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NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL COMMISSION
BULLETIN

No.

l'

ADDRESSES

UNVEILING OF THE MEMORIAL

Forth Carolina

Women

PRESENTED TO

of the Confederacy

THil STATfi

BV THK L\T!i

ASHLE\ HORNE

RALEIGH
JUNE 10,1914

  

 

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ADDRESSES
AT THE

UNVEILING OF THE MEMORIAL
TO THE

North Carolina

Women

of the Confederacy

PRESENTED TO THE STATE BY THE LATE

ASHLEY HORNE

Compiled by
R. D.

W.

CONNOR

RALEIGH
Edwards & Broughton Printing
State Printers
1914

Co.

 The North
J.

W.

J.

Carolina Historical Commission

Bryan Grimes, Chmrman.

Thomas M, Pittman, Henderson.
R. D.

Raleigh.
D. H. Hiix, Raleigh.

Peele, Raleigh.

W. Conor,

M.

C. S.

Secretary, Raleigh.

Noble, Chapel Hill.

 Monument Commission
James
R. D.

Henry
W. H.

A.
S.

London.

BuRGWYN.*

A. Lo.xg, Chairman.

W.

Cox^'OR, Secretary.
J.

Thomas W. Mason.
*

Deceased.

Bbyan Grimes.

Mrs. F. M. Williams.

 Digitized by the Internet Arciiive
in

2010 with funding from

University of North Carolina at Chapel

Hill

http://www.archive.org/details/publicationsofno16nort

 :

Introductory Note
time since the erection of the monument to the North
Carolina soldiers of the Confederacy, in 1S95, various plans have been

From time

to

suggested looking to the erection of a similar memorial to the Xorth
Carolina Women of the Confederacy. In 1911 Gen. Julian S. Carr,

County, introduced in the House of

a representative from

Durham

Representatives a

providing for the appropriation of a sum suf-

bill

ficient for the erection of

to be enacted into law.

ment

to the

better than

The bill, hoAvever, failed
was a keen disappoint-

such a memorial.

The

fate of this bill

thousands of Confederate soldiers of

any

heroism of the

jN^orth

Carolina who,

others, appreciated the services, the sacrifices,

women

To none was

of the Confederacy.

and the

the disap-

pointment keener than to the late Ashley Home, then a representative
in the General Assembly from Johnston County.
Ashley Home was one of six sons whom his mother gave to the

whom

Confederacy, three of

did not return.

He

himself was a mere

boy of twenty Avhen he volunteered in 1861. He saw four years of
arduous service in Eastern North Carolina and under Lee in the Army

He was first assigned to Company C, 50th
North Carolina Regiment, biit was afterwards transferred to the
Fifty-third Regiment, of which his older brother, Sam, was lieutenant,
After Appomattox,
in the Daniel-Grimes Brigade, Rode's Division.
as orderly sergeant, he was sent to bear to General Johnston at Greensboro and General Sheraian, near Durham's Station, the official news
of Northern Virginia.

of Lee's surrender.

At the

close of his four years of service

he returned

a typical

"North Carolina woman

through her that he learned

whom

to his

home

in

and sterling
His own mother was
of the Confederacy," and it was

Johnston County, where, by hard labor, self
integrity, he accumulated a handsome fortune.

sacrifices,

to appreciate the heroic qualities of those

he called ''our greatest soldiers from

'61 to '65."

Bitterly disappointed at the refusal of the General Assembly to erect

a suitable memorial to the
to do

so himself.

plan approving

it,

Women

of the Confederacy, he determined

His intimate friends with

whom

he discussed his

he made the formal offer in the following letter to

Secretary of State J. Bryan Grimes
Clayton, N. C, December
HojV. J.

Bryan Grimes, Secretary

12, 1911.

of State.

Raleigh, North Carolina.

My Dear

—

have been thinking for a long time that the State
would never build a Woman's Confederate Monument, and I being a soldier
Colonel:

I

 NORTH OAKOLIXA HISTORICAL COMMISSION.

6

Army tor four years, and seeing the work that the women of my
State did in (arrying food and clotliing, and being in every battle tliat was
fought around llichmond, and knowing that they were as great or greater
The
soldiers than the men, I have decided to build this monument myself.
time has come in my life when 1 tliink no citizen of the State could think
of Lee's

that

I

have any ulterior motive

in so doing.

matter I desire that you see the Comand Grounds, open this question to them and
to let this monument be erected on the ground
your assistance.
If they will do so I will be pleased for you to see what you can do in
the way of designs from some studio in America and make such selections
as you think would be attractive to the eye and to the women of our
country, to cost about ten thousand dollars, and submit your selection to me
at your convenience.
I trust that I am not troubling you too much in this undertaking, but I
know that you are fond of the old soldiers, both living and dead, and are
only too glad to be of whatever service you are able to give. Besides you
will remember that I bent my gun around a black-jack tree at Appomattox
Court House under Grimes" command.
Yours truly,
With esteem, I am.
Ashley Horxe.

Therefore, before moving
mittee on Public Buildings
ascertain if they will agree
which I have selected with

Tlie Council of State
site in the capitol

in the

promptly accepted the offer and dedicated a
Mr. Home selected the

square for the monument.

following committee to "whom he entrusted entirely the execution of his
Messrs. James A. Long, J. Bryan Grimes, W. II. S. Burgwyn,
Henry A. London, B. D. ^Y. Connor, and Mrs. Fannie Bansoni WilUpon the death of Colonel Burg^vyn, hefore the completion
liams.
of the monument, Mr. Home selected Capt. Thomas W. Mason to fill
The committee selected Colonel Long as Chairman, and
the vacancy.

plans:

Mr. Connor

as Secretary,

Xew

Lukeman of
monument Avas

and on July

24, 1012, selected

York, as the sculptor

to

Mr. Augustus

execute the design.

erected and unveiled in the city of Baleigh,

June

The
10,

1014, in the presence of the ISTorth Carolina Division, United ConIt was presented
federate Veterans, and of an immense assemhlage.

hy the Chairman of the Commission, Hon. James A. Long,
and accepted by the Governor of I^orth Carolina.
Immediately after the unveiling of the monument the United Daugh-

to the State

ters

Xorth Carolina Division, presented to the
painted hy their President, Mrs. MarMr.
Home,
portrait of

of the Confederacy,

State a

shall Williams.

The death

of

The
Mr.

portrait has been

Home

hung

in the

Hall of History.

hefore the completion of the

erected by his generosity saddened an occasion which was in

one of the most notable in the history of ISTorth Carolina.

monument
all

respects

  

ASHLEY HORNE.

 

Order of Exercises
James A. Long, Presiding.
(In City Auditorium)

Invocation

Rev. E. A. Osborne (Late Col. 4th N. C. Reg., C.

S.

A.)

