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THE SUNNY SOUTH. ATLANTA, GEORGIA OCTOBER 71893.
(jray"» Jtye Blue.
jrzeROxa ur i@e*.
Xk«lr Vm In Arny Nrvle* Sugseatcd
TO SOUTIIERM MEAT AND WOMEN-
To the generation of people who
have sprung to maturity in the South
since the war, we put this question :
Are you indifferent toward, or forget
ful of,the Confederate soldier? Search
your hearts and answkr! The mis
sion of this page is to emphasize the im
portance of keeping alive in the South
ern breast the emotions of sympathy
and gratitude due to the ‘‘Veterans of
the South.'’ Is there a true Southern
man, woman, or child, who will not
zealously aid this cause by increasing
the circulation of The Sunny Sout^?
This page is designed in addition, as a
depository of detached historical inci
dents of the war between the States.
It is a standing, and one of the most
highly valued departments of The
Sunny South. Historians cannot
spare space or time to record the min
utiae of marches, battles and sieges
They must be gathered and preserved
in a fragmentary manner by the scat
tered survivors of the strife, or be lost
to posterity forever. Therefore to all
men and women who from experience,
or recital of veterans, know of inter
esting happenings of the war,a cordial
invitation—yea more—an earnest
licitation is extended to contribute to
The Gray and The Blue. Ex-Federal
veterans are included within the pur
view of this paragraph, and good short
poems are desirable as well as prose
sketches. Ed, Sunny South.
ST. GEORGE MASON HOOE.
For The Sunny South.
The following memorial lines were
written by Mrs. Gen. Daniel Buggies’
brother Lieut. Robert Emmett Hooe
of the U. S. Navy on the occasion of
the death of their brother, St. George
Mason Hooe, U. S. Navy.
“To the memory of the late Lieut.
George Mason Hooe, of the U. S. sloop
of war, Vandalia,who died at sea while
attending to the sick who were in
fected with the fatal disease—yellow
fever. His untiring exertions and dis
interestedness were too much for him
and he sank to rise no more. He was
buried with the honors of war in the
deep ocean that had been his home in
life and is his home in death.”
"There is in the lone sea
A spot unmocked and holy,
For tnere the gallant and the free
In his ocean t>ed lies lowly,
Down, down, beneath the deep
That oft in triumph bore him—
He sleeps a sound and holy sleep
With the salt waves dashing o'er him,
He sleeps serene and safe
From tempest and from billow
Where the storms that high above him chafe
8oarce reach his peaceful pillow.
The sea and him in death
They did not dare to sever.
It was his home when he had breath
’Tis now his some forever.
Bleep on tnere mighty dead,
A glorious tomb they've found thee.
The broad blue sky above tbee spread
The boundless ocean round thee.
No vulgar foot-tred* here.
No hand profane shall move thee,
But gallant hearts shall proudly steer,
And warriors shout above thee
And tho* no stone shaU tell
Thy name, thy worth, thy glory,
They rest in hearts that love thee well
And grace thy country’s story."
all there—just as he had said—and these
are the words that conveyed to my mind
the impression—now a conviction—that
the debt owed to the ragged hero before
me by my own loved, prosperous State of
Georgia, had not been paid—could never
be paid.
• • • •
"Mr. V. B. B. entered the Confederate
army in 1861. No better soldier was in the
service.
He was wounded seven times at Freder
icksburg. He planted the Confederate
bag on the highest battlement at Peters
burg, after three men had lost their lives
in the attempt, under such a lire as It
seemed impossible for any human being
to live. It was here he lost his arm.”
• • #
Some one expressed doubts of the man’s
good faith, and with the instinct of a vet
eran newspaper woman and oareful inves
tigator, trained to make no statement 1
could not verify.
I sought the official in the Stats Capitol
who has charge of the Archives of the
Pension Bureau, and made inquiry about
the pension of my hero in rags.
» * * *
Col. Harrison went to his “pension list”
and this is the answer that came prompt
ly :
"Yes. Here is your man—‘V. B. B.—
draws one hundred a year—belonged to
the Sixty-fourth Georgia—was wounded
and lost his arm at Petersburgh.’ ”
"I know the man well. He is certainly
,an Ex-Confederate soldier.”
