked just inside of the parapets, and the men retired to the town. Grant sent in his division and a bedlam of confusion reigned for several days while the paroles were in preparation. We finally marched out with sad hearts, deeply humiliated, and the siege of Vicksburg took its place among the stories of gallant but unsuccessful efforts of history.

A great deal has been said about Gen. Pemberton's character for fidelity. What do you think? 

Gen. Pemberton was as gallant and as loyal a man to the cause he was sworn to support as Gen. Lee himself. He was not a great general, but he had a hard place to fill and has had hard measure. I sympathize with him deeply, but no stain will rest upon his character when all is known."

Tell me a little about the sufferings of the soldiers. 
Well, of course there was much hardship, but it was not intolerable nor to be compared to what many garrisons have endured in times past. Food was short and poor. Pea bread is not the moat palatable diet in the world, but it did not much hurt the men, and we who had favor with the commissaries were never without some flour and meal. We had a great abundance of sugar, and I for my part or rather my caterer managed very well. He brought a stove out from town and had a bombproof kitchen in which our colored artist produced an abundance of slap jacks and sirup from our sugar ration. We always had what purported to be fresh beef it may have been mule, some said it was but there was no perceptible difference at the beginning and the end. I should like to tell you many details, but I suppose this will do for the present. The siege lasted forty eight days, the enemy having made his appearance on the afternoon of May 18, 1863, and the surrender took place the 4th of July, following. 


William Miller, Commander Camp 229, United Confederate Veterans, Arcadia, La.: 

I put our chaplain to work yesterday morning to raise a club, supposing it would take him all the week. He is quite a young man for a Veteran, being only eightytwo, and has only been in two wars besides the "late" one. To my surprise he came in this evening with five names and five dollars. He. expects a copy for himself of the VETERAN, and also the "Souvenir," and he also wants to know whether or not another club of five will entitle him to another extra copy of each, which he wants to present to a Confederate's widow." Reply: Yes.

B. D. Portis, Lower Peach Tree, Ala.: I should have notified you that our Camp, R. H. G. Gaines, No. 370, United Confederate Veterans, at our regular meeting in February, by unanimous vote, adopted the VETERAN as the official organ of our Camp.

Messrs. Houghton, Mefflin & Co., of Boston, are the first Northern publishers to advertise in the VETERAN.

THE NAME OF THE WAR.

William J. Fewel, Esq., of El Paso, sends subscription renewal for Mrs. J. A. Grenade, of Springfield, Mo. Maj. J. W. Sparks sends a like order from Piedras Negras, Mexico, where he is engaged as Consul for the United States. El Paso has shown more generosity to unfortunate Confederates than any other place in Dixie. Next comes an order from C. L. Edwards, of Dallas, Tex, Mr. Fewel opposes Judge Sage's name for the war: I take issue with Judge George B. Sage as to the name of our war. He suggests ".Rebellion." No, no, never. If secession was right, we were not rebels, if it was wrong, then we were. Now what arc you going to do with those gallant fellows that believed in the right of secession? Let us be consistent. Don't let us belittle our conquerors who, during the four years of war, never admitted that we were out of the Union, but just so soon as we had furled for the last time the stars and bars, then we found out that we were out of the Union. During the war we thought that we were out, but, no, no. When it closed we thought that we were back, but, no, no. " Consistency, thou art a jewel." The name of " rebel " is all right for our patriot fathers of seventysix, but the Confederate soldier was never a rebel. Rev. John B. Deering, Versailles, Ky., writes about it: As to name, I protest against "Rebellion." Yankee use has intensified its inherent hatefulness. I approve heartily your choice: "Confederate War," so it was in fact. The States waging it were confederated States.

JUDGE JOHN H. BELL, OF ARKANSAS.

NOTES ABOUT A SCOUT OF BARE ACHIEVEMENTS.

The open, frank face in Confederate uniform received months ago induced inquiry about this veteran, and the following notes have been furnished by a " Brother Reb," Capt. F. W. Lee, now of Nashville, Tenn.

Judge John H. Bell, of Nashville, Ark., is a native of Cooper County, Mo. When quite young he moved to White County, Tenn., and from there to Howard County, his present home in Arkansas. Judge Bell is of lineage dating to the early days of colonial history whose gallant deeds were reproduced by this manly scion in the trying days of our loved Confederacy, He enlisted, in 1861, in the "Davis Blues" and took a gallant part in the Battle of Oak Hill, Mo. This being a State company, he enlisted in Company I, Nineteenth Arkansas Infantry. Upon his record are inscribed the battles of Oak Hill, Arkansas Post, and with Price on his raids through Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas. He and his comrades on one of their raids subsisted without a mouthful of bread for thirty days, living as Indians on meat. At the battle of Oak Hill he protected the body of the gallant Lyon after he fell. He surrendered at Washington, Ark., in July, 1865. Lieut. Bell was one of those daring spirits of the sixties whose heroic deeds would fill volumes. As a scout he had no equal, perhaps, as an officer his care of his men was unsurpassed. Built like a giant, he went on when others stopped.

Here is an incident worthy of note: Once when at home for a few days he was surrounded by a company of bush wackers, and singly he faced and bluffed the whole company. By his daring talk he made them believe that he had his company at hand. At the close of the war He retired to private life and earnestly labored to retrieve his fortunes, caring for the many dear ones left to him, and as gallantly as of old has he borne the brunt of life.

