An address delivered before the Confederate Survivors' Association, in Augusta, Georgia : at its second annual meeting, on Memorial Day, April 26th, 1880 / by Col. Charles C. Jones, Jr.

ADDRESS
DELIVERED HEFORE THE
CONFEDERATE
SURVIVORS ASSOCIATION, / IN AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, AT ITS SECOND ANNUAL MEETING, ON MEMORIAL DAY, APRIL 26TH, 1880. BY COL. CHARLES C, JONES, JR. PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION.
PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE ASSOCIATION.
AUGUSTA, GA: M. M. HILL & Co., STEAM BOOK AND JOB PBINTERS,
Opera, House Arcade.
18SO.
UNIV. OF GEORGIA LIBRARIES

ADDRESS.

FELLOW MEMBERS :

Time, the insatiate, has enfolded another twelve-month within

its hollow embrace. The shadows are lengthening upon our walls*

and our Association has journeyed another year toward its close. We

are met to celebrate our second anniversary on this, a day dedicated to

the memory of our Confederate Dead. It is a season set apart for the

vitalization of thoughts and recollections which should perish not

amid the engrossing cares of a busy present. It is a day consecrate

to the conservation and floral decoration of the graves of those who,

in the gigantic struggle for home, property, vested rights and a

separate national existence, gave their lives in support of the

Southern Confederacy. The scope of these memories, the valor of

those deeds, and the sanctity of those graves most potently do we

recognize and appreciate. The hour is privileged, and our

communion with the past mournfully pleasant to our souls.

It is a wise provision in the economy of nature that there is no

grief which time does not lessen and soften.

Past sorrows are at least measurably forgotten amid the

engagements and the activities of the present. The sear and yellow

leaves which betokened and confirmed the death of the old year, are

no longer seen amid the tender foliage of returning Spring and the

ample growth of robust Summer. The sad lequiem, sung by

Autumnal winds, is quickly supplanted by the glad anthems of

Vernal breezes. Even in apparent decay are found the germs of life

and beauty, while the vitality of to-day is fructified by the

disintegration of yesterday. Thus, upon the bosom of Nature, there

lingers no scar, no trace of death, no record of sorrow.

Not entirely thus, however, is it with the heart of man. Although

disappointment and grief may, in time, lose their poignancy, the

cicatrix remains, and there occur seasons when the wound opens

afresh, and the inward flow is as warm and purple as when the iron

first entered the breast.

Amid the revolutions of States and the convulsions which uproot

the established institutions of peoples and m .

mumc

dynasties may be inaugurated, and the remembr^JKffifef Tonner

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things may, in large measure, be dulled by the excitement and the

exactions of the new order of affairs, there still survives, in the stern

recollection of the unfortunate, a register of hopes unrealized, the

memory of efforts baffled, the tradition of purposes unaccomplished.

The thunders of cannon may lose their reverberations among

the hills of the vanquished; the earth may clothe with smiling

verdure the graves of the slain ; plough-share and storms may waste

the ramparts -which stalwart arms upreared in defense of home and

country, and the ivy mantle, with its graceful folds, the shaftered

chimney of late proclaiming so undeniably the desolations of war;

all the physical traces of the conflict may vanish as a troublous di*eani

when one awaketh, but the bloody page has been inscribed by the

Muse of History, and a mausoleum to the brave but luckless dead

has been builded, if not by skilled hands in the open light of day,

nevertheless in the hearts of all who survive the wreck of fortune,

the crush of expectations, and the demolition of country.

On an occasion such as this how does memory, like a tomb-

searcher, lift

*

*

"Each shroud that time had cast

Oer buried hopes !"

How do visions of camp and field and carnage rise before us! How vivid the images of glory and honor and patriotism, of all we admired and loved and wished and struggled for! How sad the remembrance of the bitter end! How precious the memory of our brave companions who went down in the noontide of the strife. How voiceful the graves of those who died for freedom and country!
While to victors belong paeans and triumphal processions, laudatory histories and emblematic art trophies, to the conquered may sometimes be fairly accorded the praise of unrequited valor, the meed by heroic action won, a goodly reputation begotten of brave deeds, patriotic impulses, and Spartan endurance. Occasionally the most precious and pathetic legacies bequeathed during the crises of States are justly due to those who prevailed not amid the shock of arms, whose resources of men and munitions were inadequate for the practical maintenance of right, truth, and national existence, who, through no lack of courageous intent or strenuous endeavor, failed in their high emprise, and who sealed with their blood their devotion to the cause which they espoused.

" The high, the mountain majesty of worth Should, and shall be survivor of its woe,
And, from its immortality, look forth In the suns face, like yonder Alpine snow,
Imperishably pure beyond all things below."