It is for these nameless ones, these mu
tilated human relies of the war, these men
who are indeed so completely wrecked
that they do not know how to—nor care
to—assert their claims to the gratitude
the rising generation, that I make my ap
peal for help—for suggestions in your in
valuable page of the Gray and the Bine, as
to what is our immediate duty te onr
nameless heroes,—onr Belisarises,—i *
poor orippled, despairing, too often dej
spised "skeletons in gray,” who are 9een.
not only in Atlanta, but along the streets
of all of onr rising prosperous southern
cities, begging in their old age, like that
radiant leader of the victorious legions
ancient Home, who, like a blinded eagle,
with tottering steps, with outstretched
hand, implored the throngs along the
streets ot Justinian’s eastern capitol:
‘Give a penny to Belisaris.”
Emily Verdkry Battky.
Atlanta, July, 1893.
[The Century 1889 ]
As there has been a variety of opinion in
relation to the status of negro slaves un
der the late Confederate States Govern
ment during the civil war, I transmit for
your consideration, from an official letter-
book, a copy of my official letter to Hon.
C. W. Harper, chairman of a sub-com
mittee of the Mississippi legislature, then
m session at Jackson, Miss., expressing
in brief my views as to the employment of
slavee in the construct ion of the military
defenses of the State. It is perhaps ex-
pendient to note that in the construction
of the defenses at Port Hudson, which I
had established during the mouth of
August, soon after the battle of Baton
Rouge, I found it necessary to impress
slave laborers for the prosecution of the
work; and to repair the defenses at Vicks
burg, and in some measure extend them,
I found it necessary to impress several
hundred negro slaves.
It was then a critical period with own
ers of slaves along the Mississippi River
border, particularly above Vicksburg,
where they were constantly menaced by
predatory gunboats carrying off slaves ;
cotton, and supplies, without effective re
sistance Under these circumstances, in
my preliminary orders it was necessary to
restrict, or limit, the field for impressment
to the Mississippi border, to which little
or no opposition was manifested by plan
ters, especially as this public service was
supposed to give some degree of protection
to tneir individual interests.
In connection with the practical opera
tion of this policy the legislative commit
tee requested explicit official information
as to my views on this subject, a summary
of which I embodied in a letter as follows:
Headquarters First District )
Department Miss., & East >
Louisiana. j
THE POSTPUNEMENT.
Correspondence Which Explain*.
ONE MORE APPEAL,
For Oar Skeletons m Gray.
He came to the door—a tall, gaunt skel
etons, in rag one shirt sleeve empty from
the shoulder. The left arm had been am
putated from the socket. He was not in
gray, but he ought to have been, for he s
an Ex-Confederat6 soldier, a gray veteran
of fifty or more.
His clear, pale, gray eye looked Truth
itself as he told his story and showed his
testimonial of character signed by two
former residents of Atlanta who, for all I
know, have drifted away to other fields of
hnman endeavor or into the Great Per
haps, whence no traveler returns.
“Yes, lady,” he stammered (he belongs
to the army of stutterers) "I lost my arm
at Petersburg, and I belonged to the Sixty
fourth Georgia Infantry. I will not de
ceive yon, lady, I draw a pension of one
hundred dollars from the State of Georgia,
w hat is a hundred dollars to a crip-
pled man with an invalid wife and seven
children, none as yet old enough to be
muoh help in supporting themselves?”
He came at my invitation and took a
seat on the veranda.
n/r-wla ^ U ..V )rn - and ^tterod ‘‘certificate
of character” ana appeal for "help” from
hut large, bony, trembling Laud. It was
We clip the following from the Bii-
mingham Age-Herald for the enlighten
ment of veterans everywhere.
New Orleans, Ls., Sept. 18 1893.
Gapt. Joseph F. Johnston, Birmingham,
Ala.
My Dear Comrade: I had the post
ponement order wirea out by the Assoc!
ated Press and requested it to be sent to
every point, and, of course, you received a
copy; but for fear of an accident I enclose
one herein. The postponement gives the
greatest satisfaction, as the reunion would
necessarily have been without full repre
sentation on account ot the times and
high railroad rates, and it is hoped and
believed that when it does occur you will
have all the states represented with full
delegations so that business can be much
more satisfactorily conducted. To those
Jackson, Dae., 16,1862.
To Hon. C W. Harper.
Sir: In reply to your communication
of the 14th inst., requesting information
as to the number ol slaves who might be
advantageously used in connection with
onr military defense in this state, will say
that my own views cn the snbjeot go very
much beyond what is thought to be poll
tic by most gentlemen, but will in re
sponse confine myself within such limits
of seeming propriety as may commend the
snbjeot to the good common sense of those
who are to be affected by it.
