Legislature to enact any effective legislation, the contemporary rise of
the Abolitionists in the North came as an even more powerful factor to
embarrass the efforts of the Virginia emancipators. Unlike the
anti-slavery men of former years, this new school not only attacked the
institution of slavery, but the morality of the slaveholders and their
sympathizers. In their fierce arraignment, not only were the humane and
considerate linked in infamy with the cruel and intolerant, but the whole
population of the slave-holding States, their civilization and their
morals were the object of unrelenting and incessant assaults.
BEVERLY B. MUNFORD
August Third
Resolved, "That secession from the United States Government is the duty of
every Abolitionist, since no one can take office or deposit his vote under
the Constitution without violating his anti-slavery principles, and
rendering himself an abettor of the slave-holder in his sin."
From Resolutions of the American Anti-Slavery Society
August Forth
His last campaign alone, even ending as it did in defeat, would have
sufficed to fix him forever as a star of the first magnitude in the
constellation of great captains. Though he succumbed at last to the
"policy of attrition," pursued by his patient and able antagonist, it was
not until Grant had lost in the campaign over 124,000 men, better armed
and equipped--two men for every one that Lee had had in his army from the
beginning of the campaign.
THOMAS NELSON PAGE
_Lee elected President of Washington College, 1865_
August Fifth
By the recognized universal public law of all the earth, war dissolves all
political compacts. Our forefathers gave as one of their grounds for
asserting their independence that the King of Great Britain had "abdicated
government here by declaring us out of his protection and waging war upon
us." The people and the Government of the Northern States of the late
Union have acted in the same manner toward Missouri, and have dissolved,
by war, the connection heretofore existing between her and them.
GOV. C. F. JACKSON
_Governor Jackson declares Missouri out of the Union, 1861_
August Sixth
Very soon after, the Essex was seen approaching under full steam. Stevens,
as humane as he was true and brave, finding that he could not bring a
single gun to bear upon the coming foe, sent all his people over the bows
ashore, remaining alone to set fire to his vessel; this he did so
effectually that he had to jump from the stern into the river and save
himself by swimming; and with colors flying, the gallant _Arkansas_, whose
decks had never been pressed by the foot of an enemy, was blown into the
air.
CAPTAIN ISAAC N. BROWN
_The "Arkansas" destroyed, 1862_
_Judah P. Benjamin born, 1811_
August Seventh
Oh, de cabin at de quarter in de old plantation days,
Wid de garden patch behin' it an' de gode-vine by de do',
An' de do'-yard sot wid roses, whar de chillun runs and plays,
An' de streak o' sunshine, yaller lak, er-slantin' on de flo'!
But ole Mars' wuz killed at Shiloh, an' young Mars' at Wilderness;
Ole Mis' is in de graveyard, wid young Mis' by her side,
An' all er we-all's fambly is scattered eas' an' wes',
An' de gode-vine by de cabin do' an' de roses all has died!
MARY EVELYN MOORE DAVIS
August Eighth
Here Carolina comes, her brave cheeks warm
And wet with tears, to take in charge this dust,
And brings her daughters to receive in form
Virginia's sacred trust.
JAMES BARRON HOPE
_Monument erected to Anne Carter Lee, Warren County, N. C., said to be the
first monument erected by Southern women, 1866_
August Ninth
"All quiet along the Potomac," they say,
"Except now and then a stray picket
Is shot, as he walks on his beat, to and fro,
By a rifleman hid in the thicket.
'Tis nothing--a private or two, now and then,
Will not count in the news of the battle;
Not an officer lost--only one of the men,
Moaning out, all alone, the death-rattle."
_From "All Quiet Along the Potomac To-night"_
[This poem has been claimed by a Mississippian. It has also been
claimed on behalf of a New York writer; but it now seems probable that
the verses were originally written in camp by Thaddeus Oliver, of
Georgia, in August, 1861.--Editor]
_Francis Scott Key born, 1780_
August Tenth
To defend your birthright and mine, which is more precious than domestic
ease, or property, or life, I exchange, with proud satisfaction, a term of
six years in the Senate of the United States for the musket of a soldier.
JOHN C. BRECKINRIDGE
_General Lyon killed and his army defeated by General Ben. McCulloch at
Wilson Creek, Mo., 1861_
August Eleventh
Against the night, a champion bright,
The glow-worm, lifts a spear of light;
And, undismayed, the slenderest shade
Against the noonday bares a blade.