Capt. Bell was captured at the surrender of Arkansas Post January 11, 1863, but while held at Memphis he and four comrades (James T. Anderson, Cum. Polk, John A. Turner, and Serg. Castle) made their escape in a skiff, and crossed the Mississippi, landing at Crittenden, Ark.

Many deeds of daring and hairbreadth escapes might be given. No man could live in Arkansas at an early day without a " bear experience," so I note one of the many with him worthy of note. A friend of Capt. Boll's, in looking over his desk, found two enormous ivory tusks, and remarked their sizes. " Yes," said Capt. Bell, "that bear came near getting the best of me. I was on my way home during the war, near the close, and in going down a steep hillside I heard a fearful noise among some hogs, and on riding near, and enormous He boar left them and climbed up a big whiteoak. I had only my revolver with four loads, so I got off my horse and took good aim and let drive. He did not fall, but came down that tree in a hurry and made for me. I shot him again, but had to jump round a tree to get out of reach of his paw. Round and round we went, too close to turn and shoot. I could feel him scrape my pants, so I broke down the mountain and got another shot, when we had it round another tree. By this time I was getting mad and had. my last shot, so I turned and got about five steps ahead of him, wheeled round, and saw him coming, mouth open, and foam and blood all over his head. I took as good aim as I ever did at a " yank," and let him have it in the curl of his head, and jumped out of the way as he rolled over dead."

Recognizing his worth, his friends made him constable, then County and Probate Judge, and now he is honored with a seat in the Arkansas Senate by the counties of Little River, Polk, Sevier, and Howard as a Democrat.

GEN. WILLIAM H. JACKSON.

The. picture on the front page is an excellent likeness. Next after the name of T. J. Jackson in the memorandum of Confederate commanders published by the United States Government is that of William H. Jackson, who is recorded as commanding a cavalry division under Gen. S. D. Lee, in the department of Mississippi and East Louisiana.

As second in command of the United Confederate Veterans a brief sketch of him will be read with the greater interest by the comrades who were not familiar with his important career since as well as during the war.

Gen. Jackson's parents were both of Virginia, but he was born at Paris, Tenn., in 1835. His only brother, Judge Howell E. Jackson, is an ex United States Senator, and is now a member of the Supreme Court of the United States.

A West Point graduate of the class of 1856, he entered the regular army and was in the service of " Uncle Sam," on the Western frontier in 1861, when he resigned and in company with Col. Crittenden, of Kentucky, and Maj. Longstreet he returned to his native State and was made at once captain of an artillery company.

While leading an infantry charge in the battle of Belmont, Mo., he received a bullet which he has since carried. He was made colonel and brigadier general in quick succession, and then succeeded to the command of Forrest's old division, with the Texas brigade added. At the close of the war Gen. Jackson was made commissioner by Dick Taylor for the parole of prisoners at Gainesville, Ala.

To these brief notes of his military career we add his remarks on accepting the honor conferred upon him at the Birmingham reunion: "I have eschewed politics so far as never to seek or hold any political office, but I appreciate more highly my selection to this high office to which you have called me than I would to have been Governor of the State of Tennessee or even to be President of the United States. I prize it above any honor that could be offered by citizens of America."
Gen, Jackson's remarkable career since the war, and he is now in the zenith of importance as a citizen, will be read with interest by comrades and by the public. He and his brother, Judge Jackson, married the two daughters of Gen. W. G. Harding, who lived near Nashville. Gen. Jackson took charge of the well known Belle Meade estate as the venerable Harding became in. firm of age. Belle Meade is entitled to the pride of its owner and of the country. It is located west of the city. The residence is about six miles by the Harding Pike, and it has been in the Harding family since about 1800. The acreage is 5,300. All the outer lines are of stone fencing, thirty five miles in all, which cost one dollar a running yard to build it.

The place is noted for its thoroughbred horses. The figures will stagger credulity, and yet they are accurate. The yearlings sold at the annual sales at. Belle Meade from 1875 to 1893 inclusive brought in the aggregate $615,000. And these colts have realized for their owners on the American turf $2,777,000.

One horse, Iroquois, is now regarded the most remarkable horse in the world. He is the only American bred horse that ever won the three great events of England: the Derby, the St. Leger, and Prince of Wales stakes. It is a source of gratification to Americans, and causes their great pride in Iroquois, that being American he has achieved such victories on English soil, and has demonstrated the fact that an American horse that can win the English Derby is as successful a sire as the English horse that wins the English Derby. Iroquois is so successful a sire that ten of his produce sold in 1892 for an average of $8,500 each, or $85,000 cash for the ten.

One of the luxuries worthy of note, among the many that are not used, is a park of 500 acres, in which hundreds of deer roam as free as if in an unlimited forest.

The success of Gen. Jackson in building up Belle Meade to its present renowned reputation is evidently due to the very liberal outlay of money for the best stock and for the best improvements, the General subscribing to the idea that " nothing short of the best in anything will prove an eminent success."

Gen. Jackson has steadily become more and more interested in public matters. He is the father of the " farmer movement " in this country, having organized at an Exposition here the first National Farmers' Congress ever held in America. And he held the position as President of that Congress for several years.

He also organized the first agricultural paper in this part of the country, the Rural Sun, favoring the idea that "agricultural journals, like almanacs, should be calculated for the latitude they are designed to server"

He is at present President of the Nashville Gaslight Company. He is the President of the Electric Railway, which was recently purchased for over a million dollars and reorganized.

An enterprise of special interest to Nashville people is his erection of a fireproof building here, on Church Street, just across from the First Presbyterian Church.

