USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > The story of Camp Chase; a history of the prison and its cemetery, together with other cemeteries where Confederate prisoners are buried, etc > 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 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
Song. "Rest, Comrade, Rest," by Confederate Glee Club. Colonel Young was then introduced, and spoke as follows:
Friends and fellow-countrymen, we have come from the South- land to spend this day with our dead; and narrow must be the heart which would limit our love, our praise, our honor for these, our comrades, who sleep so far away from their homes in unmarked and unknown graves.
More than a third of a century has elapsed since the last grave was opened for the sepulcher of a Confederate soldier at Camp Chase; and during this period, with one exception, none have come from the homes of these dead to lay a flower on the sod that covers their ashes, to offer prayer for those who were bereft. or to speak generous words of those who, isolate and separate, found their last resting place here.
LOUISVILLE (KY.) GLEE CLUB IN CENTER.
CAMP CHASE, 1898.
-
C
5
:
CAMP CHASE SERVICES, 1898. THE BENEDICTION BY REV. JOHN HEWITT.
28
THE STORY OF CAMP CHASE.
We Confederates at this hour would be unworthy of our man- hood if we did not recognize with grateful tribute the kindness and nobleness of those who, though opposed to us in conflict. unite with us in this day in these simple and beautiful ceremonies which bespeak in wonderful eloquence the victories of peace.
It hath been said that peace hath her victories no less re- nowned than those of war; and this victory of human kindness, human sympathy, and human generosity, which has been manifest- ed on this day and at this hour by the people of Columbus, sur- passes in grandeur and glory the victories of the war.
The passions and prejudices of the great struggle in which on one side a nation's integrity and the freedom of more than three millions of people were involved, and on the other side the defense of homes and firesides and a nation's life, are all blotted out and remembered no more; and you come as citizens of a great nation, forgetting the past and looking only to the future, and in this magnanimous and splendid way to show true chivalry and true humanity.
There is no heart in all the Southland to-day that does , not go out in affection, in admiration, and in thankfulness to you. people of Columbus, who have thus again remembered our Con- federate dead: and I repeat: Of all the messages that were ever sent from one people or section to another, this which you this day send to those who have died here-that you are keeping watch over these sepulchers and keeping green these graves-is the sweetest and most grateful.
In this narrow inclosure sleep heroes. There are no cowards here. They were men who were worthy not only of the country. but of the age in which they lived, and with unselfish patience. unfaltering fortitude, and magnificent courage laid their all upon what they believed to be the altar of right.
The world looks with wonder and admiration upon the soldiers, both North and South, who made Gettysburg famous as one of the most momentous of the world's battles. No man who has the heart of a soldier or the impulse of a freeman could fail to feel admiration for those Confederates who on that July day charged up the heights of Gettysburg, and who, amid shot and shell. never faltered in the discharge of duty. There were heroes meeting heroes on the crest of that hill, and the men who gave the shock and the men who received the shock command alike reverence and plaudits. Some of those who fought there rest here. There are men sleeping death's sleep in this inclosure who made splendid the glories of Cold Harbor, and who, like some grand and mighty fortress, withstood the shock of the legions of Grant as again and again they rushed against its ramparts, only to be laid low by the terrible storm of shot and shell that came from those in gray who manned the Confederate works.
There are men, too, sleeping here who in the mighty rush of
29
THE INTEREST GROWING-1898.
Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston's army at Shiloh swept before them the Federal hosts, and who in return on the morrow were com- pelled to retire before the onslaught of Grant and Buell.
There are some buried here who charged the works at Franklin, and whose chivalry and bravery, as again and again, even amid the darkness of the night. assailed the Federal breastworks, only to fall in the trenches or on the crest, elicited applause from their enemies who were waiting to stay them.
These were not unworthy of honor; they are part and parcel of that superb host which in the Civil War created American manhood-a manhood which commands the world's highest ad- miration, and which stamps this people as the most patriotic, most enlightened, and most powerful nation the world has ever seen.
It was the lessons at Chickamauga, at Chancellorsvile, at Cold Harbor, at Gettysburg, at Franklin, at Resaca, at Shiloh which contributed to make American manhood and patriotism what it is, and which give power and stability to our country and its people and quiet those disturbing fears which sometimes arise in the hearts of people when they would doubt the perpetuity of Amer- ican institutions.
