I
 
 
 18 

 
 1 I
 
 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 AT THE 
 
 GRAVES OF OUR SOLDIERS. 
 
 SATURDAY, MAY 30, 1868. 
 
 COLLECTED UNDER AUTHORITY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 BY FRANK MOORE. 
 
 WASHINGTON CITY, 
 
 1869.
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by 
 
 FRANK MOORE, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United 'States for the Southern 
 District of New York.
 
 GRAVES OF OUR SOLDIERS.
 
 CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 IK THE II OCS E Or REPRESENTATIVES, 
 
 June 22, 1868. 
 
 On motion of Mr. LOGAN, 
 
 Rexoltfd, That the proceedings of the different cities, towns, etc., 
 recently held in commemoration of the gallant heroes who have sacrificed 
 their lives in defence of the Republic, and the record of the ceremonial of 
 the decoration of the honored tombs of the departed, shall be collected and 
 bound, under the direction of such person as the Speaker shall designate, 
 for the use of Congress. 
 
 ATTEST: EDWAED MoPnEESON, 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, 
 
 June 22, 1868. 
 
 FRANK MOORE, Esq., Editor of the " Rebellion Record," is hereby ap- 
 pointed under this resolution. 
 
 SCHTJYLER COLFAX, 
 Speaker House of Representatives,
 
 HEADQUARTERS GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, 
 
 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., June 25, 1 868. 
 
 GENERAL ORDEES No. 14. 
 
 The Commander-in-Chief calls attention to the Congressional action with 
 regard to the Memorial Ceremonies of the 30th ultimo. 
 
 In order to make successful this effort to perpetuate the record of a just 
 tribute to our patriotic dead, departments, posts, and comrades will forward 
 to these headquarters every tiling pertaining to the ceremonies alluded to 
 which can awl to complete the work proposed, newspaper paragraphs, 
 editorials, and reporters' accounts, and also manuscript copies of addn 
 and observances, which may not have been printed. It is ho; ed th.-.t 
 material uny be collected out of which a book of value to the country may 
 le edited. 
 
 By order of John A. Logan, Commander-in-Chief. 
 
 N". P. CHIPMAN, Adjutant- General. 
 W. T. COLLINS, Ass't Adjutant- General.
 
 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 AT THE 
 
 SOLDIERS' QRA.VES. 
 
 MAY 30, 1868. 
 
 Ax ARLINGTON, VA. 
 
 THE Commemoration at the National Cemetery at Arlington, 
 the place of the nation's dead, nearest to its capital, was satisfac- 
 tory in every particular. The day was fine : the sky beautiful, 
 with sun and clouds at play : the atmosphere quiet and soft, as 
 if in unison with the solemn spirit of the occasion. The leaves 
 and grass and flowers shone with a radiance imparted to them in 
 their early vigor by the abundant rains of these latter days. 
 There had been a cordial response to all the requests of the 
 committee who had in charge the care and management of the 
 preparations. Money was given liberally ; so also were person- 
 al services ; flowers almost rained down on those who took the 
 oversight of the decorations. 
 
 So it happened, the weather being propitious, the preparations 
 ample and the day made almost a holiday by the free leave 
 granted in all the public offices, that at Arlington, at high 
 noon, the great throng of quiet and orderly people, men, women 
 and children, were entirely in spirit with the occasion and ready 
 to join in heart in all the services and devotions of the solemn 
 hour.* 
 
 Atone o'clock p.m., N. P. Chipman, Chairman of Committee 
 of Arrangements, called the audience to order, and said : 
 COMRADES AND FRIENDS : t 
 
 We are assembled to commemorate, in some fitting manner, 
 the deeds of those who lie in this National Cemetery, and to offer 
 a tribute to their deathless memory. 
 
 * Correspondent of the Portland, Me., Mirror.
 
 10 MT-MORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 "We are here at the call of the Commander-in-chief of our Or- 
 der, and to join in ceremonies which are transpiring at this hour 
 all over the land, wherever the grave of a soldier is known or a 
 loyal heart remembers with gratitude the noble sacrifices of our 
 gallant dead. 
 
 The General Order to which I have alluded will be read by 
 the Assistant Adjutant-General. 
 
 "W. T. COLLINS then read the following : 
 
 HEADQUARTERS GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, 
 
 ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, 446 Fourteenth St., 
 
 Washington, D. C., May 5, 1868. 
 GENERAL ORDERS ) 
 No. 11. J 
 
 I. The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose 
 of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of 
 comrades who died in defence of their country during the late 
 rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, 
 and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no 
 form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in 
 their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of 
 respect as circumstances may permit. 
 
 "We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for 
 the purpose, among other things, " of preserving and strength- 
 ening those kind and fraternal feelings, which have bound to- 
 gether the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress 
 the late rebellion." What can aid more to assure this result 
 than by cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who 
 made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes. 
 Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in 
 chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. 
 We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that 
 the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their 
 adornment and security, is but a fitting tribute to the memory 
 of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on 
 such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming 
 and going of reverent vistors and fond mourners. Let no vanda- 
 lism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the pres- 
 ent or to the coming generations, that we have forgotten as a 
 people the cost of a free and undivided Republic. 
 
 If other eyes grow dull, and other hands slack, and other 
 hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as 
 the light and warmth of life remain to us. 
 
 Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sa-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 11 
 
 creel remains, and garland tl e passionless mounds above them 
 with the choicest flower- of spring-time ; let us raise above them 
 the dear old flag they saved from dishonor ; let us in this solemn 
 presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they 
 have left among us, a sacred charge upon a nation's gratitude 
 the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan. 
 
 II. It is the purpose of the Commander-in-Chief toinangu- 
 ra f e this observance with the h6pe that it will be kept up from 
 year to year, while a survivor of the war remains to honor the 
 memory of his departed comrades. He earnestly desires the 
 public press to call attention to this order, and lend its friendly 
 aid in bringing it to the notice of comrades in all parts of the 
 country in time for simultaneous compliance therewith. 
 
 III. Department Conn minders will use every effort to make 
 this order effective. 
 
 By order of JOHN A. LOGAN, 
 
 Commander-in- Chief. 
 Official : N. P. CHIPMAN. 
 
 WM. T. COLLINS, A. A. G. Adjutant- General. 
 
 Prayer By REV. BVIION SCXDERLAND, D. D. 
 
 Almighty and everlasting God the God and Father of our 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ the God of our fathers and our 
 God who hast the care of all the ends of the earth. Oh, thou 
 Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor of the World, whose provi- 
 dence is over every living tiling, and who dost cause the seasons 
 to keep their annual rounds, and from the death and drowsiness 
 of winter dost evoke the life and beauty of the spring, how great 
 and manifold are the tokens of Thy presence, and of Thy resur- 
 rection power, as all nature wakes again glorious in the garni- 
 ture of flowers, and filled with melodies of the time when the 
 singing of birds is come. 
 
 We pray thee, oh Lord, mercifully to remember us for good, 
 as we have come forth this day, among Thy people, to acknow- 
 ledge Thee ; and, as Thy servants of old time did for themselves 
 and for Thy chosen nation, to call upon Thy name and to spread 
 out our supplications before Thee. For we are come this day 
 to the cities of the dead we are come to the sepulchres of our 
 heroes, slain and fallen in battle with all the host of them that 
 counted not their lives dear unto them for the sacred cause of 
 God, and of country, and of humanity, and by which price they 
 have made of this land one greater than Thermopylae, and have 
 filled it in all its borders with freedom's shrines. Because we 
 have come to mourn this day for those who sleep, and to pay to 
 their memory the utmost tenderness of our regards. Because we 
 have come to weep with those who survive, that the mission of
 
 12 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 our country could be accomplished only at so great a sacrifice. 
 Because we have come, oh Lord, likewise to mingle with our 
 tears and sorrows a grateful sense of our deliverance and our tri- 
 umph over appalling dangers, while we cover with garlands and 
 fresn flowers the graves of our noble sons. Because we have 
 come to take from the lap of earth these new children that have 
 sprung in such abundance of loveliness and in such fragrance of 
 incense, and cast them back upon the mother that brought them 
 forth, in testimony that there is nothing too delicate, nothing 
 too beautiful to be lavished upon the remembrance of those who 
 have sealed with blood their devotion to the holy work of God 
 and man. 
 
 Yet, oh Lord, we well do know that these blooms of earth will 
 fade ; these blossoms will wither and perish where they fall. 
 Well do we know that they will return to mingle with the sacred 
 mould of those who once stood up as a living rampart against 
 the violence of treason against the fury of rebellion ; still do 
 we pray that other hands, year after year, may strew them 
 afresh, as we do this day. We pray that every spring-time may 
 rise with its prophet voice to tell us that there is glory and im- 
 mortality in the truth. That however assailed, however borne 
 down for a time, the eternal years of God are her's. And we 
 pray, too, that her's may be the hearts of men that never quail, 
 though in the midst of living perfidies that make the soul turn 
 sick. We pray, too, that her's may be the hands of men 
 that have borne the fire of every martyr for the priceless cause 
 of liberty and justice. We pray, too, that hers maybe the 
 vows of men who, though betrayed and outraged in the house 01 
 their own friends, will not yet forget their duty will not yet 
 forsake the charge that has been imposed upon them whether 
 through the sophistries of a perverted judgment, or through the 
 temptations of a corrupt ambition, or through the baser briber- 
 ies of mammon, which, while they deceive, both defile and de- 
 grade our manhood to the lowest depths of infamy. 
 
 And now, oh Lord our God, we appeal to Thee by the unit- 
 ed voice of our prayer for the integrity and rectitude of our 
 nation in all coming time, and for the benefits and blessings ot 
 amity, equality, and fraternity, for us and for all men through- 
 out the world, we cry to Thee from among the graves of 
 those whom Thou didst choose to win the victory in the last 
 great struggle for the welfare of mankind. And we pray, Thee, 
 now especially, to look down upon us in Thv mercy, and bless 
 ns. Bless the general and officers, and soldiers and sailors 01 
 the Army and Navy of the United States those that may be 
 to-day assembled here or elsewhere, in all the land, for the same
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 13 
 
 affecting purpose. Bless all the people of our country, and 
 confirm to us the fruits of the late warm the emancipation of mil- 
 lions that had been growing in bondage, and in the exalted aims 
 that have sustained this people in such great advancement. 
 Give us a spiritual religion. May Christianity prevail among us 
 in its original purity. May it not be to us an empt}* ritual, but a 
 daily covenant between God and men, and between man and 
 his fellow-men. And we pray that the machinations and efforts 
 of demagogues that the pestilence and poison of mere partisan 
 politics may be thoroughly purged from among us as the bane, 
 forever, of all republics, and the certain precursors of their dis- 
 aster and downfall. 
 
 And, oh Lord, so long as the sovereignty of this great people 
 shall be committed to the work of constitutional freedom 
 to the work of liberty regulated by law to the work of an 
 equality for all men, without distinction so long do we pray 
 that Thou wilt uphold the honor of this Government, and give 
 its name and its prowess respect among the peoples of the earth. 
 For well we know that whensoever this nation shall depart from 
 these great lights, and wander darkening in the gloom and sor- 
 cery of despotism and oppression, then wilt Thou make bare 
 Thine arm and strike down the whole political fabric under 
 which we live. 
 
 And now, oh Lord, we implore these blessings upon us we 
 deprecate these judgments from us not in our own name, nor 
 upon our own merits, but alone in the name and upon the merits 
 of Him whose name is above every name, and will endure for- 
 ever. And unto the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, will we as- 
 cribe unceasing and undivided praises. Amen. 
 
 Hymn Entitled " Honor to the Soldier." Eight voices.* 
 
 The Hon. JAMES A. GAEFIELD was then introduced, and 
 spoke as follows : 
 
 I am oppressed with a sense of the impropriety of uttering 
 words on this occasion. If silence is ever golden, it must be 
 here beside the graves of fifteen thousand men, whose lives were 
 more significant than speech, and whose death was a poem the 
 music of which can never t>e sung. With words, we make prom- 
 ises, plight faith, praise virtue. Promises may not be kept ; 
 plighted faith may be broken ; and vaunted virtue be only the 
 cunning mask of vice. We do not know one promise these men 
 made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke ; but we do 
 
 * These were amateur singers of the City of Washington, who kindly volunteered 
 their services. Some of them were comrades.
 
 14 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 know they Bummed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the 
 lii-rlu-t virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they 
 
 pted death; and in that act they resolved all doubts, and 
 made immortal their patriotism and their virtue. 
 
 1 <T the noblest man that lives there still remains a conflict. 
 He must still withstand the assaults of time and fortune ; must 
 Btill be assailed by temptations before which lofty natures have 
 fallen. But with these the conflict was ended, the victory was 
 won, when death stamped on them the great seal of heroic 
 character, and closed a record which years can never blot. 
 
 I know of nothing more appropriate on this occasion, than 
 to inquire what brought these men here. What high motive 
 led them to condense life into an hour, and to crown that hour 
 by joyfully welcoming death ? Let us consider. 
 
 Eight years ago this was the most unwarlike nation of the 
 earth. For nearly tifty years, no spot, in any of these States, 
 had been the scene of battle. Thirty millions of people had an 
 army of less than ten thousand men. The faith of our people 
 in the stability and permanence of their institutions, was like 
 their faith in the eternal course of nature. Peace, liberty, and 
 personal security, were blessings as common and universal as 
 sunshine, and showers, and fruitful seasons ; and all sprang from 
 a single source the principle declared in the Pilgrim covenant 
 of 1G20 that all owed due submission and obedience to the law- 
 fully expressed will of the majority. This is not one of the doc- 
 triues of our political system it is the system itself. It is our 
 political firmament, in which all other truths are set, as stars in 
 heaven. It is the encasing air ; the breath of the nation's life. 
 Against this principle the whole weight of the rebellion was 
 thrown. Its overthrow would have brought such ruin as might 
 follow in the physical universe, if the power of gravitation were 
 destroyed, and 
 
 " Nature's concord broke, 
 Among the constellations war were sprung, 
 And planets, rushing from aspect malign 
 Of fiercest opposition, in mid-sky 
 Should combat, and their jarring spheres confound." 
 
 The nation was summoned to arms, by every high motive 
 which can inspire men. Two centuries of freedom had made its 
 people unfit for despotism. They must save their Government, 
 or miserably perish. 
 
 As a flash of lightning, in a midnight tempest, reveals the 
 abysmal horrors of the sea, so did the flash of the first gun dis- 
 close the awful abyss into which rebellion was ready to plunge 
 us. In a moment, the fire was lighted in twenty million hearts.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 15 
 
 In a moment, we were the most warlike nation on the earth. 
 In a moment, we were not merely a people with an army- -we 
 were a people in arms. The nation was in column not all at 
 the front, but all in the array. 
 
 I love to believe that no heroic sacrifice is ever lost. That 
 the characters of men are moulded and inspired by what their 
 fathers have done that treasured up in American souls, are all 
 the unconscious influences of the great deeds of the Anglo-Saxon 
 race, from Agincourt to Bunker Hill. It was such an influence 
 which led a young Greek, two thousand years ago, when he 
 li r 1 the news of Marat ion, to exclaim. "The trophies of Mil- 
 tiades will not let me sleep." Could these men be silent in 
 1801 those, whose ancestors had felt the inspiration of battle 
 on every tield where civilization had fought in the last thousand 
 
 a ( Read their answer in this green turf. Each for himself 
 gathered up all the cherished purposes of life its aims and am- 
 bitions, its dearest affections and flung all, with life itself, into 
 thf scale of battle. 
 
 We began the war for the Union alone, but we had not gone 
 far into its darkness before a new element was added to the con- 
 flict, which tilled the army and the nation with cheerful but in- 
 tense religious enthusiasm. In lessons that could not be mis- 
 understood, the nation was taught that God had linked to our 
 own, the destiny of an enslaved race that their liberty and our 
 Union were indeed "one and inseparable." It was this that 
 made tliE soul of John Brown the marching companion of our 
 soldiers, and made them sing as they went down to battle 
 
 " In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born acros^ the sea, 
 "With a irlory in his bosom that transfigures you and me; 
 As he died to make them hly, let us die to make them free 
 While God is marching on." 
 
 With such inspirations, failure was impossible. The strug- 
 gle consecrated, in some degree, every man who bore a worthy 
 part, I can never forget an incident, illustrative of this thought, 
 which it was my fortune to witness near sun-set of the second 
 day at Chickamauga, when the beleaguered but unbroken left 
 wing of our army had again and again repelled the assaults of 
 more than double their numbers, and when each soldier felt that 
 to his individual hands were committed the life of the army and 
 the honor of his country. It was just after a division had fired 
 its last cartridge, and had repelled a charge at the point of the 
 bayonet, that the great-hearted commander took the hand of an 
 humble soldier and thanked him for his steadfast courage. The 
 soldier stood silent for a moment, and then said, with deep emo-
 
 16 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 tion, " George H. Thomas lias taken this hand in his. I'll knock 
 down any mean man that offers to take it hereafter." This 
 rough sentence was full of meaning. He felt that something 
 had happened to his hand which consecrated it. Could a hand 
 bear our banner in battle and not be forever consecrated to 
 honor and virtue ? But doubly consecrated were these who re- 
 ceived into their own hearts the fatal shafts, aimed at the lite 
 of their country. Fortunate men ! your country lives because 
 you died 1 Your fame is placed where the breath of calumny 
 can never reach it; where the mistakes of a weary life can 
 never dim its brightness ! Coming generations will rise up to 
 call vou blessed 1 
 
 And now consider this silent assembly of the dead. What 
 does it represent ? Nay, rather, what does it not represent ? It 
 is an epitome of the war. Here are sheaves reaped, in the har- 
 vest of death, from every battlefield of Virginia. If each grave 
 had a voice to tell us what its silent tenant last saw and heard 
 on earth, we might stand, with uncovered heads, and hear the 
 whole story of the war. We should hear that one perished 
 when the first great drops of the crimson shower began to fall, 
 when the darkness of that first disaster at Manassas fell like an 
 eclipse on the nation ; that another died of disease while -wearily 
 waiting for winter to end; that this one fell on the field, in 
 sight of the spires of Richmond, little dreaming that the flag 
 must be carried through three more years of blood before it 
 should be planted in that citadel of treason ; and that one fell 
 when the tide of war had swept us back till the roar of rebel 
 guns shook the dome of yonder Capitol, and re-echoed in the 
 chambers of the Executive Mansion. We should hear mingled 
 voices from the Rappahannock, the Rapidan, the Chickahominy, 
 and the James; solemn voices from the Wilderness, and tri- 
 umphant shouts from the Shenandoah, from Petersburg, and the 
 Five Forks, mingled with the wild acclaim of victory and the 
 sweet chorus of returning peace. The voices of these dead will 
 forever fill the laud like holy benedictions. 
 
 What other spot so fitting for their last resting-place as this, 
 nnder the shadow of the Capitol saved by their valor ? Here, 
 where the grim edge of battle joined ; here, where all the hope 
 and fear and agony of their country centred ; here let them 
 rest, asleep on the nation's heart, entombed in the nation's love ! 
 
 The view from this spot bears some resemblance to that 
 which greets the eye at Rome. In sight of the Capitoline Hill, 
 up and across the Tiber, and overlooking the city, is a hill, not 
 rugged nor lofty, but known as the Vatican Mount. At the 
 beginning of the Christian Era, an Imperial circus stood on its
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 17 
 
 summit. There, gladiator slaves died for the sport of Rome; 
 and wild beasts fought with wilder men. In that arena, a Ga- 
 lilean fisherman gave up his life a sacrifice for his faith. Ko 
 human lite was ever so nobly avenged. On that spot, was 
 reared the proudest Christian temple ever built by human 
 hands. For its adornment, the rich offerings of every clime 
 and kingdom have been contributed. And now, after eighteen 
 centuries, the hearts of two hundred million people turn toward 
 it with reverence when they worship God. As the traveller 
 descends the Apennines, he sees the dome of St. Peter rising 
 above the desolate Campagna and the dead city, long before the 
 seven hills and ruined palaces appear to his view. The fame of 
 the dead fisherman has outlived the glory of the Eternal City. 
 A noble life, crowned with heroic death, rises above and out- 
 lives the pride and pomp and glory of the mightiest empire of 
 the earth. 
 
 Seen from the western slope of our Capitol, in direction, 
 distance, and appearance, this spot is not unlike the Vatican 
 Mount, though the river that flows at our feet is larger than a 
 hundred Tibers. Seven years ago, this was the home of one 
 who lifted his sword against the life of his country, and who 
 became the great Imperator of the rebellion. The soil beneath 
 our feet was watered by the tears of slaves, in whose hearts the 
 sight of yonder proud Capitol awakened no pride, arid inspired 
 no hope. The face of the goddess that crowns it, was turned 
 toward the sea and not toward them. But, thanks be to God, 
 this arena of rebellion and slavery is a scene of violence and 
 crime no longer ! This will be forever the sacred mountain of 
 our Capitol. Here is our temple ; its pavement is the sepulchre 
 of heroic hearts ; its dome, the bending heaven ; its altar can- 
 dles, the watching stars. 
 
 Hither our children's children shall come to pay their trib- 
 ute of grateful homage. For. this we are met to-day. By the 
 happy suggestion of a great society, assemblies like this are 
 gathering, at this hour, in every State in the Union. Thou- 
 sands of soldiers are to-day turning aside in the march of life to* 
 visit the silent encampments of dead comrades who once touglit 
 by their side. 
 
 From many thousand homes, whose light was put out 
 when a soldier fell, there go forth to-day, to join these solemn, 
 processions, loving kindred and friends, from whose hearts the 
 shadow of grief will never be lifted till the light of the Eternal 
 world dawns upon them. 
 
 And here are children, little children, to whom the war left 
 no father but the Father above. By the most sacred right, 
 2
 
 18 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 theirs is the chief place to-day. They come with garlands to 
 crown their victor fathers. I will delay the coronation no longer. 
 
 Patriotic Song" Our Native Land." Eight voices. 
 The following Original Poem was then read by JULIUS C. 
 SMITH, Esq. : 
 
 PEACE, peace on earth ! No battle-flags are flown, 
 No war-clouds rise and frown along the sky ; 
 
 No trumpet tor the deadly charge is blown, 
 No lightning-glare of red artillery. 
 
 Light, from the high empyrean glancing down, 
 
 No longer falls on heaps of m;ngled dead: 
 Reveals no more the close-beleaguered town, 
 
 Or path of fire, whereon the foe hath fled. 
 
 We hear no more from battle-plain arise 
 
 The ringing shout of frantic, grappling hosts, 
 
 Or those wild, piercing, anguish-laden cries, 
 That haunt the memory like immortal ghosts. 
 
 How changed the scene, since those we mourn to-day 
 Heard Slavery's challenge, at their peaceful toil ; 
 
 Met the defiant foe in battle-fray ; 
 Moistened, from pulsing veins, the parching soil. 
 
 Then rose the nation's pibroch loud and shrill, 
 
 Then flashed the burning cross o'er northern plains ; 
 
 On mountain-steeps, by hamlet, vale, and rill, 
 True manhood roused to break the bondman's chains 
 
 These forms, then animate with earnest life, 
 In shop and field the slogan message caught, 
 
 Pressed to their bosoms, mother, sister, wife, 
 And the dark field of strife and carnage sought. 
 
 And shall we sing how first the hands, unused 
 
 To martial weapons, at Manassa* failed ; 
 How Tyranny our name and fame abused, 
 
 Our manly courage and our cause assailed; 
 
 Recite the tale of Ball's ensanguined height, 
 
 Of Bethel's slaughter and Vienna's gore; 
 How dying, gifted Baker, Winthrop, fight; 
 
 How gallant Lander's wounds shall heal no more ; 
 
 Repeat the tale of Chickahominy, 
 
 Of Fredericksburg, and Chancellor's barren sand. 
 
 Where rebel legions pressed to victory, 
 And drew- a curtained gloom o'er all the land; 
 
 Tell how at Wilson's noble Lyon died, 
 And how at Lexington the wrong bore sway ; 
 
 How once again ifanassas' field was tried 
 And doubly lost upon that fatal day ?
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 19 
 
 From infancy to youth, from youth to age, 
 By failures oft life's lessons are attained ; 
 
 Preludes, are stammering words, to \vi-dom sage ; 
 By stumbling steps pedestrian skill is gained. 
 
 Thus our brave comrades learned the art of war 
 At Chickamauga, Belmont, Perrysville ; 
 
 'Twas wisdom bought with many a costly scar, 
 Lessons no early victory could instil. 
 
 At last by patient toil came strength of limb, 
 Came skill of eye and hand in martial art.; 
 
 They felt the muscles of the Anakim, 
 The throbbing pulses of a Titan's heart. 
 
 These fleshless hands, now motionless and cold, 
 By due experience taught, were raised in might ; 
 
 These eyes, now changed to pale terrestrial mould, 
 Along the carbine gained unerring sight. 
 
 Enough ; 'tis done ! Hark to the cannons' roar 
 Upon Antietam's blood-encircled field ; 
 
 See 1 Gettysburg is drenched in rebel gore ; 
 At Donelson the boastful traitors yield. 
 
 The Shenandoah's vale is darkly red 
 Tis rebel blood, transformed to ebon hue ; 
 
 Vicksburg is ours; and see how proudly tread 
 Our marching legions, broad savannas through. 
 
 Yet from the hurricane our arms recoiled 
 At Shiloh's church and Murfreesboro's plain, 
 
 But battling still our steadfast heroes toiled, 
 Till on yon banner Victory smiled again. 
 
 Nay, weep not, mother, for thy gallant son 
 Who, fighting, fell in that umbrageous wood ; 
 
 He gave his life for man 'twas nobly done 
 And here he sleeps among the brave and good. 
 
 See Richmond, traitorous, fire-begirdled town ; 
 
 See Mountain Lookout, Missionary Heights; 
 Above the clouds the brazen cannon frown ; 
 
 Above the clouds each stalwart hero fights. 
 
 From Chattanooga to Atlantic's coast, 
 
 From the sea northward to Virginia's line, 
 I see the track of Freedom's conquering host, 
 . To justice, friends to wrong, a scourge divine. 
 
 At Appomattox, Lee surrenders all, 
 
 At Durham, Johnston bends the suppliant knee. 
 Send the glad shout o'er earth's revolving ball ; 
 
 Slavery is crushed ! Our noble land is free !
 
 20 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Tet pause ; the triumph has been Ixwght with blood ; 
 
 a was the purchase, great the price we paid ; 
 A million forms are crumbling 'neath the sod, 
 A score of thousands are around us laid. 
 
 Pause, and remove the sandals from thy feet, 
 
 M not, with rash intrusion, holy ground ; 
 This forest is the hero's calm retreat, 
 The camp, angelic guards encircle round. 
 
 Yet te.ll me not the gallant youth are dead ; 
 
 These are but forms that moulder and decay ; 
 The man shall live, who e'er for manhood bled, 
 
 Through time's vast aions, heaven's eternal day. 
 
 He lives in memory of the good and wise, 
 
 He lives in grateful histrionic lore, 
 He lives in gorgeous realms beyond the skies, 
 
 He lives in tervid song forevermore. 
 
 All art at portraiture divine has failed, 
 
 In sculpture, pyramid, and fashioned clay ; 
 
 Osiris, sun-crowned, Isis, darkly veiled,' 
 Or Memnon musical at rising day. 
 
 Tet rest these comrades with the God that loves, 
 
 In all the race one intervital life, 
 By which creation ever onward moves 
 
 To brighter scenes through elemental strife. 
 
 There is no life ideal that can cast 
 
 Its phantom shade beyond the mystic tomb, 
 
 But one eternal landscape of the past, 
 One present Eden of immortal bloom. 
 
 And tell me not these unnamed are unknown,* 
 These thousands in the consecrated tomb 
 
 No missing roll or monumental stone 
 Can shroud a hero in historic gloom. 
 
 In all these interblended heaps of bones 
 There's not a nerve to feel, a heart to love ; 
 
 No passion's flame, no music's silvery tones ; 
 Sense, life, and feeling, all have passed above. 
 
 They have passed onward through the rift of light 
 That parts the clouds above primordial strife ; 
 
 They march with God in uniforms of white, 
 And drink the true nepenthe-draught of life. 
 
 Martyrs for Truth, for Liberty, and Right ! 
 
 To you shall rise the nation's high acclaim ; 
 You are not lost in dim historic night 
 
 Thc.-e graves are subterranean paths to fame. 
 
 * One tomb at Arlington contains the remains of 2,111 unknown soldiers.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 21 
 
 This emerald verdure on earth's mother-breast, 
 These oaks umbrageous, and this moist'ning dew, 
 
 This orchestra of birds, this holy rest, 
 Are nature's smiles upon the brave and true. 
 
 Green be the hillocks o'er this hallowed clay ; 
 
 Sweet be the garlands loving hands shall bring ; 
 Just be the tribute eloquence shall pay ; 
 
 Tender the song the minstrel harp shall sing. 
 
 Long may these lyric trees, with waving boughs, 
 
 Shadow the fragrant flower-encrusted sod ; 
 Long may the rosy dawn these songsters rouse 
 
 In hymns harmonic to the heroes' God. 
 
 From death's broad stream I hear these comrades hail ; 
 
 I see them beckon to the farther shore ; 
 I hear the rustle of the snowy sail, 
 
 The soft baptismal of the phantom oar. 
 
 Let vernal year her azure violets bring, 
 
 To deck the sod that folds this sacred clay ; 
 
 Let forest choirs their sweetest carols sing 
 At morning reveille and closing day. 
 
 Let Summer send her golden sunbeams down, 
 
 In graceful salutations for the dead, 
 And Autumn's moving host of leaflets brown 
 
 Break ranks above the fallen soldier's head. 
 
 In Winter's storms, let all the sentry stars 
 
 That on yon battlements their vigils keep, 
 Smile on these wasting forms, these holy scars^ 
 
 And guard the field where worth and valor sleep. 
 
 And we, survivors of the fearful strife, 
 
 While gathered here around this hallowed clay, 
 
 Let us anew pledge fortune, honor, life, 
 That from our flag no star shall pass away. 
 
 We reverently swear by all we love, 
 
 By all we are, and all we hope to be, 
 Ton starry flag man's steadfast friend shall prove, 
 
 And wave .forever o'er the brave and free. 
 
 Dirge By the Forty-Fourth Infantry Band. 
 
 The foregoing exercises took place in front of Arlington 
 Mansion, its large verandah and colonnade being draped in 
 mourning and decorated with flags. 
 
 At the south side of the mansion is a large garden enclos- 
 ure, around two sides of which and upon a grassy terrace are
 
 22 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 buried 53 commissioned officers of the army, from almost every 
 Northern State. 
 
 While the band played, a procession was formed as follows : 
 Children of Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphan Asylum, in 
 i-lmrge of the Officers and Managers of the Association, and 
 Committee on Decorations, followed by friends generally. The 
 procession moved around the gardens south of the Mansion, the 
 children strewing flowers upon the graves spoken of alon^ the 
 line of march as they passed, and halted at the tomb of the 
 Unknown Soldiers,* who fell in Virginia during the early years 
 of tbe war. This tomb is west of and near the gardens. 
 
 The orphan children formed a hollow square around this 
 tomb, the committees and friends in attendance forming a 
 second square around them. The orphans sang an appropri- 
 ate song, which was followed by prayer, Kev. CHAKLES V. 
 KELLY, D. D. 
 FBIENDS, AND FELLOW-CITIZENS : 
 
 Standing here in the place of the clergyman (Eev. B. 
 I\-yton Brown) who was expected on this occasion to offer up 
 prayer in behalf of those who have been bereft of their friends, 
 whose ashes now lie buried here, unknown to those who loved 
 them, it matters little who is the speaker, if the prayer comes 
 from the heart. I therefore ask yon in all humility to join 
 with me while I offer up a short prayer for those who know 
 not where the bodies of their loved ones lie, and who never 
 will know it until the morning of the resurrection. Let us 
 pray: 
 
 Almighty and everlasting God, and Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, who art the resurrection and the life, in whom 
 whosoever believeth shall live though he die', we, Thine hum- 
 ble servants, depending upon Thy grace, looking for Thy con- 
 tinning mercy, stand before Thee in the attitude of prayer, to 
 make known the wants, as far as we are able, and the deep 
 necessities of those whose dead He buried here. Oh, Heavenly 
 Father, pour the oil and the wine, of joy and gladness and con- 
 solation into the hearts of the widow and orphan ; let them 
 
 * This Tomb bears the following inscription : " Beneath this Stone repose the 
 bones of two thousand one hundred and eleven unknown soldiers, gathered after the 
 war from the fields of Bull Run and the Route to the Rappahannock. Their remains 
 could not be identified, but their names and death are recorded in the archives of 
 their country, and its grateful citizens honor them as of their noble army of martjrs. 
 May they rest in peace." 
 "September, A. D. 1866.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 23 
 
 have a consciousness through Thy good Spirit, that, though 
 they shall no more see those to whom they were attached when 
 living, yet, that they rest from their lal.ior, and are in the en- 
 joyment of Thy blessed presence, in the eternal kingdom of 
 Thy glory. 
 
 And oh, Heavenly Father, we beseech Thee, spread before 
 the widow and orphan, in Thy blessed Word, the bread of ever- 
 lasting life, which can feed them to life eternal. Console them 
 with the hopes of that Gospel which has brought life and im- 
 mortality to light. Give them a hope through the resurrection 
 of Jesus Christ their Lord, that in looking to Thee in all things, 
 they may have a full assurance of a reunion in Thy kingdom, 
 and that with that full assurance, they may rest in 'that hope 
 of glory which Thou hast promised to them in Thy gracious 
 word. 
 
 We know that at the voice of the archangel and trump of 
 God, the sea and earth shall give up their dead, and these shall 
 stand before Thee at the great white Throne, in judgment for 
 the deeds done in the body. Oh, may those who have departed 
 this life, have then an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, 
 the righteous. When in judgment in body and in soul they 
 appear before Thee, may Thy sentence be to those who have 
 died in the performance of their dangerous and solemn duty, 
 " Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into 
 the joy of thy Lord." Hear us, our Father, hear us while we 
 offer up this, our prayer and supplication, through the merits 
 and mediation of Jesus Christ, our only Saviour and Redeemer. 
 
 Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name : 
 Thy kingdom come : Thy will be done on earth as it is in 
 Heaven : Give us this day our daily bread ; and forgive us 
 our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. 
 And lead us not into temptaton, but deliver us from evil ; for 
 Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever 
 and ever. Amen. 
 
 Clwrus " Gebet," (German prayer,) Arion Club.* 
 
 Dead March. Fifth Cavalry Band. 
 
 While the march was being played the Orphan Children 
 and the Committee on Decorations appropriately decorated the 
 Tomb with flags and flowers. 
 
 The procession then formed as before and marched to the 
 flag-stand at the principal cemetery. 
 
 * This club is composed of Germans, most of them formerly soldiers. Their 
 voluntary assistance is gratefully acknowledged.
 
