Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 20.djvu/191

 Presentation of Statue of A. P. Hill.

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)istory of the camp, and will always be remembered with many pleasant recollections by the old vets of this gallant "Cockade City." At six o'clock the members of the camp, in full uniform, began to rendezvous at their hall, and half an hour later, headed by their splendid drum corps, marched to the Union depot to meet their guests from Richmond, who arrived here shortly before 7 o'clock. They were Colonel William H. Palmer, Colonel Alexander W. Archer, Major Robert Stiles, Honorable J. Taylor Ellyson, Major Thomas A. Brander, R. B. Munford, Honorable Joseph Bryan, William R. Trigg, Colonel William E. Tanner, Judge Henry W. Flournoy, Colonel William P. Smith, Colonel John Murphy, Cap- tain Thomas Ellett, Judge George L. Christian, William Ellis Jones, Captain John Tyler, Colonel G. Percy Hawes, E. H. Clowes, Colonel John B. Purcell, D. S. Redford, and Colonel W. M. Evans.

The camp and their guests marched from the depot through some of the principal streets thence to their hall. Here a short time was spent in social greeting. At 7.30 o'clock Captain W. Gordon McCabe, commander of A. P. Hill Camp, rapped the assemblage to order, and then the white cloth, which concealed the bronze statue of that gallant soldier and Chieftain A. P. Hill from view, was re- moved by Comrade W. H. Baxter amidst loud applause from the old Confederate veterans present.

Major Thomas A. Brander, of Richmond, then on behalf of Pe- gram Battalion Association, presented the statue to A. P. Hill Camp.

MAJOR BRANDER'S SPEECH. Commander McCabe and Comrades of A. P. Hill Camp :

It is with pleasure that I am with you to-night, to honor the memory of one who was so dear to us all. As I am unaccustomed to public speaking, and feel so unequal to the duty assigned me, I must beg that you will pardon, me, if I read what I have to say on this interesting occasion.

When 1 recall the names of R. L. Walker, W. J. Pegram, James and Robert Ellett, Greenlee Davidson, John and Ellis Munford, Edward Maynee, Joseph McGraw, G. M. Cayce and a host of others who formed one of the grandest artillery battalions in the Army of Northern Virginia, and who have now passed away, it awakens the tenderest memories of the past.