"_Soldiers of the South_:
"I thank you from the bottom of my heart for this tribute of your
loyalty. You were offered your freedom in prison at any moment if
you would take the oath and forswear your allegiance to the South.
You deliberately chose the living death to the betrayal of your
faith. I stand with uncovered head before you. I am proud to be the
Chief Executive of such men!"
Again they cheered.
The old mother with her basket was searching again for her boy.
Jennie slipped an arm gently around her and led her away.
On the day Lee left Richmond for the front to meet Grant's invading
host, the Confederate President was in agony over a letter from General
Winder portraying the want and suffering among the prisoners confined at
Andersonville.
"If we could only get them across the Mississippi," Davis cried, "where
beef and supplies of all kind are abundant--but what can we do for them
here?"
"Our men are in the same fix," Lee answered quickly, "except that
they're free. These sufferings are the result of our necessity, not of
our policy. Do not distress yourself."
The South was entering now the darkest hours of her want. The market
price of food was beyond the reach of the poor or even the moderately
well-to-do.
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