Southern Historical Society Papers/Volume 40/Speech of Judge Reagan
JUDGE REAGAN'S SPEECH—1897.
After dealing at some length with the question of slavery, Judge Reagan said in the course of his speech:
"Comrades, by the laws of nature I can, at most, be with you but a few years longer, and I feel it to be my duty to you and to posterity to make these statements of the facts of history, which vindicate us against the charge of being either rebels or traitors, and which show that we were not the authors of 'a cause-less war, brought about by ambitious leaders' but that our brave men fought and suffered and died, and our holy men of God prayed and our noble women suffered patiently and patriotically all the privations and horrors of a great war, cruelly forced upon us, for the purpose of upholding the constitution and laws of the United States, as preserving the rights of the several States to regulate their own domestic policies, and of protecting the people against spoliation and robbery by a dominant majority, some of whose numbers, because the Holy Bible sanctioned slavery, declared that they wanted an 'anti-slavery Bible and an anti-slavery God' and who because the constitution of the United States recognized and protected slavery, declared that it was a 'league with hell and a covenant with death.'
"Whatever may have been said in the past in the defense of the institution of slavery, and whatever my now be thought of the means by which it was abolished in this country, the spirit of the present age is against it and it has passed away, and I suppose no one wishes its restoration, if that were practicable. Certainly, I would not restore it if I had the power. I think it better for the black race that they are free, and I am sure it is better for the white race that there are no slaves.
"Some great Macauley of the future will tell these grand truths to posterity better and more forcibly than I can in this brief address, and will by reference to history, to the sacred scriptures and to the constitution of the United States, as made by our revolutionary fathers, vindicate the patriotism and the heroic virtues and struggles of our people.
"Now that we are again citizens of the United States, living under the same government and constitutional flag, our late adversaries ought not to desire to degrade us in the eyes of posterity, and if they would be wise and just they should not wish to place our people in history in the position of being unworthy of the rights, liberty and character of citizens of our great and common country.
"And while I have accepted, and do accept, in good faith, the legitimate results of the war, and while I am, and will be as true to my allegiance and duty to our common government as any other citizen can be, I shall insist on my right to tell the truths which show that in that great struggle we were guided and controlled by a sense of duty and by a spirit, of patriotism which caused us to stake life, liberty and property in a contest with a greatly superior power rather than basely surrender our rights without a struggle."
Speaking of the women of the Confederacy, Judge Reagan said:
"They gave to the armies their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers with aching hearts, and bade them good-bye with sobs and tears, but they believed the sacrifice was due to their country and her cause. They assumed the care of their homes and of the children and aged. Many of them, who had been reared in ease and luxury, had to engage in all the drudgery of the farm and shop. Many of them worked in the fields to raise the means of feeding their families. Spinning wheels and looms were multiplied where none had been seen before, to enable them to clothe their families and furnish clothing for the loved ones in the army, to whom with messages of love and encouragement they were, whenever they could, sending something to wear or to eat, and like angels of mercy they visited and attended the hospitals with lint and bandages for the wounded and medicine for the sick, and such nourishment as they could for both. And their holy prayers at all times went to the throne of God for the safety of those dear to them and for the success of the Confederate cause. There was a courage and a moral heroism in their lives superior to that which animated our brave men, for the men were stimulated by the presence of their associates, the hope of applause and by the excitement of battle, while these noble women, in the seclusion and quietude of their homes, were inspired by a moral courage which could come only from God and the love of country. I hope we are to have a battle abbey, and if we should the honor of our Southland demands that at the same place there should be a splendid monument erected to commemorate the constancy, the services and the virtues of the noble women of the Confederacy. And since the war some of our grand and noble women, the widow of President Davis, the widow of Stonewall Jackson and the widow of Col. C. M. Winkler[1], of Texas, have earned the gratitude of our people by books they have furnished us, containing most valuable contributions to the literature of the war and supplying a feature in it that no man has or could supply.
"To illustrate the character and devotion of the women of the Confederacy, I will repeat a statement made to me during the war by Governor Letcher, of Virginia. He had visited his home in the Shenandoah Valley, and on his return to the State capital called at the house of an old friend who had a large family. He found no one but the good mother at home, and inquired about the balance of the family. She told him that her husband, her husband's father and her ten sons were all in the army. And on his suggestion that she must feel lonesome, having had a large family with her and to be now left alone, her answer was that it was very hard, but that if she had ten more sons they should all go to the army. Can ancient or modern history show a nobler or more unselfish devotion to any cause?"
- ↑ Clinton McKamy Winkler