Unveiling of the statue of General Ambrose Powell Hill at Richmond, Virginia, May 30, 1892.
With the Oration of General James A. Walker on the occasion.[From the Richmond Dispatch, May 31, 1892.] Richmond is a city of memories and it must also be a city of monuments; monuments which entwine our hearts with the past and pledge us to a patriotic future. We have now a monument in Oakwood cemetary to the sixteen thousand dead buried there; a granite column (nearly finished) in Marshall Park (Libby Hill) to all of the soldiers and sailors of the Confederacy; a statue to Stonewall Jackson in the Capitol Square; a granite pyramidal pile to the twelve thousand Confederate dead in Hollywood, and in the same cemetary monuments over the graves of Pickett, Stuart, Maury and others; a statue of Wickham in Monroe Park, and an equestrian statue of Lee at the west end of Franklin street. Our duty in this respect to A. P. Hill is also done, and movements are on foot to do like honor to President Davis and to ‘Jeb’ Stuart. The people of Richmond gave themselves up on the 30th of May heartily and enthusiastically to the two great events to which the day had been dedicated—the unveiling of the statue of General Ambrose Powell Hill and the Hollywood memorial ceremonies. The 30th of May, 1892, has passed into history as a date on which the patriotic pulse was regnant. The scenes of the morning fill another tablet to be laid away along with those on which are inscribed the records of the unveiling of the Jackson and Hill statues. The scenes of the afternoon were a repetition in large measure of what has occurred annually for over two decades, but they never lose their freshness, nor can they become less pregnant with a beautiful and touching lesson as time rolls on. The note of preparation for the actual demonstration began Sunday afternoon. On every train military companies and camps were arriving, and by midnight the man seen on the street who did not have on uniform or wear a badge was the exception. [353] In the morning companies, camps and veterans unattached began to move to the assembly-grounds as early as 9 o'clock, and by 10 o'clock the whole western section of the city was stir and bustle.
Hill's followers here.
The rumble of artillery, the flash of sabres, the gleam of bayonets, the waving of battle-flags, the tramp of infantry and squadrons of cavalry, the notes of the bugle, and the martial music of the bands made the occasion one intensely inspiring. Marked in the throng by every one were the men who wore the badge of the Thirteenth Virginia, Hill's old regiment. Some of these survivors look even now as if they had not passed middle age, but the majority of them are gray-haired, and have left behind the half-century mile-stone on the road of life. Another organization whose members attracted special attention wherever they were seen was the Pegram Battalion Association. All the veterans were recipients of general recognition and evoked enthusiastic greeting, but the Thirteenth survivors and the Pegram Battalion survivors were more distinctively noticeable by their badges, and perhaps more prominently associated in the public mind with Hill. Two focal points of interest before the procession moved were the Mechanics' Institute and the residence of Major Thomas A. Brander, corner of Franklin and Fourth streets. At the former, the headquarters of the Pegram Battalion Association, the aids reported to the chief marshal, and orders were being sent out every few minutes by them. At the latter the ladies who were to occupy seats in carriages assembled, and were assigned by Colonel J. V. Bidgood.Crowds on the streets.
The sidewalks along the route of the procession, from Fifth and Franklin to Richmond College, were lined with people. Certainly there has been no such outpouring of all classes since the unveiling of the Lee monument, and certainly the spirit of the occasion was manifest in every face. The demonstration on the streets was an honor to Hill, an honor to the cause none contributed more than he to make glorious, an honor to Richmond. [354] The march was a long, hot and dusty one, but those in line, including the veterans, stood to it with splendid steadiness. Many of the latter bore on their bodies the scars of battle, and others were broken in health from exposure in camp or bivouac, but there was about the column something of that grim determination of the days when their dauntless courage, their fortitude, and their disregard for all obstacles that confronted them made the armies of the the Confederacy the admiration of the world.Respect to General Lee.
The march was devoid of interest, except repeated cheering and waving of handkerchiefs, until the parade reached the Lee monument. Here the colors were dipped, the infantry came to a carry, and then a reverse, the veterans, the cavalry, and the artillery also saluted, and the bands played dirges. After leaving this point the column broke into a rout step, which was continued to the site of the Hill monument, where the different organizations were assigned positions. The actual ceremonies of the unveiling occupied about an hour and ten minutes; and, save for the dust, the crowd suffered very little inconvenience, as a delightful breeze was blowing all the time.March through the streets.
A splendid parade of military and Veterans viewed by an enthusiastic throng.There was an unusually large crowd of visitors in the city, and as their numbers were greatly augmented by the military and veterans from various portions of the State, the streets were thronged from early morn till late at night. The hotels were packed, and every train added to the multitude, which seemed to grow as the hours wore on. Broad street, especially in the neghborhood of the Regimental Armory, was literally jammed in the early part of the morning, and for several squares around the thoroughfares were almost blockaded. Most of the visiting military reached here on Sunday, and as the various organizations arrived they were met at the depots by the local volunteers and escorted to their quarters. Throughout the Sabbath, and even until 9 or 10 o'clock yesterday morning the [355] armory was like a bee-hive, and hundreds of men were pouring back and forth, while a crowd was constantly in front of the building. Guards were posted at the doors to keep back the public, and these were on duty from early Sunday morning until the troops formed in line yesterday. The visiting soldier boys were evidently enjoying themselves as much as possible, and before the column moved they could be seen scattered about in every direction.
Crowds on the street.
The parade, which was one of the leading features of the day, was the finest display of military and veterans seen in this city since the Lee monument unveiling, and attracted universal attention. Thousands of people lined the streets from the Capitol square, where the various organizations began to fall in, up to the Lee-Monument grounds. The porches and verandas along the route were crowded with pretty girls, who cheered and waved their handkerchiefs to the troops as they passed. A few minutes after 9 o'clock the formation of the magnificent column was commenced, and the various companies, troops and batteries began falling in. Broad street from Fifth to Ninth, and Marshall from the Armory to Ninth fairly swarmed with soldiery, and the thoroughfares looked as if the city had been besieged by a mighty invading host. The flash of the musketry and the gleaming of the cavalry and artillery sabres were truly an inspiring sight, which was rendered still more imposing by the appearance of the veterans, nearly all of whom wore the Confederate gray. Hundreds of badges with the colors of the Lost Cause were sold upon the streets, and many of these were worn upon the coat lapels of those who marched in the long line. The arrangements for the formation of the procession had been made with great care and precision, but some little difficulty was experienced in getting the various organizations in exactly the right places. The column was, therefore, a trifle late moving. The order to ‘forward, march!’ was given a few minutes before 11 o'clock. Grace street from Ninth to Fifth, the first part of the route, was literally jammed with men, women, and children, and the greatest enthusiasm prevailed when the procession started amidst the strains of inspiring music and the hurrahs of the multitude.[356]
The police, marshal and aids.
A squad of mounted police under command of Captain E. P. Hulce, of the Third District, rode at the head of the line. The ‘blue coats’ all wore their helmets of gray, and presented an excellent appearance. Behind these came the chief-marshal, General Harry Heth, who wore a buff sash and looked every inch a soldier as he sat erect on his prancing charger. He was followed by Colonel William H. Palmer, his chief of staff, whose sash was white. The aids, all of whom wore red sashes, were as follows: Captain W. Gordon McCabe, Petersburg; Colonel W. W. Finney, Sublett's Tavern, Virginia; Lieutenant Beverly H. Selden, Richmond; Captain Stockton Heth, Radford, Virginia; Colonel G. M. Fague, Washington, D. C.; Dr. George Ross, Richmond; Dr. C. W. P. Brock, Richmond; Joseph Bryan, Richmond; Captain R. H. T. Adams, Lynchburg; Colonel J. V. Bidgood, Richmond; Judge E. C. Minor, Richmond; Judge H. W. Flournoy, Richmond; Colonel T. M. R. Talcott, Richmond; Colonel Walter H. Taylor, Norfolk; General G. M. Sorrell, Savannah, Georgia; W. R. Trigg, Richmond; Colonel A. G. Dickinson, New York; Captain W. H. Weisiger, Richmond; Colonel W. E. Tanner, Richmond; G. Powell Hill, Richmond; Colonel Archer Anderson, Richmond; General T. M. Logan, Richmond; Captain Charles U. Williams, Richmond; Colonel R. L. Maury; Richmond; Colonel C. O'B. Cowardin, Richmond; Captain E. P. Reeve, Richmond; Major N. V. Randolph, Richmond; Judge Geo. L. Christian, Richmond; Chas. Selden, Richmond. Colonel Henry C. Jones, commandant of the First Virginia regiment of Infantry, had charge of all the militia. He was accompanied by the following officers from the brigade staff: Major John H. Dinneen, inspector-general; Major Meriwether Jones, quartermaster; Major M. D. Hoge, Jr., surgeon; and Major William M. Evans, assistant adjutant-general. Captain L. T. Christian and Captain B. B. Walker, of the Second regiment, District of Columbia National Guard, by special request, also acted as members of Colonel Jones's staff, all of whom were mounted.The First at the head.
The First regiment, which presented a splendid appearance and marched unusually well, headed the infantry forces. Major J. H. [357] Derbyshire commanded the first battalion and Captain Charles Gasser, the second. The following were the staff officers: Major E. P. Turner, surgeon; Captain D. A. Kuyk, assistant-surgeon; Captain E. A. Shepherd, adjutant; Captain J. R. Tennant, quartermaster; Captain Cyrus Bossieux, commissary; and Rev. Dr. Moses D. Hoge. The figure of the beloved Presbyterian divine, as he sat erect and soldierly upon his horse, attracted considerable attention. The non-commissioned staff, who marched with drawn swords, were Sergeant-Major R. B. Hickok, Quartermaster-Sergeant P. L. Falkiner, Ordnance Sergeant H. P. Gray, Commissary-Sergeant J. V. B. Moore, Post-Quartermaster-Sergeant J. S. L. Owen. The Grays (Company A) were commanded by Captain C. Gray Bossieux, with Lieutenants Garrison and Goode and nine commissioned officers. Thirty-five privates were in line, making a total rank and file of fifty-six men. Captain Frank Cunningham commanded the Walker Light Guard (Company B), and his commissioned officer was Lieutenant J. J. Haverty. Lieutenant William Russell was assigned to duty as adjutant of the Second battalion. Fifty officers and privates of the company paraded. Captain Harry Lee Watson, the newly-elected commandant, was at the head of Company C, which paraded thirty-five men. Lieutenant J. B. Patton was the next officer in rank, while Lieutenant J. R. Holstead, the other commissioned officer, was detailed as officer of the guard. Company D, which was commanded by First-Lieutenant Charles A. Crawford, in the absence of Captain Gasser, who had charge of the Second battallion, turned out fifty-seven men. Captain E. Leslie Spence, officer of the day, commanded Company E, which paraded thirty-five men. The other officers were Lieutenants J. P. Davis and George R. Fairlamb. Company F, which paraded thirty-two, was commanded by Captain George Wayne Anderson, with Lieutenants S. J. Doswell and G. P. Shackelford. The Hospital Corps of the regiment turned out in large numbers. The following were the members in line: Acting-Stewards Flavius Glinn, L. H. Burwell, H. L. Cardoza, G. F. Ferrin, P. E. Gibbs, W. H. Goodliff, Samuel Harris, C. V. Jones, Robert Hardwicke, C. H. Kindervater, H. Kindervater, G. E. Matlock, L. B. Samuels, J. P. Scott, W. R. Smith, C. N. Pugh, J. F. Waller, B. P. T. Wood, [358] W. H. Parker, Jr., L. B. Reams, R. R. Allen, A. G. Allen, and G. E. Bailey. The Drum-Corps, an important adjunct of the regiment, paraded in full force, and took no trifling part in the procession, for they made themselves heard in their characteristic way.The Fourth regiment.
A battalion of the Fourth regiment followed the First, and was preceded by an excellent band of twenty pieces. Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Hodges commanded, while Major L. A. Bilisoly acted as surgeon, and Lieutenant B. W. Salomonsky as adjutant. The visiting infantrymen presented a splendid appearance. The following were the companies composing the battalion: Company B (Norfolk), Captain M. Terrall; three noncommissioned officers and fifteen privates, making a total of nineteen men. Company D (Hampton), Captain G. W. Hope; First Lieutenant, F. W. Couch; Second Lieutenant, J. W. Tennis. Six non commissioned officers and twenty-three privates, making a total of thirty-three men. Company E (Portsmouth), Captain R. E. Warren; Second Lieutenant, T. C. Owen. Five non-commissioned officers and twenty privates, making a total of twenty-seven men. Company G (Petersburg Grays), Captain F. R. Lassiter; Lieutenants R. O. Jones and W. L. McGill, and twenty-five privates, making a total of twenty-eight men, rank and file. Company K (Portsmouth), Captain J. W. Happer; First Lieutenant, E. W. Owen; Second Lieutenant, J. W. Leigh. Seven noncommissioned officers and twenty-six privates, making a total of thirty-six men.National Guard and Blues.
The Provisional battalion, which was commanded by Captain Sol. Cutchins, was preceded by the Blues' Band, which rendered beautiful music as the procession moved along the route. Company C, of the District of Columbia National Guard, of Washington, was one of the finest-looking organizations in the command. The officers were Captain George E. Pickett, First-Lieutenant E. D. Smoot, and Second-Lieutenant Underwood. There were twelve non-commissioned officers and thirty-five privates, making a total of fifty men. [359] The Huntington Rifles, of Newport News, were commanded by Captain G. W. Fitchett and Lieutenants R. G. Hughes and J. E. Williams. Six non-commissioned officers and thirty-six privates were in line, making a total of forty-two men. The Richmond Light Infantry Blues, under command of Lieutenant Clarence Wyatt, paraded fifty-six men, and appeared in the pink of condition. The other officers were Lieutenant William B. Pizzini, Lieutenant E. T. Baker (surgeon), First-Sergeant George Guy, Orderly-Sergeant Frank Steel, Sergeant G. B. Mountcastle (leader of the band), and La Rue Grove, drum-major. The latter attracted considerable attention by the skilful manner in which he twirled the baton.The Third regiment Battalion.
The battalion of the Third regiment was commanded by Captain T. S. Keller, and consisted of the following companies: Company D (Charlottesville), First Lieutenant, L. F. Roberts; Second Lieutenant, J. N. Marshall. Four non-commissioned officers and thirty-three privates; total, rank and file, forty men. Company E (Lynchburg), Captain F. Camm; First Lieutenant, T. D. Oglesby; Second Lieutenant, W. J. Seabury; Third Lieutenant, W. S. Faulkner. Seven non-commission officers and twenty-four privates, making a total of thirty-five men.The Artillery.
The First Battallion of Artillery, which was the largest body of cannoneers that has paraded the streets of this city for years, presented a magnificent appearance as they marched with even pace along the route. Major W. E. Simons commanded the artillerymen, and the following were the officers of his staff: Captain W. G. Harvey (adjutant), Major Ed. McCarthy (surgeon), Captain J. E. Phillips, Lieutenants R. L. Vandeventer, E. M. Crutchfield, and H. L. Turner. It is no disparagement to the visiting cannoneers to say that the Richmond Howitzers presented the finest appearance of all the batteries. They paraded mounted and carried their four guns, limber-chests and caissons. Eighty of the gallant artillerymen were in line, and as they marched in the procession, amid the heavy, rumbling sound of the cannon, there was something truly martial in their [360] appearance. Captain John A. Hutcheson commanded the Howitzers, and his Lieutenants were W. A. Barratt, T. H. Starke and C. W. McFarlane. The Grimes Battery, of Portsmouth (Battery C), a recently organized company, vied with the Howitzers in neatness of appearance and soldierly demeanor. They were commanded by Captain George W. McDonald and Lieutenants H. R. Warren and W. K. Gale, and paraded fourteen non-commissioned officers and nineteen privates. The Lynchburg Blues (Battery D), a well-drilled organization, were commanded by Captain John A. Davis and Lieutenant J. F. Graves, and paraded twelve non-commissioned officers and fourteen privates, making a total of thirty men.Six troops of Cavalry.
The cavalry regiment was the largest body of military horsemen that has been seen in this city since the war, and it was an inspiring sight to behold the troopers as they proudly marched in the procession. Colonel G. Percy Hawes commanded the regiment, and the following were the members of his staff: Lieutenant-Colonel, W. F. Wickham; Major, W. Kirk Mathews; Major Lewis Wheat, M. D., surgeon; Captain H. M. Boykin, adjutant; Captain A. B. Guigon, commissary; Captain E. D. Hotchkiss, ordnance officer; Captain E. D. McGuire, M. D., assistant surgeon. Non-commissioned staff: Captain E. P. Turner, surgeon of Troop B, Surry county; Sergeant-Major W. B. Marks; Commissary-Sergeant, John C. Small; Quartermaster-Sergeant J. F. Bradley; Ordnance Sergeant, E. S. Hazen.Organizations in the regiment.
Troop A (Stuart Horse Guard), Captain Charles Euker, Lieutenants E. J. Euker and J. R. Branch, eleven non-commissioned officers and twenty-five privates, making a total of thirty-nine. Troop C (Fitz Lee Troop, Lynchburg), Captain T. J. Ingram, First Lieutenant W. M. Seay, Jr., Second Lieutenant H. W. Baker; nine non-commissioned officers, and twenty-five privates—total thirty-seven. Troop D (Hanover Troop), Captain W. D. Cardwell, First Lieutenant M. P. Howard, Second Lieutenant Fenton Noland; eleven non-commissioned officers and twenty six privates—total forty. [361] Troop F (Chesterfield Troop), Captain David Moore, First Lieutenant A. C. Atkinson, Second Lieutenant J. C. Winston; eleven non-commissioned officers, and twenty-six privates; total thirty-eight Troop F (the Ashby Light Horse) made their first appearance before the public in their new uniforms, and as they passed up Franklin street they were frequently greeted with applause. Captain Edgerton S. Rogers was in command, and the other commissioned officers were Lieutenants George B Pegram and C. H. Rose. There were eleven non-commissioned officers and thirty-six privates in line, making a total of forty-nine men rank and file.Guests in carriages.