At this time, and until they shall be
oompleted, one thousand negro men can
and ought to be employed constantly on
each of the works at Vicksburg, Port
Hudson, and Columbus, and two thou
sand more could be used in the supply and
transportation departments; perhaps a
thousand more—part women—could be
employed for hospital purposes.
Our railroads are in great need of re
pairs; a thousand negro laborers should
be put upon them immediately and con
tinuously employed. The construction
and repairs of rolling stock, too, need
much attention, and half the negro car
penters and blacksmiths in the State
might be well employed upon it, and in
the erection of buildings needed for many
purposes.
In this way, and by the employment of
other servants as teamsters, laborers,
cooks, nurses, watchmen, etc., with our
armies in the field, the fighting strength
of these armies might certainly be in
creased one-tenth, and although laborers
in the field of the husbandman are as nec
essary as soldiers in the army, to enable
them to prosecute the war waged against
us, I yet believe that ten thousand negroes
might be spared from the former service
in this State, without danger of too great
Very respectfully, your obedient ser
vant, „
(Signed) Daniel Ruggles,
Brigadier-General, P. A. C. 8.
Within a brief period the legislature of
the State of Mississippi authorized Gov
ernor Pettus to hold ten thousand slaves
subject to the requisition of the President
of tne Confederate States, to be employed
noon the military defenses of the State of
Mississippi.
During this period I was commanding
the Department of Mississippi, as the suc
cessor of Major-General Earl Van Dorn,
who had marched with an army, then re
cently organized, to attack the Federal
enemy at Corinth.
In the meantime, and in anticipation of
summary action of the legislature of Mis
sissippi, I had occasion to send dispatches
to Richmond by a distinguished volunteer
aide-de-camp, to whom I confided my
views in relation to the employment cf
slaves for manual labor in connection with
our military defenses, and with the view
of the gradual enrollment of selected slaves
for bearing arms for service with armies in
the field.
It was contemplated that exemplary
conduct by the slave, and faithful service
in the field, would entitle him to a well-
defined and liberal personal reward.
On his return, my aide-de-camp inform
ed me that no member of the Confederate
cabinet appeared to give the subject favor
able consideration.
Thus our earliest effort systematically
to uti'ize and enroll negro slaves in the
Confederate armies for service in the field
proved abortive.
Daniel Ruggles.
Fredricksburg, Va.
WHEN I WAS ALITTLEOIEi,,
How They Managed.
It is woman’s prerogative to look
pretty. It is also her sincere desire
wish that is the
Note :—
See also the correspondence on this top
ic between General R. E. Lee and the Ho a.
Andrew Hunter printed in the Century
for August, 1888. The present article was
written before that correspondence ap
peared.—Editor.
of your citizens who are disappointea they I reduction in agricultural supplies, and
will be compensated by having a four-fold I made almost if
attendance, if not ten-fold, and they will
be benefitted in a greater degree pecuni
arily ; and the veterans of your camp will
see a meeting which will be largely atten
ded and whicn will give the fullest satis
faction, which could not oe expected of a
meagre attendance. Your friend and
oomrade, G. W. Moorman,
Adjutant-General and Chief of Staff.
Captain Johnson then arose and said
that according to a motion made some ago
and passed an election of officers for the
camp was in order.
The speaker stated that he had done
everything in his power for the welfare of
the camp, and he wished and hoped the
members would allow him to retire and
take the rear ranks.
Mr. Tate took the floor and stated that
an election now would be unwise, and be
proposed to postpone the election nntil the
first regular meeting in October. Mr.
Horan seconded the motion.
Upon vote it was deoided to hold the
election at the first regular meeting in
October.
Capt. F. S. Ferguson took the floor, and
stating that as he was now in commend of
the division of Alabama of the United
Confederate Veterans, he thought it advis
able to hold a meeting of state camps for
the purpose of electing a division com
mander among other things, and he would
rather let the camp name the time for a re
union and he would issue the call.
Comrade Chisholm offered the following
resolution, which was adopted:
Whereas, Camp Hardee had at consid
erable expense and labor made all prepa
rations to be ready to receive all of the
confederate veterans who wished to at
tend the annual reunion in onr city, and
had built a wigwam capable of seating
near 10,000 delegates; and, whereas,
friends not members iff our camp have
contributed liberally and freely to aid ns
in meeting the expenses necessary to ena
ble us to receive and entertain onr guests
and friends,
And, whereas, onr camp was, and is
ready to have the annual reunion at the
time heretofore set, and it is due to our
selves and our comrades here and else
where that this new postponement has
not been done at the request of our camp:
now be it resolved, that it is with un-
feigned regret that Camp Hardee learns
that the commanding general has found it
necessary to again postpone the meeting,
but this camp will exert itself to give our
brethren a grander reception next spring.
not quite as useful in the
army and other public service as an equal
number of white men.
