Harvey Scouts; Honors to the Dead - Madison Co. MS USGenWeb

From the Local Canton paper: The remains of the late Captain Addison Harvey, having been disinterred from their original burial place Columbus, Georgia, were this forenoon, re-interred in the new cemetery at this place [Canton] with appropriate ceremonies. The following survivors of this old command Harvey’s Scouts were present: John Murdock, W. H. Howcott, Wiley N. Nash, Wallace Wood, T. T. J. Williamson, John Lorance, Ed. Odum, Tom B. Riggan [Regan], B F. Muse, T. G. Smith-Vaniz, Wm. Priestley, Wm. McBride, Geo. Harvey, Thos. Nelson, James King, Wm. Sandidge, Dulancy Sample, and Dave Parsons.

The members of Canton Masonic Lodge also took part in the obsequies and consigned the heroic dust to mother earth according to the ritual of that ancient order.

A number of his friends and associates of the long ago were present to drop a tear and assist his late comrades-in-arms in paying a last sad tribute to his memory. As we have before mentioned, it is the purpose of the survivors of Harvey’s Scouts to raise a monument above his remains in commemoration of his many virtues, noble and heroic deeds. When this is done, which will be shortly, an appropriate sketch of his life and deeds will appear in these columns. Until then our poor muse offers the following tribute to his memory. [The following lines were composed by Emmet L. Ross, Esq., and read by him at the services of re-interring the remains of Capt. Addison Harvey, of Harvey’s Scouts, by his comrades in Canton, Miss., December 8th, 1886.]

Comrades in a cause most just,
Your’s the proud, the sacred trust
To bury here t’heroic dust,
And save from time’s corroding rust
The name of brave Ad. Harvey

You meet to-day a remnant band
Heart to heart and hand in hand,
At Love’s behest,--Duty’s command
To lay at rest in Native Land
The last of brave Ad. Harvey

The bugle’s blast no more will call
His trusty Scouts to "saddle all,"
And "mount," and "charge" where foemen fall
‘Mid sabre stroke and shower of ball, --
Led onward by Ad. Harvey.

Long since has beat the last tatoo;
Disbanded are the ‘Gray’ and ‘Blue’
And Peace reigns now where troopers drew
Their sabres bright-to dare and do,--
Led forward by Ad. Harvey

Some day, will sound the reveille
And call the scattered cavalry
To muster in Eternity
To shout the shouts of Victory
Along with loved Ad. Harvey

Monuments

A Harvey Monument Committee was formed with Addison’s brother George Harvey as chairman, and on September 18, 1894, the Harvey’s Scouts and Addison Harvey monument was dedicated at Canton. The following is from the Madison County Herald of Thursday, January 30, 1975:

"The dedication of the monument in September of 1894 was an event attended by the whole town of Canton and by all the remaining Scouts. Tributes were read to Captain Harvey and others in the company, and at the conclusion the monument unveiled. "Just as the country’s flag was furled Death saved him the pain of Defeat," is engraved on the monument in memory of Harvey.

At the northwest side of the cemetery, another monument on Academy Street in Canton was erected by William H. Howcott, a survivor of the Scouts who later became a wealthy New Orleans financier. He erected the monument in memory and respect of the black servants who rode with the Scouts and shared their dangers and adventure. Despite its simplicity, the giant granite obelisk in the grassy plot, enclosed by an iron fence is probably the most unusual Confederate monument in the United States. It is dedicated to black Confederates. "To the memory of the good and loyal servants who followed the fortunes of Harvey’s Scouts during the civil War," is inscribed on the base. Howcott erected the monument as a tribute to his faithful servant and friend Willis Howcott, and he inscribed the following: "A tribute to my Faithful Servant and Friend, Willis Howcott, a colored boy of rare Loyalty and Faithfulness, Whose Memory I Cherish with Deep Gratitude."

Ad. Harvey had often, says Sergeant Nash, around our camp-fire declared that he had no wish to outlive the Confederacy. Strange to say, he was murdered on the very day that Lee surrendered! Thereby lies a mystery!

There is a dispatch recorded in the War of the Rebellion, from Addison at Montgomery on April 14th. Another dispatch which is dated May 1, 1865 and is designated as General Orders, says that Addison was assassinated . . . on the 19th instant. We assume that means the date is April 19, 1865. The monument lists Harvey’s death date as April 9, 1865, the day Lee surrendered. According to the dispatches, Addison Harvey was alive after April 14 in order to reach Columbus.