USA > Missouri > Official proceedings of the tenth annual reunion and Convention of Missouri Division, United Confederate Veterans > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13
You can well point with pride to Sidney Johnson, to the brave and fearless Stonewall Jackson, for this great struggle was contended under the leadership of the most brilliant and able men of modern times. But years have passed, the marks of war and sectionalism are no more. Noth- ing but the memory of that great contest, the heroism and bravery of a courageous and fearless soldiery. And in 1898, in our war with Spain, when the gray-haired veterans of the Union and Confederate armies, all dressed in royal blue, went forth marching beneath our flag, in the common defense of the honor, the integrity and glory of our country, and dealt a blow to Spain and her tyranny that resounded around the world, all nations recognized the Puritan strength in the character of the American people, the union of their sentiments and ideas of religious and civil liberty; their patriotic devotion to flag and their country, and that the union was indis- soluble and forever.
And today, as Confederate veterans of the greatest war in history, as brave, courageous and fearless soldiers and as the foremost, stalwart and patriotic citizens of today, who in the avenues of peace as in the bulwark and fearfulness of war you have speedily rebuilt and restored, where de- vastation and ruin had spread and exalted and raised a nation, whose great- ness is not in her armies and navies, not in her forts and arsenals, but in the exalted character of her people, as the champions of religious and civil liberty.
And in the name of the most enterprising, generous and hospital peo- ple in the world; in the name of this city, the metropolis of the Southwest Missouri; in the name of its mayor and all its officials; in the name of the sons of those veterans, I welcome you to our hospitality, and say to you, as you linger here only a short moment, that we wish to make it the most cordial and pleasant of all the periods of your rambles. We are, therefore, at your service; ask and you will receive.
General Gantt then introduced Mr. Willard K. Butts, who delivered the address of welcome to the Sons of Veterans on behalf of the Z. H. Lowdermilk Camp.
MR. BUTTS' ADDRESS.
Ladies, Commander, Comrades :
It has fallen to mne the pleasant duty of extending to you a cordial welcome. It comes full laden with love from the depths of the hearts of Z. H. Lowdermilk Camp.
They bade me say to you that they are honored by your presence in
31
United Confederate Veterans of Missouri.
our beautiful city; that they have anticipated your coming with feelings of the keenest delight, and have done all that loyal and loving hearts could do to make your visit a series of happy association and delightful pleasures, which we hope will be treasured in the tenderest depths of your memories for many years to come.
Over the length and breadth of our great republic, and especially throughout the domain of our grand old commonwealth, we believe the fame of our city and the mineral district as a wealth-producing locality has been heralded. We are justly proud of the position our city and coun- ty occupy in the galaxy of cities and counties of our State; but they do not desire to be admired for wealth alone, rather, to be loved for the generous hospitality of their homes, the manly dignity of their sons, and the sweet purity, unsurpassed beauty of their graceful daughters. These one and all join the comrades of our Camp in striving to show you that you are in the home of a people who love you for yourselves, and honor you for your illustrious sires.
We are more than delighted to have you in our homes, and thank you for bringing with you, to shed around us for a time their radiant beauty, the dearest, tenderest and lovliest maidens of the State.
Comrades, what a grand privilege we have in meeting at these reunions with the old heroes of the gray. Thank God that we are permitted to mingle with them and catch our inspiration from their lofty examples and stainless names. After a glorious struggle the Confederate government went down in failure, but those patriot soldiers did not fall. After a conflict of
MR. WILLARD L. BUTTS, JOPLIN.
four years, when soldiers stood eye to eye and hilt to hilt, a conflict in which every step was a battle and every battle was a graveyard. When on one point the stars and stripes waved in triumph and at another the stars and bars answered back the shout of victory, and when the feeble party, worn and weary, stood in the dark shadow of his native hills, where the tide ran blushing with the best blood of the south, what must be our ad- miration for the gallant Confederate hero? With the last arrow from his
32
United Confederate L'eterans of Missouri.
quiver spent, the last shot from his locket gone, grasping with one hand his broken battle blade, and with the other holds up his battered shield, with Manassas, Shiloh, Chickamauga and Chancellorsville imprinted upon it, we are to be told that, notwithstanding such courage and devotion simply for the want of success, he is a traitor and his cause is treason. No! Away with such philosophy. They taught the world a new lesson in honor and valor, and carved upon the pages of history such a brilliant array of deeds as will cause the blood to quicken in the veins of generations yet to come.
