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MEMORIAL ADDRESS 
 
 UPON THE LIFE OF 
 
 General James Green Martin 
 
 DELIVERED AT RALEIGH, N. C, 
 MAY 10, 1916. 
 
 BY 
 
 HON. WALTER CLARK, 
 
 CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT 
 OF NORTH CAROLINA 
 
GENERAL JAMES GREEN MARTIN. 
 
 MEMORIAL ADDRESS BY HON. WALTER CLARK. 
 
 MAY 10, 1916. 
 
 President of the Ladies Memorial Asociation, Ladies 
 
 and Gentlemen: 
 
 Fifty years and one have fled since wreathed around 
 with cypress and with laurel the chosen banner of a 
 great people passed into history. No banner was ever 
 borne by braver soldiery nor sustained by generals of 
 greater genius or by any people with more devotion. But 
 Fortune "that name for the unknown combinations of 
 an infinite power was wanting to us, and without her aid 
 the designs of man are as bubbles on a troubled ocean." 
 Once 8 millions of the great Anglo Saxon race hailed that 
 banner with gladness. But when it passed, it passed for- 
 ever, without hope that it should come again, for "its 
 people 's hopes were dead. ' ' Yet, we see what the world 
 has never seen before — from one end to the other of the 
 land over which it waved, from the Potomac to the Rio 
 Grande, from the Gulf to the great rivers of the North, 
 the Ohio and the Mississippi, countless monuments stand 
 in perpetual memorial of the valor of the soldiers that 
 bore it, and on these recurring anniversaries we meet 
 with music and with flowers and with beauty, in memory 
 of the "storm cradled nation that fell" and to honor 
 those who were faithful, even unto death. 
 
 The world shows nothing else like it. In historic 
 England there are possibly a dozen or more monuments 
 to commemorate great victories won in her great island 
 story of a thousand years. In France here and there 
 
a stone tells an incident of the splendid heroism of that 
 race, and in Rome with its 2,500 years of empire, of 
 history and of tradition a dozen arches recall the fame 
 of a few great leaders. In France, in England, in Rome 
 even these have been placed at the expense and by the 
 order of the government. These monuments of ours 
 have arisen at the command of no government and not 
 at the expense of the public treasury. They are the 
 tribute paid by the noble women of the South who have 
 never forgotten the matchless valor of the soldiery who 
 stood on the perilous edge of battle and died where they 
 could not conquer. 
 
 I would have you remember comrades that we owe 
 every monument that stands from Virginia to Texas and 
 every memorial meeting like this to the unshaken fidelity 
 of the women of the South. 
 
 At the request of the Ladies Memorial Association 
 of Raleigh I am to recall some of the events of the stir- 
 ring life of one to whom the State largely owes the fact 
 that among all the troops of the Confederacy there was 
 admittedly none that were better disciplined, better 
 armed, better equipped, than those from North Carolina 
 —GENERAL JAMES GREEN MARTIN. 
 
 " There are hours long departed which memory brings 
 Like blossoms of Eden to twine around the heart. 
 
 As time rushes by on the might of his wings 
 
 They may darken awhile but they never depart." 
 
 There will never depart from the memory of those 
 who lived thru the stirring scenes of the spring and sum- 
 mer of 1861 the exaltation of the Southern people. It 
 was the birth of a new nation, filled with confidence, and 
 
roseate hopes. It was then that companies of gallant 
 young men were coming to Raleigh by every train and 
 regiments were being organised, drilled, equipped and 
 sent on to the front. The enthusiasm was universal and 
 irresistible. 
 
 Among those upon whom fell, at that time, more than 
 upon anyone else the burden of organising and marshall- 
 ing these troops for service was the gallant soldier whose 
 life I am asked to summarise in a brief speech on this 
 occasion. 
 
