Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 38.djvu/233

Rh I could mention many other notable exploits of the "War Child of the Confederacy" and his men, but these, will be sufficient to show that they contributed their full share to the record for valor achieved by Southern horsemen.

But the most beautiful tribute I have seen paid to our cavalry is contained in an article by Colonel Young, in "Campfires of the Confederacy," in which he again gives instances of the prowess of Stuart, Forrest and Morgan, but makes no mention of Wheeler or his men. The article concludes with the following eloquent peroration:

"There came a time even when hope failed; when armies were shattered and scattered; when Lee had surrendered and Johnston had capitulated; when the illustrious Army of Northern Virginia was paroled, and its bronzed veterans turned their tear-stained faces toward their desolate homes and took up anew the burdens of life; when the Army of Tennessee, where the rate of mortality reached the highest point, and whose unconquerable courage never failed in defeat; when all the mighty legions east of the Mississippi, which for four years had withstood the mightiest of conflicts, had stacked their arms and accepted war's stern decree; when the President of our nation went forth from its seat of government, and, in sadness and gloom yet undismayed, sought refuge south of Virginia, there were still some who clung to his fortunes and defended his person in that period of completest gloom and anguish. Even here a pitying Providence provided the retreating chieftain with protectors whose hearts still bled for the first and only Confederate President, and with him went some who, even in his reverses and humiliation, were ready to offer their lives to guard him and his Cabinet from the pursuing foe.

"When the darkness of death was hovering around and over the Southern cause, when the last council of war had been called, when all was lost, there were those, even in such an hour as this, who made declaration of their constancy and devotion to that cause to which they already had sacrificed their fortunes and