Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 17.djvu/436

 428 Southern Historical Society Papers,

negro rule, and have ever since been proud of him as one of their representatives in the United States Senate.

General John B. Gordon has been the idol of his people ever since he carried back to Georgia his brilliant record in the Army of North- ern Virginia. At the first opportunity they elected him governor by an overwhelming majority, and though the military authorities re- fused to allow him to take his seat, they afterwards sent him to the United States Senate, where he remained until he voluntarily resigned^ They have twice again, by unprecedented majorities, elevated him to the gubernatorial chair, and it is as certain as anything can be in the future that the next legislature will elect him to the United States Senate again.

General John H. Forney, General Joseph Wheeler, General W. H. F. Lee, General P. M. B. Young, General R. L. T. Beale, General James R. Chalmers, General William R. Cox, General L. J. Gart- rell, Generals Eppa Hunton, A. M. Scales, and Robert B. Vance, have served in the House of Representatives, while Generals Wade Hamp- ton, John B. Gordon, W. B. Bate. E. C. Walthall, J. T. Morgan, M. C. Butler, A. H. Colquitt, R. L. Gibson, and M. W. Ransom, have graced the United States Senate, and Generals Gordon, Hampton^ Buckner, Fitzhugh Lee, Bate. Kemper, Bonham, Colquitt, Haygood^ Lowry, Marmaduke, McGowan, Nicholas, O'Neale, and Scales, have been Governors of their respective States.

Time and space forbid further particulars, but we do not hesitate to say that after that sad day at Appomattox our Confederate sol- diers — generals, colonels, captains, and privates alike — ^as a rule, in- stead of sitting down to weep over the ashes of ruined fortunes and blighted hopes, took off their coats and went to work — that they have filled places of honor, profit, emolument and trust, and have proven themselves the best citizens the country ever had, and that this '*New South'* of ours has owed its great prosperity under God more to the brain and brawn of " the men who wore the gray ** than to any other cause.

Richmond greets the survivors of that heroic band to-day [May 29th] — the capital of the Confederacy opens wide her gates to bid them welcome — their old comrades extend to them the hand of fellowship, and our people generally stand before them with uncovered heads and say, ** All hail to the chivalry of our Southland— the grandest heroes the world ever saw — as they come to honor the grandest man that ever walked this continent.* *