 24 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Mr. TKIMBLE offered the following prayer : 
 
 Almighty and Ever-living God, who by Thy holy Apostle 
 eht *us to make prayers, and supplications, and to give 
 thank- for all men ; \ve humbly beseech Thee most mercifully 
 
 to receive these our prayers, which we offer unto Thy Divine 
 Majesty ; beseeching Thee to inspire continually the Universal 
 Chinv'n with the spirit of truth, unity, and concord. And 
 grant that all those who do confess Thy holy name may agree 
 m ti,.j truth of Thy holy Word, and live in unity, and godly 
 Ve beseech Thee also, so to direct and dispose the 
 hearts of all Christian rulers, that they may truly and impar- 
 tially administer justice, to the punishment of wickedness and 
 and to the maintenance of Thy true religion, and virtue. 
 Giv_ grace, oh, Heavenly Father, to all ministers, that they 
 may, both by their life, and doctrine, set forth Thy true and 
 lively Word, and rightly and duly administer Thy holy Sacra- 
 ments. And to all "Thy people give Thy heavenly grace ; and 
 ially to all those, Thy servants, who are sorrowing under 
 the bereavements of war. In Thy wisdom Thou hast seen fit 
 to visit them with trouble, and to bring distress upon them. 
 Remember them, O Lord, in mercy ; sanctity Thy fatherly cor- 
 rection to them ; endue their souls with patience under their 
 afflic-tions, and with resignation to Thy blessed will ; comfort 
 them with a sense of Thy goodness ; lift up Thy countenance 
 ii] >on them, and give them peace. And we most humbly be- 
 seech Thee, of Thy goodness, O Lord, to comfort and succor 
 all those who, in this transitory life, are in trouble, sorrow, need, 
 sickness, or any other adversity. 
 
 And also, we bless Thy holy name, for the great deliverance 
 that Thou didst work out for us by the courage and self-devo- 
 tion of our armies and navy, and by the deaths of those that 
 spared not themselves from the grave, that we, the living, 
 might still be numbered among the nations. Remember them, 
 O Lord, in Thine infinite mercy grant them rest and peace in 
 Thy eternal kingdom, and enable us, the surviving, so to use 
 the blessings which have^ been secured to us by their blood, 
 that we may be a people whose God is the Lord Jehovah, and 
 evermore serve Thee in holiness and righteousness through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 Hymn "In Memoriam." Eight voices. 
 
 Hon. H ALBERT E. PAINE was then introduced, who read the 
 following dedicatory address of Mr. Lincoln, at Gettysburg : 
 Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 25 
 
 upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and 
 dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 
 Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that 
 nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long 
 endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We 
 are met to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting-place of 
 those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It 
 is altogether fitting aiid proper that we should do this. 
 
 l>ut, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot con- 
 secrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living 
 and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above em- 
 power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long 
 remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they 
 did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here 
 to the unfinished work that they have thijs far so nobly carried 
 on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task 
 remaining before us that from these honored dead we take 
 increased devotion to the cause for which 'they here gave the 
 hist full measure of devotion that we here highly resolve that 
 the dead shall not have died in vain that the nation shall, 
 under God, have a new birth of freedom, and that the Govern- 
 ment of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not 
 perish from the earth. 
 
 The Committee on T3ecorations, with the children of the 
 Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphan Asylum then deployed and took 
 position at the different stands of flowers and flags, and pro- 
 d at once to the decoration of the graves throughout the 
 cemetery, strewing flowers and raising miniature flags over the 
 graves. 
 
 The friends in attendance were at liberty to stroll through 
 the grounds during these last services. 
 
 The bands relieved each other in playing appropriate music. 
 
 A National Salute was fired from the front of Arlington 
 Mansion during these ceremonies. 
 
 CLOSING EXERCISES. 
 
 The band played the Star-Spangled Banner as a signal that 
 the decoration ceremony w r as ended aiid as an invitation to the 
 friends in attendance to return to the stand. 
 
 Prayer and Benediction was offered by Rev. C. B. BOYN- 
 TOX, D. D. :
 
 26 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Almighty and Eternal One, God of our fathers, and ours 
 also, as we humbly trust ; through Jesus Christ, our High 
 Priest, we approach Thy throne and thank Thee for this solemn 
 yet joyful hour. We rejoice that Thou hast permitted us, in 
 
 -mile of this spring morning, to gather here over the ashes 
 of our dead heroes, and by these beautiful and impressive cere- 
 monies hallow afresh their already consecrated graves. 
 
 AVe know that no tribute of ours can reach these sleepers 
 now. AVe can add no lustre to the crowns they wear, but we 
 pray and trust that through these offerings our own souls may 
 be retined and ennobled. We come to mourn over a great 
 national calamity, which partially and temporarily rent our 
 Kepublic asunder, drenched the land with blood, dug it over 
 for graves, and brought the death and shadow upon thousands 
 of homes, and millions of hearts. 
 
 We confess that all we have suffered was but a just judg- 
 ment for our national sins and individual transgressions, and 
 yet in Thy great mercy Thou didst change our punishment into 
 blessing, by ridding us of the terrible curse of slavery, so that 
 in the agony of war a nobler nation was bom, consecrated to 
 universal Christian freedom. 
 
 We thank Thee that, as all races were permitted to unite 
 on the battle-field for the defense of their common country, so 
 their bodies moulder without separation here, the mingled blood 
 and mingling ashes vindicating the common humanity, and the 
 flowers we throw over them, and the tears we shed, and our 
 pniises and prayers, are intended alike for them all. 
 
 AVe thank Thee that while we stand amid these thousands 
 dead, we can worship Thee as the God not of the dead, but of 
 the living, and above our funeral dirge we hear the magnificent 
 announcement, " I am the resurrection and the life." 
 
 While we place on these graves our flowers, wet with the 
 heart's dew of tears, we remember those who were made 
 mourners by our battles. We offer, in the name of Jesus, our 
 prayers for the fathers and mothers whose sons are in the red 
 grave of the soldier, for those widowed ones whose aching 
 hearts have heard so often the question, " Why does not father 
 come ? " and, O God of the fatherless, we pray for those orphans 
 whose fathers went and returned no more. To all these grant 
 the abounding consolations of Thy spirit and the cherishings 
 of Thy love, that they may enjoy all needed comforts for this 
 present life, and after that the life eternal. 
 
 AVe beseech Thee, O God, to remember in great mercy that 
 multitude of maimed and crippled soldiers who, having'sacri- 
 ficed to their country a portion of the body, are yet sound in
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 27 
 
 heart and whole in spirit, the mangled but honored and honor- 
 able relics of the fight. 
 
 Remember, we pray Thee, and bless with needed grace all 
 those who came back unscathed from the battle, and who are 
 peacefully performing among us the duties of the loyal citizen, 
 feless the General of our armies, in a double sense a chieftain 
 now, and with him all the officers of the Army and Navy. 
 We rejoice in all the honor they have received, add Thou, O 
 Christ, thine own nobler record. 
 
 And now, O Holy Spirit, breathe from our soldiers' graves, 
 that over the land have received to-day the baptism of tears 
 and flowers, an inspiration that shall kindle a fresh enthusiasm 
 of loyalty to our nation, to truth, to freedom, and to Christ, 
 so that our land shall present unto all men a true example of 
 Christian civilization. 
 
 Hasten the time when the triumphs of peace shall be more 
 honorable than those of war, and the sound of battle shall die 
 away forever over all the earth. " Thy Kingdom come : Thy 
 will be done in earth as it is in heaven : for Thine is the king- 
 dom, and the power, and the glory forever." Amen. 
 
 . In addition to the ceremonies at Arlington, the 
 Committees decorated the graves at Alexandria and Soldiers' 
 Home and Fort Stevens, and also the graves of Generals Reno, 
 Griffin, and Plummer, and Lieutenant Meigs and other soldiers' 
 graves at the Georgetown Cemetery. 
 
 OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Q. M. GENERAL'S OFFICE, ) 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., May 22, 1868. J 
 
 DEAE SIR : Your favor of 21st inst., covering copies of 
 General Orders, No. 11, G. A. R., having reference to the 
 decoration of the graves of Union Soldiers on the 30th inst., 
 is at hand, and I beg you to accept my thanks for the same. 
 
 This department is quite anxious that all the graves of de- 
 ceased Union Soldiers throughout the country shall receive the 
 same care and attention which has been bestowed upon those 
 in the neighborhood of this city ; and if, on your approach- 
 ing celebration, any places should be noticed, containing such 
 graves in a neglected condition, it would be considered a favor 
 at this office, if information of the same should be at once for- 
 warded to the Quartermaster General, in order that all the
 
 28 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 graves in the United States may receive such improvements as 
 Congress has authorized. 
 
 TL-.v aro no appropriations for the purchase ol statues, 
 momim.-nts, or exotic shrubs; but good grass, well-gravelled 
 walks native trees, neat head-boards, and a substantial enclos- 
 ure, have been provided for, and will be established wherever 
 Government is made aware of the existence of the graves. 
 
 You will confer a favor by communicating this information 
 to the Headquarters of the G. A. R, if convenient to you. 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 C. W. FOLSOM, 
 
 Bvt. Col. A. Q. M. U. S. V., 
 
 In charge of the Division of Cemeteries, Q. M. G. 0. 
 JAMES T. SMITH, 
 
 Comd'g Dept. G. A. R., 
 
 No. 446 14th Street, Washington, D. C. 
 
 Q. M. GENERAL'S OFFICE, ) 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., May 25, 1868. j" 
 
 SIR: You are respectfully informed that your application 
 to the Secretary of War, with reference to the proposed cere- 
 monies of the G. A. B., at the National Cemeteries on the 
 30th inst., has been referred to this office by the Hon. Secre- 
 tary of War, and Bvt.' Brig.-General J. C. McFerrau, Chief 
 Q. M. Department of Washington, has this day been directed 
 to have the cemeteries under his charge open on that day, and 
 to give all facilities at his disposal to the G. A. R., for their 
 patriotic purpose. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 D. W. EUOKKR, 
 
 Acfg Q. M. General, Bvt. Haj. -General U. S. A. 
 JAMES T. SMITH, 
 
 Comd'g Dept. of the Potomac, G. A. R., 
 
 No. 446 14th -Street, Washington, D. C. 
 
 OFFICE OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS, GROUNDS, AND WORKS, ) 
 WASHINGTON, May 29, 1868. ) 
 
 General N. P. CHIPMAN, 
 
 CKn Com. of Arrangements, Memorial Celebration : 
 GENERAL : In compliance with a resolution of the House of 
 Representatives, of the 27th instant, instructing me to prepare 
 and transmit, so far as practicable, to each of the National 
 Union Soldiers' Cemeteries, selections of flowers from all the 
 public gardens for the purpose of decorating the graves of the
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 29 
 
 brave and honored dead, I have the honor to inform you that 
 all that can be gathered from those sources will be placed at 
 the disposal of the Committee of Arrangements for the very 
 laudable object for which they are intended. In addition to 
 those supplied for the National Cemeteries in the neighborhood 
 of this city, a small box has been sent to each of those at 
 Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, Petersburg, Winchester, and Bal- 
 timore. The several gentlemen in charge of the different Pub- 
 lic Grounds, other than those under my own immediate charge, 
 have kindly aided me by their contributions in assisting so far 
 as in their power towards the very interesting memorial cere- 
 monies which you celebrate to-morrow. Regretting exceedingly 
 that we have not more flowers to offer on this interesting occa- 
 sion, with which to strew the graves of the brave soldiers in 
 the beautiful cemeteries near us, and trusting that the day may 
 prove beautiful and bright, 
 
 I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 N. MlCHLER, 
 
 Brevet Brigadier-General , U. S. A. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, ) 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., May 28, 1868. ) 
 
 The Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements having 
 requested that an opportunity may be given to those employed 
 in the several Executive Departments of the Government to 
 unite with their fellow-citizens in paying a fitting tribute to 
 the memory of the brave men whose remains repose in the 
 National Cemeteries, the President directs that, as far as may 
 be consistent with law and the public interests, persons who 
 desire to participate in the ceremonies be permitted to absent 
 themselves from their duties on Saturday, the 30th instant. 
 By order of the President : 
 
 WM. G. MOORE, Secretary. 
 
 COMMITTEES. 
 
 COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 N. P. CHIPMAN, A. A. HOSMER, RICHARD MIDDLETON, TIMOTHY LPBEY. 
 
 T. R. HAWKINS, JAMES T. SMITH, GEORGK SMOOT, 
 
 HENRY MOORE, A. GRANT, A. FLEETWOOD. 
 
 COMMITTEE ON RECEPTION". 
 
 W. H. BROWN, H. G. OTIS, CLINTON LEWIS, WILSON MILLAR, A. X. SKIP, 
 
 L. B. CUTLER, C. C. ROYCE, D. S. CURTIS, JAY E. LEE, 
 
 A. D. BROCK, C. H. MANNING.
 
 30 
 
 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 COMMITTEE ON DECORATIONS.* 
 The Officers and Managers of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphan Asylum. 
 
 AS FOLLOWS : 
 
 MRS. LYMAN TRCMBULL, President. MRS. COL. E. WEIGHT, 1st. Vice Prest, 
 
 MRS. CAPT. C. V. MORRIS, Secretary. MRS. DR. LINDSLY, 2<l.Vice Presl. 
 
 MRS. McNAiR, Treasurer. 
 
 MANAGERS. 
 
 MRS. GFN. 0. 0. HOWARD, MRS. N. B. JUDD, 
 MRS. COMMODORE POWELL, MRS. DR. A. HALL, 
 MRS. S. BKCK, Miss MARY FOOT, 
 
 MBS. E. GILBERT, Matron. 
 
 MRS. GEO. W. MCLELLAN, 
 MRS. SENATOR RAMSEY. 
 
 Miss E. CAMP, Governess. 
 
 Mrs. Gen'l Grant, 
 Mrs. Gen'l J. A. Logan, 
 Mrs. Gen'l J. A. Garfield, 
 Mrs. Gen'l J. C. Coburn, 
 Miss Blanche Butler, 
 Mrs. Senator Pomeroy, 
 Mrs. Senator Morgan, 
 Mrs. Geo. W. Julian, 
 Mrs. Judge Spaulding, 
 'Mrs. A. T. Kimball, 
 Mrs. Dr. T. T. Hood, 
 Mrs. G. Wiley Wells, 
 Mrs. Capt. Moore, 
 Mrs. Judith Plummer, 
 Mrs. B. A. Swann, 
 Mrs. D. C. Forney, 
 Miss Charlotte Taylor, 
 Mrs. Senator Wade, 
 Mrs. Senator Harlan, 
 Miss Lizzie Pratt, 
 Miss M. A. S. Council, 
 Miss Mary McLellan, 
 
 Comrades 
 H. A. Myers, 
 
 Lemon, 
 
 J. H. Stine, 
 G. Wiley Wells, 
 J. W. Lithgow, 
 R. F. Ray, 
 Charles Wyman, 
 
 Sullivan, 
 
 Zabina Ellis, 
 
 TO THESE ARE ADDED 
 
 The Misses Doolittle, 
 Mrs. Gen'l N. P. Chipman, 
 Miss Minnie Chandler, 
 Mrs. Gen'l Hancock, 
 Mrs. Gen'l A. F. Stevens, 
 Mrs. J. Benton, 
 Miss Merrill, 
 Mrs. Admiral Radford, 
 Mrs. Gen'l Dent, 
 Mrs. Dr. Sunderland, 
 Mrs. Z. C. Robbins, 
 Mrs. A. A. Hosmer, 
 Mrs. T. E. Stewart, 
 Mrs. U. H. Painter, 
 Mrs. Frank Moore, 
 Miss Boutwell, 
 Mrs. Charles Sherrill, 
 Mrs. Gen'l Michler, 
 Mrs. Gen'l T. Ewing, 
 Miss Mary Harlan, 
 The Misses Marvin, 
 Mrs. Senator Grimes, 
 Mrs. Senator Corbett, 
 
 COMMITTEE ON GROUNDS.* 
 
 Miss Frelinghuysen, 
 Mrs. Col. E. Totten, 
 Mrs. Col. Robinson, 
 Mrs. Gen'l Zeilin, 
 Mrs. Bridge', 
 Mrs, J. V. L. Pruyn, 
 Mrs. F. A. Dick, 
 Mrs. Mayor Wallach, 
 Mrs. Admiral Lee, 
 Miss Chase, 
 Miss Matthews, 
 Mrs. Mary E. Hill, 
 Mrs. Crounse, 
 Miss Kinzie, 
 Mrs. Bigelow, 
 Timothy Lubey, 
 C. W.Taylor, 
 S. R. Harrington, 
 Newton Ferree, 
 T. F. Gatchel, 
 T. A. Stone, 
 J. 0. P. Burnside. 
 
 Comrades 
 C. S. Hatch, 
 
 Kartell, 
 
 Charles R. Douglass, 
 M. D. Overacker, 
 Jas. Green, 
 Geo. Dixon, 
 
 Bassore, 
 
 A. H. F. Hain, 
 J. Smith, 
 
 Comrades 
 
 Brown, 
 
 Cooper, 
 
 B. A. Swann, 
 
 Junifer, 
 
 John Reeves, 
 
 Hudson, 
 
 L. Vanderpool, 
 J. Tines. 
 
 COMMITTEK TO RAISE FUNDS.* 
 J. P. Lothrop, C. V. Petteys, W. T. Collins, 
 
 * There were many ladies whose names are not here given who rendered valuable 
 assistance, for which the Committee feel grateful. 
 
 There may be some names omitted by mistake from the several Committees 
 iiimttees are not given, as the names are mislaid, but it is proper to say 
 that comrades and friends rendered all needed assistance, whether on Committees or 
 not, and the success of the occasion is largely due to them.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 31 
 
 J. W. Lithgow, G. Willey Wells, Z. Ellis, 
 
 J. H. Stria, Allen Wright, Frank Wyman, 
 
 A. P. Caton, C. C. Parker, N. B. Fithian, 
 
 Newtcm Ferrer, Henry Moore, Wm, DeHolt, 
 
 G. W. rfmoot, G. W. Randall, Charles T. Wyman. 
 Richard F. Ray, 
 
 AT CuLPErPER, YlKGINIA. 
 
 Tlie day was observed here by two ex-soldiers of the repub- 
 lic and the loyal colored people of the place. At 12 M. the 
 colored school of Mrs. A. P. MacNulty (formerly of Scarboro, 
 Maine) were formed in twos to the number of one hundred, and 
 with bouquets and wreaths of beautiful flowers proceeded in 
 good order, and with solemn pace, to the beautiful United 
 States Cemetery, where repose the remains of about two thou- 
 sand of the gallant defenders of the nation's honor, and there 
 those sable loyalists with two white United States soldiers, one 
 of whom was accompanied by his wife, son, and mother, gath- 
 ered around the staff from which floated gracefully and proudly 
 the emblem of our nationality. 
 
 It was a day well befitting the occasion, and all seemed, to 
 realize the tender yet sacred and cheerful duties they were 
 about to perform. The ceremonies here commenced by a 
 prayer from the Rev. H. Blair, the colored Baptist clergyman 
 of this place, and was followed by Mrs. A. P. MaclSTulty, who 
 read a beautiful poem selected from Mrs. Browning's book, en- 
 titled " Poems of the Intellect and Affection," the selection be- 
 ing " He giveth his beloved sleep," which was read with much 
 feeling and effect. Captain "W. A. MacNulty, late of the Uni- 
 ted States Volunteers, orator of the day, then delivered the 
 following appropriate address : 
 
 COMRADES AND FRIENDS : We have assembled here to-day to 
 perform a sad, yet sacred, and, I trust, a cheerful duty. Sad 
 because we mourn with those who mourn to-day the loss of those 
 who sleep so well within this beautiful enclosure. We are here 
 to take the places of absent friends and the loved ones of the 
 dear departed, therefore it should be, and is, a sacred duty, and 
 I trust it will be well and cheerfully performed. Let us deco- 
 rate the humble mounds of these, the nation's benefactors, with 
 beautiful spring flowers, which show at once our respect and 
 tender affection.
 
 32 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 These brave men left home and all that was dear to tliem, 
 wife, children, father, mother, sisters, and brothers, breaking all 
 the ti-ii'i- affection that bound them to home, and went 
 
 forth and did battle and died that this nation and its free insti- 
 tutions might live. Perform your duties here to-day, and by 
 your act* endeavor to keep green the memories of the heroic 
 dead, and the dear friends of these loved and cherished ones 
 will weep tears of gratitude when they shall hear of your ten- 
 der care and devotion for those whose heroic deeds have resulted 
 in your liberation irom bondage and cruel oppression. 
 
 On the left-hand side are to be found the names of those 
 who sleep beneath ; those who are known according to the in- 
 scription above their heads. Their names are not only recorded 
 upon yonder humble board, but are also recorded in the hearts 
 of those who love the cause for which they fought and died. 
 The names and gallant deeds of those brave men will be 
 brought down with enduring lustre, to future generations, when 
 you and 1 shall sleep beneath the silent tomb. And while ten- 
 derly performing your sacred duties, remember also the un- 
 known who lie here on your right. Ah ! how sad the thoughts 
 that well up from our hearts and almost choke our utterance as 
 we think of thousands of patriots who fill unknown graves. 
 More than one-half that are interred here are unknown ! No 
 friends are here to-day to call by name those noble patriots, and 
 we fancy we hear the poor widow and fatherless children, when 
 asked where are the remains of the loved one, say, "unknown, 
 unknown." We think also of the sadness that to-day fills the 
 hearts of many a household throughout the North as they think 
 of the loved ones who fill unknown graves. But the names of 
 those who wifh patriotic zeal went forth to battle for the right, 
 are recorded not only in the archives of their several States, but 
 in the hearts of all true patriots throughout this Republic ; and 
 their names are known, though the locality of their graves may 
 not be pointed out ; and the memories of those who never re- 
 turned will ever be preserved by a grateful people. Decorate 
 their graves with tender care and" aifection, and send up a 
 prayer that their friends may all meet them in that bright 
 world where all is peace. 
 
 Then followed the decoration of the graves. After singing 
 "Brothers, will you meet us," and the "Star-Spangled Ban- 
 ner," the party re-formed and returned to their place of meet- 
 ing, and were there dismissed.* 
 
 * This account was communicated to the Maine Press, by a ONE-ARMED YANKEE.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 33 
 
 AT WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA. 
 
 The following account of the ceremonies at Winchester waa 
 prepared by Charles H. Tiepel, Hospital Steward of the United 
 States army : 
 
 Being the only member of our organization here, I had to 
 seek aid in fulfilling G. O. No. 11 in a proper manner. Mr. 
 Cra^ne, a former (N. H.) soldier, and now editor of the ^Win- 
 chester Journal, and his patriotic lady, fully entered in the 
 spirit of the object, and the latter, especially, worked hard to 
 make the undertaking successful. Several meetings were held, 
 and flowers being very scarce it was resolved to make wreaths 
 of pine, cedar, and boxwood. Colonel Franklin, commanding 
 this place, kindly gave us a team, and the soldiers helped, to 
 their full ability, in hauling the material and making the 
 wreaths. A room was taken at the courthouse, and for a week 
 a number of ladies, helped by the soldiers, would daily sit and 
 make wreaths. Another party was at my house, and by Satur- 
 day morning we had about 1,200 wreaths made, besides large 
 streamers for the flag-pole of the cemetery and for the gate. 
 The latter was especially decorated with large flags and a num- 
 ber of small ones (for which we had to send to Baltimore, there 
 being none for sale here). 
 
 The weather, which for a week had been very bad, changed 
 on Saturday night, and the day was beautiful, to the great dis- 
 appointment of the rebels, who had predicted us a bad day. 
 
 On Saturday morning, Lieut. Cluley, 2d Inf., engaged, at 
 his own expense, the Winchester Band (partly composed of 
 rebel soldiers), and, at 2 p. M., the troops (Co. H, 21st Inf.), in 
 full uniform and side arms, preceded by the band, and followed 
 by all the Union people of the town, carrying wreaths, flowers, 
 and some choice bouquets, marched to the cemetery. 
 
 Arrived here, the exercises were opened with a prayer by 
 the Kev. Mr. Ward, of the M. E. Church North, followed by a 
 hymn (with melodeon accompaniment) sung by the choir of said 
 church. Mr. Crane then made a short address. After a few 
 explanatory remarks about the G. A. E-., he read G. O. No. 11, 
 and at my request, thanked the loyal people of Winchester, in 
 the name of the G. A., for their etforts to make this ceremony 
 a success, and urged them not to forget our fallen heroes in 
 future, but to renew this offering every year. He then request- 
 ed the soldiers to hand the wreaths (which had previously been 
 taken to the cemetery) to the ladies, who would hang them on 
 the head-boards of the graves, while the band played several 
 patriotic airs. When all the wreaths were distributed, the dox- 
 3
 
 34 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 ology was sung, and we went home, much pleased with our un- 
 dertaking. 
 
 The ceremony was a complete success, and iar exceeded our 
 most sanguine hopes. The rebels had predicted that perhaps a 
 dozen people would go to the cemetery, but there seemed to be 
 a general determination of the loyal people to show the rebels 
 their strength and number. The crowd was so great that every- 
 body was astonished, and expressed their surprise that t^re 
 really are so many hundred of good and loyal people in this 
 town. 
 
 Thus, not only was the letter and spirit of General Logan's 
 order fulfilled, but it was most pleasing to all the Union people, 
 because it was the first "social" (if I may so style it) gathering 
 of the loyal people of this town ; and besides showing us " who 
 is who," it will greatly tend to remove many little previous 
 jealousies, etc., and bring them closer together for the further- 
 ance of the Union cause. 
 
 AT YORKTOWN, VIRGINIA. 
 
 GENERAL : I have the honor to report that proper respect 
 was paid at the " U. S. National Cemetery " at this place, on 
 Saturday, May 30th, 1868, in accordance with your orders. 
 
 Owing to the small number of inhabitants in this neighbor- 
 hood, our gathering was not as large as I would have wished, 
 but those that are here, vied with each other in paying honor 
 to the departed heroes ; most particularly the ladies, of whom 
 I may specially mention Mrs. S. A. Bent, Mrs. Dr. E. R. Carey, 
 Mrs. Capt. Rogers, Mrs. I. L. "Waterman, and Mrs. Cohen, who, 
 with Mrs. T. L. Alston, added their very bountiful offerings to 
 the nearly sixteen hundred fallen, whose bones lie mouldering 
 here. 
 
 I have the honor to be, General, very respectfully, your 
 obedient servant, 
 
 THOS. L. ALSTON. 
 
 1st Lt. Co. " A " 21ri U. S. /., and Bvt. Capt. U. 8. A. 
 Commanding Detachment. 
 
 Comrade G. A. B. B. 3 M. 
 Maj.-Gen'l JOHN A. LOGAN, 
 Com'd'r-in-Chief G. A. R., 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 AT WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA. 
 
 In compliance with General Orders issued from Headquar- 
 ters at Washington City, Post No. 4, Department of West
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 35 
 
 Virginia, G. A. R., decorated the graves of soldiers who fell 
 in defence of liberty and were buried in the several cemeteries 
 in and near the city of Wheeling. The demonstration was a 
 successful one in every respect. Almost the entire population 
 of the city, friends as well as foes, turned out, and the old fires 
 of patriotism that burned so brightly during the war, were re- 
 lit and shone forth with added brilliancy. 
 
 At 3 o'clock P. M., a detachment of the Grand Army, for- 
 merly members of Capt. Carlin's Battery of Light Artillery, 
 commenced firing minute guns from the hill near Mount Wood 
 Cemetery, known as " King's Flat," which a few years since 
 was given to the State by Capt. John McClure, Jr., in order 
 that a monument to West Virginia soldiers might be erected 
 thereon. At this place the stand for the speakers was erected. 
 The firing continued until' the arrival of the procession, when 
 the gun was withdrawn to make room. 
 
 The procession was nearly half a mile in length, and was 
 composed of Vass' Brass Band ; battle and regimental flags 
 of West Virginia regiments, tattered and torn with the shot 
 and shell of many a hard conflict through which they had been 
 bravely -borne ; Comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic 
 West Virginia soldiers wearing the elegant medals presented 
 to them by the State, and all displaying white satin badges 
 bearing the conspicuous letters, " G. A. ~R. ; " soldiers not mem- 
 bers of the G. A. R. ; officers of the State Government and the 
 Legislature ; the Mayor, and City Council [not many out] ; 
 Clayton's Drum Corps ; Good Templars, and citizens generally, 
 on foot, on horseback, and in carriages. After forming on 
 Fourth street, the right resting on Monroe, the column moved 
 by way of Monroe, Market, Union, Maine, and Washington 
 streets, and the National 'Road, to the level spot of ground 
 previously mentioned, where the stand had been erected. It 
 was here halted by the Marshal, Gen. B. F. Kelley, and formed, 
 the band playing a lively air in the meantime. 
 
 The stand, which was appropriately draped with regimental 
 and other flags, was occupied by the orators of the occasion, 
 Rev. W. M. Mullenix, of the M. E. Church ; Hon. Benjamin 
 Stanton, of the city ; His Excellency, Gov. Boreman ; and
 
 36 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Attorney-General Melvin (member of the G. A. K.) ; also, 
 his Honor, the Mayor of the City; Hon's. Stevenson and 
 McWhorter, President of the Senate and Speaker of the 
 House, respectively ; Kev. J. T. M'Clure, of the United Pres- 
 byterian Chnrch ; Rev. Mr, Clark, of the M. E. Church ; Capt. 
 Carlin, Commander of Post No. 4, Department of W. Va., G. 
 A. R., and others of less note. 
 
 Everything being ready, a fervent prayer was offered up 
 by Rev. Mr. M'Clure. Captain Carlin then, in a few sentences, 
 unpretending but directly to the point, explained the object of 
 the celebration, and concluded by introducing the Rev. W. M. 
 Mullenix, of the M. E. Church, who came forward and said : 
 
 Pericles, whose name is inseparably associated with all that 
 is illustrious in eloquence and legislation, in his celebrated 
 oration over the Athenian soldiers who had fallen in the Pelo- 
 ponessian war, affirmed it to be "a debt of justice to pay 
 superior honors to those who had devoted their lives in fight- 
 ing for their country." Inspired by this sentiment, we are 
 assembled to-day to honor the memory of the gallant men 
 who fell in the defense of the Republic, and who now sleep in 
 yonder sacred depository of the dead. 
 
 Their magnificent public services, and the splendid example 
 of patriotism which they displayed, entitle them not merely to 
 these ephemeral decorations, and to our poor tribute of praise, 
 but to the gratitude of every friend of human freedom in all 
 the world. Through the long and fearful tempest which threat- 
 ened the subversion of our beautiful federation and the over- 
 throw of our homes and our altars, these men who now repose 
 in serene graves abandoned the endearments of domestic life, 
 the rewards of devotion to business, and the cherished privileges 
 of the sanctuary of religion to stand, like a wall of adamant, 
 between us and the foe. They paused at no sacrifice, and hesi- 
 tated at no peril, that the inestimable boon of republican lib- 
 erty might be preserved and perpetuated in the earth. They 
 were types of a noble and chivalrous manhood, almost without 
 a parallel in human history. Through severe and unexpected 
 reverses, sad and unlooked-for defections, unfortunate and un- 
 generous rivalries even in the face of the enemy, and long and 
 almost hopeless campaigns, they manifested a courage, a self- 
 forgetfulness, and a devotion to their country which was never 
 equalled in Grecian or Roman annals. 
 
 The peerless leader of the American people in our colonial 
 struggle for independence, he who towered above all the men
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 37 
 
 of his time in personal character, in elevation of mind, an 
 the splendor of his public services, said, when he receive( 
 sword of Lord Cornwallis, to his heroic and jubilant a.^y, 
 " Don't shout over a fallen foe. Let future generations do our 
 shouting for us." Washington, and all whom he led to the 
 fray, are in the dust, but a grateful Republic holds him and 
 them in grateful remembrance. These heroic men, who have 
 laid down their arms forever, and now sleep the sleep which 
 shall only be broken by the reveille of the resurrection, will be 
 honored while the nation endures or liberty has an advocate in 
 all the world. 
 
 Yonder our braves are at rest. In that ground, hallowed as 
 the abode of the cherished dead, their bodies repose, but their 
 fame is not buried. The deeds which made them immortal ; 
 the fields over which they rang out the Anglo Saxon battle- 
 cry, and which were consecrated by their blood ; and the coun- 
 try's records, where their names and services are enshrined, 
 cannot be destroyed forever. 
 
 " On fame's eternal camping ground 
 
 Their silent tents are spread, 
 Wliile glory guards with solemn round 
 The bivouac of the dead." 
 
 In London, the commercial metropolis of the world, is a mag- 
 nificent structure dedicated to Christians. In a remote corner 
 of that colossal edifice, is a plain tablet, bearing this inscrip- 
 tion : " Beneath lies Christopher "Wren, the architect of this 
 church and city, who lived more than ninety years, not for him- 
 self alone, but for the public ; would you see his monument, 
 look around." No sculptured marble or polished brass rises to 
 perpetuate their fame and transmit the story of their valor to 
 those who are to come after us. Would you see their monu- 
 ment, a monument magnificent and imperishable look around. 
 It is the great Republic which they preserved and baptised with 
 heroic blood. 
 
 The Hon. Mr. Stanton was next introduced, and delivered a 
 very appropriate and beautiful speech, saying the occasion for 
 this assemblage was an eminently proper and sufficient one, and 
 his whole heart was in it. He had had no leisure to prepare for 
 it, but under such circumstances as the present it was perhaps 
 better that no preparation should be made, as then the untu- 
 tored feelings of the heart would be more likely to find their 
 way to expression. He spoke feelingly and proudly of the, 
 soldiers who had fought in the war. They were not men of^ 
 such stuff as armies are usually composed of, but patriots who 
 took their lives in their hands and went forth to do utmost bat- 
 
 462156
 
 88 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 tie for the right that they and those who. succeeded 
 uiiirht enjoy the inestimable blessing of liberty. Every 
 
 them 
 
 enjoy the inestimable blessing of liberty, .fcvery^man 
 who knew anything, knew that the rank and file of the Union 
 army did not enter it for the sake of position or profit, but be- 
 cjiiiK- their country was threatened with overthrow. A gigantic 
 rebellion seeking the destruction of the Government and the 
 it principles upon which it is based, every man felt that he 
 did but perform a most sacred duty in giving no rest to his feet 
 until that rebellion was crushed out. The very large attendance 
 which he s;iw before him, furnished indisputable evidence that 
 patriotism still lived and the course of these men was under- 
 stood and approved. But the full force of their deeds could 
 not be appreciated now. The generations to come, enjoying 
 the full results of what they have done, will look upon them 
 with eyes different from ours. They have worked a mighty 
 revolution, a complete change in the whole social condition of -a 
 great people, and the undying regard that posterity shall have 
 for them will constitute their most fitting monument. Looking 
 around, the speaker said it seemed as though this spot had been 
 created for the express purpose of commemorating those who 
 had fallen in the field. Here was West Virginia, the child of 
 revolution, born at the beginning of war, rocked in the tempest 
 of battle, and grown strong from the human blood which had 
 drenched her soil. Here was the spot on which a State was to 
 erect a monument to the fame of her dead heroes. These hon- 
 ors, then, were not only fitting, but a necessary, patriotic duty. 
 They would make stronger the memory of after days which is 
 one of the tributes humanity pays to those who have died in 
 their country's defence ; and thus, like Ireland's shamrock, which 
 though underground, will flourish still, their names and fame 
 would remain ever green. 
 
