On May 10, 1871, the remains of eighty-two* South Carolina soldiers, recently removed from shallow graves on the battlefields of Gettysburg, were placed in “narrow houses” and prepared for reburial in South Carolina’s soil at Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston. Before a crowd of six thousand people, Lieutenant General Richard Anderson gave the opening remarks, and to commemorate the solemn occasion and to honor the Heroes of Gettysburg, Reverend John L. Girardeau, former army chaplain for the 23rd South Carolina Infantry Regiment, gave a speech; an address. And a fantastic address it was!

The Ladies Memorial Association of Charleston, who were responsible for the event, referred to Girardeau’s speech simply as “Address,” but with no exaggeration the speech certainly deserves the accolade, “Gettysburg Address.” The speech naturally bears comparison to its wildly famous rival, Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Before delving into the content of the speeches, the most obvious difference is the length. Lincoln’s tidy little speech comes in at around 268 words while Girardeau’s speech rolls in at nearly 8,000 words. Enjoying the benefit of brevity, like a short poem, a fifth-grader could memorize Lincoln’s speech and many no doubt have.

In content, the two speeches share many themes in common, which one would not expect from two men facing opposite sides of a massive and brutal conflict.  They both take pains to ensure that their fallen at Gettysburg did not die in vain. They both appeal to the principle of liberty as set forth by America’s Founding Fathers. And they both make reference to God. How could they both appeal to similar ideas and ideals? We’ll get back to that later.

With more room to maneuver, Girardeau goes into much greater detail regarding the political philosophy which led to the war and the social and political upheavals Southerners faced in the aftermath. Girardeau identifies the enemy of liberty, “the Arch-foe of God and man” - Radicalism. He specifically identifies Communism and Socialism as outgrowths of the same Radical spirit. While never citing Lincoln by name, we know who Girardeau is describing when he talks about the Radicalism of his own day. The goal of Radicalism is to overturn the laws and the U.S. Constitution and establish Imperial Autocratic Despotism, which Lincoln most certainly did. In turn, the Autocrat’s power rests on “the uncertain masses of a fierce Democracy” which Girardeau also calls “Democratic Absolutism” which today, we might refer to as mob rule. On several occasions, Lincoln cites mob rule, not the rule of law, as the foundation of American government: “Our government rests in public opinion. Whoever can change public opinion, can change the government, practically just so much.” (Lincoln’s Republican Banquet speech; Chicago, IL, December 10, 1856). No, Mr. Lincoln, our government rests on a written Constitution - written law - which each State, in their own sovereign capacity, ratified and agreed to uphold and defend. This is not at all the same thing as mob rule.

As Girardeau explains, Radicals put themselves in power by spreading chaos, uncertainty, and fear throughout the culture until a large portion of the citizenry feel that they need to turn to an autocrat - a strong man - to guarantee their safety. Girardeau reminds us that a citizen expects two things from government: safety and liberty. When safety is too far threatened, the citizen will sacrifice liberty to regain safety. Lincoln used slavery to spread chaos and fear in his era. Instead of campaigning for a Constitutional amendment to peacefully and legally end slavery, Lincoln advocated violence against the South. Today, Radicals use an array of divisive social issues to spread chaos. We don’t even know what a woman is anymore. A woman used to be a female human being created by the Lord God. Then a woman became the accidental offspring of a mutated ape-like ancestress; a Darwinian missing link. Now a woman is some sort of nebulous social construct.

The tentacles of Radicalism have slithered well past the political realm. Girardeau warns us that among the three great pillars of society - Family, Church and State - Radicalism wants to destroy them all. He assures us that religious liberty and civil liberty are twin sisters. The loss of one will inevitably lead to the loss of the other. Unfortunately both the church and the family have taken a tremendous beating since Girardeau’s day. The rise and influence of atheism, including atheistic Darwinian evolution, and atheistic Marxism, and the spread of both through the popular media, have taken a steady toll on the influence of the Church in society. Radicalism within the Church has eaten away at meaningful and Scriptural Christianity like termites in the pulpit and the pews. The social train wreck of the 1960s flattened the family, and the so-called “Sexual Revolution” in particular caused tremendous damage, making it difficult for the family to remain intact or to even form in the first place. Tragically, tens of millions of the youngest family members were slaughtered in the womb as a result of the sexual revolution. On top of all of this, politicians and bureaucrats whittle away at our Constitutional rights on a daily basis.

Not to leave us wallowing in pessimism, Girardeau offers a number of recommendations as we look to the future. First and foremost, is to uphold and honor the principles that our Confederate heroes fought and died for, particularly civil and religious liberty and Constitutional rights. The latter includes a republican government in a federative form - a confederation of sovereign States - as opposed to an all-powerful Centralized government unrestricted by a Constitution. In other words, Girardeau tells us that we should uphold the principles our Founding Fathers fought for in the First Revolutionary War and our Confederate soldiers fought for in the Second Revolutionary War.  He also recommends that we cling to our identity as Southerners, offer no compromise with the Radicals, form memorial organizations, collect and publish our own history, appoint anniversaries to commemorate our deeds and to adhere to the phraseology of our past. Finally, we should educate our young in our history and pass on a love of liberty “. . . by leading them with uncovered heads to gaze upon the grandest monuments the South can rear to liberty - the headstones which mark the last resting-place of Southern Volunteers!”

So, how could two men on opposite sides of the conflict write two different Gettysburg Addresses each expressing a love of liberty? If they both loved liberty why was there a conflict? Why a war at all? In a word: hypocrisy. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address must be about the worst piece of hypocrisy ever written, at least by a famous person. Lincoln did the exact opposite of what his words were expressing. He bound Liberty in chains and tossed her into a deep dark dungeon. He suspended the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, the writ of habeas corpus, due process - effectively the entire Constitution and the rule of law. Notice how Lincoln’s address never mentions the Constitution. But he does mention God, which is rather strange coming from an atheist (for Lincoln’s views on religion see, The Life of Abraham Lincoln by Ward Hill Lamon, especially chapter XIX).  And what does Lincoln mean by government of, for and by the people? Mob rule? Because he certainly had no regard for the republican form of government. He fought to brutally destroy the republican governments of eleven states, which were not even in the United States at the time, and he callously imposed martial law across the remaining states. He set himself up as a tyrannical dictator; an autocrat. Lincoln’s speech is nothing but deceit and, unfortunately, his deceit has long been remembered and, more shockingly, long cherished by millions.

In terms of content and context, Girardeau’s Gettysburg Address is far superior, by the simple fact that it is honest and truthful. Girardeau’s speech is so relevant to the chaotic social and political climate of today, that it could have been written last week. Additionally, Girardeau marshals the rich vocabulary and colorful syntax of an educated nineteenth-century man in pointed contrast to the blunt prose the modern reader is used to. He is every bit as quotable as his more famous rival, and well worth the read.

If school kids memorized parts of the Confederate Gettysburg Address, we’d all be better off.

Picture details:

*The Magnolia Cemetery website states that 82 bodies were reinterred, while the Ladies Memorial Association pamphlet lists 80 men by name. These graves are shown in the first photo.

*Second photo is Rev. Girardeau