The old men, with such weapons as they could procure of every variety of style, were in the trenches across the plateau now known as Rivermont, ready to sacrifice their lives in protecting their loved ones and their homes from the marauding troops which were advancing with a devastating purpose, long since abandoned as unfit for civilized warfare. Thus men and women alike braced themselves for the great struggle, and, though not put to the final test, were calm, collected and brave in the supreme moment when the enemy were thundering at our gates. This fact is one of which the city may well be proud, and should stimulate coming generations to emulate the example of their forefathers. * * * * * The Garland-Rodes Camp has induced the preparation of these pages, that the truths of history may be preserved from that oblivion to which human memory consigns all details dependent upon it. It is their duty, indeed it is the duty of every citizen of the whole State and of every part of it, to garner up the facts connected with our heroic struggle and to so preserve them that they shall become the well-established traditions of our people. Such traditions are a part of the wealth of a race. They both elevate and stimulate succeeding generations. By them a high national character is established, and under their influence that species of patriotism is engendered whence springs the glorious sentiment, "_Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori_." The fires of patriotism do not burn most fiercely where the land is most productive, or where wealth most accumulates. Nations which have owned broad savannahs upon which nature has been most lavish have often been driven from their country with little show of manly courage and without that zealous patriotism which creates heroes, while the peasant of Switzerland and the cottager of the Highlands, neither of whom can afford greater luxuries than oatmeal and goat's milk, have held their vales and their fastnesses for centuries against all odds. To them each dell has its story of valiant deeds of their forefathers and each mountain is crowned by traditions which tell of the great achievements of their race. For dells and mountains thus sanctified by the glories of the past, the peasant and the lord of the manor alike are willing to die. It was their love for the stories and romance of their race which sustained the nerve of the Swiss Guards in the discharge of their duty to the King when, without a faltering nerve, one by one they sunk under the blows of the infuriated Jacobins of Paris, and well won the grand inscription to their courage on the Lion of Lucerne. A like love was the foundation of the wonderful heroism of the Highlanders at Lucknow and of the Scotch who climbed the Heights of Abraham at Quebec. So it was their love for the historic memories of Virginia which nerved the courage of that dauntless division which, under a fire never before