 Gov. Boreman spoke next, and said lie would not detain the 
 assembly with any extended remarks, but would endeavor to 
 confine himself within the range of local affairs. He had been 
 pleased to learn, a few days since, that it was proposed to deco- 
 rate the graves of soldiers buried in the cemeteries of the city. 
 This was no idle ceremony. This ceremony was not simply for 
 the purpose of strewing flowers upon the graves of the few 
 soldiers buried here, but to do honor to their memories and 
 those of the three hundred thousand men whose bodies lie 
 bleaching on a hundred battle-fields ; who died in hospital of 
 di.-rase and under the slow torture of mortal wounds received 
 from shot and shell ; and who died that most cruel death, of 
 starvation in the rebel prison-pens of the South. But these 
 men died not in vain. When the first gun was fired from Fort
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 39 
 
 Sumter at rlie unarmed Star of the "West, the people of Amer 
 ica were aghast, but, thank God ! only for a moment. Soon 
 the nation rallied its hidden strength. These men, and others, 
 their surviving companions, shouldered their muskets and with 
 varying success swept, back the strong tide of secession, until 
 the monster was overthrown and the eternal principle of free- 
 dom firmly established. We are here to perform a duty to 
 these men, and in strewing flowers over their graves we but 
 show our appreciation of those who died in defence of their 
 country ; who died in the overthrow of that pestilent doctrine 
 which originated in South Carolina, that a minority of slave- 
 holders had a right to control the Government for their own 
 selfish ends so long as it pleased them so to do. That heresy, 
 that pestilent doctrine of State's rights, was sought to be im- 
 posed upon this people in the interests of the institution of 
 human slavery which has cursed this country ; in the interests 
 of the doctrine, that though a minority, the slaveholders of the 
 South had the right to rule the country. We are here to-day 
 to rejoice in the fact that the institution in whose interests the 
 rebellion was waged, has now gone down. The ceremonies 
 of the present occasion were to keep green in mind the fame 
 of the gallant men who helped to bring about this state of 
 things, and it would be as little as could be done for a grateful 
 people to corne back to their graves year after year and pay 
 annual honor to their memories. 
 
 The speaker then gave a history of the contemplated monu- 
 ment to West Virginia soldiers, and said that a few years since 
 we had pledged ourselves to erect this monument, and the 
 corner-stone had been laid, but nothing further had been done 
 since. It should have been completed by this time, and he was 
 here to ask every man who held a stake in the welfare of his 
 country to use his individual efforts to have the tardy honor 
 done. [Cries of " We'll do it." " We'll do it."] 
 
 The concluding address was made by Attorney-General 
 Melvin, who, being a member of the Grand Army, entered 
 into some details concerning the decoration of soldiers' graves 
 during the present year, and the purpose of the organization 
 with regard to them in the future. Addressing his " com- 
 rades " of the Grand Army and the rest who participated in 
 the ceremonies of the occasion, he said : 
 
 By orders from the headquarters of our organization, the 
 30th of May of the present year was designated as a day for 
 decorating the graves of those who, during the rebellion^ fell
 
 40 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 in defense of the nation's life. The appropriateness of the 
 c, niih.ny was recognized by patriots everywhere. Thousands 
 of our comrades, and many thousands of our friends, took an 
 active part in the proceedings that marked that day. Some 
 of the posts, however, ours among the number, found it incon- 
 venient to observe the recommendation at the designated time, 
 and other days were in consequence named instead ; and now, 
 to-day, Post No. 4, Department of West Virginia, has been 
 called together to emulate the example set us by those who 
 have already acted in this behalf. 
 
 You join with me, comrades and friends^ in believing that 
 the ceremony in which we are engaged is eminently fitting and 
 appropriate. In all the ages which possess a history we read 
 of loving hearts, with tender hands, planting flowers upon the 
 graves of dear ones gone from earth. Flowers have ever 
 formed the wreath that encircled the brow of the living hero 
 whose deeds shed lustre on his country's name ; and flowers 
 have ever gurlanded the monument erected by a grateful peo- 
 ple to mark his resting-place. And here we meet to honor and 
 freshen the memories of those who in private life were our 
 loved and respected associates ; and who, in the storm of war, 
 were the defenders of a nation in peril. We meet to deck the 
 graves of Thoburn and of Bier, comrades of some of us in the 
 office and in the tent, and whose lives went out through wounds 
 received on tljat gray October morning when two powerful 
 armies contended with varying success for the possession of the 
 Valley of the Shenandoah ; these noble souls, with others who 
 served in the front ranks of the armies of the nation and found 
 their list camping ground in this city of the dead, merit and 
 shall receive the incense of flowers offered by surviving friends. 
 
 This year witnesses the inauguration of these honors to the 
 dead, and it has been a successful inauguration. The interest 
 has not been confined to posts, or even to the soldiers who have 
 returned to peaceful pursuits and are again simple citizens of 
 the Republic, but everywhere patriotic men and fair women 
 have not only bestowed kindly thoughts and words, but have 
 assisted with their own hands in the work of love. This hearty 
 compliance on the part of the members of our order, and the 
 earnest cooperation of those not members, have received a 
 graceful recognition from Congress, and have determined the 
 Command er-in-Chief of our order to recommend to the next 
 Grand Encampment, that a certain day be set apart in each 
 year, and for all time, as a grand national memorial day. 
 
 And this is proper. Let the 30th day of May, in each re- 
 curring year, be devoted throughout the land to the perpetua-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 41 
 
 tion of the memories of the three hundred thousand men who 
 died for their country, and let their surviving companions, 
 cheered by the kindly looks, and aided by the willing hands 
 of those fair friends who smile upon our labors, join in the 
 ceremonies befitting the occasion ; and in this way we will be 
 reminded of the sacrifices made by the heroic dead, and of 
 the dangers to the nation's life which their services assisted BO 
 greatly to avert. 
 
 The addresses having been concluded, a benediction was 
 pronounced by Rev. Mr. Clarke, of the M. E. Church, and the 
 procession then marched to the cemetery. Upon entering the 
 gate the band commenced playing a dirge. The march was 
 conducted by the winding roads leading through the enclosure 
 until the top of the hill was reached, where a halt was ordered 
 and parties of the G. A. R. distributed themselves through the 
 grounds to decorate the graves marked with small flags. The 
 utmost care had been used by the committee appointed for the 
 purpose, to mark all the graves of soldiers, and, we believe, 
 there was but one missed, and that one because no person 
 could be found to indicate it. In most cases friends and rela- 
 tives had, in advance of the members of the Grand Army, 
 placed wreaths and bouquets upon the graves ; and we may 
 mention here that the grave of Colonel Thoburn was, with a 
 happy appropriateness, decorate'd with a wreath of flowers and 
 a cross of moss, gathered from the farm in Belmont county, 
 Ohio, where he was born and bred. And while the graves in 
 Mount Wood were being thus attended to, detachments of 
 the Grand Army, who had been sent to other cemeteries, were 
 decorating the graves of the soldiers buried in them. 
 
 The ceremonies having been completed, the bugle sounded 
 the recall, and the procession reforming, marched back to the 
 city. 
 
 Thus ended a demonstration of regard for those who fell 
 during the war, which will live long in the memories of those 
 who witnessed it, and in the memories of those who are to 
 come after them. Wheeling Intelligencer, July 13, 1868. 
 
 IN CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 In this county nearly every town had its gathering for the
 
 42 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 purpose of strewing with flowers the graves of those patriotic 
 men who gave their lives for their country. In the immediate 
 vicinity of Keene this duty was performed by delegations from 
 Post 4, G. A. R., aided by the citizens. At Marlboro' a pro- 
 cession' was formed and marched to the cemetery, where a 
 prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Dexter, who also made an 
 appropriate address. Flowers were very liberally contributed 
 by the citizens, and the graves appropriately decorated. The 
 arrangements were under the control of Col. Nelson Converse. 
 At Roxbury the arrangements were in charge of Geo. W. Nye. 
 The services commenced with a prayer by the Rev. Mr. Col- 
 burn, who also delivered a short address. Remarks were also 
 made by Seth Kingsbury, Col. Converse, and others, after 
 which the graves were tastefully decorated. 
 
 At Surry, where the arrangements were in charge of Capt. 
 John W. Sturtevant, a prayer was made by Rev. Win. L. Karr, 
 of Keene, and the graves decorated by the committee from the 
 Post. A large number of the citizens were present at the 
 cemetery, and aided in the decoration. The cemetery near 
 Mr. Woodward's, in Surry, was also visited by the committee. 
 Appropriate services were held, and the grave of John G. 
 Darling decorated. 
 
 A committee from the Post, consisting of Horace Starkey, 
 Mr. Foster, and L. "W. Starkey, visited Swansea Centre. On 
 their arrival they found many of the citizens assembled in the 
 cemetery. Prayer was offered by the Rev. Mr. Roberts, who 
 also made a short address, after which the graves were deco- 
 rated. In this place the contribution of flowers was large. 
 The same committee also visited the village of "West Swansea, 
 and decorated the graves of soldiers buried in the cemetery at 
 that place. 
 
 At Keene, the ceremonies were under the control of the 
 Post. A procession was formed at 3 p. M. near the head- 
 quarters of the Post, and, preceded by the Keene Brass Band, 
 marched directly to the new cemetery. The order of the pro- 
 cession was as follows : 1st, Band ; 2d, Post formed as a com- 
 pany of infantry ; 3d, soldiers and sailors not members ; 4th, 
 a car decorated with festoons of flowers, wreaths, crosses, and
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 43 
 
 bouquets, drawn by a span of white horses ; 5th, a carriage 
 containing the chaplain and orator of the day ; 6th, the Board 
 of Engineers ; 7th, the Deluge Engine Company ; 8th, Nep- 
 tune Engine Company ; 9th, Niagara Company ; 10th, Hook 
 and Ladder Company ; llth, schools ; 12th, citizens on foot ; 
 13th, citizens in carriages. The procession reached the new 
 cemetery at 3.30 p. M., when the following were the exercises : 
 Prayer from Rev. Dr. Barstow ; remarks from the acting com- 
 mandant of the Post, Capt. S. A. Carter, who spoke as follows : 
 
 COMRADES OF THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, AND FEL- 
 LOW-CITIZENS OF KEENE : The organization known as the Grand 
 Army of the Republic has assembled here to-day, in pursu- 
 ance to orders from our Commander-in-Chief, to give renewed 
 expressions of our respect to the memory of our deceased as- 
 sociates and comrades, our former companions in arms, and 
 to tender anew to their living representatives our sympathy 
 for them in their bereavement. It is at once a sad and a 
 pleasant duty which we are called upon to perform ; sad, when 
 we recall to our minds those scenes of suffering through which 
 those of our companions, whose memory we have this day as- 
 sembled to honor, have passed ; and pleasant, as we reflect upon 
 the many acts of kindness we have experienced at their hands 
 while in camp, upon the march, and upon the field of battle ; 
 and now we gladly avail ourselves of this opportunity to pay 
 this tribute of respect to their memories. 
 
 As we stand here in this silent city of the dead, it is not 
 difficult to recall with vividness the dark days and hours of 
 rebellion ; the lonely picket post in the immediate presence of 
 the enemy, when every sense seemed taxed to the utmost in 
 the discharge of duty ; the reconnoissance, when picking your 
 way carefully over unknown ground, endeavoring to develop 
 the position and strength of the enemy ; the skirmish, when, 
 taking advantage of every cover, you advanced bravely, not 
 knowing but that every bush, ditch, and fence concealed an 
 enemy little caring whether it did or not, so fully determined 
 were you to drive him before you ; the general engagement, 
 the shriek of shells, the whistling bullets, the stern voice of 
 command, the groans of wounded and dying comrades, the 
 missiles of death falling thick and fast around you ; all these 
 scenes you have participated in, in common with those whose 
 mortal remains lie buried here ; your thoughts meanwhile in- 
 stinctively turning to your homes and the loved ones there. 
 How vividly this occasion brings those scenes again before us,
 
 44 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 and we seem to be living again in the midst of those familiar 
 sights and sounds. 
 
 I Jut onr memories of those by-gone days and years are not 
 all of this nature. There were times when we could be mirth- 
 ful, and the excitement of the moment almost caused us to for- 
 get tin- u-rrible uncertainties that were hanging over us. I 
 need not mention the eagerness with which we waited and 
 watched for, nor the pleasure with which we received, letters 
 from our friends at home, and those substantial tokens of re- 
 membrance the delicacies and luxuries prepared and sent to 
 us by the same kind hands that are to-day assisting us in the 
 decoration of these graves. These recollections are the bright 
 spots in our experience, to which we refer with the greatest 
 satisfaction ; and I assure you, kind friends of the soldier, that 
 your kindness and liberality were duly appreciated, and will 
 never be forgotten. 
 
 For the soldier there was no duty more sacred than that of 
 giving a decent burial to a slain comrade. It was a solemn 
 duty, which every soldier felt as a sacred obligation resting 
 upon him to perform ; and after an engagement, the first duty 
 after caring for the wounded was the burial of the dead. Ten- 
 derly they were laid in their narrow chamber, or, if circum- 
 stances required it, placed side by side in the deep trenches, 
 and, when possible, the hand of friendship raised a narrow 
 board over the body, giving the name and regiment of the 
 sleeper. 
 
 Thousands of graves there are on the battle-fields of the 
 South to-day, with probably not even a mound of earth to 
 mark the spot, but the memory of each one of the occupants 
 still lives in some household. A green spot is kept for them 
 in the heart of some wife, mother, sister, or daughter, and we 
 would add our humble testimonial of our appreciation of the 
 services of all such as are sleeping in their unknown graves. 
 
 And now, permit me, in behalf of my comrades, to thank 
 one and all, both individuals and organizations, who have ren- 
 dered us such valuable assistance in the observance of this day. 
 
 In concluding this introduction to the exercises of the hour, 
 I cannot better inform you of our purposes than to quote from 
 the order of our Commander-in-Chief, recommending this com- 
 memorative service : 
 
 " We should guard the graves of our comrades with sacred 
 vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the 
 nation can contribute to their adornment and security, is but 
 a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no 
 wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed ground. Let pleas-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 45 
 
 ant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and 
 fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no 
 ravages of time, testify to this or the coming generations, that 
 we have forgotten, as a people, the cost of a free and undivided 
 Republic. If other eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and 
 other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as 
 long as the light and warmth of life remain to UB. 
 
 " Let us, then, gather around their sacred remains and gar- 
 land the passionless mounds above them with the choicest 
 flowers of spring-time. Let us raise above them the dear old 
 flag they saved from dishonor. Let us, in this solemn presence, 
 renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left 
 among us as a sacred charge upon a nation's gratitude the 
 soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan." 
 
 As Capt. Carter concluded, the band played a dirge, aftei 
 which Rev. "W. O. White * delivered the following address : 
 
 SOLDIERS OF THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, AND FEL- 
 LOW-TOWNSMEN : We will not lament the threatening rain-drops 
 which already begin to fall. It is fit that these darkening skies 
 should but summon us forth the more zealously to honor the 
 memory of those who, while perilling their lives for us, were 
 held back from their great task, neither by piercing cold nor 
 angry tempests. 
 
 Such an hour as this brings once more to our view the form 
 and countenance of him who spoke seven years ago at Wash- 
 ington, of "The mystic chords of memory stretching from 
 every battle-field and patriot grave to every living heart and 
 hearth-stone over this broad land." How deeply would his 
 loving soul have been moved to-day by the knowledge that the 
 mystic chords of gratitude were vibrating in harmony with 
 those of memory, and that hands which yesterday, over a vast 
 lengthening belt of territory, were dropping the seed-corn into 
 the opening furrows, were -to-day laden with flowers testifying 
 of the first promise of a harvest brighter and better that what 
 we gather into barns, that harvest of freedom already ripening 
 from a blood-stained earth. 
 
 What brings us to this spot ? No one can truly say that 
 these fathers and mothers, these troops of children, and among 
 them all persons who have sworn allegiance to the Prince of 
 Peace, are all here, simply to magnify the glories of war, still less 
 to countenance those atrocities which the scroll of history re- 
 cords as being so often inseparable from wars of conquest or 
 
 * Pastor of the " Keene " Congregational Unitarian Church.
 
 46 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 battles fomented by mere personal ambition. We come in sym- 
 pathy with the spirit which actuated those brave men whose 
 dust lies here, or abides near the scene of their dauntless con- 
 flict. You cannot belie their memory more effectually than by 
 whispering the thought that they left their peaceful homes be- 
 cause they were idolaters, of military glory, carried away by 
 the insane thirst for war. How gentle, how courteous, how pa- 
 tient, how self-possessed some among them were, we all know, 
 full well. The last men you would have picked out as likely to 
 plnnge into battle, yet the first to go, because conscience impelled 
 them and not passion, love of country, not the eagerness tor ad- 
 venture. 
 
 Once more the sound of prayer greets our ears, as memory 
 brings back one regiment waiting devoutly upon the God of bat- 
 
 . while the cars stand ready to hurry them from our quiet 
 streets to their scene of preparation for the arena of strife. We 
 enter those cars with those young men fresh from the farm or 
 the workshop. What open countenances ! What cheerful cour- 
 age and trustful hope seemed to animate them ! How one won- 
 dered that our own little county could have held within its 
 scattered homes such a band of heroes. Again, as the whitening 
 groves on the outskirts of our village reveal the gathering, in 
 the late autumn, of a different regiment, we enter the tents, we 
 talk with the men ; we find them utterly unlike all that imagin- 
 ation depicts to us as associated with the reckless brutality of 
 the soldiery of other days and other lands. 
 
 The men who thus went from us at one time or another, 
 whether to serve on land or on sea, counted the cost. They knew 
 that they could not all come back. The living one? who are 
 with us to-day, God be thanked, were equally willing, we can- 
 not doubt, to make that last stern sacrifice of life. God did not 
 require it at their hands. He saw fit to spare them to us. In 
 their presence, and in the presence of the dead, you can have no 
 patience with any attempt at high sounding speech. Deeds, 
 not words, these survivors testify of. Deeds, not words, these 
 quiet graves tell of. We come, then, not to bid this vernal air 
 rcho with the empty breath of mortal words ; we come to listen ; 
 hark ! the air seems full ot the story of the self-forgetful achieve- 
 ments and the unrepining sufferings of our patriot dead ; once 
 more, the bugle stirs the air, lengthening hosts advance, the 
 dread roar of cannon booms sullenly from hill to hill ; now the 
 strife ceases, and with what tender care the men just now fore- 
 most in tight lift up some fallen comrade or the wounded ene- ' 
 my. And now the hospital rises before your view, and you see 
 the Christian patience with which He is' met whom men name
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 47 
 
 " the last great enemy," and yon behold the love of the eld home 
 which warms the heart of the dying to the last. Or, it may 
 be, the grim walls of the prison rise before you, as you realize 
 all the possibilities which were involved in the embarking in 
 the enterprise of a country's redemption. 
 
 But the cloud is lifted from battle-field, hospital and prison, 
 time gently does its work ; the grass grows in the hoof prints 
 left by the horses on those Southern plains ; better still, sects of 
 Christains once sundered by geographical lines, are confessing 
 this very week, that it was slavery which rent them in twain, 
 and that hencefortft there need be no further animosity. Yes, 
 time does its work ; the sharp agony of bereavement is mellow- 
 ed into a thankful but humble pride, a chastened longing for 
 the time when this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and we 
 shall once more see face to face. In sympathy, then, with what 
 the hand of time, in God's Providence, is doing, we come hither 
 to-day, not so much lamenting, as we come, exulting, exulting 
 in what God gave our cherished ones to do, exulting in that 
 deathless fame which the humblest one among them shares 
 with him who in official rank may have been the highest, as 
 having fallen a victim, whether in a sudden moment, or by lin- 
 gering disease, in a conflict which will be forever associated 
 with the progress, among the nations, of universal liberty. 
 
 NOT will we think of the " cold grave," or the " lonely sepul- 
 chre " in connection with the resting-place of the bodies of our 
 beloved soldiers. Your acts to day, if they mean anything, 
 mean this, at least, that you will strip such associations of drear- 
 iness away from their resting-place, bestowing " beauty for ash- 
 es," and " the oil of joy for mourning," as, with heartfelt bene- 
 dictions, you throw around these hallowed spots, your shelter- 
 ing flowers. Nor are yours the only hands that do this pious 
 work from year to year. As you think of the mighty Unslum- 
 bering Power above us, can you not say of these sequestered 
 graves : 
 
 " There, scattered oft, the earliest of the year, 
 
 By hands unseen, are showers of violets found, 
 The red-breast loves to build and warble there, 
 
 And little foot-steps lightly print the ground." 
 
 In ancient Greece, it appears that their warlike dead were, 
 from year to year, commemorated on the spot of their last mor- 
 tal resting-place. It was customary to appoint the fathers of 
 those who had signally distinguished themselves on the n'eld, to 
 recite their praises. Our gentler and more deep-reaching faith, 
 in harmony with our suffering Lord, dictates to such fathers, a 
 silent wrestling with the sorrow which God permits, and the
 
 48 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 pondering the dear sayings of some idolized boy, .and hiding 
 them in the heart. Yet, could the veil of Christian and paren- 
 tal reserve be torn aside, I know there is more than one among 
 you here to say, as a proud father, similarly bereaved, said to 
 me the other day in an adjoining State, as he pointed to the 
 portrait of the gallant lad : " There is not a day when that boy 
 doesn't seem to be present with me." Such sons, their images 
 rising in benediction before their parents, day after day, year 
 after year, are not to be accounted dead. Their life was so full 
 of heroic, unselfish purpose that it defies the grave, and invests 
 them with an ever freshening memory, as they live on in the 
 hearts of their kindred. 
 
 And yet there are some to say : " But the dear face has van- 
 ished, the manly form is gone." To such (as' they and we re- t 
 fleet upon the tribute of gratitude which is this hour bursting 
 forth from so many hearts throughout our land), to such griev- 
 ed ones, let us say, " How near the two worlds, the seen and 
 the unseen, seem in such an hour as this ! We stretch forth 
 our hands, we al-most feel that they are grasped by the shadowy 
 hands that the fleshly eye cannot see. In the holier rest or the 
 needful discipline of that invisible existence, a merciful God will 
 surely vouchsafe, our hearts say, some brief interlude on such a 
 day as this, that he may make those brave defenders of the land 
 amply cognizant of the love of their cherished kindred, the kind 
 remembrance of their old neighbors, the devoted attachment of 
 their fellow soldiers, the unfading gratitude of their country and 
 the Hallelujahs of an emancipated race ! 
 
 At the close of Mr. White's address, the graves were deco- 
 rated. After the conclusion of the ceremonies in the new ceme- 
 tery, the procession marched to the old cemetery and decorated 
 the graves of those soldiers who lie buried there. New Hamp- 
 shire Sentinel, June 4, 1868. 
 
 H'D QRS, POST No. 4, G. A. R., DKP'T N. H. ) 
 KEENE, N. H., May 30, 1868. \ 
 
 GENERAL ORDER No. 1. 
 
 I. This Post desires to express its deep sense of gratitude to 
 each and every individual of this community who has assisted 
 and encouraged us to-day in honoring the memory of our fallen 
 comrades. Our acknowledgments are especially due to those 
 whose liberality provided us the pecuniary assistance, contribu- 
 tions of flowers, and the materials necessa/y for the decorations ; 
 to the ladies and misses to whose untiring labors and exquisite 
 taste we are indebted for their beautiful and effective arrange- 
 ment ; to the clergy for their words of counsel and instruction ;
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 49 
 
 to the band for their gratuitous services, and for their appro- 
 priate and finely rendered selections, whioh added so much to 
 the solemnity and impressiveness of the occasion ; to the fire 
 department, whose fine appearance made such an imposing pa- 
 geant, and whose full ranks evinced the interest felt by the de- 
 partment in the exercises of the day ; and finally, to all our 
 citizens, whose sympathies prompted them to join in our com- 
 memorative services. 
 
 II. We would take this occasion to express our mortification 
 and regret that the graves of Com. George A. Prentiss and 
 Warren R. Ellis were not visited and decorated, and that the 
 names of Clinton C. Cheney, Samuel Ruffle, and Henry Flint, 
 were not placed upon the tablet. We would assure the relatives 
 and friends that these omissions were on account of the incom- 
 pleteness of the records upon which we were obliged to depend, 
 rather than any intentional neglect on the part of the Post, and 
 that they shall be rectified as far as it is in our power to do so. 
 
 III. An official copy of this order will be furnished each of 
 the officiating clergymen, the band, the Board of Engineers, 
 each of the several fire companies, and the New Hampshire 
 Sentinel and Cheshire Republican, with the request that it be 
 published. 
 
 By command of 
 
 SOLON A. CARTER, 
 Sen. Vice ConCdr, comcFg Post. 
 HOSEA TOWNE, 
 
 Acffg Post Adft. 
 
 AT CLAREMONT, NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 September 19, 1868. 
 
 At the appointed hour people began to assemble and to 
 throng the streets, ready to join the procession and bear their 
 part in the coming exercises, with remarkable punctuality. The 
 Marshal, Dr. S. G. Jarvis, with his aids, formed the line on 
 Broad street, and marched to the Town Hall. First were the 
 Comrades of the Grand Army, then our fire companies, and last 
 the children of our various Sunday Schools. Nearly all the 
 young folks carried beautiful bouquets, and, with their pleasant 
 faces, constituted a scene of real beauty. The Town Hall was 
 densely packed with the members of the procession and citizens. 
 Maj. Waite called the assembly to order, and announced the 
 officers President, Dr. N. Tolles ; Vice-Presidents, Sherman 
 4
 
 50 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Cooper and H. W. Parker ; Secretaries, J. W. Peirce and Ar- 
 thur Chase. 
 
 The President being introduced, made a few pertinent re- 
 marks, followed by music by the band ; services by the chaplain, 
 Rev. E. W. Clark, and music by the choir, under the leadership 
 of C. S. Park-hurst." 
 
 Captain Edwin Vaughan, of the New Hampshire Cavalry, 
 then delivered the following address: 
 
 MR. CHAIRMAN, FELLOW CITIZENS: 
 
 It has been from time immemorial, a custom to commemo- 
 rate great events in national history, the birth and death of im- 
 portant personages, the inception of important discoveries of 
 science and art, or deeds of arms, by massive piles, solid col- 
 umns, statues and memorials ; by days of feast or thanksgiving : 
 equally venerated by heathen and Christian, only differing in 
 the character and intelligence of the offering they bring the 
 one guided by idle superstition, the other by enlightened re- 
 ligious reason. The one does homage to brute force and blind 
 ambition ; the other to enlightened civilization and the greatest 
 good to all mankind. The one is grasping and seeks to enslave ; 
 the other breaks the galling chain and lets the oppressed go free. 
 
 This custom, ancient and honorable, is well ! The history 
 of nations and civilization may be read in their monuments and 
 holidays ; as their teachings and ceremonials give tone and ex- 
 pression to the finer feelings of the human heart, or bear evi- 
 dence of progress, so in proportion are they worthy of our 
 attention. And so .of the landmarks of to-day, when they shall 
 be studied by future generations. 
 
 Let then our actions bear evidence of an enlightened human- 
 ity, true patriotism, and a willingness to do to others as we would 
 they should do unto us. 
 
 Our nation having passed through a convulsion unequalled 
 in modern times, and made sacrifices seldom equalled and never 
 excelled, for the preservation of our institutions, and liberty 
 itself, we are called upon to make such, record of our present, 
 that the future, though they ever may run, may read and go 
 clear of the Scylla and Chary bdis of our misfortune; that they 
 may take courage for freedom and progress. 
 
 We have met to-day to bear record that the blood spilt on a 
 thousand fields was not in vain. The ceremonials which we 
 propose are in accord with custom, and in the spirit of the order 
 of May 5, 1868, of General John A. Logan, commander of the 
 Grand Army of the Republic.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 51 
 
 At the time of the issue of that order there was no organi- 
 zation of the Grand Army of the Republic in this vicinity, or 
 other organized head, to go forward in the matter ; it was, there- 
 fore, for that time passed almost unnoticed. You all know how 
 generally the day set apart was noticed throughout the country, 
 and how gladly you would have kept it had it been practicable. 
 
 Knowing that the people of Claremont only waited an op- 
 portunity to comply with the spirit of that order in its fullest 
 sense, the Post now organized have chosen the anniversary of 
 the battle of Opequan Creek, for the solemn ceremony a day 
 rendered sacred to the memory of every citizen of Claremont. 
 The day on which fell my dearest friend and your fellow citi- 
 zens, Gardiner, Chath'n, and Paul. Do you not remember when 
 the lightning bore you record of that terrible day, the sudden 
 chill, the weight of that sacrifice ? 
 
 . Go back with me to that time of war, those tented fields, 
 that mechanical inaction and spasmodic carriage; view the op- 
 pressive monotony of days and weeks in camp, when men went 
 to the daily routine like machines wound up for life, carelessly 
 indifferent of the dangers of the morrow finding pleasure only 
 in change, and news from home. Believe me, those were weary, 
 swift days having only for their goal home and its enjoyment- : 
 the hand and heart greeting of father, mother, brothers and 
 sisters, wife and children. 
 
 You at home suffered most. You had grief and anxiety, 
 fear for the worst ; we, only hope for home. Yet all was not 
 inaction ; for when the bugle sounded, or the drum beat " to 
 arms," all was motion, and with almost no questioning every 
 thing was put in order to move. Tents were struck, extra bag- 
 gage, books, or mementoes, were consigned to the flames, and 
 with steady steps and beating heart, the soldier gathered up his 
 household, his all, and uncomplainingly went forth, always to 
 toil, often to disaster or the grave, or worse than all, to the 
 prison pen '-worse than the grave. Could you look upon the 
 blanched cheek, yet firm step of the veteran soldier, as he went 
 forth to battle, with his life in his hand, to bravely battle for his 
 country, your hearts would swell with pride, and though tears 
 should course your cheeks, you could but smile and give thanks 
 for the spirit of your sons. 
 
 Theirs were brave hearts. 
 
 " The brave man is not he that knows no fear, 
 For that were stupid and irrational ; 
 But he whose noble soul irs fear subdues, 
 And bravely dares the danger nature shrinks from." 
 
 The battle over, the soldier, singly or in squads, seeks his
 
 52 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 fallen comrade his spirit but now so rigid, has become that of 
 a child. The wounded he bears away tenderly, while with 
 tearful eye he consigns his fallen comrade, wrapped in his only 
 blanket, an unshapen mass, to welcome mother earth. In his 
 quarters he gathers the little mementoes, perhapft a ring, a pic- 
 ture, and carefully preserves them for the loved ones at home, 
 who, tho' hope is past, are as yet blessed in the ignorance of 
 the sacrifice they have made. 
 
 What life is in camp, seems to me but an intensified life, 
 typical of national and individual experience. 
 
 Our fathers builded the foundation worthy of a free gov- 
 ernment; they hewed its corner stone from the rock of eternal 
 justice to all men ; they were made, and needed help, and rev- 
 erently looked to the great ' I Am " for it ; they sowed wisely, 
 and their descendants reaped bountifully, but as they became 
 strong and prospered they forgot the simple faith of their fath- 
 ers, and admitted uncongenial material into the structure. 
 
 The danger tho' radical was not immediate, and as the 
 mighty city rests to-day, in fancied security, which to-morrow 
 shall be razed by slumbering volcanic tires, so lived we unmind- 
 ful of the signs of the times, and the irrepressible conflict of 
 radically opposing elements in our social fabric. 
 
 We had lived as though we expected to prove the grand 
 truths of the Declaration of Independence gigantic lies, and had 
 almost demonstrated them as such ; but they were too divine, 
 too grand to be ignored by puny man. Born of the very neces- 
 sity and reason for the foundation of this government and bap- 
 tized in the blood of its founders, it was not possible that it 
 should be trampled upon by the avarice, cupidity, or domination 
 of this age. 
 
 The blood spilt by the oppressor's hand became the germ of 
 a mighty conviction in the minds of the nation, a nd borne across 
 this northern land on the wings of reason, became the disinfect- 
 ant to purity what we could not defend. 
 
 The bugle blew and drums beat for help to succor a strug- 
 
 tling national life. How quickly the camp-fires burned in every 
 tate and on a thousand hill-sides. With what alacrity men 
 without distinction of party left the common walks of life for 
 the tented field. How freely those whom we to-day honor stood 
 forth a shield between the nation and its dishonor. 
 " How they went forth to die ! 
 Pale, earnest thousands from the dizzy mills, 
 And sunburnt thousands from the harvest hills, 
 Quick, eager thousands from the city's streets. , 
 
 And storm-tried thousands from the fisher's fleets. 
 How thev went forth to die!"
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 53 
 
 Bold armoured treason prepared by long preparation had 
 gained a march in the Held, and as disaster sat upon our banners 
 traitors in arms hurrahed and sang songs of gladness while 
 sympathetic treason smiled a damned smile of approval upon 
 your street corneiv. 
 
 The story of those long years of trial and disaster of hope 
 and success from Bull Run to Appomattox Court House, is too 
 fresh in our minds to call for repetition by me to-day. The dark 
 night has passed away. Armed rebellion has been quelled, and 
 the bright morning light of peace gives promise of renewed 
 prosperity for the future. 
 
 A great and heroic sacrifice has been made ; its influence can 
 never be lost, but i ,ust grow brighter in future times in propor- 
 tion us its lessons aro heeded by the present, and conduce to an 
 enlarged liberty and an enlightened manhood. 
 
 The present is the great educator of the future, the spirit and 
 characters of men to a great extent are molded by the records of 
 the past. They whom we are assembled to-day to honor are the 
 descendants of a long line of ancestors who have " felt the inspi- 
 ration of battle in every contest for liberty for a thousand 
 years." " Their country lives because they died." 
 
 They came home on their shields ; fallen for their country 
 and universal liberty ! No man ever gave his life for a nobler 
 cause. We are met to give expression to our allegiance to the 
 principles for which they fell.. By outward tokens to renew our 
 pledges to the sacred remembrance of their patriotism. The 
 debt of gratitude we owe them, and of honor we owe their 
 widows and orphans, to give encouragement in prosperity, and 
 succor in adversity. 
 
 We are met at the graves of our dead, and pass in review 
 the long lines of companions and fellow citizens that went forth 
 from among us, and as is the custom in camp, after the " Battle 
 is over " to get the command together, to call the roll and 
 number the absent, so we to-day individually cast our mind's 
 eye along the broken ranks and note the vacant files ; whether 
 from battle or disease it matters not the spirit and the sacrifice 
 is the same, though for certain death the soldier would choose 
 battle. 
 
 While we strew the graves of those that are near let us not 
 forget the absent and unknown graves of the much larger num- 
 ber, but let the outward act to the one be emblematical of the 
 remembrance we bear them all. Earth holds but their clay, and 
 the ground where they lie is hallowed ground ; they are past the 
 turmoil and mistakes of life whether they sleep by friend or foe. 
 Many among us whose hearts have been made sad by the ab-
 
 54 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 sence of those who came not back from the war, send their ten- 
 
 4 emotions to distant fields, and place their offering upon 
 their graves as truly in spirit as you who have them near. 
 
 While we stand' by the grave of Col. Gardiner we should re- 
 IIUM nber Capt. Chaffin and Lieut. Paul, who fell by his side and 
 sleep on the distant battle-field of Opequan Creek. 
 
 While we decorate the graves of Davis, spared through a 
 dozen battles to die of disease contracted in line of his duty ; the 
 brothers Patrick, Clement, Straw, Lt. James A. Cook, 
 Ju.lkins, Chapman, Moore, Lieutenants Little, Auston, and 
 Nettleton, Button and Milton, of Kead, Jackson and Bascom, of 
 Gu.ldard, Leet and Gran n is, of Carlton, Adams and Tyrrell, of 
 Currier, Blanchard, Eagan and Angell, let us not the less 
 stand by the distant grave of Andrew J. Straw, who fell at 
 the first battle of Bull Run and sleeps in an unknown grave, 
 believed to be the first man from Claremont to fall in bat- 
 tle for his country of Charles E. Putnam, than whom no 
 town sent forth a braver soldier, who, after his regiment was 
 scattered, fell fighting manfully on his own account, and was 
 buried on the field at Williamsburg. But I may not speak 
 particularly of all of Hunter, Wetherbee," Charles Scott, and 
 Delmage, who rest in a common grave at Fair Oaks. Of Ken- 
 dall at Petersburg of Lt. Ballou, Chase, Hart, Grinnell, Brown, 
 and Robbins at Fredericksburg--of feno and Neal at James 
 Island of Bolio, Bunnell, Burn's, Craig, Bascom, 'Edward F. 
 Moore, and Vaughan my brother, at Gettysburg of Nichols at 
 Bermuda Hundred, Alexander at Drury's Bluff. Of Chase and 
 Benton, at Ream's Station, Nevers at White Oak Swamp, Geo. 
 H. Putnam, brother of Chas. E., and French, at Cold Harbor. 
 Lt. Rice, at Poplar Grove Church, Ide, at Yorktown Hurd, at 
 Lee's Mills, Marvin and Russell, at Antietam, Whitmore and 
 Nelson, wounded at Fort Wagner, going to their rest through 
 t!i- -o infamous dens of Jackson ville'and Charleston, Woodbury, 
 wounded at Olustee, Fa., dying of starvation and neglect at 
 Andersonville, Wheeler and Kelly dying on their way home 
 L. F. and W. G. Parish, two of four brothers in the army who 
 fell Win. E., w;unded three or four times in the Wilderness, 
 last heard from in Libby and Andersouville. Dane and Ard. 
 