The military were followed by a long line of carriages containing the distinguished visitors. The following is a list of the guests thus honored: Governor P. W. McKinney, Hon. J. Taylor Ellyson, Colonel C. S. Venable, General James A. Walker, Dr. J. William Jones, Major T. A. Brander, Captain Thomas Ellett, Captain R. B. Munford, Miss Lucy Lee Hill, Miss Russie Gay, Miss Forsythe, Mr.Saunders and Mrs. C. A. Saunders, Mrs. Ransom, Miss Thomas, Miss Fannie Hill, Miss Minnie Hill, Mrs. Wiltshire, General Fizhugh Lee, General Dabney H. Maury, Dr. J. B. Newton, Mr.Bispham and Mrs. Bispham, Mr. John Purcell, Mrs. McKinney, Mrs. J. Taylor Ellyson, Miss Lelia Dimmock, Mrs. J. B. Pace, Mr. McIntosh, Miss McIntosh, Mrs. McIntosh, Mrs. General Heth, Miss Heth, Mrs. W. H. Palmer, Mrs. E. G. Leigh, Mrs. Frank Christian, Mrs. Taylor, Miss Taylor, Miss Muns, Mr. William L. Sheppard, Mrs. William L. Sheppard, Miss Jennie Ellett, Miss Styles, General D. A. Weisiger, General C. J. Anderson, Colonel R. Snowden Andrews, General James McDonald, Colonel John Murphy, Mrs. J. W. White, Mrs. Christian, Mrs. Brander, Dr. C. H. Todd, Mrs. R. B. Munford, Mrs. Pickett, Colonel Morton Marye, Mr. R. H. Cardwell, and Colonel F. G. Skinner. In addition to these there were a number of private carriages in the line. All of the military, with the exception of one company of infantry, wore their fatigue uniforms and forage caps.Applause for the ‘vets.’
The veteran organizations who followed behind the brightly dressed soldier lads were not less inspiring in appeararance, and the aged [362] warriors came in for a liberal share of applause from the multitudes who thronged the streets. First in the line marched the Pegram Battalion, who wore large straw hats with red bands, upon which was printed the name of their organization. Over a hundred of the old ‘rebels’ were in the line, and despite the heat of the day and the fatigue of the walk, they showed that they had not forgotten how to march. Captain John Tyler, the president of the battalion, headed the organizations, and the following gentlemen, who wore red rosettes, were his aides: Captain James W. Pegram, Mr. Joseph M. Fourqurean, Colonel J. B. Purcell, Mr. James T. Ferriter, Mr. John S. Ellett, Major A. R. Courtney, Mr. Frank D. Hill, Major A. W. Garber, Mr. C. A. Robinson, Mr. Corbin Warwick, and Mr. H. Cabell Tabb; Courier, Master James A. Langhorne. Captain Tyler wore the uniform he used during the war, and also had on a white rosette to mark his rank. The veterans of this organization proudly carried with them two historic Confederate battle-flags, which plainly showed by their appearance that they had been through the ravages of war. One of the tattered banners was the ensign of the old Pegram Battalion, and the other was the flag of Crenshaw's Battery, which was attached to this command. Next followed Colonel William P. Smith, commander of the Grand Camp of Confederate Veterans, Department of Virginia, escorted by the members of his staff, who were all mounted. Behind these came the members of the Lee Camp on foot, dressed in the beloved Confederate gray, and preceded by their drum corps, which made the air quake with their merry music. Colonel A. W. Archer, their commander, was at their head. At least one hundred and fifty of the gallant old soldiers were in the line. Major Robert Stiles, on a spirited horse, accompanied this command. He was dressed in the little gray jacket he wore during the war, and looked every inch a soldier as he galloped around on his steed.The Maryland Veterans.
There was a great hurrah from the Virginia soldiers when the Society of the Army and Navy of the Confederate States, of Maryland, headed by the Great Southern Band with about thirty pieces, fell into line behind the Lee Camp veterans at Monroe Park. This [363] body reached the city at 11 o'clock on a special train, and was under command of General George H. Steuart. The party embraced about one hundred members of the society. General Steuart's staff consisted of Captain Winfield Peters, Major McHenry Howard, Major N. V. Randolph, and Mr. S. W. Travers. The two latter were kindly designated for this duty by order of General Heth. These staff officers, who were all mounted, rendered very efficient services to General Steuart, and it was through their aid and the kindness of Captain Ellett and Major Brander that the Marylanders, who arrived after the column started, were able to get their position in the line. Among the prominent Marylanders who were in the party were: Colonel Thomas S. Rhett, State-Treasurer Spencer C. Jones, Rev. William M. Dame, Mr.Bispham and Mrs. Stacey P. Bispham and Mrs. James G. Wiltshire (the ladies being the neices of General A. P. Hill), Hugh McWilliams, R. M. Chambers, Colonel J. Thomas Scharf, William J. Scharf, Dr. J. G. Heusler, Mr.Carter and Mrs. H. M. Carter and Miss Carter, CaptainStaub and Mrs. R. P. H. Staub and two daughters, William J. Biedler, Captain Adolph Elhart, and S. A. Kennedy, passenger agent of the Pennsylvania railroad. An interesting incident in connection with the attendance of Generals Heth and Steuart at the unveiling of the monument is the fact that they and General Hill were fellow-cadets at West Point Military Academy. General Heth was senior major-general under Lieutenant-General Hill when the latter was killed.Other Home veteran organizations.
The veterans of Louisa Camp, under the lead of Commander William Overton, came next, and preceded the members of the old First Virginia regiment, who numbered about fifty men. The latter, who were under the command of Colonel F. H. Langley, wore straw hats with black bands, which contained the name of their organization. The Fort Monroe band came next in the procession, and preceded Pickett-Buchanan Camp, No. 3, of Norfolk, which was headed by Commander Walter F. Irvine. The veterans of this organization numbered about seventy-five, and were beautifully uniformed in the regulation suit of gray. Stonewall Camp, No. 4, of Portsmouth, paraded about twenty-five men, who were headed by Commander R. C. Marshall. R. E. Lee Camp, No. 2, of Alexandria, numbered [364] about twenty-five men, with William A. Smoot as commander. Captain W. Gordon McCabe commanded the veterans of A. P. Hill Camp, No. 6, of Petersburg, which was one of the largest organizations among the division of old soldiers. The drumcorps of this organization preceded the warriors from the Cockade City, who numbered about one hundred. Maury Camp, No. 2, of Fredericksburg, numbered about forty men, and was commanded by W. B. Goodrick. The veterans of George E. Pickett Camp, No. 2, presented a splendid appearance. They numbered about sixty men, and were headed by Commander Catlett Conway. A number of other Confederate camps and veteran organizations were in line, and among these were the members of the old Thirteenth Virginia Infantry and the Richmond Light Infantry Blues' Association.The sons of Veterans.
Last in the military column came the Sons of Confederate Veterans. R. E. Lee Camp, No. 1, of this city, numbered about thirty men, and was under the command of Mr. W. Dean Courtney, while R. E. Lee Camp, No. 2, of Alexandria, which was headed by Mr. U. S. Lambeth, numbered about fifteen men. R. S. Chew Camp, of Fredericksburg, presented a splendid appearance, as fifty-four men paraded, and all of them wore the new uniforms of the organization, which are similar to those of the veteran camps. The officers of the Fredericksburg ‘Sons’ are: James A. Turner, commander; W. H. Merchant, adjutant; J. F. Anderson, first lieutenant; John B. Cox, second lieutenant; F. H. Revere, first sergeant; Thomas Larkin, orderly sergeant. This camp was accompanied by Bowering's Band of twenty-three pieces. The members of the Board of Aldermen and City Council, who rode in hacks, brought up the rear of the line, which was followed by vehicles of every description, which contained people who were going to the unveiling.At the Lee monument.
As the soldier boys reached the Lee monument each infantry company came to a ‘carry,’ and the parade around the statue was to the strains of a funeral dirge. Upon leaving the immortal Lee in bronze the order to reverse arms was executed. This portion of the [365] proceedings was exceedingly solemn, and more than one follower of the great chieftain looked up at the life-like picture with tearful eyes. Just beyond the monument was a large number of covered wagons, containing seats, which were in waiting for the procession. They were provided for the veterans, and at this point those who had become fatigued took seats in these vehicles, riding the remainder of the way to the grounds. After passing the monument the, infantry took the old Hermitage road to the grounds, while the prominent visitors and citizens in carriages, buggies and other vehicles kept on around the new drive.Arrival at the statue.
Pen-picture of an animated Scene—The disposition of the organizations.For an unveiling demonstration such as that of yesterday there could be no prettier place than the site of the Hill monument and its environments. The precise location of the memorial is at the intersection of two grand avenues and on a broad, level, unwooded and unfenced plateau. As has been stated before, it overlooks the scene of some of General Hill's greatest achievements, and the whole locality is indissolubly associated with his name and his fame. The ceremonies at the monument were appointed to begin at noon, but, as usual on all such occasions, there were unavoidable delays. Long before the hour named, however, the crowd began to assemble at the grounds, and as far as the eye could reach in every direction the sides of the roadways were lined with vehicles of every description, and the clouds of dust in the distance told of more coming. The monument faces to the South, and just in front of it and across the circular drive around it the grand stand had been erected. The structure, which was set apart for the especially invited guests, the orators, &c., was profusely decorated with Confederate and State flags, and Confederate bunting. Just opposite it, and at the foot of the bastion which supports the base of the monument, there was another stand about five feet square, from which the unveiling cords were to be pulled. This was similarly decorated. At both stands and around the monument were veterans from the Lee Camp Soldiers' Home.