It will be strictly a fireproof building, with all the modern improvements. In speaking of it the General said: "There may be larger buildings in other cities, but there is no building better finished than this will be." There are four hundred tons of steel in the structure of the building. The first story is built of what is known as fire stone from his Belle Meade quarry. The other stories will be built of fire brick and terra cotta and cut stone trimmings, to be same color as the stone of the first story. The steel frame to the fourth story is up and the stone part of the wall is nearly completed. The building will contain a nine foot basement, seven stories, and a garden roof lighted by electricity. The garden is not to be for the public, but for the benefit of guests and their friends, and its management will be regulated by them. All Nashville is proud of the magnificent structure.

A CONFEDERATE AT A FEDERAL CEMETERY.

Elsewhere there is printed a speech of United States Judge George R. Sage at the National Cemetery here.

After the conclusion of the address of Judge Sage, Mr. Ed Baxter, a comrade of whom all who know him are proud, in response to an earnest invitation made a brief extempore addross.

Mr. Baxter said, in substance, that though he was an ex Confederate soldier, he was glad the government of the United States had established and maintained the National Cemeteries, which beautify and adorn the country. He was glad that the government had recognized the debt of gratitude which it owed to the gallant soldiers who followed its flag. Those who confronted the Union soldiers for four long years of battle were the best witnesses of their valor and devotion to the cause for which they fought.

He honored the Union soldiers. He felt the highest respect for the gallant men who lay buried around him. They were American citizens of the highest type, for they lost their lives in the defense of what they thought to be the constitutional principles of their country.

It is easy to talk, but when a man risks his life in defense of his convictions of right, be presents the best specimen of manhood, whether he wore blue or gray.

Though the war had resulted in the abolition of slavery, Mr. Baxter felt no reget at the loss of his former slaves. When he entered the army he left his wife and child at homo, and his former slaves remained with them. Several of those who were once his slaves are now his servants, and for all of them he cherished the most kindly feelings. If any one of them harbored the least ill feeling toward him, he had never beard of it.
The soldiers in the opposing armies, even in the heat of conflict, always treated each other with personal consideration and respect. No instance has been recorded where a soldier of either army refused to share his canteen of water with his wounded foe.

At the close of the war the devastated condition of the South rendered it impossible for her people to provide suitable cemeteries and monuments for the Confederate dead, but, with such means as were at their disposal, they gathered together, in their public cemeteries, the treasured relics of their heroic dead, and tenderly cared for them, as best they could.

While the Confederate dead. have not received the honors due to their courage and devotion, the fact that the Union soldiers who fell in battle have received the honors justly due them excites neither envy nor regret. There is no leaf too green, no bud too bright, to be laid on the graves of heroes.

The day will yet come when some great hearted man of the North will say, in the halls of Congress, of his own volition, and without solicitation from the South, " the Confederates were brave American citizens, who died in the defense of their ideas of constitutional principles. Let the nation gather up their relics, and accord to them the honors which they so richly deserve."

There is not a foot of territory belonging to the Union which has not been acquired or defended by the aid of Southern valor. During the war the South fought in good faith, and at its close she returned to her allegiance with equal good faith.
The flag of the Union is now, as before the war, the only flag to which the South yields her allegiance, and where she gives her allegiance, there also will she give her loyalty.

JAMES G. HOLMES, OF CHARLESTON.

Capt. James G. Holmes, one of the delegates to the Birmingham reunion of United Confederate Veterans, from Camp Sumter, No. 250, was born in Charleston, S. C., June 17, 1843, in his ancestral home that faces Fort Sumter, after which his Camp is named. At the time his State seceded He was a member of the fourth class of the South Carolina Military Academy, then at the "Arsenal" in Columbia, S. C., where the fourth class spent the first year of their academic education before being transferred to the " Citadel," the January following and promoted to third class men. Hence it was that Cadet Holmes took no part in firing on the " Star of the West " from the battery on Vinegar Hill, Morris Island, Charles

ton Harbor. His class, being the youngest class at the "Citadel," was required to do garrison duty. In June 1862, Cadet Holmes was one of some forty cadets who formed a camp known as the " Cadet Rangers," and who left their Alma Mater because they deemed it their imperative duty to take the field. They were suspended by the Superintendent, and later expelled by the Board of Visitors for rebelling. After the war, however, the survivors were received by the "Association of Graduates, South Carolina Military Academy," as members in good standing. Private Holmes served with Ilia company, which was F. Troop, Sixth South Carolina Volunteer Cavalry, in South Carolina, until May, 1864, when the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth South Carolina Volunteer Cavalry were ordered to Virginia, and known as Butler's Cavalry Brigade, of Wade Hampton's command. Private Holmes served with his command until July of the same year, when he was ordered to reorganize the 300500 dismounted men of Butler's Brigade into a battalion of three companies, known afterward as the "Dismounted Battalion of Butler's Brigade," or in the parlance of the mounted portion of the brigade as the "Stud horse Battalion."
As adjutant of this command He served until the battalion was disbanded at Charlotte, N. C., after the fall of Columbia, where the battalion served under the command of Lieut. Col. Napier, and fell back before Sherman. They were of the last troops to leave Columbia.