 /awrence, 
 their 
 
 hospitals of the 
 land. And last in the. sad list, from which I trust none have 
 been omitted, is Dr. Algernon Squier, who died on the plains of 
 the Far West. 
 
 The simple story of many whose names I have read before
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 55 
 
 yon, were enough for this hour, but I need single none for eulo- 
 gy- 
 
 Fathers, mothers, bring forth flowers and evergreens to dec- 
 orate the graves of those you loved ; of those you bid God 
 speed in sorrow and tears, yet in gladness that you had a sou 
 to give ; bring bright and pale flowers emblematic of your early 
 hope and its decay ; bring evergreens in emblem of your pa- 
 ternal affections and the brighter hope beyond. 
 
 Brothers and sisters, bring flowers to lay upon that broth- 
 er's tomb ! his manly hand you may not grasp ; his voice you 
 may not hear, but you may give the offering of fraternal af- 
 fection, listen to. the teachings of his life and death, and from 
 the hour draw salutary lessons for your future guidance. 
 
 Wile and children, I may not counsel you in your great 
 bereavement. The silent resignation of widowhood beais me- 
 mentoes of the loved and lost too solemn and sacred for speech 
 of mine. 
 
 Fellow-citizens, bring flowers and tokens of a green remem- 
 brance to the graves of your neighbors and friends. Bring 
 them in token of your faith pledged to their widows and or- 
 phans ; bring them in token of your appreciation of service 
 they did, and the sacrifice they made ; bring them in remem- 
 brance of your own ease and success, while they took their life 
 in their hands and went to the field; bring them for the love 
 you bear the country they saved. 
 
 Soldiers, 'tis for you to bring memorials to their graves 
 more than they all. To them these dead soldiers were but indi- 
 vidual members of families, citizens, and neighbors, but to you 
 they were brothers, and more they were comrades of one 
 great family ; you went forth with them, to the field ; you have 
 shared their blanket ; you have sat with them around the camp- 
 fires, and listened to their stories of their childhood, their hopes, 
 fears, and prospects. Engaged in their sports, you have hun- 
 gered with them, thirsted with them toiled and suffered as 
 only a soldier knows-^-suffering with them. 
 
 You have gone forth to the battle with them ; seen them 
 fall faint and weary by the way-side to yield up life, as dear as 
 yours or mine, and be buried. 
 
 You have seen them bravely face death, and meet it man- 
 fully. You have shed tears over their inanimate bodies in the 
 absence of their friends, and tenderly consigned them, un- 
 coffined, save by their blanket, to the bosom of mother earth. 
 You have fired the farewell shot over the grave when they were 
 buried. 
 
 BrinK them flowers and mementoes as tokens of the mem-
 
 56 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 ones of those days ; bring them as an acknowledgment of that 
 mercy which spared you while others fell ; bring them as a 
 plediiv, that to you treason is and ever shall be odious that he 
 who 'to-day ' mourns the lost cause " is a traitor still. 
 
 Bring them as fraternal tokens of pity and balm for severed 
 ions and broken hearts of loved ones left to mourn. 
 
 The ceremonies at the Hall closed with more music, and 
 the singing of " America " by the congregation. 
 
 The procession was re-formed, and proceeded to the ceme- 
 tery. The floral offerings, which were superb and most taste- 
 fully arranged, were borne upon a large wagon drawn by eight 
 white horses, under the skilful management of Maj. O. J. 
 Brown, and presented a magnificent appearance. Two young 
 ladies rode on either end of the floral car, personating Justice, 
 and the Goddess of Liberty. 
 
 The solemn procession marched slowly to the resting-place 
 of the dead, accompanied by a fine cavalcade from Weathers- 
 field. All passed into the cemetery in line, when, after appro- 
 priate remarks by the Chaplain, the garlands were reverently 
 placed upon the graves of the patriotic dead. A handsome 
 cross, erected near the entrance, inscribed, " To the memory of 
 the soldiers who were buried upon the field," was fairly loaded 
 with fragrant offerings. The ceremonies being completed at 
 this point, the procession returned and halted to honor the 
 graves of the dead in the old cemetery. 
 
 A brief recess was then taken for refreshment, after which 
 the Comrades of the Grand Army, the band, and citizens, pro- 
 ceeded to the graveyards at West Claremont, where, due re- 
 gard was paid to the heroic dead there interred. 
 
 About 4: o'clock the procession crossed over the Connecticut 
 to Weathersfield, to decorate the grave of Maj. Charles Jarvis. 
 
 Escorted by a small troop of horsemen, they marched up 
 to the cemetery overlooking the winding river and valley, pre- 
 ceded by the Chief Marshal on the horse on which Major Jar- 
 vis was killed, the Claremont Band and officers bearing flowers. 
 
 After entering the cemetery between the lines of citizens 
 of the town, the procession halted, and the Marshal, S. G. Jar- 
 vis, advancing near the evergreen arch at the family enclosure
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 57 
 
 and addressing Major Hunt, deputed with the escort to receive 
 them, said : 
 
 MAJOR HUNT : This delegation of the Grand Army of the 
 Republic and citizens of Claremont, have come here to-day 
 bringing flowers to decorate the grave* of a much-loved friend 
 and companion, Maj. Charles Jarvis. 
 
 We knew him well. An ardent patriot, a steadfast friend, 
 a true Christian, and a loving son. Alive, he enjoyed univer- 
 sal aifection and esteem, and bore to the grave the deepest 
 mourning of us all. 
 
 REPLY BY MAJOR LEAVITT HUNT. 
 
 FRIENDS, AND DELEGATES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE : We, of Ver- 
 mont, welcome you, Comrades and Friends of another State, on 
 a mission the most tender and solemn. 
 
 Your coming to strew flowers with us on the grave of a 
 brave and good man is not alone an offering of duty and aifec- 
 tion to him, but a tribute of sympathy to every patriot in the 
 land, and to the cause in which he fell. 
 
 In this no limit divides us, but, like your own beautiful 
 river, beneficent to us all, it bears our united gratitude to the 
 great ocean of our accord. 
 
 Already every sister State, crowned with laurel and clothed 
 in the brightness of loyalty, has strewn immortal flowers on 
 the graves of her martyred sons. These flowers that we bring 
 will soon fade away, still shall his memory forever breathe 
 fragrance to our hearts. 
 
 We, who. celebrate the deeds of the heroic dead, will soon 
 cease to be. Still, generations shall commemorate the strongest 
 of unions this union unto death ; still, these hills shall look 
 down upon the patriot's grave, and .these streams shall forever 
 chant his praise. His life was a bright tablet of duty unto all, 
 and Ids death the graven image of our lament. 
 
 Come, let us strew these flowers on his grave as sweet tokens 
 to a cherished friend ; let us hang up these wreaths, victorious 
 symbols of a martyr to a cause we shall ever defend ; let us 
 plant this floral cross in eternal memory of a Christian, who 
 fell that all might be free. 
 
 The procession then formed a hollow square and proceeded 
 to decorate the grave. The Chaplain of the Post, Rev. E. W. 
 Clark, on mingling his floral tribute with the marble-cut laurels 
 of the tomb, delivered a brief eulogy of his commemorated 
 comrade and friend, and a most touching prayer for the com-
 
 58 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 fort and support of the aged mother present, the family, and 
 friends. 
 
 After a solemn and appropriate dirge by the band, the pro- 
 cession inarched to the ojd Jarvis homestead, where a collation 
 for two hundred was spread on the lawn. 
 
 The orator of the day, Captain Vaughan, in his eloquent 
 acknowledgment for the reception, revealed the devoted regrets 
 of all for the absent one, of whom a comrade said : " We have 
 seen many an officer fall in battle, but we have only wept for 
 one Maj. Charles Jarvis." Claremont Eagle, Sept. 26, 1868. 
 
 AT SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFOKNIA. 
 
 June 7, 1868. 
 
 Under the control and management of that portion of the 
 Grand Army of the Republic sojourning in California, the 
 memories of their fellows, who died that their country might 
 live, were duly honored yesterday. The weather could scarcely 
 have proven more unpropitious. The sea gale set in unusually 
 early, and the wind blew and the dust flew with increasing 
 intensity until after meridian. Shortly thereafter the National 
 Guard carne down Montgomery street, and formed with their 
 right resting on California street. Citizens in carriages, on 
 horseback, and pedestrians, formed on Bush street, above Du- 
 pont street, with the right resting on Taylor street. 
 
 At 1.30 o'clock the procession was organized, tlie National 
 Guard taking the van as escort to the Grand Army of the Re- 
 public. The "Guard" was indeed a fitting escort for the vet- 
 erans of the war, who numbered six hundred strong. Among 
 them were many men who bore painful evidence of having 
 been in the thickest of the fight. Col. John C. Cremony, 
 Grand Marshal, together with his Aids, wore elegant white, 
 red, and blue rosettes. The former, also, as Officer of the Day, 
 wore the army sash. Each member, also, had fastened to his 
 coat a white ribbon and sprig of evergreen, and bore in his 
 hand a bouquet. 
 
 The procession received its next accession on Bush street, 
 as it turned up from Montgomery street. At Congress Hall 
 a large body of Freedom's Defenders, who had been drawn
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 59 
 
 up in line, fell in, four abreast, under an Assistant Marshal, 
 delegated by the Committee of Arrangements of the Grand 
 Army of the Republic to take charge of that portion of the 
 procession. The members were all provided with flowers, 
 wreaths, immortelles, &c., and constituted an interesting por- 
 tion of the procession. 
 
 Carriages containing maimed soldiers and sailors took their 
 place in line between the " Army " and " Defenders," and then 
 fell in the artillery. This was by far the largest portion of 
 the military in the procession, numbering, as it did, two full 
 batteries. The line of the formidable-looking cannon, with 
 caissons, and artillerymen in the uniform of the Government, 
 extended the length of over two blocks. After the artillery 
 came citizens in vehicles and on foot, bringing up the rear of 
 the procession, which stretched from Montgomery street to the 
 summit of the hill on Bush street. 
 
 All along the route ladies came out of their residences, and, 
 passing up to the soldiers, would present their floral offerings. 
 Not only the army veterans, but almost every man, woman, 
 and child in the procession carried a bouquet. Some bore 
 wreaths on their arms, whilst others had them entwined about 
 their necks. Bouquets were poised on flags and bayonets, on 
 the harnesses of horses, and garlands decorated vehicles. La- 
 dies and misses on the sidewalk handed flowers to Aids and 
 Post officers appointed by the Grand Army of the Republic. 
 
 Throughout the line of march, as far as Leavenworth street, 
 sidewalks and balconies and windows were filled with specta- 
 tors of the imposing cortege, and at the intersection of the 
 various thoroughfares might be seen crowded carriages and 
 others on horseback who did not join the procession on account 
 of the inclemency of the weather. And the wind was terrific 
 enough to deter any but those engaged in a less laudable work 
 from attempting a walk of two miles against such a tornado ; 
 but those in the procession never faltered, but pedestrianized 
 it all the way to Lone Mountain. 
 
 Arriving at the burial-ground, the National Guard halted 
 and permitted the Grand Army of the Republic to file by, 
 saluting as they did so.
 
 60 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 The procession then moved up to the Baker Monument, 
 which stands on the summit of the highest eminence in the 
 cemetery. Hundreds who had gone out earlier in the day 
 were already grouped around this and other monuments, and 
 all bi'uring Horal tributes to the memory of the dear departed. 
 
 The solemn ceremonies commenced by Marshal Cremony 
 reading, in a remarkably strong, clear, and impressive manner, 
 the order of General Logan, Commander-in- Chief of the Grand 
 Army of the Republic, directing the ceremony to be performed 
 throughout the United States. 
 
 Gen. O. H. La Grange was next introduced, who thus ad- 
 dressed the solemn concourse : 
 
 COMRADES : We come not here to honor these sacred graves. 
 It is not in the power of mortals to do that. We come to gather 
 inspiration in this presence to make our actions worthy of men 
 to whom it was given in the past to hold companionship with 
 the illustrious dead. 
 
 These flowers, that will fade to-morrow, are typical of our 
 own brief lives ; but as the flowers rise from their winter graves 
 in beauty each succeeding year, so the memory of our departed 
 brothers, like themselves immortal, shall quicken patriotism in 
 the hearts of each succeeding generation through all coming 
 time. Even the eloquence of Baker, by whose dust we stand, 
 though it became the wonder and the glory of the nation, 
 taught not the truth to which he gave his life as potently as 
 now the speaking silence of his great example teaches it. 
 
 We reverently thank the Author of all blessings, that the 
 peril to our country, which bound us together through so many 
 years of toil and danger, lias passed away. 
 
 We tjiank Him, too, that ties of brotherhood, formed in the 
 bivouac and on the battle-field, cannot 'be loosed or broken 
 until our hearts dissolve, at being called to join that nobler 
 band of brothers who have gone before. 
 
 Our arms are returned to the Government that placed them 
 in our hands ; our swords rust in their scabbards, and our tat- 
 tered battle banners hang in triumph in the halls of our capi- 
 tols ; our regiments have been disbanded, and we have mingled 
 in the stream of civil life, to make its currents wider and deeper 
 without diminishing its purity. Success crowns every well- 
 directed effort, and plenty and prosperity smile on onr land. 
 We open wide our arms to our late enemies, and pray that the 
 fair picture of peace may never be reversed again in all our
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 61 
 
 country's history. But, in prosperity, we will not break the 
 associations nor abandon the principles by which we triumphed 
 in adversity. Standing in the dawn of this new era, with its 
 glad light gilding the future of a reunited nation, while our 
 eyes bend forward, our hearts will turn to the dim night of 
 SOITOW, and mourn with the childless mothers, the fatherless 
 children, and the true wives wedded to the nameless graves of 
 loved ones who shall come no more on earth. 
 
 Comrades, we have new fights to win, and noble duties to 
 perform in civil life. Let us form our lines in circles facing 
 outward, and wide enough to take in all who battle for the 
 truth. Let us uphold a falling brother as we would have up- 
 held him on the field of battle. Let us so guard the fame of 
 those who died, that no shadow shall ever fall upon it ; and let 
 us minister, so tenderly to their bereaved ones, that the tears 
 they shed shall be as dew upon the blessings that spring up 
 around their pathways as they journey on. And here, upon 
 this doubly hallowed ground, oh, comrades, let us pledge each 
 other, and these silent ones once more, by the baptism of fire 
 that has made us brothers, by the communion of blood that has 
 cemented our eternal fellowship, to cherish and maintain for- 
 ever the principles of those who fell forward into the " furrows 
 of the fight," and lay with smiles upon their calm, dead faces, 
 because they knew their feet were in the path of duty, and 
 their eyes were fixed upon the right. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Cox, at the conclusion of the remarks of General 
 La Grange, made a most eloquent, fervent, and patriotic prayer. 
 The band then played a dirge, after which the Grand Army of 
 the Republic proceeded to decorate the graves of the Union 
 volunteers, the United States artillery, meanwhile, firing a 
 salute. 
 
 The graves were seven in all. Hundreds upon hundreds 
 of wreaths, garlands, and bouquets of the most exquisite and 
 costly flowers were piled upon the tomb of the lamented Colonel 
 Baker. The crowd lingered for a long time at the grave, and 
 called to remembrance his patriotic and fearless course in the 
 Senate, his brave acts during his military career, and his tragic 
 death. 
 
 The last grave visited by his comrades in arms was that of 
 Capt. J. B. Olmstead. He was a printer, and his remains lie 
 interred in the lot of the Eureka Typographical Union. The
 
 62 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 grave of the typo soldier was profusely decorated with flowers. 
 Colonel Crernony (himself an old newspaper editor) made a few 
 pathetic and appropriate remarks eulogistic of his brother sol- 
 dier. The cortege then threaded its way through the cemetery, 
 and, leaving their companions to sleep in the city of the dead, 
 thoughtfully themselves returned to the city of the living. The 
 ceremonies throughout were conducted unostentatiously, and 
 with a solemnity befitting the occasion. 
 
 Alter their return to the Hall, Marshal Cremony announced 
 that one year from this day the Grand Army of the Republic 
 would again revisit the graves of their fellows, and again deco- 
 rate them with immortelles. A unanimous vote of thanks of 
 the Army was returned to General Ord for the services ren- 
 dered by troops under his command ; also to the National 
 Guard, in promptly and cheerfully acting as escort ; and, 
 finally, to the patriotic ladies who presented to the Grand 
 Army of the Republic such a beautiful and bountiful supply 
 of flowers. 
 
 Amongst the many flags borne in the procession, that which 
 excited universal interest was the one on which is emblazoned 
 the names of the many battles in which the veteran California 
 Hundred were engaged. Alta Califomian, June 8, 1868. 
 
 AT VALLEJO AND MAKE ISLAND, CAL. 
 
 HEADQES. POST No. 12, DEPT. OF CALIFORNIA, ) 
 VALLEJO, Aug. 22, 1868. ) 
 
 COMRADES : Tour Committee appointed to prepare an ac- 
 count of the fulfilment of General Order No. 11, by this Post, 
 to be forwarded when called for, to Washington, respectfully 
 submit the following report : 
 
 At a special meeting of this Post, held on May 29th, 1868, 
 a telegram was received from the A. A. G. of the Department 
 of California, G. A. R., calling attention to General Order No. 
 11. published in the Sacramento Union of that date. The pa- 
 per alluded to could not be received in Yallejo until Saturday 
 morning ; but, on inquiry, it was ascertained that a copy of 
 the Order had appeared in the San Francisco Times of the 
 28th inst. After some delay, a copy was obtained, and after an
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 03 
 
 interesting discussion, in which various plans were proposed for 
 giving the best possible effect to a compliance with the Order, 
 the following Committees were appointed to carry out its 
 provisions. 
 
 FOR VALLEJO: Comrades, R. J. Falls, O. L. Henderson. H. 
 C. Snow, I. R. Lee, J. Campbell and Edward Tizzard. 
 
 FOR MARE ISLAND : Comrades, J. Anderson, C/ B. Denio, 
 Geo.-Fehl, C. Fritz, Washington Yan Wyke, and J. A. Mc- 
 Ginniss. 
 
 From a verbal report made at the next regular meeting of 
 the Post, and from some personal sources, the following has 
 been arranged as conveying briefly but completely, all the infor- 
 mation to be gained concerning the obedience of the Order. : 
 
 The Committee for Mare Island waited on Rear Admiral 
 Craven of the Navy Yard, and obtained his permission to carry 
 ont the provision of the Order at the Cemetery on the Island; 
 and he and the residents of the Yard were very energetic in 
 providing facilities for the proper performance of our solemn 
 duty to our fellow comrades. At about 11 o'clock, various 
 parties laden with bouquets and wreaths, made their way 
 towards the Cemetery, situated at the southern extremity of 
 the Island, and overlooking the Napa Straits. Here, in the 
 quiet and peace of a lovely morning, the graves of some thirty 
 Soldiers and Sailors were decorated with the bloom of flowers, 
 perishable type of our- perishable bodies. There was hung 
 on the gate of the Cemetery, a floral wreath, encircling a copy 
 of Order Xo. 11, to proclaim to visitors the meaning of this 
 last tribute of affection paid to the honored dead. After tar- 
 rying some two hours, the parties retraced their steps. Time 
 was too short for much preparation ; but the Order was obeyed 
 in its spirit and its letter, with a feeling of entire cheerful- 
 ness at the thought of honoring those whose living bosoms had 
 been a bulwark against our Country's foes. 
 
 At Yallejo, the Committee was at work early. Several 
 of the ladies of the city cheerfully left their household du- 
 ties, plied busy fingers in culling flowers, and fashioning them 
 into bouquets a sacrifice deserving of our eternal gratitude, 
 and then were ready to accompany the detail to the grounds,
 
 64 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 some three or four miles from Yallejo, on the road to Bene- 
 cia. Conveyance was had in carriages kindly furnished by 
 Messrs. Jno. Browulie.and J. Callender ; and on arrival at 
 the Cemetery, the graves of four or five departed Comrades 
 were found and decorated. Speeches, there were none ; but 
 the feeling of each and every one present was deeply imbued 
 with the hue of that high and generous sentiment natural when 
 remembering the evidence of a sacrifice of youth's best treasure 
 the hope of life, exemplified in those speaking mounds and 
 eloquent insignia of death. After spending two or three hours, 
 the party slowly returned, to mingle again in the active busi- 
 ness and household cares of life : to think forever after, with 
 a thrill of solemn pleasure, of the events of that day ; and of 
 the opportunity eagerly embraced afforded them of partici- 
 pating in the solemn duty the living owed the dead. 
 
 The following publications in the Vallejo papers are ap- 
 pended, in conformity with the order of the Department : 
 
 RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 The following Resolutions were adopted by the Committee 
 appointed by Post No. 12, G. A. R., to carry out Order No. 
 11, received from the Commauder-in-Chief at Washington : 
 
 HEADQUARTERS POST No 12, DEP'T OF CAL., ) 
 
 f 
 
 G. A. R., VALiJfto, June 3d, 1868. 
 
 We, the undersigned, a committee chosen for the purpose, 
 do hereby tender to Mrs. Susan Callender, Mrs. Frank Carlton, 
 Mrs. R. Hildreth, Miss Ada Bailey, and Miss Ethel Mitchell, 
 the sincere thanks of Post No. 12, G. A R., at Yallejo, for 
 their personal attendance and assistance at the Cemetery at 
 Vallejo, on the 30th of May last, to carry out the above order ; 
 and also to those ladies of Vallejo who so cheerfully donated 
 flowers, &c., for the ocasion. We tender thanks also to Messrs. 
 Callender and Brownlie, respectively, for the gratuitous use of 
 carriages ; and to the Vallejo Rifles for their flag. Rear- Ad- 
 miral Craven, and the lady residents on Mare Island, will also 
 accept the thanks of the Post, for permission and courtesies 
 necessary to carry out the order at the Cemetery on the Island. 
 Respectfully, &c., 
 
 R. J. FALLS, ) 
 
 C. B. DENIO, V Committee. 
 
 EDW'D G. HAYNES. )
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 65 
 
 DECORATING SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 
 
 Monday, June 1st, was, in accordance with instructions 
 from the Headquarters of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
 dedicated throughout the United States to the performance of 
 a task, than which, none could be more worthy, graceful, and 
 just. Wherever, throughout the length and breadth of the land, 
 the bodies of the soldiers of the Republic had been laid to rest, 
 there warm hearts gathered around towering monument and 
 turfy hillock, and strewed with floral offerings the graves of 
 our country's fallen heroes. Above each consecrated spot the 
 flag of the nation, draped with expressive emblems of mourn- 
 ing, floated all the day long. We have said the rite was a 
 graceful one. And so long as the memory of the fierce strug- 
 gle for her life, from which the nation emerged victoriously 
 through the strength of those slain in battle, and the valor ot 
 those who have suggested this fitting commemoration of the 
 heroism of their brethren, shall endure, we trust that each re- 
 curring season of flowers will be a witness to a tribute as well 
 deserved as it is beautiful in itself. On the day referred to, 
 the graves of the Union soldiers who lie asleep at the cemetery 
 attached to this city, and those at Mare Island, were visited by 
 many ladies and gentlemen, and beautifully decorated. The 
 occasion recalls Collins' exquisite and never-to-be-sufficiently 
 admired lines : 
 
 " How sleep the brave who sink to rest, 
 With all their country's wishes bless'd ; 
 When Spring, with dewy fingers cold, 
 Returns to deck their hallow'd mould, 
 She there shall dress a sweeter sod, 
 Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. 
 
 By fairy hands their knell is rung, 
 By forms unseen their dirge is sung ; 
 There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray, 
 To bless the turf that wraps their clay ; 
 And Freedom shall awhile repair, 
 To dwell a weeping hermit there." 
 
 Vallejo Recorder, June 6, 186$. 
 
 ( JOHN ASHTON, Chairman, 
 Committee. < E. H. FORESTER, 
 ( A. H. GUNNING. 
 
 HEADQUARTEBS POST No. 12, DEP'T or CAL., G. A. R., ) 
 VALLEJO, Aug. 22, 1868. ) 
 
 The above Committee were appointed, and made the above 
 report, of the action of this Post relating to General Order No. 
 5
 
 66 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 11, G. A. R, which was accepted as correct at a meeting of 
 this Post this date ; and in compliance with the order of Com- 
 rade J. L. Gamble, Post Commander of this Post, I hereby for- 
 ward said report. Fraternally yours, 
 
 EDWABD G. HAYXES, Post Adjutant. 
 
 At Sacramento, Cal, the few who lie buried in the city 
 cemeteries were not forgotten. Maj. W. L. Campbell, Post 
 Commander in that city, visited the graves of the Union sol 
 diers who are buried in the vicinity, and scattered the beautiful 
 flowers of Spring over the last resting-places of those who loved 
 and served their country. Sacramento Union. 
 
 AT BALTIMORE, MD. 
 
 In common with the ceremonies that took place in every 
 part of the country where the bodies of the soldiers and sailors 
 of the Union armies and navies are buried, the Union people of 
 Baltimore turned out en masse for the purpose of decorating, 
 with floral tributes of affection for their memory and the cause 
 for which they died, the graves of the soldiers and sailors who 
 died in Baltimore during the war, and lie entombed at London 
 Park Cemetery. 
 
 The project originated with General Logan, the Commander- 
 in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was by him 
 communicated through the medium of General Orders !No. 11, 
 to all the posts of the army, and the members of the organiza- 
 tion at once showed every disposition to carry out to the fullest 
 extent the orders of their Chief. The spirit which prompted 
 the paying of honors to the memory of the dead was speedily 
 caught up by the people everywhere, who during the war had 
 sustained the Government. 
 
 This is especially true of Baltimore ; and in response to the 
 appeals made for donations of flowers, the most liberal re- 
 sponses were received. Every preparation was made for a fit- 
 ting observance of the occasion, and the result richly rewarded 
 the efibrts made. 
 
 AT THE WESTERN CEMETERY. 
 
 At the "Western Cemetery there lie buried the bodies of 
 fifteen soldiers, former inmates of the Home for Disabled Mary-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 67 
 
 land Soldiers, and who had died in that institution. These 
 graves were handsomely decorated by those of the present in- 
 mates of the Home who were able to leave the house. They 
 were twenty in number, and were under the charge of Mr. 
 Win. Stahl, the Superintendent of the Home. The disabled 
 veterans performed the duty by laying upon each grave a bou- 
 quet of choice flowers. 
 
 AT kouDON PARK. 
 
 From an early hour of the afternoon, the Frederick road 
 leading toward London Park Cemetery was thronged by eager 
 pedestrians pushing their way toward the scene of the ceremo- 
 nies. An extra number of cars were run on the railway, but 
 they fell far short of accommodating the crowd, although each 
 one presented "a mass of humanity clinging to every inch where 
 a foothold could be had. A large number of vehicles, many of 
 them some of the most elegant turn-outs of Baltimore, were 
 also upon the road, hurrying to the spot where this great mass 
 of people were concentrating. 
 
 Posts Nos. 1, 4, and 5, of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
 located in the city, formed at their various headquarters and 
 marched to the Cemetery. As they went along the road, with 
 several of the battle-scarred flags of the famous Maryland Brig- 
 ade in the ranks, and marched witli the free, swinging route- 
 step of old and disciplined soldiers, their fine appearance was 
 noticed and most favorably commented on. Post No. 1 was 
 under Commander Harrison Adreon ; Post No. 4 under Com- 
 mander Thos. J. Garrison ; and Post No. 5 under Commander 
 . T. Daneker. The men were in plain dress, except that each 
 one bore upon his breast the badge of the army. The shield 
 and symbolical motto was carried in the ranks of Post No. 4. 
 Upon arriving at the Cemetery, the line was formed in parade 
 and afterwards dismissed by the Department Commander, Gen. 
 A. "W. Dennison, to wait the beginning of the exercises. 
 
 Although it was now a full hour before the programme was 
 to commence, yet there were fully three thousand people in the 
 Cemetery, and the crowd was still pouring in on foot and in 
 carriages. Each new arrival brought fresh floral offerings, until
 
 68 Ml.MOKIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 where they were heaped up and being arranged by the ladies, 
 the spot looked as if all the gardens around had been rifled of 
 the choicest beauties, that they might surround with a fresh 
 odor of hallowed sanctity the graves of the departed. 
 
 The feature that attracted the most attention was the pres- 
 ence of seventy of the children of the Union Orphan Asylum, 
 under the care of* the kind matron, Mrs. Perry. The fact that 
 the fathers of many of them were interred within a few feet of 
 where they were standing, lent a mournful interest to the feel- 
 ing with which they were regarded. The appearance of these 
 girls and boys was sufficient to bring home the knowledge to 
 every one that they had fallen into the hands of those who 
 would care for them, and bring them up in the way that they 
 should least know the great loss they had suffered^ Everybody 
 had a kind word for them, and many a wish was formed for the 
 future happiness of those who had been left as a sacred trust to 
 the nation. 
 
 There were also some twenty of the veterans from the Sol- 
 diers' Home, men who had suffered diseases and received 
 wounds that had rendered them disabled for their future Jives. 
 They also showed the marks of excellent care. Like good sol- 
 diers, to whom habit had become second nature, they fell in 
 with the ranks of the Grand Army at the tap of the drum. 
 
 The graves are located at the northern and eastern sides of 
 the Cemetery. They number, in all, 1,752, of which 1,664 are 
 known, and 84 unknown. One commissioned officer, a Lieuten- 
 ant, and a hospital nurse are among the number. The latter, 
 Mrs. Beale, died while in the prosecution of her duty at the 
 Adams Hospital, in 1862. 
 
 Over each of the graves is a well-proportioned mound, 
 handsomely sodded, and showing evidence of being well taken 
 care of. At each grave is a neat wooden head-board, painted 
 white, .and having lettered on it in black the name, rank, regi- 
 ment, and date of the death of the deceased soldier. 
 
 Prior to the opening of the exercises, most of the throng 
 present occupied themselves with walking around among the 
 graves. Many had friends and relatives among that silent army 
 of the dead ; and over many of the low mounds faces could be
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 69 
 
 observed bending, that, when rising, were wet with tears. A 
 sad and mournful mood had seemed to fall with a solemn hush 
 upon all present. 
 
 A convenient stand had been erected near the iron railing 
 which separates the soldiers' graves from the other portion of 
 the Cemetery, and around it the vast throng, now numbering 
 some four thousand, congregated. The ranks of the members 
 of the Grand Army were formed on three sides of the stand, 
 and next to them the orphans from the asylum. Prominent* in 
 the column was the headquarters' flag, used by Gen. A. W. 
 Dennison when commanding the Maryland Brigade of the Sec- 
 ond Division of the Fifth Corps. It was carried by Post 1, and 
 its tattered and stained folds seemed to possess a peculiar inter- 
 est for the men who had so often seen it at the head of the col- 
 umn during the weary marches and hard-fought battle-fields. 
 
 Shortly after 4 o'clock, Dr. S. B. Wolfe ascended the stand, 
 and announced that the programme would be commenced. He 
 said that they had come together to do* honor to those who had 
 fallen in defence of their country. He thanked the audience 
 for their presence. 
 
 A selected choir of twenty, led by Dr. William B. Hidden, 
 then sang " The Star-Spangled Banner," the audience joining in 
 the chorus. A handsome parlor organ was on the ground, and 
 its powerfully resonant notes, mingling with the voices of the 
 singers and the concord of sound resounding from among the 
 foliage of the grand old trees, produced a most inspiriting and 
 delightful effect. 
 
 Capt. E. T. Daneker, Commander of Post No. 5, read Gen- 
 eral Orders No. 11 from the headquarters of the G. A. R., 
 directing the members of the order to observe the occasion. 
 
 The orphan children then sang the beautiful chant, " Come 
 to Me." The composition is one that requires good musical 
 training for its proper execution, and this these little vocalists 
 had, and most beautifully did they sing. 
 
 Rev. Geo. P. Hayes then delivered an exceedingly touching 
 and appropriate prayer. All heads were bowed, and in the vast 
 throng no sound but the minister's voice could be heard during 
 its delivery. Of the prayer, the following is an outline :
 
 70 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 O God, Thou who in darkness and in light gone by hast 
 been our dwelling-place, who dost adorn Nature with all her 
 loveliness, and who dost rule wisely and well. In the years of 
 darkness, whose memory to-day rushes in upon us, Thou wast 
 our Friend, and out of the darkness and peril Thou hast deliv- 
 ered us. We come to commend to Thy fatherly care and bene- 
 diction these orphan children now before us. Remember the 
 orphans who have been left behind to our protection. Let the 
 mrmory of their beloved dead be the guide of their future civil 
 life, so that they may grow up good and useful men and women 
 in Thy sight. Let those whose loved duty it is to watch over 
 them be ever mindful of their great responsibility. Remember 
 in their infirmity those Buffering ones who have been left be- 
 hind. The God of grace enrich them with his blessings. Re- 
 member the widows all over the land who mourn the untimely 
 death of their loved and lost ones. As they have suffered much, 
 may this people have them, ever in remembrance. Bless these 
 comrades of the dead who are still on the field of action. May 
 they never swerve from the faithful fulfilment of their obliga- 
 tions to Thee, and to the nation of which they form so illustri- 
 ous a part. We bless Thee for the memory of the dead. Re- 
 member this nation, we pray Thee. We hold it up to Thee for 
 Thy care, as in the days gone by. Bind it together again, not 
 in the force of constrained bonds, but in those of fraternal love, 
 BO that it may-be stronger than ever in its renewed affection for 
 .stittitions. So may we hope to look to the glorious future 
 of a united nation in the days to come. Watch over our rulers ; 
 keep them in their different departments ; help them to do Thy 
 will to this nation. Guard them so that they may not be such 
 as forget God. Let whatever of trials or affliction may come to 
 us draw us nearer to each other and to Thee ; until at last, hav- 
 ing done our duty, having broken every bond, and helped every 
 man upward, we may come before Thee, and enter the kingdom 
 and share eternal life. 
 
 Then followed the Lord's Prayer, many in the audience join- 
 ing in its repetition. 
 
 The orphan children then sang " Hail Columbia." 
 
 GENERAL RICHARDSON'S ADDRESS. 
 
