In a newspaper report on October 31 from Sulphur Springs printed in the Athens Post of November 8 the following article was published”
"Yesterday was a day here long to remember. The 'Piney Boys,' 4th Company from the gallant old Rhea, commanded by Capt. A. J. Cawood, met at this place for the purpose of making a start to Headquarters at Knoxville, and bidding adieu to the loved ones left behind. Before their departure, however, the Ladies, who are every ready to stimulate us in any good work, presented the Company with a Beautiful Banner, through Miss. Mary Robinson who delivered the following beautiful and patrotic Address:
“ ‘Gallant Captain and Brave Piney Boys: The cause that
calls you to arms is a just and righteous one. Already our
sunny South [sic] been invaded by an unprincipled foe.
Already has Southern soil been stained by the blood of the
brave and noble sons of the South, who feared not to die in
their Country’s defense. You, imitating their example, have
nobly enlisted at your Country’s call. True,you are not the
first upon the tented field, yet we expect you not to shrink or
falter in the hour of battle. I take pleasure, therefore, Capt.
Cawood, to present to the 4th Company of Rhea County
Volunteers, through you, this banner.--Although it is not as
fine and grand as some, I trust ‘tis enough that it is the true
flag of the South; the Striking Colors --red, white, and blue-
-the proud emblems of love, purity and fidelity--Keep it un-
stained by any act of cowardice--may you ever by able,
when necessary, to bear it to battle with a strong heart and
steady mein amid the roar of cannon and rattle of musketry.
Cling to it, and if need be, die by it.
‘Although we are not permitted to share with you the toils
and hardships of camp life, our interest in your success is
none the less. You are almost ready to bid farwell to your
nearest and dearest friends on earth--some their wives,
mothers, and sisters; it may be for a short time, but alas! it
may be forever--the home of earth you may never see again
--the music of home voices may never again greet your
eyes, but if heaven orders it so, may angels hands supply
your dying wants and waft your immortal spirits to a clime
where the noise of battle will be heard no more. Accept
now this last favor. May you all live to follow this standard
back home and place it in the hands of those who gave it,
and be kept in memory of the brave ‘Piney Boys’ ‘
“The banner was received by Dr. Joseph L. Abernathy, who
responded to the speech as follows:
‘Called upon to receive this handsome banner, without
much time for reflection, I must confess my inability to re-
spond in a style commensurate with the occasion, or the
manner your felicitous remarks properly indicate and
demand. But any deficiency on my part, in the reception
of the beautiful emblem of Southern Independence, I hope
and trust will be regarded with that leniency charity is ever
ready to bestow upon the unfortunate. For this flag, gotten
up, as I learn, in much haste, yet in elegant style, and for the
very complementary terms in which you have been pleased
to allude to the gallant “Piney Boys,” I tender you and the
ladies of the vicinity our sincere regard and patrotic
devotion. Let me assure you we will ever cherish with
proud recollection this occasion, this ensign, and those who
gave it--that no stain of dishonor shall tarnish its bright
folds--no act of our will cause you to regret the donation.
When Constantine marched forth to give battle to the
pagens of the world he was at a loss for a sign that would
antimate, inspire his men to heroic action when the hour of
conflict was at hand--something that would ever keep
prominently before their minds their cause and their duty.
In the middle of the night, before a great battle, he is said to
have had a vision. He looked up to the blue canophy and
beheld, painted with the splendor of the sun, a cross, sur-
rounded by these words: “By this sign I Conquor”.
Constantine transferred his vision to his banner and his
legion marched on to victory and renown. “By this sign”
aloft, moving over our heads, we intend to conquor.
Whereever these tribands kiss the breeze the land shall
be free. It is a beacon of light to the soldier, and we will
sustain it with such heroism and devotion as will further
illustrate the proud history of Tennessee--A history, though
brief, frought with daring deeds of heroes--a history that
challanges the admiration of the world. Let us pause a
moment to contemplate her annals.
