A remarkable service occurred in the Pittville National Cemetery, Philadelphia, at the dedication of the monument erected by the United States to the prison dead buried there. The ceremony was conducted by the Philadelphia Chapter, Daughters of the Confederacy, in which the Confederate veterans and army and navy veterans of Schofield Camp of Philadelphia took part.
An excellent program was arranged by Mrs. W. K. Beard, President of the Philadelphia Chapter, and Mrs. Oscar Meyer. The main speaker of the occasion was John Shepard Beard, formerly of Pensacola, Fla., and now of Staunton, Va. He was introduced by E. Waring Wilson. Hon. James H. Berry, of Bentonville, Ark., now residing in Washington, D.C., commissioner for marking the graves of Confederates and under whose direction the monument was erected, was present and participated in the service.
Rev. J. Thompson Cole made the opening prayer, and a poem written by Selwyn Garbett, of England, especially for the occasion was read by Mrs. Arthur Allen, after which Mme. T. Rita Wilbourne sang a solo. The unveiling by Milton and Donald Beard, sons of Mrs. W. K. Beard, President of the Philadelphia Chapter, Daughters of the Confederacy, followed the address of Mr. John S. Beard, who is a brother-in-law of Mrs. W. K. Beard. As the bunting fell away the band struck up "Dixie."
After the singing of "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground," thirty members of the General Schofield Camp, in command of Capt. John B. Fletcher, fired a salute over the unmarked graves, and the ceremonies were concluded by sounding taps.
The monument, which is of light granite, is very impressive. Surrounded by tall weeping willows and giant oaks, the memorial is located in the western part of the cemetery in which lie the bodies of the Confederate soldiers who died in Philadelphia and in the prison at Chester. A sword and scabbard crossed have been chiseled in front near the top, and bronze tablets bearing the names of the 184 dead are on the sides. The following inscription is on the front of the shaft:
"ERECTED BY THE UNITED STATES To Mark the Burial Place of 184 Confederate Soldiers and Sailors, as shown by the Records, who, while Prisoners of War, died either at Chester, Pa., or were there buried, or at Philadelphia, and were buried in Glenwood Cemetery, and whose Remains were subsequently removed to this Cemetery, where the Individual Graves cannot now be identified."
The Philadelphia Times states that in his oration Mr. Beard spoke with the feeling of a true Southerner, and his statements thrilled the veterans, who listened attentively to him.
Speech of John S. Beard
It is fitting and appropriate that the first monument ever erected by the Federal government to Confederate dead should be in a Federal cemetery under the very shadow of old Independence Hall, the birthplace of thirteen sovereign States, and also under the shadow of the building where the Constitution of the United States, for the principles of which those dead gave their lives, was framed. Is not this action of the Federal government pregnant with the hope that the time has at last come when an American citizen can contemplate the achievements of his fellow-countrymen, from whatever section of the Union they may hail, with the same pride as the Englishmen who, pointing to the names of England's heroes emblazoned on the walls of Westminster Abbey who fought in days gone by for different and ofttimes antagonistic convictions, but who fought nobly and well whichever side they espoused, tells us of victor and vanquished alike -- that they are the men who in the past history of his country illustrated the heroism, the nobility, and the highest virtues of the Anglo-Saxon race?
The superb courage of the Southern soldiers upon the field of battle and the consummate skill of the Southern Commanders are recognized and admitted by all. Even Colonel (Teddy) Roosevelt in his "Life of Thomas H. Benton" has said that General Lee was the greatest military commander that the English-speaking people has ever produced, and that the Army of Northern Virginia was the greatest fighting machine the world has ever seen.
But the South is to be judged not alone by the courage and efficiency of her armies and the skill of her commanders, but by the righteousness of the cause for which they fought and suffered. The question of paramount magnitude is the justice of that cause; not that there should be a doubt in any candid, well-informed mind, but from the fact that such persistent efforts have been made to fasten upon the South the stigma and to impress posterity with the conviction that the Southern States were in rebellion and the Southern patriots were traitors, and an unjust and partial world is too ready to stamp upon the back of the defeated soldier "Rebel" and "Traitor," however just his cause, and to emblazon upon the shield of the victorious warrior "Hero" and "Patriot," however unjust his cause. Therefore we of this generation are under a high and sacred obligation to the preceding generation to rescue their names and fame from the aspersion of treason and rebellion.