Third Regiment Band

Music

Daniel Harvey Hill

Address

Music

Third Regiment Band

Poem

Henry Jerome Stockard

Procession from Auditorium to Capitol Square.
/

I

j

Order of March

/

Chief Marshal

Band
Carriages

confederate Veterans

/

Daughters

\

Citizens

of the

Confederacy

Exercises at the Monument.
Presentation of the Memorial to the State,

Acceptance on Behalf of the State
Unveiling of the Memorial

Music

Chairman of the Commission

The Governor

of

North Carolina

Ashley Horne (Grandson

of the

Donor)

Third Regiment Band

Benediction. .Rev. R. H. Marsh, D.D. (Late Chaplain 26th N. C. Reg., C.

S.

A.)

 Invocation
Rev. E. a. Osborne.

Our Father, who art in heaven, haUowed be thy Xame, thy kingdom come. Thy -will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us
this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forAnd lead us not into temptation;
give those who trespass against us.
Init

deliver us

from

evil:

and the glory, forever and

For thine

the kingdom, and the power,

is

Amen.

ever.

Almighty God, with Avhom do

who

live the spirits of all those

de-

part hence in the Lord, and with wIhjui the souls of the faithful, after

they arc delivered from the burden of the

we give Thee hearty thanks for
who having finished their course

flesh,

are in joy and felicity;

the good examples of

now

all

the servants,

from their labors.
We also thank Thee for that noble generation of men and women who,
when their country was in the throes of a long and bloody conflict,
endured with such unfaltering courage the stifferings and privations
of a desolating war, the survivors of whom have since the war so
bravely and faithfully labored amidst all their sorrows and losses to
save their country from poverty and ruin, to restore and preserve the
in faith, do

rest

blessings of peace.

And

especially do

we now

desire to thank Thee,

didst endue the hearts and souls of the

wonderful courage, fortitude and zeal

and

afllictions of

to

women

O

Lord, that thou

of our land with such

bear the hardships, suiferings

the dreadful period of bloody and deadly conflict,

enabling them to comfort and encourage their loved ones, while they
oft'ered

and

sacrificed their lives

upon

their country's altar.

memory

May

monument

noAv being dedicated to their

a faithful

and enduring witness of their loyalty and devotion

stand for

all

this

ages as
to their

and sympathy for those who suffered
The Lord, grant rest and peace to the souls of all
for their homes.
their number who have fallen asleep in Him, and so to fit and jirepare
those who still survive that they may share with them that rest which

country's cause, and of their

Ioa^g

remaineth for the people of God.
Fimilly, Ave thank Thee for the blessings of peace; and Ave pray that
the sounds of Avar
that the time

may

may

lie

forever hushed throughout the Avorld

soon come Avhen

all

men

;

and

everyAAdiere shall seek after

Thee and find Thee; Avhen all nations shall be brought into Thy fold
and the heathen added to Thine inheritance. And we pray Thee shortly
to accomplish the number of Thine elect and to hasten Thy kingdom.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 —

Women

The

of the Confederacy

Dajviel

A German
war

is

ecouoinist begins a book with the declaration that every

either a struggle for the feeding

of the fodder.

As

in

many

ground or a struggle for a share

other cases, this brutal generalization fails

consider opposite instances

to

Harvey Hill.

:

for

many wars

are of course under-

taken with no rapacious thought, with the deepest reluctance, and with
a full
It

war

knowledge that
was with these

of 1S61.

self-interest is being ignored.

Xorth Carolina entered the
They were devoted to the
and thought, and suffering of thirteen

latter feelings

Her people

that

did not want war.

Union, cemented by the blood,

—

States.
So late as the 25th of February, 1861, only about four
months before her sons on this very day of the month fought at Bethel
the opening land battle of the Civil War her voters by a State election
declined to call a convention even to consider Avithdrawal from the
Union, and this too after seven of her sister Southern States had passed
They believed firmly that a State was sovordinances of secession.
ereign, and had a right to withdraw from the compact of States, but
until it appeared that the land of the South was to be trodden by hostile feet and that they themselves must bear arms either for or against

—

their neighboring

States,

they did not wish

From February to May they were torn
who had held federal offices, and shared in

to

this

right.

conflict.

Men

exercise

with mental

the upbuilding of the Union,

soldiers who had fought under the old flag in Mexico and in Indian
campaigns, unobtrusive citizens Avho thought more than they spoke
all

frequently paced

away

the hours of the night in agony of soul to

"Women who felt that their
mould those of husbands and sons gave "no

decide where the path of duty lay.
sions

would help

to their eyes

to

deci-

sleep

nor slumber to their eyelids" as they sought for a wise

decision.

However as events proceeded the conviction at last sank into every
mind that iSTorth Carolinians could not remain in the Union without giving up three principles imbedded in the granite of their Saxon natures:
namely, a State's right to sovereignty, a home which neither man nor
army was permitted to invade Avithout fight, and a standing by one's
nearest neighbors in an hour of

troops to

march

trial.

President Lincoln's call for

into the South to coerce the seceding States precipi-

tated the decision.

Twenty-five years after the choice was

plained hoAv the transition from a desire to

made Sen-

England audience, exremain in the Union to a

ator Z. B. Vance, in a speech before a ISTew

 —
10

:\(>KTII

OAKOLIXA HISTOKICAL COMMISSKiX.

made almost

ck'tenninatiun to screde wa.s

The news

in

tlic

battiu.ii-

of an eyelid.

of Mr. Lincoln's call for volnnteers reaehed

Xorth Carolina
while \'anee was s})eaking to an immense andience.
As he pleaded
with his hearers to remain in the Union, he raised his hand in a gesture tif appeal.
Jnst as his hand was raised, the telegram containing
the latal annoitncement was shouted frnm the speaker's stand.
Senator \ anee says:
"When my hand came down from that impassioned
it fell shiwiy and sadly by the side of a secessionist.
I
immediat(dy with altered voice and manner called on the assembled

gesticulation

mtiltittide

If

tu

vcdnnteei-.

war must come.

to shed blood

As

it

against but for South Carolina.

not to fight

with

I ])referred to be

my own

If

i>eople.

we

h-sd

preferred to shed Xorthern rather than Southern blood."

I

was with Senator Vance

so

it

was with the entire

The

State.

decision made, the ])eoph' threw themselves into the uneqttal struggle

with

grim

the

As

lives.

in

persistency

^fecklenburg

at Iving's ^Mountain, at
to

count the

has

that
in

every

crisis

Moore's Creek,

at

Iliilifax,

at Stony Point, they stO])ped_ not
from the Union wrung the fibers

of their hearts, but they f(dt compelled to set their principles

emotions and their convictions above their

tlieir

To

this ])oint in the struggle, the

had acted
in

their

in

Valley Forge,

Tlie sejiai'ation

cost.

nuirked

as at

ITTT),

above

interests.

men and women

of

Xorth Carolina

Henceforth their lines of endeavor, although one
aim, separated of course in form of service. We are met, not to
together.

commemorate
lighted

the part

the

men

took Avhen

the

fires

of

death

were

not to speak of the ensanguined fields where mortals dared

;

immortality,

Init

to tell the story,

imperfectly to be sure, of Southern

homes \^hen they were stripped of greyl>eards and fledgelings alike,
fatherless a.nd sonless homes Avhere consuming anxiety could find no
palliation in the compelling concentration of battle and whei'e the
noblest heroism could display itself only in suiTering, in mini-^tration,

and

in the efheient discharge of trying duties.