Is it strange that you and I should belove their fame and glory in their names? Is it strange that you and I proudly trace our lineage to such gal- lant soldiers of the south? We are proud of the heritage they left us, and we are glad that they have officially recognized and encouraged the organization of the United Sons of Confederate Veterans. We will ever strive to show them that we are worthy of their confidence, and able and willing to assume all the trusts with which they may honor us. We gladly assume the responsibility of perpetuating their proud record of heroism and privation, of patriotism and splendid citizenship as worthy sons to take up their work and continue it after the great gray army has answered the last bugle call beyond the river.
MISS BLANCHE KILGORE, Maid of Honor, Jasper County Camp, Carthage, Mo.
MISS ANZELETT LOW DERMILK, Chief Hostess Reunion.
And now, Comrades, Joplin, the queen of Southwest Missouri, like a bride adorned for her husband, in all the beauty of her love, holds ont her hands to you and bids you come into her homes. The grace of her woman- hood and the beauty of her maidenhood stands waiting to give you welcome, and stalwart manhood stands by their side to unite in that welcome. We trust that when you leave us you will take with you such memories that whenever in after years the names of Joplin and Jasper county fall upon your ears they will bring back only pleasant memories-memories of a hos- pitality that cannot be as broad as the heart from which it springs, nor as the love which it illustrates.
33
United Confederate Veterans of Missouri.
General James B. Gantt, Commander of the Missouri Division, then responded to the address of welcome as follows:
GENERAL GANTT'S ADDRESS.
Mr. Mayor, Mr. Compton, Members of the Commercial Club and Citi- zens of Joplin : In behalf of the Missouri Division of the Confederate Vet- erans, I thank you most heartily for your generous words of welcome to this truly wonderful city and county. It seems but a day to me since I first rode over this ground, and there was nothing to indicate that in a few short years a city of 40,000 inhabitants would spring into existence as by magic. But in the intervening years I have watched with admiration the thrift and enterprise of Joplin, Carthage, Webb City and Carterville as they developed and unfolded to the world the unparalled mines of zinc and lead which were hidden under the surface of Jasper county, and out of the wealth thus acquired builded these four splendid cities, Joplin, Webb City, Carthage and Carterville,
Nowhere on earth has the last quarter of a century witnessed a more marvelous development than has been furnished right here by the enter- prising people of this mineral district.
With indomitable courage and industry you have overcome all the difficul- ties of controlling the water and inaugurated great systems of milling the ores and have brought to your doors the great railroads to transport your output to the markets of the world.
Not only this, you have laid broad the foundation for a great metropolis for the future. Splendid office buildings, large and modern hotels and elegant business houses have arisen along your busy thoroughfares, but more than this, you have rightly considered that after all, without com- fortable homes and churches and schools, you could never never enjoy your wealth, and so you have erected all over your city magnificent temples to the honor and worship of God and have builded elegant and refined homes and school houses. To be the guest of such a city and such a people is indeed an honor and pleasure which we old Confederate veterans deeply appreciate. After looking about us we feel like the Queen of Sheba, the half has never been told of your wonderful development and progress.
For the pleasure of being with you and enjoying your splendid hospi- tality, we thank you again and again.
And now a word for these old Confederate comrades of mine who are your guests today. Among them are men who followed the leadership of that great captain and spotless gentleman, Robert E. Lee, and stormed the heights of Gettysburg and won imperishable renown at Richmond, Manas- ses, Antietam, Chancellorsville and the Wilderness, and held the lines at Petersburg until hunger and starvation alone loosened their grip.
Among them are men who left their homes here in Missouri without arms or ammunition and flocked to the standard of Sterling Price and fought the battles of Lexington, Carthage and Springfield and endured all the hardships and perils of that terrible struggle from 1861 to 1865. Among them are the men who followed Bowen, Green, Cockrell, Little and Mc- Culloch across the Mississippi, and by their splendid courage at Vicksburg, Corinth, Iuka, Baker's Creek, Port Hudson and in the retreat of Joseph E. Johnston from Chattanooga to Atlanta made the name of Missourians for- ever glorious, and finally, under Cockrell and Gates at Franklin and Nash- ville, wrote their names high up in the temple of fame.
