Hoke’s signed Farewell Address

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/18/2020

HOKE, Robert (1837-1912) Confederate major general who commanded forces at Antietam, Fredericksburg, Antietam and about Petersburg.Autograph Document Signed, "R.F. Hoke Maj Gen." 3p. quarto, written May 1, 1865, near Greensboro, Hoke writes "Soldiers of my Division: On the eve of a long, perhaps a final separation, I address to you the last sad words of parting. The fortunes of war have turned the scale against us. The proud banners which you waved so gloriously over many a field are to be furled at last; but they are not disgraced, my comrades. Your indomitable courage, your heroic fortitude, your patience under sufferings, have surrounded them with a halo which future years can never dim. History will bear witness to your valor and succeeding generations will point with admiration to your grand struggle for constitutional freedom. Soldiers, your past is full of glory! Treasure it in your hearts. Remember each gory battlefield, each day of victory, each bleeding comrade. Think then of your future. 'Freedom's battle, once begun/Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son,/Though baffled oft, is ever won.' You have yielded to overwhelming forces, not to superior valor. You are paroled prisoners, not slaves. The love of liberty, which led you into this contest, burns as brightly in your hearts as ever. Cherish it. Associate it with the history of your past. Transmit it to your children. Teach them the rights of freedom, and teach them to maintain them. Teach them the proudest day in all your proud career was that on which you enlisted as Southern soldiers, entering that holy brotherhood whose ties are now sealed by the blood of your compatriots who have fallen, and whose history is coeval with the brilliant record of the past four years. Soldiers, amid the imperishable laurels that surround your brows, no brighter leaf adorns them than your connection with the late Army of Northern Virginia! The star that hone with splendor over its oft-repeated fields of victory, over the two deadly struggles of Manassas Plains, over Richmond, Chancellorsville, and Fredericksburg, has sent its rays and been reflected wherever freedom has a friend. That star has set in blood, but yet in glory. That army is now of the past. The banners trail, but not with ignominy. No stain blots their escutcheons. No blush can tinge your cheeks as you proudly announce that you have a part in the history of the Army o Northern Virginia. My comrades, we have borne together the same hardships; we have shared the same dangers; we have rejoiced over the same victories. Your trials and your patience have excited sympathy and admiration, and I have borne willing witness to your bravery. It is with a heart full of grateful emotions for your services and ready obedience that I take leave of you. May the future of each one be as happy as your past career has been brilliant, and may no cloud ever dim the brightness of your fame. The past rises before me in its illimitable grandeur. Its memories, are part of the life of each one of us. But it is all over...."

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