JOHN B. TABB
(_Heroes_)
August Twelfth
I will say that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about
in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races;
that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of
negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor inter-marry with white
people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical
difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever
forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political
equality. And, inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain
together, there must be the position of superior and inferior; and I, as
much as any other man, am in favor of having the superior position
assigned to the white race.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
_The Mississippi Constitutional Convention meets in Jackson, 1890,
principally for the purpose of restricting suffrage_
August Thirteenth
Virginia, mother of States and statesmen, as she used to be called, has
contributed many men of worth to the multitude that America can number.
All her sons have loved her well, while many have reflected great honor on
her. But of them all, none has known how to draw her portrait like that
one who years ago, under the mild voice and quiet exterior of State
Librarian and occasional contributor to the Periodical Press, hid the soul
of a man of letters and an artist.
THOMAS NELSON PAGE
_George W. Bagby born, 1828_
August Fourteenth
Look, out of line one tall corn-captain stands
Advanced beyond the foremost of his bands,
And waves his blades upon the very edge
And hottest thicket of the battling hedge.
Thou lustrous stalk, that ne'er may walk nor talk,
Still shalt thou type the poet-soul sublime
That leads the vanward of his timid time
And sings up cowards with commanding rhyme.
SIDNEY LANIER
(_Corn_)
August Fifteenth
In the hush of the valley of silence
I dream all the songs that I sing;
And the music floats down the dim Valley
Till each finds a word for a wing,
That to hearts, like the Dove of the Deluge,
A message of Peace they may bring.
ABRAM J. RYAN
_Abram J. Ryan born, 1839_
August Sixteenth
Freighted with fruits, aflush with flowers,--
Oblations to offended powers,--
What fairy-like flotillas gleam
At night on Brahma's sacred stream.
* * * * *
Around each consecrated bark
That sailed into the outer dark
What lambent light those lanterns gave!
What opalescent mazes played
Reduplicated on the wave,
While, to and fro, like censers swayed,
They made it luminous to glass
Their fleeting splendors ere they pass!
THEOPHILUS HUNTER HILL
(_A Ganges Dream_)
_Battle of Camden, S. C., 1780_
August Seventeenth
My judgments were never appealed from, and if they had been, they would
have stuck like wax, as I gave my decisions on the principles of common
justice and honesty between man and man, and relied not on law learning;
for I have never read a page in a law book in my life.
DAVID CROCKETT
_David Crockett born, 1786_
August Eighteenth
Like a mist of the sea at morn it comes,
Gliding among the fisher-homes--
The vision of a woman fair;
And every eye beholds her there
Above the topmost dune,
With fluttering robe and streaming hair,
Seaward gazing in dumb despair,
Like one who begs of the waves a boon.
BENJAMIN SLEDD
(_The Wraith of Roanoke_)
_Virginia Dare, the first child born in America of English parentage,
1587_
August Nineteenth
... Hast thou perchance repented, Saracen Sun?
Wilt warm the world with peace and love-desire?
Or wilt thou, ere this very day be done,
Blaze Saladin still, with unforgiving fire?
SIDNEY LANIER
(_A Sunrise Song_)
August Twentieth
"Well," says Uncle Remus, "de 'oman make 'umble 'pology ter de boy, but
howsomever he can't keep from rubbin' hisse'f in de naberhood er de coat
tails, whar she spank 'im. I bin livin' 'round here a mighty long time,
but I ain't never see no polergy what wuz poultice er plaster nuff to
swage er swellin' or kore a bruise. Now you jes keep dat in min' en git
sorry fo' you hurt anybody."
JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS
August Twenty-First
The radicals and negroes had, in the summer of 1867, refused to
"co-operate" with the representative white citizens in restoring political
and social order. The election of delegates to the constitutional
convention was held in October, 1867. About 94,000 negroes voted. The
radical majority included five foreign born, twenty-five negroes,
twenty-eight Northerners, and fourteen Virginians. Never before in the
history of the State had negroes sat in a law-making body. The former
political leaders were absent. The State had been revolutionized.
JOHN PRESTON MCCONNELL
(_Reconstruction in Virginia_)
August Twenty-Second
The moon has climbed her starry dome,
That taper gleams no more:
Delicious visions wait me home,
Delicious dreams of yore.
Old waves of thought voluptuous swell,
And rainbows spread amid the spell
Arcades of love and light.
Oh! what were slumber's drowsy kiss,
To golden visions such as this,
Through all the wakeful night?