The people of Ohio, in honoring these dead as Americans, only add luster to their own renown and to their splendid history; for as you magnify and glorify Confederate courage and chivalry, you only make more resplendent the courage and chivalry of those armies who overcame the magnificent hosts who once rallied be- neath the Confederate ensign.
In the name of all that is good and kind and true, and with hearts full of the profoundest gratitude, we come to thank you for this offering to our fallen friends and comrades; and we shall carry back with us sweet assurance of your splendid generosity and your superb humanity.
The lessons of this hour are teaching us the splendor and the grandeur of republican institutions. You do not love the flag of this country because it won in the great contests which were waged in 1812 and 1813 for the redemption of Ohio and the States in the Northwest, or because of its superb triumphs on the plain of Buena Vista, or in the battles in which your own people were engaged in the great Civil War. It is not the victories that the armies which followed this flag have achieved, but it is what this flag represents that makes it the object of love and admiration of all the people of the world, and that makes all this American nation ready to lay down their lives and sacrifice their fortunes in defense of its honor and glory. That flag represents the best principles of government and noblest teachings of liberty.
If, by some divine power. I could bring to life the dead who lie beneath this sod, they would spring forth into a patriotism as true as any the nation has ever seen.
30
THE STORY OF CAMP CHASE.
The sons and grandsons of the men who sleep here are to-day part and parcel of the defenders of the glory of the American people. General Lee, General Wheeler, and General Butler, Con- federates though they be, can be trusted to lead your sons to battle and to maintain on any field the illustrious courage and heroic manhood of the American nation.
There is something peculiarly touching in the conditions which surround these Confederate dead at Camp Chase. They died far away from their homes, amid the privations, the sufferings, of prison life.
War always has its barbarous features. Within the walls of Camp Chase I lay by night and heard the groans and sobs of my comrades without power to help. I saw their pale, emaciated forms carried forth to sepulture in this cemetery. I saw them die without that care, tenderness, and watchfulness to which I thought, as men, they were entitled; but this was only the war's results, and war is always organized barbarism.
Your sons and brothers and friends have had the same experi- ence in Southern prisons. We are not now here to argue as to who was right or wrong ; we are here simply to say that we mourn our dead, that we love their memories, that we venerate their . courage, their heroism. They died for what they believed was right ; they made the costliest sacrifice or offering man can make- they laid down their lives to testify their devotion and sincerity for the cause for which they fought; and the man who thus dies 1 honestly and courageously never dies in vain.
Our friends who went down to death here have no monuments. It were better so. The green grass grows above them. All who knew them will in a few years be dead. It is enough to know that their dust rests here, where they died for the cause to which they consecrated themselves.
It was a custom among the Greeks to bring back the bones of their dead from their battlefield and inter them in a common sepulcher in their capital cities; but in one great battle (that of Marathon) the Grecian soldiers were buried where they fell. Their fidelity had been such that it was deemed fitting to sepul- cher them where they died. And so, if we could, we would not disturb this dust that sleeps here.
The Great Teacher said that one who should give a cup of cold water in his name should have an everlasting reward. You, friends and fellow-countrymen, have done far more than give a cup of cold water in your splendid and magnanimous generosity to these Confederate soldiers who rest in your midst.
You have spoken kindly of their courage; you have spoken generously of their gallantry ; you have spoken justly of their sac- rifices; you have scattered flowers over their resting places; you have remembered them after long years have passed since they were placed in these humble and unmarked tombs; and I tell
1
31
THE INTEREST GROWING-1898.
you that, in the eyes of God and of the angels who stand around his throne. such kindness, such sweet remembrances, shall not be forgotten, but somewhere in God's book there is a place to record this superb and splendid work.
I thank God we do not offend you when we come into your midst and, looking up to heaven, ask him to bless our dead and those they represent; and we should be ungrateful if we did not ask our God to bless you and to reward you for this kindness which you have shown to tl:ose we love.
In a little while those of us who participated in that greatest of all wars will have passed away. We imagine we can commune with the spirits of our dead as we stand here about their graves to-day. We are not ashamed of them nor of the cause for which they died. We loved them, and we love their dust. We shall join them in a little while.