Among them are men who rode with McCulloch and Forest and Joe Wheeler in the west and Stuart and Hampton in Virginia and Marmaduke and Shelby in the Trans-Mississippi. Among them are the surviving heroes of Parsons' splendid brigade, which on all occasions illustrated the prowess of Missouri. In them, in a word, you have as your guests today the remnants of an army which for high purpose, for indomitable courage, for glorious
UU V-3
34
United Confederate Veterans of Missouri.
achievements has had no superior, if an equal, in the annals of all time. Nothing you can do for them can be too good. But, sirs, in the persons of these battle-scarred veterans you not only entertain soldiers of world re- nown, but you have a citizenship which is as glorious in peace as it was brave and courageous in war.
Returning at the close of that great struggle, they found too often nothing but the charred ruins of their once comfortable homes. With nothing left but their honor, manhood and faith in God, they went to work to restore their firesides, till their fields and take up again their professions, under the most adverse conditions, but how they succeeded all the world knows today. They have wrought and builded until today the south once more blossoms as the rose. Beautiful cities have sprung up, great factories are manufacturing our cotton, lumber and tar. Railroads have been rebuilt until every hamlet in the south now hears the shrill whistle of the locomo- tive. Our seaports are crowded with the commerce of the nations, and in every state of the south great universities and colleges have been founded and restored, and upon every hillside and in every valley school houses at- test the determination of our people to educate their children to become worthy citizens of this great republic of ours.
MISS HELEN CHESNUT, Of St. Joseph, State Sponsor.
MISS JEWELL WEIDEMEYER, Of Clinton, State Maid of Honor.
But of Missouri especially, I call your attention to the character of the citizenship of these Confederate veterans. In every county, city and town they have won the respect of their communities by their honorable living, their positions in the business and professional world. In the political field they have proven their devotion to the best interests of the State. From their ranks we have sent to Washington, to represent the sovereignty of Missouri, Francis M. Cockrell and George Graham Vest, a representation that for a quarter of a century was the equal of that of any state in our great federation of states, and one which will ever be the high standard for future senators to emulate and accept as models.
In the person of John S. Marmaduke we furnished a Governor, whose integrity and firmness silenced even his political foes.
35
United Confederate Veterans of Missouri.
In the persons of Clark, Salmon, Mercer, Gates, Pitts, Lesueur, Allen and Coleman we furnished model Auditors, Treasurers, Secretaries of State and Superintendent of Public Schools.
On the Supreme bench, Judges Hough, Valliant and Brace have worn the ermine with dignity, and their decisions will ever remain precedents on account of their justice and learning in the law.
A people, Mr. Mayor and fellow citizens of Joplin and Jasper county, who can point to such a record as this are worthy of your entertainment, and they are the people who know how to appreciate your splendid hospi- tality.
It is a pleasing duty, in their name, to thank you for your cordial wel- come.
The regular order of business was taken up, and the General Com- manding named the committees as follows:
Committee on Credentials-Comrades W. P. Gibson, Henry A. New- man and C. C. Catron.
Committee on Resolutions-Comrades J. W. Halliburton, D. H. Shields and W. J. Haydon.
1770193
DISTINGUISHED GUEST OF HONOR.
The guest of honor, Lieutenant-General A. P. Stewart, now residing in St. Louis, the ranking surviving general of the Confederate army, being upon the platform, was introduced to the audience and was received with great enthusiasm.
He thanked the Division for their cordial greeting and then proceeded to give a history of the removal of General Joseph E. Johnston from the command of the army of Tennessee and the placing of General Hood in command. General Stewart commanded a corps in that army and was at the time fully informed of all General Johnston's plans of battle.
