An address to the public
gathered at the Confederate Cemetery in Louisa Court House on the event
of the 100-year rededication of the Louisa County Confederate Soldier’s
monument August 20, 2005, by Harvey “Zo” Speer, 23rd Virginia Infantry
Regiment
Sleep Softly Fallen Angels of Louisa,
We are here to re-dedicate this monument as a small measure of our
appreciation for the suffering you endured to protect and defend your
homes, your hearths, your families and your land. Many a brave Louisa
County boy died in the trenches at Petersburg or in the maelstrom in the
Mule Shoe at Spotsylvania-and you did so unflinchingly and without
hesitation. You were called by your government and you answered-exactly
as American boys since 1776 have answered and for the same reasons.
Nothing More -Nothing Less.
Sleep Softly Fallen Angels of Louisa,
But now it is our turn to protect and defend. We must step up and fill
those horrible gaps left in the ranks along the Emmitsburg Road during
Pickett’s Charge and in the Cornfield at Sharpsburg. Louisa brothers we
are locked in a daily struggle with those miscreant forces who wish to
remove monuments such as this from public view forever. These sacred
monuments which now represent the womb, cradle and tomb of our beloved
Confederacy.
Rise Up Fallen Angels of Louisa,
We Southerners of today- fat, greedy and made lazy by the Information
Age- desperately need your devotion to duty, strength of heart and
character, and intestinal fortitude to defeat these forces who threaten
our Confederate heritage and treasured symbols. If you refresh our souls
with your unconquered spirits-we have no doubt of the outcome.
Sleep Softly Fallen Angels of Louisa,
We are on watch now. We will remain vigilant in our defense of your
memory, your honor, and all that remains of your struggle for freedom.
For my part in this struggle I wish only one thing. Every night I pray
to Almighty God that when I cross over the river Jordan I am allowed
just five minutes in the Confederate Valhalla to sit around the camp
fires with you brave boys of Louisa, shake your hands, look you in the
eyes and tell you how much I appreciate your sacrifice against such
insurmountable odds.
Sleep Softly Fallen Angels of Louisa,
We shall never desert you, your cause, your ideals, and most of all your
monuments and symbols.
God save the Confederacy and the
South.