 The Adjutant General of N. C. at the outbreak of 
 the War was Col. John F. Hoke who had charge of organ- 
 ising the volunteer regiments in the beginning, while Gen. 
 James G. Martin had been appointed by the Governor to 
 organise the 10 regiments of State troops, as they were 
 called, who had been enlisted for ' ' 3 years or the War. ' ' 
 The "Volunteers" were only 12 months men. Col. Hoke, 
 however, was soon elected Colonel of the 13th volunteers 
 and thereupon Gen. Martin by orders of the Governor 
 took charge of the organisation and equipment of both 
 volunteers and State troops until the legislature met, 
 when Gen. Martin was elected Adjutant General, with all 
 the military power of the State, subject only to the 
 Governor, under his constitutional authority. Under 
 General Martin were the Departments of Quartermaster 
 General and Commissary General, headed by those most 
 efficient officers, Major John Devereux, and Major 
 Thomas D. Hogg, besides the Ordnance, Pay and Medical 
 Departments which were also under most efficient heads. 
 How he and they discharged their duties can not be 
 shown better than by the fact already stated that 
 there were no troops in the South from any other State 
 that as a whole were as well equipped, armed and disci- 
 plined as those from this State. He was to the North 
 
Carolina troops what the famous Carnot was to the 
 Troops of France in the Great Revolution. Of Carnot 
 it was said "He organised victory." 
 
 General James G. Martin was the eldest son of Doc- 
 tor William Martin, a physician, planter, shipbuilder and 
 Member of the General Assembly of North Carolina, and 
 his wife Sophia Scott Dauge. He was born in Elizabeth 
 City, N. C, 14 Feb., 1819, and after preliminary instruc- 
 tion at St. Mary's in Raleigh, at that time a school for 
 boys, where he acquired the friendship of many who 
 afterwards distinguished themselves in the Mexican War 
 and in the War between the States and in civil life, he 
 entered West Point in 1836. 
 
 Upon his graduation at West Point in July, 1840, the 
 young cadet was assigned as second Lieutenant to the 
 First Regiment of Artillery then on duty at Newport, 
 R. I. In 1842 he saw his first service in the field on the 
 Canadian Frontier during the controversy with England 
 over the Maine and New Brunswick Boundaries known 
 as the "Aroostook War" or the "War of the Maps." 
 
 This was, however, settled by Mr. Webster and Lord 
 Ashburton by the treaty which bears their names. The 
 First Artillery having returned to Newport he was mar- 
 ried there 12 July, 1844, to Mary Anne Murray Read — the 
 great-granddaughter of George Read of Delaware, a 
 signer of the declaration of American Independence, and 
 also of William Thompson, a Brigadier General in the 
 Army of the Revolution. Lieutenant Martin remained 
 in garrison at Newport till 1846 when he was sent with 
 his battery to General Taylor at Brownsville, Texas. 
 War with Mexico was declared 12 May, 1846. 
 
 During the 3 days assault at Monterey 21-22 and 23 
 Sept., 1846, Lieutenant Martin, tho still second Lieu- 
 tenant, was in command of his battery which distin- 
 
guished itself by clearing the houses of the enemy's rifle- 
 men and arriving at the Plaza before the infantry, who 
 came up the converging streets. The reputation thus 
 achieved was so great that thereafter he was known in his 
 own regiment as ' * the man of Monterey. ' ' The battery 
 was sent around to reinforce General Scott at Vera Cruz 
 and marched with him to the City of Mexico. It was thus 
 at Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Cherubusco, Molino del Rey 
 and Chapultepec and at the occupation of the City of 
 Mexico. Lieutenant Martin at the hard fought battle 
 of Cherubusco in the valley of Mexico, 20 Aug., 1847, lost 
 his right arm which was shattered by grape shot while 
 his battery was hotly engaged with the enemy strongly 
 entrenched behind stone walls, pierced for musketry and 
 artillery. But despite the wound he rode over to the 
 adjacent battery in the same regiment which was com- 
 manded by Lieutenant "Stonewall" Jackson and asking 
 him to take command of his battery as he had lost his arm, 
 lie took the sleeve in his teeth and rode off the field. These 
 two young men had served side by side in the same regi- 
 ment from Vera Cruz up to that point. In recognition 
 of his gallantry Lieut. Martin was made a brevet major 
 for "gallant and meritorious conduct at the battles of 
 Contreras and Cherubusco." 
 
 In 1896 on a tour thru Mexico I followed the steps 
 of that army from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico, 
 visiting in turn each of the battlefields and can appre- 
 ciate the valor and ability of that little army of 8,000 
 men which starting from Vera Cruz pierced the enemy's 
 center and did not pause, and without sustaining a de- 
 feat, until they entered the halls of the Montezumas. 
 After that final success the treaty of peace was signed at 
 Gaudalupe Hildalgo by which half of the territory of 
 Mexico was ceded to us. When the war broke out the 
 
8 
 
 United States and Mexico were equal in area. At its con- 
 clusion the United States was three times the size of 
 Mexico. 
 