The marchers in sight.
The head of the advancing column from the city came in sight at twenty minutes past twelve o'clock, and when about a quarter of a [366] mile from the monument the cavalry broke away in a trot across the field to the southeast, the infantry turning into the same field behind them. The whole movement as viewed from a distance was exceedingly striking and realistic, and, whether so intended or not, had the effect of suggesting an effort on the part of the cavalry to head off the infantry. The artillery then moved forward, the camps closing up the gap, and the former after passing in front of the grand stand moved into the field to the west and unlimbered, and the veterans were massed in front of the grand stand and between it and the monument. In the meantime the guests in carriages had alighted, the marshal and his aides had picketed their horses, and the stand had rapidly filled up. Among those who occupied seats on it were GovernorMcKinney and Mrs. McKinney; Mrs. Saunders, sister of General Hill; Miss Lucy Lee Hill and Mrs. Russie Gay, daughters of General Hill; Mrs. Forsythe, half-sister of Miss Hill and Mrs. Gay; Mrs. J. Taylor Ellyson, General Fitzhugh Lee, Mr. Alexander Cameron, wife, and two daughters; Mr. Charles Talbott, Mrs. Appleton, J. Ide, Mr.Leigh and Mrs. E. G. Leigh and son, Colonel W. E. Tanner, Mrs. W. J. White, Mrs. Thomas A. Brander, Mrs. Perkinson, Mrs. Fellows, Mrs. Waddy, Ex-Lieutenant-Governor J. L. Marye, Colonel Fred. Skinner, Dr. C. W. P. Brock, Rev. Dr. Hoge, Mr. Arthur B. Clarke, Mr. Robert H. Whitlock, Mr. Joseph Bryan and family, Colonel Snowden Andrews, Mrs. George E. Pickett, Colonel Thomas N. Carter, General G. M. Sorrell, Dr. George Ross, General Field, Colonel Miles Cary, Colonel C. O'B. Cowardin, Colonel Morton Marye, Hon. R. H. Cardwell, Mr. John V. L. Klapp and others.An animated picture.
While the disposition of the various organizations was being made, the picture from the statue was a most animated and inspiring one. There was a clear sweep for the vision in whichever direction one turned. All over the field to the southeast were groups of cavalry, and paralleling the road in the same direction was a long line of glistening musket-barrels. To the immediate rear, the Hermitage road was bordered by vehicles and citizens. To the immediate rear of these, and made all the more prominent by a background composed of another immense throng in citizen's dress, were the Confederate camps and Sons of Veterans, in their gray uniforms and vari-colored badges. To the left and west the red artillery were stationed; here, there, and everywhere staff officers [367] were galloping over the fields, and on every side fluttered State colors and Confederate battle-flags. Some of these were new, but not a few were bullet-riddled and blood-and-weather-stained, and had waved over many a victorious field, and were dear in every thread to those who gazed upon them.The unveiling ceremonies.
Major Brander Presides, Dr. Newton Prays, and Dr. Jones presents the orator.When a little before 1 o'clock Major Thomas A. Brander, president of the Hill Monument Association, called the assemblage to order it was estimated that there were some fifteen thousand persons on the grounds, and there was a remarkable hush for such a crowd as Rev. Dr. John B. Newton stepped forward and offered the following prayer: Almighty God and Heavenly Father, in Thee ‘we live and move and have our being,’ and without Thee we can do nothing. Bless us, we pray Thee, in our present work. Put far from us the spirit of evil, and fill us with Thy grace and heavenly benediction. May all that we do be to Thy glory and to the honor and welfare of Thy people. Impart to us the love of Thy truth. Inspire us with high and holy purposes. Make us duly sensible of Thy mercies and humbly submissive to Thy will. Bless our people everywhere. Give them grateful hearts for all the sacred memories of the past; for all that was true and noble in the lives of those whose names we revere, and whose self-sacrificing devotion to duty we this day commemorate. Comfort all who mourn, strengthen the weak, lift up the fallen, and save the perishing. We ask all in the name of Thy dear Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The orator introduced.
Rev. Dr. J. William Jones, who entered the Confederate army as a private in the Thirteenth Virginia, General Hill's old regiment, and who is known throughout the length and breath of the Southland for his devotion to the Southern cause and its memories, introduced the orator of the day, General James A. Walker. Dr. Jones said: [368] Mr. President, Comrades of the Arm y of Northern Virginia, Soldiers of the Confederacy, Ladies and Gentlemen. If the personal allusion may be pardoned, I will say that I count myself one of the happiest, if not the happiest, man in all this vast crowd assembled here to-day. Always happy to meet the men who wore the gray—for if there is one man on earth whom I honor and love above another, it is the true Confederate soldier—I delight to mingle in reunions of the survivors of every army of the Confederacy as they gather from Maryland to Texas. But it is for me always a peculiar pleasure to attend a Confederate gathering in historic, battle-scarred heroic old Richmond, and to mingle with the men who followed Lee and Jackson and Longstreet and Ewell and A. P. Hill [great applause], and ‘Jeb’ Stuart; the men who composed the Army of Northern Virginia, the noblest army of heroic patriots that ever marched under any flag, or fought for any cause, ‘in all the tide of time.’A happy task to discharge.
And yet a still greater happiness is mine to-day; for, as I look out on this crowd I see the faces and forms of men by whose side I have marched along the weary road, bivouacked in the pelting storm, or went into the leaden and iron hail of battle—the men of the noble old Thirteenth Virginia regiment and the grand old Third Corps assembled to honor themselves by doing honor to our peerless leader—the brave and accomplished soldier, the chivalric Virginia gentleman, the devoted patriot, the martyr hero of our dying cause, ‘gallant and glorious Little Powell Hill.’ I am only to introduce the fitly-chosen orator of the day, and I shall not, of course, be guilty of the gross impropriety of attempting a speech myself, but I am sure that you will pardon me if I say just this: Richmond is fast becoming the ‘Monumental City.’ Her peerless Washington, surrounded by his compatriots of the Revolution of 1776—her Lee—her Jackson—her Wickham—her monument to ‘the true hero’ of the war, the private soldier, now being erected—her monument to ‘the flower of cavaliers,’ dashing, glorious Jeb Stuart, which is to be erected in the near future—and the projected grand monument to our noble Christian President, soldier, [369] statesman, orator, patriot—Jefferson Davis—all these will teach our children's children that these men were not ‘rebels,’ and not ‘traitors,’ but as true patriots as the world ever saw.A worthy work well done.
But I do not hesitate to declare that none of these monuments have been, or will be, more worthily erected than the one we are to unveil here to-day to A. P. Hill—a worthy comrade of that bright galaxy of leaders which made the name and fame of the Southern Confederacy immortal forever. And now it only remains for me not to introduce, for I shall not presume to do that to an audience of Virginians and of Confederate soldiers, but simply to announce the orator of the occasion. The lieutenant-colonel and intimate friend of A. P. Hill, his successor in command of the old Thirteenth Virginia regiment; the man whose heroic courage and high soldierly qualities attracted the attention of Lee and Jackson, and caused them to select him to command the old ‘Stonewall’ brigade, which he ably led until shot down in the ‘bloody angle’ at Spotsylvania Courthouse; the man who succeeded the gallant and lamented John Pegram, and led Ewell's (Early's) old division around Petersburg and to Appomattox Courthouse; the man who was always at the post of duty, was one of the bravest and best soldiers and most indomitable patriots that the war produced—that man has been fitly chosen to speak of A. P. Hill on this occasion, and it gives me peculiar pleasure to announce the name, General James A. Walker, of Wytheville, Virginia, or if my loved and honored old friend and commander will pardon the liberty, I will announce him by a name more familiar still to his old followers and comrades, ‘Stonewall Jim Walker,’ the worthy successor of A. P. Hill and of Stonewall Jackson, the man worthy to voice the feelings and sentiments of his old command concerning their loved leader, A. P. Hill. [Applause.] Dr. Jones spoke with his usual force and vigor, and throughout the crowd punctuated his sentences with cheers.General Walker's Oration.
A splendid vindication of the South's love and reverence for her heroes.As General Walker came to the front, his shattered and almost useless arm hanging limp at his side, a burst of applause went up [370] that made the welken ring. He was in splendid voice, and spoke with a feeling that carried the crowd with him from the beginning. He said: Mr. President and Gentlemen of i/e A. P. Hill Monument Association: We meet to pay tribute to the memory of a comrade whom we love and admire, and who is worthy the love and admiration of all true Southern hearts. We come thus together in no spirit of disloyalty to the present, or ‘to the powers that be,’ but in a spirit of loyalty to the past, and out of reverence for a great nation which perished in its infancy. The war between the States has long been over; the most prominent actors in that struggle have passed from the stage of life; the angry passions it engendered have subsided, and with no feelings of animosity towards any living on account of that strife; with hearty acquiescence in the settlement of all vexed questions of government and politics fairly submitted to the arbitrament of the sword and fairly decided by the award, the people of the South accepts the result in all its legitimate bearings and just deductions as become a brave and honorable people, but with no feeling of inferiority; with no craven spirit; with no regrets or professions of sorrow for the past, and with no apologies to offer. They staked their all upon the uncertain chances of war, and they will stand the hazard of the die. Though overpowered, they are proud of the record they made—of the valor of their armies; of the patriotism and courage of their women, and of the sufferings they endured in a just cause. They honor and reverence their chosen leaders and cling to their memories with tender recollections, which neither time nor change can efface.
