THE IMMORTAL SIX HUNDRED
men by birth, noblemen whose right to nobility came from God.
There is no place where the virtues and the vices, the true character of men, will so soon show itself, and so prominently, as it will when men are placed in the position as were these six hundred Confederate officers; the good or bad in a man's nature will rise to the surface like oil on water, do what he may to keep it down. And what a consolation it is to those who kept the faith, who now in the evening of life can recall that bitter past. They can tell it to their children without shame or regret, and thank God for the strength given them to bear the ordeal they were forced to undergo. Col. Abe Fulkerson, brave, generous, true, noble fellow, wrote me, just before his death: "Murray, I always thank God, and I have never forgotten to do this, for His goodness and mercy in allowing me to be one of the Immortal Six Hundred who kept the faith unto the end."
Shortly after receipt of this letter Colonel
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