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  1 ‘

as it is, beautified and decorated With these imposing mem-
orials, is not moved to uncover in presence of Judge Schenck
and Major Morehead, Who have led at untold sacrifice in the
great Work here accomplished? This audience needs not to
be told of the great Work of Judge Schenck, who first secured
for the Battle Ground Association lodgment in the public
attention of this State, and successfully invoked the aid of our
State Legislature. Nor does it need to be reminded of the
strenuous efforts of Major Morehead throughout these years,
and that as the acting President of this Association for some
years past he has succeeded in securing for it a surer and more
exalted place in the patriotic love of the people of this State.

We may rejoice today over another fact, and for another
reason. Not only does this Company or Association occupy a
higher and safer place in the affections of our own people and
under the fostering and continuing care of State legislation.
than ever before, but through the vigilance and diligence of
President Morehead, and our representatives of all parties in
Congress, the favoring eye and the fostering hand of the
National Government have been attracted as never befoif-e.
More prominently and favorably than ever before d.oes our
Company stand in the esteem of Congress and the people of
all sections of this great country, as is illustrated by the action
of the present House of Representatives in voting two monu-
ments to Generals Nash and Davidson because of what has
been done here, and because of the avovved cleclaration that
they should be located here. This is as it should be, for does
not its history and every memory attached to it belong to our
whole country? I am persuaded that if Corigrcss and the
whole country could see with their own eyes What We behold
today with ours, these nineteen monuments and the great work
here accomplished by individual effort in preserving and
caring for this great battlefield, on which was fought the
critical, the t~urwi'22ig, and the greatest battle of the Revolution
--—————-that battle which meant so much, and was the means of
securing so much 11ot only for our forefathers but for all suc—
ceeding generations, no Congress would refuse or hesitate in
extending the fostering hand of the national Government in
aid of its permanent preservation. At t  
i 2

Mn. ..-v

But this patriotic Company is not waiting for outside help,
badly as it needs it. We are here today to witness again
further evidence of its self—sacrifice and labor of love. Yonder
stand—-—-hidden as yet from your view~—-—two more monuments
which we are met to dedicate and unveil today, and which
shall stand through coming time to tell you and yours and
those who shall come after you of the virtues of a brave, good
woman, and the story of a great man. The story of this great
man, Nathaniel Macon, you have just heard from the eloquent
gentleman (Mr. Pittman) who preceded me. i It is for me to
tell you something of the brave woman in honor of whose
memory we today unveil on this sacred spot the first monument
ever erected on American soil to a Revolutionary heroine--—its
granite crowned with a handsome statue, and emblazoned with
words of everlasting bronze. In song and in story-—“in
thoughts that breathe and in words that burn”——have been
told again and .again the story of the virtues, the brave deeds,
the sacrifice, the suffering, and the heroism of the men who
fought, bled, and died in that terrible war for Independence;
but the story of the privation, the suffering, the daring, and
the dying of the grcmcl rc.s"*m'»ve army of that war is yet untold
and unsung. The women, by their lonely hearthstones, sur-
rounded by helpless children, in the primeval forests, without
mail ortelegraph or railroad to loring them tidings of the
absent loved ones--—~——tl1eir griefs, their sorrow, their suspense,
their anxiety, their agony-—-~their death borne without a mur-
mur. They died not in the exciting and exulting rush of bat-
tle. Theirs was the long, slow, wasting, liiigeriiig <;leath——a
thousand deaths. Sometimes it was coldblooded murder; some-
times it was the cold, piercing, cutting dagger of helpless
grief; and sometimes they fell under the crushing burden of
domestic care and trouble. Their battles were fought in the
darlmess a.nd loneliness and silence of their homes. They
heard not the martial music which thrilled heroes; they felt
not the elbow touch which heroes feel in the mad rush of bat»-
tle. There was never a shout or cheer to give them courage
and strength. There were no medals awarded to them; no
promotions were bestowed to stimulate them. Theirs was a
lonely march to death—-——and yet how bravely and how patiently

