Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 38.djvu/359

Rh a presentation speech without offending General Johnston, and to my mind it was a supreme test of the good sense of the last named that he received it in the presence of several thousand private soldiers with all the kindly grace of manner that characterized every act of his noble life."

I was paroled by his side. Alone and almost broken-hearted, I turned from him, realizing that I was leaving behind me the grandest military character that I ever got close to.

After the close of the war, he was actively engaged in the industrial reconstruction of the South, especially with agricultural, commercial and railroad enterprises, residing at Savannah, Ga. Later he came to live in Richmond and was elected to Congress from the Richmond (Va.) district, and served one term.

After this he was appointed United States Railroad Commissioner in Cleveland's first administration, I think, and then retired to private life in Washington.

Soon after his death I was asked by Confederates living in Washington to write a tribute to his memory. At the expense of repeating myself, I incorporate it with this article:

A prince among men has fallen. General Joseph E. Johnston, ripe in years and full of honor, died at his residence, in Washington, D. C, March 21, 1891, in the eighty-fifth year of his age.

In his death the country loses a great, conspicuous and noble character; the South its highest type of chivalry and manhood. The peer of Lee. The central figure of a hundred glorious tableaux, looming like Saul "from his shoulders and upward, higher than any of the people." It is to us a labor of love to pay tribute to the memory of him who lived and died without fear and without reproach. We loved and honored the man, were influenced by his example and now mourn his death. His place is beyond the reach of adverse criticism; the judgment of history has made it secure; and his campaign in Georgia is a study for military men all over the civilized world.

Of the generals on either side it may be safely said that Johnston was excelled by none for energy, courage, skill, pugnacity and prudence. He could be Caesar or Fabius as circumstances demanded. The quickness with which he could strike was shown