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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
[236]
[238]
Editorial Paragraphs.
General Fitzhugh Lee's Second tour in behalf of the Southern Historical Society.
On the 19th of February last the Secretary left Richmond at 8 A. M., joined General Fitzhugh Lee at Charlottesville, and started on a tour from which we returned on the 19th of March. Travelling by the Chesapeake and Ohio, Virginia Midland, Norfolk and Western, and East Tennessee and Georgia railways, through the charming regions of Piedmont Virginia, the Valley of Virginia, Southwest Virginia, and East Tennessee, we reachedKnoxville
at 3:30 A. M., but even at that hour found Colonel Moses White and Professor W. G. McAdoo at the depot to give us a cordial welcome and comfortable quarters. The day was most pleasantly spent receiving calls from prominent citizens, driving around the city, inspecting the beautiful ‘model farm’ of Mr. Dickerson, viewing the ground over which Longstreet's brave men made their fruitless charge, and visiting other points of interest in this busy, thriving city. At night an audience, variously estimated at from six to eight hundred of Knoxville's best people, assembled to hear General Lee's address on ‘Chancellorsville,’ and gave him hearty and appreciative applause. We bore away cherished recollections of Knoxville, and had a very pleasant trip by Rome, Ga., and Calera, toMontgomery Ala.,
where our old comrade, the gallant and accomplished Colonel T. G. Jones, and his committee had made every arrangement for our reception and elegant entertainment at the Exchange Hotel, and all necessary arrangements for the lecture. A drive around the city (visiting the residence of President Davis, the beautiful State Capitol, and other points of interest)—an elegant dinner and delightful social intercourse with a number of gentlemen, made the day pass away very pleasantly. That night (the 22d of February) a fine audience assembled at McDonald's new and beautiful opera house (courteously tendered by the proprietor without charge), and General Lee was heard with deeply interested enthusiasm, by as highly intelligent and appreciative an auditory as often greets a speaker. It was especially fitting that Alabama's soldier-Governor, the gallant General O'Neal, should preside on the occasion, and introduced General Lee, for he had commanded the advance brigade of Rodes's division, which so gloriously opened the battle by crushing Howard's corps. General Lee put into his address a graceful tribute to General O'Neal, which was received with loud applause. At the conclusion of the lecture, General Lee received from some Virginia ladies a beautiful basket of flowers, the basket being made from willows gathered at Chancellorsville, [229] and was warmly greeted by a daughter of Mr. Chancellor, who was in the basement of the Chancellor house up to the time when it took fire. Leaving this beautiful and hospitable city, where it would have been delightful to have remained many days, we went on the next day by the Louisville and Nashville railroad toMobile,
where Judge Price Williams, Jr., President of the ‘Lee Association,’ and his committee, had done everything for our reception and entertainment, and the success of the lecture. The committee met us at the depot, and the Alabama State Artillery fired a salute in honor of General Lee. We were escorted to elegant quarters at the Battle House, where there was a brief but very appropriate speech of welcome by Judge Price Williams, Jr., and a cordial greeting from members of the ‘Gulf City Guards,’ prominent representative citizens, and a number of ladies. That night, in spite of the rain, we had a large and most appreciative audience, and General Lee's splendid lecture was greeted with frequent outbursts of applause. We regretted that the weather and our brief stay deprived us of the pleasure of seeing more of this beautiful city and its noble people.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
Galveston,
was a most pleasant one, and we found, on arriving at the latter city, that Captain A. M. Stafford, of the Galveston Artillery, Captain W. K. Hall, of the Washington Guard, Colonel W. L. Moody for the citizens, and their efficient committees had left nothing undone to make our visit there both pleasant and successful. They met us at the depot, escorted us to elegant quarters at the Tremont Hotel, and made every provision for our comfort and pleasure. An elegant lunch at Mr. Duckworth's, a reception at the hotel, and a drive around the beautiful city and along the magnificent Gulf beach, filled up the afternoon most pleasantly and enabled us to appreciate why the people of Galveston are so enthusiastic about their city, and so hopeful of its future progress. At 8 o'clock that night (March 1st) an escort from the two companies, and the committees, accompanied General Lee to the Artillery Hall, where he was again greeted with a large and enthusiastic audience, being gracefully introduced by Captain Stafford, who received his lecture with warm appreciation, and generous applause. The hall was very tastefully decorated. After the lecture there followed an elegant banquet, at which, besides an abundance for the inner man, there was a pleasant ‘feast of reason and flow of soul’ [232] We bore away with us the next morning the most delightful recollections of Galveston, as we returned to meet an engagement for that night inHouston.
