Oar Dead at Elmira. 193
were other speakers on the occasion referred to, and among them were Gustavus A. Henry, the "Eagle Orator" of Tennessee, then a member of the Senate, and the silver-tongued Judah P. Benjamin, of Louisiana, then Secretary of State. The circumstances under which the meeting was held and the fervid eloquence of the speakers made a profound impression, and those present with' one heart and one voice resolved that there was no alternative left but to fight on to the bitter end. The end came within two months, when General Lee and the remnant of his gallant army having fought to the point of complete exhaustion, furled their banners and laid down their arms at Appomattox.
JOHN GOODE.
[From the Nashville American, October, 1901.]
OUR DEAD AT ELMIRA.
Old Days at the Famous Northern Prison.
INTERESTING LETTER FROM AN INMATE.
Marcus B. Toney Gives His Impressions of a Recent Visit and Inci- dentally Mentions Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse.
The Elmira (N. Y.) Advertiser, in a recent issue, contains an in- teresting article in the way of a reminiscence of prison life from the pen of Marcus B. Toney, the well-known railroad man and ex-Con- federate soldier of this city. Mr. Toney reached the prison at Elmira, August 2, 1864, and left there July 8, 1865. The recollections of the old days were recalled by a recent visit to Elmira. Mr. Toney's article follows:
"When I left my home, in Nashville, Tenn., for a visit East I promised my people I would stop at Elmira and report the condition of the graves of our Confederate dead buried there, so I arrived in your city August roth, after an absence of thirty-six years. While waiting for a car I met a young man, R. H. Ker, of your city, who kindly consented to go with me to the cemetery, and introduced me to the keeper, Charles Abbott, who showed me a large chart hang- ing in his hall, which contained all the graves and the number of
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