Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 29.
Reverend J. William Jones, Ed.

At both these celebrations the venerable Confederate chaplain, Dr. B. M. Palmer, was present, and delivered the prayer. The presence of this faithful Confederate hero is always the occasion of joy and loyal demonstration from the men who followed him in the dark days of ‘61 and ‘65, and whose love has grown stronger as the years have rolled away.

At night the day closed with a magnificent celebration at Memorial Hall. It was fitting, indeed, that the Ladies' Confederate Memorial Association of New Orleans, the oldest of all the Confederate organizations of women in the South, should close the celebration. The devotion of these women to the cause which, though lost, is not dead, was never more truly exemplified than in the programme they prepared for the birthday of their martyr president. From beginning to end it glowed with the truth and eternal strength of the cause for which their husbands, fathers and relatives fought through fire and blood, and for which thousands of the noblest of the South laid down their lives. The feature of the opening was the grand oration on the ‘Life of Jefferson Davis,’ delivered by Judge Charles E. Fenner, the distinguished Southerner and jurist, at whose residence Mr. Davis passed from earth to the eternal camping grounds above. Another interesting feature was the presentation to Memorial Hall of the sword of a private soldier who laid down his life on the field of Shiloh. With this sword the box containing the Confederate relics was opened in the presence of the assembly. In this beautiful ceremony the memory of the private soldier, no less than the memory of the great leader, was beautifully combined, for the one led, the other followed, and no one paid more glorious tribute to the worth of the Confederate private than the immortal Jefferson Davis.

So the day was kept; it was fragrant with love and flowers, and rich in precious memories. But no thought was more beautiful than that which closed the day, and which showed that the loyal daughters of the South, while honoring the memory of their greatest hero, do not forget the men whose deathless deeds crowned even him with glory—the Confederate private.