Here the committees of the Cotton Exchange, of the citizens generally, and of the survivors of the Army of Northern Virginia, and of Hood's old brigade, met us at the depot and escorted us to the Capitol hotel, one of the finest and most elegantly furnished in the South, where Captain Scurry had his fine company, the ‘Light Guard,’ drawn up to receive the General, who passed, with his escort, through their open ranks, with uncovered head, and entered the spacious parlors where a large crowd of ladies and gentlemen were assembled to receive and greet him. In behalf of the good people of Houston, Major Wm. H. Crank made the following appropriate address of welcome, which was received with loud applause: ‘Ladies and Gentlemen,—We are here to tender the welcome, which Texans know so well how to offer, to one who bears a name honored and revered throughout the civilized world. The name of Robt. E. Lee is held in reverence throughout christendom as the synonym of all that is good, pure and great. Like his great prototype, he who now stands before you has shown himself not only renowned in war, but equally great in peace. Throughout the great conflict through which we have passed, he bore himself not only with conspicuous bravery, but with the consummate skill of a great General. In every bloody conflict his sword flashed like the blade of Saladin, and his plume, like the white plume of Navarre, waved amid the smoke and in the front of every battle. And now that the bloody contest is over and the piping times of peace are upon us, with the self-sacrifice and devotion characteristic of the honored name he bears, he is devoting his time and labor to perpetuating for history the truth of the great struggle, in which he bore so conspicuous a part, that our children and children's children in coming years may read and know the true history of one of the greatest struggles of modern ages, and that they may not forget the courage, devotion and heroic deeds of those who participated in that great conflict. I have the pleasure of introducing to you General Fitzhugh Lee.’ Then followed three rousing cheers for General Lee, led by the ‘Light Guard,’ an exceedingly appropriate response by the General, a general introduction to the ladies and gentlemen present, and hearty hands shaking all around. The elegant dinner which followed and over which Colonel G. Jordan gracefully presided, left us no time to see much of this bustling, busy, progressive city, but we saw enough to determine to visit it again at our earliest opportunity. The General was escorted to Gray's Opera-House by the ‘Houston Light Guard’ and the committees, and was greeted there by a large and enthusiastic audience. Among the flags which decorated the stage was the old battle flag of the Fifth Texas, with its 56 bullet holes through it, and General Lee brought down the house by his eloquent allusion to it. General Lee, the dashing cavalryman of the Army of Northern Virginia, was appropriately introduced by Judge Gustave Cook, the gallant Colonel of the Texas Rangers, who in few but well-chosen words presented to the audience ‘the soldier-orator of Virginia.’ Nowhere has General Lee's lecture excited more appreciative or enthusiastic applause. Then followed a magnificent banquet in the beautiful dining-hall of the [233] Capitol Hotel, which was presided over by Hon. J. C. Hutcheson, and at which there were a number of good speeches in response to appropriate toasts. General George D. Johnston, our able and efficient General Agent, came down from Austin to be with us, and made an eloquent response to a toast to the Army of Tennessee. We bade a reluctant farewell to our friends of the committees who had provided so efficiently for our charming entertainment, and the splendid success of the lecture, and at an early hour the next morning—March 3rd—we were off again to meet an engagement that night in the good old city ofSan Antonio,
where also Colonel John Withers (the old Assistant Adjutant-General of the Confederacy) and his efficient committee had made all arrangements to give us a hearty reception and elegant entertainment. The committee met us at the depot, and escorted us to comfortable quarters at the Menger Hotel. General Fitzhugh Lee—as a young officer of the famous old Second Cavalry—had been accustomed to stop at this hotel in 1859-60, and he met in San Antonio many of his old friends. Despite the pouring rain, a fine audience assembled at the Casino, and among those on the platform were General C. C. Augur, General Thos. M. Vincent, and General Swiser, of the United States Army, while scattered through the audience were a number who ‘wore the blue’ in the late war, but were willing to hear the story of Chancellorsville, told by a gallant, and true Confederate. General Lee had some of the same class of hearers everywhere he lectured, and many of them took occasion to express their great pleasure at hearing him, and high gratification at the character of his address. Major Jacob Waelder presided