pp970.76 C98 Annual Address - Charles L. Robinson C a rap, March 1B99 Curtis C6e JLiforarp Ottt)C Onitiersitp of JBorti) Carolina Collection of jRortl) Catoliniana TOte ooofe toag presented 1 O^R ! - ' • ANNUAL ADDRESS DEL.TVERED BEFORE THE CHABLE8 1* ROBINSON CAMP NO. 947, U. C. V., OF FT?ATST KT,TTS r, N. C MARCH 31, 1899. BY W. A. CURTIS. Fbaxkuk Press Print, fkasklik, >. c. 1888. TESTIMONIALS. Cleveland, Ga., Mar. 12, 1887. I have examined The Golden Dawn, and with- out any hesitancy pronounce it comprehensive, pointed, religious, useful. It will confirm the faith of the believer, remove the doubt of the ske- ptic, and impart proper light upon the subject of the Great Future. (Rev.) C. V. Weathers. Cleveland, Ga., Mar. 14, 1887. We are satisfied the Golden Dawn is what Mr. Curtis and the Publishers represent it to be. We would recommend it to all lovers of truth. J. P. Osborn. | Pastors of the J. J. Kimsey. J Baptist Church. Cleveland Ga. Mar. 15, 1887. I take great pleasure in commending Brother W. A. Curtis to the confidence of the public, and The Golden Daavn as worthy a place in every home. I have owned it and examined it carefully. A. C. Thomas, P. E. Clayton. Ga, Oct. 25, 1887. After a careful examination of The Golden Dawn, I cheerfully recommend it to the reading public as worthy a careful reading, being full of good instruction for all desiring to know some- thing of man's eternal destiny, and his future ex- istence. (Rev.) John S: Dickson, Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/annualaddressdelOOcurt (^<^.cmu4^. ANNUAL ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE CHARLES E. ROEESTSOjST CAMP NO. 947, U. C. V., OF FR-AJSTKETTST, N. C, MARCH 31, 1899. BY W. A. CURTIS. Fellow Comrades, Ladies add Gentleman : At our annual meeting last year I was honored with the request to deliver the annual address on this occasion. I deem it an honor, indeed, to be permit- ted to address men who, in the Civil War, contributed so much to make North Carolina history illustri- ous, and second to none in the Southern States. While I shall confine my remarks principally to historic facts, connected with North Carolina, it is appropriate that I preface them with a brief allusion to our honored organization, as perhaps many of my hearers are not familiar with its objects and purposes. The United Confederate Veterans' organization embraces the whole South, including Indian Territory and Oklahoma. On February 11th 1899, there were enrolled and char- tered 1,180 Camps, with applications on file for 200 more, The objects and purposes of the organization are clearly set forth in the Constitution as strictly Social, Literary, Historical and Benevolent; "It strives: "1. To unite in one Geueral Federal ion all associa- tions of Confederate Veterans, soldiers and sailors, now in existence, or hereafter to be formed. l, 2. To cultivate the ties of friendship that should exist among those who have shared common dangers, sufferings and privations. "3. To encourage the writing, by participators therein, cr ^ of accounts, narrations, memiors, histories of battles, ^. episodes, and occurreucies of the war between the states. a. 2 "4. To gather authentic data, statistics, documents, reports, plans, maps and materials for an impartial history of the Confederate side; to collect and preserve relics and mementoes of the war, to make and per- petuate a record of the services of every member, and as far as possible of those of our comrades who have preced- ed us into eternity." To North Carolina belongs the honor of the first organization, so far as I have been able to learn, of Confederate Veterans in fraternal association, the be- ginning from which our order sprang. It was formed in Wilmington on February 2nd 1866, under the name of the "Association of Officers of the Third North Caro- lina Infantry," and none but officers of that regiment were eligible to membership. In October, 1883, the constitution and by-laws were so changed as to admit enlisted men, and the name was changed to the "Third North Carolina Infantry Association." From this be- ginning the idea was taken up and organizations spread, under various names, until their extent and importance began to attract more than local attention. This led to the organi zation of the "United Confederate Veterans" in 1890, and the adoption of the present constitution in 1895. General John B. Gordon has oeen elected for several years in succession as Commander in Chief. Each state, as a rule, constitutes a Division. The Division of North Carolina is under command of Maj. Gen- eral Wm. L. DeRossett, of Wilmington. The State is divided into four Brigades, and the Brigade to which we, of the western part of the State belong, is known as the Fourth Brigade, comman- ded by Brig. Geril. James M. Ray, of Asheville. All surviving veterans of the Confederate side of the Civil war, in good standing, should become members. It has been said with a great deal of truth of