As a system, I think it would be well to
introduce into the service, as cooks, one
negro for every ten soldiers. These ser
vants, when the troops were absent from
camp, could be made available as watch
men for camp and police duty, thus re
lieving as many soldiers for service in the
field.
Negroes thus employed should be organ
ized in detachments and placed under the
direction and control of parsons of well-
known character, experienced in their
management, and whose management and
care snonld conform as nearly as might be
to that of a prudent owner of slaves upon
his own plantation. Without this, and
unless much attention was given to the
proper care and treatment of the slaves,
great dissatisfaction would necessarily
ensue amongst the owners, who, as a class,
are always supposed to take great interest
in everything pertaining to the comfort
and welfare of their servants.
The slaves, for the pnrposes mentioned,
should, of coarse, bs drawn according to
some fixed rule from the entire body of
slave owners in the State, and not taken
from some small neighborhood or county
locality. As the war in which we are now
engaged was brought about, in a measure,
for the protection of rights in connection
with slave property, I take lor granted
that those who own slaves are not only
quite willing to render every personal
service which the country may require,
but will gladly show to those who own no
slaves, and who so patriotically swell the
ranks of onr armies, the greatest willing
ness to relieve them in every possible way
from hardships incident to the service in
which they are engaged by the substitu
tion of slave labor when it can be done.
This will be but their reasonable dnty.
These last remarks, though not called
for by your special inquiries, are never
theless given as reflections not entirely
irrelevant.
In truth, sir, did it not seem to excuse to
some extent the avowed purpose of the
Federal Government to use the negro
against ns, if in their power, a small per
centage of onr male slaves should be made
to act with their masters in the field
against the common enemy of both.
I am quite sure that such an exhibition
of confluence on onr part would have a
salutary effect in preventing the aliena
tion and demoralization ol that|olass of onr
people. * • •
LETTER FROM GEN. RUGGLES.
Fredricksburg, Va., June oOch, 1893.
For The Sunny South.
In connection with the preceding views
on “Our Eirly Suggestion to Arm Negroes
for Confederacy,” is important to note the
fact- that the Mississippi Legislature
passed au act placing ten thousand slaves
under the charge of the governor, subject
to the call of the president of the Con
federate government for labor within the
state, and which Drovision was carried
into execution with satisfactory results.
Subsequent experience iu connection
with this initiatory organization dis
closed its practical expediency on the
score of public utility, as well as for
police purpose, in the then vital interests
of the industrial system.
It was a source ol surprise to me tha t
the Confederate government had not then
inaugurated some system for utilizing the
services of the slave race during the vici-
situdes of war for all that they were
worth instead of viewing them with scant
favor tending to alleinate them from their
strong attachment to their native South
ern soil. The negro is thoroughly accli*
mnated, healthy, subservent under dis
cipline and naturally gregarious.
A similar organization to that in Mississi
ppi in the several confede: ates states would
have supplied over one hundred thon
sand auxiliary troops in an emergency to
our army. Daringjthe month of Dec. 1851,
his excellency, Governor Moore, Lou
isiana’s “War Governor,” honore me
with a review, at New Orleans, and a
well organized and discipline battallion of
colored troos was in line.
In 1873 President Lincoln in a confer
ence with his cabinet during a critical
period in the depleted condition of his
army declared that without 150,000, col
ored contraband troops he could not have
kept an army in the field—that crisis was
dark Gen. W. T. Sherman declared that he
had need of no other than negro spies in
in the South!
Yours Trulv,
Daniel Ruggles
THE t&UTHEBN HE AST.
*I« It Loilog lntareat in the Southern Sol
dlerf”
ques-
Memphis, Tenn., June, 1893.
Editor Sunny South :
Your letter received asking this
tion :
Is the Southern heart losing interest in
the Confederate soldier?”
That such a question could be seriously
asked suggests a painful possibility that it
might be answered in the affirmative.
And yet I can not believe such an an
swer would be trne.
The stern struggle for subsistence in
which we have been unceasingly engaged
since hostilities ceased has so absorbed
the Southern heart and mind that we have
had but little time to display our love for
the Confederate heroes.
The demands of the present have appar
ently outweighed the recollections of the
past, bit when we meet at Confederate
reunions it is from that the fires of love
bums as brightly in our hearts as when
we sat together around the camp fires or
stood shoulder to shoulder before the blaze
of the enemy’s guns.