The Southern States were justified in their action in 1861 upon both principle and authority. They had both precept and precedent, and yet the Southern people of '61-65 have been stigmatized as rebels. If it be rebellion in man to pour out the best blood that flows in his veins upon the battle's bloody plain in freedom's holy sacred cause; if it be rebellion in an American citizen to defend those constitutional rights which are his dearest birthright and greatest inheritance from those great founders of this great republic, then we accept the appellation and feel a pride in saying that we were members of that rebellious body or are the descendants of those rebels.
Still, secession should not have been resorted to for light and trivial causes, but each State was the sole judge. There is no common arbiter. In the words of the Kentucky resolution, of which Jefferson was the author, "each party has the right to judge for itself as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of redress." Each State enumerated her grievances; each State insisted that the Northern States had violated their constitutional obligation to promote "domestic tranquillity." The Southern States insisted that no alternative remained except to seek the security out of the Union which they had vainly tried to obtain within it.
Mr. Davis in his speech on retiring from the United States Senate voiced the sentiment of every Southern State when he said: "A State finding herself in the condition which Mississippi has judged that she is in, in which her safety requires that she should provide for the maintenance of her rights out of the Union, surrenders all the benefits (and they are known to be many), deprives herself of the advantages (and they are known to be great), severs all the ties of affection (and they are close) which have bound her to the Union, and thus divesting herself of every benefit, taking upon herself every burden, she claims to be exempt from any power to execute the laws of the United States within her limits."
D. L. F. Adam, Co. A, 55th N.C.; Samuel Altman, Co. A, 50th Ga.; George Arker, Co. A, 55th N.C.; Lieut. William T, Ayre, Co. F, 8th Va.;
David Bailey, Co. E, 37th N.C.; H. S. Baker, Co. E, 37th N.C.; E.G. Ballard, Fry's Va. Bat.; James H. Ballard, Co E, 28th N.C.; Nathan Barker, Co. M. 22nd NC.; Harlan Baughman, Co. E, 1st Mo. Cav.; J. E. Beggerly, Co. I, 18th N.C.; Corp. S. Bennett, Co. I, 11th Miss.; First Sergt. J. P. Bernard, Co. G, 1st Battalion (Stirman's) Ark. Cav.; W. S. Berry, Co. G, 7th S.C.; Charles M. Blackwelder, Co. A, 52d N.C.; Logan Bolch, Co. C, 28th N.C.; Henry Bolden, Co. C 60th Tenn.; P. Booth, Co. E, 62d Va.; George W. Bowman, Co. F, 60th Tenn.; Corp. George W. Brandon, Co. C, 13th N C.; Corp. Robert Briscoe, Co. F, 11th N.C.; Corp. S. Burnett Co. I, 26th Miss.; James J. Burns, Co. G, 42d Miss.; Scrgt. John Burton, Co. F, 60th Tenn.; M. P. Busby, Co. G, 13th Ala.;