Broken with the storms of State.
A few months ago, in the city of New Orleans, the President of the Confederate States of America lay dead—‘an old man broken with the storms of State,’ who for twenty-five years had been proscribed and disfranchised by the government under which he lived; denied the rights of citizenship accorded to his former slaves; without country, without fortune or influence, and by whose life or death no man could hope to be gainer or loser. [371] No mercenary motives influenced a single individual to mourn for him. And yet the whole Southland, all the sons and daughters of the Confederacy, all their children and their grandchildren, from the gray-haired veteran to the infant of tender years, wept over his bier and mourned with genuine heart-felt sorrow for Jefferson Davis. Dead, but his spirit breathes;Dead, but his heart is ours;
Dead, but his sunny and sad land wreathes
His crown with tears for flowers.
A statue for his tomb;
Mould it of marble white;
For wrong, a spectre of death and doom;
An angel of hope for right.
They mourned for him, not because they grieved for the proud banner which was furled, or for the cause which was lost, but because he had been their President, just and true, in the days of their trial and adversity, and because he had been persecuted for their sakes. History records no more touching scene than the South weeping at the grave of Jefferson Davis—a scene which touched even the bitterest foes of the sad mourners. Mr. Ingalls, then United States Senator from the State of Kansas; a man as noted for his hatred of the Southern people as for his brilliant talents, from his place in the Senate chamber said: ‘He could understand the reverence of the Southern people for Jefferson Davis.’ ‘He honored them for their constancy to that heroic man.’ ‘Ideas could never be annihilated.’ ‘No man was ever converted by being overpowered.’ ‘Davis had remained to the end, the immovable type, exponent, and representative of those ideas for which he had staked all and lost all.’ Such a tribute was scarcely to have been expected from that source, and seems to have been wrung reluctantly from him by the admiration excited by the spontaneous outpouring of the sorrow of a whole people over the loss of their loved and faithful leader. Had these words been all, spoken by that brilliant but bitter man on that occasion, it would have been better for his future fame and better for the country. But he said more that was uncalled for and unjust to his fellow-citizens of the South. He said: ‘The South had not forgiven the North for its supremacy and superiority.’ ‘If the South could [372] hold the purse and the sword it was patriotic.’ ‘The Southern people had not accepted the amendments to the Constitution in good faith.’ ‘They had their heroes and their anniversaries.’ ‘They exalted their leaders above the leaders of the Union cause.’ To these charges—that the South has its ‘heroes and its anniversaries;’ that it ‘exalts its leaders above the leaders of the Union cause’—we plead guilty, and we are proud of our guilt. Yes, the South has its heroes and its anniversaries. The State of Virginia has, by solemn enactment of her General Assembly, made the natal day of her illustrious son, Robert E. Lee, a legal holiday, equal in in its observance to the birthday of her other great son, George Washington, the father of his country. If that be treason, let them make the most of it.
Our heroes and our anniversaries.
And why shall not the South have its heroes and its anniversaries? The South has its history; its traditions; its wrongs; its ruins; its victories; its defeats; its record of suffering and humiliation; its destruction and, worse still, its reconstruction. She has many cemeteries filled with her own patriotic dead, slain fighting her battles; and she has on her soil, beneath her bright skies, larger, more numerous, and more populous cemeteries, filled with brave men, slain in battle by the hands of her warriors. Is there nothing worthy the song of the heroic muse in all this? For four years the Confederate government floated its flag over every State beneath the Southern cross, and the Confederate armies carried their battle-flag in triumph from the Rio Grande almost to the capital of the Keystone State, and spread terror to the Great Lakes. Its little navy showed the strange colors of the new-born nation from the Northern sea to the equator, driving the American merchant marine from the high seas, until scarcely a ship engaged in commerce dared show the Stars and Stripes on the Atlantic ocean. For four bloody years the Confederacy stood the shock of all the power and resources of the greatest republic on the face of the globe, and fought for independence on more than one hundred battle-fields, and at last, when her armies were worn away by attrition and her means of resistance exhausted, succumbed to ‘overwhelming numbers and resources.’ [373]Vanquished, yet victorious;Was there no heroism in all this? Heroes are not made to order. Deeds make heroes—imperishable deeds, born of virtue, courage, and patriotism. Genius may make men great; power and place may make men famous, but the crown which decks the brow of the true hero is more than genius can give or power and place can bestow. If Robert E. Lee is not a hero in the highest and best sense of the word, can you point to a name on the pages of history more deserving the title? For four years he successfully led the armies of the Confederacy, proudly, grand, supremely great! In the sublime language of the gifted Senator Hill, of Georgia, ‘He possessed every virtue of all the other great commanders without their vices.’
Overcome, but not humiliated;
Defeated, but not dismayed.
He was a foe without hate,‘He was a public officer without vices, a private citizen without wrong, a neighbor without reproach, a Christian without hypocrisy, and a man without guilt. He was a Caesar without his ambition, Frederick without his tyranny, Napoleon without his selfishness, and Washington without his reward. He was as obedient to authority as a true king. He was as gentle as a woman in life, pure and modest as a virgin in thought, watchful as a Roman vestal in duty, submissive to law as Socrates, and as grand in battle as Achilles.’ And Stonewall Jackson! is he not a hero every inch from spur to plume? His fame is as bright as sun at the noon-day; as fixed and imperishable as the everlasting mountain peaks of his native State. When his spirit passed over the river and rested under the shade of the trees, the unspotted soul of a Christian hero went to its reward. Who denies that he was a military genius? Who says he was not an unselfish patriot? Who does not admit that he was as pure, as simple, and as free from guile as a little child? Amid the lurid lightnings, fierce passions, and dead thunders of the greatest civil war of modern times, when men's minds were full of evil machinations, and their hearts filled with hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness, he laid down his life; and yet, strange to tell, not one word of unkindness or reproach assailed his memory. The most implacable [374] of our foes breathed no word of criticism or charged him with a single act or speech unbecoming a true Christian hero. If Stonewall Jackson was not a hero, then the history of the world, its wars and revolutions, its struggles for country and freedom, never knew a man worthy to wear that title.
A friend without treachery,
A soldier without cruelty,
And a victim without murmuring.
The private soldier's valor.
I might prolong the list, but will speak here of but one other. His name I do not know, but his deeds of valor I have seen, while his courage, his fortitude, and his unexampled achievements all the world admires. This greatest hero of modern times is the private soldier of the Confederate army, who courageously and nobly did his duty, enduring the hardships and privations of his station without a murmur. He was the equal of the most famous soldiers of ancient or modern times. The Grecian phalanx was not more solid. The three hundred at Thermopylae were not more devoted. The Roman legion was not more steadfast and courageous. The Old Guard was not more reliable and certain in the hour of danger. The Light brigade was not more daring. Half-clad, half-starved, he endured the greatest fatigues and hardships without repining, and faced the heaviest odds without blanching or faltering. And is it counted strange that the Southern people cherish the memories of these men? Is it a matter of reproach that they have their heroes and their anniversaries? Is it a matter of surprise that they exalt their leaders above the leaders of the Union cause? Does any reasonable man expect less? Does he expect us to exalt General Grant above General Lee; General Sherman above Stonewall Jackson, or General Sheridan above A. P. Hill? [Great and continued applause. Blood is thicker than water. The affections of a brave people cannot be transferred from their own leaders to the leaders of the opposing side any more than water can run up hill by the force of gravity. It is contrary to the law of nature. The Southern people respect and admire the brave men who fought against them, and they feel a patriotic pride in their greatness, but they love their own heroes with a love which surpasses the love of woman. They are ‘bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh,’ and each atom of the dust of their dead who wore the gray is dearer to them than all the dust of all the brave men who wore the blue. [375] For in all the colors that deck the worldYour gray blends not with blue.
The colors are far apart,
Graves sever them in twain,
The Northern heart and the Southern heart
May beat in peace again.
But still, till time's last day,
Whatever lips may plight,
The blue is blue, but gray is gray,
Wrong never accords with right.
Loyalty to the Government of the United States does not require disloyalty to our own people or our own traditions. Loyalty to the Union does not require that we should love Mr. Ingalls, of Kansas, or canonize Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts. In thus honoring and cherishing the memories of their dead, the Southern people honor themselves and exalt themselves in the estimation of all right-minded people. If they failed to do this, they would deserve and receive the contempt of all brave people. The desire to honor the memory of dead friends is a natural instinct, firmly implanted in the human heart, and is as old as the history of the human race. Sophocles, in his tragedy of Antigone, tells us that when the daughter of Oedipus was brought before Cleon, King of Thebes, accused of paying the rights of sepulture to her brother, Polynices, slain in combat, declared a traitor, and his funeral rites forbidden under penalty of death, she acknowledged and exulted in the deed. And when asked by the king, ‘And darest thou, then, to disobey the law?’ she bravely and defiantly answered the tyrant thus:
I had it not from Jove,
Nor the just gods who rule below;
How could I ever think
A mortal law, of power or strength sufficient
To abrogate the unwritten law divine,
Immaculate, eternal, not like these
Of yesterday, but made ere time began.