 Gen. Hollen Richardson was introduced to the audience by 
 Dr. Wolfe, and delivered the following address : 
 
 As I was coming to this 'solemn scene, I was trying to real- 
 ize that, within a brief century, from a mere handful of souls,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS* GRAVES. 
 
 weary ;ind oppressed of other lands, a great nation of more tliaii 
 tiiirty millions of freemen had sprung up on this continent ; 
 that cities and States had been the work of but a few short 
 vcars. I was trying to view civilization as she steadily pushed 
 l:er way from the Atlantic across the Alleghanies, beyond the 
 Mississippi, over the snow-clad Rocky Mountains, down their 
 western slopes to the sea, and in its march from our sparkling 
 lakes that bind our North to the briny gulf at the South ; that 
 under her guidance our agriculture was feeding the starving 
 millions of Europe ; that here art and mechanism had wiped 
 the brow of the once toiling masses ; that letters, literature, and 
 learning were the free gift of our people ; that our vast and 
 accumulating wealth had sent her commerce to every sea ; that 
 everywhere prosperity had kissed the hand of industry. In 
 vain was I trying to realize that a nation not schooled to war, 
 without an army except for her frontiers, with no defence but 
 the. brave hearts of her loyal people, should be honored and 
 respected by the entire civilized world ; that her flag was hon- 
 ored by every nation, and floated triumphantly on every breeze. 
 
 As I thus beheld the new Republic, I was trying to under- 
 stand how such a people, so free, so prosperous, and so happy, 
 could war with each other. 
 
 Before us, in hushed silence, is the sad proof that we had in 
 our midst an element of revolution that only waited an oppor- 
 tunity to strike the dagger at the heart of tlie nation ; that ele- 
 ment, upon the false pretext of " Northern aggression upon 
 Southern right," brought about the most terrible civil war of 
 any age. I have thought this a fitting time briefly to discuss 
 the cause of the war. 
 
 The enemies of the Government had but a single object, 
 viz., the establishment of an aristocratic Southern Confederacy, 
 based upon supposed superiority, with slavery as its chief cor- 
 ner-stone. 
 
 Upon the election of Mr. Lincoln to the high office of Presi- 
 dent, the long-looked-for hour had come. Southern Senators 
 and Representatives withdrew from Congress, and one by one 
 the Southern States^ under the since abandoned and beaten 
 heresy, " State's rights," assumed to withdraw from the Union 
 of States. As an armed mob they fired upon and captured 
 Fort Sumter, and the nation awoke from its long, sweet sleep 
 of peace and prosperity to the realization of the sad fact that 
 we were in the midst of war. The echo of the guns from Sum- 
 ter had not died in the valley ere our people were in arms. 
 
 The plowman left his work but just begun; the merchant 
 and the mechanic forsook his counting-room and work-shop ;
 
 72 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 the laborer his daily toil ; men of even- avocation and station 
 in life rushed to the scene of death and carnage.. 
 
 Ere the May flowers of 1861 had lost their fragrance, the 
 two armies of the contending sections were confronting each 
 other before the Capital of the nation. 
 
 July 21, 1861, we fought the memorable battle of Bull Run. 
 Then for the first time did the friends of the Government real- 
 ize the magnitude of the war. 
 
 Fall and the coming winter was spent in reinforcing, equip- 
 
 S'ng, and drilling the army. With the Spring of 1862 we had 
 cClellan's Peninsular campaign, with various battles in the 
 "West. Summer brought on our second defeat on the plains of 
 Manassas (which failed for want of cooperation on the part of 
 the subordinate officer). From the Spring of 1861 to the mem- 
 orable battle of Antietarn, when Lincoln promised God that, if 
 He would give him victory, he would issue his proclamation of 
 freedom to the slaves, we had nothing but disaster and inglori- 
 ous defeat. 
 
 From that hour until the close of the war, at Vicksburg, at 
 Chattanooga, in Sherman's grand march to the sea, in the Val- 
 ley of Virginia, in the Wilderness of Spottsylvania, before 
 Richmond, at Five Forks, and on to the Appomattox Court- 
 House, success attended our almost every effort. 
 
 It only took the first year of the war to demonstrate the 
 impracticability of the doctrine of " State's rights." They 
 abandoned it when they dragged their unwilling troops of the 
 extreme South to the defence of Virginia. 
 
 As for their pet institution, slavery, they tried to barter it 
 away for foreign intervention when they sent Mason arid Slidell 
 to Europe. ; 
 
 With State's rights and slavery thus abandoned, their de- 
 clared cause of war was at an end ; from that hour, with them, 
 it was murder most foul to continue the contest. 
 
 The blood of McPherson, Sedgwick, Reynolds, Kearney, 
 with the three hundred thousand brave 'and true who fell m 
 Freedom's holy cause, cry from the ground against them ; the 
 mangled bodies and wasted forms of those who still survive the 
 shock of battle, beseech you, in the name of comrades starved 
 and slain, to guard with jealous care the honor and the flag of 
 that Union they fought and die! to save, as in death's approach 
 they breathed their last request to guard their little flock they 
 left behind, and, dying, blessed their country. Be these little 
 ones our charge ; and as now we look upon their sweet and 
 pleading faces, and on the graves of their fathers slain, let us 
 remember and honor the dead, and care for their living. So
 
 AT THE &OLDIERS' GRAVES. 73 
 
 shall be the future strength of our Republic. Do this, and, in 
 the language of the martyred Lincoln, " the nation shall, under 
 God, have a new birth of freedom, and the Government of the 
 people by the people, 'and for the people, shall not perish from 
 the earth"." 
 
 In imitation of the Athenian custom, we have come to honor 
 our honored dead ; and as we spread upon their graves narcis- 
 sum, the flower of quiet sleep, we will not forget to plant the 
 hyacinth, that they may bloom immortal. 
 
 As we stand by the graves of our fallen comrades, let us 
 pledge anew to-day our devotion to the glorious Union be- 
 queathed us by our Revolutionary fathers, to the wives and 
 children of those who will return to us no more forever, and 
 to the living representatives of the great army of the Union, 
 the saviours of the nation, and vow to teach our children the 
 cherished thought that 
 
 " On fame's eternal camping-ground 
 
 Their silent tents are spread, 
 And glory guards with sacred round 
 The bivouac of the dead." 
 
 During this time some of the ladies were busy among the 
 immense piles of flowers of all species, colors and sizes, making 
 them up into bouquets of an appropriate size and style. Be- 
 sides these there were many floral designs of the most beautiful 
 kinds, such as crosses, baskets, &c., that had been brought by 
 those having friends or relatives buried here, and designed for 
 some especial tribute of love. 
 
 At this point, and while General Richardson was speaking, a 
 slight fall of rain took place, but did not last more than a few 
 minutes, and no one left the grounds. 
 
 The arrangements being complete, the decoration was com- 
 menced. A long line was formed with the orphan children at 
 the head, followed by the Grand Army column, after which the 
 citizens passed in two by two. As the line slowly and with 
 reverential steps passed the gate leading into the Government's 
 section of the Cemetery, each person received a bouquet and, 
 one by one, each took a position at a grave. At the tap of the 
 drum the flowers were deposited oil the mounds of earth, and the 
 ceremony was concluded. 
 
 Just as this was being done a loud peal of thunder was heard 
 that reverberated for several seconds, when the skies suddenly
 
 74 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 cleared, the sun shone brightly out, transmuting the rain drops 
 that hung heavily upon each blade of grass and bush into a 
 sparkling jewel of light, and in the East a magnificent rainbow 
 spanned the arch just above the horizon. Every one present 
 was deeply inspired by the beauty and solemnity of the scene, 
 to which it seemed Heaven was lending its glories. Nor was 
 this feeling lessened when the children, standing amid the rows 
 of graves that stretched on each side, sang, " They peacefully 
 Sleep." 
 
 Next followed, " How Sleep the Brave," sang by a quartette 
 of four very fine voices, and accompanied by the organ. 
 
 Rev. J. N. Maxwell then, from the stand, delivered an ear- 
 nest prayer. He said that although we mourn the death of 
 those who sleep here in their bloody graves, we bless Thee that 
 the cause for which they fought has triumphed. Thou hast 
 caused this nation to grow up and become great among the na- 
 tions of the earth, and when attacked Thou hast caused us to 
 triumph. We pray for the triumphs of the cross, and we pray 
 that this nation may long be established in the principles of 
 truth and justice. We pray Thee that those who have fought 
 and survived may love their God and their nation. May these 
 flowers in their purity be an emblem of the purity of our patriot- 
 ism, our love of God and of humanity. We pray Thee to bless 
 the orphan children, the widows and friends of those deceased 
 Soldiers. 
 
 Comrade W. A. Noel, of Post No. 4, Chairman of the Com- 
 mittee of Arrangements, made a short speech from the stand. 
 He thanked the large audience for their attendance, and congrat- 
 ulated them on the deep interest which they manifested in the 
 occasion. To the orphan children and to the choir, which had 
 given them such beautiful music, especial thanks were returned. 
 The benediction was then pronounced by Rev. Geo. P. Hayes. 
 
 The ceremonies began about f half-past four o'clock, and 
 terminated at six o'clock. 
 
 Those who participated in the ceremonies, and especially its 
 originators, have every cause to feel proud and gratified at its 
 entire success. The throng was immense, and everything passed 
 off most agreeably.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 75 
 
 There was the greatest profusion of flowers, and it seemed 
 as if no one was too poor to offer this testimonial. Thanks are 
 returned to all the donors, and if possible we would like to name 
 them all. Among the lot was a box full of magnificent hot- 
 house flowers, sent from the public gardens at Washington, in 
 obedience to a resolution offered by Senator Morgan, of New 
 York, and adopted by the United States Senate. 
 
 Among the many interesting incidents connected with the 
 decoration of the graves of our loyal Soldiers on Saturday, we 
 allude to the fact that some of the many friends of that excellent 
 and much lamented gentleman, the late Sebastian F. Streeter, 
 visited his grave in Greenmount Cemetery and ornamented it 
 with a large collection of rare and beautiful flowers. The affec- 
 tionate regard entertained for his memory by those who, with 
 him, so devotedly ministered to the necessities of our brave 
 Soldiers, when suffering trom the effects of battle and disease, 
 and their appreciation of Mr. Streeter's efforts to secure the com- 
 fort of the sick and wounded, were manifested by this unosten- 
 tatious tribute to his worth, and it is of itself a monument to 
 one who was stricken down whilst engaged in his noble work. 
 "We may re.>t assured that while the graves of other noble, self- 
 sucriticing heroes are being decorated, the grave of Streeter 
 cannot be forgotten. His memory will ever be green in the 
 hearts of those to whom he endeared himself throughout the 
 Union during the war by his kind, ever-ministering heart and 
 hand. He was always active in the promotion of the great and 
 finally successful cause in which he was engaged, and for which, 
 though not a Soldier, he sacrificed his valuable life. Baltimore 
 Americwi, June 1, 1868. 
 
 Ax FREDERICK, MARYLAND. 
 
 On the 30th of May, pursuant to the order from General 
 John A. Logan, Commander-in-Chief of " the Grand Army of 
 the Republic," a detachment of the members of Post ISTo. 2, and 
 other returned Soldiers of Frederick and vicinity, assembled at 
 Headquarters to conduct the ceremonies arranged for decora- 
 ting the graves of their comrades. At 2 o'clock the column, 
 composed of Soldiers alone, under the command of Captain
 
 76 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 William Glessner, assisted by Captain Walter Saunders, formed 
 and moved out South Market Street, to Mount Olivet Cemetery, 
 in the following order : A monument, mounted upon a wagon 
 drawn by two black horses; the monument bore the inscription: 
 " To our Comrades," it was covered with wreaths and evergreen, 
 the base covered with the stars and stripes, and surmounted by 
 the national flag draped with crape ; then came the drum corps, 
 (composed of four drummers and a fifer, all of whom served in 
 that capacity in the U. S. Army during the Eebellion ; ) and 
 next the column of Veterans, bearing three large flags, at half 
 mast, draped in mourning, each Soldier wearing crape on his 
 left arm, and bearing a wreath on his right. The men marched 
 with regular and firm step, the solid " tramp," and martial 
 music of the fife and drums, calling forth the frequent remark, 
 " these men are Soldiers yet." At the Cemetery gate the col- 
 umn was halted, and the printed programmes and copies of the 
 National Hymn distributed. Just inside the Cemetery were 
 the ladies who had been selected to decorate the graves, dressed 
 in pure white, and formed in line on each side of the avenue 
 leading from the entrance ; next were the ladies of the committee 
 of arrangements, arranged in the same order, and on both sides a 
 large concourse of persons anxious to witness the ceremonies. 
 Then followed an impressive and solemn scene, one not likely 
 to be soon forgotten either by those who participated or those 
 who witnessed it. The column was formed in two ranks, the 
 drums muffled, and at the command "March," the line moved 
 on to the solemn Roll of the funeral march. A deathlike silence 
 reigned, not a word was spoken, as those maimed aud war- 
 scarred veterans, with uncovered heads, and slow and measured 
 Btep, passed through that solid file of beautiful beings, the true and 
 loyal women of Frederick, whose hearts had beaten in full har- 
 mony with the music of a nation struggling for its life, and 
 whose deeds of charity to the sick and wounded heroes of the 
 Republic have won for them a name that future historians will 
 be proud to record. The appearance of those tried Warriors 
 upon this sacred spot, there to do honor to the memories of 
 those by whose side they had marched and fought, revived the 
 recollection of scenes which caused the silent tear to trickle
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 77 
 
 down the cheeks of many, both in the column and of the assem- 
 blage. The line filed to the left and formed a crescent around 
 a beautiful mound surrounded by trees and flowering shrubs, 
 the ladies forming the inner line. Here the ceremonies were 
 commenced ; the Rev. Mr. Hinkle, by request, offered a beauti- 
 ful and patriotic prayer. General John A. Steiner, who had been 
 selected as Chaplain for the occasion, then read the opening 
 services : " Reign, thou Spirit of Peace, over this consecrated 
 spot. Rest here in hope, ye who fall asleep in Jesus. Rest till 
 the welcome voice of invitation shall break your slumber, and 
 sound aloud through your silent mansions. Awake and sing, 
 ye that dwell in dust," concluding with a portion of the 90th 
 Psalm, the Chaplain reading one verse and the audience res- 
 ponding the next. The Hymn of Liberty was then sung, all 
 joining in it, after which the beautiful address delivered by Mr. 
 Lincoln at the dedication of the Cemetery at Gettysburg was 
 read by Lieut. Edward Y. Goldsborough. 
 
 The column, with the ladies- in front, preceded by Mrs. Mary 
 Cromwell, Chairman of the Ladies' Committee of Arrangements, 
 and Lieut. Goldsborough, with a list of the graves which were 
 located in various parts of the Cemetery, and kindly pointed out 
 by Mr. Duvall, the gentleman in charge of the grounds, moved 
 off and formed into a circle around each grave, as it was reach- 
 ed, the ladies forming the inner line. The Chaplain then read 
 from the printed ceremonies as follows : 
 
 COMRADES : We cherish the memory of our Brothers who 
 fell in defense of. and fighting for the Government for which we 
 all feel so grateful to Almighty God, and we therefore now 
 bestrew their graves with flowers and evergreens, thereby pledg- 
 ing that their memories shall ever be fresh with us whilst life, 
 or thought, or being last. 
 
 After which the name of the Comrade around whose grave 
 they were formed, and of the lady selected to bestrew it, was 
 then announced from the list, and the grave decorated by plac- 
 ing a flag encircled by a wreath of white flowers and laurel at 
 the head, a bouquet on the centre, and a cross of white flowers 
 and evergreens on the foot of the mound. A prayer was then 
 read by the Chaplain, and the column moved to the next grave,
 
 78 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 and so on .until the list of those in the Cemetery was ended. 
 The same services and the same decorations were used at each 
 tomb. 
 
 The assemblage was then halted in front. of the Cemetery 
 house, and from the porch the Rev. Mr. Owens, formerly Chap- 
 lain of the Hospital at this place, addressed them in a very feel- 
 ing and patriotic strain. The ceremonies at the Cemetery were 
 then closed by a beautiful and impressive prayer by the Rev. 
 Dr. Diehl. The column was again formed and moved from 
 the Cemetery to the Lutheran burial-ground, thence to the 
 Roman Catholic, and thence to the German Reformed grave- 
 yard, back to their Headquarters, where the line was dis- 
 missed. 
 
 The following is a list of the names of the soldiers whose 
 graves were decorated, and the lady who strewed the flowers : 
 
 Mt. Olivet Cemetery Sergt. Daniel J. Albaugh, by Miss 
 Sallie Miller ; J. Ross Beistle, Sallie Koehler ; (ren. James 
 Cooper, Gussie De Grange ; Capt. Jas. Cooper, Jennie Wisong ; 
 John Coates, Mollie Perry ; Lieut. Charles Eader, Ida Frazier ; 
 David Freshour, Florence Rohr ; George Font, Rachael Eader ; 
 Minor Frey, Mary Grey ; J. W. Glidden, Kate Reefer ; Geo. 
 Heckathorn, Kate Fleming; Lieut. Robert Hergersheimer, 
 Lannie Creager ; Wm. Lewis, Ella Shaffner ; Conrad Mehrling, 
 Bettie Haller ; Robert McCleery, Emma De Grange ; John 
 Pimm, Lizzie Mehrling; Henry Roelkey, Emma Kauffman ; E. 
 JI. Rider, Lottie Haller; Job Rice, Olivia Straeffer: Capt. 
 Edgar Ramsbnrg, Sarah Hood ; J. E. Ryan, Mollie Perry ; 
 Samuel Staub, Mollie Tabler ; W". L. Simmons, Ellen Marken ; 
 Sergt. Henry Smith, Mary Hood ; Milton Shope, Emma Fox ; 
 Lieut. James Smith, Mollie Tabler ; Lieut. Weaver, Fannie 
 Haller. Evan, Ref. Graveyard Lieut. Hammitt, Lannie 
 Creager ; Jos. Staley, Jennie Wisonj? ; Ephraim Folsom, Lan- 
 nie Oreager. Lutheran Graveyard ^ieut. Isaac Crum, Emma 
 De Grange. Catholic Graveyard P. Y. Renner. Emma Fox ; 
 David Karns, Gussie De Grange. 
 
 The afternoon was excessively hot, yet most of the assemblage 
 remained to see the ceremonies closed at the Cemetery. There 
 were no accidents, and nothing unpleasant occurred during the 
 exercises. Those who had charge of the arrangements deserve 
 the highest credit for the manner in which everything passed 
 off, and it is hoped that this beautiful ceremony may become a
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. .79 
 
 permanent custom as long as there shall be left any of the 
 survivors of the late war, aud a Post of the Grand Army of the 
 Republic. 
 
 AT MOKRISVILLE, VERMONT. 
 
 Post No. 4, Dept. of Yt., met in accordance with Gen. Order 
 No. 1, at the Town Hall, Morrisville, Yt., at 5 o'clock p. M., 
 May 30, 1S68, to carry into execution the provisions of Gen. 
 Order No. 11, Hd. Qrs. G. A. R. 
 
 Comrades appeared in full uniform, each carrying a sprig of 
 evergreen. 
 
 Comrade D. J. Safford, Officer of the Day, .formed the pro- 
 cession. The Comrades of the Post, in front, followed by all 
 soldier- present, the members of Choir and a long train of ladies 
 and gentlemen from all parts of the town who had gathered in, 
 bringing their wreaths and flowers, that they too might express 
 their regard for the heroic dead. 
 
 After the procession was formed, the Adjutant read Post 
 Order No. 2, including the Order of Exercises for the Decora- 
 tion. 
 
 The Commander of the Post then took command, and 
 marched the procession within the enclosure of the Cemetery, 
 halted, and brought the line to front, and commanded "parade 
 rest." 
 
 Rev. G. W. Bailey then offered prayer, praying that our 
 beloved land of liberty should never again be disturbed by the 
 desolating cry of war, that the memory of our fallen heroes 
 might never grow dim, and that our hands might be ready to 
 do honor to the noble fallen braves, and to assist their widows 
 and orphans. 
 
 Appropriate music was then furnished by the choir. 
 
 The Adjutant then read Gen. Order No. 11, G. A. R., after 
 which Comrade Commander C. J. Lewis addressed the assembly, 
 as follows : 
 
 CCMIIADES OF THE " GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC," 
 
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : Vv'e have on this occasion assembled 
 within this enclosure, where sleep the remains of our departed 
 comiades, for a worthy and laudable purpose. The history of
 
 80 * MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 their service for their country's preservation need not here be 
 recounted by me. It would' only add deeper sorrow to the 
 grief that now afflicts us. It would speak of those hurried 
 marches, those closely contested combats, those desperate 
 charges. It would bring to liie again those scenes of carnage 
 and contested strife, on a score of battle-fields, where our 
 cherished and beloved comrades laid themselves down> willing 
 sacrifices, upon their country's altar. It would tell of the droop- 
 ing, bleeding, dving hero, of the ghastly corse, of the slain 
 warrior, of the thoughtful, pleading look of the maimed com- 
 rade, friend, and companion. No, we will not dwell upon these 
 scenes, so fraught with unpleasant recollections. But let us 
 rather turn to the proud spirits that inhabited these crumbling 
 remains which now lie beneath yonder mounds, mingling their 
 dust with the mother dust. 
 
 It must, comrades and fellow-citizens, have been an occa- 
 sion of no small importance that necessitated the martialing of 
 an armed host, and the sending it forth to battle in deadly strife 
 with a people of kindred blood. It was no unmeaning request 
 that called upon these peaceful inhabitants of our peaceful com- 
 munities to surrender for a season their freedom of action and 
 to become willing subjects to the demands of an outraged Gov- 
 ernment, and to make their lives, their political and religious 
 interests, identical with the perpetuity of the Constitution and 
 the laws. And the spontaneous rising up and moving forward 
 to those scenes of carnage, scenes so much in contrast with home 
 enterprise, associations, and peacefulness, by so many of our ac- 
 quaintances and neighbors, indicate the highest manliness, the 
 loftiest patriotism and the purest devotion to the land of our 
 fathers. Long indeed had we slept undisturbed in the lap of 
 peace. Its pure principles had been transmitted from father to 
 son, and from son to grandson, until they had almost become a 
 part of our natural elements. Those good old days of peace are 
 within the memory of us all, when the plowshare and the 
 pruning-hook, the loom and the office, the desk and the forum 
 were the all-absorbing subjects of interest and attention ; when 
 the son toiled from youth to manhood, and from manhood to 
 the grave, seeking such honors, and such alone, as the common 
 pursuits and callings of a peaceful and civil life would afford ; 
 when the measured tones of the slow tolling bell seemed to 
 linger long and dolefully, as if for fear that they might never 
 again bear the death message of even another departed one ; so 
 slow, seemingly, did people live and die, when the busy clink 
 of the axe and hammer gave the only cadence of our march 
 along the highway of improvement ; when we, satisfied with
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 8] 
 
 our lot, kept within the bounds of honest industry, and left to 
 the subtle intrigues of crafty politicians, the details for videttes 
 and sentinels around the fortress of our liberties. Aye, 
 when we had well nigh forgotten that "eternal vigilance is 
 the price of liberty." And we can remember, too, when the 
 tocsin of war first pealed its clarion notes along our country, 
 'from border to border. Those deep waters of placid peace were 
 then suddenly ruffled into mountain waves of engulphing war. 
 Fears, hopes, expectations, and resolves broke the long silent 
 spell of quietude in the family circle of every hamlet, village, 
 and city. How then did the acclamations of bitter contempt 
 towards the foul aggressors reverberate along these green val- 
 leys, and bound from hill-top to hill-top, gaining new impetus 
 continually by the outspoken approvals of every heart within 
 our borders, from the youngest to the oldest ? And we can re- 
 member how these departed, comrades, when the first minute- 
 gun was fired, gathered with us most manfully around the dear 
 old flag, and there plighted their vows, relying on the God of 
 battles for the rectitude of their cause, that this banner should 
 wave over every foot of Southern soil, though it cost the sacri- 
 fice of their own lives. They were unaccustomed to the duties 
 and hardships of camp life, undisciplined in military customs 
 and requirements, unknown to the scenes of woe and desolation 
 incident to the battle field, yet with a full realization of all 
 these, how did they come forward and give themselves away to 
 their country. Motives that before had laid dormant like a 
 sleeping infant, now put on the strength of manhood, and 
 moved them forward to enrol themselves in the ranks of the 
 nation's defenders. 
 
 Home and its pleasures, childhood and its scenes, maternal 
 care and its associations and their enjoyments, business and its 
 duties, all must be left behind as considerations altogether sec- 
 ondary to the pressing needs of the endangered Government. 
 The citzen's soul was moved, and it became a warrior's heart. 
 The crown of the king was placed upon the head of the subject. 
 Manhood rose above the pleasures and calamities of life, and 
 planted itself upon the high eminence of duty. 
 
 The independence of the Government, whose supporting 
 fibres 'entwine themselves around the hearts of the people, and 
 from that source alone receives its life-giving nourishment, had 
 been threatened by ruthless hands. The people's liberties were 
 being surrendered to the dictatorial control of tyranny, and that 
 people's dignity rose like an upheaving sea. 
 
 And, my friends, these slain heroes, whose memory we to- 
 day celebrate in a peculiar manner, were among the foremost 
 6
 
 82 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 of that innumerable band to bid a long, last farewell to the 
 home of their childhood, to all its comforts and endearing asso- 
 ciations, to companions and associates, to father, mother, brother, 
 sister, wife, and children, to all that had been so dear to them 
 in life before, and there, beneath the scorching rajs of that- 
 South ern sun, amid the din of musketry and roar of artillery, 
 the groans of the dying and the shouts of the victorious, with 
 their eyes fixed on the star-bedecked banner, beneath which 
 they fought and fell, they poured out their lives serenely there as 
 
 "The morning flies away, 
 And melts to deeper day. 
 
 And shall we ever forget to honor them ? Will proud Colum- 
 bia ever cease to drop her tears of gratitude in memory of the 
 noblest of her noble sons? Will she not ever deign ito pay a 
 tribute of respect to these sainted dead whose proud spirits bore 
 them so triumphantly above the fear of death-dealing war, and 
 immortalized the name of American citizens ? 
 
 Will we, while the American blood shall course in our veins 
 and give pulsation to our hearts, we, the recipients of the bless- 
 ings secured to our common country by the death-wounds of the 
 fallen comrades, will we ever fail to keep in fond commemora- 
 tion their honored characters ? No, no. Our relation to them 
 was too intimate, and what is more, their service was of too 
 high an order for their names and deeds ever to be blotted from 
 the tablets of our hearts. 
 
 Let it then not be said of us, as of others : 
 
 " As from the wing, no scar the sky retains, 
 The parted deep no furrow from the keel, 
 So dies in human hearts thoughts of the dead." 
 
 But rather let it be a thank offering from the depths of our 
 affections, that the Universal Commander has so disposed the 
 order of tilings that it now becomes our humble lot and privi- 
 lege, in this unostentatious way, to commemorate the death of 
 those whose sacrifices can never be fully substituted even by the 
 nation's gratitude. 
 
 ^Then let their names and heroic career be honored by us 
 while we have hearts to feel and tongues to speak. 
 
 These, my friends, whom we would to-day honor, are not the 
 Napoleons or Alexanders of history, but they are the Spartans 
 of America. 
 
 Neither do the marble slabs that tell us of the spot where 
 rest their sleeping ashes, bear the names of kings or philoso- 
 phers, so called and considered by the world at large, but they
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 83 
 
 tell us of the all-honored heroes, the all-praiseworthy, liberty- 
 loving patriots, who, when 
 
 "The storm of war arose, and wlien its thunder 
 
 Filled all the happy land with rudo alarms, 
 Filled some with doubt*, with fears, and some with wonder, 
 
 Nolily and fearlessly spring to their a-nis; 
 Who firmly marched with the advancing column, 
 
 "Who hraveiy fought and cruelly bled, 
 But soon their names were written in the solemn 
 
 And deathless record of the dead." 
 
 And now, comrades and friends, let us go to the graves of 
 our fallen associates, and there, silently above their ashes, plant 
 this flag emblem of the' glorious prize for which they fought 
 and fell the nation's perpetuity and the people's liberties and 
 let us there deposit these flowers and twigs of evergreen, prom- 
 ising thereby to keep their memory as fresh and fragrant in our 
 hearts as these garlands from the lap of blooming nature." 
 
 The procession then marched to the graves of their com- 
 rades, planting the flag above each, and depositing their wreaths 
 and garlands, n't emblems of their respect for the fallen. Re- 
 turning, the procession marched to the Town Hall. All joined 
 in singing the " Star Spangled Banner." After benediction, the 
 Commander of the Post closed the ceremony with the order 
 " break ranks." 
 
 A. O. GATES, Adft. 
 
 AT NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT. 
 
 July 3d & 4th, 1868. 
 
 The response of the citizens of New Haven, for flowers to de- 
 corate Music Hall, to place on the soldiers' graves, was most gen- 
 erous. A great quantity of roses and ether beautiful flowers 
 were taken to the hall, and the ladies, who responded in such 
 numbers that there was not room for all to work, spent the 
 forenoon in arranging the flowers into elegant bouquets. Many 
 and grateful thanks are due them for their earnest and assiduous 
 labors. The floral committee of gentlemen were also busy all 
 day in putting up the decorations, and great credit is due them 
 for the arduous work they performed. Especial credit is due 
 Mr. P. Ferguson, who superintended the work. The decora- 
 tions of the hall were not only very beautitul, but truly gor- 
 geous. To one first entering the hall, the array of flowers, flags.
 
 84 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 portraits and mottoes, beneath the glare of gas light, was most 
 striking and effective in appearance. The stage, of course, was 
 die great focus of beauty, and it was most profusely decorated. 
 Over the oridinary side-scenes were arranged panels covered 
 with evergreens, and thickly set with oblique rows of bouquets 
 in glasses of water, the latter being so deftly hid in the leaves 
 as not to be observed. There were eight of these, four on a side, 
 commencing at the front and retreating to the rear of the stage, 
 forming a splendid mass of flowers. At the rear of the stage, 
 which was covered over with flags to shut out the illy-daubed 
 theatrical scenes, arranged on a dark background in the shape 
 of a segment of a circle, was a blank space for the words " Honor 
 the Dead." Beneath this was a large bust of that great 
 martyr, who name heads the list of the nation's heroic dead 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The arching portion of the proscenium of 
 the stage was covered with flags, as was also the curtain portion 
 of the drop-scenes. Surmounting the entire proscenium, and 
 reaching the ceiling, in large letters was this memorable verse, 
 which is also to be found over the gate at the soldiers' cemetery 
 at Andersonville, Ga. : 
 
 " On fame's eternal camping ground 
 
 Their silent tents are spread, 
 While angels guard, with solemn round, 
 The bivouac of the dead." 
 
 The words were surrounded with evergreens. At the sides of 
 the stage were arranged the tattered 'battle-flags carried by the 
 various regiments in the war, and stacks of muskets with drums. 
 In the galleries, hung to each gas-light, was a wreath of ever- 
 greens and roses, and the gallery fronts were decorated with 
 bouquets placed at intervals in glasses. Here, also, were hung 
 portraits of some of those who lost their lives while in the ser- 
 vice of their country. Commencing on the left, there were the 
 portraits of Col. Merwin, Admiral Foote, Col. Peck, Gen. Lyon, 
 Sergt. Barrett, Lieut. Dutton and Major Osborn. In front of 
 the stage were a pile of drums, in pyramidal shape, decorated 
 with bouquets, and on each side of the bust of Lincoln were two 
 large and beautiful bouquets. Beneath were two crossed swords, 
 wreathed with pink roses, and the head of the bust was encir-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 85 
 
 cled with a wreath of oak leaves. From the ceiling, in front of 
 the stage, was suspended a handsome hanging basket, filled with 
 trailing green vines, and over the gaslights in the gallery were 
 flags crossed, and over the chandelier above the stage was 
 placed a basket of elegant flowers. These constituted the prin- 
 cipal decorations. Description inadequately conveys an idea of 
 how they appeared. Their splendor should have been seen to 
 be fully appreciated. 
 
 In the evening of the 3d there was a monstrous gathering 
 at the hall. Every seat, aisle, and all possible standing room 
 was occupied by an audience eager to see and to hear. In the 
 rear galleries were seated three hundred little girls, dressed in 
 white, holding bouquets. On the stage were seated members of 
 the Mendelssohn Society, and a number of spectators, filling all 
 the available room. The whole scene was one rarely it ever 
 beheld in our city. 
 
 Col. Blakeslee called the meeting to order at 8 o'clock, and 
 the exercises were opened by the children, under the direction 
 of Prof. Jepson, singing a Union hymn, beginning with the 
 words, " Lord of Hosts, thou God of Nations," which was fine- 
 ly given. This was followed by a short address by President 
 Woolsey, who presided over the meeting. On being presented 
 by Col. Blakeslee, he said in substance, as follows: 
 
 We are gathered here, not as any partisans, nor anything of 
 that character, but as those who have a deep and lasting convic- 
 tion of the importance of the Union. A time came when we 
 were not prepared for it, when it was necessary for us to calcu- 
 late the value of the Union, when every man asked, what is the 
 Union worth ? and they were answered. The father answered, 
 and gave up his sons, and there are persons around me to-night, 
 who submitted to this sacrifice, and they sent out their sons, and 
 never saw them again, and the women calculated and became 
 nurses in hospitals, and the physician calculated, and gave him- 
 self up, to attend the wounded upon the battle-field, and the 
 man of substance calculated, and gave part that he had, that he 
 might save the rest, and they went forth. Hundreds of thous- 
 ands went forth and died. Now, if they had failed, and the end 
 had not been reached, we should still have the same feeling to- 
 ward them. We stand here now enjoying all that they labored 
 for, and thus the words of the Lord are fulfilled, " that other
 
 86 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 men have labored, and we have entered into that labor/' 
 This is the great law of life that toil and labor win for another. 
 We spend a life to bring to an end an accomplishment that is to 
 be a source of joy to millions. The martyr does not think he is 
 doing anything great, but Only something for Christ. So the 
 law holds in regard to every patriot. Every one who fell for 
 the country, has labored, and we have entered into that labor. 
 There is no question that the country will be better and nobler 
 for these expressions of gratitude. I rejoice to see these mani- 
 ;tions. Although I had no son to give, I rejoice to testify to 
 t^e valor of others. 
 
 The Mendelssohn Society then sang with fine effect the 
 chorus, " Happy and blessed," from, the Oratorio of St. 
 Paul. 
 