I will say further that not only “bread
winning,” but political cares have attract
ed our attention and some who have not
been able to agree with the majority or
pohtioai issues have been made to feel
that the love of the Southern heart can be
estranged from the Confederate soldier
when he dares to differ with the majority
on the political question of to-day.
Yours respectfully,
Jas. R. Chalmers.
It is a great thing for a young man
to get out a little aud come in contact
with other people and see how they
hve. B. F. Johnson & Co., Richmond,
Va., are giving many young men a
chance to do this, and at the same
time put money in bank rapidly. Try
them and see.
If she has only one
wish.
Well, then neither rumors of war?
nor wars themselves, take away this
natural desire, any more than they or
anything are able to change the Ethi
opian’s skin or the Ltopards spots.
And this is meant as unlinited
praise. So when supplies were cut
off, and "runuing the blockade” ac
cording to our gloYIous, always loved
and honored Zeb Vance, failed to
bring enough pretty things to satisfy
the daughters of the land, these same
daughters cast about to fiud ways to
their own. And they found them
too. And I doubt if any women were
ever prettier than those wartime
belles.
I remember one beautiful hat that
ought to be in Chicago now, but in
stead of being thus Honored it became
to be a plaything when the spears be
gan to be beaten into plow shares, and
the swords into pruning hooks.
The hat was made by a lady in Dap-
lin County, N. C., and sent to Fayette
ville as a present to my mother. It
was made of fine, white corusliucks
that had been taken from green corn
and dried.
These were braided in poiuts, and
the braids sewn together with home-
spun thread. The shape was that of a
Leghorn flat. The trimming was
made of shucks torn fine and curled.
The work was exquisite, and the hat
exceedingly graceful and pretty.
Some of the ornaments made of
feathers were very handsome, and
might be used on the bats of our
stylish girls even in these days.
You may be sure that no old straw
hats were knocking about. Every
piece of straw was utilized in some
way. Things didn’t go out of fashion,
of course, and that was a very great
advantage.
I remember one beautiful homespun
dress. It was black and white woven
in a basket pattern, it was made
with a train, and trimmed with bind
ing and buttons of blue merino. The
dresses were long all around, and not
just behind, as they are now.
This necessitated the holding of
them up in front, and it was quite an
added charm if this was done grace
fully.
Mamma and my aunt needed nice
gloves.
There was only one pair of their
number to be found. They bought the
pair, and divided. As one held up her
dress with the left hand and the other
with the right, this plan worked nice
ly. The hand on duly could be left
bare!
I think we children wore very funny
little hats, but they looked pretty to
us. I remember when the shoe blad
ing gave out how the ladies made more
of soot and molasses. Our stockings
were always white, and besides them
there were stiff white pantalets show
ing below our short, full skirts. To
have these soiled would never do.
So when we were dressed the last
caution was : “Now Nellie, remember
not to cross your feet, and don’t let
them touch your stockings or panta
lets, for the black rubs off.”
We rarely had anything new, one of
mamma’s dresses used to make sister
and me a very nice one. I think the
women would have been much more
miserable if they had not been kept
so busy planning and working. As it
was they got ou very well. The young
people were often quite gay. Social
rules were not very strict, and if a
man wore grey he was received as a
friend and no questions asked.
But these same girls were prim and
cold when the gray vanished and the
blue came. Many of them always
disliked the color. One of my uncles
who belonged to the old “Independent
Company” was shocked ten years af
ter the war because I expressed a de
sire to possess a blue dress. He de
clared he would never speak to me if
I wore it. I have never had one. You
remember that in 1891 the same com
pany—the Fayetteville Independent
Light Infantry—were dismissed from
the State Guard because they refused
to wear the blue. They will not do it.
However, they have since been re
called, and they have gone back wear
ing the gray.
The company is too old to be care
lessly handled. Proud of it? Well,
yes. Wouldn’t you be if your grand
fathers and your father and everybody
belonging to jour childhood had be
longed to ic? I hope so. But these
same men who cling to the Gray are
generous and warmhearted.
They belong to a town noted every
where for its open-handed hospitality
—noted in a land of hospitality.
But this is off the line. One will
get off now and then, you know. A
hit of blue was not discarded in the
war times, when dyes were squeezed
out of bark, leaves, roots and clay. It
was just taken for its “color effect”
and with no deeper significance. Even
the wives and daughters of “the com
pany” covered buttons and piped folds
with blue, if they chanced to have it,
daring the war. Some of them
wouldn’t do it since.
Mary Wilson.