 This was the result of the heroism of Taylor and 
 Scott and the little armies which they commanded. As 
 a result we not only settled our title to Texas, but ac- 
 quired California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico 
 and Arizona. But in that little army were young officers 
 who 15 years later were destined to become the leaders 
 of the armies on both sides in our great struggle. Capt. 
 Robert E. Lee, Lieut. T. J. Jackson, Lieutenant U. S. 
 Grant, Capt. Joseph E. Johnston, Lieut. W. T. Sherman, 
 Lieutenants Geo. B. McCellan and D. H. Hill, Capt. Brax- 
 ton Bragg, and indeed nearly every officer of the highest 
 rank on either side in the Great Civil War saw service 
 in those stirring days in 1846 and 47 in Mexico. 
 
 After his discharge from the Hospital Major Martin 
 was transferred to duty and was stationed at Fortress 
 Monroe, Philadelphia, and Governor's Island and was 
 then sent to Fort Snelling in Minnesota which was at 
 that time on the remote frontier of civilization. At the 
 latter point he had the misfortune to lose his wife who 
 left surviving her four children. 
 
 On 8 Feb., 1858, Major Martin was married to Miss 
 Hettie King, sister of Gen. Rufus King, who had been 
 his fellow cadet at West Point. She was the eldest 
 daughter of Charles King, President of Columbia Col- 
 lege, New York City, and a granddaughter of Rufus 
 King, first American Minister to Great Britain. Her 
 younger sister married Mr. Waddington, at one time 
 prime minister of France, and is well known to us by 
 her charming books, giving an account of her visits to 
 Moscow, London and Rome when her husband was suc- 
 cessively Ambassador from France to Italy, Russia and 
 
9 
 
 England, and her no less charming work on "Chateau 
 Life" in France. 
 
 Major Martin served as Quarter Master in the Utah 
 Expedition under Albert Sidney Johnston who later fell 
 in the meridian of his fame on the field of battle at 
 Shiloh. At the date of that expedition (1858) there was 
 no railroad west of the Mississippi, and the expedition 
 to Utah received its ammunition and supplies under 
 guard of troops over the long route from the Mississippi 
 to Salt Lake. 
 
 On 20 May, 1861, North Carolina repealed the Ordi- 
 nance by which she had become a member of the Federal 
 Union. Major Martin was then stationed at Fort Riley, 
 a frontier post in Kansas. He at once resigned and 
 started on his long journey to Raleigh to offer his sword 
 and his services to his native State. When the train 
 passed thru Illinois ex-Captain Ulysses S. Grant, then in 
 civil life, got aboard at some way station. They had 
 been cadets together at West Point and had served to- 
 gether in the long march from Vera Cruz to Mexico. 
 Major Martin stated his purpose of offering his services 
 to North Carolina and Grant his intention of tendering 
 his services to Mr. Lincoln. He and Grant had a long 
 conversation as old comrades and Major Martin men- 
 tioned that he was on his way to Raleigh to tender his 
 services to his native State. His young son (now Judge 
 William B. Martin of Norfolk) asked his father whether 
 he was not afraid that he (Grant) would report him to 
 Lincoln and have him arrested, which was answered by 
 an emphatic "No." 
 
 Upon arrival at Raleigh Major Martin at once called 
 on Gov. Ellis and tendering his services was given the 
 same rank which he had held in the U. S. Service and 
 was appointed Adjutant General for the ten Regiments 
 
10 
 
 known as State Troops, which were then being raised 
 for "three years or the war." The Act to raise these 
 troops had been passed by the Legislature on 12 May, 
 anticipating the Act of Secession, and General Martin at 
 once devoted himself to the arming, equipping, drilling 
 and disciplining this body of men until he took charge 
 of all the troops of the State under the Act of the Legis- 
 lature of 20 Sept., 1861, which empowered the Governor 
 to appoint "an Adjutant and Inspector General, with 
 the rank of Major General, who shall be general in chief 
 of all the forces of North Carolina," subject only to the 
 Constitutional authority of the Governor. In this capa- 
 city he prepared all the troops of the State for service 
 and retained command of them until from time to time 
 successive regiments thus armed, equipped and drilled 
 were forwarded to Virginia and turned over to the Con- 
 federate service. 
 