The monument

whom

to eulogize

to he unveiled

within the hour

would he almost

sacrilege.

is in

memory

of those

Their noblest eulogy

simple portrayal of their character and their work.

is

a

The modest donor

man who did a man's part in the four
who came home with no fortune but his youth and his

of this beautiful memorial, a

years of war,
visions,

who with prudence,

diligence,

and rare business sagacity

built

up an estate of Avhich any man may he proud, but who in doing so, built
up a finer estate in manhood, in charity, in helpful love of neighbors
and of country, and in Christian citizenship, the donor, it seems must

—

have

felt

the Heedlessness of Avords for those of his generation Avhen he

said, ''The silent

women

woman

of the South."

of the

memorial

will typify the

uncomplaining

 THE WOMEN OF THE CONFEDEKACY.

Words today

are for a post-bellum generation wliieli knows not the

women

gracious

11

of the past, for only a few of these

gladden our lives and prove

a benediction in

women remain

our homes.

In com-

pliance with the request of the Committee of Arrangements

my theme

to

today

an attempt

is

somewhat of the

women

Carolina

First, as

The blood

portray as

to

spirit,

Avell as

the character,

our imperfect records permit,

and the deeds of the

our records everywhere show, she was a
of

JN'orth

of the Confederacy.

cool-nerved,

iron-willed

pioneer

woman

ancestors

of metal.

W'hose

axes

timber for the earliest American homes at Roanoke, whose cabins
defied natural enemies and Indian savages in the wilds of the Watauga
felled

settlements,

whose

feet trod a

road through forest primeval to Ken-

A self-reliant courage inherited from
grandmothers who frequently fired rifles alongside their husbands on
the shores of Albemarle Sound and on the banks of the Yadkin River
tucky,

still

still

coursed in her veins.

warmed her

heart.

The increasing comforts

refining touch of education

of her age and the

had invested her with a

finer capacity for

had not crow^ded out of her nature an open-aired woman's
resoluteness of soul.
Hence, when war came, and came in her case
with unusual horrors, she met it, not with mere passive fortitude, but
with aggressive spirit. To the husband promptly volunteering she
meted out encouragement and help to the husband who faltered, she
said, "I know how to live as the widow of a brave man, but I do not
suffering, but

;

know how

to live as the "wife of a

coward."

To her

sons, she spoke as

did Mrs. Reuben Jones of Robeson County, wdien her brood of eleven
sons volunteered within a week, "I cannot hold you
calls

you," or as Mrs.

McLean

of Gaston County,

when your country
when her only son

looked into her face for counsel, ''God knows I need you but your State

now

Abby House of RaMary Bayard Clarke quotes this
tell you that not a man of my

needs you worse than I do," or as Aunt

leigh did to her eight nephews.
fearless

woman

family would I
musket.

as saying:
let

stay at

Mrs.

"I can

home

I said to them, boys,

in

peace

if

he w-as able to tote a

you go along

to the field whar
you belongs, and if any of you gits sick or is Avounded, you may depend on your old Aunt Abby to nuss and to tend you. For so help me
God if one of you gits down and I can't git to you no other way, I'll
foot it to your bedsides; and if any one of you dies or gits killed, I
promise to bring you home and bury you with your kin." For the man

who

failed to respond or

women knew no

these

all

'er

who sought

to

evade his duty, the scorn of

Corporal Tanner, once commander of
the Grand Army of the Republic, had seen in his foes such evidences
of this spirit that he said in his Atlanta speech to Confederate veterans

:

bounds.

 XORTII CAKOLIXA HISTORirAL t'OMMISSIOX.

12

"Every

motlier's son of

you knew that

music of Dixie and

to tlie

if yiai

Bonny Blue

tlie

did not keep exact step

Flag-,

if

you did not tread

the very front lines of battle "when the contest was on, knew, in short,

you returned home

that if

would he

aught hut soldierly honor that the very

in

wouhl not scorch and consume yriur unshriven souls as you

fires of hell

scoi'(died

and consumed by the scorn and contempt of your

womanhood."
In one of our Xorth Carolina communities the young ladies for some

time hinted

when

to

a

young laggard

robtist

was

patience

their

overtried,

him

a

Even

spirit sink as disaster thickened.

Binally,

saying

note

plait their garters

Xor

and scourge him ii'om the rouimunity.

\\'hip

a

sent

company they would

that if he did not at once join a
into

that he should enlist.

they

so late as '65,

did

this

General Atkins

of General Sherman's advancing army, said to a Carrdina lady

who

was remonstraiing against the conduct of his men, "You women of the
South keep up this war. AVe are fighting you. AVhat right have you
to expect aiiN'thing from usT"
General Sherman knew their spirit
when he said to the women of Sa.vannali, "The men would have given
ti}) long ;igo but i'uY you.
1 believe you would keep up this war thirty
years."
General ]?olk cites an instance of this persistent spirit in a

woman

Tennessee

sons

were

the

army.

Only

a

fair-

haired Benjauiin, Edward, remained to minister to her needs.

One

morning
will

He

\\-hose

came

tidings

five

that

in

her oldest son had been killed.

"God's

"Eddie will be fourteen next spring.
Again we meet it in the wife of a disState.
In answer to a minister's inquiry

be done." she excdaimed.

can take

Tiilly's

place."

tinguished (lOvernor of this

whether she were not terribly anxious about the safety of her

five

sons

"Xo, I would not have it otherwise. My only
any of them are to be taken it may be those who are

in the service, she said,

prayer

ready

is

that

if

to go.''

Towards

the close of the war, as the lines of commtuiication in the

Confederacy were more and more broken the ability of the public and
of friends to feed the needy became less and less and as food grew
scarce in various sections

many

of the ]ioorer soldiers Avere driven to

despair by a knowledge that their loved ones were starving at home.

When

furloughs were refused, some of these men, even splendid

diers,

Avent

ers,

home

furloughs.

Avithout

but really they Avere fathers gone

and mothers drove them back

Avitli

len Battle relates this incident.

court-martial.

charged

Avith

Among
desertion.

the

cases

The

Avild.

In such cases, the Avives

entreaties and tears.

He
Avas

soldier,

sol-

Technically they were desert-

Avas

one
an

General Cul-

detailed to preside over

against

EdAvard

artilleryman,

a

Cooper,

pleaded

not

 THE WOMEN OF THE CONFEDERACY.
guilty, but liad no counsel

13

Moved

and offered no extenuating evidence.

by the man's apparent indili'erence to a dishonorable death, General
Battle at last said, "My man, is it possible that a soldier with your

"For the

record deserted without cause?"

form shook and

Battle, "his

what did

swam with

it.'