We shall not come long to pay this tribute to those we love.
"They hear a voice we cannot hear, Which says we must not stay ; They see a hand we cannot see, Which beckons us away."
We will follow them in a little while; but while we do live we come in reverence and tenderness to bless this spot, which con- tains for us "war's richest spoils, the ashes of the brave."
And again, in the name of our people, in the name of all these generous, manly, magnanimous acts, we thank you for your kind- ness to our departed comrades. To them there is no longer clash of arms; the conflict is over. The living speak for them, and we speak gratefully for these renewed evidences of your nobleness.
Death sheds a solemn halo over these mounds. Peace and good will only abide here.
"The foeman need not dread This gathering of the brave, Without sword or flag and with soundless tread. We muster once more our deathless dead Out of each lonely grave.
The foeman need not frown, These all are powerless now. They gathered them here and laid them down ; Love, tears, and praise are the only crown We bring to wreathe them now."
Colonel Young's address was followed by another song by the Glee Club, entitled "Blessed Be the Ground." Remarks were made by local members of the G. A. R .; and the school children,
32
THE STORY OF CAMP CHASE.
under Miss Maud E. Fleming, of Avondale School, rendered in - a most beautiful manner the song "Cover Them Over."
Capt. John H. Leathers, President of the Confederate Associa- tion of Kentucky, was introduced, and said :
CAPT. JOHN H. LEATHERS.
Fellow-citizens, ladies and gentlemen, and comrades (I think I can use the word "comrades" on this occasion), I rejoice to see this day. I rejoice that the day has at last come when we can in truth and sincerity say no East. no West, no North, no South, but one country and one flag, and that flag the flag of a fully restored and glorious Union.
For years the burden of my song has been the words of the
33
THE INTEREST GROWING-1898.
immortal Webster: "Liberty and Union, now and ever, one and inseparable."
Whatever difference of opinion there might have been in the minds of many of us concerning the necessity for our present war with Spain, one thing is certain : it has demonstrated to the world that sectionalism is dead in this country, and that we are now one people, with one common name and one common destiny.
The war between the North and South was a most remarkable 'war, as well as the greatest war recorded in history, of either ancient or modern times. It was remarkable in that it was not a war between two different countries or people speaking different languages, waged for conquest, but was among people of the same country, who spoke the same language, and who were bound together by the strongest ties of blood and kindred. Both fol- lcwed their convictions of what they believed to be right. Both fought with a valor unparalleled in the annals of warfare, and the bones of both lie mingled on every battlefield, from Bull Run to Appomattox, as the bones of their common ancestry lie mingled on every battlefield of the American Revolution, from Lexington to Yorktown.
It was a remarkable war in that when the war ceased the van- quished immediately accepted the results of the war and renewed their allegiance to the Union, while the victorious extended the right hand of peace and good fellowship, and they both imme- diately commenced repairing the waste places made desolate by war.
Passion and prejudice have long since gone with the flight of years, and each of us is now doing what we can to unify and develop this great country. The name and fame of the heroes of the war on both sides are now the common heritage of our children and children's children.
As one who for four years wore the gray, I stand here to-day on this happy occasion to avow my love and my allegiance to the flag of my country. "Long may it wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!"
The Glee Club sang "Tread Lightly, Ye Comrades," and Miss Annie Williams recited that glorious poem, "Blue and Gray." The Glee Club sang "Tell the Boys I'm Coming Soon," and Thomas D. Osborne, Secretary of the Kentucky Confederate Association, spoke as follows :
To-day I feel like an Ohio man-the man from Columbus who went South during the war, and who, meeting with a warm reception, was so pleased that when peace came he moved down South to make it his home.
Ohio men go everywhere and get everything. This man chose to live in Arkansas. He had often heard the Rebel yell, and could 3
34
THE STORY OF CAMP CHASE.
imitate it admirably; so much so that it was his boast that he could shout longer and louder than any man in Arkansas.
One day, when the White River was higher than ever known, a steamboat came there and tied up under a bluff near the Ohio man's town. He didn't know the boat was there. The captain came to town and heard the boaster brag that he could shout longer and louder than any man in Arkansas.