 General Martin's service in the old army both in 
 the line and on the staif had rendered him thoroughly 
 familiar with the duties required of this office, and he 
 entered with untiring energy into the thoro organization 
 of the North Carolina troops. 
 
 The entire supervision of the defense of the State 
 was also turned over to him. The militia laws were re- 
 vised according to his suggestion. Horses for the cav- 
 alry and transport service were bought in Kentucky and 
 hurried in droves thru the mountains. Saddles and har- 
 ness material were secured by special agents in New 
 Orleans and rushed to Ealeigh by rail. Powder works 
 and arsenals for the manufacture and remodeling of arms 
 were created. Camps of instruction were established, 
 and skilled armorers secured to make sabres, bayonets 
 and swords by the thousands. Shoe and clothing fac- 
 tories for the troops were located at several points in 
 
11 
 
 the State. Quarter Master, commissary and ordnance 
 stores were collected from all parts of the State. Can- 
 non were provided for the artillery and the forts were 
 erected and strengthened on the coast. Besides the 
 "State Troops" volunteers were called out, disciplined 
 and sent to Virginia until North Carolina finally fur- 
 nished to the army of the Confederacy more troops than 
 any other State and more fighting men in proportion to 
 her population than, till then, any nation had ever fur- 
 nished in any war. 
 
 On 14 March, 1862, Burnside captured New Bern and 
 threatened an advance into the interior. On 15 May 
 Gen. Martin received a letter from the Confederate 
 government enclosing a commission as brigadier general 
 in the Confederate army and asking that he should take 
 icdjmmand of eastern North Carolina *'m this emer- 
 gency. ' ' With the consent of the Governor the commis- 
 sion was accepted and General Martin took command of 
 a North Carolina brigade with headquarters at Kinston, 
 to hold Burnside in check. During the 7 days' battles 
 around Richmond in June he was able to reassure Gen- 
 eral Lee, who anticipated an advance from Burnside, by 
 replying to his inquiry that Burnside had made no ad- 
 vance. In July after the 7 days' battles around Rich- 
 mond, General Lee telegraphed the Governor, in prepar- 
 ing the defense of Richmond in anticipation of our first 
 Northern campaign, asking if he could spare more troops. 
 The Governor replied "I have no troops but Martin's 
 brigade. You can have that if needed." Thereupon 
 General Martin with this brigade was ordered to Vir- 
 ginia and was stationed at Drewry's Bluff, below Rich- 
 mond, protecting that City while the Confederate army 
 was across the Potomac in our first Maryland campaign. 
 This brigade was composed of the 17th, 44th, 47th, and 
 
 #* 
 
12 
 
 52nd N. C. Regiments. At Drewry's Bluff General 
 Martin was slightly wounded in his remaining arm in an 
 advance of the enemy. Gov. Clark, learning of the 
 enemy's activity in eastern North Carolina wired for 
 the return of Martin and his brigade. But all the Con- 
 federate government could spare was one regiment, the 
 17th N. C. commanded by Gen. Martin's brother, which 
 he was permitted to bring with him. The 26th regiment 
 was transferred from Ransom's brigade to fill up the 
 gap left in the brigade by the removal of the 17th and 
 later the 11th N. C. regiment was added to the brigade 
 which was placed under the command of that most accom- 
 plished gentleman and soldier, Gen. James Johnston Pet- 
 tigrew, and after his lamented death, it was commanded 
 in succession by Gen. Kirkland and Gen. McRae. 
 
 General Lee requested Gen. Martin that on his re- 
 turn, while retaining his rank as Confederate Brigadier 
 he should resume his duties as Adjutant General to raise 
 and equip more troops from this State, in which work he 
 had been so efficient. General Martin with whom Gov. 
 Vance, who had now succeeded as Governor, heartily con- 
 curred, established a system of blockade running from 
 Wilmington to Bermuda and Nassau, which contributed 
 so greatly to the necessities of our people and the needs 
 of our troops by bringing in provisions, arms, 
 ammunition, clothing and supplies of all kinds. To pro- 
 cure these the State purchased large quantities of cotton 
 to be shipped out and sold at war prices. So successful 
 was this system that North Carolina troops were better 
 armed, clothed and equipper than those of any other 
 Southern State, and large quantities of stores were turned 
 over to the Confederate government, which singularly 
 enough had not established a similar system nor pur- 
 chased even one vessel to break the various blockades. 
 
