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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1971 Southern Apologetic Themes, as Expressed in Selected Ceremonial Speaking of Confederate Veterans, 1889-1900. Howard Dorgan Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Dorgan, Howard, "Southern Apologetic Themes, as Expressed in Selected Ceremonial Speaking of Confederate Veterans, 1889-1900." (1971). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 2047. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/2047 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 72-3483 DORGAN, Howard, 1932- SOUTHERN APOLOGETIC THEMES, AS EXPRESSED IN SELECTED CEREMONIAL SPEAKING OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS, 1889-1900. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Ph.D., 1971 Speech University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED SOUTHERN APOLOGETIC THEMES, AS EXPRESSED IN SELECTED CEREMONIAL SPEAKING OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS, 1889 - 1900 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Speech by Howard Dorgan B.A., Texas Western College, 1953 M.F.A., University of Texas at Austin, 19571 August, 1971 PLEASE NOTE: Some Pages have indistinct p rin t. Filmed as received. UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS acknowledgments The author wishes to express his warm appreciation to Dr. Waldo W. Braden and to the other members of his committee. Drs. Fabian Gudas, Harold D. Mixon, John H. Pennybacker, and J. Donald Ragsdale. In addition he would like to acknowledge the staffs of the Tulane University library and the Louisiana State University Library. Further­ more, he would like to express his deep appreciation for the understanding of his wife, Kathleen, and the sacrifices of his children, Shawn and Kelly Ann. Finally, he would like to acknowledge the encouraging spirit of many fellow grad­ uate students. TABLE o f c o n t e n t s Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS....................................... ii ABSTRACT .............................................. vii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ................................. 1 THE SUBJECT OF THE S T U D Y .................. 10 STATEMENT OF THE P R O B L E M .................. 14 THE LIMITATIONS OF THE S T U D Y ............. 14 SOURCES AND CONTRIBUTORY STUDIES ......... 17 AUTHENTICITY OF THE SPEECH TEXTS ......... 21 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY ................. 22 2. THE OCCASIONS ................................. 23 THE ORIGIN, GROWTH, AND DEVELOPMENT OF U.C.V. REUNIONS .......................... 23 OTHER REUNION OCCASIONS .................... 63 MEMORIAL AND DEDICATORY SERVICES ......... 65 SOME CONCLUSIONS .......................... 70 3- THE ORATORS ................................... 75 John Henninger Reagan .................... 75 Stephen Dill L e e ........................ 79 John Brown Gordon ........................ 82 William Brimage B a t e .................... 85 Edward Cary W a l t h a l l .................... 86 iii Chapter Page Bradley Tyler Johnson .................... 88 Clement Anselm Evans .................... 91 Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry ............. 93 John Warwick Daniel .................. 96 Benjamin Morgan Palmer ................. 97 SOME ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS....... 100 4. CONFEDERATE VETERANS SPEAK OF THE CAUSES OF THE CIVIL W A R ........................... 104 SLAVERY AS A C A U S E ....................... 106 VIOLATIONS OF CONSTITUTIONALITY AS A CAUSE .................................. 118 The Question of Constitutional Guarantees for S l a v e r y ......................... 119 The Question of the Right of Secession. 122 The Question of State Sovereignty .... 127 NORTHERN AGGRESSION AS A C A U S E ....... 139 INNATE REGIONAL DIFFERENCES AS A CAUSE . 143 ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS .... 148 The War Was Inevitable .............. 148 The Cause of the War Was Not Understood . 150 The True Confederate Cause Was Righteous, Universal/ and Eternal ............. 151 5. CONFEDERATE VETERANS SPEAK OF THE CONFEDERATE SOLDIER, THE CONFEDERATE LEADER, AND THE SOUTHERN W O M A N ......................... 154 THE CONFEDERATE SOLDIER .................... 155 iv Chapter Page The Confederate Soldier as an American P a t r i o t ................................. 160 The Confederate Soldier as a Fighting M a n ..................................... 167 The Confederate Soldier as a Man of C h a r a c t e r ............................... 172 THE CONFEDERATE LEADER .................... 177 THE SOUTHERN W O M A N ........................ 