He briefly reviewed the history of Bragg's retirement from Kentucky and going to Richmond. He said he was in Tullahoma when General Bragg returned to the army. He went into his car to hear what he had to say about the situation. General Bragg said, "I do not intend to use the spade any more;" that meant that he intended to fight "in the open." General Stewart said that might have done very well if there had been anything like evenly matched armies in size; but as the enemy were 412 to our I, he will leave it to the judgment of any soldier here to say if it would not have been better to have fought the enemy, of superior force, from cover, and to make every foot of ground he took cost him as much blood and treasure as possible. He then reviewed Gen. Bragg's advance to Murfrees- boro, where Rosecrans came out from Nashville to meet him, telling him of the great battle ip which the Federal right was thrown back on Wednesday, and of the order to retreat on Saturday. If Joe Johnston had been there, he said, he would have found dozens of lines between Murfreesboro and Chattanooga which he would have entrenched and fought the enemy at every place. He regarded that campaign as one of the fatal mistakes of the war. When that campaign opened in May, 1864, Rosecrans was so superior in numbers that the only chance to successfully oppose him was to fall back, fighting all the time at every opportunity, and watch a chance to find him divided and then to strike. He contended that Johnston's cam- paign before Atlanta was one of the most skillfully conducted of the war.
He described the disposition of Johnston's army and Johnston's plans to prevent the capture of Atlanta by giving battle at Peachtree creek, and attacking the enemy, in detail. Everything was ready for action, when one day General Stewart went to General Johnston's headquarters and was shown a message from Adjutant-General Cooper from Richmond, which
36
United Confederate Veterans of Missouri.
directed General Johnston to turn over the command of the army to Gen- cral Hood, who had been advanced to the temporary rank of full general. He felt then, he said, that it was the death blow of the Confederacy. He urged General Johnston to pocket the orders until the fate of Atlanta was
Wis PsStewart,
Lient -Gen. Confederate States Army.
decided, knowing that the President did not understand all the circum- stances. This General Johnston refused to do, saying that he could not disobey the President.
General Stewart said he went to see General Hardee, and even General Hood himself, and endeavored to keep the army from knowing of the order. The three generals signed a telegram to Mr. Davis, appealing to him to sus- pend the order without success. Two days later the battle of Peachtree Creek was fought, the original plan projected by General Johnston being disregarded, and the results were disastrous. In this engagement General Stewart lost about 1,500 men.
Lieutenant-General Alexander P. Stewart was born October 2, 1821, in Rogersville, Hawkins county, East Tennessee. In the early thirties the family removed to Winchester, Franklin county, Middle Tennessee, from which place he went to the United States Military Academy at West Point,
37
United Confederate Veterans of Missouri
having received an appointment as cadet through Hion. Hopkins L. Turney. The class entered one hundred and thirty odd strong, and graduated in 1841, fifty-six in number. Among his classmates and graduating at the same time were Generals John Newton, W. S. Rosecrans, John Pope, G. W. Smith, Earl Van Dorn, James Longstreet, Lafayette McLaws, Richard H. Anderson and others.
On graduating he was assigned as a second Lieutenant in the Third Artillery Regiment, and served a year at Fort Macon, on the coast of North Carolina. In 1843 he was returned to the military academy as assistant instructor in the department of mathematics. On account of ill health, re- signed in 1845, returned to Tennessee, and until the outbreak of the Con- federate war served as professor of mathematics, natural philosophy and astronomy in the universities of Lebanon and Nashville, Tennessee.
In the early part of 1861 the legislature of Tennessee authorized the governor to organize a state army, and he was employed for a time in lo- cating camps, making contracts for supplies, etc. In organizing the state forces an artillery corps was formed, consisting of twenty batteries. He was appointed major of the corps, and when the people of Tennessee voted in favor of "separation and representation," was transferred, as was the whole army of the state, to the Confederate service. He held the same rank, major of artillery, and was at Columbus, Kentucky, in charge of all the heavy artillery. On November 7th, 1861, Major Stewart was stationed with the "Big Gun," the "Lady Polk," the fire from which turned the tide of battle and made victory possible for the Confederates. A few days after, on the recommendation of Albert Sidney Johnston, he was commissioned a briga- dier-general in the Confederate States army, and early in 1862 was ordered to Corinth, Mississippi, to command a brigade in Cheatham's division; marched to Shiloh, and was in the battle throughout both days. He was in the Kentucky campaign, on the retreat from Kentucky, and commanded a brigade in Cheatham's division in the battle of Murfreesboro. In 1863 he held Hoover's Gap in retreat to Chattanooga. He was sent to London to reinforce Buckner, and fell back with him to Chickamauga.
Early in 1863 General Stewart was promoted to major-general and placed in command of a division in Hardee's corps. He separated from General Buckner on the morning of the first day of (September 19) at Chickamauga, and received orders directly from General Bragg. On the first day at Chickamauga he broke the enemy's center. After the army re- treated to Missionary Ridge he returned to D. H. Hill's corps. He was in the disaster at Missionary Ridge, November 23, 1863.
In the campaign from Dalton to Atlanta, in 1864, General Leonidas Polk was killed at Pine Mountain. General Stewart was then promoted to Lieutenant-General, and commanded the army of the Mississippi, afterwards Stewart's corps, and was in the Atlanta campaign in 1864, and participated in the battles of Peachtree creek, July 20, 1864; in the battle of Mount Ezra Church, near Atlanta, in which he was wounded; in Hood's campaign in Tennessee -- at Franklin and Nashville-and finally was at Bentonville, North Carolina, at the surrender. Without going into details, it is sufficient to say that his promotion from Major of Artillery to the high rank of Lieutenant- General affords ample evidence of his great ability as a commander.
From 1874 to 1886 was Chancellor of the University of Mississippi at Oxford, and is now a member of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga Na- tional Park Commission, having been appointed at its formation in 1890.
General Stewart is a highly intelligent and cultured man, and every position which he has held has been filled with faithfulness and marked ability. He is very modest and unassuming, and in social life is charming and interesting.
Among the many noble sons of the South who took up arms in defense of her right and honor, Lieutenant-General Alexander P. Stewart stood in the front rank, and for devotion to the cause, efficiency and bravery on the fields of battle was unsurpassed. It is to be hoped that he may yet be spared
38
United Confederate Veterans of Missouri.
for years to come, that the young men of the South may look upon him and be inspired to embody in their lives the splendid traits of character which have governed and controlled his long life.
General Stewart is making his home with his son, the Honorable A. C. Stewart, a prominent lawyer, in the city of St. Louis.
Music.
Recess for lunch was taken till 2 o'clock p. m.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
The convention was called to order promptly at 2 p. m., at which hour the ladies of Joplin gave a reception to the sponsors and maids of honor at the Keystone hotel.
Comrade George M. Jones, treasurer of the Confederate cemetery at Springfield, made his report. It shows that the cemetery is in fine con- dition and well cared for, and that the endowment fund of $600 is well invested.
He reported that there was to the credit of the fund $657.84, and ex- pressed the hope that the Board might yet be able to establish a permanent endowment fund for the maintenance of the cemetery. The following is his statement :
CONFEDERATE STATE CEMETERY ASSOCIATION.
Geo. M. Jones, Treasurer, Dr. $651.19
Balance on hand last report
Amount received :
Camp dues-
Bledso Camp, No. 679 $5.60
M. M. Parsons Camp, No. 735. 8.00
Campbell Camp, No. 488. 6.00
Interest on deposit in bank 19.03
Other sources 1.92
40.55
Total
$691.74
Paid on vouchers
33.90
Balance on hand
$657.84
September 25th, 1906.
General Gantt expressed a desire at this juncture that the State organiza- tion take some action toward having the remains of General Bowen, now buried in Mississippi, removed to the Missouri Confederate cemetery.
Comrade J. W. Halliburton made a report, on request, of the work done by the Jasper County S. C. V., in having erected monuments at the points of former battles in this county. The local camp was voted the thanks of the State organization for its work.
A ladies' quartette, consisting of Mrs. C. V. Buckley, Mrs. Harry Miller, Mrs. John Mckinsey and Miss Olive Smith, of Delaware, Ohio, sang, "My Old Kentucky Home" and "Old Black Joe," amid the applause of the dele- gates. The songs were a treat to the old soldiers and the quartette was an excellent one. Miss Northrup of Kansas City made a great hit with the
39
United Confederate Veterans of Missouri.
delegates by singing "Dixie," and she was twice recalled to the stage for a repetition of the song.
The Committee on Credentials, through its Chairman, Comrade Henry A. Newman, submitted a partial report, after calling attention to the reso- lution adopted at the Kansas City Convention last October, stating that Camps failing to pay the per capita tax for maintenance of the cemetery at Springfield, and for the expenses of the State headquarters would not be entitled to representation upon the floor of the Annual Convention. The report was adopted and the matter further taken under consideration by the Committee for final report to the Convention tomorrow.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.