Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 24.djvu/161

 /-'. /'y all, and so In- was; hut there are a sma' lew of those of his own comrades of the Lost Cause more fortunate of life than my lai^e-hearted soldier, who are envious and jealous of the glory of his short, unfinished life, and one of these of the wee-sma' lew, in his lecture on "The Closing Days of the Con- federacy," when he spoke of the deciding battle of the war (Get- tysburg), scarcely mentioned the- name of the dead soldier, who so xealously obeyed "Old Peter's nod," and led the immortal charge over those sacred heights, on through the passage of the Valley of Death ; passed the lines of battle, up the ridge to the crest, from the crest down the descent over half a mile of open, exposed ground, within canister and schrapnel range; through rushing shot and shrieking shell; on, on through flame and smoke, till the heights were taken; the battle won, and then, alas! Pickett's men, hemmed in on all sides and for want of support, had to fight their way back through equal danger over the blood-conquered ground, over the mangled, mutilated bodies of their dead and wounded comrades, while the army, as all the world knows, though ordered to come to Pickett's support, calmly looked on at the terrible massacre. If Pickett had had the other two brigades of his division (Corse and Jenkins), but of this more anon. Lincoln afterwards, in his dedica- tion address on this sacred field, said: " Here this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." The glory of Pickett's charge at Gettysburg (where, out of 4,500 brave Virginians, 3,393 were killed and wounded), will shine, in spite of Gordon's jealousy, with ever-increasing lustre as time rolls on, and the purity of patriotism is more and more refined and the truth more and more clearly revealed. Pickett's men loved and honored him, their great, tender-hearted commander, who did not offend them by superiority, but inspired them with confidence; and to-day a whole nation of true soldiers everywhere give venera- tion to his memory, admiration for his dauntless courage, his grand and enduring qualities of head and heart, and love for love.

In Richmond, Va., on Gettysburg Hill, beneath the glistening ivy leaves, and midst the bloom of flowers, in reach of the scent of the distant clover as it sways and swings with the golden buttercups, anon touching and making a tangle of purple and green and gold,