on the occasion, and introduced General Lee in a very neat and appropriate little speech. The lecture was received with every demonstration of hearty enjoyment. After the lecture there was an informal entertainment in the rooms of the Casino, and a very enjoyable season of social intercourse. Spending a quiet Sabbath in the historic old town, now the busy, bustling, progressive city—it was pleasant to worship in their churches, and to recall in passing the memories of the Alamo and the stirring deeds of other days. We found that old citizens here never tired of talking of Albert Sidney Johnston, R. E. Lee, Hardie, Kirby Smith, Van Dome, Fitzhugh Lee, and others of the officers of the old Second Cavalry, which gave seventeen Generals to the late war. Early Monday morning, March the 5th, we were off to meet an engagement for that night inAustin,
The capital of the State. Arriving at 10:30, we found Ex-Governor F. R. Lubbock (chairman) and his committee, the Austin Grays with a band of music, and a crowd of about two thousand people waiting to receive General Lee and welcome him to the capital of Texas. He was greeted with cheers, and his carriage escorted by the military and the crowd to the Brunswick hotel. Here a reception speech was made by Senator W. H. Burgess (‘Private Burgess,’ of Hood's old Brigade), so touchingly eloquent that ‘General Fitz.’ filled up, and could scarcely find words with which to reply; but his tears were more eloquent than words could have been. [234] We were driven around this beautiful city, and shown all points of interest, escorted to the Capitol and introduced to the Governor and members of the Legislature (both bodies of which had invited General Lee to the courtesies of their floors) and shown by Ex-Governor Lubbock, the Treasurer, through his department (the old veteran seeming to take a laudable pride in pointing out the piles of specie in his vaults, showing us his ‘balance’ of $2,500,000 in the treasury, and telling us that Texas bonds were then selling at $140). At night Millett's Opera-House was crowded with the manhood and beauty of Austin, who gave General Lee an enthusiastic reception and a most appreciative hearing. Governor Ireland—himself a gallant Confederate soldier, who has never been ashamed that he ‘wore the gray’—had been fittingly selected to preside over the meeting, and did so with becoming dignity and grace. He introduced General Lee in a very appropriate and felicitous speech. Rarely have audience and speaker been in more thorough sympathy. General Lee captured the vast crowd with his first sentence, and held them to the close of the lecture in wrapt attention, save when they would burst out into enthusiastic applause. Then followed a magnificent banquet, over which Governor Ireland gracefully presided. We regret that our space does not allow us to give a full report of the speeches made—many of which were of a high order of merit—but we can only give the regular toasts and the names of the respondents: The first toast was ‘Our Guests.’ Responded to by General Lee. 2. ‘The State of Texas.’ Governor Ireland. 3. ‘Southern Historical Society.’ Rev. J. Wm. Jones. 4. ‘Army of Northern Virginia.’ Colonel J. W. Robertson. 5. ‘The Brave Boys in Blue—Our Foes in War—Our Friends in Peace.’ General G. W. Russ. 6. ‘Army of Tennessee.’ General G. D. Johnston. 7. ‘The Chief Executive of the Storm-cradled Nation that fell—who has proven true to his Principles and his People in War and in Peace, in Prosperity and Adversity-Jefferson Davis.’ Governor F. R. Lubbock. 8. ‘The Matchless Soldier, the Knightly Gentleman, Grand in War, Great in Peace—Robert Edward Lee.’ Norman G. Kittrell. 9. ‘The Army of the Trans-Mississippi Department,’ Judge Chenoweth. 10. ‘The patriotic Legislature of Texas, who has by its votes aided in the perpetuation of the record of the deathless deeds of valor wrought by the sons of the South on many a hard-fought field.’ Hon. W. T. Armistead was assigned and Representative Labatt responded. 11. ‘The Ladies of the South, in Peace and in War.’ G. W. Jones. 12. ‘The Press.’ Colonel J. F. Elliott. Our visit to Austin was rendered all the more pleasant by the announcement that the Texas House of Representatives had put into the general appropriation bill an item appropriating $5,000 to the Southern Historical Society. We were assured that there would be no question about this being ratified by the Senate and becoming a law. It seems to us peculiarly fitting that this grand State of Texas, which is the only State of the late Confederacy which has made provision for her maimed veterans by giving to each one of such who may be needy 1,280 acres of land, should [235] lead off in a movement to place on a firm basis this Society, which is so essential to the vindication of the name and fame of our Confederate soldiers and people. We regretted that we could not linger longer among our warm hearted friends at Austin, but early the next morning we had to bid them adieu and take the cars forWaco.