 After a prayer by Rev. Mr. Start, of the Universalist 
 Church, twelve of the orphan children appeared in te rear of 
 the stage, and handed up in turn letter after letter to be placed 
 on a blank space for a motto. "When all the letters were placed, 
 they formed the words, " Honor the Dead" This ceremony was 
 watched with great attention and in silence. The children in 
 the galleries then sang very sw r eetly an original hymn. Rev. 
 Dr. Phelps then read a beautiful and touching poem, referring 
 to the nobleness of the memorial service, the sacrifices of the 
 soldiers, and spoke of some of the leading heroes of the State 
 who fell in the service, and closed foreshadowing the glorious 
 tnture of the country. At the conclusion of the poem, the 
 Mendelssohn Society sang the beautiful chorus from Elijah, 
 " He is watching over Israel." The address by Rev. E. L. 
 Clark, of the North Church, was then delivered. He com- 
 menced by saying that it was impossible to give expression to 
 the feelings of the hour. Taking up two bouquets, he said they 
 were brought by two poor children, who out of their poverty 
 wished to remember the dead soldiers, because their father was 
 one, and another by a mother of a son whose portrait hung 
 beneath the gallery. It was not the fact that the soldiers went 
 to war, but the manner in which they went, that marked the. 
 significance of the sacrifice. The martyrs of 1776 had entered 
 into the freedom of the country, and, like that freedom, would 
 never be forgotten. The great opening day then was the 4th
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GUAYKS. 87 
 
 of July, now annually celebrated. It was the significance of 
 that day that added to the day when Sinnter fell. The cheers 
 at Appoinattox were but the echoes of the times of our fore- 
 fathers. The declaration of the nation's martyr at Gettysburg, 
 that " this is a nation of the people, by the people, and for the 
 people," was one of the lessons that the soldiers of the war 
 learned. The lesson of the war had taught us that the liberty 
 of the people was the sacrifice of something by every one. The 
 soldiers went not to the army for the love of fighting. It was 
 for this simple principle of sacrifice. This was American, yea, 
 even more than Roman or American it was Christian. It was 
 not upon Congress, nor upon those at home, nor the creaking 
 loads of supplies that in that time the eyes of the world were 
 upon, but it was the army. He spoke of their camp scenes. 
 He saw them in the month of July, when men here at home 
 cannot walk in a procession on an early morning to a soldier's 
 grave ; he saw them marching with heavy knapsacks, overbur- 
 dened with heat. He saw them reading letters from home, tell- 
 ing them to stay till the war was over, and he saw them in' the 
 terrible roar and death of battle. They fell shouting there, 
 bleeding there, without a murmur, while the tender young men 
 here grumble about marching on a July morning. They fell 
 without innrmuring, and were glad to suffer and serve until an 
 honorable peace was secured. To the soldiers he said the com- 
 mand to sheath the sword, at Gethsemane, was not a command 
 to throw away the sword, but a command not to disgrace it. 
 He asked them not to be aifected by that spirit that would stir 
 up jealousy among them, and use them for base party purposes. 
 They were growing old, and would soon be unable to shout as 
 they did to Sheridan in the valley ; but they should teach their 
 children how they won Gettysburg and Antietam, and how 
 grand a thing it is to write upon a man's grave that he died for 
 his country. The speaker closed with a most eloquent perora- 
 tion. His remarks were extemporaneous, and of a most affect- 
 ing and thrilling character. 
 
 The vast audience joined in singing a song to the tune of 
 " America," after which the benediction was pronounced by 
 Rev. Dr. Harwood, of Trinity Church, and then the great
 
 88 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 throng departed slowly from the hall, while the members of the 
 G. A. R. took down the decorations and made ready the flowers' 
 for the graves. 
 
 Karly on the morning of the 4th, the Grand Army assem- 
 bled at their headquarters, numbering about 120, and marched 
 to Music Hall, to get the flowers there in readiness for them. 
 The veterans, who had been invited, at the meeting on the pre- 
 vious evening, to volunteer to carry the war-worn flags of their 
 respective regiments which were at the hall, responded in good- 
 ly numbers, and nearly every regiment that Connecticut sent 
 to the war, with perhaps one or two exceptions, was represented 
 by from one to a dozen men, so that the standard-bearing col- 
 umn numbered over a hundred. The two companies inarched 
 to the Green, and formed on Temple street. In a few moments 
 the Wooster Guard arrived, and at a little after 8 o'clock, the 
 column, in the presence of a large crowd of people, filed out 
 of the south gate of the Green, and proceeded down Chapel 
 street to Church, up Church to Congress Avenue, and then up 
 Congress Avenue. At Vernon street the line was joined by 
 the orphan children, the girls being in Barker & Ransom's 
 barge Nightingale, drawn by four horses. They were dressed 
 in pink dresses and white sacks, and carried flowers and wreaths 
 in their hands. The boys were in Mr. John Lynch's wagon, 
 which was drawn by four horses wearing plumes. The boys 
 also carried bouquets of flowers. The line then proceeded in 
 the following order : 
 
 Felsburg's Band. 
 
 Grand Army of the Republic, under Colonel "Wright, 
 Veterans, with colors, under General Greele'y, 
 
 "Wooster Guard, 
 
 Carriage with flowers and a large cross, 
 
 The Orphan Children, in charge of Captain Harmon, 
 
 Citizens in carriages. 
 
 St. Bernard Cemetery was reached about 9 o'clock. The 
 Grand Army, bearing their bouquets, and the veterans with 
 flags, preceded by a drummer and the sexton, entered the 
 grounds, the rest of the line remaining outside. Within the
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 89 
 
 Cemetery were large numbers of people, among whom were 
 many of the friends of the fallen ; and as the ceremony pro- 
 ceeded, here and there bowed and weeping forms could be seen, 
 while all observed respectftil silence. The graves of the sol- 
 ders, of which there twenty-four, were all marked with a little 
 flag. The sexton led the procession to each grave, giving the 
 name to the clergyman, Rev. Mr. Start, who announced it so 
 that all could hear, the drummer gave three rolls upon his 
 muffled drum, a few members of the line stepped forward and 
 deposited flowers upon the grave, when the procession moved 
 on to the next grave, and so on till all were visited, when a halt 
 was made near the gate, to await the arrival of Father O'Brien, 
 who was expected to be present and perform some appropriate 
 service. He failed to come, and the procession re-formed and 
 moved on to the Evergreen Cemetery. Here hundreds of peo- 
 ple were in waiting, and as the line moved up to the entrance, 
 and the old battle-flags came in view, the sight of them set the 
 memories of many a man and woman running back to the war 
 times, and caused many a lip to tremble with emotion and 
 many eyes to weep. The procession filed into the grounds, and 
 a short rest was taken, for the weather was terribly oppressive, 
 and then the ceremony of decorating the graves was resumed, 
 the line traversing each avenue and visiting each grave. There 
 were 143 buried in this Cemetery, 106 being in one common 
 lot. It took about an hour to visit the different graves, after 
 which the veterans, with colors, assembled upon the two sides 
 of the large lot containing the remains of 106 soldiers who died 
 at the Knight Hospital, and the Grand Army were arranged on 
 the other two sides of the iron fence surrounding the lot. The 
 orphan children were then formed in a hollow square in the 
 centre of the lot, facing outward. The band played a dirge, 
 the colors being dipped over the graves, after which the chil- 
 dren sang a song, and then sprinkled their flowers upon the 
 graves. This ceremony was witnessed by a large assemblage, 
 and was very solemn and touching. This concluded the cere- 
 monies at this Cemetery. The procession marched then to the 
 u-ate, and took a short rest. Rev. Mr. Start, who had become 
 quite exhausted by the heat, had to take a carriage and go
 
 1)0 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 home. A little after 11 o'clock, the procession filed out of the 
 grounds, and took up its line of march for the Grove street 
 Cemetery. 
 
 From early in the day, people began their pilgrimage of 
 love to the bury ing-ground in Grove street, and by 9 o'clock 
 there was an expectant assemblage gathered at the Egyptian 
 portal, and looking eagerly for the first appearance of the bou- 
 quet-bearers. All the forenoon, large numbers of people, a 
 great proportion women, came, bringing their offerings, and 
 the time before the arrival of the Grand Army of the Republic 
 was .occupied in passing from grave to grave, decking each, and 
 its monumental stone, with a profusion of flowers and green 
 leaves. The ivy leaf was not wafating, with its symbolic mean- 
 ing, and it was evident that some of the wreaths and crosses 
 had been arranged with special reference to the beautiful cus- 
 tom of the Orient, which thus enabled the silent heart to speak 
 the fulness of its emotion. On the stone in Admiral Foote's 
 ground, a great heap of roses and flowers of exquisite beauty 
 were placed, and on the graves of Winthrop, Thompson, Blake, 
 Corn well, Osborn, and Merwin, the hand of affection and taste 
 had been busy with the beautiful offices of the hour. So, too, 
 at many of the other graves, great taste "was exhibited in their 
 decoration, and on the graves of the strangers who died within 
 our gates, there were not wanting evidences of the gratitude and 
 respect of the people. 
 
 Just within the entrance to the Cemetery there stands a 
 thick growth of evergreens, where, in the Spring, the black- 
 birds and robins congregate, and in the deep shade made by the 
 boughs, which grow so closely together as to create a twilight 
 underneath, even at mid-day, were groups of colored folks, and 
 the bright eyes of two or three little ones attracted considerable 
 notice. Though the assemblage had waited long for some sign 
 of the procession, there was no apparent levity, but all seemed 
 impressed with the touching character of the ceremonial. At 
 the grave of Dutton, a constantly drifting group were seen, who 
 talked in subdued tones of his courage, his patriotism, and of 
 the loss the State had sustained by his cruel death. One pic- 
 ture is presented to our mind, which made an impression not
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 91 
 
 soon to be forgotten. Our readers will remember the Roman- 
 shaped tomb which covers the remains of Ashmun, and its in- 
 scription stating that he was the first Colonial Agent to Libe- 
 ria. That monument brings to mind the earlier histories of the 
 slavery troubles, and the failures of all attempts which were 
 made to secure peace by any thing less than exact justice. In 
 the days of Ashmun, those who were good and professed the 
 religion of Christ, both at the South and the North, conceived 
 the idea of gradually sending to Africa all of the unfortunate 
 race, and some ship-loads were thus sent. Southern owners 
 often made apology for having robbed the poor slave of his lib- 
 erty and labor during his lite, by munumitting him at death ; 
 thus tardily acknowledging the wrong they had done, and often- 
 times impoverishing an expectant heirhood, who, without the 
 bequeathment of the slaves, would be left entirely penniless. 
 These freedom-wills were made containing a provision that the 
 Colonization Society should send the poor negro to his native 
 clime. All the first statesmen of the South belonged to the 
 Society. But the Colonization Society, after dragging its tem- 
 porizing and insufficient life and policy through a few years, 
 was extinguished in the breath of indignant abolitionism. And 
 then came the war, and the question was settled at last, in the 
 only way it ought to have been at the outset of the confedera- 
 tion ; and the curse, that no man had been able to abate, fled 
 away before the battle which took our bra,vest and best in its 
 train. So, Saturday, on the tomb of the almost forgotten Ash- 
 mun, stood a child with his little hands outstretched and his 
 eyes eager with anticipation, looking like an animate sculpture 
 of purity and innocency, and waiting for the spectacle which, 
 could he have known the past concerning the life of the man 
 whose name was panelled on the stone upon which he stood, he 
 would also have known that they labor in vain .who labor not 
 aright. The youth and beauty of the boy clearly emblematized 
 the hopefulness of the new birth of our country ; the day, the 
 monument, the~child, were all suggestive of much that was not 
 without profit. Before noon, the drums were heard approach- 
 ing, and the scattered groups came toward the entrance to meet 
 the procession. The grand army, bearing the torn battle-flags,
 
 92 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 and carrying what remained of their floral gifts, and the com- 
 pany of colored soldiers, marched in to solemn music \vailed 
 from the brass instruments, and the kindly ceremony of visit- 
 ing each grave was gone through. The name of each soldier 
 was called as the committee came to the place of his burial, or 
 the place where stood the tablet which recorded his death, while 
 a detail of men laid reverently upon the ground the fast-fading 
 flowers. Though they are faded and withered under the glare 
 of the summer sun, the memory of the ceremonial is not to pass 
 from history ; and if the boys of Thermopylae are remembered 
 to-day, how much more shall these be remembered, long after 
 every participant in this pageant shall be gone, where the war- 
 trumpets and the failures and successes of waf give place to the 
 rewards for duty done on earth. After the flowers were all de- 
 posited, amid silence and with a show of strong feeling, the 
 cross was planted in memory of those who sleep on unknown 
 fields. The color-bearers gathered in a circle, and Rev. Mr. 
 Clark read from an eloquent address, delivered at the Gettys- 
 burgh dedication, suitable words, closing with a prayer. The 
 band played a dirge after the setting up of the cross and at the 
 conclusion of the prayer, when the line was again formed, and 
 marched to the Green. 
 
 After arriving upon the Green, the columns formed in a hol- 
 low square, with the flags in the centre. The band then played 
 " The Star-Spangled Banner," and the men afterwards sang, in 
 a most stirnng manner, " Rally Round the Flag, Boys." 
 Cheers were given for the flags, for the army, for the veterans, 
 the Wooster Guard, and others, after which the procession dis- 
 persed, at about 1.30 p. M. Thus the entire programme was 
 most rally and successfully carried out. 
 
 MEMORIAL POEM. 
 
 BY REV. 8. DRYDEK FHELPS, D. D. 
 
 Tis a beauiful scene -'tis a joy-hallowed meeting, 
 'Mid the emblems and symbols adorning the Hall ; 
 
 The starry bright banners our glad vision greeting, 
 Awakening response in the bosoms of all. 
 
 Sweet evergreen vines and bouquets of fair flowers 
 Enliven the view and pour fragrance around,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 93 
 
 While melodies flow as if fresh from the bowers 
 Where angels and harpers their music resound. 
 
 The orator's spell, through rich language of beauty, 
 Shall steal o'er our souls with mysterious power ; 
 
 And from suffering and tears, the behests of high duty 
 Inspire with a grandeur that chimes with the hour. 
 
 How fitting the moment ! the eve ere the morning, 
 
 Immortal in memories through ages of time ; 
 Linked firm to the past as its brightest adorning, 
 
 And forecasting the Future in promise sublime. 
 
 O birth-day of Freedom I New star that has guided 
 To the Bethlehem-gift for the land of the West; 
 
 Thy radiance afar through the nations has glided, 
 And millions have hailed thee and hoped to be blest. 
 
 We welcome" and love thee, bright day of our glory ! 
 
 We love the grand history linked with thy rise ; 
 Forever thou tellest the struggle and story 
 
 Of the fathers who reared the Republic we prize. 
 
 Let the bells at clear sunrise ring clangorous pealing ; 
 
 Let loud-booming cannon shake land and shake sea ; 
 Let the heart overflow with its deluge of feeling, 
 
 As it throbs in the thought and the joy of the Free ! 
 
 Not the common observance, or old celebration, 
 A long-hallowed custom and still well approved ; 
 
 We give to this birth-day a new coronation 
 A memorial of flowers for our heroes beloved. 
 
 The Grand Army moves in procession to-morrow, 
 Its drum-beat ing muffled, and solemn its tread ; 
 
 With a pall on its banners, with heart-throbs of sorrow, 
 As it winds to the graves of our patriot dead. 
 
 Ah ! think ye, survivors of war-waste and battle, 
 Though worn in the trenches or scarred in the strife, 
 
 Of your comrades unflinching in shot-etorm and rattle, 
 As they sacrificed all for the National life ! 
 
 Aye, ye see them again in a beautiful vision, 
 
 As farewells were spoken, as partings were o'er, 
 And together went forward, so grand in decision, 
 
 Your Country to save, and its Flag to restore. 
 
 At the close of the contest, your high task completing, 
 In Rebellion subdued, and its cause overthrown, 
 
 You were welcomed at home in a rapturous greeting, 
 With glad music of bells, and love's heartiest toue. 
 
 How ye missed your dear comrades, ne'er homeward returning ; 
 
 How ye thought of their valor, their fall, and the spot 
 Where each brave form was sleeping ; and tears of your mourning 
 
 Dropped over a scene that can ne'er be forgot !
 
 94 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Well may ye recall them, those heroes immortal, 
 That fell for the Flag, and were wrapped in its folds, 
 
 And in broken ranks march to the grave's hallowed portal, 
 And garland the urn which their precious dust holds. 
 
 Let us all gather there, and with beautiful roses, 
 
 With loveliest lilies of varying hue, 
 Spread them over each mound where a soldier reposes, 
 
 Our tears falling on them like heaven's sweet dew. 
 
 Hang wreaths on the marble, lay crowns on the granite, 
 Place crosses and anchors o'er the slumbering breast, 
 
 Find the humblest of graves, and then gratefully span it 
 With these beautiful symbols of glory and rest. 
 
 Nor pass that lone hillock where a rebel is lying 
 Ft>r the prisoner and wounded had tenderest care ; 
 
 We pitied his treason, we soothed him when dying ; 
 In our fair floral gifts let his resting-place share. 
 
 And think of the tombs, though we never may know them, 
 Where some of our bravest in quietude sleep ; 
 
 And pray that kind hands with sweet garlands may strew them, 
 While the ne'er-closing Eye shall the dust-treasures keep. 
 
 O beautiful task ! this bestrewing with flowers 
 The graves of the heroes who died for their land ! 
 
 Sweet angels might come from their heavenly bowers, 
 And smile as they aid with invisible hand. 
 
 From the banks of Potomac to the Father of. Waters, 
 By hillside and vale in the South and the West, 
 
 Where army met army in battles and slaughters, 
 Our brave ones fought nobly, and sank to their rest. 
 
 The Peninsular raid, thy sharp strife, Cedar Mountain, 
 The fierce field of Antietam, where Fredericksburg lies, 
 
 The siege of Port Hudson, by Gettysburg's fountain, 
 Where through Shenandoah host' after host flies : 
 
 In the Wildernes t s charnel, in prisons terrific, 
 
 The grand march to the sea, and the Petersburg strife, 
 
 They struggled and fell and their rest how pacific, 
 
 While the country they saved has sprang forth to new life. 
 
 Some sleep on the fields that had witnessed their valor, 
 Some in sepulchre-gardens the nation reveres,- 
 
 And others returned, but in silence and pallor, 
 To be borne to their graves 'mid our sorrows and tears. 
 
 To honor each hero by name were a pleasure 
 The name that henceforth bears the star-sign of death 
 
 His virtues unfold and his patriot-fame treasure, 
 As we give to his toinb the memorial wreath.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 95 
 
 As memory recalls them, they rise up before us, 
 
 In manliest form, and with lore-beaming eye, 
 And their brave, noble spirits seem hovering o'er us, 
 
 To revisit these scenes from their home in the sky. 
 
 There is Foote, grand in soul, who on History's pages, 
 
 Shall live in a glory untarnished by time ; 
 A hero, so Christly, with the great of all ;r_r'>. 
 
 His name is enrolled his reward is sublime. 
 
 There is Winthrop, whose genius unfolded so brightly ; 
 
 There are Merwin, and Farnam, and Peck, 
 Who- led forth their regiments so bravely and knightly, 
 
 When called by their country at Liberty's beck. 
 
 There are Osborn, and Rockwood, true, noble, and loving 
 What treasures for service, what prizes for death ! 
 
 There are Linsley, and Taylor, and Button, forth moving, 
 The choicest young heroes, their swords to unsheath. 
 
 There are Chapman, and Cornwall, and Blake gallant leaders 
 
 And Bishop, and Fowler, and Barrett beside ; 
 How they rushed to the front to repel the seceders ! 
 
 How true to the Flag for which nobly they died ! 
 
 There is Walker the Chaplain, who brought to his station 
 
 The rich acquisitions that Learning bestowed, 
 Whose teaching and prayers were a blest ministration, 
 
 As for wounded and sick his deep sympathies flowed. 
 
 They sleep in their graves that we brighten with flowers, 
 Their memories hallowed by affection and tears ; 
 
 While in lone hearts and homes shall the sorrowing hours 
 Still linger and brood as a pall on the years. 
 
 Oh, well may ye mourn them, heroic and spendid, 
 Early joy of your hearts, and oft pressed to your lips ; 
 
 For great was your grief when dear life-hopes were ended, . 
 And the orb of your being went into eclipse ! 
 
 Sad, sad was the burden of Death's dread achievement ; 
 
 The mother, the widow, henceforth in their weeds : 
 Our tears have oft flowed o'er young groups in bereavement, 
 
 For heavier their loss as time slowly recedes. 
 
 In God's glorious purpose, it was not untimely, 
 
 The sacrifice precious, the boon of dear life ; 
 The cause that they died for has triumphed sublimely ; 
 
 A bright era of peace has risen out of dark strife. 
 
 What benefits rich, in the vast generations 
 
 That the years of the future shall grandly disclose, 
 
 Will flow to our land, and the long-struggling nations, 
 From these patriot deaths, from our sorrows and woes !
 
 96 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Now the Stars and the Stripes, in more radiant glory, 
 As the symbol of Freedom so proudly it waves, 
 
 The world's homage attracts, and repeats the grand story 
 Of a nation enfranchising millions of slaves 1 
 
 God bless the old Flag I May it evermore flying 
 
 Its glorious heritage triumphantly claim, 
 And ne'er 'neath the foot of a traitor be lying, 
 
 Nor shelter a dastard to tarnish its fame 1 
 
 While it floats in the breeze, o'er the land, o'er the billow, 
 
 The joy of the myriads that under it dwell, 
 The deeds of our warriors who made it their pillow, . 
 
 It shall, through the ages, victoriously tell ! 
 
 We strew the green mounds that rise over their bosoms 
 With the beautiful flowers of bright summer time ; 
 
 But as long as plants thrive, till the latest rose blossoms, 
 Their memorial lives in a freshness sublime ! 
 
 "Tis said that the flowers are the letters of angels, 
 
 The alphabet sweet of a language divine ; 
 Then, to those who can read them, they're blessed evangels 
 
 From books of high deeds that immortally shine ! 
 
 With an eloquence deep, each fair coronet floral 
 Sweeps the chords of our love to the depths of the heart ; 
 
 Though the voices are hushed, without utterance oral, 
 They thrill the moved soul, and they bid the tear start. 
 
 While patriots shall live, and the Republic so ample, 
 
 Your work and your memory never shall die, 
 O glorious dead ! In our Liberty's temple 
 
 Your fame is engraved on its arches so high ! 
 
 There is sacredness here and remembrance long lingers 
 Around the enchantment and rapture to-night 
 
 This fair floral display as if seraphs' soft fingers 
 Had touched it with beauty celestially bright. 
 
 Let the scene be repeated, an annual story ; 
 
 Let pure lilies cluster o'er patriots' sod, 
 While the years pass away, and to loftier glory 
 
 Our country ascends with the favor of God I 
 
 AT HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT. 
 COLONEL DEMING'S ADDRESS. 
 
 MR. COMMANDER AND COMRADES : We are here to inaugurate 
 no novel ceremony, but to revive an ancient one, which, trans- 
 mitted from the earliest ages by Roman, Grecian, Teutonic, and 
 English example, has descended, not entirely obsolete, even to
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 97 
 
 our own times and our own country. No one can be more con- 
 scious than myself of the powerlessness of mere words to awak- 
 en the sensibilities. befitting this floral offering to the memories 
 of our heroic dead ; such sensibilities must be evoked by the 
 spontaneous suggestions of your own hearts. 
 
 Flowers are natural tributes of sorrow, emblems of affection, 
 testimonials of remembrance. We deck with them the altars 
 of our religion ; we garland with them the bride of our choice ; 
 we encircle with them the cradle of our latest born ; we garnish 
 with them the sanctuaries of home why should we not scatter 
 them on the graves of the loved and lost, and invest even the 
 cold sepulchre with faithful symbols of hope and immortality ? 
 
 To the living warriors who return to us, scathed or unscath- 
 ed, from the perilous edge of battle, we have ten thousand ways 
 of manifesting our affection and gratitude : we may grasp them 
 by the hand ; we may embrace them in our arms ; we may en- 
 fold them to our bosoms ; we may enrich and adorn their lives 
 with our munificence ; we may rear for them palaces and hos- 
 pitals; we may decorate them with honors and office ; we may 
 elevate them to a position so exalted that they will command 
 the respect and veneration of all mankind. All this and more, 
 with fervid hearts, with generous hands, we may do for the liv- 
 ing ; but what for the dead ! what for the dead ! what for these 
 youthful martyrs so recently filled to overflowing with vigorous 
 and sanguine life, with affections, aspirations, hopes, yearnings, 
 infinite capacities, heaven-soaring thoughts and fancies, instant- 
 ly sent 
 
 "To lie in cold obstruction and to rot, 
 This sensible warm motion to become 
 A kneaded clod" 
 
 What for them ! O what for them ! In behalf of these depart- 
 ed comrades, how impotent, how insignificant are all the re- 
 sources of affection and gratitude ! Next to that immortality 
 which conveys to us a conscious personal existence in the assem- 
 bly of the just made perfect, no boon is more coveted by the* 
 thoughtful mind than that which insures us an everlasting ex- 
 istence in the memory of our fellow-men. 
 
 To those of our comrades who have been stationed around 
 these holy acres our advance guard, here to await the reveille 
 which shall call them and us to the last review, we can offer 
 nothing but this remembrance. If my voice could summon one 
 of them visibly into your presence, and with tears in my eyes 
 and heart upon my lips, I should ask him in your name. What, 
 what, O faithful soldier, can we do for thee ? How could he re- 
 spond to my invocation but by murmuring, " Kemember me." 
 7
 
 98 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 "What was the parting injunction of divine wisdom and forecast 
 incarnated in Mary's Son, but " This do in remembrance of Me." 
 And ever since He has ascended to the bosom of His Father, 
 and been crowned with the unalloyed fruition of that blessed and 
 glorious realm, He has constantly ratified by His benediction 
 the memorial of Himself which he instituted upon earth, thus 
 suggesting to us the comforting assurance that a permanent 
 place in the memory of mortals may not be unacceptable to that 
 expanded intelligence which our immortal martyrs may have 
 attained in heaven. 
 
 Since, then, my comrades, we can tender to these departed 
 benefactors, who have immolated themselves that we may live, 
 and thrive, and exult and glorify, nothing but remembrance, 
 let us give them that in magnificent setting. Let us raise to 
 their names and memories monuments, statues, mausoleums ; 
 let us not entrust this sacred duty of remembrance to enduring 
 marble, to imperishable bronze alone, but let us inaugurate a 
 holiday, which, with every returning spring, when the earth it- 
 self is reawakening into life, when these flowers whose roots were 
 buried in dishonor are rising again in glory, shall withdraw us 
 from the haunts of busy men to meditation with these silent 
 companions ; to scatter with' prodigal hand upon their graves 
 these significant mementoes of sorrow, affection, remembrance ; 
 to reflect upon our speedy exit to 
 
 " The undiscovered country from whose bourne 
 No traveler returns ;" 
 
 to anticipate our speedy reunion with these file-leaders who have 
 but marched on before, when, with them, we shall again fall 
 into the ranks around the great white throne, and await the 
 final order of the Great Commander. 
 
 AT NOBWALK, CONNECTICUT. 
 
 In this place the ceremonies under the local Post of the 
 Grand Army of the Republic were conducted quietly and unos- 
 tentatiously, but with evidently deep feeling and respect for 
 their fallen comrades. The society there is small, and owing to 
 adverse circumstances, they were unable to perfect their arrange- 
 ments in time for any extended notices to be given. It was, 
 however, announced in the various churches on Thursday even- 
 ing, that they would decorate the graves, and an invitation ex- 
 tended to citizens to join them in this tribute to the noble dead. 
 
 Therefore, at 1 o'clock on Saturday afternoon, notwith-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 99 
 
 standing the rain still falling, a delegation of the society bear- 
 ing a profusion of flowers, woven by fair hands into handsome 
 wreaths, crosses, bouquets, &c., proceeded with the old Starry 
 Flao; at their head to St. Paul's churchyard, and left their floral 
 offerings upon the graves of Lieut.-Col. Albert Wilcoxson. of 
 the 17th Conn. Vols., and Oliver S. Bishop, Hospital Steward 
 of the 27th Conn. Yols. From thence the delegation marched 
 to the cemetery, where a number of our citizens had gathered 
 to unite with them in their commemorating services. The ex- 
 ercises here were in reading the order of Maj.-Gen. Logan by 
 the Post Adjutant, Lieut. R. L. Ellis ; prayer by the Rev. Mr. 
 Breckenridge ; singing of the hymn America ; a short but 
 eloquent address by the Rev. O. W. Gates ; a touching and 
 feeling tribute to the soldiers by Dr. Asa Hill ; benediction by 
 the Rev. G. Haulenbeek. At the conclusion of the services they 
 passed around in procession to the different soldiers' graves, and 
 the Post Commandant, Lieut. Joseph P. Crossmon, announcing 
 the name, company, and regiment of the deceased, each grave 
 was in turn decorated. In this cemetery were the following : 
 
 Capt. Gould J. Jennings, Co. G, 59th N. Y. Yols. ; Capt 
 Theodore L. Beckwith, 28th C. Y. ; Private George Marvin, 
 28th C. Y. ; Maj. Asbury Hill, of Maj.-Gen. Butler's Staff; W. 
 L. Bodwell, Co. C, 27th C. Y., killed at Gettysburg ; Sergt. J. 
 L. Allen, 7th C. Y., mortally wounded before Petersburg ; 
 Sergt. Henry M. Prowitt, 12th C. Y. ; Owen Murphy, 5th 
 Regt. C. Y., mortalty wounded at Cedar Mountain ; John Hoyt, 
 Co. B, 28th C. Y. ; Capt. Henry A. Wetmore ; George Taylor, 
 2d Ct. Heavy Artillery ; Joshua Lounsbury. Co. F, 17th C. Y. ; 
 Ed. Holly, 5th C. Y. ; Holly, . 
 
 Leaving the cemetery the Society next proceeded to Pine 
 Island cemetery, where another concourse of our people had as- 
 sembled. Here the exercises opened with the reading by the 
 Post Adjutant of Gen. Logan's Order, followed by prayer by 
 the Rev. Mr. Simonson ; singing of America ; an address by 
 Rev. Mr. Woodruff, Chaplain of the 6th C. Y. ; remarks by Rev. 
 Messrs. Dunning and Breckenridge ; and benediction by Dr. A. 
 Hill. Captain Woodruff's address was very eloquent and 
 finished. The following graves were decorated :
 
 100 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 T. B. Benedict, Co. H, 8th C. V. ; H. H. Benedict, U. S. 
 Cavalry ; Wilbur Nash, Co. C, 27th C. V. ; William W. West- 
 lake, Co. A, 17th C. Y. ; Charles Merrills, Co. H, 8th C. V. 
 
 A committee was also sent to deposit flowers on two graves 
 in the old burial-ground down town, and on three in St. Mary's 
 churchyard. 
 
 There being still another cemetery to visit, and the time 
 and flowers both being short, it was decided to postpone until 
 the next day their visit to the Union Cemetery at Five Mile River. 
 Notice was accordingly given in the churches of the district on 
 Sunday morning that the exercises would be held at the ceme- 
 tery at 4: o'clock, at which hour a very large concourse of people 
 were gathered, and the services opened by the Rev. Mr. Dun- 
 ning, of South Norwalk, reading Gen. Logan's Order, followed 
 with prayer by the Rev. Mr. Alvord of Darien, and remarks 
 from Rev. Messrs. Raymond, Dunning, Platt, and Alvord, sing- 
 ing of America, and benediction by Rev. Mr. Raymond, the 
 G. A. R. then proceeded to garland their comrades' last resting 
 places, as follows : 
 
 George Dingee, Co. C, 28th C. Y. ; George A. Hoyt, Co. 
 H, 8th C. Y. ; Stephen Ferris, Co. H, 8th C. Y. ; Wm. H. 
 Ferris, Co. F, 6th C. Y. ; C. W. Ives, 16th N. Y. Yol. ; Charles 
 Clock, Co. G, 10th C. Y. ; Henry Johnson, Navy ; Elias John- 
 son, Co. B, 17th C. Y. 
 
 Give flowers! bring flowers! of every hue, 
 
 From garden-bed and field, 
 To deck the green above the breasts 
 
 That made the Northern Shield. 
 Pluck off the sweetest orange blooms 
 
 And roses while and rare 
 But not for marriage altars now, 
 
 Nor for the young bride's hair. 
 Ask lilies for their palest buds, 
 
 And violets for their blue 
 Ask wood and dell for greenest leaves 
 
 For those who died for you. 
 And lay above the bosoms cold 
 
 "Where brave hearts now repose, 
 The lilies pale nnd violets blue 
 
 And orange bloom and rose. 
 And when the other Junes shall bloom 
 
 Through all the years to be, 
 Bring flowers as sweet and" fair as these 
 
 For those who died for thee.
 
 GRAVES. 101 
 
 AT CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 MR. A. j. WILLABD'S ADDRESS. 
 
 FELLOW-SOLDIERS : This day has been appointed for the pay- 
 ing of honors to the memory of our comrades who fell in the 
 armed defence of our country, in the great Rebellion. The re- 
 moval to the National Cemetery at Beaufort of the bodies of 
 chose of our comrades who fell in the vicinity of Charleston 
 precludes us from compliance with the instructions we have re- 
 ceived, to decorate their graves ; but we fulfill the spirit of these 
 instructions in gathering around our camp-fires to-night, and 
 repeating the story of their martyrdom and glory, and of the 
 ends for which they fought, and which have been achieved 
 through them. 
 
 The tomb, with its solemn symbols and affecting influences, 
 ha? a deeper import than sentiment ascribes to it. It is there, 
 in the midst of silence and repose, that the voice of the mighty 
 dead is heard, the dead that yet live, the undying dead, immor- 
 tals, clothed with elements too real to be classed with the appa- 
 ritions that are discerned by sense. 
 
 Costly decorations add nothing to the interest of the soldier's 
 grave. The turf a little raised, a plain tablet, a few memorial 
 inscriptions, are all that is needed to waken the melodies that 
 flow dirge-like from the stricken heart, like music from hidden 
 harps. The soldier's story is simple. Privations and fatigues, 
 long marches, watches and waitings, fill out the intervals be- 
 tween struggles that compel the utmost concentration of effort 
 and endurance, to wrest life and victory from the grasp of death 
 and despair. This web of life, hard and actual, is bossed with 
 many thrills of pain and pleasure ; good news from home, start- 
 ling and exciting rumors of battles lost and won, surprises, routs, 
 rallies and recaptures, comrades recognized, well and hearty, 
 after a tight, others borne to the rear on stretchers, and some to 
 be spoken of hereafter only in connection with that dismal term 
 of record "missing;" to these are added the endless humors 
 engendered by toil and a stout heart. He dies as he lived, in 
 the midst of offices hurried, though kind and considerate, but 
 sadly devoid of personal tenderness. 
 
 In war, lives are valued at their worth to the State ; peace 
 brings back the estimation that partiality recognizes, and the 
 heart weighs out. 
 
 Already the lesser memories, the train of mere personal in- 
 terest connected with our fallen comrades, begin to fade from 
 our minds. Faces, of which every expressive line was once 
 vividly pictured in the memory, grow dim and vague, as if
 
 102 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 viewed through some wide space of the inner world of spirit; 
 lutes and events become obscure and uncertain, and soon mor- 
 tality and change will have erased much that is still left to be 
 treasured of that which appertained to them. 
 
 T. .-night we are in council as to how these effacings may be 
 arrested, and a monument erected that shall eternally perpetu- 
 ate the memorial of their labors and sacrifice, their virtues and 
 martyrdom. You have honored me by choosing me to lead 
 your thought and effort in this labor of love, and I shall en- 
 ik'uvor, not to fidfill your expectations, but to assist the accom- 
 plishment of the worthy end you propose. 
 
 Our comrades, whose memories we recall and whose spirits 
 we invoke this night, live in their works, and those works are 
 revealed in the strength, value, and beauty, and in the exhaust- 
 less power of endurance of those tried and cherished institutions 
 that establish and elevate our country and nation, in the esti- 
 mation of civilized men, beyond the praise accorded or due to 
 the institutions of any former age, or other race of men. 
 
 They labored and suffered to erect the stately temple within 
 which we to-day adore the God who has wrought their lives 
 into so glorious and admirable an edifice. Their manly virtues, 
 expressive of lofty strength, are moulded and traced with beauty 
 for us in buttress, arch, and pillar ; their goodness, grace, and 
 excellence, shining with the lustre of gold and silver, decorate 
 chancel, vault, and flaming window, and their truth lights our 
 work and reveals the hidden wisdom of the mysteries we love 
 to contemplate. 
 
 Let us, then, turn from the shrine that encases the mere 
 dross of their outer lives, and look upward and around, to dis- 
 cover their work in its amplitude arid immortality, perpetua- 
 ting a glory that not only lives, but has power within itself to 
 create and sustain life. If, in contemplating this grand result, 
 we seem to lose sight of personal memories and lives, remember 
 that the builder forgets the familiar stone that he has looked 
 upon day after day, and wrought and shaped with earnest en- 
 deavor and often repeated effort, when finished and fitted, it is 
 at last bound with its fellows in the groined and vaulted canopy 
 which figures to the imagination the wisdom and protective 
 love, that shields and fosters with congenial shadows the tender 
 life of man. 
 