us as a people: "North Carolinians are great on making history, but indifferent to preserving it." I know my comrades will pardon me if I confine myself to a recital of a few of the grand achievements of our grand old North State. No North Carolina Confederate soldier, who remained at his post during the war, and discharged his duties faithfully, has any cause to be ashamed of the history of this State in the great contest of 1861-65. Without discrediting the soldiery of any of the sister Southern States, I feel that North Carolina led them all in patriotism, courage and sacrifice as will appear from a brief recital of the causes that led to such noble results. Comrades, I don't contend that we as North Carolinians, considered individually, were braver than the soldiers of other Southern states, but we had more men in the conflict, and were afforded more and greater opportunities for action, and we us^d those opportunities in a faithful dis- charge of duty, and that was what made our history glorious. At the beginning of the year 1861, North Carolina was opposed to war and secession. On the first day of January, the Legislature of North Carolina, in regu- lar session, passed, by a large majority in each house, an act declaring that in its opinion, the condition of the country was so perilous "that the sovereign people of the State should assemble in convention to affect an honorable adjustment of the difficulties, whereby the Federal Union is en- dangered," and calling for an election of delegates to a State convention. At the same time the delegates were to be elected, the act required that the sense of the people should be taken whether there should be a convention or not. The election was held on the 28th of February, 1861, and upon the question 4 of convention or no convention, the State voted against secession by a majority of 30,000 votes. The policy of President Buchanan was against war, and lenient to the South, and under this policy the State did not think she had just cause to go to war. But there came a sudden and radical change in the sentimeut of our people in the early spring. Mr # Lincoln was inaugurated on the 4th of March, and after that day the conduct of the Federal government towards the people of the South was such as to rapidly crystalize sentiment against the policy that began to develop under his administration, and when he issued his proclamation on the 15th of April, calling for 75,000 militia to make war upon the seven states that had already seceded, making requisition upon North Carolina for her quota of 1,560 troops, a revolution of sentiment spread like wild fire on a prairie from one end of the State to the other. When Governor Ellis received the demand, he prompt- ly refused, and immediately convened the Legislature in special session, declaring the time for action had come, and he recommended that 20,000 volunteers be called for by the General Assembly to sustain North Carolina in her course. The Generat Assembly met, and a State convention ivas called to meet in Raleigh on the 20th of May. The day was already historic in North Carolina as the anniversary of the Mecklenburg Declaration, and on this day the conven- tion met and promptly passed the ordinance of secession immediately after organizing. For a month before the State seceded, volunteers were offering their services by thousands. Governor Ellis realizing the importance of securing all the munitions of war possible, as soon as the ordinance of secession passed, promptly issued orders for the seizure of Forts Johnston, Macon and Caswell and the United States arsenal at Fayette- ville. These orders were promptly executed, and by the seizures 57,000 stands of small arms and considerable stores of cannon and ammunitions were secured, which were of great advantage in the preparation for war. There was no rashness in North Carolina's going into the war, but with great prudence she delayed as long as honor and State pride would permit, and on this account she was next to the last State to secede — Tennessee being last. Many good people had hoped and prayed that the troubles between the North and the South would be peacably arranged, but all hope was abandoned when it was seen that war was preferable to dishonorable submission to wrong, and the whole State responded gallantly to the appeal to prepare for war. Patriotism was never at a higher tide in the old North State than in the Spring and Summer of 1861, and, doubtless, will never be again during the time of any person now Jiving. It was a convulsion that shook the state from centre to circumference, from the mountains to the seaboard, pervading all classes of people. No state. in the Union possesses a, record of nobler achievements than North Carolina. Her people haye alwa} 7 s loved liberty for themselves, and they offered the same priceless boon to all who came within her borders; and it was a full knowledge of this trait of "tarheels" which made Bancroft say: "North Carolina was settled by the'freest of the free." This trait was exem- plified by our forefathers in the early history of th« State when, on the banks of the Alamance river, was shed the first blood of the Revolution in the first great struggle for Independence, and that was North Carolina blood. In 1861, the darkening clouds of Civil war were gathering over us — the marshalled hosts were as- sembling and marching to the front. The first regiment that offered its services, later known as the Bethel regiment, was hastened away to Virginia, and on the 10th day of June at Big Bethel, the first baptism of fire was admin- istered to Southern soldiers and North Carolin- ians were there. The first volunteer soldier kill- ed in battle fell in this conflict as a North Carolina sacrifice. Henry Wyatt, of Edgecombe county, a member of the first North Carolina regiment formed was the victim. North Carolina blood was the first shed in the war between the states. Again, it is significant of North Carolina pa- triotism that the first soldier slain in battle in the recent Spanish-American war, was Ensign Worth Bagley, who fell on the deck of the Winslow in the Harbor of Cardenas, on the morning of the 11th of May 1898, the histoiw of which is fresh in the minds of the people. North Carolina blood was thp first shed in the conflict with Spain for the freedom of Cuba. In 1862, when the augrj' waves of war were lash- ing our eastern shores, when the barking of the war-dogs could be heard resounding on our northern borders across Virginia's plains, North Carolina was fortu- nate in calling from the line of battle, a man, a soldier, a statesman, to grasp the helm of State and guide our craft wisely through the remainder of the storm. No state had. a more courageous 'and' more prudent Governor in the hour of its greatest peril than North Carolina had in Zebulou 'B. Vance. He went into the war as Colonel of the 26th Regiment, but in August 1862, was elected Governor, and re-elected in August 1864. A few days ago the Elizabeth City Economist very wisely said: "Vance's memory will be green for its war record, when his civil record, his humor, his geniality, and his love of North Carolina and all its people, has faded to a blank page on the tablet ■ o'f memory." As Governor, Vance soon became one of the most conspicuous characters connected with the Southern movement for State rights and inde- pendence. Senator Ransom in his eulogy on the death of Vance, called attention to three acts of his administration that are justly entitled to be ranked as historic : "1. The organization of a fleet of vessels to sail from Wilmington, N, C, to Europe with cargoes of cotton, and return with supplies for the soldiers and essen- tial necessaries for the people. "2. In 1864 and 1865, when the resources of the South were absolutely exhausted; when our noble armies were reduced and hemmed in on every side, ragged, hungry, and almost without ammunition; when starvation and famine confronted every threshold in the South, and a morsel of bread was the daily subsistence of a family — in that dark and dreadful hour Gov. Vance first appealed to the government at Richmond; and finding it perfectly helpless to give any relief, summoned his council of State, and, by almost superhuman efforts, prevailed upou the destitute people of North Carolina to divide their last meal and their pitiful clothing with the suffering Union prisoners at Salisbury. Humanity, chivalry, piety, I invoke from you a purer, better, holier example of Chris- tian charity in war! "3. During his administration as Governor in North Carolina although war was flagrant, though camps cov- ered the fields, though in all countries in time of war civil authority has been compelled to bubmit to military necessity — yet. in North Carolina, during the war, the writ of habeas corjnts, the great writ of liberty, was never for one moment suspended. Immortal history, worthy of Mecklenburg!" The recent Legislature appropriated $5,000 to assist in securing a bronze statue of Zebulon B. Vance to be placed in the Capitol square at Raleigh. This action we are sure will meet the approbation of North Caro- linians regardless of politics or creeds of any kind. It is a fitting tribute paid to the memory of North Carolina's great statesman and patriot. When the complete history of the state administrations during those trying years of 1861-65 shall have been written, if ever done, the two brightest stars in the Southern galaxy will be Zebulon B. Vane, of North Carolina, and Joseph E. Brown, of Georgia, the war Governors of these two great. States. The most exalted patriotism developed in the Civil war can trace its origin to the purest type of American citizenship, inspired by defence of home and country, It was this trait that enabled North Carolina to surpass every other stale, North or South, in furnishing a larger percentage of soldiers to the armies, led them to display more determined and heroic valor on every battlefield, and sustain greater sacrifices. ■ North Carolina is the most American of ail states, having a native born population of 1,055,000, and a foreign born population of only 8,702, according to the census of 1890. What is true of the census of 1890, was also true of the census of 1860. The percentage of foreign born in the Southern states that seceded was as fol- lows : Texas, 14; Florida, 11 ; Louisiana, 10; Virginia, Ar- kansas and Tennessee, 3; Alabama. 