Shall man persuade me then to violate
Heaven's greatest command, and make the gods my foes?
Believe me King: 'Tis happiness to die:
Without remorse I shall embrace my fate.
But to my brother had I left the rites
Of sepulture unpaid, I then indeed
Had been most wretched.
I cannot live to do a deed more glorious.
[376]
Gallant, chivalrous, noble A. P. Hill.
The people of the South have done no deed more glorious than in doing honor to their heroic dead and in perpetuating their memories in enduring monuments and life-like statues. Out of their poverty, they have erected monuments to Lee and Jackson, and Albert Sidney Johnston, and A. P. Hill. May the good work go on, until Davis, and Joe. Johnston, Jeb Stuart and Ewell, and many others have received the honor. Let every city, town and county in the South erect monuments to Confederate valor, and thus teach future generations to respect the men who upheld the conquered banner. But though many may worthily receive this honor, there is no name more worthy of a monument than he whose statue we unveil here to-day. Gallant, chivalrous, noble A. P. Hill; the daring, dashing, successful military chieftain; the courteous, knightly, kind hearted gentleman; the unselfish and sincere friend and the devoted patriot; the officer who rose from the rank of colonel to major-general in the short space of ninety days, and who filled every rank in the Army of Northern Virginia from colonel of a regiment to lieutenant-general in the incredibly brief space of fifteen months; the soldier whose military genius, valor and individuality so impressed itself upon every body of troops he commanded that it became famous for its achievements even in the history of that splendid Army of Northern Virginia. Wherever the headquarter flag of A. P. Hill floated, whether at the head of a regiment, a brigade, a division, or a corps, in camp or on the battle-field, it floated with a grace and a confidence born of skill, ability and courage, which infused its confidence and courage into the hearts of all who followed it. It was ever advanced nearest the enemy's lines, ever at the post of danger, always in the thickest of the fight. It floated over more victorious fields, and trailed in the dust of fewer defeats than any flag in the Army of Northern Virginia. Ambrose Powell Hill was born in Culpeper county, Virginia, in the year 1825, and entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1842. Owing to ill health, he did not graduate until July, 1847, and was immediately ordered to join his regiment in Mexico as second lieutenant of artillery. He reached his post of duty in front of the City of Mexico in time to participate in several of the closing engagements which opened the gates of the city to the [377] American troops and placed General Scott in possession of the halls of the Montezumas. For gallant conduct in these affairs he was breveted first lieutenant of artillery, having won his spurs in his first battle. After the close of the Mexican war, Lieutenant Hill was stationed for several years in Florida, leading a quiet, uneventful life, interspersing the routine duties of garrison life with reading, hunting, and fishing. In 1857 he was detailed for service in the United States Coast-Survey Office, at Washington city, where he remained until the Spring of 1861. In this position, as in all others, Lieutenant Hill was faithful and attentive to his duties, and a great favorite with all his brother officers, as well as in the refined circle of society in which he moved. In the year 1860 he married a sister of the distinguished Confederate general, John H. Morgan.Responded to Virginia's call.
And now the young soldier's cup seemed full, with nothing more to be desired. In the enjoyment of domestic felicity, possessed of fortune, surrounded by friends, with every prospect of speedy promotion and advancement in his chosen profession, he had every inducement to side with the Union, and every selfish consideration appealed to him to cast his lot with the government he had served from boyhood, and to remain with the flag he had marched under in foreign lands. When the year 1861 was ushered in, and he saw State after State withdrawn from the Union, and heard their senators and representatives resign their seats in Congress, and war became inevitable, he was urgently appealed to by his army associates to remain in Washington, and was promised that in the event he remained he would not be required to use his sword against his native State. But the good Virginia blood which coursed through his veins, and which came to him from revolutionary sires, claiming kindred with the old Culpeper minutemen, acknowledged allegiance to no power save Virginia. And as soon as the secession of his State became a fixed fact he resigned his commission in the army, and bidding farewell to old friends and comrades, reported to duty to Governor Letcher, and was commissioned colonel of Virginia volunteers. Colonel Hill was at once ordered to report to General Joseph E. Johnston, then in command of the troops on the upper Potomac, and was assigned to the command of the Thirteenth Virginia Infantry, [378] made up of companies from the counties of Orange, Culpeper, Louisa, Hampshire, and Frederick, in Virginia, and one company from Baltimore, Maryland. This regiment was composed of splendid material, and by his training and discipline and from the spirit he infused into its officers and men, it was made equal to the best of the regular troops, and became as well known throughout the Army of Northern Virginia as its first loved commander. Of this regiment General Lee said: ‘It is a splendid body of men.’ General Ewell said: ‘It is the only regiment in my command that never fails.’ General Jeb Stuart said: ‘It always does exactly what I tell it.’ And General Early said: ‘They can do more hard fighting and be in better plight afterwards than any troops I ever saw.’ From Harper's Ferry to Appomattox this splendid body of men carried the battle-flag of their regiment into every battle fought by Lee and Jackson, and never failed. To the last, the remnant of the regiment was as undaunted, as unwavering, and as ready to respond to the order to charge as at the beginning, and when at the surrender they stacked arms in front of a division of the Federal army, and set their faces homeward, they marched off with the swinging gait of Jackson's foot cavalry, cheering for Jefferson Davis and for the Southern Confederacy. Though their first loved commander was then dead on the field of honor, his spirit was still with them. ‘They were as brave as ever fought beneath knightly plume or on tented field.’ The pass at Roncesvalles looked not on a braver or a better band when fell before the opposing lance the harnessed chivalry of Spain. At the battle of Slaughter's Mountain, when the left of the Confederate line of battle was flanked and driven back in confusion, the Thirteenth remained unshaken, and at the word, sprang forward in the face of the advancing column of the enemy to save a battery of Colonel Snowden Andrew's artillery, left unsupported and in imminent danger of being captured. After saving the battery and checking the enemy's advance they held their ground while almost surrounded, until A. P. Hill's division came to the front, and with his victorious line they assisted in driving back the assailing columns for over a mile, and when night closed the pursuit bivouacked in the very front of the Confederate lines, within a pistol-shot of the enemy's position, and fully a mile in advance of the rest of the division. But, asking pardon for this digression, we return to our subject.[379]
M'Clellan's movement checked.
In the spring of 1861 General Joseph E. Johnston, learning that General McClellan was organizing a force on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, about New creek, and threatening his flank, sent A. P. Hill with his own (the Tenth Virginia) and Third Tennessee regiments to Romney in Hampshire county, to observe and check the movement. The task was accomplished by Colonel Hill in a manner to call forth honorable mention, and on his return to the army it was confidently expected by his friends that he would be promoted and assigned to the command of the regiments then under him, but the government at Richmond held that Virginia had already more than her share of brigadiers, and that no more appointments would be made from that State for the time being. That Colonel Hill was disappointed at this there can be no doubt, but he submitted without a murmur, and with his three regiments reported to General Arnold Elzey, of Maryland, who had just been promoted, and whose old regiment, the First Maryland united to Hill's three, was known as the Fourth brigade. At the battle of First Manassas, Colonel Hill's regiment was not engaged, having been sent to the right flank to strengthen a position supposed to be in need of reinforcements. The loss of this opportunity was another source of disappointment, but during the remainder of the year 1861, which was spent in masterly inactivity— Colonel Hill was untiring in his efforts to drill, discipline and organize the raw recruits of which General Johnston's army was composed, and by his experience, his military education, and his skill as an organizer, he contributed much to lay the foundation for the future success and efficiency of that army. In March, 1862, Colonel Hill received his long-deferred promotion, and was assigned to the command of Longstreet's old brigade, composed of the First, Seventh, Eleventh and Seventeenth Virginia regiments then at Orange Courthouse, on the march to the Peninsula. During the manoeuvres around Yorktown, and on the retreat to the Chickahominy, General Hill was distinguished for his energy and activity, and for the skill with which he handled his brigade. At the battle of Williamsburg, fought on the 5th of May, 1862, against his old schoolmate and friend, General McClellan, his coolness, courage and skill won the admiration of the army and the [380] applause of the whole country, and marked him for speedy promotion. In May, 1862, he was promoted to the rank of major-general and given command of the division composed of Pender's and Branch's North Carolina, Archer's Tennessee, Gregg's South Carolina, Field's Virginia, and Thomas' Georgia brigades. In the army then defending Richmond, Hill's division composed the extreme left, stationed along the left bank of the Chickahominy, opposite Mechanicsville, and was not engaged in the battles of Seven Pines and Savage Station. During the thirty days which elapsed between the promotion of General Hill and the beginning of the Seven-Days' battles around Richmond, he spent his time and gave his best energies to the improvement and discipline of his new command, and with what success he labored, and to what state of efficiency he brought it, let its records speak.A record of dazzling achievements.
