THE IMMORTAL SIX HUNDRED
or bitterness against those men responsible for our bad treatment. I have no bitterness against the men who wore the blue. The story is part of the unwritten history of the Confederate States; it is the story of the men who could surrender life, but not principle to save their lives. These men were the men who made the fame of the Confederate soldier, and gave the world an example of courage equal to that of Sparta or Rome.
There shall be no exaggeration of facts. God knows the facts are ghastly enough without adding to them. I do not blame all men who wore the blue for our bad treatment. While prisoners of war we came in contact with some brave, honorable men, who appreciated our helpless condition; and they often showed us their humanity while in their custody. The bomb-proof fellows who were cruel to prisoners can have no part in the meetings of the brave men of to-day who come together clasping hands over the bloody past—forgetting its bitterness.
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