After a talk, a bet of ten dollars was made. The captain, being allowed to select the time and place of contest, had chosen a dis- tant stump and had instructed his mate to watch his hand-when he lifted it to his mouth, to pull the steam whistle and let it go till his hand fell. The captain's turn came first, and when his hand went to his mouth there came a shouting noise that almost split the leaves of the trees. After the deafening sound had got well under way, the Ohio man raised his hand to his vest pocket, took out his money, walked to the steamboat captain, and said: "Hold on. I could yell louder than that, but here's your money ; I don't want to strain myself."
So to-day, like the Ohio man, I could make a longer and louder speech, but I don't want to strain myself.
Recently, when Ex-Confederate General Joseph Wheeler, through the magnificent kindness of that great Ohio man, Pres- ident McKinley, put on the blue uniform of the United States of America, he was asked how he felt. He replied: "I feel like I have been off on a furlough and am now back in the ranks again."
Back in the ranks again-that's it. That's where we all are under one flag-the most famous flag ever floated by any govern- ment.
We always had a claim on Old Glory. At the beginning of the war many in the South wanted to fight under it. Our forefathers had followed it when it floated on the breeze of battle.
My grandfather. Lieut. Bennett Osborn, marched with Wash- ington under it. My father's brother went through the Mexican War with it. My son followed it three years in the Louisville Legion.
Like General Wheeler, we can all gladly say: "Back in the ranks." On this happiest occasion. when through your mag- nificent kindness our heroes sleep in flower-garmented graves, we tender you unspeakable thanks.
Ex-Governor Taylor, of Tennessee, spoke briefly but eloquent- ly, and was listened to with deep attention by all present. Capt. Gilbert H. Barger, of Columbus, made an interesting address, alluding to the unity of sentiment between the sections in all things pertaining to the honor and glory of our common country.
-
35
1770244
THE INTEREST GROWING-1898.
Chaplain Winget, a member of the G. A. R., offered prayer, and a gun squad from the McCoy G. A. R. Drill Corps fired a military salute over the graves, and the flowers were strewn by the loving hands of Union and Confederate veterans.
Before closing the exercises the Chairman, in making some acknowledgments he thought proper, stated that during the last three years Mr. T. J. Davies had helped with his horse and wagon and many days of labor, free of charge; Mr. Charles A. Roth, a Columbus (Ohio) florist, had been of great assistance, without cost. Thanks were extended to W. H. Grub for use of organ, to G. A. R. comrades of the McCoy Post Drill Corps for their presence and participation, to the Fourth Ward Columbus (Ohio) Republican Club for the use of their chairs, and to the dear little girls of Avondale School for the music of their sweet voices; also to many that had helped on decoration days and to others that had stood ready to assist.
Continuing, the Chairman said that until 1898 no contributions had been accepted from any person in Ohio, but that Comrade R. M. Rownd had expressed his sympathy and tendered financial aid, being told that under no circumstances could any money be accepted.
Afterwards, however, payment for planting shade trees and shrubbery was accepted from Mr. W. D. Brickell, Comrade Thomas E. Knauss (G. A. R.), Comrade Rownd (G. A. R.), and Confederate Comrades J. Y. Bassell and Rev. John Hewitt, all of Columbus, Ohio. Other contributions were received from Dr. Thomas P. Shields, J. B. Darling, and J. W. Carroll. No money had been asked for at any time from any person in the city of Columbus or State of Ohio.
An itemized report was rendered to Gen. George Moorman and the Confederate Veteran of all donations received.
So ended the service for 1898.
The conveyances running from the terminal of the street car line carried free of charge all who wished to go to the cemetery. Four to five thousand people were present to participate, standing throughout the exercises in the shade of the trees, made cool by the gentle June breeze, which seemed to whisper, "Peace on earth, good will toward men."
Many of the choicest Southern flowers were received for the
36
THE STORY OF CAMP CHASE.
occasion, and their fragrance that evening seemed to linger with almost human sympathy over the graves of the Southern dead.
The feeling in the South regarding the care of the graves of the Confederate dead in the North cannot be better expressed than to quote extracts from some of the letters received by me.
CAMP CHASE SERVICES, 1898. AN EMBLEM FROM THE SOUTH.
