The Western Democrat

FUNERAL OF A CONFEDERATE SOLDIER IN PORTSMOUTH.

A lady who recently arrived in Petersburg from the seaboard informs the Petersburg Express that Portsmouth was, on last Sabbath week, the scene of the largest funeral procession ever witnessed in that section. It was occasioned by the death of a young man named Franklin, a member of the Young Guards, 3d Georgia Regiment. At the time of the evacuation of Norfolk he was too unwell to be removed, and never recovered from his illness. The loyal portion of the inhabitants turned out to do honor to his remains. It is estimated there were three thousand persons in the procession, including many of both sexes, of the most respectable portion of the community. There were five clergymen who joined in the procession, the Rev. Dr. Handy, Presbyterian, officiating at the church and the grave. The coffin was covered with a Secession flag, and the ladies bedecked the tomb with many secession bouquets. Federal officers and soldiers witnessed the solemn pageant, but without interference.-Richmond Dispatch.