I opened the letter

The

tears."

with

tears.

letter,

and

his blue eyes filled

ing the president of the court, he presented a
sir, is

time," says General

first

and

in a

Approachsaid, 'There,

moment my

eyes too

letter w-as as follows:

—

My Dear Edwaku I have always been proud of you, and since your
connection with the Confederate Army I have been prouder than ever before.
I would not have you do anything wrong for the world, but before God, Edward, unless you come home we must die. Last night I was aroused by little
Eddie?" and he said, "Oh,
I called, "What's the matter,
Eddie's crying.
Mamma, I'm so hungry." And Lucy, Edward, your darling Lucy, she never
complains, but she is growing thinner and thinner, and, Edward, unless you
come home we must

Your

die.

Mary.

General Battle asked the prisoner, "What did you do when you

He

ceived this letter ?"

and

it

was

rejected.

night as I thought of

me and

answered, "I

made

Again I applied and again

my home

the words of

Mary

re-

application for a furlough,
it

was

That

rejected.

with the mild eyes of Lucy looking up

my

was no longer
Lucy and the husband
of Mary, and I would have passed those lines if every gun in the battery had fired on me."
He then added, "When my wdfe found I had
no furlough, she said, with a catch in every word, "Oh, Edward,
Edward, go back
Let me and my children go down to
Go back

to

sinking into

brain, I

the Confederate soldier, but I w^as the father of

!

!

the grave but save the honor of our name."

am

here, gentlemen, not brought back

of

idleness,

"JSTow^,"

continued he, "I

by military power but in obedience to the command of Mary to abide the sentence of your court."
In the second place the Avoman of the Confederacy was a capable
woman. In some quarters there has been a belief that the ante-bellum
women of the South lived, as Joel Chandler Harris puts it, "In a state
languifhing in

hammocks while

bevies

of

cooled the tropical air about her with long-handled fans

cock tails."

The

truth

is

that no

women worked harder

pickanninies

made

of pea-

or bore

more

constant and arduous responsibilities than did the mistress of a wellregiTlated slave plantation.

Thousands of them, on hearing that the

were freed, echoed the exclamation of the Georgia woman,
"Thank God, I shall have to work for them no more." The keys
suspended from the mistress' girdle were no idle symbol of authority.
In addition to the cares of her own family, cares from which many
slaves

of her descendants shrink or absolutely refuse, she carried always in

her thought and on her conscience the childlike dependents in her

 NORTH ClAROLINA HISTORICAL COMMISSION.

14

you ladies who sink into iicrvons prostration

slavp (jiinrtors.

rjccjill,

over

of a solitary linsl)an(l, the daily j-ound of these

tlie l.ini'don

women.

There were the issuance of rations, the sn]>eriutendence of their cooking, tl:e jirevention of waste.
'J'here were the assignment of morning

and evening

tasks,

and vigilance

to see that these tasks Avere

performed.

There was attention necessary to he assured that cotton and wool were
carded, spun, woven, dyed for (dothing the entire plantation.
There

was oversight of the rooms where

this cloth

There were shoes

ioned into garments.

were daily inspections of the quarters

There were daily

sanitary.

to
to

was

cut, fitted,

made

lie

and fash-

see that

they were neat and

and

a constant ministra-

visits to the sick

There was systematic instruction of her
in short, as some one truly phrased it,
tress was the greatest slave on the plantation which moved at
mand. On farms where there were fewer slaves the hurden
tion

to the a.ged.

nuuiners a.nd morals

There

or mended.

—

slaves in

the mis-

her com-

was

less

hut the care unceasing.

At

women had

the advent of Avar, these efficient

to

enlarge their

assume those dro})ped hy ahsent fathers and hushands.
rare competence, they assumed the control of farms, stock, and
Aided hy trusted negro foremen they ])lanned the crops and
hurdens

their

jilantiiig.

no

and sold such products
homes and industries of the

slaves, the

of these

Avomen often

homes

In the

last

year of the

guide<l

They hought the yearly
They financed
could be spared.

tilleil

as

In families Avhere there

State.
fields

and reaped harvests.

Avant Avas felt acutely before the Avar Avas over

Avomen and children had

slaves.

and harvesting.

cultivation

supjilies

the

With

to

In

AA^ere

many

and the

he helped by neighbors and by the public.

to

Avar,

ma.ny negroes joined the Federals in the

Then AA'omen of Avcalth were forced to join
manual toil. One society belle Avrites, "I had

eastern part of the State.
their jioorer friends in

eleven

ladies

Avorkiug

in

the

field

recently hoed 2,500 hills of corn."'
of

Avitli

The

me

today.

I

have myself

fact that during the four years

war ''seed time and harvest never failed*' attests the capacity of
women. IN^ot only did they feed the State, but General Joseph E.

these

Johnston

is

anthority for the statement that for some months prior to

the surrender General Lee's

collected

months.

army had been

fed almost entirely from

surrender he had
enough from the same State to last for some
This continuation of farm Avork Avould have been impossi-

Xortli Carolina, and that

at

the time of his oavu

]»rovisions

ble but for the faithfulness of the slaves.

Our people

ouglit never to forget the fidelity of the negroes during

those defenceless days.
Avitli

With

the

doors of freedom open for them,

opportunities for hnvlessness during the absence of their OAvners,

  

 

AL.

THE EAST SIDE OF THE PEDEST

BAS RELIEF ON

 

 

BAS RELIEF ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE PEDESTAL.

 

!

THE WOMEN OF THE CONFEDERACY.

15

with a glowing knowledge that the success of the Confederate army
would mean a cnntinuance of their slavery at least for a time, the
negroes for the most part refused to sever the
their white families

bound them

ties that

on their masters iu the

field,

moving them from the

in

were Avounded, in bringing home the bodies of their

to

In attendance

and continued their daily duties.

field

when they

slain, in secreting

and caring for family treasures, in watching over family interests, and
in other ways, hundreds of negroes displayed a noble fidelity that
should always be remembered.
How surely these facts will always
establish the kindly relations that existed between the white families

and the colored families on the plantation home
As the number of soldiers to be maintained increased, the women

assumed

additional

The newspapers

responsibilities.

mention

how

they organized Sewing Societies, Knitting Associations, Hospital Aid

Xursing Clubs. What Mrs. Avery says of Virginia was
North Carolina, "In some places churches were changed
into depots for bolts of cloth, linen, and flannel.
Sewing machines
ran constantly. Xothing could be heard in them for days but the
Societies,

also true of

of

click

murmur

machines, the ceaseless

questioning and.

of voices

At railroad junctions, such as Raleigh, Greensboro, Charlotte, Salisbury, Weldon, Goldsboro, and other towns, way-

voices directing work."

side hospitals

equipped with surgeons, medical supplies, and rude oper-

ating

were

tables

Committees of women went from
sewed and yarns to be woven and

established.

house to house distributing cloth

to be

then recollected and shipped their offerings.

Representatives of vari-

ous organizations met trains at stations and added of their

own house-

hold supplies to the meager rations of passing soldiers.

