Elberton Gazette

March 18, 1874

                                                           

The Two Pictures

In a skirmish in Lancaster county, S. C., February 2, 1865, two Federal soldiers were killed, and the bodies were afterwards interred by the Confederates, the graves carefully marked.  Prompted by a feeling called forth by the decoration of the graves of Confederates at Madison, Wis., in May last, the survivors of that skirmish had there two Federal soldiers’ remains disinterred, placed the bodies in handsome cases, and forwarded them, free of charge, to the post-commandant at Columbia, for interment at the national cemetery at Florence.

Now, mark the contrast: On the occasion of the decoration of graves at the national cemetery at Arlington, Va., opposite Washington, armed guards, supplied by the Government, are placed by the Confederate graves, with orders to allow not a flower to be thrown upon them.  And rigidly are these orders executed.  If perchance a lady throws a simple nosegay on a mound that marks the resting-place of a loved one, if that one happens to be a dead hero of the Lost Cause, the lady is rudely, some times insultingly, treated, and the flowers trampled in the dirt.  And we have heard this action extolled by creatures who call themselves men, members of the Grand Army of the Republic--an organization that may have been formed from worthy motives, but has been prostituted by spies, pimps, informers, skulkers, and cowards.

 

[Transcribed by Sharon Strout]