3

they fought to tl1e end no tongue or pen can ever tell. -These
were heroines-—--and whilst in village, hamlet, town, and city,
from ocean to ocean, We have with stone and brass built 1ne1n-
orials of every name, size, and lzzind in honor of our heroes»--
the mothers, the Wives, and the daughters of that awful time,
who toiled and suffered and died for their country, are
“unvvept, unhonored, and unsung ’_’. Not only did they suffer
and iiglit and toil thus in their lonely and desolate homes, but
these ministers of compassion, these angels of pity, whenever
possible,we11t to the battlefields to moisten the parched tongues,
to bind the ghastly Wounds, end to sootlie the pe.rting agonies
alike of friend and foe, and to catch the last whispered mes-
sages of love from dying lips. Not since Aaron stood between
the lyiving and the dead has there ever been a ministry so gracie
ous, so patient, so self-sacrificing, so tender, so gentle, and so
ihitlgifiil as was that of the heroines of the Revolution.

Among the brave Women who hastened to the field of the
battle of Gruilford Courthouse to minister to the Wounded and
the dying was Mrs. Kerenhappuch Turner, Whose sons and
_gra11clsons were with General Greene in this battle. Mrs.
Kerenhappuch Turner was the wife of J ames Turner, one oi?
the early settlers of Maryland, possessed of his courageous
spirit, as Well as noted for her skill in nursing the sick, and
her Wisdom, tact, and energy. She loved her children with
the devotion of a true mother, but she loved her country also.
Eieiicling forth her sons to the defense of their country, she
exacted from themthe promise that she should be kept inform ed
of their whereabouts and their needs, that she might continue
to mini.ster to them. One of these sons received a fearful
wound in the battle of G-uilford Courthouse, but the brave
mother came to him, riding on horseback all the Way from her
home in Maryland, and herself nursed him back into life and
service. Placing him in a log cabin, near this spot Whereon
We now stand, upon the floor, beneath the bare rafters, she

bored holes in tubs which she suspended from these rafters

above the ghastly Wounds, and keepiiig these tu.bs filled with
cool Water, from the “Bloody Run”. near by, the constant
4 .

dripping upon the wound allayed the fever, and she thus
improvised a treatment as efficacious as the “icepack” of
modern science. J . ‘

One of her daughters, Elizabeth, married Joseph Morehead,
of North Carolina, of Scotch ancestry, and her descendants
ha.ve ever been noted ,‘fo1° their love of country and public
spirit. Another daughter, Mary, married Charles, the brother
of Joseph Morehead, and left offspring in the ‘Nest. Of these,
Gov. Charles S. Morehead, of Kentucky, and his cousin, Gov.
James Turner Morchead, of the same State, have been eminent
statesmen, having served not only as Governor, but also in the
Senate of the United States from that State. it

The North Carolina branch of the family has given to this
State the late Gr-ov. John M. l\/Iorehead, one of the greatest, if
not the greatest Governor our State has yet produced, who
was a ,g;1“ea.t leader of the old Whig party, and the ,ojrea.tcst
internal improvement man the State has yet known and his
lmj>tl1e1*, I-Ion. James ".[‘urner Morehead, one of the .grea,test and
most clistinguished lawyers of his day in this State, and who
at one time represented this District in Con,g_rress, wlzere, he
could have remained inde:fini.tely but for his positive 1:ei’1is:ta.l,
to remain in Con.g§rcss. I-Ie preferred his proi:'ession, to which
he was devoted.