“We do not have to go away back in the twilight of history
to trace her noble career. Less than a century ago Tenn-
essess was one vast unbroken wilderness, with savages
and beasts. Now she has a population of millions living
in the highest state of advanced civilization. Unaided by
any government, the hardy pioneers pushed across the
mountains, that bind our Eastern border, and here planted
that germ which by the nourishment and fostering care of
wisdom, had developed the present magnificient proport-
ions of a great and mighty commonwealth. Although not
one of the orignal colonies, yet, when they were invaded,
her chivalrous sons seized their unerring rifles, marched far
down the Atlantic slope to Kings Mountain and there de-
feated England’s bravest warriors, turning the tide of a
revolution that liberated America. They were at the Horse-
shoe, Talladeger, and Emuckfaw. They went down to
New Orleans, met the flower of the English army and again
drove the haughty Brittons beyond the seas. They passed
through the blaze that lit up the national road from Vera
Cruz to the ancient halls of Montezuma baptizing them-
selves in blood, and wining imperishable renown.
“Who is not proud of being a Tennessean? On every
occasion from her infancy to her present glory and pride
of strength, Tennessee has done more than any other
State for the national defender of a government that is
now seeking her degredation, her ruin, her annihilation!
For the first time in her history, she is threatened with
invasion. For the first time she is called upon to defend
her own virgin soil, and she now sounds the toesin of war,
loud and distinct, from the mountains to the Mississippi,
calling upon her valiant and ever ready sons to come to
the rescue.
“The --?--hordes of the North are exerting every means to
bring the miseries of war to our homes. They would crim-
son our murmuring brooks and flowing rivers with the blood
of our fathers, brothers, and sons. They would purple fields
with the rich blood of those you love.--They would place our
mothers, wives and daughters in the merciless power and
vengeance of their ruffian soldiers. Will these contingencies
ever arise?--Never! while a freeman walks the soil of
Tennessee. Never! while the memory of a glorious ancest-
ry lives so fresh and green with a grateful posterity. Never!
until freedom and chivalry becomes contempitble, and
tyranny and cowardice decent!
“If they attempt our northern border, our black throated
“dogs of war” will resound from peak to peak and down the
deep gorges of the mountains, and away acros the hills and
vales to the father of the floods. All along the line will be
heard the music of the rifles and the melody of muskets.
“If they meet our forces at the Gap, they will find another
Thermopylae--if not another Waterloo. But if, by superior
numbers, they gain an advantage ‘we will dispute every
inch of ground, rase [sic] every house, burn every blade of
grass, and the last encroachments of liberty shall be our
graves. With freedom, the choice between death and
dishonor is neither difficult nor doubtful.
“Fellow soldiers! This is our flag! We will rally around it in
the story of battle; we will rally around it in the hour of
victory, or the hour of defeat. It shall be a pillow of cloud by
day and a pillow of fire by night, and before we ingoriously
surrender it let us pour out our blood as a libation upon the
alter of our Country. If it shoud ungloriously trail in the dust,
I pray a just God will not permit one to return to tell its sad
fate.
"I now pass this beautiful ensign to the proper officer,
accompanied by the words of Lord Nelson, before the fall of
Trafalgar: 'It is expected every man to do his duty.'
After which the Company went to Brady's Ferry to await the
coming of the steamer Tennessee which soon hove into
sight, made a landing, and took them on their way amidst
loud huzzahs for the Piney Boys.
Yours, OLD ‘76”
.............
Mary Robinson, who is credited with presenting the "Piney Boys" flag to Company B was a member of the Rhea County Spartans.
See: http://www.historynet.com/all-girl-rhea-county-spartans.htm
Dr. Joseph L. Abernathy was the Regimental Surgeon
Capt. A. J. Cawood was mortally wounded at Vicksburg, Miss. and died on the way home at the Grand Hotel Confederate Hospital, Point Clear, Mobile Bay, August, 1863