The record of the ‘Light division’ of the Army of Northern Virginia, with its brilliant achievements, would fill a volume. Active, vigilant, ever ready, never taken by surprise; swift, dashing, yet steady and unflinching under the most trying circumstances; always in the fight, and ever adding fresh laurels to its crown of victory, and wreathing new chaplets of glory for its commander. Mechanicsville, Cold Harbor, Frazer's Farm, Slaughter's Mountain, Second Manassas, Ox Hill, Harper's Ferry, Sharpsburg, Boteller's Ford, Castleman's Ferry, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, besides many combats and skirmishes of less note—all fought in the short space of eleven months—make a record of dazzling achievements which cannot be surpassed in the annals of warfare. Time will not permit us to dwell upon these events; but at Mechanicsville and Beaver Dam creek, on the 26th of June, Hill's division began the series of battles known as the Seven Days Around Richmond, and bore the brunt of those bloody affairs. The division fought against heavy odds, strongly posted, and achieved success, but with heavy loss. At Cold Harbor, on the 27th, Hill's division was again hurled against the fortifications of the enemy behind Powhite creek, and for two hours sustained the unequal conflict, being again and again repulsed, and as often renewing the attack, dashing in vain against the impregnable position, until on the far left is heard the roar of musketry and the ringing cheer which announces that the Hero of the Valley and his foot-cavalry have gotten into [381] position and that the crisis of the day is at hand. Then gathering his decimated but undismayed battalions he hurled them once more against the fortifications with irresistible force and dislodged the enemy. Speaking of this battle, General Lee said: ‘Hill's single division fought with the impetuous courage for which that officer and his troops are distinguished.’ At Savage Station, on the 29th, the rear of McClellan's retreating column is forced to fight, and here again A. P. Hill's command bore the brunt of the day, suffering heavy loss. At Slaughter's Mountain, where Jackson first showed General Pope a front view of Confederate troops, A. P. Hill retrieved what threatened to be a lost field. At Second Manassas the Light division was in the ‘fore-front of the battle;’ and contributed largely to the success of the movements of Jackson's corps. At Sharpsburg General Hill's march from Harper's Ferry, his timely arrival upon the field, his prompt and vigorous assault upon the victorious columns of McClellan saved the Army of Northern Virginia from a serious disaster. When Stonewall Jackson fell, the question as to who should be his successor was one anxiously asked by the army and by the country. Great events were at hand, and soon the invasion of the North was to be undertaken. All eyes turned to Generals Ewell and Hill as the most worthy to succeed the immortal commander of the Second corps. The reinforcements sent to the army made it advisable, in the opinion of President Davis and General Lee, to divide the Army of Northern Virginia into three corps, instead of two, and on the recommendation of General Lee, General Ewell and General Hill were, in June, 1863, promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general, and Hill was assigned to the command of Third corps, composed of the divisions of Heth, Anderson and Pender. From that day until the day of his death Hill was ever by the side of General Lee, his trusted and efficient lieutenant.From Gettysburg to five Forks.
The necessities and casualties of war called Longstreet and Ewell away from the great chieftain, but Hill was always at his right hand in council and in action. To this larger command General Hill [382] brought the experience and the prestige of success gained as a division commander. From this time forward the life of A. P. Hill is written in the history of that famous corps, and is too well known to be detailed here. From Gettysburg, in July, 1863, to Five Forks, in March, 1865, it is a record of unceasing activity, sleepless vigilance, and of great battles. At Gettysburg he met and repulsed the corps of Reynolds and Howard, and captured the town. On the retreat from that disastrous field his corps held the post of honor and danger, in rear and nearest the enemy. No task which falls to a soldier's lot is more difficult to fill than to cover the retreat of a large army, with its trains and artillery. It requires the most sleepless and untiring vigilance to avoid surprise, the coolest courage to face sudden and unlooked for emergencies, and the faculty of inspiring dispirited, disheartened, and overtaxed soldiers with confidence and courage. How well General Hill was fitted to perform this difficult task the result proves. The entire army, with all its baggage-trains and artillery, was brought safely across the Potomac, and the pursuing army was not able to deliver one single telling blow to the retreating Confederates. General Hill's corps, like his old division, was ever in motion, always ready to march at a moment's notice, always in the fight, and always giving a good account of itself. Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Cold Harbor, Jerusalem, Plank-Road, Ream's Station, the Crater, Weldon, Hatcher's Run, Petersburg, and many other combats and affairs speak the deeds of Hill and his brave men. During the seige of Petersburg, Hill's corps was on the right of the army, which was the exposed flank, and which it was General Grant's constant aim and object to turn in order to cut General Lee's communication with the South, and force him to retreat. To avert repeated efforts to accomplish this cherished design, kept the Third corps in constant motion, while the rest of the army was left in comparative quiet. From July to March, every effort in that direction was met and defeated by General Hill with promptness and without heavy loss on his part. During the campaign of 1864, the Third corps captured from the enemy thirty pieces of artillery, large quantities of small arms and military stores, and more prisoners than it numbered, without the loss of a single gun, and with the loss of but few prisoners. The early spring of 1865 found the Army of Northern [383] Virginia reduced to an attenuated skirmish-line, extending from the Chesapeake and Ohio railway on the north of Richmond to the Norfolk and Western railroad on the south of Petersburg, a distance of over thirty miles, and confronted by an enemy more than three times its own numbers. The odds were too great to hope for successful resistance, and when General Grant massed his well-equipped veterans on General Lee's right, in front of Hill's corps, the ‘beginning of the end’ had been reached.How Hill was killed.
On the morning of the 2d of April the heavy columns of the enemy attacked the centre of Hill's corps, and after a short but sharp engagement broke through his lines and severed the two wings of the command. After this disaster General Hill attempted to force his way through the enemy's pickets in order to put himself in communication with that portion of his command from which he had been cut off. The attempt was desperate, and those around him sought to dissuade him from making it, but A. P. Hill was never known to shrink from any personal danger when duty called, and, accompanied by a single courier, he galloped along the road which ran in rear and parallel to his lines, encountering and firing his pistol at several of the enemy's stragglers until he came suddenly upon a group of sharpshooters. He advanced and summoned them to surrender, but was answered by a volley which killed him almost instantly, and wounded the courier. As he fell from his horse the only words he spoke were to say to his faithful follower, ‘Take care of yourself.’ Thus ended the life of the noblest type of manhood that nature ever produced. Thus closed the career of one of the most brilliant and accomplished soldiers of modern times. Thus fell the ardent patriot whom his people loved. Thus ‘died on the field of honor’ the commander whom the army idolized. His leading characteristics as a commander were celerity of movement and the ability to march his troops in good order on the shortest notice and in the shortest time. In this respect he resembled and rivalled Stonewall Jackson. Endurance, energy, courage and magnetism were his in a high degree. His soldiers believed in him with an abiding faith, and in the darkest hour his presence was hailed as the harbinger of light and victory. Added to these qualities was his superiority as [384] tactician, which enabled him to take in the situation of a battle-field at a glance to do the right thing at the right moment, and seize upon and profit by every blunder of his adversary. With all his fiery zeal, he was ever mindful of the safety of his men, and never exposed them to useless punishment for his own glory. He understood thoroughly the character of the volunteer troops under his command, and accorded them the respect due to citizen-soldiery, but demanded of them the strictest performance of every military duty and tolerated no flagrant breach of discipline. He looked closely after their rights, their safety and their comfort, often visiting the hospitals to see after his sick and wounded, and gave his personal attention to the workings of every department of the service. He was inexorable in requiring of his staff the strictest attention to their duties. He loved a good soldier, and was his friend, but to the skulker and the coward he was a terror, and the higher the rank of the offender, the more certain and severe the punishment. With his own hands he would tear from the uniform of officers the badges of their rank when found skulking on the battle-field.Some of his characteristics.
Like Napoleon at Lodi, he would mingle in the ranks like ‘a little corporal’ when the occasion demanded, and with his own hands help man the guns of the batteries. He was affable and readily approached by the humblest private; but the officer next in rank never forgot when on duty that he was in the presence of his superior. No commander was ever more considerate of the rights and feelings of those under him, or sustained the authority of his subordinate officers with more firmness and tact. If a deserving officer committed a blunder or was guilty of an unintentional violation of orders or discipline he would speak to him privately and kindly of his fault, but would never let those under his command know that he had censured the offender. He was quiet in manner, courteous and polite to all when not aroused, but when justly excited to anger was hard to appease. Punctillious in the observance of all the forms of military etiquette in his intercourse with others, he resented any failure to treat him with due courtesy. This led to an unpleasant difference between General Jackson and himself, which came near depriving the Army of Northern Virginia of the services of A. P. Hill. [385] The circumstances as related by General Hill were these: On several occasions General Jackson had given orders in person to General Hill's brigade commanders without his knowledge. This General Hill resented as a breach of courtesy to him and protested against it. One day while on the march he left the head of his command for a short while, and on his return found the leading brigades had gone into camp. On inquiry he found that General Jackson had given the order to his troops in his absence. Stung by what he considered an affront, and seeing General Jackson and his staff near by, he rode up to him and excitedly said: General Jackson, you have assumed command of my division, here is my sword; I have no use for it. To this General Jackson replied: ‘Keep your sword General Hill, but consider yourself under arrest.’ For several days General Hill remained with his troops, but not in command, and at his own request was allowed to take command in the battle which was fought in a few days, and afterwards remained in command. But the breach thus made was not readily healed, and General Lee interposed to reconcile their differences. He had several interviews with them separately and sought to pour oil on the troubled waters. At length he induced them to meet at his quarters and used every argument to effect a compromise, but each insisted that he was the injured party and refused to yield. To this General Lee replied: ‘Then let him who thinks he has been injured most prove himself most magnanimous by forgiving most.’ This grand appeal was irresistible, and effected a reconciliation which made it possible for the corps and division commanders to serve together in harmony, and with feelings of mutual respect for each other.The last name on their lips.
