May 13, 1862, The Charleston Mercury
CAMP SIMONS, May 10, 1862.
At a meeting of the Yeadon Light Artillery, held on the parade ground of the Company, Captain JOHNSON presented the Hon. RICHARD YEADON to the Company, drawn up in double file.
Mr. Yeadon then addressed the corps, tending them his profound acknowledgements and heartfelt thanks for the honor, so unexpectedly conferred on him, and that without solicitations or agency on his party, by a stalwart and numerous soldiery, hitherto entire strangers to him, but whose acquaintance and improved good will it would be his pride and pleasure hereafter to cultivate and cherish. He then indulged in some remarks, appropriate to the times, and especially to the righteous war of defence, into which we had been forced, by a faithless enemy, who had trampled alike on the Constitution and the Bible, and violated the principles of the Declaration of Independence, their own charter of nationality, in their unholy war against our rights and institutions, and who had disgraced civilization, by a mode of warfare, exceeding in barbarity and outrage anything recorded of the ancient Vandal, or the modern Indian, with tomahawk and scalping knife to do his bloody and ferocious work. He expressed the belief that our cause was just and righteous, and that, in spite of occasional reverses, God would yet prosper the right, crown our arms with victory, and give us independence and nationality, with a full measure of prosperity, greatness and glory; and that the Yeadon Light Artillery, blasting the ears of the foe with the thunder and blinding their eyes with the lightning of their guns, would play a conspicuous part, and have a prominent agency, if allowed the opportunity, in mowing down the serried ranks of LINCOLN vandalism, and realizing the auspicious and glorious result of Southern independence. In the course of his remarks, he took care to cheer the Company with the news of the four-fold victory, under BEAUREGARD, the WASHINGTON of the existing revolution, Stonewall JACKSON, the Christian warrior, BRAGG and VAN DORN, and the commander at Sewell’s Point, with which he came charged, not omitting to state that the Virginia (the old Merrimac) had put the Yankee fleet to a Bull Run on the water, and that BEAUREGARD had put the Yankee soldiery to a Sheep Run on the land. The patriotic daughters of the Palmetto State, the ministering angels of the Hospital, and the self-sacrificing patrons of the gunboat enterprise, were also given their rightful and noble place in the picture. He renewed the expression of his heartfelt gratitude and closed by presenting the corps, through their Captain with his letter of acceptance and acknowledgement of the high and highly appreciated honor conferred on him. The welkin was then made to ring with three cheers for R. Y., and a vote was unanimously passed that the proceedings of the occasion, with the following letter of acceptance and acknowledgement, which was read to the corps, should be published in the Charleston papers.
After Mr. YEADON had concluded his remarks, the following communication was read:
CHARLESTON, MAY 10, 1862.
To the Officers and Soldiers of the Yeadon Light Infantry Artillery:
BROTHER SOLDIERS: The unexpected honor, which you have done me, in bestowing my name on your numerous and efficient corps, has penetrated my innermost heart and fitted me with gratitude to which words can give no adequate utterance. It affords me just and honest pride to be thus identified with a revolution that owes its origin to a faithless violation of constitutional compact, on the part of our once confederates, but now bitter and vindictive foes, and with a defensive war, waged against us, by a civilized foe, exceeding the ancient Vandal and the modern savage, in the barbarities of war – a war of injustice, outrage and fratricide. Utter strangers to me hitherto, it will be my pride and pleasure hereafter to cultivate your acquaintance and improve your good will, and also to watch and chronicle your deeds in arms, which I confidently anticipate will redound to your own glory and the emancipation of your country from Northern thraldom, more intolerable and hateful than Colonial bondage. We are in arms for our rights and the sacred privilege of self-government, asserted in the Declaration of Independence, and most inconsistently denied by those, who owe to that right, maintained at the point of the bayonet, by their and our ancestry, the nationality and independence they now enjoy. We are in arms for our homes and our altars, for our wives and daughters, and all the dear inmates of the homestead. Our cause is just and righteous; and, in spite of reverses, I confidently believe that God will prosper the right, and that He will give ultimate and conclusive victory to our arms – and may the lightning flash and booming thunder of the Yeadon Light Artillery contribute largely to the glorious result.
We are no longer, however, in the midst of reverses. Multitudinous victory has perched on our banner; Beauregard, the Washington of the existing revolution, has attacked and defeated the enemy, with great slaughter near Corinth; has pleased God to give Stonewall Jackson a great victory near Staunton; Generals Bragg and Van Dorn have won a decisive victory at Farmington, making havoc of the enemy, so that riderless horses are rushing into our exultant camp; SewellPoint has repelled the assault of the hostile fleet, and the Confederate Ram Virginia (the old Merrimac) has put the Yankees to a regular Bull Run, on the water. Such are the telegrams of the last night and this morning; and I heartily congratulate you on such great and glad tidings, suspicious of utter discomfiture to Lincolndom, and of restored peace and prosperity to our new desolate, suffering and bleeding country.
I again heartily and profoundly thank you for your kind and honoring consideration; and beg your acceptance of the inconsiderable enclosure *(two hundred dollars) to add to the comforts of camp life, and especially to solace the bedside of your sick soldiery.
With high respect and profound gratitude,
I am, your brother soldier, friend and servant,
RICHARD YEADON.
After the reading of the foregoing letter, three hearty cheers were given for the Hon. RICHARD YEADON, and Lieutenant ROGERS, in behalf of the Company, responded in the following words:
Mr. Yeadon – SIR: I know that I am speaking the mind of every man in our Company, when I say you shall never regret the name it has assumed, or have occasion to blush for the Yeadon Light Artillery.
Three cheers were then given for the ladies of Charleston and South Carolina.
The Hon. RICHARD YEADON was then unanimously elected an honorary member of the Company.
It was then agreed that these proceedings be recorded in the Minute Book of the Company, and published in the Charleston papers. *Inserted by the Secretary of the Company.