DEAR SIR: I notice in The Veteran the interest you have taken in caring for the Confederate dead at Camp Chase. I was in Camp Chase prison from August, 1864, to March, 1865; therefore it is my privilege to acknowledge the obligations that all, espe- cially those who were prisoners of war at that place, are under to you and your associates in the work.
You will pardon me if I say that it is humiliating to acknowl- edge the fact that it remained for a Federal soldier thirty years
THE INTEREST GROWING-1898. 37
after to have the manhood to step to the front and do what the Confederates should have done long ago.
But this manhood is not born of sections; no arbitrary lines,
CANFEDE
SOLDI
IFWAR TRSI -
ED INT:
WCLOSURE
DERORATION DAY, CAMP CHASE, 1898. EMBLEM ON THE LEFT PRESENTED BY EX-SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' ASSOCIATION, FRANKLIN COUNTY, OHIO.
no uniform, no cause, no line of battle, no flag mark the higher type of man.
Much of the bitterness of life in Camp Chase will be blotted out by works such as this. I hope you will receive such assistance
-
38
THE STORY OF CAMP CHASE.
as will enable you to permanently mark the resting place of the bodies of those who, summoned to the other great army mustered under "The Bonnie White Flag," peacefully wait the comrades yet in ranks.
By the way, "The Bonnie White Flag" was written by Colonel Hawkins, of our mess in Camp Chase.
That was a typical mess-colonels, captains, border men, and way-down-South fellows. Organized to escape, we worked day and night under many disappointments ; but all the same that old mess went to work again, determined to get away. But only through the gates and by parole did we turn our backs on the horrors of Camp Chase, and thirty-two years after the first bright spot in that dark memory appears. May it spread until all the nightmare of the past is forgotten in the brightness and rest of the present !
A letter from Mrs. J. S. Raine, Secretary of Atlanta Chapter, Daughters of the Confederacy, is reproduced to show the spirit of the time, and the kindly help we received at the hands of that chivalric gentleman and friend, S. A. Cunningham, of Nashville :
Col. W. H. Knauss.
DEAR SIR: At a recent meeting of Atlanta Chapter we had the pleasure of an address from Mr. S. A. Cunningham, proprietor of The Confederate Veteran, in which he spoke of his complimentary and most delightful reception tendered by a number of citizens of Columbus, Ohio, at your suggestion. He spoke very feelingly of your noble and successful efforts that proper care should be taken of the graves of our unforgotten dead buried at Camp Chase Cemetery.
I have before me a picture of the ceremony of decoration which occurred in 1897. I trust it may be my pleasure to see the sacred inclosure. The Atlanta Chapter of Daughters of the Confederacy desire to express their sincere thanks and appreciation for your generous and loving attentions to our dead. On this occasion of your decoration we will be happy to assist with our floral offer- ings.
A letter from William H. Herbert, of Sandusky, Ohio, 1898. gives an insight to matters relating to decoration services in that city, and it shows that another Ohio city is not forgetful of courtesies to dead foes. The letter states that the cemetery in which are buried the Confederates who died in prison is in a good state of preservation and has been well taken care of since about eight years ago, when an association of Georgia editors was in the vicinity and made a pilgrimage to Johnson's Island and ceme-
39
THE INTEREST GROWING-1898.
tery. At that time the graves were marked with wooden head- pieces, giving the name, regiment, etc. Some of the boards were very much decayed and the names scarcely legible; so the editors, when they returned home, made a request through their papers for contributions to replace the boards with marble, also to build a fence around the cemetery. The result was that they collected enough in a short time to do the work nicely.
In Sandusky, Ohio, it has been the custom for eighteen years to send a delegation from the G. A. R. Post on the morning of decoration day to the Confederate cemetery at Johnson's Island and hold a short service. They are always joined by a large number of men, women, and children.
Mr. Herbert was a prisoner at Camp Chase (Prison 2, Mess 12) in the fall of 1862, and left there the latter part of November, 1862, in company with some 200 Confederate prisoners, who were taken by rail to Cairo, Ill., and thence by boat to Vicksburg, Miss., thence to Jackson, Miss., where they were exchanged and furnished transportation to the Army of Northern Virginia.
A letter from a Mr. McClellan, of Athens, Ala., glowing in patriotic sentiment and beautiful Christian charity, will be treas- ured by the one who received it until blotted out by the final call :
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.