/'ost-Bellum Mortality Among Confederates. 275
document are dead except C. G. Memminger, W. Porcher Miles and William W. Boyce, of South Carolina, Augustus R. Wright, of Georgia, David P. Lewis and Jabez L. M. Curry, of Alabama, W. P. Harris, Alexander M. Clayton and J. A. P. Campbell, of Mississippi, Alexander de Clouet, of Louisiana, and Thomas N. Waul and John H. Reagan, of Texas.
And who can furnish even a partial roster of the field, company, and non-commissioned officers, privates, subordinates in various departments, and servants of the Confederacy, who have died since the final surrender? Surely none, save the Recording Angel, is competent for such a task. Wounds, bruises, poverty, desolation, exposure, want and disappointments, have exerted a potent influence in shortening the lives of many who escaped death upon the march, on the field of battle, or in prison camp and hospital. In the natural order of affairs the multitude of those who have thus gone to their graves must be great. Sad as the fact is, we may rest assured that with the close of this century there will remain comparatively few competent, from personal experience, to narrate any of the incidents connected with the Confederate struggle for independence.
This being so, the obligation is laid upon all who can to perpetuate in enduring form the true philosophy of events, the genuine circum- stance of the action, the inspirations, the exalted aspirations, the patriotic impulses, the heroic endeavors, the illustrious achievements, and the grand memories which impart to the defensive war, main- tained by Confederates, an importance, an interest, a dignity, an ele- vation, and a sanctity beyond compare in the history of kindred revolutions.
Unfortunately, the historian too often busies himself so largely with laudations of the victor that justice is lamely meted out to the aims and the exploits of the vanquished. There is, however, apart from recorded history a general sentiment, an honest appreciation of fact, a faithful narrative of event, a true interpretation of purpose, which may be transmitted from sire to son, and which will prove very potent in forming the judgment, moulding the thought, and shaping the appreciation of the rising generation. Let us see to it, my com- rades, that we are not misinterpreted by our sons. Our children should be thoroughly taught the noble lessons inculcated by the lives and acts of those who died for country and for right. A proper conception and a due observance of the principles and conduct of those who, in the past, illustrated the integrity, the virtues, and the valor of the old South, will best ensure the manliness, the honor and
