Bibb County GaArchives News....."The Thinning Grey Line" June 11 1909
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm
************************************************


File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Harris Hill harrishill@starband.net September 9, 2003, 7:26 am

The Schley County News

The Schley County News  Friday, June 11, 1909  No. 23

"THE THINNING GRAY LINE"

The Macon Telegraph gives us the following lines as a tribute to the Old 
Veterans as they were winding their way to Memphis to assemble in reunion.

Tomorrow in Memphis the "thinning gray line" will parade once more--not as 
preliminary to a charge in battle, but as a memorial of the days of the 60's 
when it meant something to be a Confederate soldier and to follow Jackson and 
Lee.

As the years go by the old heroes pass over the great divide and line up at 
roll call where might is wrong, and where they do not have to face and fight 
paid Hessians and mercenaries, escaped slaves and the scum of Europe added to 
the brave native soldiers of the North and West, aggregating an over whelming 
power by force of attrition.

Lawrence P. Hext caught the spirit when he penned these lines on "The Veterans 
Parade":

     Git my knapsack, Mary, an' my uniform of Gray;
     Git my battered helmet, Mary, for I'll need 'em all today.
     Git my canteen an' my leggins;  reach me down my empty gun,
     For I'm going out paradin' with the boys of sixty-one.

     Never mind them blood stains, Mary, never mind that ragged hole,
     That was left there by a bullet, that was seekin' for my soul,
     Jest brush off them cobwebs, Mary, git the bonnie flag of blue,
     For I'm going out paradin' with the boys of sixty-two.

     These old clothes don't fit me, Mary, as they did when I was young,
     Don't you recollect how neatly to my manly form they clung?
     Never mind that sleeve that's empty, let it dangle loose and free,
     For I'm going out paradin' with the boys of sixty-three.

     Pull my sworn belt tighter, Mary, fix that strap beneath my chin,
     I've grown old and threadbare, Mary, like my uniform and thin,
     But I reckon I'll pass muster, as I did in days of yore,
     For I'm going out paradin' with the boys of sixty-four.

     Now I'm ready, Mary, kiss me, kiss me your old sweetheart goodby,
     Brush away those tear-drops, Mary, Lord, I didn't think you'd cry;
     I ain't going out to battle, cheer up, Mary, sakes alive,
     I'm just going out paradin' with the boys of sixty-five.

Callow youth and middle-aged of today as well, scarcely grasp the sentiment 
which moved "Mary" to tears, and which brings a choking feeling to the throat 
of the older people at the recital.

Tomorrow's parade at Memphis will not be a parade in arms--in no sense a 
menace to the nation which the war of the 60's created.  It will be a parade 
of the remnant who shed their blood freely and who saw their comrades die in 
heaps.  It will be a parade in memorium, a parade in honor of the imperishable 
deeds done by the defenders of he old Constitution.

May heaven bless "The Thinning Gray Line."


This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/gafiles/

File size: 3.3 Kb