I^urses passed

from

battle

field

hospitals to

After an arduous day

homes

to

field

hospitals

women

as

the

tide

of

moved.

often collected or sat solitary in their

sew or knit far into the night, their labor sweetened by the

thought that the work of their tired hands would add comfort

who were dying

for the land they loved.

the stillness of the night he could almost hear the needles at
as they flew

to those

General Lee writes that in

home

click

through the meshes, and General Gordon adds that every

was a prayer and many a stitch dimmed with tears.
get an adequate measure of the burdens imposed on these capable
women, let us recall a striking fact in our history. The census of 1860
shows that in jN'orth Carolina there were between the ages of 20 and
click

To

60

—the

total

limits of military service

number

the 125 thousand

— 128,889

men

men.

Subtract from this

furnished to the Confederacy by

our State and the subtraction reveals that there were in the borders
of the State only 3,889

men who

first

and

last

were not in some form

 NORTir CAROLINA HISTORICAL COMMISSION^.

16

ITenee the woiiien of the State and the 3.SS0

of niilitarj service.

had

do as

to

they eould

l)cst

absent

shoulders of the

tlio

woi'k

12.5,000

men.

wonderful conijietency of these
In the third place the

woman.

woman

on the subsequent industrial

to industi'ial

mer that
fied

women.
of the Confederacy

This inventive genius was

every smoke-stack

tliat

life

towers over

to

luive

of our

power devehiped by the
Let us see

was an inventive

far-reaching influence

a

As

State.

I

adjacent factory

its

^Var.

(_'ivil

rings in our Moi'kshops proclaims

our industries.

men

wouhl have fallen on the
These bare facts reveal the

tliat

how such

see
is

a

it,

almost

monument

.Vlmost every

how our

ham-

necessities diversi-

propositions can be estab-

lished.

At the opening
Outside of
fessions,

fanning was almost the

cotton, but

We

war our people were
number of men engaged in

of the

a small

Xew

and Old England

sole
s}»un,

a

single industry people.

the so-called learned pro-

gainful occupation.

cultivated tobacco for others to manufacture.

fields,

but ^\e bought our furniture.

We

grew

wove, dyed and profited by

it.

Trees crowded our

In short, as an alliterative fancier

sums up "for manufactured articles from linch pins to locomotives,
from boats to buttons, from flannels to fans, from pens to plows," we
were dependent on outside markets. The census of 1S60 discloses the
fact that there were at that time only 3,689 small

manufacturing estab-

lishments of any sort in Xorth Carolina and that most of these em-

Out of a total population of 092,622 only 14,217
any form of manufacturing. In the following
most important industries the number of workers was as follows:
wrought iron, 12,") men; cast iron, 59; making clothes for sale, 12;
manufacturing boots and shoes, 176; tanning, 9.3; compounding medicines, 1.
There were only seven small woolen mills. There were four
recorded makers of firearms and these four shops were so recklessly extravagant as to employ eleven men and consume $1,000 worth of raw
ployed

fcAV laborers.

men were

enciiged in

material each year.

We

were without

lead,

iron, coal or salt.

This

was our deplorable industrial situation when we Avere suddenly cut oft'
from outside markets and became dependent on our own resources.
The imperative need of remedying this disastrous situation set our
men and our women to manufacturing. Before the protracted struggle ended Ave had learned two Avays of supplying our most urgent needs;
first, by a dashing, persistent, and reckless running of the blockade
from onr seaport tOAvns; second, by an almost marvelous deA^elopment

of small industries.
to

excellent

rifles.

From

the State arsenal at Fayetteville Ave began

month what Major M. P. Taylor reports as 500
At the Falls of the Neuse and at other places a

turn out each

 THE WOilEN OF THE CO^'FEDEKACY.
gunpowder was made.

serviceable

At several

17

}»laces

works were

salt

Military supplies of various kinds were wrought out in

established.

Woolen and cotton

rude factories.

mills were set up.

Tanneries were

Clothing and shoe factories Avere operated

multiplied.

—

brief,

in

a

Promptly they aroused
themselves and met the emergencies thrust upon them, met them, not
adequately to be sure, for the time was too short and men too scarce,
but met them in such a way as to evoke the admiration of all thinking
The articles produced Avere of course not finished mechanical
peoi^le.
products, but they answered pressing needs.
We learned the lesson
capable

found themselves

})cO}ile

in sore straits.

out of the travail of our souls, but Ave learned to too

Avell

ever to forget

and as soon as the mournful days of reconstruction AA'ere over, we
turned again to manufacturing and have ever since been groAving in
it,

aptitude for industrial arts.

In the inventiveness necessitated by the
AA'ere

made on

to fail, old
cellars.

As soon

it.

as

it

groAv as

and

shuttles.

Hands

Home

all

ugly Avas made in almost every home.

and

slaves

were clad in

this

unusued
Soldiers,

uniform of the farm.

poke-berries, elder berries, and roots in

The

demands
began

to

that.

spun cloth as durable

unmitigated ugliness dyes of various hues Avere

its

took a most

neAv

as the supply of clothing in the stores

looms Avere constructed.

ISTeAv

Avas

to

spinning frames and looms Avere dragged from garrets and

Avork began to ply bobbins

children,

women

Avar, the

Their resourcefulness seemed

active part.

Avomen,

To

relieve

concocted

home-made dyepots and

from
boil-

from old mattresses was often recarded and spun into
yarns for socks to keep the soldiers from having' cold feet in battle and
in camp.
A pair of cards w\as a treasure and the famous blockade
runner. Advance, carried few more precious commodities in her hold.
Factories to make cards were later created to supplement the supply
made in blacksmith shops. ]^or Avas spinning and weaving confined to
ers.

Avool

coarse yarns.

by thread and

Old silken garments were painstakingly separated thread

into gloves and stockings.
In sections AA'here
was planted and some excellent linen woven. CarISTcav
pets were unravelled and the woolen strands woven into blankets.
carpets were made from rags and scraps.
In answer to a call for silk
for Avar balloons, discarded silken dresses were dismembered and the
it

would groAv

silk furnished.

avoa'cu

flax

Veteran garments mustered out of

were conscripted and made

to

enlist

for

serA'ice

indefinite

years before

serA'ice.

These

garments outlived their expectancy on the principle formulated by the
old lady AA'ho explained that her soldier son's

solitary pair of socks

never wore out because 'SA'hen the feet get full of holes I just knit new

 NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL COMMISSION.

18

and Avhen the tops wear *m\

feet to the tops,
feet."

Hats were fabricated

tent canvas.

new

tops to the

and ctdored

the

suit

to

from wheat

fi'om palmetto leaves,

and oat straw and from broad-leaved
Avater

just knit

I

were made from rabbit and squirrel fur, and from old

Sli})pers

Corn

iiasses.

liusks Ideached in

complexion made bewitching bonnets.

"Wire grass plaited and adorned with white sliavings from

was another

and pine whittled round and covered with

cloth.

fastened with buttons of })ersimmon seeds.
berries served as

articles a similar ingenuity

Ink, colored with indigu or berry

Old

with flour paste.
a

A\'hen

soldiers.

was shown.

was made from oak and cedar
models and

tin

gummed
envelopes

scrajis of wall })aper folded in these

mother's blessing or a sweetheart's love to absent

grew

oil

scarce,

no

little

devising lights for the home.

in

velo})ed
first,

jtiice,

Envelopes were shaped by means of

served to carry

Children's clothes were

Xecklaces constructed from

ornaments for pretentious occasions.