James M. Campbell, Co. A, 61st Tenn.; Joseph A. Campbell, Co. K, 7th N.C.; Malcolm M. Campbell, Co. D, 47th Ala,. Thomas H. Carraway, 3d Mo. Bat.; Benjamin G. Carter, Co. K, 13th N.C.; Roland Chappel, Co. E, 52d N.C.; J. C. Childs, Co. C, 14th Va.; W. J. Christian, Co. B, 5th Va.; D. P. Clark, Co. A, 22d N.C.; Samuel Claybrook, Co. H, 22d N.C.; William Cornell, Mordy's Mad. La. Lt. Art.; J. Coone, Co. H, 8th Ala.; A. B. Cornutt, Co. E, 39th Ga.; J. C. Cosner, Co. C, 55th N.C.; D. Cox, Co. G, 4th N. C.;
L. R. Dashill, Co. I, 56th Va.; S. Daybrook, Co. H, 22d N.C.; John E. Dean, Co. A, 26th Miss.; David Defnall, Co. G, 10th Ga.; William Delany, Co. F, 7th Va.; J. W. Dodson, Co. F, 7th Tenn.; Car.; R.L. Donald, Co. E, 27th N.C.; Barney Driver, Co. D, 47th N.C.; D. F. Driver, Co. H, Ist Ga. Cav.; W. S. Duke, Co. C, 56th Ga.;
James D. Edwards, Co. C, 57th Va.; James R. Eure, Co. C, 52d N. C.;
Lieut. Andrew W. Farrow, Co. F, 8th Ga.; John H. Fiedley, Co. K, 28th Va.; John Fitzgerald, Co. K, 7th Tex.; Robert Fitzhenry, Engineer Steamer Planter; Wyatt Forbes, Co, K, 55th N.C.; J. W. Fowler, Co. B, 43d N.C.; Jesse G. Funderbark, Co. B, 12th La.;
John R. Gates, Co. E, 1st Tenn.; William Gauley, Co. F, 59th Ga.; Lemon Gay, Co. I, 55th N.C.; J. H. Godfrey, Co. H, 1st Tenn.; M. L. Goode, Co. G, 16th N.C.; J. W. Goodsum, C. A, 11th N.C.; Lieut. James C. Greer, Co. D, 26th N..C.; A.S. Greer, Co. F, 11th Miss.; W. L. Gruver, Co. A, 7th Tex.;
J. W. Hagins, Co. B, 33d N.C.; Second Lieut. W. E. Hardwick, Co. F, 10th Ala.; T. N. Harris, Co. H, 18th N.C.; Sergt George N. Hart, Co. H, 62d Tenn.; Solomon Harton, Co. K, 28th N.C.; Daniel Hefner, Co. F, 13th N.C.; Sergt. William Hicks, Co. B, 14th Tenn.; P. A. Hitt, Co. G, 7th Va; Ouincy A. Holland, Co. F, 20th N.C.; J. T. Howell, Co. B, 28th N.C.; J. F. Hunter, Co. C, 27th N.C.
Abner Ingram, Co. G, 55th N. C.
L H. Jackson, Co. A, 38th Va.; Zachariah Jackson, Co. E, 60th Tenn.; Andrew J. Jacobs, Co. A, 3d Mo.; Thomas Jarman, Co. A, 35th N.C.; Herschel V. J. Jenkins, Co. B, 26th Ga.; Leroy Jordan, Co. F, 3d Ga.
Nathan Kearny, Co. F, 1st Mo. Cav.; Robert Kirby, Co. K, 35th Tenm
William R. Lacy, Co. C, 8th Ky.; Michel Langlois, Pointe Coupee, La. Art.; H. W. Lanniere, Co. A, 38th N.C.; William Lawson, Co. B, 60th Tenn.; B. B. Lee, Co. D, 47th N.C.; Second Lieut. William LeTillier, Co. E, 19th Va.; Joseph C. Love, Co. E, 9th Ark.; W. B. Lutz, Co. A, 22d N. C.
James McCook, Co. B, 26th N.C.; L. J. McCoy, Co. C, 1st Miss.; J. L. B. McGinnis, Co. H, 28th N.C.; Andrew J. McKenzie, Co. B, 51st Ala.; W. O. McNabb, Co. I, 60th Tenn.; O. Mayeux, Co. E, 2d La.; I. Merriman, Co. G, 19th Ark; Sergt. J. E. Milam, Co. G, 53d Va.; J. R. Miller, Co. F, 23d N.C.; First Lieut. James B. Miller, Co. A, 28th Va.; Corp. John J. Moody, Co. B, 13th N. W. Ark.; J. Moore, Co. D, 1st C. S. Inf.; Second Lieut. Edmond Moose, Co. D, 28th N.C.; James Morris, Co. G, 5th Va.; Thomas Myers, Co..D, 1st Md. Cav.
