Ever since the war I have kept in my heart a place sacred to
these generous exiles, who, in the very earliest days of the
Confederacy, flocked by thousands to her standard, _wearing the gray
as if it had been the green_, giving in defence of the land of their
adoption the might of stalwart arms, unfaltering courage, and the
earnest devotion of hearts glad thus to give expression to the love of
liberty and hatred of oppression which filled them. As Confederate
soldiers they made records unsurpassed by any, but they never forgot
that they were Irishmen, and bound to keep up the name and fame of Old
Ireland. So, company after company, composing many regiments, appeared
on fields of glory bearing names dear to every Irish heart,--names
which they meant to immortalize, _and did_.
That I should be permitted to serve all these heroes, to live among
them, to minister to them, seemed to me a blessing beyond estimation.
Strange to say, although my toil increased and the horror deepened, my
health did not suffer. After days and nights of immeasurable fatigue,
a few hours of sleep would quite restore me, and I dared to believe
that the supporting rod and staff was given of God.
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