At Charlotte, N. C., Brig. Gen. E. M. Law, later promoted to Maj. Gen.. took command of all the remounted men of Butler's Cavalry Division, and invited Lieut. Holmes to serve as his aid de camp, acting as assistant adjutant general until the two portions of the two brigades, Butler's and Young's, were reunited under Maj. Gen. Butler's command, when Gen. Law took command of Butler's Brigade and retained the same until the second day's fight (first day's infantry fight), when Brig. Gen. T. M. Logan took command the same night Gen. Law assumed command of Butler's Division, Gen. Butler being sick, and Capt. Holmes was assigned to duty as acting assistant inspector general. This position he maintained until the end.

At the last he joined Gen. Hampton's escort, seeking to gain the trans Mississippi department. At Yorkville, S. C., Gen. Hampton decided to go no farther. Capt. Holmes with his younger brother, C. R. Holmes, joined Capt. Shadborne, Hampton's chief of scouts, still endeavoring to cross the Mississippi to continue the fight, but on reaching Athena, Ga., found it useless to continue the effort. Capt. Holmes took part in all the fights of his command, and was only furloughed when ill with typhoid fever in South Carolina in 1863.

On the field and in the camp he showed the effect of his military and moral training at the South Carolina Military Academy, where duty and discipline are ever the watchwords. Capt. Holmes has in his possession recommendations for promotion for gallantry at the battle of Gravely run, August 23, 1864. Working quietly in his home, Charleston, S. C., Capt. Holmes takes a keen interest in everything relating to his old comrades, including their exponent, the CONFEDERATE VETERAN, and is always to be found, if possible, at Confederate reunions, also on memorial occasions, and especially as a worker for Memorial Day, May 10th, in Charleston.
It is due to say more of Capt. Holmes as a practical friend of the VETERAN: When en route to Richmond to witness the final interment of Jefferson Davis, I sought a gentleman in the special car from Charleston at the request of a niece of Mrs. Stonewall Jackson, and the one of whom I inquired said, " Holmes is here," and he went about finding that gentleman, whose first words were: "I have just taken nineteen subscriptions for you." Since then he has gone ahead of all the many noble comrades and friends who have done so much for the VETERAN. There are 170 subscribers in Charleston.

BRAVE AND TRUE OLD SOUTH CAROLINA.

At a reunion in Summerville, S. C., there were present about three thousand people. Addresses were made by Gen. Huguenin, Senator Butler, Col. Coward, Col. Tupper, Commander of the Gen. James Conner Camp, and others. Many tributes were paid to the gallant Conner, for whom the Camp was named. Gen. Butler said, speaking of him, that it was a special pleasure to be among men whose Camp bore the name of one dear to every Carolinian, one who was 80 distinguished in war, who was also distinguished in times of peace, James Conner, whose beautiful blue eyes always filled with an expression of love as he spoke of South Carolina, Conner, who, in 1876, next to Hampton, was the man who did most to liberate the State, and who was one of his earliest comrades in arms. " No honor could be too great for him, no memory too dear."

In continuation Senator Butler said that it was impossible to conceive what a relief it was to him to come after months in Washington, spent in the midst of political turmoil, where the air was impregnated with politics and political schemes to a meeting such as this, not to talk politics, but merely to look once more into the eyes of the men with whom he had fought shoulder to shoulder in the days gone by, and to clasp once more the hand of the few who remained. It was delightful, he said, to lay aside all thoughts of differences of opinion, if only for the day, and meet as brothers on the common ground of love for the State for which they had fought and for which their brothers had died. It was at Gravelly Bun, he said, that he had seen Col. Tupper guilty of as cool a piece of impudence as he ever heard. A man who had been firing his piece all day said to Capt. Tupper: "My piece is getting fouled." "Shut your mouth, you fool," said Tupper, "that man next to you will get killed in a minute, and you can take his gun."

After Col. Coward's patriotic address Col. Tupper introduced "Major" Dibble. This gentleman, after making his bow, said that now the old French saying, "All comes to him who waits," was borne in upon him. In Virginia during the war he had been sergeant major, and always called " Sergeant Dibble," that he had waited long for the "Major," but it had "come at last."
A more extended account is given of the address by Col. George Tupper. He emphasized the peril of United Veterans through "dabbling" in politics as an organization and read from the Constitution that those who did would forfeit their charters.

He paid high tribute to the heroism of the men and boys of the South who astonished the North and the world by the awakened vigor with which they surrendered every habit of ease and entered the service of their own Southland.

He described the noble manner in which men who had advocated the rights of the States went forth to battle for them. And continuing He said of others:

Who among us cannot remember some fair haired boy who threw away books and toys to take up arms in our cause? His life had been like a summer day all genial and sunshine, but when the struggle came his hot blood ran wildly through his veins, his pure, young heart beat high with noble hopes, and forgetting all the ties at home he breathed a fervent prayer for those he loved and marched to fields of strife. And when the battle raged at a furious height we have marked his steady step and watched with pride his steadfast eye as he walked in the path of death, with the smoke curled up from the crimson field, and have found him foremost among the dead, his brave heart stilled forever

But far grander than the faith and fortitude and courage of our men was the calm endurance of our heroic women. Where under the sun can be found daughters of any land who were more tenderly guarded, more kindly revered, and more indulged than the women of the South? Every wish gratified, every hope realized, every want supplied, they were nursed as delicate flowers that a rude wind would blight and a want of care destroy, and yet, how brave and enduring they were! They saw father and son, husband and brother go forth, and they were proud that they went. The doting mother gave her heart's pride to the cause with many a secret pang, but not a murmur of complaint. The devoted wife, whose existence was interwoven as it were with that of her manly lord, would see him go with a sorrow too sacred for us to know, and yet she would not bid him stay. The maiden, all youth and tenderness and love, would twine her snowy arms about her brother's neck and weep until her heart would almost break, and she, too, would have him go. Freely would she have given her pure, young life to shield him from the slightest harm, but she knew that he was brave and true, and she would rather have him die a thousand deaths than he should bear a coward's name or falter in a noble cause.