2 5; Georgia, South Carolina and Mississippi, 2; North Carolina, 0.61 — a little over one-half of one per cent. When we turn to the Northern States the per centage of foreign population runs very high, so much so that the single state of Massachusetts has nearly twice the number of for- eign born as the whole South, the number being 657,000 as against 380,000; and New York .has 1,600,000 — nearly four limes as many as the whole South. The per centage runs high in nearly all the Northern states. The highest type of patriotic valor comes from the native born population of our countr}', North and South, and this contributed more than any other cause to North Carolina's valor in the great contest for the freedom of our Snnuy Southland. The military population of North Carolina in 1860 was 115,369; yet ihe State furnished the Confed- erate army 125,000 soldiers. The total number of soldiers who served in the Confederate army, accord- iug to the best authenticated reports, was 600,000. Thus, North Carolina furnished considerably over one-fifth of the whole number. Of these 40,000 died either in battle, from wounds, in prison, or in hos- pitals, and North Carolina's dead heroes sleep on almost every battlefield of any magnitude of the war. A better idea of the numbers furnished can be forcibly impressed upon the mind by apportioning to each count}' the average number. There are ninety-six counties in the State, and the average to each county was 1,302 soldiers — a number sufficient to f?rm a full regiment and one third of another. Draw this number of men from our county today to shoulder arms and march away to war, and you have an impressive illu;- tratiou of what took place in 1861, when these veterans marched away, then in the prime of life and vigor of young manhood. The drain upon the State then was even greater than it would be now, because we 10 now have a much larger population. North Carolina lost more men in proportion to pop- ulation than any other Southern, or any Northern state in the war. The per centage of losses were as follows: North Carolina, 30 per- cent; South Carolina, 13; Missis- sippi, 12 ; Virginia, 11; Georgia, 8; Louisiana, 5; Ar- kansas, 5; Tennessee, 5; Texas, 3 ;• Florida, 2; Alabama, 1. These figures come from a trustworthy source, Gener- al James B. Fry's tabulation of Confederate losses from the muster rolls on file in the Bureau of Confederate Archives, the best authority that can be obtained. In the most important battles of the war where the hardest fighting had to be done, North Carolina was represented. I have time to refer to only one or two instances. In the week of battle which ended in the overthrow of General McClellan's great army, ninety-two regiments constituted the divisions of Jackson, Longstreet, D. H. Hill and A. P. Hill; These were the forces that drove the Federals to their ships. Forty-six regiments — just one-half of all — were North Carolina regiments, and more than half the men actively engaged during the week were from this state. No battle in the war was more brilliant in its particulars than that of Ream's Station, fought on August 25th 1864. It was of short duration bat it was sharp and decisive. General Hancock was strong- ly entrenched and had repulsed two attacks. The task of charging the works was assigned to Cook's, MacRae's, and Lane's Infantry brigades, and Hamp- ton's cavalry, almost entirely composed of North Caro- linians. A charge was made on the works by in- fantry in front and dismounted cavalry on the flank, and they were carried in the face of a heavy fire, and 2,100 prisoners were taken and thirteen pieces of artillery. I was a participant in this affair, and the regiment to which I belonged aptured more prison- 11 ers than we had men in the charge. A humerous in- cident of the battle was that Matt Shields of Briartown, this county, was seen alone marching seven prisoners to the rear, and claiming that he had surrounded them. At Gettysburg, -no troops made a more brilliant record than ours, nor suffered heavier losses. No regiment in any modern warfare has ever sus- tained greater loss than the 26th North Carolina suffer- ed at Gettysburg. Out of 800 men who went into action, the regiment lost, in a few minutes, 708 men, or 88£ per cent. The greatest loss of any regiment on the North- ern side in an}' single conflict was the 5th New Hampshire, losing 295 men. This state lost in killed and mortally wounded more than any other Southern state, the number