The late Cl-overnor Morchead is survived by one son, Maj.
J. Turner Morehcad, now of New York City. Tlie only sur»
vi.vi.ng,* sons of the late Hon. James ’1‘urner Moreliead are Col.
J ames T. Morehead, one of the leading and most diiS'l3l11g‘11lSl1€)(fl
niembers of the Crreensboro bar, who, like his father, is devoted
to his profession, preferring‘ it to political honors, and Maj.
Joseph M. l\/Iorehead, who is now, and has been for some yeais,
the acting President of the Cruilford Battle Ground Coinpany.
It was the latter who conceived the idea of erecting; the beauti-l
ful monument which we dedicate and unveil. today in honor of
the memory of Kerenhappucli Tiirner. The conception of this
idea. was submitted by him to his patriotic kinsman, l\rlaji. J.
Turner Moreliead, of New York: City, who like all mcmbenrs of
this distinguished family, is noted for his public spirit, and

N who, with enthusiasm.  well as with purse and brain, joined
‘President Morehead in the (%XCaG111§l(.)1'1 of the idea. under the

5

auspices of said Company. These two men are, therefore,
entitled to the honor of erecting here the first monument ever
built in America to a Revolutionary heroine~—-—an honor of
which they may Well be proud, and which entitles them to the
gratitude of every man who loves his country. They have set
an example Worthy of imitation, which it is to be hoped vvill
stimulate others to like manifestation of patriotic and filial
piety.

We honor ourselves in honoring; the brave and good Woman
of whom I speak today. Her long ride, her gentle touch, her
tact, her skill, and her heroic service, saved the life of her son.
It was an ancient Roman, touched perhaps by a transient
gleam of Christian truth, who said when he turned aside from
a career of Asiatic conquest that he would rather save a human
life than become master of all the dominions of Mithridates.
This is but one life of Which history and tradition tell us.
How many were saved by the tender ministry of the brave
Women of that awful time will never be known. The history
of the part enacted by them in that great struggle has never
been written. I salute the Daughters of the American Revolu-
tion, vvho honor us today with their presence, and bid them
godspeed in their pious and patriotic Work of rescuing from
oblivion the history of those heroic days. They can render
their sex: and their country no greater service than that of
rescuing from oblivion those records and traditions which tell
us of the glorious deeds and godlike sacrifices of the brave
women of those days. It is fit, Mr. President, that the Daugh~
ters of the Revolution should join with us in the tribute We
pay today to one who glorified her sex in her homely toils and
in her angelic ministry upon this battlefield, Where valor wrote
in crimson letters “the purple testament of bleeding War”.

It is meet, too, that on this sabbath of our government this

uncounted multitude should come and share with us the honor

of dedicating to a brave Woman this beautiful monument,
around which in the coming years youth and age shall gather
and linger to read its story, and to study the annals emblaz-—
oned by the Christlike services of the heroines of the Revolu-

% tion. a

6

Then, upon this holy ground, vvhereon fell the tears of our
mothers and the blood of our fathers in the S13£l.I'lGSS niglit of
their supreme effort, let us reverently uncover in the pres-
ence of this most fitting and beautiful memorial to the memory
of a Revolutionary mother.

‘ ‘The bravest battle that was ever fought,
Shall I tell you Where or Wlien‘?

On the maps of the vvozrlcl you will find it not,
’’.[‘was fought by the mothers of men.

Nay, not with cannon or battle shot,
With a sword, or nobler pen;

Nay, not with eloquent word or thought
I+‘1:'om mouths of Wonderful men.

But deep in a vvalled-up vvoman’s heart,
A Woman that WO1l1(1 not yield,

But bravely, silently bore her pa.1't——-
Lo, there is that battlefield.

No mairslialing troops, no bivouac stung,
No banner to gleam and wave;

But, oh, these battles they last so long'———
]F‘1'on1 babyhood to the grave.

Yet, faithful still as a briclge of stars,
She fights in her wa11ecl—up town;

l*"‘i.g-lite on and on in the cndlese wars,
'l‘hen silent, unseen, goes clown.

Oh, ye, with banners and battle shot,
And soldliers to shout and praise,

I tell you the kingliest victories fought i
Are fought in these silent ways.

Oh, spotless woman, in a worlcl of sharne,
With splenclicl and silent scorn,

Go back to God as White as you eame-—--~
The kingliost Wa1'1'ior born.”