And so, throughout the length and breadth of the entire South, the greatest sacrifices that brave hearts ever made were offered up by our devoted women. They saw those they loved go forth to battle and die, and. although they felt it hard and terrible to bear, they nerved themselves for every blow and proved equal to every trial.

They will never tell and we can never know how many dreary hours of the silent night they spent in the agony of their hidden grief, praying for those who were battling far away or who, perhaps, were lying dead beneath Virginia snows.

Who of us did not believe that the faith and fortitude, courage and devotion of our people would give to our arms success complete and most triumphant? And yet, now when we look back to those four years, we are amazed to know that we suffered so much and endured so long.

In that fatal but most glorious struggle great deeds were done, which in after years history will proudly record and of which poets will be pleased to sing. Impartial men will write of the bleeding feet, the scanty rations and wasted forms, of the toil and trouble, care and sorrow of our noble braves, and they will tell how, forgetful of every pain and pang, they courted danger as a thing of sport, and fought as though it was a boon to die on their native soil for their native rights. And history will tell of warriors such as the world has rarely known.

As long as valor and genius are revered his memory will be green in our land and we shall look back to his blameless life and splendid achievements with hearts overflowing with gratitude and love.

Who had in our own little State men whose deeds should make them immortal, and their names should occupy a conspicuous place in the temple of fame. Can we recall the magnificent courage of Bee, Gist, Jenkins,
and Donovant without a thrill of admiration, and remember without a pang too painful to express the names of Frank Hampton and Hugh Aiken, Robert Jeffords and George Cuthbert, Allen Miles and Sumter Brownfield, and the thousands of other comrades who fought, bled, and died as they did.

South Carolina God bless her! was full of pure and noble blood, and she poured it out like rain. like the Spartan mother, she sent her sons to battle with a proud faith in their manhood and zealous care for their glory, and when they were brought back to her dead and cold she took them to her arms, for she knew that they had fought for her cause and had died that her name might be honored.

Comrades, let us stand by the dear old State as long as we live, let us guard her interest and protect her rights the best we can, and above all things maintain her unsullied name.

It was determined by resolution of the assembly to erect a monument in the town near the line between the counties of Berkeley and Colleton to the Confederate dead of the two counties.

CONFEDERATE ORGANIZATIONS IN MISSISSIPPI.

P. M. Savery, of Tupelo, furnishes the following information about the Northeast Mississippi Confederate Veteran Association. The officers of the State Association are Gen. S. D. Lee, commanding, B. T. Sykes, Adjutant General, and P. M. Savery, Inspector General.

TUPELO, Miss., June 7, 1894.

The oldest organization in the South is in Northeast Mississippi, and is known as the Northeast Mississippi Confederate Veteran Association. It was organized by five ladies and three veterans April 26, 1866, at Baldwyn, Miss. Annual flower decorations have never failed since 1866. Decoration day now 10th of May. It was first known as Baldwyn Confederate Memorial Association, but after completion of monument it was changed to Northeast Mississippi Confederate Veteran Association.

Its membership now is composed of veterans from the counties of Lee, Prentiss, Alcorn, Tishomingo, Itawamba, Monroe, Chickasaw, Pontotoc, Union, and Tippah, and honorary members are from other different portions of Mississippi. Its President since 1882 has been Maj. Gen. John M. Stone, now Governor of Mississippi. P. M. Savory, of Tupelo, is its Adjutant General. Each county has an organization subordinate to the District Association, and they are known as Lee Division, Prentiss Division, etc., taking name of the several counties where organized. Each division is regularly organized, and the membership is now about 1,250 veterans.
Daughters of the Confederacy are also organized as auxiliary to the association, with county organizations like the veterans, and their roll has about 1,000 members, including the floral roll. Mrs. Jose Frazer Cappleman, of Okolona, is its present President. There are Presidents for the county organizations. Miss Willie Tyson, of Baldwyn, is President of Lee County. The name of the ladies' department, as above noted, is " Fidelia Circle, No. 1, Daughters of the Confederacy," and it is composed of the county divisions.

Sons of Veterans are also organized, and have been for years. Senior Commander and acting Grand Commander is J. W. Keyes, of Tupelo, also Commander J. M. Stone Camp, No. 1, Sons of Veterans, in Tupelo. The general roll of Sons has over 1,000 names.

Little Confederates

was the name of a band of young ladies that several years ago organized a semi military troup, and gave drills and concerts to obtain funds wherewith to build the monument in Baldwyn cemetery. Each girl is an honorary member of the Circle.

Memorial exercises are held at each annual meeting for those who have passed over the river, and every year the names of all who have at any one time been members, and have " entered rest," are called at memorial services, and a floral offering to each is placed in the urn of remembrance.

Next annual meeting at Okolona, Miss., in July, 1894. Date to be announced hereafter.

 

A YANKEE BEHIND A BIG PINE TREE.