being 14,522. Louisiana comes next with 9,714, and Georgia, 9,187. The aggregate number of soldiers engaged in the war on the* Northern side was 2,859,132, and on the Southern side, according to the best information to be had, 600,000, making a grand total of 3,459,132. The Federals averaged nearly five to one Confederate during the whole period of the war. Nearer the close these propor- tions diverged until the}' became near ten to on^ at the end of the war. The total number of engagements of all kinds, according to Phisterer's Statistical Record, Federal authority, was 2,261. Of these 85 took place on North Carolina soil. It is not fair to say the Con- federates were whipped in the Civil war. They were some- times repulsed, but their courage never flagged, and they were ready to the last to obey the orders of their comman- ders to the very death. When we consider that throughout the whole contest the Union army numbered five to one, with unbounded resources to draw upon for army sup- plies, with millions of money and ports open to the world, the Confederate armies yielded only when reduced almost 12 to starvation, without clothing, with all avenues of sup- plies cut off, with all porls blockaded, with no credit abroad and no money at home, with the Federal arm}' numbering ten to one of ours, and thousands of men yet to draw on for recruits, while our men, even boys and old men had gone to the war and none were left for recruits, the armies of the South were simply over- powered and exhausted, and in the unequal contest forced to surrender. The total number of Confederates that surrendered in 1865, belonging to the armies of Lee, Johnston, Taylor, Jonfts, Thompson and Kirby Smith, was 101,378. The strength of the Federal army on May 1st 1865, was 1,000,516 men, numbering nearly ten to one of ours. North Carolina was with the last to give up the con- test. The last volley of the Army of Northern Virginia was fired by North Carolina soldiers at Appomattox. It was fired by Gen. W. R. Cox's brigade after a flag of truce had been raised hut before Gen. Cox received notice of it. "As his men were retiring," writes Col. Hamilton A. Brown, of the First North Car- olina. Infantry, "Gen. Cox ordered a halt, and the com- mand 'Right about, face!' was given. It was promptly obeyed, and once more, and for the last time, these few ragged, foot-sore, and half starved North Carolini- ans stood in the strength of their manhood with the men they had met and had driven back on many a bloody field. Once more the command rang out, in the clear voice of the intrepid Cox 'Ready, aim, fire!' and the last volley fired by the Army of Northern Virginia was by North Carolina's troops — this regiment among the number defeated, but not dishonored." The matter of pensions is one that more or less concerns the veterans of any army. It is a patriotic duty of any government to make generous provis- 13 ion for those who were in any way disabled m the service. The United States government is doing much in the way of pensions. This is our country, and we are helping pay the pensions of the Federal army, but we are not complaining much. We may be rich enough to pay $145,000,000 a year to one million pensioners, but is it not reasonable to suppose that the business is a little overdone? There are now on the pension rolls about as man} 7 names as there were United States soldiers under arms at the surrender. One million persons drawing pensions on account of wounds and disabilities received in the Civil war over a third of a century ago! That is 400,000 more people than the aggregate number that served in the Confederate army during the whoie period of the war. But, in truth, this indiscriminate use of pensions has cost the North much in the sacrifice of noble sentiment. As a writer in The Outlook observes: It has gone far to blur the fair memory of the heroisms of the Federal soldiery of thirty-five years ago. We have heard much said since President McKin- ley's visit South last December, about United States pensions for Confederate soldiers. Senator Butler thought he would strike a popular chord when he offered an amendment to an appropriation bill in Congress to pension Southern soldiers. He soon found that he had struck a very discordant one. It all served a real good purpose, however, to show the sentiment of true manhood- that still lingers in the breasts of the old ex-Confederate veterans. The camps of the Uni- ted Confederate Veterans almost unanimously opposed the proposition, and showed great wisdom in putting it aside. We are grateful that President McKinley, in his speech \i: Atlanta, expressed thfi opinion that the 14 time had come when the United States government should share in, caring for graves of the Confed- erate dead, but we do not want any pensions from the United States government. All that re- mains of the Lost Cause to us, my comrades, is a splendid tradition of heroism. That tradi- tion is of priceless value to the