At the head of the column came the escort, with the three regimental
bands, mounted and bicycle police, city officials, visiting military,
sons of veterans, and the militia, including the resplendent Light
Infantry Blues of Richmond, a crack drill regiment with an honorable
history dating from 1789, and the handsomest uniforms ever seen. Behind
the escort rode the honored commander-in-chief of the veterans, and
staff, the grand marshal and staff, and a detachment of mounted
veterans. The general commanding rode a dashing white horse, which he
sat superbly despite his years, and received an ovation all along the
line. An even greater ovation went to two festooned carriages which
rolled behind the general staff: they contained four black-clad women,
no longer young, who bore names that had been dear to the hearts of the
Confederacy. After these came the veterans afoot, stepping like
youngsters, for that was their pride, in faded equipments which
contrasted sharply with the shining trappings of the militia. They
marched by state divisions, each division marshaled into brigades, each
brigade subdivided again into camps.
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