13 
 
 North Carolina had purchased a fast vessel fromerly 
 known as the ' ' Lord Clyde. ' ' Governor Vance appointed 
 Thomas Crossen her captain and changing her name to 
 the "Ad.- Vance," she successfully ran the blockade thru 
 the enemy's squadron at the mouth of the Cape Fear for 
 a long time. This vessel was at last captured towards 
 the close of the war, but only by reason of the fact that 
 the Confederate government took the small quantity of 
 good coal which the State had procured for the use of its 
 steamer with the result that, forced to use inferior coal, 
 the vessel lost its high speed and besides left a dark trail 
 of smoke which enabled the enemy 's vessels to keep track 
 of her. 
 
 In the early fall of 1863, not long after the return 
 from the Gettysburg campaign Gen. Lee notified General 
 Martin that he would require every man North Carolina 
 could furnish for his next campaign, and urged Gen. Mar- 
 tin to take command of a Confederate brigade again with 
 headquarters at Kinston. 
 
 After consultation with the Governor Gen. Martin 
 again resigned as Adjutant General and took command 
 of a brigade of Confederate troops with headquarters 
 again at Kinston. This brigade consisted of the 17th 
 N. C. regiment commanded by Col. Wm. F. Martin, the 
 General's brother; 42nd N. C, Col. John E. Brown; 50th 
 N. C, Col. George Wortham, and 66th N. C, Col. A. Dun- 
 can Moore — to which was attached Paris' battery of 
 artillery and Jefford's cavalry. This brigade was soon 
 afterwards transferred to Wilmington, and a part of 
 these troops under Gen. Martin's personal command par- 
 ticipated in the advance upon New Bern. In this move- 
 ment they captured the "Newport Barracks" with 10 
 guns, a large amount of stores and prisoners and de- 
 stroyed the railroad bridge across the Neuse. The Fed- 
 
14 
 
 eral General Palmer who commanded the Federal forces 
 at New Bern says "Martin did his part well." 
 
 During the winter of 1863-4 Gen. Martin thoroughly 
 drilled and equipped the brigade which became one of 
 the finest brigades in Lee 's army. In May, 1864, he was 
 ordered with his brigade, some 4,000 strong, to Virginia, 
 but left one regiment, the 50th N. C. regiment, under 
 Col Geo. Wortham in this State. At Bermuda Hundreds 
 on 17 May, 1864, the great efficiency and the rapid move- 
 ment of Gen. Martin's well drilled troops in brigade for- 
 mation showed to his men as well as commanding officers 
 the value of the perfect discipline and obedience which he 
 had exacted and which saved us that day from probable 
 disaster. 
 
 On 20 May, 3 days later, the brigade was again at 
 the hard fought battle of "Howletts" where Gen. Martin 
 handled the brigade so coolly and easily that it responded 
 to all orders even while charging the enemy under a 
 heavy fire as if on dress parade and carried the enemy's 
 position. By reason of his strict discipline the General 
 had not been over popular with his troops, but at the 
 close of this successful battle the brigade cheered him and 
 taking him on their shoulders carried him to headquar- 
 ters, a shock to his sense of discipline, but a striking tri- 
 bute from the troops of their admiration for his personal 
 bravery and military efficiency. He also commanded the 
 Brigade at Second Cold Harbor 3 June, 1864, when Grant 
 sustained so severe a repulse that when he ordered his 
 men to advance again to the assault not a soldier in his 
 army stirred. In the winter of 1864, after Gen. Martin 
 had been sent to take command of western North Caro- 
 lina and Gen. Kirkland had succeeded him in command of 
 his brigade near Chaffin's Bluff, Gen. Lee rode along the 
 lines and sending for Gen. Kirkland spoke very highly 
 
15 
 
 of the discipline and efficiency of the brigade. Gen. Kirk- 
 land attributed its high state of efficiency to its former 
 commander, Gen. Martin. To this Gen. Lee replied, 
 "Gen. Martin is one to whom North Carolina owes a 
 debt she will never pay." 
 
