Forsyth County Historical Association Forsyth
County, North Carolina
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Sept 24, 1930 Winston-Salem Journal
Winston-Salem was besieged by the Confederates last night and capitulated without a struggle. Over at the Robert E. Lee Hotel all was marry
with the Stars and Bars mingling with the gray uniforms of old men who once followed Lee and Jackson in the stormy battles of the War
Between the States. But over all was the reverberating "Rebel Yell" that once struck terror to the hearts of invading Yankee hosts.
In the ballroom of the hotel the opening session of the twenty-third annual reunion of the North Carolina Division, United Confederate
Veterans, began at 7:30 p.m., Major H.P. Watson, commander of Norfleet Camp, calling the meeting to order. Shortly after Major-General
W.A. Smith, commander of the division and other officials were seated on the rostrum, the sponsors came forward to greet them, and a
touching piquancy was added with the arrival of the two little mascots, Little Miss Bessie Hunt Murphy, of High Point and Little Miss Lillie Sutton
Ferrell, of this city.
Legion Band Plays
The American Legion Band then produced a number of cheers, a clattering of chairs and the first reverberation of the noted "Rebel Yell," when
its medley swerved suddenly to "Dixie," the march song of the South. After the yells had subsided Dr. J.S. Foster, of the First Presbyterian
Church, delivered the invocation, which was followed by the State anthem, "Carolina."
Mayor George W. Coan then welcomed the veterans. He recalled many military men who have been welcomed and honored by this city from
the time of George Washington's historic visit to Old Salem to that occasion on May 30, when Major-General Summerall, chief of staff of the
United States Army was a guest of the city. But no persons are more welcome to this city than the old soldiers of the Confederacy, he stated,
and as for them "the doors of this city have never been and never will be locked," he added in conclusion, "for what may be said here will not
be long remembered, but the memory of the deeds you have done shall endure forever."
Norfleet Extends Welcome
Alvin Ely, of the staff of Radio Station WSJS, brought entertainment and won hearty encore with the solo, "When Irish Eyes are Smiling,:" which
came as an added feature to the program, but he stirred the hearts of the men of the sixties when he followed with a clever interpretation of the
old favorite, "When You and I Were young, Maggie," This feature was followed by an address of welcome to the veterans by C.M. Norfleet,
and the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Mr. Norfleet called attention to the record established by North Carolina in the war, stating that North Carolina furnished one-fifth of all the men
in the Southern Army, that her troops won glory at Bethel and Gettysburg and that they fought for two weeks longer after Lee had surrendered
at Appomattox. He hailed the veterans as men of whom the city and State are proud and bade them godspeed en route to "that reunion which
knows no adjournment."
Mrs. Spencer Speaks
The South has furnished the foundation stones of American democracy and North Carolina has furnished her share of great men and noble
deeds, stated Mrs. W.O. Spencer, president of the James B. Gordon chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy, in welcoming the veterans
on behalf of the Daughters.
"It is my happy privilege, as president of the James B. Gordon chapter of Winston-Salem, whom I with pride and pleasure represent here
tonight, to bring cordial greetings to you Confederate Veterans of North Carolina. And humbly speaking for myself as the devoted daughter of
a loyal Confederate soldier, one who duties all well done, rests tonight in God's summerland under the shade of the trees with his mighty
leaders and a great Government thus established. Thus has each generation succeeded another, each with its own particular task to be
done, and tonight I speak but the truth when I declare that the same heroism and bravery that was displayed in the long ago on the battlefields
of Guilford Courthouse, and Alamance, was evidenced with a tremendous force upon the mighty fields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville and
again with accruing enthusiam across the ocean at Argonne and Chateau Thierry.
Recent Insults
"It has been proclaimed by hybrid teachers," Mrs. Spencer added, "that the South has never produced a really great man, that climatic
conditions, together with living conditions as found in the South have not been conducive to the creation of all round really great men. This is
an insult to all Southern people, an insult offered by pure ignorance, for the world knows that from the South came the author of the
Declaration of Independence, the author of the Constitution of the United State, the author of the Monroe Doctrine, the first President of the
United States, followed by twelve succeeding Presidents from the same section. From the South came those other great leaders of men, such
as our own Zebulon Baird Vance, William J. Yancey, of Alabama, the matchless Jefferson Davis, that knight of the Nineteenth Century, the
peerless Robert E. Lee, his co-laborer, that Christian gentleman, the mighty Stonewall Jackson with the heroes that followed them" Mrs.
Spencer also paid tribute to the heroism of the soldier in the ranks and in conclusion delivered a beautiful eulogy on the faithful women of the
South and the loyal slaves of Dixie.
Mrs. Audrey Clore Le Grand interrupted the speech-making at this juncture with a rollicking old favorite song of the Confederate soldier, "The
Nightingale," and a thunderous encore brought another song of the Civil War period, "When Johnny comes Marching Home."
'REBEL YELL' Heard Again as Veterans of 1861-1865 Gather
Annual State Reunion Opens
Followers of Lee, Jackson Are Generously Welcomed
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NORTH CAROLINA'S WAR RECORD CITED
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Heroes of Confederacy Will Be in Session Until Thursday
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ADMIRERS CHEER WEARERS OF GRAY
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Reunion to Close Today With Memorial to Major Stedman
With feet that were bare and bleeding, and with clothes that were tattered and torn the Confederate soldier of '65 marched back to his broken
and despoiled homestead after four terrible years of civil strife. It was different yesterday when the remnant of the North Carolina Division,
United Confederate Veterans, old but happy and cheerful, sat in high -powered cars, bowing and waving to admirers who thronged the street
for the veterans' twenty-third annual parade.
Preceded by a mounted escort of four motorcycle policemen, the car carrying the Major General W.A. Smith, of Ansonville, commander, and
his staff, led the way for the veterans who followed in other cars. But between the commanding officer's car and the machines carrying the 200
veterans came the American Legion Band, groomed in natty uniforms and preceded by its color bearers, adding a military touch and plaing
tunes that have long thrilled the heart of Dixie. The veterans came next and were followed by the Daughters, the Sons and the Children of the
Confederacy.
The parade formed at Cherry and Fifth Streets and moved west to Summit Street, thence south on Summit to Fourth Street, down Fourth to
Main Street, south on Main to First Street, west on First to Liberty Street, north on Liberty to Fourth, thence west on Fourth to Poplar and back,
passing the reviewing stand at West Fourth and Cherry streets twice. After the first round, General Smith's car was driven back of the sand
and he and his staff, General Homer Atkinson, commander of the Virginia Confederate Veterans; Geneeral J. Shakespeare Harris and his staff,
Mayor George W. Coan, General G.H. Hall, Major H.P. Watson, commander of Norfleet Camp, the little mascots Misses Bessie Hunt Murphy
and Lillie Sutton Ferrell.