On the 27th day of May, on the New Hope or Dallas line, our regiment, the Twentieth Tennessee, was ordered from our left toward the right for a mile or so to support some cavalry. We arrived at the place of destination about sunset, and found the cavalry dismounted and skirmishing and retreating until they were in our rear and nothing between us and the enemy but a few bushes and some large pine trees. It was now almost dark, and the skirmish line of the enemy had gotten uncomfortably close, in perhaps fifty or sixty feet of us. One of our boys, J. J. G , exclaimed, " There goes a yankee! " and with the words bang, bang from perhaps a dozen Enfield rifles rang out on the stillness of the night. Brother yankee exclaimed in a loud voice: "You are mighty right it is a yankee!" and launched himself behind one of those big pine trees untouched and unhurt. He was doubtless a brave fellow, for He had not been there behind the big pine long before, hearing some of our boys laughing, he said: "O Confed., Confed., what makes you cough so? We will make you cough worse than that in the morning. O Confed., Confed., come over and give us a whirl. O Confed., come over and get a good cup of coffee and a good blanket to sleep under."

Some one of our boys here said to him: "You had rather have a negro under that blanket with you than one of 119." Our officers forbade us talking further with him, and during the night he fell back to safer quarters. Next morning just at the dawn of day the " Bloody Tenth " (Tennessee) passed over our line and soon captured some thirty prisoners without firing a gun, but whether our pine tree neighbor of the night before was among them I have never known. WEAVER.

Maj. Fred C. Low, Gloucester, Mass.: "I have never been able to find any of the Confederates who were in front of us at Petersburg, Va., June 18, 1864. My regiment, First Maine Heavy Artillery, are to dedicate a monument on the 0. P. Hare field, at Petersburg, June 18, 1894. It is the same field Gen. Gordon came over and captured Fort Steadman, March 25, 1865, when he caught the Ninth Army Corps napping."
Miss Sue M. Monroe, living on the Manassas battle ground, in sending subscription renewals and for the " Short History of the Confederate States," by Jefferson Davis, writes of a visit by herself and her guest, Mrs. Messenger, to the Henry House by which Jackson stood "like a stone wall," saying:

It looks now like it did then, only there is a fence. . . You know the old lady was killed during the first battle. She was wounded in five places and was eighty five years old. Her daughter lived to be eighty two years of age, and her son is about that age now. He does not look so old. He lives at the old home, and the only other person who lives there is a colored man who works the farm. Mr. Henry has marked the places where different officers fell.

Capt. R. B. Foster, writing from the Soldiers' Home, Chelsea, Mass., inclosed a clipping from the Boston Globe containing a compliment on the elocutionary attainment of Miss Mayme A. Leahy, of Richmond, Va., and Miss Carrie Mead, of Dallas, Tex., saying: "I send because of the deep interest the VETERAN seems to take in the young ladies of the South."

Subscribers at Washington, Ga., are informed that Miss Gertrude Cordes, daughter of the late Henry Cordes, is authorized to take renewals for the VETERAN. Honor to the memory of that faithful patriot. Washington for some time had a larger list than any city of Georgia through his work. Let every one of the old list renew in compliment to the first solicitor if the VETERAN is at all worthy.

ohn R. Carwile, Bradley, S. C.: "The four years I spent in the army are the proudest in my humble career, and I can candidly say that I did my duty to the best of my ability. I served as adjutant of the Seventh Regiment, South Carolina Infantry, Kershaw's Brigade, McLaw's Division, Longstreet's Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. After Kershaw's promotion to major general he honored me with a position on his staff. My first year's service was in the ranks. I do not give my positions in a boastful spirit, for above all others I honor and doff my hat to the heroic privates of the Confederate infantry."

J. C. Birdsong, Raleigh, N. C.: "The VETERAN has enabled me to find army friends whose whereabouts were unknown. As a practical printer I think the VETERAN is all that any one can desire in make up and presswork. By the way let me say that I claim the honor of having returned to work sooner than any comrade that was with 'Mars Bob' at Appomattox. Arriving home (Petersburg, Va.) late Saturday afternoon, I secured cases on the Daily Express in less than two hours, and returned to the same stand that I had vacated four years before when I left with the boys for Norfolk."

KILLED TWO ARTILLERYMEN WITH HIS SABRE.

Joshua Brown, who was of the 2d Kentucky Cavalry) writes: New York, April 7, 1894 I give you an incident of the second battle of Manassas, in which the Colonel of the 1st Virginia Infantry killed two Federal artillerymen with his sabre, as it was told me by an eye witness:

When orders reached Longstreet's Corps it moved forward, forcing an almost impregnable, though illy defended, pass of the Bull Run range, and marching all day, part of the time under heavy artillery fire. The men occupied in the evening the position assigned them on the field of the second Manassas. They remained in position until about three o'clock the next day, when Corse's Brigade, Kemper's Division, was ordered to charge the enemy's line and take a battery which was very annoying. Tired with the monotony of long suspense, at the order the men sprung forward with irresistible alacrity, broke the hostile line, and carried the battery on a run.