We arrived in the rain at this pretty and thriving city, and as we had only a night there could see very little of it; but Mr. Jno. E. Elgin, General F. H. Robertson, Mayor Wilkes and their committee, met us at the depot, and escorted us to very comfortable quarters at the Pacific Hotel, and showed us every necessary attention. We had lost our good friend, Captain Minnigerode, at Austin, he being compelled by business engagements to return home; but our friend, Mr. Coit, of Philadelphia, who joined us at New Orleans, continued with us until we left the State. At night General Lee lectured, under the auspices of the Waco Lyceum, and notwithstanding the bad weather and muddy streets there was a fine audience, among them fifty young ladies of the Waco University and a number of other ladies. Mayor Wilkes, in appropriate terms introduced the General who was frequently applauded by the appreciative audience. Then followed the banquet where the feast of good things was accompanied by appropriate toasts, and speaking.Corsicana
was our next point, and arriving their at 10 o'clock in the morning, we were at once made to feel at home by the hearty greeting of Judge Beale, Mr. J. G. Campbell, and the committee at the depot; were escorted to very comfortable quarters at the hotel, and had everything done which might promote our pleasure. The Texas ‘Norther,’ which struck us at Waco, continued here, but it by no means froze the warm interest of the people, as they turned out in spite of it, and gave the General that night (March 7th) a large and most enthusiastic audience. The duty of introducing General Lee had been most appropriately assigned to Judge R. C. Beale, who had entered the Confederate service when a boy of fourteen, and had (as courier for his father, the gallant General R. L. T. Beale, who carried into the Ninth Virginia Cavalry his four sons, and made with them a proud record for gallantry and faithful discharge of duty) been frequently under the eye of ‘General Fitz.’ in some of the most daring exploits of his troopers. Judge Beale had, the day before, shown his interest in the occasion, by saying to the bar and all others concerned: ‘The court stands adjourned until day after to-morrow, gentlemen. General Fitz. Lee will be here to-morrow, and the court cannot sit while he is in town.’ To remonstrances of members of the bar that their witnesses would scatter, he promptly replied: ‘Bring your witnesses before me and I will recognize them to appear day after to-morrow. But there is no use in argument. This court cannot sit while General Fitzhugh Lee is in town.’ The Judge's introductory speech was appropriate, graceful and eloquent. General Lee's lecture was received with the usual enthusiasm, and its finer passages rapturously applauded. Then followed, at the hotel, an elegant banquet, seasoned with some very admirable speaking. Early the next morning (the 8th) we were off for[236]
Dallas,
where the same cordial reception awaited us. General W. L. Cabell, Major Helm, George T. Atkins, M. K. Thorburn, Rev. R. T. Hanks, and their efficient committee, met us at the depot, escorted us to comfortable quarters at the hotel, and gave us every attention during our stay. It was pleasant to have even a bird's eye view of this pushing, thriving city, which has run up, within a short period, from a small town to a city of over twenty thousand inhabitants. At night the two military companies escorted General Lee to the hall, where a large and enthusiastic audience greeted him, and applauded to the echo his eloquent story of Chancellorsville. [Our printers are at this point clamoring for ‘copy,’ and hinting very strongly that they are already nearly full, so we shall be compelled to condense more than we had intended the balance of our sketch.] We had purposed going to Fort Worth, and Denison, and were anxious to visit a number of other points in Texas, to which General Lee received cordial invitations, but the overflow of the Mississippi and the suspension of travel by railroad from Little Rock to Memphis compelled us to hurry on toLittle Rock,
where we arrived at 3:30 A. M. Saturday, thereby flanking a grand military and civic reception for General Lee, which had been planned by the joint committee of the Legislature of Arkansas and the citizens of Little Rock for 12 o'clock Saturday the hour at which we were expected. But we found elegant quarters at the Grand Windsor, and Major John D. Adams and the committee soon found us out and extended every courtesy. A stream of callers, a visit to the State House, and a call upon Governor Berry (the able one-legged Confederate Governor of Arkansas), and a delightful drive around the beautiful city, filled the day, and at night General Lee had a fine audience and a splendid reception. We saw enough of Little Rock to be charmed with the city, and to resolve to go there again at our very first opportunity. But at 12 we were off forMemphis,