In manufacturing household

balls.

cow horns

Buttons were nu^de from gourds

.source of millinery effect.

inventive genius

was

Tallow candles served

deat

but as Iteeves disappeared, other forms of illumination became

In some homes sycamore balls were soaked
burned in pans. Strings twisted hard were thrust into
necessary.

with grease,

tar,

in

fat

bottles

and
filled

or beeswax and si)luttered out light enough to distin-

Soap was made from ham bones already
Every home had
its ash-hopper to leach lye.
Cartridge belts and boxes Avere manufactured from layers of cloths sewed together and covered Avith varnish.
jNTitre for gtni])Owder Avas often dug by the Avomen from old smokehouses and tobacco barns.
Coffee disappeared from most homes before the close of the first
guish a spoon from

a

fork.

stripped to the ]ioint of emaciation by hungry teeth.

year of

Avar.

Substitutes for this indispensable beverage Avere

from parched okra
dried potatoes and

made

from parched Avheat, rye. and oats and from
coAvpeas.
Chicory and postum are lineal descendseed,

Tea Avas brcAved from yaupon
Both tea and coffee Avere sweetened Avith
soup was devised from talloAv, persimmons and

ants of these delightsome beverages.

and from sassafras

roots.

sorghum molasses.

A

sorghum.

Mrs. F. C. Roberts

Avrites proudly that she concocted a
Christmas cake for her children out of dried cherries, dried AAdiortle-

berries,

candied Avatermelon

aA'OAved that she could

The forms

in Avhicli

make

rind

and sorghum molasses.

fifteen different dishes

cowpeas could be served

Avere

One lady

from dried
as numerous

ajiples.

as the

sands on the seashore.

A

fourth characteristic of the Confederate Avoman Avas that she was

a self-forgetful

woman.

There

Avas

no reserA^ation

in

her willingness

 THE WOMKN OF THE CONFEDERACY.
to

serve her war-torn country.

Tliis self-abnegation

many

ways.

dolpli

Kidgeley lay severely wounded

Sometinies

took the

it

was revealed in
Kanservice.

of personal

£(jrni

in

19

a Virginia front yard.

surgeon said he could not be moved and that he would die

A

if

The

he did

girl, an utter stranger to the nerve-wracked
on the ground and taking the 3'oung man's head in her
Then she sat immovable through the chilly
lap soothed him to sleep.

not sleep.

man,

Winchester

sat doAvn

damp

Her

of the night.

nobility of nerve saved a soldier to fight for

Hence

the cause dear to her heart.

weeks of

in the

lowed her exposure she rejoiced instead of repined.

illness that fol-

Poor blind Mrs.

Roland of liiclimond, consumed with a desire to contribute her part in
spite of her affliction, gro})ed from day to day to the hospitals and with
Sometimes it maniguitar and songs quieted the restless sufferers.
fested itself in abstaining from such foods as could be used for soldiers' rations.
Incident after incident is on record where for months

women
to

existed only on such perishable foods as could not be shipped

To remonstrances

the army.

these heroines replied,
die."

Many

mound

Sometimes

sacrifice.

when

a

''I

that she

can do so

was

little, let

me

killing herself, one of

do that

in quiet cemeteries testifies to the
it

little

even

if I

depth of their

revealed itself in cheery letters to absent ones

was howling at doors within which idolized
Sometimes it disclosed itself in an ungrudging sharing of the cruse of oil. A few months before Lee's surrender
tidings reached central Xorth Carolina that his army was out of food.
At once in homes both humble and stately a division Avas made even to
the last peck of meal, and wdth no reckoning for tomorrow the contribution to the army was shipped.
When a tax in kind was levied by the
the wolf of hunger

children cried for bread.

State, a tax that took a share in

and in the

crib, the

women

whatever remained in the storehouses
homes met the tax with little

in charge of the

evasion.
iN'or

did this spirit of self-forgetfulness fail these

women when hopes

were shattered and the grievous hour of surrender ended cherished
dreams.

As

the

men

in grey, tattered, footsore, dispirited, confounded,

returned to their desolated homes, their Avives greeted them with un-

dimmed courage and sweet resolution. They aroused them by words
and deeds to manly endeavor. Although after the surrender and after
the negroes quit the

women found
parties"

fields,

want "stalked

spirit to jest at

and "Tacky

like

poverty and in

sociables,"

"Starvation

"where each came hungry and each

empty," were given in honor of the returned

women were

an armed man," these

many towns
soldiers.

Many

left

of these

living in cabins near the ashes of once beautiful homes.

Many, adjusting themselves

to poverty,

were learning the economy of

 NORTH CAKOLIXA HISTOKIOAL COMMISSION.

20
life

anew and sustaining
In some homes

their families on less than

faithful negroes served on

wasted.

had formerly bee
and expected onl]

such wages as could be spared; in others mothers with their childrel
Avere

struggling alone for daily bread.

anxieties

But, as they luid borne th

and griefs of war undisniaye(l, they were noAV ready with

and firmness

to

start

life

hopil

How

again with their paroled husbands.

under the inspiration of these Confederate women, homes once mort
became homes indeed, industries were revived, fields again returneuj
their yields, order and system and law once more reigned, is a gloriousi
})art

of (jur history.

stirring

women

at

Nay

more, in the face of grinding duties, thesej

once bethought them to preserve the memories of that

momenttius struggle.

Hardly were

their dead buried

before they sought means to keep green their deeds.

from

their sight]

They

started the'

ar.d commemoThey denied themselves
rest and comtort that ])ul)lic monuments might be reared.
They stniggled for homes and jiensions for disabled soldiers.
They established

custom of annually bedecking their graves with fiowers
rating their valoi- in addresses and memorials.

journals and magazines and their pens and their depleted purses have

saved nearly

all

the I'ecorded histoi'y of those days.

women have done

to jireserve the history of the

have almost an untouched
Lastly the

woman

Blot out what the

Confederacy and you

])age.

of the Confederacy

was

a

womanly woman.

craved no queenhood except the sovereignty of her own home.
sired no subjects save those of her

with gentle
households

if

of

imperial
childi'cn

own household, and
Accustomed

graeiousness.

and

of

slaves,

she

early

to

She

She

de-

there she ruled

manage

acquired

large

dignity,

and the self-control which enables its possessor to control
She never thought of doubting that her sphere of action was
the home, and she centered her efl'orts on making that home a place

earnestness,
others.

and comfort. Her children were trained to rigid obediand early taught to despise cowardice, dishonesty, and an unsquare deal. Her first instruction in the citizenship of her sons was
that an office Avas held for the State, a trust was sacred, and one's
Avord as inviolable as a volume of oaths.
"Strength and dignity were
of refinement

ence,

her clothing; she opened her mouth
ness

was on her tongue.

and she

Avith Avisdom,

She looked

ate not the bread of idleness.

her blessed: her husband also."

