Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 38.djvu/377

Rh From Springfield. Mo., H. Clay Neville writes to the Memphis Appeal:

On the 10th of next August, the fortieth anniversary of the Battle of Wilson's Creek, a monument will be unveiled at the Confederate Cemetery, four miles south of Springfield. This will be one of the most important events commemorative of the Southern cause that has ever occurred west of the Mississippi River, and all of the ex-Confederate associations in Missouri are now working together with much zeal to make the occasion comport with the sacred memories which the monument is designed to perpetuate.

The States of Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas have a common interest in the Confederate Cemetery at Springfield, as each has sons sleeping there who fell in the first great battle fought in the West. The four States named will have a formal representation at the unveiling of the monument, and never again, perhaps, will so many Confederate veterans meet in any reunion west of the Mississippi. All of the States and Territories of the West and Southwest will be invited to participate in the dedication of this memorial shaft. The Missouri State Camp of ex-Confederate Veterans will meet here the day before the anniversary of the battle and conduct the exercises of the unveiling. It is the aim of the various ex-Confederate associations that have the arrangements of the affair in hand to bring every survivor of the Battle of Wilson Creek who is able to travel to Springfield to witness the dedication of the monument. General John B. Gordon and Senator Daniel, of