194 THE SOUTHERN SOCIETY IN GENERAL ........... 209 ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS .... 217 6. THE MEANING OF DEFEAT ........................ 220 IMMEDIATE LITERAL RESULTS ................. 222 Confederate Defeat and Slavery ......... 222 Defeat and Constitutional Freedom .... 235 Confederate Defeat and the New South . 249 THE THEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CONFEDERATE DEFEAT ................................... 263 Confederate Defeat as a Sacrifice .... 263 Confederate Defeat as a Possible Moral J u d g m e n t ............................... 267 Confederate Defeat as an Act of Divine W i l l ................................... 269 Confederate Defeat and the Sacred Promises for the Future ............... 272 ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS .... 275 7. FURTHER ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS ........... 278 THE MEANING OF M Y T H ........................ 282 V Chapter Page THE CONFEDERATE M Y T H .................. 286 Myths Related to the Causes of the War . 287 Myths Related to the Way the War Was Fought............................... 293 Myths Related to the Meanings of Defeat . 301 SOME FINAL CONCLUSIONS: THE CONFEDERATE MYTH AND THE SOUTHERN S P I R I T ....... 306 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................... 309 VITA ................................. ... ............. 316 vi ABSTRACT The purpose of this investigation is to examine selected ceremonial addresses delivered at convocations of Confederate veterans between 1889 and the close of 1900. Analysis is made first of the numerous apologetic rationales employed by these ex-Confederate orators, second of the ap­ parent motivations of these speakers in advancing such rationales, and third of the effect of these rationales upon the creation of a Confederate myth. Furthermore, the study discusses the historical background to the development of a Confederate apologia, 1865-1889; examines the occasions for Confederate veteran ceremonial oratory between 1889 and the close of 1900; briefly reviews the contributions of ten representative orators; analyzes selected speeches for ratio­ nales relative to the causes of the Civil VTar, the character of Confederate soldiers. Confederate leaders, and Southern women, and the meanings of Confederate defeat; and, finally, draws conclusions concerning the nature and consequence of the emerging Confederate myth. In general, this study reveals that Confederate veteran ceremonial orators, between 1889 and 1900, spoke of the true cause of the Civil War as being misunderstood. They argued that slavery had not been a meaningful issue, but that the true cause had been, first, a basic dichotomy vii in constitutional interpretations and# second, an inherent disparity in the philosophical, cultural, and religious natures of the two sections. They further proclaimed that Southerners had fought for principles of state sovereignty and individual rights, and that in doing so they had upheld the original principles of the American Founding Fathers. Next, this study indicates that these speakers charged the war had not been lost due to any imperfections in Southern character, that, to the contrary, the Confeder­ ate soldier, the Confederate leader, and the Southern woman had courageously sacrificed for the cause and that Southern character had been vindicated by their heroic struggles. In addition, this study reveals that these orators proclaimed the Confederate cause not to be lost, arguing that principles of state sovereignty and individual rights had emerged— or were emerging— victorious. They further asserted that the Confederate struggle had stemmed the tide of centralism and that Northerners would eventually praise the South for having preserved the integrity of state and local governments. Furthermore, speakers implied that Con­ federate defeat had been divinely inspired, that the Con­ federacy had been sacrificed in order to dramatize the correctness of its cause, thereby precipitating the eventual victory of that cause. Finally, this study indicates that Confederate veteran ceremonial oratory was instrumental in promulgating viii a Confederate myth, that this myth depicted the Southern people and their cause with romanticized and heroic images, that these glorified images served to re-establish regional pride, and that this rebirth of regional pride in turn served to alleviate that sectional humiliation resulting from Confederate defeat- Furthermore, the study reveals that the myth promoted an image of a totally unified people who had allegedly fought in one

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