October Twenty-Third BEARING THE NEWS FROM YORKTOWN All the night of the 22d he rode up the peninsula, not a sound disturbing the silence of the darkness except the beat of his horse's hoofs. Every three or four hours he would ride up to a lonely homestead, still and quiet and dark in the first slumbers of the night, and thunder on the door with his sword: "Cornwallis is taken: a fresh horse for the Congress!" Like an electric shock the house would flash with an instant light and echo with the pattering feet of women, and before a dozen greetings could be exchanged, and but a word given of the fate of the loved ones at York, Tilghman would vanish in the gloom, leaving a trail of glory and joy behind him. BRADLEY T. JOHNSON Col. Tench Tilghman's ride, 1781 October Twenty-Fourth IMMORTALITY Battles nor songs can from Oblivion save, But Fame upon a white deed loves to build; From out that cup of water Sidney gave, Not one drop has been spilled. LIZETTE WOODWORTH REESE October Twenty-Fiftb Supposing a disintegration of the Union, notwithstanding all efforts to prevent it, to be forced upon us by the obstinacy and impracticability of parties on each side the case would still be far from hopeless. The Border States, in that event, would form, in self-defence, a Confederacy of their own, which would serve as a centre of reinforcement for the reconstruction of the Union. JOHN P. KENNEDY (In "The Border States their Power and Duty in the Present Disordered Condition of the Country”) John P. Kennedy born, 1795 October Twenty-Sixth Give us back the ties of Yorktown! Let us stand together, brothers, Is the safety of the States! JAMES BARRON HOPE (Centennial Ode) October Twenty-Seventh The attempt made to establish a separate and independent confederation has failed, but the consciousness of having done your duty faithfully and to the end will in some measure repay for the hardships you have undergone. In bidding you farewell, rest assured that you carry with you my best wishes for your future welfare and happiness. . . . . I now cheerfully and gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness to the officers and men of my command, whose zeal, fidelity, and unflinching bravery have been the great source of my past success in arms. I have never on the field of battle sent you where I felt myself unwilling to pursue. You have been good soldiers, you can be good citizens. Obey the laws, preserve your honor, and the government to which you have surrendered can afford to be and will be magnanimous. N. B. FORREST (Farewell Address to His Soldiers) October Twenty-Eightb Whether in the thickest of the battle, where hundreds or thousands were rushing at each other in deadly combat, or on the lonely highway where he came face to face with a single adversary, or in the reconnoissance by day or night, when alone or attended by a single member of his staff he would ride into the enemy's lines and even into their camps, he was with pistol or sabre ever ready to assert his physical prowess. It is known that he placed hors de combat thirty Federal officers or soldiers fighting hand-to-hand. JOHN A. WYETH October Twenty-ninth Swing, rustless blade, in the dauntless hand; Ride, soul of a god, through the deathless band, Through the low green mounds, or the breadth of the land, Wherever your legions dwell! VIRGINIA FRAZER BOYLE Gen. N. B. Forrest dies, 1877 October Thirtieth It will be difficult in all history to find a more varied career than his, a man who, from the greatest poverty, without any learning, and by sheer force of character alone became the great fighting leader of fighting men, a man in whom an extraordinary military instinct and sound common-sense supplied to a very large extent his unfortunate want of military education. His military career teaches us that the genius which makes men great soldiers is not art of war. VISCOUNT WOLSELEY October Thirty-First (England) Rising from the position of a private soldier to wear the wreath and stars of a lieutenantgeneral, and that without education or influence to help him, wounded four times and having twenty-nine horses shot under him, capturing 31,000 prisoners, and cannon, flags, and stores of all kinds beyond computation, Nathan Bedford Forrest was a born genius for war, and his career is one of the most brilliant and romantic to be found in the pages of history. REV. J. WILLIAM JONES |