JOSEPH SALYARDS
(_Idothea; Idyll III_)
August Twenty-Third
EVOLUTION
Out of the dark a shadow,
Then, a spark;
Out of the cloud a silence,
Then, a lark;
Out of the heart a rapture,
Then, a pain;
Out of the dead, cold ashes,
Life again.
JOHN B. TABB
August Twenty-Fourth
I have led the young men of the South in battle; I have seen many of them
fall under my standard. I shall devote my life now to training young men
to do their duty in life.
ROBERT E. LEE
_General Lee accepts the Presidency of Washington College, 1865_
August Twenty-Fifth
BALM
After the sun, the shade,
Beatitude of shadow,
Dim aisles for memory made,--
And Thought;
After the sun, the shade.
After the heat, the dew,
The tender touch of twilight;
The unfolding of the few
Calm Stars;
After the heat, the dew.
VIRGINIA WOODWARD CLOUD
August Twenty-Sixth
I have come to you from the West, where we have always seen the backs of
our enemies--from an army whose business it has been to seek the
adversary, and beat him when found, whose policy has been attack and not
defense. I presume that I have been called here to pursue the same
system.... It is my purpose to do so, and that speedily.... Meanwhile, I
desire you to dismiss from your minds certain phrases, which I am sorry to
find much in vogue amongst you. I hear constantly of taking strong
positions and holding them--of lines of retreat and of bases of supplies.
Let us discard such ideas.... Let us study the probable line of our
opponents, and leave our own to take care of themselves.
GEN. JOHN POPE, U. S. A.
(_Before Campaign in Virginia_)
August Twenty-Seventh
Although a youth of only twenty-six years, he achieved, by his consummate
tact and extraordinary abilities, what the powerful influence of Franklin
failed to effect.
ELKANAH WATSON
(New York)
I knew him well, and he had not a fault that I could discover, unless it
were an intrepidity bordering on rashness.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
_John Laurens dies, 1782_
August Twenty-Eighth
STONEWALL JACKSON'S MEN HELP THEMSELVES TO POPE'S SUPPLIES, 1862
Weak and haggard from their diet of green corn and apples, one can well
imagine with what surprise their eyes opened upon the contents of the
sutler's stores, containing an amount and variety of property such as they
had never conceived. Then came a storming charge of men rushing in a
tumultuous mob over each other's heads, under each other's feet, anywhere,
everywhere to satisfy a craving stronger than a yearning for fame. There
were no laggards in that charge.... Men ragged and famished clutched
tenaciously at whatever came in their way, and whether of clothing or
food, of luxury or necessity. A long yellow-haired, bare-footed son of the
South claimed as prizes a tooth-brush, a box of candles, a barrel of
coffee. From piles of new clothing the Southerners arrayed themselves in
the blue uniforms of the Federals. The naked were clad, the barefooted
were shod, and the sick provided with luxuries to which they had long been
strangers.
GEORGE H. GORDON, U. S. A.
August Twenty-Ninth
Doctor McGuire, fresh from the ghastly spectacle of the silent
battle-field said: "General, this day has been won by nothing but stark
and stern fighting."
"No," replied Jackson very quietly, "it has been won by nothing but the
blessing and protection of Providence."
LIEUT.-COL. G. F. R. HENDERSON, C.B.
August Thirtieth
In the rapidity with which the opportunity was seized, in the combination
of the three arms, and in the vigor of the blow, Manassas is in no way
inferior to Austerlitz or Salamanca. That the result was less decisive was
due to the greater difficulties of the battle-field, to the stubborn
resistance of the enemy, to the obstacles in the way of rapid and
connected movement, and to the inexperience of the troops.
LIEUT.-COL. G. F. R. HENDERSON, C.B.
_Second Battle of Manassas, 1862_
August Thirty-First
My deep wound burns, my pale lips quake in death,
I feel my fainting heart resign its strife,
And reaching now the limit of my life.
Lord, to thy will I yield my parting breath,
Yet many a dream hath charmed my youthful eye;
And must life's visions all depart?
Oh, surely no! for all that fired my heart
To rapture here shall live with me on high;
And that fair form that won my earliest vow,
That my young spirit prized all else above,
And now adored as Freedom, now as Love,
Stands in seraphic guise before me now;
And as my failing senses fade away
It beckons me on high, to realms of endless day.
[Sonnet composed by John Laurens as he lay dying of wounds and fever
incurred in a campaign against the British in South Carolina.--Editor]
September
AUTUMN SONG
My Life is but a leaf upon the tree--
A growth upon the stem that feedeth all.
A touch of frost--and suddenly I fall,
To follow where my sister-blossoms be.
