Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 26.djvu/302

292 Congress from Mississippi, and Hon. W. A. Jones, Representative of the First Congressional District of Virginia.

He was met at Milford Station by a Committee from Lee and Pickett Veteran Camps, and from that of the Sons of Veterans, and arrived on the evening of the i6th instant. At Ashland he was received with joyous acclaim by the students of the Randolph-Macon College and citizens en masse, and acknowledged the welcome with a brief address. At Elba Station, despite of the persistent and drenching down-pour of rain throughout the afternoon, there was a large crowd assembled to greet him.

Lee Camp Hall was filled to its full capacity and upon the entrance of General Wheeler (accompanied by the Committee, the distinguished gentlemen named, Gov. J. Hoge Tyler, Hon. John Lamb, and others), the audience rose with one accord and cheered him to the echo.

Commander E. Leslie Spence called the assemblage to order and Chaplain J. E. Cook, of the Camp of the Sons of Veterans, offered a beautiful prayer.

"In Silent Mead" was then sung by a quartette composed of Messrs. Frank W. Cunningham, Lohman, Cardozo and Triplett.

The portrait in oil, which was executed by Mr. William E. Trahern, a veteran, was highly complimented for its fidelity, by those who had known the gallant Pelham in life.

Commander Spence now gracefully extended the greeting of the camp, and in a few well-chosen words introduced Mr. Edwin P. Cox, who had been chosen on behalf of the Sons, to make the presentation address.

Commander, Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen:

The days when Pelham and Stuart rode together and won immortal fame and deathless victory have passed into another age. The men who "though vanquished yet conquered disgrace and preserved unharmed the shrine of the public honor," are the foremost figures in the brilliant achievements of these modern times. When the word was telegraphed from the trenches before Santiago, that to the terror of death from the bullets of the enemy, there had been added the dread of fever, stalking like some death-dealing phantom among the men, in effect so terrible because so silent, the great heart of the nation throbbed with fear. Alarm gave place to reassurance when