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The Burial of the Guns
This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.
140 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1894
About the author
Thomas Nelson Page
396 books8 followersBorn at Oakland, one of the Nelson family plantations, in the village of Beaverdam in Hanover County, Virginia to John Page and Elizabeth Burwell Nelson. He was a scion of the prominent Nelson and Page families, each First Families of Virginia. Although he was from once-wealthy lineage, after the American Civil War, which began when he was only 8 years old, his parents and their relatives were largely impoverished during Reconstruction and his teenage years. In 1869, He entered Washington College, known now as Washington and Lee University, in Lexington, Virginia when Robert E. Lee was president of the college. After three years, Page left Washington College before graduation for financial reasons. To earn money for the law degree he desired, Page taught the children of his cousins in Kentucky. From 1873 to 1874, he was enrolled in the law school of the University of Virginia in pursuit of a legal career. At Washington College and thereafter at UVA, Nelson was a member of the prestigious fraternity Delta Psi, AKA St. Anthony Hall.
Admitted to the Virginia Bar Association, he practiced as a lawyer in Richmond between 1876 and 1893, and began writing. He was married to Anne Seddon Bruce on July 28, 1886. She died on December 21, 1888 of a throat hemorrhage.
He remarried on June 6, 1893, to Florence Lathrop Field, a widowed sister-in-law of retailer Marshall Field. In the same year Page gave up his law practice entirely and moved with his wife to Washington, D.C..There, he kept up his writing, which amounted to eighteen volumes when they were compiled and published in 1912. Page popularized the plantation tradition genre of Southern writing, which told of an idealized version of life before the Civil War, with contented slaves working for beloved masters and their families. His 1887 collection of short stories, In Ole Virginia, is the quintessential work of that genre. Another short-story collection of his is entitled The Burial of the Guns (1894).
Under President Woodrow Wilson, Page served as U.S. ambassador to Italy for six years between 1913 and 1919. His book entitled Italy and the World War (1920) is a memoir of his service there.
He died in 1922 at Oakland in Hanover County, Virginia.
Admitted to the Virginia Bar Association, he practiced as a lawyer in Richmond between 1876 and 1893, and began writing. He was married to Anne Seddon Bruce on July 28, 1886. She died on December 21, 1888 of a throat hemorrhage.
He remarried on June 6, 1893, to Florence Lathrop Field, a widowed sister-in-law of retailer Marshall Field. In the same year Page gave up his law practice entirely and moved with his wife to Washington, D.C..There, he kept up his writing, which amounted to eighteen volumes when they were compiled and published in 1912. Page popularized the plantation tradition genre of Southern writing, which told of an idealized version of life before the Civil War, with contented slaves working for beloved masters and their families. His 1887 collection of short stories, In Ole Virginia, is the quintessential work of that genre. Another short-story collection of his is entitled The Burial of the Guns (1894).
Under President Woodrow Wilson, Page served as U.S. ambassador to Italy for six years between 1913 and 1919. His book entitled Italy and the World War (1920) is a memoir of his service there.
He died in 1922 at Oakland in Hanover County, Virginia.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 23, 2019
One of Thomas Nelson Page's best known works
Review of free Kindle edition
A Public Domain Book
Publication date: May 16, 2012
Language: English
ASIN: B0083ZFV80
188 pages
From the title page:
THE BURIAL OF THE GUNS
by Thomas Nelson Page
[Virginian Author—1853-1922.],
1894 edition
New York
To My Wife
This collection of six stories is one of Page's better known works. The title story concerns the actions of a Confederate artillery battery at the end of the war. A short time before the end, the old Colonel was given orders to hold a key mountain pass until relieved, and to not let his guns fall into the hands of the enemy. The old Colonel is faithful to his charge. The enemy does not pass. Then, a few days after the event, he learns that General Lee has surrendered. The war in that part of Virginia is over. But the Colonel's orders have not been rescinded. What will he and his men do?
In The Gray Jacket of "No. 4" , a soldier who fought well through the war now fights his own battle with "demon rum". A private battle despite attempts by well wishers to help.
Little Darby is a tragic romance of star crossed lovers and the war. A tale of love and loss among the poor of the rural south.
All of the stories are not directly about the war but the shadow of the war hangs over most of Thomas Nelson Page's writing. He was one of the originators of the plantation stories genre. His stories set in a romanticized South may not be "THE TRUTH" but they are certainly a part of the truth of the South.
Review of free Kindle edition
A Public Domain Book
Publication date: May 16, 2012
Language: English
ASIN: B0083ZFV80
188 pages
From the title page:
THE BURIAL OF THE GUNS
by Thomas Nelson Page
[Virginian Author—1853-1922.],
1894 edition
New York
To My Wife
This collection of six stories is one of Page's better known works. The title story concerns the actions of a Confederate artillery battery at the end of the war. A short time before the end, the old Colonel was given orders to hold a key mountain pass until relieved, and to not let his guns fall into the hands of the enemy. The old Colonel is faithful to his charge. The enemy does not pass. Then, a few days after the event, he learns that General Lee has surrendered. The war in that part of Virginia is over. But the Colonel's orders have not been rescinded. What will he and his men do?
In The Gray Jacket of "No. 4" , a soldier who fought well through the war now fights his own battle with "demon rum". A private battle despite attempts by well wishers to help.
Little Darby is a tragic romance of star crossed lovers and the war. A tale of love and loss among the poor of the rural south.
All of the stories are not directly about the war but the shadow of the war hangs over most of Thomas Nelson Page's writing. He was one of the originators of the plantation stories genre. His stories set in a romanticized South may not be "THE TRUTH" but they are certainly a part of the truth of the South.
November 13, 2016
I've arranged my thoughts on this short story into a haiku:
"To the guns of war,
Soldiers create their mythos
To keep their spirits."
"To the guns of war,
Soldiers create their mythos
To keep their spirits."
July 5, 2015
It's everything a poor history text would be: long-winded with scant use of paragraphing and prolific use of passive verbiage. Comprehension requires diligence, something that a younger me would not have bothered with.
The story follows a Confederate army faction and their "guns"--which kind of guns to distinguish them from regular infantry guns, the author never clarifies--in Virginia all through the American Civil War. The Colonel and his division grew fond of their six guns and named them The Cat, The Eagle, and The Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each gun has special character that warrants the name. However, as the title of the story implies, there comes a time when the men must bury their loved machines. Don't worry that's 9,000 words in the making. Most of the story is details about the war from a general's distant, conceptual view and nothing memorable.
The story follows a Confederate army faction and their "guns"--which kind of guns to distinguish them from regular infantry guns, the author never clarifies--in Virginia all through the American Civil War. The Colonel and his division grew fond of their six guns and named them The Cat, The Eagle, and The Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each gun has special character that warrants the name. However, as the title of the story implies, there comes a time when the men must bury their loved machines. Don't worry that's 9,000 words in the making. Most of the story is details about the war from a general's distant, conceptual view and nothing memorable.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews