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MEMORIAL ARCH WAS DEDICATEDvConfederate Dead Honored at Columbus— Captain Dinkins Spoke of Relations Between North and South.COLUMBUS, O., June 14.-The unveiling and dedication of a memorial arch to 1250 Confederate dead attracted 5,000 people from all parts of the country to this city today. The arch was the gift of William H Harrison, of Cincinnati, a former citizen of Columbus.The dead soldiers were prisoners at Camp Chase, west of Columbus, during the war and died in prison. For many years the little cwnetery was neglected. Former President Hayes paid a farmer to keep the burial ground free from weeds. Former Governor Foraker had the Government enclose the spot with a stone wall.Several years ago, Colonel W. H. Knauss, a public-spirited local citisen and ex-Federal soldier, instituted a yearly custom of decorating the graves. Mr. Harrison was not a soldier in either army, but was Influenced in making his gift by sentiment.The ceremonies of today were the most elaborate ever held. There were many ex-Confederates present from all parts of the South and there were many floral offerings from Confederate camps In the Southland. Among the speakers were Governor Nash and General John B. Gor-don. The graves were decorated by the wonrKn of the G. A. R. and the Daughters of the Confederacy.Captain James Dinkins, of New Orleans, who fought with Forrest’s cavalry during the war, delivered the address of the day. in a feeling and impressive manner. He satd in part:Although the people of the South did not bid me come, I know that I represent th^m today when I extend the hand of kinship and express my pleasure in meeting the people of the great State of Ohio. Valiant in war, progressive lit peace, the Nation knows you well and has called your sons to high places on field and in council.The South shares the pride In your achievements, and testifies to the quality of your manhood—first to pay the tribute of courage to those who once opposed, first to hall the grander brotherhood of the stronger union, first to raise the rainbow arch above the sacrifice of strife.“Our comrades dead are the living Are upon the altara of memory.“I am not one of those who tell you there is no East, no West, no North, no South; but, on the other hand, I am proud of the dlstlncttveness of our separate sections whose friendly rivalry is the corner-stone on which the Nation’s greatness rests Esct section represents a member of the family, but each has its Individuality. They may argue and quarrel, andh4ve been known to flght, but when one of our ships sank in a treacherous harbor an electric spark flashed over all the land one message, one signal, and that was ‘union.’ The speed, the strength, the soul of that response biased upon the world a warning for all the future, ^nd settled forever any doubt that the scattered sons had come together.Forty years agq the Southern States, by common consent, withdrew unto themselves apart. They believed that right and honor compelled them to do so; but when the Confederate soldiers laid down their arms and returned home, to begin life anew, they did so with the firm resolve to support the standard which was their own again.I believe I speak for the whole South when I say: 'My head and my heart for my country; one people, one language, one flag.’ All nations may well envy the patriotic spirit, boundless as the air and resistless as the bounding oceans, which Alls every home in the South. And every Southern home takes pride in the fact that this spirit is the spirit of the land.“In an emergency never prophesied or anticipated, the United States was called on to lend a hand for humanity. We undertook to relieve the oppressed and to punish the oppressor, and the South was not backward in rallying to that call. Her sons supported the starry ensign bravely and gloriously, giving brotherhood a new name and government a new Usson.“Your children, strewing their wreathsabove our heroes today, are planting the same seed of everlasting loyalty to principle. It was for principle that these men gave their lives. It was this complete renunciation for country’s sake that McKinley pointed to as worthy our veneration and as Insuring the Nation's Indissolubility. ^Their souls and his soul are walking joyously in the kindly light of dawn.“Because they have lived, still live and will live again, upon this land, our country, the sun will never set.”The memorial consists of a solid granite arch fifteen feet in height, surmounted by a bronze statue of a Confederate soldier. Upon the keystone of the arch Is chiseled the simple word Americans. There was an elaborate program of exercises attending the dedication The unveiling address was made by Judge David F Pugh, of this city, and the presentation address was by Governor Nash. General J. B. Gordon was expected to receive the monument on behalf of the people of the South, but he was unavoidably detained, and the address of acceptance was delivered by Judge D. E. Johnson, of Blue-fleld, Va.%WILLtAM P. HARRISON, uonor of the Memorial Arch and Statue at Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery,Columbus, O.
Newspaper Details
Cincinnati Commercial Tribune
Cincinnati, Ohio, US
Sun, Jun 15, 1902
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Cincinnati A.
OH, USA 01 Aug 2023
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