Men of Grey

"We thank God that at Appomattox we were with General Lee and not with General Grant. . . ."

"Men of grey, women of the sixties . . . you gave the South a song, a sentiment, a story that will live forever. ..." "Jefferson Davis loved the Union with all the devotion of his heart. . . ." "Slavery was not the cause of the war. ..." "Our victory was essentially a victory: of the spirit. . . ." Such were a few of the many words that' fell upon the ears of 4,000 tottering Confederate veterans, their wives and progeny gathered last week in Charlotte, N. C., for their thirty-ninth reunion. They were a lean, wiry lot, with 84-year-old drummer boys as youngsters of the gathering. The U. S. Marine Band played "Dixie." So great was the excitement that two oldsters were hospitalized. One died. Old codgers sat about swapping stories of Fair Oaks, Chickamauga, Spottsylvania Court House. Time, for a few days, was turned back for these lingering old men to a better, brighter land.