Here occurred an act of gallantry worthy of note. The field officers of the brigade, so destructive was the fire of the enemy's sharpshooters to all mounted men, had been ordered to dismount, and all had done so save Gen. Corse and the commander of the 1st Virginia Infantry, Col. F. G. Skinner. When the regiment got within twenty or thirty yards of the guns the Colonel dashed ahead of them into the midst of the hostile battery and cut down one gunner just as he seized the lanyard of a gun heavily charged with grape, which would have been fearfully destructive to his men. Col. Skinner carried the heaviest sabre in the army except that of a Prussian friend, Von Borke, of "Jeb" Stuart's Staff. The Federal gunner was cut through his collar bone, and his head almost severed from his body, hence the Colonel's reputation with the Army of Northern Virginia of having severed a a man's head at a single blow. Immediately after this an artilleryman seized the bridle of the Colonel's horse, checked him up and fired a pistol in his face. The Colonel turned his face to one side in time to escape with a slight wound on his ear. His assailant dodged to escape the sabre, but the heavy weapon passed under his shoulder and through his heart, and the man was dead before he fell to the ground. This is probably the only instance in battle where Federals were killed by the sword of a Confederate infantry officer. When the Colonel's men picked him up, he having been shot through the right side, the ball shattering in its course three ribs and the breast bone, the first words he uttered were, "Didn't old Fox (his horse) behave splendidly?" To show how close was the action, in addition to the above wounds mentioned, his left arm was struck between the elbow and the wrist by an explosive ball which broke both bones. This incident is mentioned in the report of Gen. Corse.
I went down on Staten Island from the city to see the old gentleman the other day, and found him very feeble, being now in his 81st year. He is living with his son in law, Capt. Thomas G. Green. When I told him I had heard of this incident the old fire was fanned to flame in his bosom, and as he raised himself from his couch his eyes flashed, and he seemed to feel that he was mounted upon his old charger again leading his men to fame. Col. Skinner is a perfect type of those few remaining highly cultivated, elegant and courtly gentlemen of the old Southern school.

Since the foregoing was put in type Mr. Brown has sent a clipping from the Turf, Field and Farm, which contains interesting notes:

Col. Skinner died in Charlottsville, Va., May 21. He had spent the winter in New York, where his feeble frame suffered from the cold wind, also an attack from indigestion, and he asked to be taken to Virginia, where his lungs could inhale the invigorating air and his eyes rest upon the Blue Ridge which he loved so well. At Charlottsville he lingered for some weeks surrounded by loved ones. He calmly closed his eyes when the white robed messenger entered the sick chamber. He had passed his 80th birthday. Col. Skinner was born at Annapolis, Md., March 17, 1814. When twelve years of age he was taken to France by Gen. Lafayette, and there educated with the grandchildren of that distinguished man at the castle of Lagrange. He returned to Maryland, and on the death of Lafayette was sent by President Andrew Jackson to France as the bearer of letters of condolence voted by Congress to the family of the deceased General. While a planter in Mississippi he found delight in riding to hounds. He entered the army as Colonel of the 1st Virginia Regiment. He had lost his property, and resolutely faced the future, and went to New York in 1865, He joined the editorial staff of the Turf, Field and Farm, worked with energy, and rapidly made friends throughout the North. In the spring of 1871 he went to Egypt, and remained there until December, 1872, a trusted friend of the Khedive. The train which bore the remains to Baltimore on Wednesday forenoon was met on its arrival there by an escort from the old Maryland Line, and taken to the family vault, where sleeps the dust of the ancestors of Col. Skinner.

W. C. Zimmerman, Commander Camp at Inverness, Fla., May 7, 1894: I am truly gratified at the action of the Birmingham Convention in reference to the VETERAN. Thus far I have not secured many subscribers, but shall soon issue an order for a reunion in this county, when I shall make it a point to obtain subscribers. Your paper improves with age, and ought to be in the hands of every old Confederate, or his son or daughter, if he has gone over the river.

Dr. N. B. Kennedy, who was surgeon of the 27th Alabama Regiment, writes from Hillsboro, Texas, May 16th: The Hill County, Texas, Camp, No. 166, United Confederate Veterans, headquarters at Hillsboro elects the following officers: B. Knox, Captain Commanding, J. W. Morrison, First Lieutenant, J. T. Harris, Quartermaster. T. D. Carney, Adjutant. The annual reunion will occur at Hubbard City, Texas. Date not yet fixed.

PROF. WILLIAM D. CABELL, Principal of Norwood Institute, Washington, D. C., which has been so liberally advertised in the VETERAN, is ever zealous for the interests of his people at the South. Prof. Cabell is the head of the Union Hill branch of his distinguished family, and was born there in 1833. Until after the war he remained there and possessed a large portion of the ancestral estate. He named his place Norwood. In 1855 he married Miss Bettie Cabell, a distant relative. One of the two daughters by that marriage is the wife of A. Moore, Jr., a distinguished lawyer and statesman, of Clark County, Va., and the other is Mrs. Stephenson, of Virginia.

In 1868 Prof. Cabell married Miss Ellet, a daughter of Col. Charles Ellet, Jr., a distinguished civil engineer, who built the first suspension bridge in this country at Niagara. By this second marriage there are two sons and three daughters, Ellet, the elder son, is a graduate of one Virginia military institute. A published account of Prof. Cabell says:

He gave his best efforts and devoted his whole life to the service in which the people were engaged. His two brothers served in the Confederate Army, but he was not permitted by his fellow citizens to do so. His was the more difficult and equally perilous task of conducting the home defenses, arresting deserters, controlling the negroes, transacting general business for the county, and checking the progress of the enemy. In the performance of these duties he was tireless, in the saddle by night as by day, visiting the recesses of the mountains, ferreting out the men who sought refuge there and sending them back to the field, while he provided for the support of their families. His house was the refuge of all who needed help, his private means were exhausted in providing for 
all who came to him. He had unlimited powers from the County Court, and was known through the country side as the red fox," so energetic was he, so active and almost ubiquitous. He shared the last crust with the wives and children of the soldiers, and the close of the war found him with a ruined and devasted farm and homestead, a shattered constitution, and a county debt to him of forty thousand dollars, not one dollar of which he has every asked or received in return."

