Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 18.djvu/398

 398 Anne, to Amelia, to Confederate cemetery. W. P. Smith, Grand Commander of Confederate Veterans of Virginia, was in command of the parade, which was composed as follows: Marshal and aides, band, carriages containing disabled veterans and prominent guests, General Bradley T. Johnson, General Corse and others; Confederate camps; Maury Camp of this place, R. E. Lee Camp of Richmond, Pickett Camp of Richmond, Pickett-Buchanan Camp of Norfolk, R. E. Lee Camp of Alexandria, Ewell Camp of Prince William; unorganized veterans, comprised of veterans from the surrounding counties; delegations from New York, Baltimore, Washington, Roanoke, Leesburg, Lynchburg, West Point and Charlottesville Camps; United Order Mechanics, Knights of Pythias and city fire department. The procession marched into the cemetery and formed around the mound where the unknown dead rest and'upon which the monument stands.

The exercises here were opened with prayer by Rev. I. W. Canter, followed by an anthem, after which the orator of the day, General Bradley T. Johnson, was introduced, who delivered the following beautiful oration:

Fellow Confederates, men and women:

For the last twenty years I have been observing with growing wonder the phenomenon of feeling toward the actors on the Confederate side in the war between the States.

When Appomattox temporarily terminated the struggle for liberty and self-government, which our race has been making with heart and brain and muscle in discussion and in battle, from the days of Alfred to the present, it seemed as if rebellion crushed and loyalty triumphant could only result in odium to the unsuccessful side. I never agreed with that estimate of the situation, for I believed if the Confederate people were true to their ideals of honor and fidelity their glorious achievements would be certain of appreciation by the generations to come, and I believed they would be true.

But I did not anticipate what has occurred. Never in my most highly-colored dreams did I see a hope of such speedy realization of our aspirations. It is a fact, and a wonderful fact, that the pathos, the sentiment, the romance of the war between the States is concentrated, crystalized about and emanates from the cause of the Confederacy.