Because the present is prone to grow oblivious of the distinct traditions of the days which are gone because there is a tendency in the rising- generation to underestimate or suggest excuses for the conduct of that which preceded it because our faith in the manhood and the rectitude of the aims and impulses which inaugurated and maintained the Confederate struggle for independence abides unshaken because the privations, the dangers, the incidents, the inspirations and the achievements of that memorable epoch are precious to our souls and are deemed worthy of every perpetuation because our good and great Confederate leaders are a bright ensample to us, and for our emulation were brought into being by the God of Battles because the monuments and graves of our departed comrades are dear in our eyes because, in the language of Pericles, we esteem it "a debt of justice to pay superior honors to men who have devoted their lives to fighting for their country " because the companionship of those who survive is pleasant to us because our bond of union is strong and peculiar because the narrowing circle of our association can never, in the nature of things, be enlarged, because it is proper that we mutually assist each other in seasons of sickness and distress because it is most appropriate, as one by one our members are summoned hence, that we exhibit a loyal respect and unite in rendering suitable funeral honors, do we continue to assemble from time to time and delight to cherish this organization.
Entirely voluntary in its character, without penalties, with aims the most laudable and impulses the most charitable, it merits and should receive our constant sympathy and hearty allegiance.
Comparatively few are the years which will elapse ere the longest liver of us will be numbered with the dead. He has already entered upon the middle course who, as a lad, followed the Red Cross amid the smoke and thunders of the strife. Upon the heads of many, who were then fresh lipped men, the frosts of autumn are even now setting ; and there are those among us upon whom age has already placed its seal of consecration. The reflection is not unmixed with sadness, and we feel ourselves drawn all the more closely together. Let us neglect no duty suggested or enjoined ~bj this membership ; but, to the full measure of our ability, cheerfully discharge every obligation resting upon us. This association is privileged. He who claims connection with it should cany himself nobly, responsively. We bear upon our breasts a badge of distinction conferred neither by fortune nor by accident. Wear it honorably, and transmit it as a legacy to be cherished by those who come after us even to the latest generation.

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During the past year we have not only perpetuated but also extended our organization, regularly observing its stated meetings, and, with our flag, saluting the days reckoned memorable in our Confederate calendar.
We carry upon our roll 29(5 regular members, and to our list of honorary members have been added the names of Gen. M. W. Gary, Col Thomas Hunt, ex-Gov. Zebulon B. Vance, Gen. M. W. Eansom and Gen. Lafayette McLaws.
Since our .last annual meeting we have mourned the loss of three of our companions.
MATTHEW S. KEAN, Private, Company A, 63d Regiment, Georgia Infantry, died on the 17th of September, 1879.
JAMES E. THOMAS, Private, Company A, 03d Regiment, Georgia Infantry, died on the 3d of February, 1880.
WALTER P. STOY, Private, Company C, 25th Regiment, South Carolina Infantry, Hagoods Brigade, died on the 13th of April instant.
The office of Color Bearer has been created during the past year, and Private William M. Dunbar, who gave his right arm to the Confederacy, was unanimously elected to fill that honorable position. By a resolution of the Association, all members who lost a leg or an arm in the service are, iptso facto, constituted members of the Color Guard.
An order of exercises to be observed on funeral occasions has been prescribed, and we have elected Lieut. Col. J. O. Clarke to command all funeral details.
Our hall has been rendered still more attractive by the addition of paintings and prints of personages and events illustrious in the history of the war.
As announced in the last annual address, the City Council of Augusta donated to us a suitable section in the Cemetery wherein we might inter such of our comrades as possessed no spot for private sepulture, or who might indicate a preference for this as a final resting place. Through the kindness of friends and the exertions of our Cemetery Committee, this section has been put in order, and is now in condition to be ornamented with shrubbery. Acting upon the suggestion that it would be appropriate to enclose this space with a substantial coping, and erect in its midst a memorial shaft whereon might be recorded the names of those who should asleep within its hallowed precints, the ladies of Augusta abounding in love for the past, friendship and charity for the present, and blessings for the future favored us with a public concert, the net proceeds of which,

amounting to the sum of $63, are now held in trust for the consummation of this desirable object. Heaven bless the women of our city, say we one and all, and richly reward them for all their pure, noble sympathy and generous deeds.
This project is still incomplete, and I heartily recommend further effort, which, I doubt not, will eventuate in the realization of a sum sufficient to suitably designate and dignify this section set apart for the sepulture of such of our members as may, from time to time, be here interred.
It is sweet, at the last, to be enfolded in the maternal embrace of the land, for whose retention we fought. Pleasant is it, in death, to have the companionship of those who in the hour of peril were bound to us by the ties of a common allegiance, the solemnity of the same national oath, the inspiration of the same stainless flag. Although our Confederacy has, with a mailed and gory hand, been blotted from the sisterhood of nations, although the obligation of that oath has been absolved in blood, although that flag, shorn of its strength, has been trampled into the dust beneath the iron heel of war, it is a precious thought that there are still in this unfortunate yet goodly land, spots consecrated to the holy memories of a patriotic and a glorious past, areas sst a pirfc for the graves of those who bore themselves bravely and well during that period of privation and danger, enclosures whereon rest the benizons of the good, monuments and tombs which the fair women, our mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, will on each Memorial day deck with vernal flowers and beatify with their tears and their prayers.
Let us see to it, my brethren, that we omit no effort necessary to render permanent and attractive this our section in the general Cemetery.
All our current obligations have been promptly met, and we now have to our credit in the hands of our worthy Treasurer, Capt Coffin, the sum of $200.
I regret to learn that some of our members have been tardy in the payment of their quarterly dues. Where this neglect arises from honest inability to respond, the excuse is valid; where, however, the contrary is the fact, I earnestly request those in arrears to at once cancel their indebtednesses. Our dues are very light, and no one questions the expediency of our accumulating some surplus fund from which the charitable demands within the legitimate purview of Association may, as occasion requires, be reasonabty and promptly met.
Moved by the indigent condition in which the tender and helpless