 The political institutions of our country have been developed 
 mainly under the influence of two marked public events, hav- 
 ing many points in common, and yet clearly distinguishable from 
 each other by points of striking contrast. 'Both were periods of 
 revolution, both culminated in war ; both involved as a cardinal
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 103 
 
 feature the contending ideas of loyalty and rebellion, and both 
 terminated favorably for the development of our national exist- 
 ence. The war that commenced with the Declaration of Amer- 
 ican Independence was a justitiable rebellion, for it involved 
 the undoubted right of a people to independent national exist- 
 ence, whose geographical position, social tendencies, and indus- 
 trial pur-nits, necessarily rendered union with the parent coun- 
 try, from which they sprung, impossible, except with the loss of 
 that which was essential to national life and growth, and the 
 accomplishment of the true ends of national existence. 
 
 Grievances they had, indeed, sore and abundant to found a 
 just complaint of being practically abandoned by the parent 
 nation to unaided self-support ; but grievances they did not need 
 to establish their clear right to the necessary means of attaining 
 that which it was incumbent upon them to do and to become in 
 their national character. It was not the success of the revolu- 
 tion that justified it, but it was justice that secured success. 
 
 The war that was precipitated by the ordinance of secession 
 was unjustifiable, because it sought to defeat the very end that 
 justified the revolution of 1776, namely, the unity, growth, and 
 destiny of the nation. The ground upon which secession has 
 been defended, in argument condemns it, namely, that it was a 
 necessity springing from the clashing of contending local inter- 
 Ihe very idea of secession thus presented, involves the 
 full conception, historic and philosophical, of anarchy, and 
 would justify, under circumstances that may be readily con- 
 ceived, the work of the demon, who should split apart the two 
 hemispheres of our earth, upon the plea of an irreconcilable 
 peculiarity of institutions and tastes. 
 
 These two events were alike in the further respect, that one 
 of the contending parties, in each case, fought in the interest of 
 the right of man to good and free self-go veru in ent, and under 
 the inspiration of the right spirit of the age; and the other 
 fought in the interest of self-love, couched in the dogmas of the 
 twin spirits, monarchy and oligarchy, and stultified by prece- 
 dents that derived their force from the weakness of the people 
 in early times, and their inability to assert their rights as against 
 their masters. 
 
 These great events differed widely in another respect ; in the 
 former, the first blow was struck for freedom, while in the latter 
 it was struck for the enslaving of a portion of the human family. 
 
 To finish this general view of the subject, neither struggle 
 terminated in compromise ; but, in both, the tide of war rolled 
 on until victory was complete and acknowledged by both com- 
 batants.
 
 104 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 The immediate object of referring to this striking parallel, is 
 
 that v.v m:iy trace two steps of progress in our national life, cor- 
 
 >n ding to and growing out of these wars, and, like the 
 
 .11 which they sprung, characteristic, decisive, and irre- 
 
 Me. 
 
 The revolution of 1776 gave existence, name and promise 
 to the nation. It did not and could not do all that was requir- 
 ed to be done, in order to put the nation in possession of the 
 entire means of fulfilling its destiny ; for, if it had, it would. 
 have been at variance with all the analogies of nature in kin- 
 dred operations; for nature, in implanting the principles of life 
 and cherishing its early developments, always reserves to a 
 later effort the distinctive unfolding of the principle of fecunda- 
 tion, by means of which that life is destined to be indefinitely 
 amplified and imparted. 
 
 We became, as a people, a political individual, by the suc- 
 cessful act of severance from Great Britain, but had yet to look 
 forward to a future crisis for that individualization, broad and 
 positive, that should add rank and power to position, and which 
 could only arrive when purpose and will, ripened and concen- 
 trated, should bring forth ideas commensurate with their ends 
 and subservient to their forces. 
 
 What we got from England, and became our own in our 
 contest with her, was a rugged Saxon Constitution and an in- 
 stinct of independence and thrift. That is all that the mother 
 country could do for us. Our political ideas were destiTied to 
 come from the fatherland, in the most comprehensive sense of 
 that term the continent of Europe. 
 
 Our field of action was a continent, our mission to mankind 
 unlimited by geographical lines, and our civilization could not 
 be less than continental, nor derived except from the broadest 
 paternity. 
 
 In our contest with Great Britain we received aid, though 
 only partial, from the great underlying principle of popular 
 sovereignty and popular right, for at that early day we recog- 
 nized that principle in an imperfect degree, and stripped of much 
 of its force, under the English idea of no taxation without rep- 
 resentation, a mere dollar and cent version of the great truth, 
 and put forth without vigor, rather as a ground for escaping 
 laxation than as a cardinal doctrine of popular right. 
 
 No sooner, however, had our success begun to strengthen 
 popular movements, than France, the crater of Europe, began 
 to seethe with ideas of popular liberty, afterwards almost lost 
 again through the ungoverned excesses of her great revolution. 
 
 These ideas were caught by leading minds in our own land,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 105 
 
 and in spite of the dishonor that had been cast upon them 
 through the failure of France to discern their proper limita- 
 tions, silently worked their way into popular favor. While the 
 nation was quietly and successfully unfolding the results of the 
 revolutionary war in a closer union between the States, and in 
 expanding commerce and industry, and ripening the constitu- 
 tional functions of the Government, under the leadership of, in 
 earlier times, Washington, Hamilton, Marshall and other kin- 
 dred minds, and, at a later time, under the leadership of Web- 
 ster and Clay, the ideas that had convulsed Europe were 
 organizing themselves under the influence of such minds as that 
 of Jefferson, and were gradually preparing the public mind to 
 demand concessions of larger political powers to the masses of 
 the people. The Democratic party of the country gained, for 
 many years, political ascendency through their advocacy of these 
 ideas, but, owing to its alliance with the South, where such doc- 
 trines had little hold, being regarded as hostile to the institution 
 of slavery, no important results, in their practical application, 
 were attained by it. 
 
 Public events foreshadowed a contest that should decide 
 whether the general distribution of power among the people 
 was to take place, while the growing manifestation of a military 
 spirit among the people, shadowed forth at first dimly in the 
 election of General Harrison, in 1840, and more distinctly in 
 the zeal with which the nation abetted the prosecution of the 
 Mexican war, and afterwards elevated one of its heroes, General 
 Taylor, to the Presidency, indicated the means by which this 
 ominous contest should be terminated. 
 
 In order to reach the point at which the nation could regard 
 itself as clothed with the visible symbols of that power it was 
 destined to exercise in the future, two steps of advance in the 
 leadership of political ideas were to be attained by her ; the 
 h'rst was the enfranchisement of the whole people with civil 
 rights, and the next, the necessary consequence of the first, their 
 admission to equal political privileges. Slavery at the South 
 stood in the way of both, and becoming con scions of its relations 
 to the political changes through which the country was advanc- 
 ing, its champions struck a blow intended to sever a Union 
 fraught with the means of its overthrow. 
 
 Thus commenced the rebellion of 1860, on the ground on 
 which we now stand. The first effect of the war was to arouse 
 in the nation that strong instinct of nationality derived so forci- 
 bly through the war of Independence, and to concentrate it 
 upon the armed assertion of the national integrity. This feel- 
 ing absorbed all others, and even cherished ideas of civil and
 
 106 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 political liberty were, for the time being, almost lost si^ht of. 
 feut tin's ground was not broad enough or firm enough for the 
 nation to stand upon, in a crisis that demanded more than the 
 repetition of the past, and could be satisfied with nothing short 
 nl' a principle of action commensurate with the objects that were 
 to be secured by the contest. Hence it was that the arms of the 
 nation were paralyzed until we affirmed the broad doctrine of 
 universal civi! liberty, and entered the field under standards 
 that identified our hosts with the armies of liberty in all lands 
 and ages. 
 
 Under this sign we conquered, and drove human slavery 
 from the Continent. Civil rights were decreed by the nation to 
 all men and women within its borders, and thus was the first 
 great step of advance secured, and a foundation laid for the next 
 step, that of conferring political enfranchisement where civil 
 ri^ht had already been recognized. 
 
 It may seem that, in its relation to the present occasion, this 
 sketch of progress should here close, for we have reached, in the 
 statement of events, the end of the active stage of that vast con- 
 test that demanded so many victims ; but such is not the fact. 
 Wars, fortunately for mankind, accomplish more than blood- 
 shed, and than even the immediate political results flowing 
 from them. The work of the Soldier is not yet fully described. 
 A still greater sacrifice was demanded of the nation, for it had 
 not yet comprehended fully the exactions and the eventualities 
 of the crisis in which it stood. It was not yet prepared to set 
 its feet upon the firm ground that offered security and rest. That 
 sacrifice was no less than the head of the nation itself. 
 
 The appalling news thrilled the land, that Abraham Lincoln 
 had fallen by the hand of an assassin, in the heart of the capital 
 of the nation, in the public presence, surrounded by his friends. 
 Love for the man, admiration for his firmness and disinterested- 
 ness, opened the hearts of all loyal men to receive the full meas- 
 ure of the shock. A depth was touched, a chord was thrilled 
 that revealed a consciousness more profound than had ever be- 
 fore inspired public action in this country. The nation gathered 
 around the asnes of its beloved President, not alone to weep, 
 but to resolve, and carried from that mournful scene a purpose, 
 inspired by justice, which only awaited a fitting moment for 
 the accomplishment of an act that should place the nation firm- 
 ly upon the broad ground of equal right, affirmed by its foun- 
 ders, not, as has been said, in order to grace a declaration of 
 national faith with glittering generalities, as delusive as glitter- 
 ing, but as solemn axioms from which life and action were to 
 spring.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 107 
 
 A train of causes was set in motion which resulted in the 
 memorable year 1867, in the conferring of full political rights 
 upon 4.000,000 citizens of this Republic to whom they had been 
 unjustly denied. 
 
 The work that was thus begun by the Democratic party, 
 and during the late rebellion was transferred from its hands to 
 the Republican party, leaving in the possession of those from 
 whom it was taken but the name, without the reality, is not yet 
 fully complete, for there are yet found in many of the Northern 
 States enough of those who, under the narfte of Democrats, 
 array themselves against impartial popular rights, to find the 
 means of still depriving a handfull of colored people of equal 
 political privileges with the latest importation of European im- 
 migrants. But so little is to be done, comparatively, to realize 
 the ascendency of the great principle for which we have paid 
 so dearly, that we may disregard the little that is lacking, and 
 congratulate each other on the great work as accomplished. 
 
 Wi- have thus hastily traced the recent history of our coun- 
 try down to what appears manifestly to be the beginning of a 
 new and distinctive political era. We can readily see the rela- 
 tion that this new age bears to that which went before it,, and 
 thence predcit some of its leading characteristics. We observe 
 that while our first historic period founded, unfolded and 
 strengthened our nationality, and prepared us to enter upon a 
 state in which more enlarged uses were to be assigned us, the 
 latter period is inaugurated with the acquisition of those forces 
 that are essential to the leadership of the ideas that are de- 
 termining the course of European politics and events. We per- 
 ceive that we are to assume hereafter a larger and more positive 
 influence in public events on both continents, and that such 
 influence will be exerted in the interest of the rights of mankind, 
 as against all that depresses healthful development and stifles 
 laudable ambition. 
 
 We are not unconscious that the point of equilibrium in our 
 political institutions is somewhat changed, and that, to a cer- 
 tain extent, we are liable to irregularities in the working of the 
 system ; but we do not fear these things if we possess a healthy 
 courage equal to the emergencies that must, necessarily, arise in 
 the course of an active and progressive life. There is danger 
 every time you mount a horse or step into a boat, but such. 
 Ganger as a man of courage treats lightly, and never deters him 
 from the discharge of a duty. 
 
 We have the confidence that springs from the consciousness 
 that our government rests upon the principle of justice, and 
 such a foundation, by the grace of God, and a due exercise of
 
 108 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 prudence, is sure and enduring. In addition to this, we have 
 the confidence that springs from the recognition of the fact, that 
 we are moving in harmony with that great current in human 
 affairs that >i-ts in all lands, in the direction of an enlarged 
 diffusion of political powers, in conjunction with the repre- 
 sentative principle of government, and that being in the current, 
 we are farthest removed from the rocks that forbode ship- 
 wreck. And that if, as we believe, there is a law in the 
 progress of political events like that which pervades all the 
 forces of miture,tending to the highest good and the largest 
 diffusion of that good, we are in harmony with the workings 
 of that law and enjoy its protection, and will reap its bene- 
 fits. 
 
 Taking our stand upon the summit of this lofty elevation, 
 and casting our eyes over the valleys, where the smoke of battle 
 lately enveloped the combatants in darkness and donbt, and 
 where now the graves of our comrades appear mingled with 
 ripening harvests, surrounded by life and hope, and, cheered 
 with the reaper's song, we gather a new inspiration from these 
 fruitful hillocks. It calls to us from the silent depths of our 
 hearts, to move onward and upward, fearlessly as they moved 
 amiclst the uncertainties of battle, trusting the God into whose 
 hands they fell, sweetly trusting and sleeping. 
 
 Comrades, our country has drawn a prize a glorious prize 
 in the lottery of war 300,000 graves ! They stand in line of 
 battle, the right resting on Donelson, the left stretched out 
 to Gettysburg. Around that vast circle that sweeps down the 
 Mfcaiasippi, across to the Atlantic, and thence beyond Richmond 
 to the quiet vallies of Pennsylvania, stand these veteran senti- 
 nels of liberty. Their challenges are heard and answered from 
 hillock to hillock. Should tyranny or anarchy enter the land, 
 and set foot upon the sacred soil they guard, the voice that shall 
 demand " Who comes there !" will speak from their graves with 
 the authority of the embattled hosts of the heroic dead. Before 
 that line the advance of evil will be stayed, and our country, de- 
 livered from her fear, will sit in peace and comfort. 
 
 While we honor the dead who fought the battles of liberty, 
 let us not forget to treat with tenderness those other graves 
 that were tilled by the war. Magnanimity is the soldier's life 
 blood. Many a man fought against us with as tirm a conviction 
 of right as that which animated the breasts of the comrades we 
 honor. We hold them to have fallen in an unjust and unholy 
 cause. The future will confirm this judgment : but let us re- 
 member that our conceptioiis of right and wrong are for the 
 most part derived from the judgment of the community of
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 109 
 
 which we are members. Few men act and think independent- 
 ly of the state of opinion that surrounds them. Let this con- 
 templation moderate the force of self-approbation, and the 
 judgment of condemnation to be bestowed on men as individ- 
 uals ; for while the rectitude of our opinions and purposes are 
 mainly due to the character of the institutions imder which we 
 have been nurtured, so the errors of judgment of those we would 
 most loudly condemn are due to the same cause. Then, as good 
 soldiers, while we vow eternal vengeance against evil as it is 
 found incarnate in perverted institutions, let us tenderly con- 
 sider the helplessness of men under the influence of such in- 
 stitutions before we visit too severe a judgment upon personal 
 character and motive. 
 
 Our solemn ceremonies are finished. To-day the golden sun 
 has painted with radiant, but evanescent colors, a firmament of 
 garlands laid by loving hands upon the multitude of soldiers' 
 graves that consecrate our land. In every part of this broad 
 country, in every valley and shaded nook that holds a hero's 
 resting place ; in stately cemeteries and in modest church-yards ; 
 in the distant field, beneath its clump of elms, to the road-side 
 cross, a train has come and gone, and left behind some tender 
 memorial of the love they bore the dead. The gifts of sturdy 
 comrades, of wives, with hearts in ashes ; of stricken parents, 
 and weeping and wondering children, lie strewn together, wet 
 with the dew of night, and the tears of loving ones. What 
 wealth of sorrow! what treasures of tears! what majesty of 
 woe ! That golden sun has sunk to rest, and the shadows that 
 shake from their folds sad musings, have fallen upon the homes 
 from which these mir.sing ones followed the stirring drum and 
 fife. Who can penetrate even in imagination these broken 
 circles, that with emotions newly aroused by the offices per- 
 formed this day, recount the sorrows of heart and stern priva- 
 tions that have followed each peculiar bereavement, without 
 realizing that the living soldier owes to the dead soldier a duty, 
 in shielding from want and suffering those he has left to bear 
 his burdens with their own sorrows. 
 
 Sleep on ye fallen ones ! beneath the watchful beams of the 
 sentinel moon that paces her silent beat above you, no alarms 
 nor rattling fire from startled picket lines can reach your ears, 
 or call you from your rest. No wily foe can burst upon your 
 camping ground where your flowery tents are pitched and 
 lighted by the fire-fly, to drive you from your lonely bivouac. 
 To-morrow's light will break the bugle will call to duty the 
 drums will proclaim the advent of another sun, but you will not 
 come forth, nor make report for duty again among men. Sun
 
 110 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 after sun will warm the turf above you; year after rear will 
 bring <>nr floral offerings, such as we make to-day. Age after 
 age will ripen human things, but you will come no more to roll- 
 cull. I'.ut still a day will come when a bugle-call will rever- 
 U-nttc through the morning air, and an assembly will be sound- 
 ed th:t shall wake you, and call you forth to answer to your 
 names upon the rolls of the grand army of the Great Com- 
 mander of Heaven and Earth, to form upon the standards em- 
 blazoned with the golden martyr cross, and hold, eternally, the 
 lines that sever justice, truth and fortitute from hatred, vice, 
 and fear. 
 
 CHARLESTON, S. C., May 30, 1868. 
 
 CEREMONIES IN MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 [OFFICIAL CIRCITLAK.] 
 
 BOSTON, Maij 23, 1868. 
 
 The Grand Army of the Republic, a society of veterans, 
 formed for the purpose of extending systematic charity to dis- 
 abled soldiers and sailors, and of cherishing the patriotic spirit 
 which animated our armies in the late war, have appointed 
 Saturday, the 30th inst., for the floral decoration of the graves 
 of their deceased comrades throughout the country. In this 
 tribute of respect for the memory ot the men whose martyrdom 
 secured to us victory and peace, they earnestly invite the co- 
 operation of the public. The large cemeteries will be visited 
 by the Posts of the Order, and smaller graveyards by delega- 
 tions, and it is suggested that the friends and relatives of sol- 
 diers buried near Boston, visit their graves on the day thus set 
 aside, and adorn them with flowers, or designate them for deco- 
 ration by the visiting societies. In towns where there are no 
 Posts of the Grand Army of the Republic, the town authorities 
 and citizens are requested to provide for the decoration of sol- 
 diers' graves with suitable ceremonies. 
 
 Contributions of flowers, or money to be expended in the 
 purchase of flowers, are solicited, to be sent to such places as 
 may hereafter be announced through the daily papers. 
 
 The clergy are respectfully requested to read this notice
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. Ill 
 
 from their pulpits on Sunday, May 2-i, with such remarks as 
 
 they may deem appropriate. 
 
 L. "W. OSGOOD, Post 7, Boston, 
 
 HENRY R. SIBLEY, Post 11, Charlestown, 
 
 C. H. HOVEY, Post 15, Boston, 
 
 WM. II. LAWRENCE, Post 23, East Boston, 
 
 C. C. EMERY, Post 26, Boston Highlands, 
 
 A. C. WELLINGTON, Post 30, Cambridge, 
 
 GEO. H. JOHNSTON, Post 32, South Boston. 
 
 F. O. BARNES, Post 35, Chelsea, 
 
 Committee. 
 
 AT FOREST HILLS CEMETERY, ROXBURY. 
 
 The occasion of strewing the graves of deceased . soldiers 
 with flowers at Forest Hills Cemetery was adopted as a favor-r 
 able one for the inauguration of the beautiful bronze statue by 
 the eminent sculptor, Milmore, recently erected in the Soldiers' 
 Burial Lot. Post 26 of the Grand Army of the Republic, and 
 the members of the late city government of Roxbtiry, managed 
 this act of duty and respect, and very many were present to 
 witness it, although the lowering aspect of the heavens un- 
 doubtedly hindered a large number of those from being present 
 who would have greatly desired the privilege. 
 
 The monument represents a soldier leaning on his musket, 
 and pensively gazing on the graves of his dead comrades. 
 Many thousands .of our citizens have had opportunity to see the 
 statue, which stood for several days in front of the City Hall 
 of Boston, and was universally acknowledged to be one of the 
 very finest specimens of the sculptor's art to be found in Boston 
 or its neighborhood. At Forest Hills it had been raised on a 
 finely designed granite pedestal, bearing on the 'front the fol- 
 lowing inscription in raised letters : 
 
 ERECTED BY THE CITY OF ROXBURY IN HONOR OF HER SOLDIERS 
 WHO DIED FOR THE COUNTRY IN THE REBELLION, 1861-1865. 
 
 On the back of the pedestal is the following : 
 
 " From these honored dead we take increased devotion to 
 the cause for which they gave their last full measure of devo- 
 tion." Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, Nov. 1863.
 
 112 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 On Saturday, the monument was beautifully decorated with 
 living flower*, j-hu-i-d BO as almost to hide the pedestal among 
 their lovuline.-s. The granite wall around the lot was also 
 finely ornamented wirh bouquets and wreaths mostly the 
 marks of family and friendly affection on the part of the rela- 
 tives and friends of the soldiers buried in the lot. Eight and 
 left of the entrance, platforms were erected the former for the 
 band and choir, and the latter for those who were to conduct 
 and share more directly in the dedicatory services. The instru- 
 mental music was furnished by Chickering's Band, and the 
 vocal portion by a double quartette of remarkably skilful sing- 
 ers. 
 
 Shortly previous to noon on Saturday, the Warren Eifles of 
 Eoxbury, under command of Capt. William H. Hutchinson, 
 forty-five muskets, marched from their armory to the headquar- 
 ters of Post 26, of the Grand Army of the Eepublic, Maj. C. C. 
 Emory, Commander, to whom they acted as escort, and thence 
 to the City Hall, where the old city government was received, 
 and thence to the depot on the Providence road, where they 
 took the care for Forest Hills station at 12.30 o'clock. Several 
 hundreds from Boston -went out by the same, preceding, and 
 following trains. From the depot, the escort and procession 
 marched to the Cemetery, every member bearing flowers in his 
 hands, where the late city government of Eoxbury and the 
 members of the G. A. E. proceeded, the band playing a slow 
 and solemn march, to the Soldiers' Lot, in front of which the 
 veterans of the Grand Army were drawn up in double column, 
 and the inauguration services proceeded. 
 
 Order was called by Commander Emery, of Post 26, G. A. 
 E., who afterward presided. He said, in introducing the cere- 
 monies of inauguration and of the day : 
 
 COMRADES : We have assembled here to-day, in accordance 
 with the orders of our Grand Commander, and also in concur- 
 rence with the dictates of our own hearts, for the purpose of 
 strewing the graves of our fallen companions with flowers, to 
 keep bright and green their memories in our hearts. We have 
 another duty to perform which is, to dedicate this statue to the 
 memory of those of our companions who fell by our sides in 
 battle, and who now lie buried within these hallowed grounds :
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 113 
 
 and to the Hon. Mayor and gentlemen of the City Council of 
 our late city of Roxbury, allow me, in behalf of this Post, to 
 tender to you our most sincere and heartfelt thanks for the 
 honor which you have conferred upon us, by placing in our 
 hands the arrangements for the dedication of this noble work 
 of art to the memory of our fallen companions. And let me 
 assure you that, should our services be again required in the de- 
 fence of our country's liberties, (which God grant may never 
 be !) you will find us as prompt to answer the call as we were 
 in days gone by. 
 
 The weather at the time was dull and damp, threatening 
 rain ; nevertheless, a great many more were on the ground than 
 could get within earshot of the speakers during the exercises, 
 which commenced with a dirge by the band. 
 
 Rev. A. J. Paterson read select and appropriate passages of 
 Scripture with impressive emphasis, and Rev. J. O. Means fol- 
 lowed in prayer. The choir then sang, in the most feeling man- 
 ner, " Rest, Spirit, Rest," which has very rarely been better 
 performed. 
 
 Rev. George Putnam, D.D., who had been selected to de- 
 liver the oration, was introduced. 
 
 DR. PUTNAM'S ORATION. 
 
 SOLDIERS AND FRIENDS : I am warned by the very best medi- 
 cal authority that this assembly must not be long detained in 
 the damp which now pervades the soil and the atmosphere j 
 and I will respect the injunction, not from disregard for the 
 memories of the dead, but from a proper regard for the welfare 
 of the living. We have come together, my friends, to dedicate 
 this monument to our fallen heroes. Let that figure be the only 
 orator on this occasion. What human lips can speak to us witn 
 such eloquence as those dumb lips of brass ? Look at the 
 figure! It is the impression of the heroes of the great army 
 that went forth to save the country and saved it was ! He 
 looks weary ; well he may, for he has run his race, and well 
 and bravely done his work. He looks majestic, for he bears the 
 majesty of the country upon him. He looks pensive and 
 thoughtful, for he remembers the carnage, the hospital, and the 
 prison. He has pathos in his expression, for he looks on the 
 graves of his dead comrades. We come to inaugurate this 
 monument, but it needs not many words to do it. Let it be 
 done by grateful, tender memories and devout thanksgiving in 
 8
 
 114 MKMORTAL CEREMONIES 
 
 all our hearts. What I might say would be feeble, and soon 
 forgotten ; but the words of that beautiful statue shall never be 
 hu>hrd so long as there are American hearts to beat in gratitude 
 for their noble and patriotic dead. Let me be silent ; let him 
 sprak ; and he shall speak, not only to us of the present day, 
 but to our children's children throughout a far future, and 
 breathe into them a deeper love for country, a purer and nobler 
 inspiration. Thousands and thousands who pass this spot will 
 gather or confirm such patriotic feeling here. A time may 
 come when another arm may be raised against the country, and 
 there be found brave hearts to meet its requirements, as there 
 has been in the past. May the Almighty Ruler prevent it ! 
 But if such a time should come, let there be no vestige of this 
 monument remaining, but let brass and stone both be crumbled 
 in the dust ; let not a particle of either be left to mark another 
 degenerate period ! But that time shall never come : that elo- 
 quent figure shall go on speaking, pleading, inspiring, till the 
 last syllable of recorded time. And now, friends and soldiers, 
 go forth to perform your most pleasing, beautiful, touching 
 office. Strew flowers over the ashes of your comrades ; lay 
 garlands over their sacred dust. What you are doing here, 
 your fellow-soldiers are doing everywhere to their dead heroes. 
 And shall it not be that every year hereafter this sweet offering 
 shall be laid on the graves of our patriotic soldiers ; and shall 
 not your children, and your children's children, do the same? 
 Go ; and in your love of their glorious memories lay flowers on 
 their graves, and we all will follow you with bur best wishes ; 
 everywhere we will go with you, accompanying you \vith our 
 sympathies and our prayers. 
 
 This address, which could not have been more impressive 
 and appropriate had it been clothed with the wordiness of a 
 volume, evidently had a powerful eftect. Its simplicity and 
 aptitude to the subject touched the heart of every heaver, old 
 and young; and men present, who had listened to the greatest 
 orators, living and dead, declared they had never heard any 
 thing more applicable to circumstances and occasion. 
 
 After music from the band, the following ode, written by 
 Mrs. P. A. Hannaford, was sung by the choir and the audience, 
 to the tune of " Floyd's Hymn." It was previously read by 
 Rev. Charles J . Bo wen : 
 
 Strew the blossoms o'er our dead, 
 Lowly lies each conqueror's head ; 
 Spread the flow'rets sweet around 
 Where they sleep is hallowed ground.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 115 
 
 Yet their dust alone is here 
 They are in the spirit-sphere ; 
 They are with the crowned and blest, 
 Evermore they are at rest. 
 
 There no sound of war shall come, 
 Never beat of battle-drum, 
 Nevermore the whistling ball, 
 Nevermore the bugle call. 
 
 Strew the blossoms ! soft they rest 
 Low beneath the earth's green breast 
 Forms we loved and faces dear, 
 Nevermore to street us here. 
 
 Strew the flowers, and though they fade 
 
 Over each beloved head, 
 
 Yet their memory shall remain, 
 
 Like their banner, free from stain. 
 
 While the Stars and Stripes shall wave, 
 Honored be the soldier's grave ; 
 For the noble, patriot baud, 
 Saved our broad, beloved land. 
 
 While the ode was being sung, a number of ladies (the 
 wives, daughters, and friends of the soldiers buried on the spot) 
 literally covered their graves with flowers, while floral marks 
 of affection, such as crosses and wreaths, were placed at the 
 heads of each. On either side of the several graves were placed 
 miniature American flags. 
 
 Thereafter a section of Post 26 was detailed by the Com- 
 mander to the duty, and they placed many lovely bouquets 
 upon the graves of their deceased comrades. There were fifteen 
 men of this detachment designed to represent the same num- 
 ber of Eoxbury men belonging to Col. W. S. King's Company 
 (K, Massachusetts 35th Volunteers) who fell at Antietam, ten 
 of whom are buried at Forest Hills. The ceremony was a very 
 interesting and affecting one. 
 
 A prayer of dedication and benediction by Rev. A. J. 
 Paterson, and a solemn dirge by the band, closed the ceremo- 
 nies at the Soldiers' Lot ; and the people thereafter thronged 
 into the area, and gazed on the scene where honor had just been 
 so beautifully and appropriately conferred on the heroic dead. 
 
 Preceded by the band, the members of Post 26, accompa-
 
 116 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 nied by several beautiful young ladies, bearing baskets of flow- 
 ers, proceeded to the graves of the Union dead scattered all 
 over the Cemetery which they liberally decorated, while the 
 band played strains of solemn music. The duty of decoration, 
 in all but one or two instances, had been left to the comrades 
 of the heroic dead. One of the monuments in Vine Path, how- 
 ever, was peculiarly noticeable for its simple but expressive 
 decorations. It was that of Capt. John K. Lloyd, who com- 
 manded Company H, of the 17th Massachusetts Volunteers, who 
 fell a victim to rebel cruelty after being thirteen months in 
 Southern prisons. On the top of the obelisk which is placed at 
 his head was a wreath of evergreen, and on the wreath, just 
 above the inscription, was another wreath of immortelles, \vith 
 rosettes of red, white, and blue ribbons. In the centre of the 
 latter, between certain Masonic insignia, were the lines : 
 
 " Cold in the dust his perished heart may lie, 
 But that which warmed it once shall never die." 
 
 A very elegant and liberal tribute of flowers was laid upon the 
 grave of Captain Lloyd by the ladies and the G. A. R., some 
 of the latter having been by his side in " times which tried 
 men's souls." 
 
 Besides the graves in the Soldiers' Lot, some fifty-five others 
 in the Cemetery were vi&ited, and honors paid at them all, 
 equal in character and spirit, irrespective of condition in life 
 and rank in the army. 
 
 This duty occupied the time till about 6 o'clock, when the 
 party was received at the Cemetery gate by the escort, marched 
 to the depot, and from that at Roxbnry to City Hall in that 
 section, and disbanded. 
 
 IN DORCHESTER, MASS. 
 
 The beautiful monument on Meeting-House Hill was deco- 
 rated in an elegant and tasteful manner. Colonel Fox, of Post 
 15, had charge of the decoration, assisted by the ladies and gen- 
 tlemen of the town. There being no organization present, the. 
 exercises were brief and simple. Mr. R. C. Humphreys deliv- 
 ered a short introductory address, in which he alluded to the 
 peculiarly appropriate time that had been selected for the trib-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 117 
 
 utc the time when all nature was blooming into a new life and 
 beauty. He exhorted those present to acknowledge their obliga- 
 tions to the departed heroes, by being more kind and charitable 
 to their widows and orphans. The audience joined in singing 
 " America," and after a fervent and impressive prayer by Eev. 
 Mr. Humphreys, of Springfield, Rev. T. B. Fox, ot Dorchester, 
 made a few remarks, paying a fitting tribute to the young men 
 who, in the prime of lite and hope, had offered themselves sacri- 
 fices that the country might live. The living heroes the 
 Grand Army of the Republic had inaugurated the beautiful 
 but solemn festival which had called them together to-day, and 
 he hoped it would be of annual occurrence. The services were 
 then closed by the singing of the Doxology and by the bene- 
 diction. 
 
 AT MOUNT HOPE CEMETERY. 
 
 Mount Hope Cemetery was visited by Posts 7 and 32 of the 
 Grand Army of the Republic, accompanied by a large repre- 
 sentation of the c"ity government of Boston, and escorted by 
 Company E of the 7th Regiment, and Companies E and K of 
 the 1st Regiment, with the Metropolitan Band. At 2 P.M. these 
 bodies assembled in front of the City Hall on School street, and 
 under the marshalship of Col. George H. Johnson, Commander 
 of Post 32, a procession was formed in the following order: 
 
 Detachment of Police, under Lieutenant Porter of Station 4. 
 
 Metropolitan Band. 
 
 Company E, 7th Regiment, Captain Hallgreen, 45 men. 
 Post 7, G. A. R., L. "W. Osgood, Commander, 75 men. 
 
 Members of the City Government. 
 
 Post 32, G. A. R., Frank Choate, Commander, 35 men. 
 
 Company E, 1st Regiment, Captain Foss, 25 men. 
 
 Company K, 1st Regiment, Captain King, 35 men. 
 
 The procession marched through School, Beacon, Arlington, 
 Boylston, and Pleasant streets, to the Providence Railroad sta- 
 tion, all the members of the Grand Army bearing flowers in 
 their hands. A large number of cars were provided for the 
 conveyance of the soldiers and their many friends who had
 
 118 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 gathered at the station. Disembarking at Forest Hills, the 
 ladies and citizens were taken to the Cemetery in coaches, while 
 the Posts and the military marched. 
 
 The scene of the ceremony was the soldiers' and sailors' 
 monument. At each corner of the lot was a flag at three-quar- 
 ters mast. The inscriptions and designs on the die of the monu- 
 ment were enclosed in very handsome wreaths of evergreen and 
 f:v-li flowers, which imparted a striking beauty to the memorial. 
 The soldiers surrounded the lot, the Grand Army being at the 
 front of the monument. Here they were joined by about forty 
 inmates of the Soldiers' Home on Springfield street, some of 
 whom, too weak or lame to stand, remained in one of the 
 coaches provided for them. The opening of the ceremony was 
 the reading, by Colonel Johnston, of General Order No. 11 
 from General Logan, directing the decoration. Prayer was 
 offered by the Rev. G. S. Abbott, of South Boston, after which 
 the members of the Grand Army, and the disabled soldiers, 
 while the band performed a dirge, slowly ranged themselves at 
 the graves. Then the music ceased, and another dirge was be- 
 gun, during which the low, narrow mounds, received the trib- 
 utes to the brave buried beneath them. This having been done, 
 the members resumed their places in line, and an oration was 
 delivered by the Eev. W. F. Mallalieu, of the Bromfield street 
 church. 
 
 ADDRESS BY EEV. W. F. MALLALIEU. 
 
 The occasion which calls us together is one of peculiar and 
 exceeding interest. We are here to do honor to the brave who 
 have diea in the defence of their country and the rights of man. 
 We are not alone. From the rising of the sun even to the going 
 down thereof, throughout the length and breadth of our land, 
 processions are assembling in the tasteful cemeteries of our 
 populous cities, and in the'qmet graveyards of the rural towns. 
 With sober, thoughtful mien, they bear the choicest floral deco- 
 rations that the most skilful hands can produce and the most 
 tender love can collect, for the embellishment of the graves of 
 the honored ^ead. In many places, comrades, parents, sisters, 
 brothers^ widowed wives, orphaned children, and grateful coun- 
 trymen, join in -this sad but pleasing tribute to the memory of 
 those who lived so well and died so nobly. Meanwhile, through-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 119 
 
 out the South land may be 8een to-day the dusky forms of stal- 
 wart men, with their wives and children, bearing yet, as many 
 of them do, the sears of the lash, the chain, and all the im- 
 naim-d tortures of slavery, gathering about the silent resting- 
 places of the Northmen, whom they recognize as martyrs in 
 their behalf, and the saviours of their race. With throbbing 
 hearts, in whispers, they rehearse the story of the past, and 
 hopefully look forward to the future ; and, kneeling by the 
 gr.-ives of those who died for them, their falling tears bedew the 
 ground, and their grateful thanksgivings go up to God. 
 