The selfsame sun, the shadow, and the rain
That brought the budding verdure to the bough,
Shall strip the fading foliage as now,
And leave the limb in nakedness again.
My life is but a leaf upon the tree;
The winds of birth and death upon it blow;
But whence it came and whither it shall go,
Is mystery of mysteries to me.
JOHN B. TABB
September First
Around me blight, where all before was bloom!
And so much lost! alas! and nothing won;
Save this--that I can lean on wreck and tomb,
And weep--and weeping pray--Thy will be done.
ABRAM J. RYAN
(_The Prayer of the South_)
_General Hood evacuates Atlanta, 1864_
September Second
Sixty thousand of us witnessed the destruction of Atlanta, while our post
band and that of the Thirty-third Massachusetts played martial airs and
operatic selections.
CAPT. DANIEL OAKEY, U. S. A.
_Sherman enters Atlanta, 1864_
September Third
On this point, however, all parties in the South were agreed, and the vast
majority of the people of the North--before the war. The Abolitionist
proper was considered not so much a friend of the negro as the enemy of
society. As the war went on, and the Abolitionist saw the "glory of the
Lord" revealed in a way he had never hoped for, he saw at the same time,
or rather ought to have seen, that the order he had lived to destroy could
not have been a system of hellish wrong and fiendish cruelty; else the
prophetic vision of the liberators would have been fulfilled, and the
horrors of San Domingo would have polluted this fair land. For the negro
race does not deserve undivided praise for its conduct during the war. Let
some small part of the credit be given to the masters, not all to the
finer qualities of their "brothers in black." The school in which the
training was given is closed, and who wishes to open it? Its methods were
old-fashioned and were sadly behind the times, but the old schoolmasters
turned out scholars who, in certain branches of moral philosophy, were not
inferior to the graduates of the new university.
BASIL L. GILDERSLEEVE
(_On Slavery_)
September Fourth
TOAST OF MORGAN'S MEN
Unclaimed by the land that bore us,
Lost in the land we find,
The brave have gone before us,
Cowards are left behind!
Then stand to your glasses, steady,
Here's health to those we prize,
Here's a toast to the dead already,
And here's to the next who dies.
_General John H. Morgan killed, 1864_
September Fifth
If slavery were an unutterably evil institution, with no alleviating
features, how are we to account for the fact that when the Confederate
soldiers were at the front fighting, as they thought, for their
independence, the negroes on the plantations took care of the women and
children and old people, and nothing like an act of violence was ever
known among them?... Is it not perfectly evident that there was a great
rebellion, but that the rebels were the Northerners and that those who
defended the Constitution as it was were the Southerners; but they
defended State rights and slavery, which were distinctly intrenched within
the Constitution?
CHARLES E. STOWE
(_A Northern view in the light of fifty years of history_)
September Sixth
In regard to Barbara Frietchie a word may be said: An old woman by that
now immortal name did live in Frederick in those days, but she was 84
years of age and bed-ridden. She never saw General Jackson, and he never
saw her. I was with him every minute of the time he was in Frederick, and
nothing like the scene so graphically described by the poet ever happened.
HENRY KYD DOUGLAS
_Jackson enters Frederick, Md., 1862_
September Seventh
OF JAMES RUMSEY, INVENTOR OF THE FIRST STEAMBOAT
I have seen the model of Mr. Rumsey's boat, constructed to work against
the stream, examined the powers upon which it acts, been the eye witness
to an actual experiment in running water of some rapidity, and give it as
my opinion (although I had little faith before) that he has discovered the
art of working boats by mechanism and small manual assistance against
rapid currents; that the discovery is of vast importance; may be of the
greatest usefulness in our inland navigation, and if it succeeds (of which
I have no doubt) that the value of it is greatly enhanced by the
simplicity of the works; which, when seen and explained, may be executed
by the most common mechanic.
Given under my hand at the Town of Bath, County of Berkeley, in the State
of Virginia, this 7th day of September, 1784.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
_Sidney Lanier dies, 1881_
September Eighth
Ere Time's horizon-line was set,
Somewhere in space our spirits met,
Then o'er the starry parapet
Came wandering here.
And now, that thou art gone again
Beyond the verge, I haste amain
(Lost echo of a loftier strain)
To greet thee there.
JOHN B. TABB
(_Ave: Sidney Lanier_)
_Battle of Eutaw Springs, S. C., 1781_
September Ninth
Their conduct indeed was exemplary. They had been warned that pillage and
depredations would be severely dealt with, and all requisitions, even
fence-rails, were paid for on the spot.