to reach which place we had, because of the overflow, to go by rail to Madison, and thence by steamer down the St. Francis and up the Mississippi. The trip would have been a very tedious one; but the courtesy of Captain W. A. Joplin, (an old Bedford, Virginia, Confederate,) and his polite officers of the steamer Rene Macready, made our time pass very pleasantly, and the sight of the Mississippi, forty miles wide at that point, was very interesting to us, though not so to the poor sufferers by the flood. Arriving at Memphis we were met at the boat by the committee, who were introduced by our friend, Colonel H. D. Capers, and were at once ‘taken possession of’ so cordially that the salute fired in honor of General Lee's arrival was entirely unnecessary to assure us of a cordial welcome. Of our elegant apartments and entertainment at the Peabody House, our drives, dinners, lunches, suppers, concerts, receptions, &c., we have not space to speak. [237] Suffice it to say that Major Thomas F. Tobin, chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, Major S. W. Hampton, General Colton Greene, General Gordon, Judge Heiskill, and indeed, the whole committee, and the whole people gave Colonel Capers (our agent) their hearty co-operation in making every preparation to honor General Lee and ensure the complete success of the lecture. Accordingly Leubrie's Theatre was filled on the night of the 13th of March with a brilliant audience. General G. W. Gordon made an eloquent and appropriate speech in introducing General Lee, and the General's address was received with enthusiastic appreciation and rapturous applause. Indeed, our whole visit to Memphis was a charming sojourn among warm-hearted friends. Arriving atNashville
on Thursday, March the 15th, we were met at the depot by General Wheless (chairman of the committee), Governor Porter, General W. H. Jackson, General B. F. Cheatham and others, were assigned elegant apartments at the Maxwell House, and during our whole stay were treated with the enthusiastic cordiality which old Confederates know so well how to bestow. Of our visit to the Governor (the gallant General W. B. Bate), and the House and Senate (both of which bodies adjourned to be introduced to the General), our inspection of the beautiful capitol building, the library, etc.,—our charming visit to the venerable and accomplished widow of President Polk—our pleasant visit to the splendid grounds and buildings of Vanderbilt University—our drives around the beautiful city, and the thousand courtesies shown us on every side—we may not now speak. A magnificent audience greeted General Lee at Masonic theatre to-night (the 15th of March), and nowhere has his lecture been more warmly appreciated, or generously applauded. Ex-Governor Porter introduced General Lee in very fitting and appropriate style. After the lecture, there was a reception in the parlors of the Maxwell, where many brave men, and fair women, paid their respects to the General. The next day we had a charming day at ‘Belle Meade,’ the splendid estate of General Hardin, where his sons-in-law, General Wm. H. Jackson and United States Senator Howell E. Jackson, and their accomplished ladies, did the honors with unsurpassed grace, and where we could have spent days inspecting the blooded horses, or roaming through the magnificent park, which contains over three hundred deer. General Jackson and General Lee were room-mates and intimate friends at West Point; but entering different regiments of the old army, and serving in different departments of the Confederacy, they had not met since they parted soon after graduation, until this visit of General Lee to Nashville. It was pleasant to witness their cordial greeting, and the enthusiastic renewal of their friendship. That night we were treated to a fine concert and superb banquet, at which there were some fine speeches; but our printers have called an imperative halt. Nor can I now speak ofGallatin,
where, owning to the detention of the train, General Lee did not arrive until 10 o'clock at night, but complied with the earnest demand of the people to deliver his lecture even at that hour, and received a most enthusiastic greeting.[238]