G.R.. Neil, Co. D, 37th N.C.; George L Netherton, Co. I, 60th Tenn.; G. N. Null, Co. I, 26th Ga.; Caltor Nunn, Co. K, 13th N. C.
James O'Neil, Co. H, 21St N.C.; Jeremiah Overstreet, Co. C, 28th Va.
Calihan Parker, Co. I, 3d Ark.; James N. Parson, Co. E, -- M; W. W. Pope, Co. C, 51st Ala.; W. H. Porter, Co. G, 6th N.C.; R. H. Powell, Co. H, 59th N.C.; William H. Price, Co. G, 25th N.C.; Corp. William P. Pullen, Co. A, 12th La.
Fred G. Raines, Co. G, 51st Ga.; First Lieut. George G. Ralston, Co. A, 2d Miss.; P. G. Ramfort, Co. G, 56th N.C.; G. N. Ratcliff, Co. B, 30th N.C.; William Ratcliffe, Co. D, 34th Battalion Va. Cav.; Elijah Ray, Co. A, Palmetto, S.C., S.S.; Jesse Reeves, Co. F, 46th Ala.; Philip Reynolds, Co. E, 59tli Tenn.; William Rice, Co. A, 52d N.C.; Joseph Riddlemoser, Co. D, 2d Md. Battalion; Anderson Ridenhour, Co. F, 13th N.C.; J. W. Ridenhour, Co. F, 13th N.C.; Corp. W. P. Roberts, Co. I, 42d Miss.
John W. Sage, Co. D, 50th Va.; Corman Sawyer, unknown; S.W. Seegle, Co. F, 55th N.C.; Allen Shields, Co. E, 26th N.C.; William N. Shoaf, Co. H, 33d N.C.;. William D. Short, Co. E, 56th Va.; William M. Siler, Co. G, 26th N.C.; Alex Sims, Co. H, 28th Va.; R.J. Slawter, Co. F, 44th Va.; Doctor Smith, Co. D, 28th N.C.; E. B. Sneed, Co. F, 27th Ala.; J.J. Snipes, Co. G, 11th N.C.; Ansley Stevens, Co. G, 1st (Colm's) Tenn. Battalion; John Stine, Co. B, 14th La.; William Stokes, Co. D, 5th Ala.
Charles Taylor, Co. B, 2d Miss. Cav.; Lieut. T. J. Thom, Co. D, 16th N.C.; Sergt G. L. Thompson, Co. H. 37th N.C.; Samuel Thompson, Co. C, 19th Ark.; W. P. Thompson, Co. D, 13th Battalion N. C. Art.; James Thurmond, Co. G, 61st Tenn.; G. W. Thurston, Co. F, 5th N. C; J. J. Tomlinson, Co. B, 50th Tenn.; G. R. Trigg, Co. G, 41st Tenn.; David Turner, Co. F, 55th N. C
Unknown, four.
Elias Vehorn, Co. F, 13th S.C.
William D. Waddell, Co. H, 1st Va.; T. M. Wade, Co. D, 28th Va.; David Waiters, Co. A, 60th Tenn.; James F. Walters, Co. I, 3d Ga.; Spius Ward, Co. I, 26th Tenn.; Jesse Watson, Co. B, 53d N.C.; William E. Watson, Co. A, 18th Va.; Ferdinand H. Webb, Co. D, 28th Va.; Lieut. William H. Webb, Co. K, 55th N.C.; J. W. Wills, Co. D, 9th Ark.; G. W Wilson, Co. E, 53d N.C.; First Lieut. W. H. Winchester, Co. I, 13th N.C.;. Leonard Winters, Co. K, 50th Ga.; Oscar Wooten, Co. E, 55th N.C.; Capt. James C. Wyant, .Co. H, 56th Va.; J. Wyche, Co. G, 47th N. C.
W. P. Yeargan, Co. E, 22d Ga.