Avell to

Her

and the

laAv of

kind-

the Avays of her household,

children rose up and called

  

 

A„!,Nsli,.'<

l.ulr,„„il.
l'.i!()-Nzi:

Sriill.t,,,-.

CKurr hf

tuv.

WdMKN

Mom
IIF

.mknt ti' tiik X<irth
TIU; t'DNFKIiKRAl Y.

C'ai;(]1>i.\a

 — —

Stanzas
Hemiy Jeuome Stockaed.
She calmly brought his sabre bright,
Tempered with death;
And, girding him, her all, aright.
She spoke with eyes of kindling light
More than tongue uttereth.

And

then she waved farewell at last,
With grief struck dumb,
As bannered squadrons hurried past,
And bugles with imperious blast

Stammered delirium.
It

was not hard to charge abreast
On trembling slopes,

Alone, at Honor's stern behest,
cross the red, infernal crest

To

That barred his people's hopes.

But man might quail

to face her fate:
Distraught by fears.
To wake from troubled dreams, and wait

The midnight courier at the gate.
Through slow, ensanguined years ;To welcome

grief for

which were vain

All anodyne;

To dip into the cup of pain
Her final crust and, smiling, drain
The draught as generous wine.

Would some Euripides could

give.

In words to bide.

This later tragical reprieve.
When our Alcestis dared to live
While her Admetus died!

By Rappahannock's moaning wave
Mayhap he fell;
At Shiloh, leading on the brave,
Or in some rifle-pit, his grave.
Where raked the random

shell;

where her presence bore
That grim, gray line

Or, haply,

At Gettysburg, all barriers o'er.
Like a ninth wave on an iron shore.

Which ebbs by

will divine.

—

 —

•

22

NUKTJI CAKULIXA IIISTOKICAL COil .M LSSION.

Perchance bis tomb
It

in tbe old

Knew her carets;
may be, where his form

On

cbuicb-yard

lay charred

tire-swept wolds, the owl kept

ward

In the dark Wilderness.

though, recumbent in the hall

Still,

Of memory laid,
And limned upon its mournful wall,
He dwelt with her in spirit by all
The bolts of death unstayed;

—

Dwelt

in his sons, whose faith profound
Saw, throned afar,
The proud South, once in shackles bound,
Upon whose brow with glory crowned

Glittered the

The canvas can
Its colors

The damps
Yet

morning

star.

not hold her grace:

warm

of centuries erase:

o'er the scathing years her face

Will live beyond

all

harm.

Nor bronze nor stone shall bear her name
Through time to-be:
These may be touched by

And

frost or flame

sink in ruin, while her fame
Is for eternity.

Nor

yet

may

story guard the trust,

Nor song divine;
They, like their builders, turn to dust:

—

Beyond corrupting moth and rust
Stands, veiled with light, her shrine.

And Love

will

keep

it,

Safe from decay,

Love alone,

—

Love wherewith God himself

When

is one,
time's rule shall be overthrown.

And

earth shall pass away.

 Address of Presentation
James

A. Long.

my most pleasant duty, as chairman oi tlie Memorial Commisand representing the family of the late Col. Ashley Home, the
donor, to present to the State of Xorth Carolina, through you, its GovIt is

sion,

monument.

ernor, this magnificent

I

mourn today with

his family

and

This

to witness this great occasion.

all

is

heart of the giver, and was erected to

the State that he

heroism of the noble women of the South during the

when everything was

States,

which
ties

not here

is

came from the very
commemorate the fortitude and
a gift that

War

sacrificed except honor, in

so unhappilj^ divided the country, but

between the
struggle

the

now happily

reunited by

never again to be severed.

Home

Colonel

loved the South

he loved most that type of

;

Southern women, and this monument

in our

is

found

life

memorialize the

to

bravest of the brave.

We

are not

ashamed of our part

gize for the part of our
fight

women

they endured a long siege

;

in this war.

in this struggle.
;

Ave

We shall never apoloWe fought an honest

both Avon the respect of a world-

nation.

Life

too intricate even in peace,

is

volume

a single

;

by

to be told

more

so in Avar, to be revealed in

in full the heroism of our Southern Avomen
role in

our four years' struggle, and

can be remembered in part.
fact

;

sion

;

and

this has

old South,

And

AA'ith

AA^hile it

make

He

a faith that

Home

to appreciate this

possible this

emerged from the war

a hero in times of

He

war

;

always measured the

Home
^yes,

now

full

history.

to

do

found

in the life

breadth of a man;

make

let

ns remember his character.

;

he has

It takes

a strong nation.

present this monument. Governor, to the State.

within your keeping.

;

from the

a patriot in times of peace.

A'irtues;

the best in both sex to

war

He

—

has honored the South by honoring the best in the South

memorialized their
I

memorial occa-

much in the building of the new.
monument to the very best in Southern

history, let us not forget that type of southern heroes

Home.

tell

counted

while we dedicate this

of Col. Ashley

can

no shaft can reA^eal their
cannot be told in full it

been the patriotism of the late Ashley

as to appreciate.

as Avell

;

It took Colonel

took his generous soul to

it

Xo monument

a single shaft.

It is

now

Let our State hold fast to the very best of our

 —

Address of Acceptance
GovEKxoK Locke Craig.

The

State accepts this inoimnient witli grateful appreciation.

the tribute of a knightly soldier to the

The

Arms and

Women
Man.

It is

of the Confederacy.

theme

is

heroism and

devotion; the inheritance of the childi'en of the South.

The bronze

statue

is

epic:

the

Its

group represents the grandmother nnrolling

to tlie

eager youth, grasp-

ing the sword of his father, the scndl of the father's deeds.

The

bronze etchings on the faces of the pedestal suggest the outlines of her
story.

To

the earnest beholder the statue

His vision

meaning.

Avill

determine

its

is

illumined

unfolding

"vvith

revelation.

As we look u])()n it, thci'e rises out of the past a time when the sj)irit
moved ui)on the dt'pths of human thought, and summoned the

of Avar

elemental forces to titanic
upheaval.
voices of
in arms,

We

strife.

feel

the throes of the mighty

The heavens ai'e black with tempests, and ominous with the
ancient war and unutterable woe.
We see "the nuirshaling
and

battle's magniflcenlly stern array."

Lovers say good bye

with tokens of plighted troth; the young mother and the father in

uniform, kneel

togethei',

weeping over the cradle of their new born

babe; there are tears and everlasting farewells; the cavalcades are filing
otl';

the tramp of innumerable armies

this

Woman

for the boy

We

of the Confederacy

who marches away

—

is

In secret the mother

heard.

prays and weeps with breaking heart

to the wild,

grand nuisic of the bugles.

hear the din of nmrtial hosts, and scpiadrons galloping in the

They rush

storm.

amid the rattle of musketry and thunThey defy carnage and death; they are torn

to the onset

ders of field artillery.

by bursting shells and pierced by bullets and cut with

and

steel

they stagger

;

fall

on the bloody ground; the resolute survivors close in and

press on.

In the crash of doom the gray line stands, despising hunger

and pain and death.

Before the numberless battalions they are Vik-

ings in the houi' of desjiair.