South. It enriches the life of the Southern people by the sentiment and poetry which come with it; and to put the Confed- erate Veterans upon the pension list would go a long way toward destroying that sentiment and blurring the memory of heroism, which the South now sacredly preserves. Most of the Southern States are making annual appropriations to pension the most needy veterans of the war. Texas appro- priates $250,000; Georgia, $195,000; Virginia, $145,000; Alabama and North Carolina, $100,000 each; Tenn- essee, $60,000. Our State furnished mure soldiers than any other Southern state, and her proportion of maimed and diseased veterans is greater. The appropriation of this State ought to be much larger than it is. It becomes a state with such a no- ble record made by her soldiers to care for those who need her help in a manner in keep- ing with her noble history made by her suldiery. Our State has a pension law that provides a pen- sion board in each county to determine who are entitled to be placed on the pension rolls, and to class them into fiye classes according to certain rules laid down. The pensions are required to be distributed to them in proportion to their disabilities and needs. With this arrangement faithfully carried out, it seems that the pensions ought to be appropriately and justlj' distributed. I notice a great many private bills were introduced during the recent session of the Legislature to place names on the pension 0k 15 • rolls. It seems that this must be wrong. If those persons were deserving, they should have been able to have the pension boards enroll their names and assign them to their proper classes. It is very prob- able that such legislation places some men on the rolls or in a class to which they are not entitled, and thus work an injustice to those already on the rolls through the proper boards. I have just recently learned that the general pension law pro- vides that the county advisory board of pensions shall be constituted of the Executive Committee of the County Confederate Veterans' Association, whenever there may be such Association in the county; other- wise, this Board may be composed of five ex-Con- federate'-, soldiers, who were actively engaged in the war between the states. One of the duties of this meeting is to elect this committee and entrust to it the responsible duty of acting as an Advisory Pen- sion Board. This arrangement i-s a very wise and ap- propriate one. The 2,261 battles of the war were fought, Nearly 1,000,- 000 lives were sacrificed. The end came in the Spring of 1865. The great armies dissolved in the presence of the Goddess of Peace as the morning vapors disappear before the march of the King of Day. This dissolving of the armies has been beautifully described by the his- torian, Rev. J. Win, Jones: '"When the war ended there were 1,000,000 Federal soldiers under arms. They were veterans without their equals anywhere under the sun. Many were poor and impoverished, but within the same year ihat saw the end of hostilities all these soldiers had laid aside their deadly weapons and were giving their whole energies to the pursuits of peace. Civ- ilization never saw a grander sight than this noiseless dissolving • of the armed' hosts and their transformation into quiet, orderly, law-abiding • 16 citizens, except the grander sight displayed by the conduct of the returned Confederate soldiers. These last, with fortunes ruined, hopes blighted, plans all frustrated, and subject to all sorts of petty annoyances by Provost Guards, and "Carpet Baggers" who came South to devour the little the war had left, instead of sitting down to rake in the ashes of the past, or entering upon a career of lawlessness, took off their coats and went to work in the corn, tobacco and cotton-fields, in the factories and workshops, in the professions, in whatever vocation honest industry could make a living. The waste places of the South have been built up, her industries have prospered, her deserts now 'bloom and blossom as the rose' and this changed result is due (aided by God's blessing) to the brain and brawn of the men who wore the gray, and who have made as law-abiding citizens as the world ever saw." Permit me to close in the language of William J. Clarke in his beautiful sonnet under the title of Carolina, 1865. "Pale, fainting from the battlefield, Carolina leaned on dented shield ; Her broken sword and shivered spear She laid aside to wipe a tear. Sob-choked I heard her feebly say: 'My sons! my sons! oh, where are they?' The evening breeze, soft, whisp'iing sighed: 'On freedom's battle-ground they died. Fame's loudest trump shall loudly tell How bravely fought, how nobly fell.' Loyal, true-hearted men were they. Thev sought no portion in the fray; But Sunny South they could net see Bow down to Northern tyranny." o#- 3 i / UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 00032757696 This hook must not he taken from the Lihrary huilding. LUNC-lOMjfte 41