 General Martin's health had been much impaired by 
 his constant service as Adjutant General in the equip- 
 ment and organisation of our North Carolina troops, 
 and by the campaigns and services of his brigade in east- 
 ern North Carolina and around Petersburg together with 
 the loss of his arm in Mexico. He accordingly tendered 
 his resignation. This was declined "owing to his valu- 
 able services," but in July, 1864, he was placed in com- 
 mand of western North Carolina with headquarters at 
 Asheville, where he promptly proceeded to raise recruits 
 for our depleted regiments and form new ones. With 
 the latter he beat back Kirk and his marauders along the 
 Tennessee line. 
 
 In the spring of 1865 Gen. Sherman sent a cavalry 
 column of 3,000 men to force its way across the mountains 
 to form a junction with the Union army in Tennessee. 
 This column was driven back by a small force of Con- 
 federates at Swannanoa Gap, butfinallypassedthruHick- 
 ory Nut Gap and was approaching Asheville when the 
 truce between Sherman and Johnston was declared. Its 
 commander, Gen. Gillam, and Gen Martin met about 6 
 miles from Asheville, on the road to Hendersonville, and 
 an armistice was concluded by which the Union Cavalry 
 were permitted to proceed to Tennessee. Under the 
 terms of this agreement, in order to prevent levying con- 
 tributions on the march by the Federal Cavalry, Gen. 
 Martin raised provisions for 4,000 men supplemented from 
 the Confederate stores in Asheville. After the close of 
 hostilities on the statement of the case to the Federal 
 
16 
 
 General George H. Thomas, who had been Gen. Martin's 
 classmate at West Point and who was then commanding 
 in Tennessee, the full amount of these supplies was sent 
 up by wagon train and distributed to the citizens of Ashe- 
 ville and was their principal food supply during the sum- 
 mer of 1865. 
 
 The truce that was made between the forces under 
 Gen Martin on 23 April, 1865, which was 3 days before 
 Johnston's surrender, was one of the most remarkable 
 and dramatic events of the War. Three thousand hos- 
 tile troops were peacefully and quietly passed thru the 
 Confederate lines then thru the Main Street of Asheville 
 and down the French Broad River preceded and escorted 
 by Confederate cavalry, the streets of Asheville being 
 policed by Confederate Infantry, with not a single un- 
 toward incident, altho the number of led horses in the 
 Federal Column gave rise to much chaffing between the 
 soldiers. To add to the incidents of this memorable oc- 
 casion, Gen. Gillam and his staff, in full Federal uniform 
 dined with Gen. Martin and his staff in full Confederate 
 uniform, and the last thing Gen. Gillam said to Gen. Mar- 
 tin, as he left, was that he would give him 24 hours notice 
 of the ending of the truce. 
 
 Upon reaching the Union lines in Tennessee and 
 learning by wire of Johnston's surrender at Greensboro, 
 Gen. Gillam proceeded to Knoxville but dispatched a 
 brigade under Gen. Brown to surprise and capture Ashe- 
 ville, in direct violation of the terms of the truce. This 
 the Federals succeeded in doing, but General Palmer, 
 the Federal General, in a most courteous letter ac- 
 knowledged the error of his subordinate and released 
 Gen. Martin and his troops from their parole. Gen. 
 Martin thereupon gathered up the few officers and men 
 who had not left Asheville and proceeding to Waynes- 
 
17 
 
 ville joined Thomas' legion which was under his 
 command. On 10 May, 1865, however, he surrendered 
 that point to the Federal troops who were closing 
 in on him on all sides. He thus ended his military 
 career. After having served gallantly in two wars, and 
 after a military service of 20 years, maimed of an arm, 
 without a profession, penniless and deprived of his civil 
 rights, he began life anew. 
 
