 | War poets of the South and Confederate camp-fire songs. |  |
THE CONFEDERATE NOTE.
The famous "Lines written on the back of a Confederate
Note," form a poem the authorship of which
has been claimed by various persons—as is frequently
the case when under the friendly shadow of "anonymous,"
an opportunity is offered to aspiring and unscrupulous
plagiarists to parade themselves in borrowed
plumes, and pose as the authors of noted poems
whose real claims to the honor of having written them
are either deliberately ignored, or the effect of peculiar
circumstances and the progress of years becloud the
genuine title or relegate it to the Limbo of "anonymous."
This has been the history of the famous poem
beginning "Representing nothing on God's earth
now," written by Maj. S. A. Jonas, now the editor of
the Aberdeen, Mississippi, Examiner, to whom we
poem printed in this book.
The number of people who have claimed to be the
author of these lines is "legion," and the controversy
over it has been hot and prolonged. Fortunately the
real author is living, is fully able to take care of himself
and his well-deserved laurels, and, moreover, presents
incontestable proof of the truth of his claim.
The poem has been credited also to Father Ryan,
and most extensively to Miss M. J. Turner, of North
Carolina, and we have heard it stated that what is
alleged to be the original Confederate note, on the
back of which this lady is alleged to have written the
lines, is among the war-relics in the Smithsonian
Institute, at Washington. Be this as it may, there
is and can be no doubt now as to the true authorship.
The following correspondence on the subject
appeared in the Louisville, Kentucky, Courier-Journal,
and gives in compact form the history of the poem:
In the department of correspondence of your
issue of November 29, appears an article attributing
the authorship of my "Lines on the back of a Confederate
Note," to a lady of your city.
This article, followed by what purports to be a correct
copy of the lines, reads as follows:
"An incorrect copy of the following beautiful poem
appeared in the correspondents' column of the Courier-Journal
a few weeks ago. The person who sent it for
publication did not know the author and wrote the
matter from memory. Since its appearance, Mrs. R.
E. Lytle, of 410 West Chestnut street, this city, has
shown that she wrote it and furnishes the original
copy, which is published below. Mrs. Lytle was the
wife of Dr. R. M. Lytle, who was a surgeon in the
Confederate Army, and accompanied her husband
throughout the war. The circumstances under which
the poem was written are of peculiar interest, as they
give emphasis to the spirit which prompted it at the
time. Just after General Johnston surrendered, Mrs.
Lytle was at Griffin, Georgia, where she met an old
friend, a Mr. Pucci, of Virginia, who had been discharged
from service, as the war was over. Mrs. Lytle
and the soldier were talking over the surrender, and
the future looked very dark and gloomy. During the
conversation Mr. Pucci pulled a roll of Confederate
bills from his pocket, with the remark, 'What is it
good for now?' Under the inspiration of the moment,
Mrs. Lytle wrote the poem just as it appears below,
and the soldier copied it on the back of a $5 bill."
Now, I do not for an instant suppose that Mrs.
Lytle is lending her name to a bold attempt at literary
misappropriation, and take it for granted that in
justice to her as well as to myself, for it so happens
that there are several persons yet living who read that
poem fresh from my pen before it had caught the
public eye, and retained its hold with a tenacity that
certainly surprised the author.
Its origin was as follows: Immediately after Johnston's
surrender at High Point, North Carolina, a
number of us obtained transportation to Richmond,
Virginia, where we awaited means to reach our homes.
A little party of us, including Captain A. B. Schell,
of your city, were quartered, thanks to the kindness
of its proprietor, at the Powhatan Hotel. A Philadelphia
comedy company was stopping there, and one
of the lady performers, Miss Annie Ruch, requested
that we would all furnish her with our autographs. It
so happened that among the spoils of the Confederacy
that were floating through the town were many $500
bills incomplete—the reverse sides or backs had not
been printed—and Miss Ruch furnished us each with
one of these upon which to write. We all complied with
her wishes, each writing a compliment or sentiment,
and my blank was filled in with the lines in question.
The original copy on the note, a few months later,
fell into the hands of the editor of the Metropolitan
Record, of New York, who published it under the
heading, "Something too good to be lost," and this
of it was based entirely upon that of the world
that so kindly received it.'
The first person, except the author, who ever read
it was your gallant fellow-citizen, Captain A. B. Shell,
the commander of Cleburne's Sharpshooters, whose
criticism was passed upon the lines before they were
copied on the note.
Editor Aberdeen (Miss.) Examiner.
We take the liberty of quoting here the following
extract from a note of recent date, from Major Jonas,
to the compiler of this volume: "In addition to Captain
A. B. Schell, mentioned as a witness to the
writing of the lines, I would mention Captain D. L.
Sublett, now of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Lieutenant
R. S. Desportes, now of Columbia, South Carolina,
both comrades of mine on Lieutenant-General
S. D. Lee's staff, who were witnesses to the writing
of the poem."
"Hon. Jefferson Davis was greatly interested in
locating the authorship of this poem, and in conversation
with my brother, George B. Jonas, of New
Orleans, in 1873, referred to it, saying, 'he had gone
to a great deal of trouble in tracing it up, and had
established—what he had always claimed—beyond
any doubt, your brother's authorship.'"
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