|
|
Continued
Page 32
Here (showing it) is that autograph letter. If any of you would like to
see it, I have it here for that purpose. I have preserved it since I received it
fifty-three years ago from my brother.
Speaking of my brother being in charge of Fortress Monroe (which was
after the cruel treatment of Jefferson Davis at the hands of his predecessor),
in the book of Mrs. Davis on the life of her husband, and in the book of Dr.
Cravens, I believe it was, they speak of my brother's kindness to President
Davis while he was in charge at Fortress Monroe, and before he went to the Dry
Tortugas.
In February, 1868, the remains of Maj. Stone and wife were removed and
re-interred in Montgomery Cemetery, overlooking the Schuylkill River, at
Norristown, Penn., the home city of his father-in-law, Judge Mulvaney. Some ten
years ago my brother, Dr. Stone, and I caused a monument to be erected over our
brother's grave, with the following inscription thereon:
Valentine Hughes Stone, Major Fifth Artillery, U. S. Army. Born in Bath
County, Ky., December 22, 1839, and died aboard the steamer from Fort Jefferson
to Key West, Fla., Sept. 24, 1867. He was enrolled April 18, and mustered into
service April 22, 1861, in the 11th Indiana Infantry Volunteers, Gen. Lew
Wallance's Regiment of Zouaves, being the first Volunteer from Putnam County,
Ind., to respond to the call of President Lincoln. He was appointed First
Lieutenant, 5th U. S. Artillery, May 14,
Page 33
1861; was the heroic defender of Jones' Bridge across the Chickahominy in the
Seven Days' Battles about Richmond. In command of Battery No. 9 his artillery
was the first to enter Petersburg, Va., March 25, 1865. He was promoted to the
Captain and brevetted Major, same regiment, upon the personal request of General
U. S. Grant, for gallant and meritorious services on the battle field. He died
of yellow fever while in command of Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, Gulf of
Mexico.
This monument was erected and dedicated to his memory by his brothers,
Henry L. Stone, who served in the Confederate Army, and R. French Stone, who
served in the Union Army, during the Civil War.
THE COURSE OF EX-CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS SINCE THE CIVIL WAR.
The course of ex-Confederates since the war closed deserves, as a rule,
the highest commendation. As far as my observation extends, good soldiers in
time of war make good citizens in time of peace. The toils and hardships of army
life fit and prepare them for the battles of civil life. The success of
ex-Confederates as civilians has been commensurate with their success as
soldiers. Kentucky has selected from Morgan's men some of her highest
legislative, judicial and excutive officers. From our ranks this and other
States have been furnished mechanics, farmers, merchants, bankers, teachers,
physicians, lawyers, and ministers of the gospel. There was hardly a
neighborhood in Kentucky in which there
Page 34
did not reside after the war closed one or more ex-Confederate soldiers, while
many became useful and honored citizens of other States. Coming out of the army,
most of them ragged and poor, some of them crippled for life, with no Government
pension to depend upon, they went to work for a living, and their labors have
not gone unrewarded.
DRY-GOODS CLERK AFTER THE WAR.
I want to say for myself, I got back from the Civil War in the summer
of 1865. For four months, I clerked in a dry goods store at Ragland's Mills, on
Licking River, in the east end of Bath County. How much do you reckon my salary
was? I got my board and $12.50 a month! I am glad to say I receive, in my
present position, a little more than that now.
SPECIAL PARDON.
After the surrender in April, 1865, President Andrew Johnson issued a
proclamation, whereby the rights of citizenship were withheld from certain
classes who participated in waging war against the United States Government,
among whom were those who had left a loyal State and joined the Confederate
Army. It becomes necessary, therefore, for me to obtain a special pardon from
the President, which I did in the summer of 1865, through the aid of my uncle,
Henry S. Lane, then United States Senator from Indiana.
Page 35
THE PRESENT AND FUTURE.
Most of us have passed far beyond the meridian of life, but I trust
there is much usefulness in store for us yet. We should not content ourselves
with the victories and honors of the past. The present and future have demands
upon us. The welfare of our respective communities and States, as well as of our
common country, calls for our continued labors in their behalf.
I shall always remember a remark made by my friend, Jerry R. Morton, of
Lexington (one of Morgan's men, and, for many years after the war, Circuit Judge
of that district), who has passed on ahead of us, one day while we were in
Canada together. We were walking along the Detroit River, and as we took in the
broad landscape view that stretched out before us, and saw the United States
flag floating from a fort below the city on the other side, he stopped and,
pointing across the river, exclaimed: "I tell you, Stone, that's a great country
over yonder!" I acknowledged the correctness of his estimate of the American
republic. Standing on foreign soil, poor, self-exiled Rebels as we were, we did
not feel at liberty to call this our country then. But all of us have the right
to call it our country today. With peace and prosperity throughout the land and
all sections again united in fraternal feeling, we have, even in this
progressive age, beyond question the greatest country in the world.
Page 36
In the world war that has practically, if not entirely, closed, we know
what our country did for the cause of human liberty. The boys in khaki went
across the seas, - the descendants of those who wore the gray and those who wore
the blue, and they turned the tide of battle against the foe. That is conceded.
We are today looked up to by all the nations of Europe to bring about a Treaty
of Peace, and a League of Nations, that will prevent, as far as possible, wars
for the future. We have, in my opinion, dealing with the situation and laboring
with it in Paris, as great a President as this country has ever had; and if he
come back home, as I believe he will, with this League of Nations secured, and a
Treaty of Peace that shall do justice to all the belligerents, including our
recent foes, as well as the other nations of the world, he will go down in
history, in my opinion, as the greatest statesman of all times - Woodrow Wilson.
May God bless him! (Great applause.)
Return to Menu Page for 'Morgan's Men,' a Narrative of Personal Experiences by
Henry Lane Stone
Return to "First-Person Narratives of the American South, Beginnings to 1920"
Home Page
Return to Documenting the American South Home Page
© Copyright 1998 by the Academic Affairs Library, The University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, all rights reserved.
Feedback
URL: http://docsouth.unc.edu/stone/stone.html
Last update November 07, 2000
webmaster@civilwar.morganco.freeservers.com
Let Us Pray Our For Troops In Foreign Lands
The Civil War in Morgan County 2003
Free Southern Graphics at:
http://cybergifs.com/confederate/indexr1.html
Home