 Gen. Martin soon obtained license to practice law, 
 in Aug., 1866, and in the discharge of the duties of that 
 profession and as an active member of the Episcopal 
 Church which he represented both in the Diocesan and 
 General Conventions he passed the remaining years of 
 his life in the enjoyment of the profound respect of the 
 community in which he lived. He died in Asheville 4 
 Oct., 1878, and was buried in the churchyard of Trinity 
 Episcopal Church, which building was not at that time 
 completed. Tho he was 47 years of age, when under 
 the force of circumstances he took out license to practice 
 law he promptly acquired high standing at the Bar, for 3 
 years later when the Fraud Commission was created to 
 investigate the Swepson and Littlefield frauds and three 
 able lawyers were required, the Legislature selected 
 Judge William M. Shipp, ex- Attorney General Joseph B. 
 Batchelor, and General James G. Martin. 
 
 When General Martin's headquarters were plun- 
 dered on the surprise and capture of Asheville in viola- 
 tion of the truce made with Gen. Gillam, among other 
 property lost was his sabre which he had worn both in 
 the Mexican War and in our War. Eleven years after- 
 wards it was sent to his son, Judge W. B. Martin, by a 
 young man from Arkansas who while traveling in 
 Michigan, or Wisconsin, found it and obtained possession 
 of it. The belt attached to it still had Gen. Martin's 
 
18 
 
 name and rank on it and a clasp with the N. C. coat of 
 arms. This sword is still in possession of his son, Judge 
 W. B. Martin of Norfolk, Va. On the blade has been in- 
 scribed on one side his rank in the U. S. army and the 
 battles in Mexico in which he wore the sword and on 
 the other his rank, as Major General of North Carolina 
 and Brigadier General in the Confederate service, and 
 the battles in which he wore it, and the regiments which 
 composed his last brigade — for he commanded two, at 
 different times. 
 
 General Martin 's grandfather, James Green Martin, 
 was a Methodist minister who resided in Norfolk, Va. 
 He married Susanna Bruce who was descended from the 
 Bruces in Scotland. He left two children, William and 
 Margaret, the former of whom removed to Elizabeth 
 City, N. C, where he became a prominent physician and 
 married Sophia Scott Dauge, a daughter of Gen. Peter 
 Daugie of Camden County. 
 
 Gen. Martin left two sons and two daughters. 1. 
 William B. Martin, a highly respected and honored Judge 
 now residing at Norfolk, Va. ; 2. James G. Martin, Jr. 
 The latter has since died leaving two daughters, Mrs. 
 Esther K. Metz, wife of Charles Metz, who now resides 
 in Atlanta, Ga., and Mrs. Anne M. Holmes, widow of E. 
 I. Holmes, now residing in Asheville, N. C. ; 3. Miss Annie 
 H. Martin of Asheville, N. C, who has recently died; 
 and 4. Mrs. Marianne Tennent, now deceased, who left 
 an only daughter, Annie M. Caldwell, wife of J. H. Cald- 
 well, who resides at Hawkinsville, Ga. Mrs. Annie D. 
 Martin, widow of James G. Martin, Jr., is still living and 
 resides in Asheville, N. C. 
 
 We may think the services of Gen. Martin and his 
 comrades minimised by comparison with the enormous 
 forces now engaged in Europe. But we must not forget 
 
19 
 
 that the combatants in the present war are embattled 
 nations. Down to our War the world had seen no greater 
 struggle. The federal records show that the Union 
 placed first and last in line 2,850,000 men, while on the 
 Confederate side, whose records have been lost, the esti- 
 mates are from 600,000 to 800,000. Of these North Caro- 
 lina furnished over 125,000, the bulk of whom were raised, 
 equipped, drilled and sent to the front under the super- 
 vision of General Martin. 
 
 We can also judge of the magnitude of our War by 
 the numbers engaged on great historic fields. Cesar 
 when he won the world's Empire over Pompey at Phar- 
 salia commanded only 22,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry. 
 Napoleon won the mastership of France by his victory 
 at Marengo with 21,000 men and the supremacy in 
 Europe at Austerlitz with 80,000 and lost it at Waterloo 
 where he commanded 65,000 men. We achieved our 
 independence at Yorktown where we captured 7,073 
 British with a loss in killed of 156 Americans and 85 
 French. 
 