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children of General Hood were left upon the sudden and afflictive death of both their parents, and sharing in the general sympathy, we raised a subscription which, through the generous assistance of our lady friends, now aggregates the sum of $3(>0.80, and awaits o.irly transmission to those specially charged with its investment and judicious disbursement.
. . It^so chanced that I was in Paris when the telegraph conveyed the sad intelligence of the death of our Confederate chieftain. That very day I visited the "Hotel des Invalides." Passing through the Esplanade, with its Batterie Triomphale and cannons trophies of French valor captured upon many ensanguined fields we entered the spacious buildings which the great Louis, two centuries ago. with royai munificence, erected as a perpetual home and retreat for the disabled soldiers of the nation. Here were library, mess-halls, sleeping apartments, galleries, museum, religious temple, all adapted eto the amusement, diversion, comfort, maintenance, and repose of those who had given an arm, a leg, an eye, in. support of the French Eagles as they swooped upon the enemy amid the hurricane of war.
Believed of every care, and ministered unto by competent attendants, they were passing their declining days in peace and quiet, in the companionship of each other, in the presence of many proud signs of national prowess, and within sight of the tomb of the great Napoleon who, in compliance with a request contained in Iris last testament, reposes in the midst of the French people whom he loved so well.
Located in the centre of an open circular crypt was the massive sarcophagus enclosing all that was mortal of him whose name and deed are marvelous iu the annals of this world. Against the marble balustrade surrounding the opening were leaning numbers of these veterans contemplating in mute admiration this memorable tomb. Polished slabs of granite, adorned by Sim arts reliefs, fenced in the crypt. Twelve colossal figures, chiseled by Pradier, typifying the victories by the Emperor, kept silent watch about this place of the imperial dead. Between them were six trophies displaying sixty battle,stained flags, each redolent of memories the most heroic. Upon the.mosaic pavement a wrealh of laurel circumvented the sarcophagus; and, in an outer circle, were inscribed the names of some of the Emperors greatest.victories Rivoli, Pyramides, Merengo, Austerlitz, Jena, Friedland, Wagram, and Moskowa. Three hundred and thirty feet did the gilded dome rise above the pavement, and the majesty of Napoleons fame filled the entire temple. It was a grand, an impressive vision,.; The -pilgrims worshippers at this shrine conversed in

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whispers, and moved about with solemn, noiseless tread. Among the aged and disabled soldiers was one who had followed the First Napoleon and participated in sixty affairs.
As I lingered, meditatively observing these maimed servants of the Empire spending the evening of their days at the public charge, in the presence of so much that glorified the past and perpetuated the illustrious memories of men and events as I reflected upon the splendid charity which thus rescued from want and harassing cares the declining years of those who had imperiled their lives in behalf of king and country, my thoughts turned instinctively and with peculiar pathos to the condition of the crippled and impoverished soldiers survivors of the Confederate armies. For them no Hotel des Invalides, no generous retreat, no public bounty, no pensioning Government, no garnered trophies, 110 victory-crowned gonfalons, no commodious home wherein the perils and the pains of the past could be acknowledged and lightened by the just benefactions of the present. The contrast was most marked and afflictive. Deep into my heart sank the last, the moving utterance of our dead Lieutenant General, as, with the scanty heritage of the present and. the uncertainties of the future before them, he bequeathed his lonely, tender, needy orphans to his surviving comrades of the Confederate
armies My heart was with you, my companions, and with them ; and
more than ever was I persuaded of the propriety, nay, the necessity of just such organizations as this which we have here inaugurated and which we are now maintaining. Let us, one and all, extend its influence and remain faithful to its best interests, even unto the end.
A twelve-month since, my comrades, you honored me with the presidency of our Association. To-day my term of office expires, and I desire to repeat my cordial appreciation of your generons confidence, and to thank you for tlie uniform courtesy, kindness, and indulgence which I have at all times experienced at your hands.
For the welfare of each one of you, and for the good order and prosperity of this, our Association, I cherish the warmest wishes.