They

querable hearts that beat at home.

mothers, these

Women

are listening for the
return, hut

feel the pulsations of the

At home

alone,

the

uncon-

wives and

of the Confederacy, in patience and suffering,

coming of those wdio

march on forever

Avill

never return

—

will never

in the militant hosts of the heroic of all

kindred and nations, that have redeemed and glorified the world.

We

monument as a synd)ol of our veneration. We
monument as a covenant that we too. in blessed remem-

dedicate this

dedicate this

brance of them, shall strive for fidelity and courage.

 ADDRESS OF ACCEPTANCP:.

In

For
and

unfalteiing
this,

would have

Abriilunn

obedi&iice

"the Angel of the Lord called unto

By

said,

myself have

sworn, sailh

I

ZO
sacrificed

Abraham

tlie

Isaac.

Heaven

out of

Lord, for because thou

hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son,
that in blessing I

bless thee,

Avill

and

multiplying 1 will multiply

in

thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which

is

upon the

seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy
seed shall

the nations of the earth be blessed."

all

The Women
upon the altar

of the Confederacy, in supreme consecration, did lay

of the world.

And

of Dixie their

Abraham.

divinely terrible.

men.

to

we too are the chilAbraham was not alone for

It is the universal decree, divinely beautiful

law of development for

It is the

Everlasting faith

lasting

born, the fairest and the bravest

The promise

dren of the Covenant.
the seed of

first

because they did this thing,

is

all

and

the children of

a well of strength springing

up

into ever-

life.

Had the men and the W'Omen of the South been recreant, had they
shrunk from the sacrifice of war, their children today would be the
disinherited

of

hears

promise,

the

dishonored

a

and

a

degenerate

people.

In the onward march of the race, these world conflicts must come.
That people survives, gathers strength, becomes puissant in human
destiny that has the faith and the courage for the supreme issue.
The
immediate result is not the final judgment. Who won at Thermopylae,
the Persians or the Spartans

Anna

Who

or Travis?

Who

?

was victorious

at the

Alamo, Santa

triumphed, Socrates or his judges, Jesus or

Pontius Pilate?

The glory

of France is the Old

Guard

at Waterloo.

The

noblest

feelings of the English heart are stirred by the Light Brigade charg-

ing to death at Balaklava.
as dear to us as

Lexington and Guilford Court House are

Trenton and Yorktown.

The winds may blow; the rains
away but God has placed

Disaster does not always destroy.

may

descend

;

houses and lands

frost

may

kill

be swept

;

heavens as a promise that the storm shall cease, and the

Llis boAv in the

waters subside

may

:

the scorching drouth

our corn and fruit

;

may

wither the

fields,

untimely

yet in the procession of the seasons,

mead in verdure, and
Armies may be destroyed,
yet from a land consecrated by the

the rain and sunshine will again clothe hill and

harvest fields will wave in golden plenty.

"Far

called,

our navies melt away"

blood of the brave, from a
purified by

fire,

a

nobler,

soil

;

enriched by glorious tradition, tried and

stronger race will

spring.

But over the

waste of moral desolation, there comes no rejuvenating spring.

Upon

 XOKTII CAKOLINA HISTORICAL COJIillSSK )X.

26

by tlie cowardice of those who should defeud
judgmeut of decay aud death.

a laud blighted
is

the

The

heroic past

We

avenging armies.

But standing

Our armies were

our priceless inheritance.

is

stroyed; our land was smitten

there

it,

de-

by war; our homes were ravaged by

were plundered by the hordes of reconstruction.

in this land that has suffered,

amid

this

throng of gray-

haired veterans, and their kindred and descendants, I declare that the
legacy of the war

every

maimed

life to

our richest possession.

is

soldier; of every soldier

"the storm-cradled nation that

and mother; and

if

I utter the sentiments of

who gave
fell,"

the best of his

of every liereaved

young
widow

could speak for the dead, I would utter the sen-

T

timent of the forty thousand sons of the State who

fell

ujjou fields of

when T declare that they would not revoke that sacrifice.
Some of you can I'emember when the young soldier was brought
home dead, when the maifk^n was clothed in lier first sorrow, and the old
gray head Avas bowed in the last grief. The mothers of the South had
sent their sons to the front as the Spartan mother when she delivered the
shield to her son with the command:
"Return with it, or upon it."
They wept in silent desolation, but in their grief there was exaltation,
for they knew that their sons had dmie a soldier's part, that in the
battle,

tumult of

d;iys

liistoric

vancing Mag; that
without

suifered

had

tliey

luid

fought and fallen beneath the ad-

wounded and

in strange lands,

com]daint,

and

bequeathing

died, as a conquei'or. without a

a

Women

to you,

is

hair,

of the Confederacy, that bore

tured them, and offered them for sacrifice!

scendants

for

murmur.

"While one kissed a ringlet of thin gray
And one kissed a lock of brown."'

Hail

had
home,

neglected, they

message

vouchsafed the promise

to

them and nur-

In you and in your de-

Abraham

:

Henceforth

all

gen-

erations shall call you blessed.

From
is

the

shadow

hallowed because

of
it

war we sweep

is

into the grander day.

The earth

men whose vicupon triumphal columns, but men whose

the sepuicher of the brave; not

have been inscribed
memorial is, that in courage and loyalty to conviction, they Avere steadfast unto death
men who have been stoned and scourged, and quailed
not before the mighty.
"Their heroic sufferings rise up melodiously
together to Heaven out of all lands, and out of all times, as a sacred
Miserere; their heroic actions as a boundless everlasting Psalm of Triumph." They are the conquerors. The South has forever a part in
tories

;

that chorus of victory.

 The Benediction
Rev. R. H. Marsh.

O

Lord, thou art the

we look up

to

Thee

God

and Mothers. As such
remembrance of Thy parental presence

of our Fathers

in grateful

and protection.
Standing around these monumental stones, erected to the memory
of precious mothers and sisters and daughters, we Avould bless Thy
name for all they mean and teach. They rise above earth as a reminder
of woman's heavenly, uplifting and ennobling power; they recall the
beauty, symmetry and singleness of purpose of Southern womanhood;
and mark the purity and strength of her unfailing patriotism and in-

We

spiring courage.

—

behold also in this magnificent shaft

—

its

making

the wearing and self-consumption of woman's loving way
and
blessing
of
and devotion. By her suffering and enabling, man's
achievements
are effected.
We thank God for her patriotic
noblest
Union—
a contribution not measured by
contribution to Liberty and
polish

wounds and money, but by

a

Mother's love for her

Home

and her

Child.
the God of our Mothers Ave pray for super-abounding peace
plenty
upon our land and country, and especially upon the fast
and

To

diminishing remnant of faithful ones

"Abide

veterans, jSTorth and South.

ing and the day

if

;

women and
for

it

is

scar-clad

toward even-

Amen.

upon them,
monuments and memory

choicest benediction rest

dren and their country,
forever.

noble

them

far spent."

And may Heaven's
away

— of

Avith

'till

earthly

their chilshall fade

  

 

 .


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