LIEUT.-COL. G. F. R. HENDERSON, C.B.
_Lee and Jackson in occupation of Frederick, Md., 1862_
September Tenth
My life is like the autumn leaf
That trembles in the moon's pale ray;
Its hold is frail, its date is brief,
Restless, and soon to pass away!
Yet ere that leaf shall fall and fade,
The parent tree will mourn its shade,
The winds bewail the leafless tree;
But none shall breathe a sigh for me!
RICHARD HENRY WILDE
_Richard Henry Wilde dies, 1847_
_Joseph Wheeler born, 1836_
September Eleventh
Long and close association with the white race had its civilizing effect
upon the negroes, and it was not long before the two races became warmly
attached, both alike manifesting a keen interest in the other's welfare.
Thus as economic interests had fixed the system in the laws of the people,
the domestication of the race fixed it in their hearts. The abolitionist
was right in his position on the ethics of slavery, but more than
benighted in his conception of its condition in the South.
DUNBAR ROWLAND
September Twelfth
In conclusion, the Battle of North Point saved Baltimore from a
pre-determined fate; it encouraged the rest of the country; it, with
Plattsburg, caused the English Ministry to suggest that the Duke of
Wellington should take command in America, and it influenced the terms of
the treaty of Ghent in favor of the United States.
FREDERICK M. COLSTON
_Battle of North Point, Md., 1814_
September Thirteenth
LEE'S ORDER OF INVASION, 1862
That he did not reap the full fruits of this wonderful generalship was due
to one of those strange events which, so insignificant in itself, yet is
fateful to decide the issues of nations....
It will be seen that Lee had no doubt whatever of the success of his
undertaking. Both he and Jackson knew Harper's Ferry and the surrounding
country, and his plan, so simple and yet so complete, was laid out with a
precision as absolute as if formed on the ground instead of on the march
in a new country. It was this order showing the dispersion of his army
over twenty-odd miles of country, with a river flowing between its widely
scattered parts, that by a strange fate fell in McClellan's hands.
THOMAS NELSON PAGE
September Fourteenth
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream;
'Tis the star-spangled banner; O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
No more sacred spot in New Orleans, a city famous for its historic
memories, can be pointed out than Liberty Place, where these martyrs fell;
and no more memorable day can be found in the calendar of Louisiana's
history than Sept. 14, 1874.
HENRY EDWARD CHAMBERS
(_Referring to the rout of General Longstreet and the Carpet-bagger
police by citizens, eleven of whom were killed_)
_Francis Scott Key writes the "Star Spangled Banner," 1814_
_Battle of Boonsboro, 1862_
_Rule of the Carpet-bagger shaken, New Orleans, 1874_
September Fifteenth
General Jackson, after a brief dispatch to General Lee announcing the
capitulation, rode up to Bolivar and down into Harper's Ferry. The
curiosity of the Union Army to see him was so great that the soldiers
lined the sides of the road. Many of them uncovered as he passed, and he
invariably returned the salute. One man had an echo of response all about
him when he said aloud: "Boys, he's not much for looks, but if we'd had
him we wouldn't have been caught in this trap."
HENRY KYD DOUGLAS
_Capture of Harper's Ferry by Jackson, 1862_
September Sixteenth
Mr. Lincoln, sir, have you any late news from Mr. Harper's Ferry? I heard
that Stone W. Jackson kept the parole for a few days, and that about
fourteen thousand crossed over in twenty-four hours. He is a smart
ferryman, sure. Do your folks know how to make it pay? It is a bad
crossing, but I suppose it is a heap safer than Ball's Bluff or
Shepherdstown.
BILL ARP (Charles H. Smith)
(_Humorous "Letter to Lincoln"_)
September Seventeenth
The moon, rising above the mountains, revealed the long lines of men and
guns, stretching far across hill and valley, waiting for the dawn to shoot
each other down, and between the armies their dead lay in such numbers as
civilised war has seldom seen. So fearful had been the carnage, and
comprised within such narrow limits, that a Federal patrol, it is related,
passing into the corn-field, where the fighting had been fiercest,
believed that they had surprised a whole Confederate brigade. There, in
the shadow of the woods, lay the skirmishers, their muskets beside them;
and there, in regular ranks, lay the line of battle, sleeping, as it
seemed, the profound sleep of utter exhaustion. But the first man that was
touched was cold and lifeless, and the next, and the next; it was the
bivouac of the dead.
LIEUT.-COL. G. F. R. HENDERSON, C.B.