New Orleans
was our next point, and arriving there at 10 o'clock Saturday night, we were met at the depot by the committee, escorted to magnificent quarters at the St. Charles, and made to feel every hour we staid in New Orleans that we were among warm hearted comrades, who take the liveliest interest in all that concerns the ‘Lost Cause,’ or its representatives. Indeed we could hardly breathe a wish that there was not a committeeman at hand to anticipate it. Of the drives, receptions, dinners, visits, &c., which filled our time, we have not space to speak. Suffice it to say that Captain W. R. Lyman, chairman of the joint committee of the Army of Northern Virginia, and Army of Tennessee Associations, and each member of his committee vied with each other to make our time pass pleasantly, while Mrs. Percy Roberts and the other members of her ladies' committee did their full share towards honoring General Lee and making the occasion of his visit a splendid success. Any doubts which we had cherished of the propriety of calling on New Orleans again after their grand meeting and splendid contribution to our funds last spring, were speedily dissipated when we saw the complete arrangements which the committee made and the enthusiastic zeal with which they worked up the lecture. President Davis was invited to preside, but being unable to do so sent the following beautiful letter:
Dear Sir,—Accept my thanks for your very kind and complimentary letter of the 21st instant.
For many reasons it would be most gratifying to me to be present with you at the proposed meeting on the 27th instant to receive General Fitzhugh Lee.
In few things do I feel a more cordial interest than in the success of the Southern Historical Society.
It is a sacred duty to collect and preserve the evidence
[230]
of the magnanimous conduct of our people in the defense of the rights their fathers secured by the war of the revolution, and which the Constitutional Union was formed, not to destroy, but to preserve.
Though unsuccessful in the effort to maintain those rights, the eternal foundation of truth and justice on which they rest remains unshaken.
It is a debt we owe to posterity, that our records should be made so complete and enduring that those who come after us shall not be misled by misrepresentation and suppression of facts; this is the high duty which the Society is striving to perform.
To secure the means needful for that purpose, General Fitzhugh Lee has undertaken the laborious task of visiting our people and telling them a story of the war, of which, like Aeneas, he can say: “All of which I saw,” and others may add: “ A great part part of which you were.”
This gallant soldier, engaged in so honorable and patriotic a task, well deserves the attention which it is your purpose to bestow, and I renew the expression of regret that circumstances beyond my control do not permit me to be with you on the occasion of his visit.
Faithfully yours,
On Tuesday night, the 27th of February, there assembled at the Washington Artillery armory one of the largest and most brilliant audiences we have ever seen. The lady patronesses of the occasion, numbering over one hundred, occupied rows of front seats, and in their tasteful attire, and with their knots of red and white roses and ribbons on their bosoms, lent a grace and charm to the occasion. The platform was most artistically and appropriately decorated. Stacks of muskets were on the flanks—two small cannon, ‘Redemption’ and ‘Resurrection,’ were posted at each of the front angles—out of a stone wall arose Perelli's statue of ‘Stonewall’ Jackson,—while the tattered battle-flags of the Confederacy were appropriately hung, and above all was a canopy of United States flags—the whole combining to form a most pleasing picture. On the platform were the Committees of Arrangements and Reception, the President and Vice-Presidents of the meeting and other distinguished gentlemen, while all through the large audience were maimed veterans and patriotic women ready to applaud to the echo the eloquent utterances of the gallant soldier who came to tell the true story of Chancellorsville. Captain W. R. Lyman, in a few words fitly chosen, introduced as President of the meeting Colonel William Preston Johnston, who has recently moved to New Orleans and assumed the Presidency of Tulane University. Colonel Johnston was received with loud applause, and made an exceeding graceful and felicitous address, appropriately introducing General Lee, who had to stand several minutes before the deafening applause with which he was received would allow him to proceed. His address was listened to with deepest interest by the vast crowd, and frequently interrupted with enthusiastic applause. His tribute to the gallant General Nicholls (ex-Governor of the State), who lost his leg at Chancellorsville (and whose maimed form and ‘empty sleeve’ were on the platform, touching testimonials of his faithful service), was as eloquent as just, and was received with deafening applause. At the close of the lecture, ladies and gentlemen crowded around General Lee to express their gratification and congatulations,—a short reception was held in the Museum of the Armory, and then the committee escorted us to one of the most magnificent banquets [231] we ever attended, where, until the ‘wee sma' hours,’ there was a ceaseless flow of patriotic sentiment, and a most enjoyable mingling of old comrades, as soldiers from nearly every army of the Confederacy, and every branch of the service, ‘fought their battles o'er again.’ The next day, at 12 o'clock, we were ‘off for Texas,’ being escorted to the depot by members of the committee, and our gallant friend, Captain Charles Minnigerode, formerly of General Lee's staff, accompanying us on our journey. It is not the slightest disparagement to other cities to say that New Orleans is to-day the very headquarters of Confederate sentiment, feeling, and action, and that nowhere are Confederate memories more sacredly cherished than here. The Army of Tennessee, Army of Northern Virginia, Washington Artillery, Ladies' Memorial, Lee Monument, and other Confederate Associations are all live, active, efficient organizations. They have already completed the beautiful Confederate Monument, the Washington Artillery Monument, and the Statue of Stonewall Jackson, surmounting the tomb of the Army of Northern Virginia Association, in which all of the Association may find a burial place when called on to ‘cross over the river.’ The Army of Tennessee Association has just laid the corner stone of their tomb, which is to be surmounted by a beautiful statue of Albert Sidney Johnston, and the Lee Monument Association have completed a very handsome monument, on which is to be mounted a colossal statue of R. E. Lee, now being rapidly pushed to completion. Besides this, these organizations have a benevolent feature, so wisely managed, and so liberally supported, that they never fail to provide for needy comrades, bury their dead, and take care of their widows and orphans. All honor to these noble workers! Would that Confederates everywhere would imitate their example! And now, if they will add to all that they have done, an equal energy in putting on record the heroic deeds of ‘the men who wore the gray,’ then indeed will future generations say of them, ‘They have erected monuments more lasting than bronze— more enduring than marble or granite.’ Our trip over the ‘Crescent route’ to Houston, and thence down to
