In addition to all this, there was a large number of contributions, of which not even an approximate estimate can be formed, made by individuals privately and sent through private channels. Nearly all hearts were touched and purses opened, and it has been estimated that the relief thus afforded fell but little short of that which was publicly given. All the railroads of Baltimore and the Bay steamers carried the contributions free of charge; no commission was charged for purchase or storage, and liberal deductions were made by the merchants from whom the supplies were obtained.
This is taken, in the main, from Scharf’s History of Baltimore City and County, and the record is approximately correct, no doubt, but how faint an idea it gives of the worth of your work in the cheer it gave, in the incentive to the struggling Confederates to begin life anew, and from the nettle defeat pluck the flower of safety.
Half a million dollars—cribbed and confined as you had been—was given to the South, after the war, by your Monumental City!
It is no affectation to say that words fail me as I strive to tell you what you were to us then, and what you will always be to every Confederate who is true as you were true, and is faithful as you are faithful. There is no page in the story of the war more brilliant, more inspiring, than that on which is blazoned the undying record of your incessant sacrifice, your patient endurance, your unselfish devotion.
Gen. Lee’s appreciation of the work of the women of Baltimore is well expressed in a letter dated May 3, 1866, and published in the “Personal Reminiscences of Gen. Robert E. Lee,” by Dr. J. W. Jones. After acknowledging the receipt of a gown presented to him by the ladies of the Northeastern branch, tables 40 and 42, at the late fair held in Baltimore, he says:
“I beg that you will express to them my grateful thanks for this mark of kindness, which I shall value most highly in remembrance of their munificent bounty bestowed on thousands of destitute women and children by the ‘Association for the Relief of Southern Sufferers,’ the fruits of which shall live long after those who have received it have mouldered into dust.”
In an earlier letter, dated December 15, 1865, he says:
“I am fully aware of the many and repeated acts of sympathy and relief bestowed by the generous citizens of Baltimore upon the people of the South, acts which will always be remembered, but which can never be repaid, and which will forever stand as monuments of their Christian charity and kindness. I know, too, that by their munificence they have brought loss and suffering on themselves, for which I trust God will reward them.”
Bear with me yet a moment. The subject on which your association desired I should speak to-night is beyond the measure of mortal tongue or pen. Who will undertake to describe adequately the exploits of our men in the war, and what was their mighty accomplishment in comparison with the infinite emprise of our women! The men, the soldiers, were the strong right arm, the mighty body of the Southern Confederacy, as with spirit undaunted they trod, with bleeding feet, the way of the Southern Cross. But as the men were the body, so the women were the soul. The men may forget the uniform they wore—it is faded and moth-eaten to-day. But the soul, the spirit in our women incarnate, cannot die. It is unchangeable, indestructible and, under God’s providence, for our vindication and justification, shall live always—forever!