When Stonewall Jackson was dying, when his senses had ceased to respond to the scenes around him, and his thoughts were with his brave troops, and he was once more in imagination at the head of his invincible corps, he called the name of the commander of the ‘Light Division’ on whom he had never called in vain: and ‘Tell A. P. Hill to prepare for action’ fell from his dying lips. And in General Lee's last hours, when his mind reverted to the stirring scenes of his military career, and once more he rode at the [386] head of his armies, directing their movements he, too, called upon the commander of the Third corps, on whose strength he had so often leaned in the hour of peril, and his last command was ‘Tell A. P. Hill he must come up.’ In personal appearance General Hill was about five feet ten inches high, slightly but perfectly formed, and looked every inch a soldier born to command. His features were regular and his face attractive but not handsome. His every posture and movement was full of grace, and in any dress, however remote from camps, his military bearing and martial step would betray the soldier by birth and by training. He was a splendid horseman and was always well mounted. He was simple in his taste and dressed plainly but neatly, preferring the ease and comfort of his fatigue jacket to his general's uniform with its stars and its wreath. He cared little for the pride and pomp of war, and commonly went attended by a single staff-officer or courier. As has been so well said by another: ‘In all his career he never advanced a claim or maintained a rivalry. The soul of honor and of generosity, he was ever engaged in representing the merits of others.’ Of all the Confederate leaders he was the most genial and lovable in his disposition. And now our task is done, but the memories of the past cluster thick around us, and we could linger on this spot for hours talking with comrades. Of this warrior tried and true,Who bore the flag of a nation's trust,
And fell in a cause, though lost; still just;
And died for me and you.
Loved comrade, brilliant soldier, chivalrous spirit, true-hearted friend, accomplished gentleman, ardent patriot—Ambrose Powell Hill, we dedicate this monument to thy memory as a feeble token of the love of old comrades and a faint expression of the admiration of the Southern people, for whom you fought and died so bravely. We hail thee as a hero! worthy of a monument in this historic city by the side of thy great commanders, Lee and Jackson; and fit companion for him who was ‘first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.’ Greater honors than this has no man received, and none greater can any man aspire to.
[387]
The statue exposed to view.
Little Miss Meems Pulls the Cord—Salutes and Cheers—The lunch.General Walker occupied about forty-five minutes in delivering his speech. At its conclusion the Maryland Band played a short air, and Master Lewis Walke Brander, son of Major Thomas A. Brander, picked little Virginia Preston Meems up in his arms and carried her from the grand-stand to the unveiling-stand. It was a pretty picture as he threaded his way through the mass of veterans with the dainty, dark-haired little one clinging to him, her arms around his neck and her soft eyes full of wonder. Litttle Virginia is a granddaughter of Colonel William H. Palmer, General Hill's chief of staff. On the unveiling-stand had gathered the flag-bearers of the various veteran organizations, and the child in her fluttering white dress was a striking centre-piece to this group.
The great scene.
At 2 o'clock a bugle gave the signal to commence firing. This was answered by a gun loaded and fired by a detail from the Pegram Battalion Association and little Miss Meems pulling the red cords that laced together the canvass. It dropped, exposing the statue to view. For a second there was a dead silence; then cheer after cheer burst from the vast throng, which rang out clear above the guns of the Howitzers on the right and the crash of musketry on the left. The infantry fire opened with a skirmish rattle, but soon came down to steady, well-delivered volleys. It was not long after the salute had been fired before the order came to fall in, and the return march to the Exposition building was commenced.The lunch in the afternoon.
After the unveiling ceremonies were over the veterans and young infantrymen and cavalrymen fell into line and proceeded to the Exposition Grounds, where a splendid lunch had been prepared under the auspices of the Ladies' Auxiliary of Lee Camp. The spread was served in the main building, and the interior of this place presented a jolly scene indeed, when the marchers were safely esconced around the festive board. Arms had been staked in long lines, [388] and men in uniforms of all descriptions entered the great struggle to get to the tables. The lunch was daintily served without form or ceremony, by a number of ladies, and it would but do them justice to say that the magnificent manner in which they managed the large concourse of hungry soldiers bespoke their proficiency as caterers. Immediately upon entering the hall the large letters ‘Richmond Beer’ struck the eye of every one, and it was here that the weary, thirsty pedestrian satisfied both these feelings with a few glasses of that well-known beverage, which is made right at home. Not far distant from this place was the lemonade and ice-water stand, which was also a spot of great solace and comfort to the more temperate soldiers.The old First.
The members of the ‘Old First’ were in a particularly jolly humor, and after refreshing themselves they secured seats, and quite a little time was spent in recounting war incidents. Not a single drunken man was observed in the Exposition building. It was a pretty sight when all the militia were in line in the main hall and the column was marching around to the delightful strains of music furnished by the Great Southern Band, of Baltimore.Lunch at Laburnum.
The beautiful country residence of Mr. Joseph Bryan, ‘Laburnum,’ situated just south of the monument, presented in the highest sense a perfect type of Virginia hospitality. Guests to the number of three hundred had been invited in an informal way, including the orator of the day, Chief Marshal General Heth and staff, the Governor of Virginia and staff, General Fitzhugh Lee, General Dabney H. Maury, and other distinguished guests. A large tented dining-table extended across the spacious and beautiful lawn, and at either end were tents from which was dispensed from the rich and healthful lactilic and cooling cold tea to the more substantial Appollinaris water. Beautiful young ladies from the city and country, friends of the family, and others assisted the gracious host and hostess in their untiring efforts to give substantial comforts to their guests. It was a real old Virginia spread, dispensed in old Virginia style, and one which was not only enjoyed, but one which will not soon be forgotten.[389]
The orator and Chief marshal.
Brief Sketches of Generals James A. Walker and Harry Heth.General James A. Walker, the unveiling orator, was born near Mt. Sidney, Augusta county, Virginia, August 27, 1833, and educated at the Virginia Military Institute. On leaving the Institute, where he had a difficulty with Stonewall Jackson, which led to his sending the latter a challenge, he accepted a position in the engineer corps of the Covington and Ohio railway, now the Chesapeake and Ohio, but after eighteen months of service resigned and commenced the study of law under the late Colonel John B. Baldwin. Later he took the law ticket at the University of Virginia. About the year 1855 he removed to Northern Pulaski county, Virginia. He secured a good practice, and in 1865 was elected Commonwealth's attorney of his adopted county. When the war broke out General Walker entered the Confederate army as captain of the Pulaski Guard. Subsequently he commanded the Thirteenth Virginia, and later was made a brigadier-general, and commanded the Stonewall brigade. He was desperately wounded at the Wilderness, but in July, 1864, though still suffering with his wound, returned to the field and served to the end of the war. Nominated in 1868 for Lieutenant-Governor on the Conservative ticket with Withers, which ticket was withdrawn, he was in 1871 elected a member of the House of Delegates. In 1877 he was put on the ticket for LieutenantGov-ernor, and was elected. Of late years he has devoted himself almost entirely to his profession. General Walker, or Stonewall Jim Walker, as he is known to the veterans, was one of the most desperate fighters in the Army of Northern Virginia.
The Chief marshal.
General Harry Heth, chief marshal of the parade, was born in this State in 1825, and graduated from West Point in 1845. He was assigned to the Sixth Infantry, became first lieutenant in 1853, adjutant in 1854, and captain in 1855. At the breaking out of the war he promptly resigned his commission in the United States army, and offering his services to his native State, was made a brigadier-general. In May, 1863, he was promoted to major-general, and commanded a division in Hill's corps. [390] General Heth in war and in peace has been one of the most modest of men, but whenever duty called he has responded. His record as a soldier, Virginia claims as one of her brightest jewels.His Chief of staff.
Colonel William H. Palmer, General Heth's chief of staff yesterday, is a native of this city, and one of our most prominent and popular business-men. He entered the Confederate army with the old First Virginia, who still claim him, and rose to the position of General Hill's assistant adjutant-general and chief of staff. He was every inch a soldier, and, like his beloved commander, won every insignia of rank he wore by his gallantry.Features of the celebration.
Incidents observed along the line of March—Notes about prominent visitors.The parade, which was well managed throughout, while devoid of startling incidents, partook of a great many interesting features. As the soldier boys and veterans proceeded out Franklin street their march was through unbroken chains of spectators, among which the female element predominated in great numbers. The street on both sides was lined with pretty girls and their gallant beaux, who endeavored apparently to split their throats with cheers, as company after company, camp after camp would pass. The music of the merry multitude, coupled with that of the several bands in the parade, was enough to make the ‘old vets’ step spryly and toss their hats into the air as they passed the residences of well-known comrades.