After the war his brother in law, Rev. T. F. Martin,. an Episcopal rector, now of Nashville, opened a school at Norwood. This institution was soon enlarged, and free tuition given to young men who had served in the Confederate Army. Board and clothing and books were furnished by Prof. Cabell as he was able.

Several years ago Prof, Cabell opened the Norwood. Institute in Washington, and with Mrs. Cabell as associate principal, has an institution suited to the finish of girls in education, and at the same time giving that training in society which makes the thoroughly educated woman.

D. J. Wilson, Era, Texas: I was a member of Capt. J. E. Simmons' Company, A., 33d Mississippi Regiment, Featherston's Brigade, Army of Tennessee. Capt. Simms would always give his company a big dinner of pork and potatoes once a year when it was possible for him to do so. He was loved by his men. At the battle of Franklin he said to me, as we were going into the charge, November 30, 1864, "Dan, I will beat you to those yankees over yonder." Says I, "Captain, I will get there by the time you do." The first line of works was soon reached. I fired my gun at the enemy as they were leaving these works, and was reloading when I saw our Captain on the works waving his hat to his company to "come on." He leaped off of the works and called to his company, "Come on, my brave boys, let's drive them from the field!" He went over the main line of works at the gin house and was captured. I was wounded in the hip just at their abatis. The smoke soon settled on us with the darkness, so we could only see by the light of the guns. Our flag bearer was killed on their works. The enemy got the flag. If the old regiment. could get our flag returned to them it would be a pleasure to have it at our reunions. I wish to correspond with Mr. Yarber, of a South Carolina regiment, and a Georgian of the 5th Georgia Cavalry, whose name I have forgotten. They were with me at Saulsbury in 1865, when we made our escape from Stoneman's soldiers. If either of them sees this he will bring back to mind anew the narrow escape we had of our lives. 

Dr. J. T. Wilson, Commander of Mildred Lee Camp, Sherman, Texas, May 10, 1894: Our Adjutant represented the Camp at Birmingham. He was sick and at his hotel. If he had been present he would have cast the entire ten votes in favor of the VETERAN. At a meeting of our Camp last winter I offered resolutions making the CONFEDERATE VETERAN the official organ of the Camp, and it was unanimously adopted.

W. A. Campbell, Columbus, Miss.: We are getting up an entertainment now to assist in putting headstones over the graves of the dead soldiers who are buried here in our cemetery, at least 1,200 in number.

MISTOOK EACH OTHER FOR AN ENEMY.

DR. J. B. STINSON, SHERMAN, TEXAS.

Gracie's Alabama Brigade occupied a position in the trenches in front of Petersburg to the left of the " Crater," near where the Norfolk & Western Railroad crossed the lines. A ravine that passed through the breastworks, and had thus been dammed up by them, became filled with water for a considerable distance and made quite a pond. Between this pond and the railroad above mentioned was a space of perhaps two hundred yards, where Confederate and Federal picket lines were very close together, in fact uncomfortably so. While on a tour of inspection along the lines one day Gen. Lee, seeing the close proximity of the two picket lines, both being but a short distance from our main line, remarked to Gen. Gracie, "Those fellows are too close there." Gen. Gracie construed this into an order for him to capture the line of Federal pickets When night came he directed Capt. John C. Moorhead, of the 41st Alabama Regiment, to take his company, numbering about sixty men, and select ten more men from the regiment and go over and capture the line at the point of the bayonet. He did not wish to bring on a general shelling, hence the order was not to fire a gun, but to effect the capture at the point of the bayonet. In Moorhead's company there were two men named Sparks and Glenn, I think mess mates. Leaping the works and approaching the enemy the boys began "taking them in" as fast as they came to them. The night being very dark, and owing to the noise produced, Sparks and Glenn, above named, mistook each other for enemies, and, true to their orders, tried their bayonets on each other, and getting in too close quarters to use their guns they clinched, and took it "fist and skull." In the scuffle they got into the water of the pond. It occurred to Sparks, the older and stouter of the two men, that if he could get his antagonist into the water he would drown him. So, dragging Glenn out to where the water was about waist deep he "souzed" him under. By a strong effor t Glenn got his head above water and called for help. When he did this Sparks recognized his voice and said, "Why, Jim Glenn is this you?" "Yes, by , it is. I reckon we had better quit, hadn't we?" Turning each other loose they went back, recovered their guns, and each captured a prisoner and came back over the works dripping wet.

COMPLIMENT TO MISS A. C. CHILDRESS, NEW OBLEANS, SECRETARY OF THE N. C. V. The Survivors' Association, of Charleston, showed their appreciation of that young lady's work for Veterans, by sending her a souvenir of the Birmingham reunion. It consists of two mother of pearl placques set in silver frames, upon the one is a photo likeness of Fort Sumter after the South Carolina troops had bombarded it in 1861, in the other a photo of St. Michael's (Episcopal) Church, showing side views of the City Hall a,nd county court house, the last named built of brick brought from England. These placques are very handsome, and were made in Germany, to the order, and from the designs, of one of our leading jewelry firms. A solid silver bon bon souvenir spoon, showing on inner side of bowl Fort Sumter in 1865, on outer side, St. Michael's Church, and on end of handle, in bas relief, coat of arms of South Carolina. Multum inparvo truly for a spoon.






 

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03/15/2008

 

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