 We can also judge of the relative importance of 
 our struggle by the fact that in the Revolutionary War 
 in which we won our independence against the greatest 
 power in the world of that time, we left, during the en- 
 tire 7 years, only 1,735 men dead on the field of battle 
 and we would have been beaten then but for the help of 
 France. In the War of 1812, our second war with Great 
 Britain, we had only 1,235 killed outright tho that war 
 saved us the entire country beyond the Mississippi, half 
 of our territory at that date, and in the War with Mexico 
 which brought us Texas, California, and the great ter- 
 ritory lying between them, one third of the area of the 
 Union at present, we lost only 1,047 men killed. In our 
 war, 1861-5, North Carolina alone had 5,016 men killed 
 
20 
 
 in battle, 9,000 more died from wounds and 29,000 from 
 disease, making a total of 43,000 men, (or one-third of 
 the whole number of soldiers from this State) which 
 North Carolina lost during the War, to say nothing of the 
 wounded and crippled who survived. 
 
 Such record is only possible to a brave and deter- 
 mined people. There are those who will say that the 
 cause of our war was slavery, and therefore it was un- 
 just. After the lapse of more than half a century we 
 can afford to speak plainly on this subject. Not one 
 man in 20 in the South owned slaves, and those who 
 served with our soldiers know well that they would not 
 have fought to preserve that institution. It is also true 
 that on the other side, the soldiery would not have gone 
 into battle for the abolition of slavery and ever indig- 
 nantly denied such motive. In truth the soldiers of the 
 South fought for independence, for the principle that 
 every people had the right to govern themselves, and to 
 change their government at will. The soldiery of the 
 North fought for the Union, and the Union only, because 
 they believed that the preservation of liberty depended 
 upon the continuance of the Union in its integrity and 
 that if this republic failed, there would never be another. 
 Yet we must admit that at the foundation of the desire 
 for independence there was, and there had been from the 
 beginning, a feeling that our right to maintain our own 
 institutions including, of course, that of slavery, depended 
 upon our having an independent government, secure from 
 interference by the States of the North. Whatever com- 
 ment may be made, this is the plain statement of the 
 facts, and it may be added that the history of the world 
 shows that, in like manner all great wars have been al- 
 ways based upon some economic cause. 
 
 Probably, I may say almost with certainty, the two 
 
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 most brilliant soldiers from North Carolina in that war 
 were the two young major generals — Pender, who was 
 killed at 29, and Hoke, who was a major general at 26. 
 The memory of both we have perpetuated in the names 
 of our counties. They were both magnificent soldiers, 
 and deserved higher rank even than that which they won 
 but it may be doubted if with all the splendor of their 
 services they rendered more efficient aid to their State 
 and the Confederacy than the General who brought into 
 service and equipped, drilled and disciplined the splendid 
 soldiery whom Hoke and Pender and others afterwards 
 commanded with such distinction for themselves and 
 honor to their State. When the roll of her sons is called, 
 North Carolina may well say of General Martin in the 
 words of the great Chieftain, whom I have quoted" North 
 Carolina oives a debt to General Martin, which she can 
 never repay." 
 
 North Carolina has established as its memorial day 
 the 10th of May, because it is the anniversary of the 
 death of Stonewall Jackson, the greatest grief, until the 
 final one, which fell upon the Confederacy, and a loss but 
 for which the South might well have succeeded. During 
 the Trojan War, Achilles was the great hero of the Greeks. 
 After the close of the war and his death, Ulysses when 
 starting on his memorable voyage, which is so beautifully 
 narrated by Homer in the Odyssey, said that he "pro- 
 posed to sail beyond the western stars and touch at the 
 Happy Isles, where perchance we may see again the great 
 Achilles whom we knew, and those who loved and fol- 
 lowed him. ' ' There are still with us some who like Ulys- 
 ses may ere long pass beyond the western stars. May 
 they touch at the Happy Isles and see again, perchance, 
 our great Achilles, and the friends and comrades who 
 loved and followed him. 
 
22 
 
 There are thousands who are already gone on that 
 long voyage. Of them we may say: 
 
 "How sleep the brave who sink to rest 
 With all their country's wishes blest. 
 By fairy hands their knell is rung, 
 By forms unseen their dirge is sung 
 
 When Spring with dewy fingers cold 
 Returns to deck their hallowed mold 
 She dresses there a sweeter sod 
 Than fancy's feet have ever trod. 
 
 There Honor comes a pilgrim gray 
 To bless the turf that wraps their clay 
 And freedom shall awhile repair 
 To dwell a weeping hermit there."