 We doubt not that the brave men whose deeds we commem- 
 orate went forth at the summons of duty with a heart lor any 
 fate; so ardent was their patriotism, "and so great was their 
 desire to defend the common safety of our country, that its in- 
 herent force constantly overcame all the allurements of pleasure 
 and repose." But could they have known and felt that the time 
 was near at hand, when, with liberty preserved, our institutions 
 purih'ed and consolidated, and peace and prosperity restored, ten 
 thousand willing hands and hearts would join to do honor to 
 their memory, they would have been ready, whether standing 
 in battle array, or rushing to the deadly breach, or pressing for- 
 ward in the tumultuous charge, to exclaim, with that most illus- 
 trious patriot of the Revolution, Dulce ct decorum est pro 
 patria mori. Indeed, it may be truly said of them, that, 
 whether they fell in the hours of the nation's discouragement, 
 or in the days when light began to dawn, their heroism and 
 valor are alike unparalleled in the annals of time the glory of 
 their fame is rendered none the less resplendent by comparison 
 with that of the most celebrated heroes of ancient or modern 
 days. 
 
 It is not an improper question for us to ask, at the present 
 time, Why are there, at this moment, more than three hundred 
 thousand graves filled with the best and bravest of the nation? 
 The answer to the question carries us back to the earliest settle- 
 ment of the country. Even then were sown the seeds of two 
 antagonistic forces. For two centuries the inevitable contest 
 went on between truth and error, despotism and freedom, the 
 Bible taught and Christ exampled, doctrines of equality and 
 fraternity, and the wicked dogmas of the worst conceivable 
 form of sin and barbarism. 
 
 The conflict culminated when the white-haired traitor of 
 South Carolina reached forth that accursed right hand which 
 now moulders in the grave of the suicide, to send, hurling forth 
 from the belching batteries of Charleston, the messenger of de- 
 struction against the gallant Anderson and his devoted baud of
 
 120 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 patriot soldiers placed for the defence of the nation's flag in the 
 beleaguered fortress of Minuter. As the sound of that cannon- 
 shot went echoing round the earth, what different emotions were 
 kindled in the minds of men ! The aristocrats, the pope, the 
 kings and the emperors of the Old World, with ill-suppressed 
 delight hailed it as the harbinger of hope to themselves, and 
 IP .m it gathered assurance of the long continuance of their 
 power and prerogatives. The oppressed, and those aspiring, 
 and those laboring for the rights of men, trembled as they 
 feared that the last hope of an expecting world was about to 
 pass away amid the storm of battle and the smoke of deadly 
 conflict. But good and true men, all through this land of ours, 
 were roused as by the shock of an earthquake ; many a cheek 
 was blanched to utter paleness, but not with fear ; many a voice 
 was tremulous, but only on account of indignant grief; many 
 a heart was almost pulseless, but only for the love it bore for 
 the dishonored flag of the Republic. Then came the over- 
 whelming tide, the flood, the grandest outburst of enhusiastie 
 loyalty and patriotic devotion which the world has ever known ; 
 and the great oath was sworn by an outraged people, that the 
 nation's wrongs should be avenged, and liberty established 
 throughout all our borders. To fulfil this vow, the loyal masses 
 of the land offered all they had of strength, and wealth, and 
 lite. To fulfil this vow, from the battle-fields of Lexington, and 
 Concord, and Bunker Hill, from Plymouth Rock, from the hills 
 and valleys of the East, and from the broad prairies of the 
 West, thousands of men at their country's call, " with silent 
 tongue, and clenched teeth, and steady eye, and well-poised 
 bayonet," went hurrying to the fields of conflict. To fulfil this 
 vow, three hundred thousand and more of the bravest hearts 
 that ever beat in sympathy with the down-trodden and enslaved 
 now silent rest, " a fearless host in glory's brightest bed." To 
 fulfil this vow, these men were ready to do, to endure, and to 
 die, if need be, upon the battle-field, where it is comparatively 
 easy for the soldier to meet his fate, or in the hospital by swift 
 or lingering disease, or of starvation and torture inflicted at the 
 instigation of the infamous wretches who managed the affairs 
 of the Rebellion. Thus heroic in life and in death were these 
 defenders of the Republic. 
 
 " On fame's eternal camping-ground 
 
 Their martial tents are spread, 
 While glory guards with solemn round 
 The bivouac of the dead." 
 
 It is becoming in the highest degree, that with affectionate
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 121 
 
 gratitude we should strew these graves with flowers, while we 
 m-all the matchless heroism of their lives and the spotless valor 
 of their deaths. 
 
 The hour demands that we should remember that the war in 
 which these men perished, was eminently just in itself, and car- 
 ried on fur the best good of the human race. History will be 
 sought in vain to find instances where war has been more right- 
 ( oiii-ly waged than by us in the war of our revolution or this 
 through which we have just passed. It was said by Cicero that 
 no war can be undertaken by a just and wise State unless for 
 iaith or self-defence. This self-detence of the State is necessary 
 to secure its perpetuity, and this perpetuity is what all patriots 
 desire. Those afflictions which the hardiest spirits smart under, 
 poverty, exile, prison, and torment, private individuals seek to 
 escape from by an instantaneous death. But for States, the 
 greatest calamity of all is death, which to individuals appears a 
 refuge. A State should be so constituted as to live forever. 
 The war of the rebellion was on our part unqualifiedly begun 
 and carried on in self-defence. The simple, primary question 
 was whether the State should live or die, whether our nation 
 should remain one and inseparable, or be shattered* into belliger- 
 ent factions. In answer to this question the soldiers of our ar- 
 mies, whether officers or privates, as they entered upon the con- 
 test, were ready to adopt the language of President John Adams, 
 of blessed revolutionary memory, and say, " We are with all 
 onr strength opposed to any division of the Union, by the North 
 River, or by the Delaware River, or by the Potomac, or any oth- 
 er river, or any chain of mountains." And to the world they 
 witnessed the sincerity of their faith and purpose by indissola- 
 bly cementing with their hearts' best blood the foundations upon 
 which rests the superstructure of our revered institutions. But 
 not only did the loyal soldiers of the land strive to preserve the 
 life of the nation ; they were animated by even higher and ho- 
 lier motives. It was not an unmeaning combination of words 
 which they used, when in the camps, and on the march and 
 on the field of battle, as well as in the hospitals, and in the hor- 
 rible prison-pens of the South, they sung with cheerful, constant 
 souls, the Battle Hymn of the Republic, ending as you well re- 
 member, with the words, 
 
 " In the beauty of the nation, Christ was horn beyond the sea, 
 With a glory in his boson; which transfigures you and me ; 
 As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free 
 For God is marching on." 
 
 They understood the magnitude and the far-reaching signifi- 
 cance of the work they were carrying forward. And if it could
 
 122 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 l>r truthfully said by Patrick Henry, of the men of the Revolu- 
 tion, tiiat they had just formed a system of government, wisely 
 calculated to secure equal liberty 'to all, iuvolving^the lasting 
 happiness of a large proportion of the human family ; it may 
 with as great propriety, be said of these of whom I am speak- 
 ing, that, they knew that they were not only contending for the 
 security and continuance of their own rights, but that they were 
 workers together with God for the enslaved of the South ; they 
 knew that the blows they struck would eventually bring to the 
 earth the thrones of despots, and lead to the joyful sunlight of 
 liberty the waiting millions of the earth. 
 
 l"b honor such men as these, who gave their lives for the 
 cause they had espoused, we have to-day assembled in this con- 
 secrated place. Pointing to their graves before us, we say, in 
 the language of the epitaph inscribed to the fallen heroes of 
 Chaeronea, to whom, unlike our own, defeat instead of victory 
 was decreed : 
 
 "These are the patriot brave, who side by side, 
 Stood to their arms, and dashed the foeman's pride ; 
 Firm in their valor, prodigal of life, 
 They welcomed death, the arbiter of strife, 
 That we might ne'er to haughty victors bow, 
 Xor thraldom's yoke, nor dire oppression know. 
 They fought, they bled, and on their country's breast, 
 (Such was the will of Heaven) these warriors rest." 
 
 Surely we owe them a debt of gratitude which words are all 
 too feeble to express, and yet whether they have been gathered 
 to the silence of the grave or are now lying where they fell in 
 their long and weary marches, in the thickets of the mountains, 
 or the dense and tangled swamps, to-day, with heartfelt emo- 
 tions and sincerest words of praise, we will record their virtues, 
 and thank God that the land of onr fondest love found such 
 sons and defenders in the time of her greatest need. And more 
 than this, their precious graves wherever known, we will mois- 
 ten with, the tears we shed ; above their sleeping dust, we will, 
 as the years return, scatter these fragrant products of the 
 spring time and the sunshine. These wreaths and garlands of 
 beauty, tit for the adornment of a marriage festival, shall signify 
 the coronation of which these friends and brothers are so emi- 
 nently worthy. The names of the heroic dead, we will teach 
 our children and our children's children, yes, these blessed 
 names shall be spoken by every purling brook of our many hills, 
 by the sounding waves of the near Atlantic, and the gentle 
 murmurs of the far-off Pacific. They shall be written upon every
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 
 
 hill-side, on every mountain crag and summit, on our broad 
 prairie.-, yes, in our heart's heart, these names shall be inscribed, 
 so that they shall never be obliterated or forgotten. 
 
 AT CAMBRIDGK, MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 Post 30. of Cambridge, had charge of the exercises at Mount 
 Auburn and Cambridge Cemeteries, and by their invitation 
 Post 15 of Boston, and Post 11 of Charlestown, and the Union 
 Navy Association of Boston, participated. Contributions of 
 flowers were sent to the City Hall, and the citizens of Cam- 
 bridge displayed great liberality. Flags were displayed on 
 public and private buildings at half-mast, and the exterior of 
 the City Hall was neatly adorned with flags and streamers, as 
 \v:ts also the interior. The procession was formed at half-past 
 two o'clock. The children of the public schools assembled at 
 the schoolhouses, and marched to Harvard above Lee Street,, 
 and awaited the passing of the procession, which marched in the 
 following order : 
 
 Platoon of Eleven Policemen ; Chief Marshal ; Brig.-Gen. 
 S. E. Chamberlain ; Aids ; Brig.-Gen. C. F. Walcott ; Major S. 
 K. Williams, Jr. ; Bond's Cornet Band; Walcott Guard, Capt. 
 K. L. B. Fox ; Post 30, G. A. R., J. W. Cotton, Commander ; 
 Returned Soldiers and Sailors of Cambridge, not of Post 30 ; 
 City Government in carriages ; Seventh Regiment Drum Corps ; 
 Fire Department ; Brown's Brigade Band ; Charlestown Cadets ; 
 Charlestown City Guards ; Post No. 11 of Charlestown ; Gil- 
 more's Band ; Post 15, Boston ; Union Navy Association ; 
 Orator and Department Chaplain ; Wounded Soldiers and 
 Sailors in carriages ; Citizens generally. 
 
 The procession passed through Main to Clinton Streets, 
 through the open ranks of the school children on Harvard Street, 
 and from thence to Harvard Square, through Garden, Cragie, 
 Battle and Mount Auburn Streets to the cemetery. Upon 
 reaching the cemetery the fire department was drawn up in line 
 in front of the gate, and allowed the procession to pass in, re- 
 turning immediately to their respective fire stations. In the 
 cemetery the posts and the military were formed near the 
 tower. The number of spectators was very large, and it is
 
 124 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 estimated that Mount Auburn never contained so many people 
 Hiu-e it was founded. The ceremonies opened with an impres- 
 sive prayer by Rev. Noah M. Gaylord, the chaplain. Richard 
 H. Dana, Jr., Esq., then delivered the following address : 
 
 BJCHARD H. DANA, JB.'8 ADDRESS. 
 
 SOLDIERS, CITIZENS, all who have come up here to this 
 solemn festival companions in arms of the dead youth, man- 
 hood, age, maidenhood, childhpod, let me say to each of you, 
 that alfis over. Whatever this day can do has been done: all 
 that this hour can utter has been spoken ! The solemn proces- 
 sion, the timely music, the slow step, the bared head bosved 
 upon the breast, the flowers strewn from the tender hand of 
 woman, and the strong hand of the comrade in arms, unclasped 
 from the sabre-hilt or the firelock, all this is done, and its 
 mute eloquence has gone to every heart. It has banished grief 
 and forbidden eulogy. I need to call earnestly for inspiration ; 
 'not in hope of repeating in worthy terms, that which cannot 
 be said twice, bat, that I may not break in with discord upon 
 the dving notes of this exquisite harmony, or lower the tone to 
 which it has been exalted. These moments assigned to me 
 might well have been devoted to poetry, to music, or. peril aps, 
 better than all, to silence. When the duty of this hour was as- 
 signed to me by the brothers-in-arms of these heroes we honor, 
 I feared it might be a superfluous, I knew it would be a hazard- 
 ous duty. But they were determined to leave undone nothing 
 that any one would think might be appropriate, and I could not 
 refuse their call. For what have I to render, but the breath of 
 my lips ? 
 
 Brethren and friends, it is not to mere fancy that we owe 
 this feeling, in our best hours, that there is something in com- 
 mon, something of sympathy, between man and mother earth, 
 between inanimate matter and humanity. It is of the earth 
 that we are. and unto her that we return. The common creator 
 of all did not make them without correspondencies and sym- 
 pathies. The earth bestows on man all those gifts necessary to 
 his animal life, and these her choicest gifts, to renew in his 
 nature and keep from death the sentiments of beauty, love, and 
 tenderness. Hay, more than that, by these beautiful flowers, 
 she gives him a language for every finer and nobler occasion of 
 life. 
 
 We hear much of the language of flowers. With them we 
 crown the head of childhood, and deck the brow of beauty. 
 They bring to the sick chamber the cheering remembrance of
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 125 
 
 the grand expanse of strength and loveliness that is spread 
 abroad without. They grace the festival. They soothe the 
 grief of the funeral. They tell the deepest secrets of love, and 
 pass into the cells of memory, never to be forgotten. But where 
 have flowers ever been applied by man to a nobler, titter pur- 
 pose than by us to-day? Have we not done well to give the 
 sweetest products of our native land, to the memory of those 
 who died to defend it ? May not these flowers best spend the 
 brief hour of their unassuming lives in doing honor to heroes, 
 and wither and meet death on the graves of the truest hearts 
 that ever bled? Our heroes died that there should not be 
 sunken in the soil of this land the corner stone of an empire of 
 slavery. They gave their lives to secure the soil of this con- 
 tinent to the freedom and the utmost elevation of all human be- 
 ings who are to live upon it. Well, then, may we devote to 
 their memory this annual offering the earth pours into our 
 hands, in the infinite prodigality of nature ! 
 
 How soothingly has the hand of Time fallen upon all that this 
 day recalls ! Hero, soldier, wherever in these consecrated 
 grounds you sleep, our earth has made its circuit but a few 
 times round the sun since you poured out your life in the din 
 and carnage of battle, or at the crack of the stealthy rifle on the 
 detached march, on picket duty, or felt it ebbing, ebbing away in 
 the hospital. It is not long ago that day, that doleful day when 
 there came to your home the fear-striking rumor, the suspense, 
 the deathly confirmation. It is not long ago that there were 
 breaking hearts for } r ou, 
 
 * * * * The tear, 
 The groan, the knell, the pall, the bier, 
 And all \ve know or dreain or fear 
 Of agony were thine." 
 
 But, now, tears have given place to joy, to pride, to honor. 
 Your memory is an heritage to your family. Memorials of you 
 are gathered and kept by the hand of affection and pride. 
 Your name is on the monument, or the mural tablet. Your 
 picture is on the wall of the mansion, or in the humble home is 
 your simple photograph, perhaps the more dear, as a youth in 
 civic dress, and as you last crossed the threshold of your home 
 a soldier. Already, they who have sown in tears have reaped 
 in joy ; and they w r ho, a few days, as it were, ago, came up 
 hither weeping, bearing precious seed, have to-dav returned 
 hither again with rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them. 
 
 But let us not forget those who sleep in the remote'and still 
 unreconciled portions of our land, on whose graves no flowers 
 are strewn to-day. To them, too, the hour of recognition will
 
 120 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 come. As they died, not for conquest or power, but for peace, 
 for humanity, we can rest our faith in assurances that their 
 grave* will yet be visited, as proudly and tenderly as these to- 
 iv a grateful generation. Some have strewn flowers to- 
 day, to whom the early portion of our war is matter not of 
 memorv, but of tradition. Already it is passing into history. 
 Let us liold the more strongly to its commemorations. When 
 our children's children shalfask, " What mean ye, by this cere- 
 mony V our answer will keep alive and warm in the hearts of 
 another generation the gratitude we express to-day. 
 
 We will not separate without exchanging one more hope 
 and wish. It is the faith of our people that our heroes gave 
 their lives to a sacred cause. Let us then cherish the humble 
 but confident hope that it has met the approval of Him in whose 
 hands are all our beings, and that this, our pious work of to-day, 
 may find acceptance in His sight, without whom no drop of 
 man's blood falleth to the ground, and without whom no flower 
 springeth from the earth. 
 
 At the conclusion of the address, Post 15 sang one verse 
 from the hymn " America," accompanied by Gilmore's band, 
 and also u Old Hundred," after which the members of the dif- 
 ferent Posts separated into squads, to seek the graves of their 
 deceased comrades, and to bestrew them with flowers. Post 30, 
 with engine companies Nos. 5 and 7, and the Walcott Guard, 
 visited the Cambridge cemetery the city government following 
 in carriages where the graves of all deceased soldiers known 
 to be buried there were strewn with flowers. In the soldiers' 
 lot nineteen heroes lie buried, without even a simple stone to 
 mark their resting-place, and with no official knowledge of the 
 exact grave of either the cemetery records having been de- 
 stroyed by fire in 1866. Within this enclosure the military and 
 the Post passed around the graves, and prayer was ofiered by 
 Eev. J. A. Smith, Post Chaplain. 
 
 Commander Cotton, at the conclusion of the prayer, intro- 
 duced His Honor, Mayor Saunders, who, in brief language, re- 
 verted to the death of the brave men whose memory is this day 
 being revered. He also spoke of the inauguration of the beau- 
 tiful and solemn service of testifying with floral honors, the 
 appreciation we feel for the services of all of those men whose 
 lives were sacrificed at the altar of freedom. A monument, he 
 thought, should be erected, upon which the name of each soldier 
 or sailor hero should be deeply cut, that generations yet to come 
 may honof the names and memory of the country's defenders. 
 
 The company then separated, visiting the graves of those 
 outside the enclosure, and decorating them with flowers, after
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 127 
 
 first attending to that duty to the nineteen graves in the soldiers' 
 lot. Kngine companies 5 and 7 strewed the graves of John H. 
 and George T. Tucker, soldier members of engine companv No. 1, 
 and of B. F. Garland of the same company, and Nathan W. Wil- 
 son of No. 5, with a profusion of flowers. Fifty-six graves were 
 visited in the Cambridge Cemetery, and one hundred and fit'ty- 
 n've within Alt. Auburn Cemetery. Delegations from the seve- 
 ral Posts also visited the Catholic burying-ground at Mt. 
 Auburn, and that in the 5th Ward. At a late hour in the after- 
 noon the ceremonies of the day were concluded; every grave, 
 so far as was known, having received the floral tribute designa- 
 ted in Order 11. 
 
 The Somerville Light Infantry, Co. B, 5th Regiment M. Y. 
 M., Capt. G. W. Daniels, 40 guns, accompanied by Edmunds' 
 Band, proceeded from Somerville, after the ceremonies in that 
 town, to the Cambridge Cemetery, where the grave of Capt. 
 Willard C. Kinsley was visited, and three vollies were fired by 
 the company. 
 
 The ladies of Cambridge and vicinity were really generous 
 in their floral gifts large contributions of most choice flowers 
 being sent in to the City Hall, where other ladies were in wait- 
 ing to receive them, and fabricate them into benutiful bouquets, 
 to be distributed to members of the posts, military, and fire 
 department. Alany gentlemen, friends of the movement, also 
 sent in valuable selections of flowers. 
 
 AT BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 The citizens of Brookline assembled at the Town Hall, agree- 
 ably to previous notice, at two o'clock in the aiternoon, and 
 formed in procession under the marshaiship of Col. William L. 
 Candler, assisted by several gentlemen who had served in the 
 war, the whole being under the escort of the returned soldiers 
 and sailors of the town, headed by the Brookline Brass Band. 
 
 A large quantity of flowers had been provided hy the ladies 
 and gentlemen of the town, and were woven with great taste 
 and skill into beautiful wreaths, crosses, and bouquets ; these 
 were distributed among those who marched in the profession, and 
 it was a beautiful and touching sight to see so many bearing 
 each his floral offering to lay on the last resting-place of our 
 country's defenders. A spirit of kind feeling pervaded the 
 assembled hundreds, and each seemed to feel that the work was 
 one of love and good will. 
 
 At the Brookline Cemetery, on Walnut street, the services 
 were opened by the band playing a dirge ; after which the Rev.
 
 128 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Dr. Lamson, in heartfelt, fervent prayer, addressed tlie Throne 
 of Grace, in which he returned thanks for the mercy by which 
 God had kept and preserved to us our nationality and the free- 
 dom of our institutions, in which the blessings of liberty had 
 been established and peace restored, and besought the blessings 
 of heaven upon the future of our country, that its virtues might 
 be manifested, its prosperity increased, and that the Divine favor 
 un'irht be bestowed upon all who had been called upon to mourn 
 for loved ones who had fallen in the strife. The prayer was a 
 beautiful expression of an humble, faithful heart, which recog- 
 nized and relied upon the hand of the Almighty in all the affairs 
 of life. 
 
 The Eev. Dr. Hedge, then, in a few brief remarks, recalled 
 vividly to our minds the stirring scenes of the early days of the 
 Rebellion, and the great events growing out of them, and 
 pointed out the fact that on securing or establishing great ideas 
 and principles, great sacrifices had to be made and conflicts en- 
 dured. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Silver spoke of the comforting assurances that 
 we have, that although our friends are resting beneath the clods 
 of the valley, yet that in spirit they take an interest in those 
 who are left behind, and feel for our joys and sorrows as we 
 move on to meet them on the other side. Mr. Silver concluded 
 his remarks by reciting the following lines, written by his wife : 
 
 Hang wreaths on the tombs at eternity's door, 
 
 Though the soldiers and sailors have passed on before. 
 
 The^e flowers will fade ; but pt-renn.i;il glows 
 
 The heart's warm and grateful affection for those 
 
 Who life at the altar of Liberty gave : 
 
 Hence these votive gifts at the early grave. 
 
 Hence the anguish of mother?, the-sister's pain; 
 
 And tears gush forth like the falling rain. 
 
 Does Nature weep that the br;ive were slain, 
 
 Never to march to the field again? 
 
 But the sun's bright beams will disperse this gloom, 
 
 And Heaven has raised our thoughts from the tomb. 
 
 O, the glorious band, who have given their all, 
 
 To save our country from ruin and thrall. 
 
 Ethiopia stretches her hands to thee, 
 
 O Lord, that her children are thus made free ; 
 
 And our adorations should never cense, 
 
 That our eagle still soars with the emblem of peace. 
 
 The party detailed then proceeded to strew flowers upon the 
 graves of the soldiers who were there interred, the band play- 
 ing patriotic airs. 
 
 The entrance to this cemetery was under an arch, festooned 
 with our national flag, decorated at the apex with a wreath of
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 129 
 
 red, white, and blue flowers, and on either side with wreaths of 
 evergreens, bound with red, white, and blue ribbons, and on 
 each side the touching inscription, " To the Memory of our Sol- 
 diers who Rest in Unknown Graves." 
 
 From the cemetery on Walnut street they then proceeded to 
 " Holyrood Cemetery," on Heath street, passing through AV Hi- 
 nut, Warren, and Heath streets, to the cemetery, where after a 
 dirge by the band, the opening exercises were conducted by the 
 Rev. J. M. Finotti, who stated his utter inability, in any words 
 of his own, or of man's choosing, to do justice to the subject 
 suggested by the occasion. 
 
 He alluded feelingly to the great struggle to keep and main- 
 tain one of the best of governments, and the great sacrifice 
 made therefor, and said that he could only give expression to 
 his feelings by reading that grand epic poem, the song of Moses 
 for the great deliverance of the children of Israel after passing 
 through the Red Sea. 
 
 - The reverend gentleman then read to those who were there 
 assembled, in an eloquent and impressive manner, that beautiful 
 and inspired canticle of the great leader of the Israelitish hosts ; 
 and truly nothing could be more appropriate for the occasion. 
 He also feelingly alluded to the beautiful service of placing 
 flowers on the graves of those we loved or esteemed. 
 
 Short addresses were then made by Messrs. John W. Cand- 
 ler, G. F. Homer, and Willard T. Gross. Mr. Candler stirred 
 the hearts of those who heard him with his fervid and glowing 
 words. He spoke of the great blessings secured to the nation 
 by the suppression of the Rebellion, the ready and efficient aid 
 always afforded the loyal cause by the reverend gentleman who 
 had preceded him, of the devotion and gallantry of our adopted 
 citizens in sustaining the nation's honor and glory, and with 
 touching sympathy referred to " the memory of our soldiers 
 who sleep in unknown graves" that, although we could not 
 visit them at this time with the tokens of our love and respect, 
 kind nature would plant the turf above them with brilliant 
 green, and strew it with lovely flowers, and 
 
 " Pale autumn spreads o'er them the leaves of the forest, 
 And the songs of the birds chunt the dirge of their rest." 
 
 Mr. Homer paid a high tribute to the gallantry and services 
 of the soldiers and sailors of the Union, to their self-devotion to 
 their country's cause, and called up the ancient custom of the 
 Romans of crowning with flowers the graves of her soldiers who 
 had performed or achieved some successful undertaking, but that 
 the graves of all our soldiers deserve to be crowned with flowers. 
 9
 
 130 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Mr. Gross, in behalf of the committee, returned their thanks 
 to the ladies for their acceptable donations of flowers^ and sym- 
 pathy with the undertaking, and also for all their kindness to 
 while in the h'eld. The same service of placing flowers 
 the irnfvrs was performed here as at the other cemetery. 
 
 The services throughout were impressive ; the heartfelt words 
 of the speakers, the clouds dropping their silent tears upon the 
 irmves of the gallant dead who slept in earth's bosom all 
 'brought forcibly to mind the lines of Scotland's bard, when he 
 makes his minstrel sing : 
 
 " Soldier, rest ; thy warfare o'er, 
 
 Sleep the sleep that knows no breaking ; 
 Dream of battle-fields no more, 
 
 Days of danger, nights of waking. 
 No rude sounds shall reach thine ear, 
 
 Armor's clang nor war-steed's champing. 
 Trump nor pibroch summons here, 
 
 Mustering clan nor squadrons tramping ; 
 Yet the lark's shrill fife may come 
 
 At the daybreak from the fallow, 
 And the bittern sound his drum, 
 
 Booming from the sedgy sallow 
 Kuder sounds shall none be near, 
 Guards nor wardens challenge here ; 
 Here's no war-steed's neigh and champing, 
 Shouting clans or squadrons stamping." 
 
 AT CHELSEA, MASS. 
 
 The rain, which had fallen in torrents during the night and 
 morning, ceased as the hour of service approached ; the proces- 
 sion formed at City Hall at 2 P.M., and marched to the Garden 
 Cemetery, full 500 strong. The graves were already decorated 
 by friendly hands ere the official services commenced, and sub- 
 sequent favors of wreaths and flowers were a confirmatory ex- 
 pression of the general faith and love. All eyes were dim with 
 tears. The singing of the young ladies of the public schools, 
 the dirge, the prayer by Rev. Mr. Cud worth, contributed to the 
 solemnity of the scene in a remarkable manner. The address 
 by Hon. Frank B. Fay was listened to with profound attention. 
 
 MB. FAY'S ADDRESS. 
 
 SoLDIEKS AND SAILORS OF THE GRAND ARMY, FELLOW-CITI- 
 ZENS, FRIENDS : We scatter flowers to-day upon the graves of 
 the fallen of our country's defenders. Not alone because they 
 rest here, but in token of what the whole army of patriots, liv- 
 ing and dead, achieved, that we and they, and their and our 
 descendants, might have peaceful homes and a united country.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 131 
 
 It is the idea, the devotion to duty, that we honor. The 
 dead martyr seems more honored by these testimonial and me- 
 morial services ; but when we remember that the bullet which 
 providentially passed one man, pierced the heart of his comrade, 
 we may believe that the motive, the courage, the risk, were to 
 each the same, and to each like honor is due. 
 
 It is fitting that you do not surround this ceremony with the 
 emblems of sadness, but rather with the cheerful voices of the 
 young, and the beauty of bright flowers. For well do we know 
 how cheerfully these men suffered, and risked and gave up their 
 lives. They would say to-day, as they often said upon the field, 
 " Shed no tears for us, for in no better cause could we have 
 died." 
 
 It is fitting, too, that the tribute of to-day should be a floral 
 one, typical of the fragrant and beautiful memory of the volun- 
 teers, who, all along the line of battle-fields, were mustered out 
 of earth's service to join the " noble army of martyrs." They 
 often said, " Bury me in the field when I die, I am not anxious 
 where my bones shall lie ; I am content to live only in the 
 memory of my friends." But they could not realize how pre- 
 cious to those at home was the clay in which once beat the heart 
 of love, and hence the effort, so often made, to recover their 
 bodies and " tenderly " send them home for burial. 
 
 But many found their graves where they fell, some buried 
 by comrades, many by the enemy, some in camp at the front, 
 and some at hospital in the rear. Some came home to die, at 
 once, with kindred, some lingered for months, and some are 
 suffering to-day, but still live. Some are recorded among the 
 " unknown,'' and no trace of them has been found. 
 
 And so our Chelsea men were scattered from Blackburn's 
 Ford through all the fields in Virginia, at Gettysburg and An- 
 tietam, and other fields in Maryland ; in North Carolina, and 
 on the sandy shores of South Carolina ; at Andersonville, and 
 in other parts of Georgia ; in Louisiana, MissigBippi, Kentucky, 
 and Tennessee, and at the hospitals in Ohio, Illinois, Rhode 
 Island, Baltimore, Alexandria, and Washington ; and here 
 around this monument, and in other parts of this cemetery, at 
 Woodlawn, and in other parts of New England, are the known 
 and unknown graves. 
 
 And if, to-day, we cannot strew living flowers upon all their 
 resting-places, we may bedew them with the moisture of our 
 gratitude, and surround their names and their deeds with a 
 wreath of affectionate remembrance. "We have been and are 
 grateful to all these for what they have done and suffered and 
 sacrificed for us ; and if spirits are permitted to revisit the
 
 132 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 earth, we may believe theirs are hovering about us to-day, 
 grateful fr this reiueml trance. 
 
 We know this tribute cannot restore them to us, nor are 
 monmnerfte needed to keep alive their memories or their deeds ; 
 but thev .-how to each succeeding generation how much we re- 
 
 the spirit which animated these men, and how much we 
 value the blessings they have conferred upon us. 
 
 This monument, erected by the city government, marks the 
 spot where the ashes of some of our soldiers are laid, and is 
 appropriate for the purpose. Another, erected by the people, 
 more elaborate and more central, awaits the statue of the sol- 
 dier, and ere long will be complete. And when succeeding city 
 governments appreciate the situation, and with a wise economy 
 make the surroundings fitting and ornamental, we shall have a 
 resort, attractive to the eye and useful to the people, so that, on 
 future anniversaries of this day, wreaths may be hung on that 
 monument, to recognize it as a memorial of the gratitude of the 
 people, as this is of the municipality. " And may this genera- 
 tion not pass away till all these things be fulfilled. 
 
 But besides the marble and the granite, we have the " bruised 
 arms hung up for monuments," the maimed bodies, the shat- 
 tered constitutions, the widows and the orphans ; all these tell 
 us of their sufferings and our duty. 
 
 I think I may be pardoned if I use, for a moment, the first 
 person, at a time like this, when so many personal recollections 
 crowd upon me of my personal relations with nearly all of 
 these men recollections of their enlistment and their service 
 of their being wounded or dead, which I had the opportunity 
 of sending to their friends of last messages carried to them in 
 the field and brought from them to dear ones at home of their 
 courage and patience under suffering of their thoughtful ness 
 of others and neglect of self and of the burials in the field. 
 We had no casket there, no flowers to strew upon the grave. 
 We had little time for the dead ; too little for the living. 
 
 These remembrances cluster as well about the men before 
 me, some of whom, with severe wounds, I long since expected 
 to follow to their graves. I remember kindnesses bestowed upon 
 me, kind words spoken, and I could not forbear this allusion to 
 a grateful experience, which is every day becoming more so by 
 reviving memories. 
 
 And this gives me an opportunity to recognize the members 
 jf another Post, from the Island Ward, who were so much asso- 
 ciated with Chelsea soldiers during the war. They were our 
 nearest neighbors, and we came to know each other in the field 
 as neighbors ought to be known. They are welcome here to- 
 day, and will ever be when brave men are to be honored.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 133 
 
 And I am glad to allude to our chaplain, who, to use his 
 own words, " volunteered his services from no love of warfare 
 but simply because, with all his heart, he believed in Liberty 
 and the Union." For three years, with but one week's absence, 
 he " showed his faith by his works," in all the fields of the 
 Army of the Potomac, stood by the soldiers in their hours of 
 joy and sorrow, death and burial ; and many of our own men, 
 and hundreds more, are indebted to him for his anxiety to pro- 
 mote their moral, spiritual, and physical well-being. It is fit- 
 ting that he should participate in the services of to-day. 
 
 But, soldiers, with all your Buffering, you would not barter 
 your service or your wounds for bars of gold. You sometimes 
 thought you would be forgotten after the war. But there was 
 too much good faith and honor in this people, and you have 
 already been assured to the contrary. 
 
 That there will be individual instances of forgetfulness and 
 neglect, is doubtless true ; but you do not forget the reception 
 of the dead and living, the National and State laws that have 
 sought the comfort of your families, the recognition of preferred 
 claims to employment and this, too, when prosperity in busi- 
 ness has not been the rule, but the exception. Let us have no 
 fear that the country, the State, or the city, will ever be less 
 mindful of their obligations or less expressive of their gratitude. 
 
 And if it should ever again be said, that the men of our 
 army had other incentives to enter the service beside their 
 patriotism, it may be replied, " Go, find the lowest, most reck- 
 less, most worthless man in the community, who has not been 
 in the service, and ask him to name a price for which he would 
 now risk a like exposure, of life and limb." Rest assured, no 
 price can be found high enough for an inducement ; and thus 
 every man ought to Be convinced that there was a higher than 
 any mercenary motive that impelled these men to enter the ser- 
 vice. 
 
 And when we remember, that of the three companies espe- 
 cially enlisted in Chelsea, nearly one half were killed, wounded, 
 or died by reason of their service, we shall more fully appre- 
 ciate the danger to which all soldiers were exposed, and the de- 
 votion to their country which they exhibited. 
 
 Of the 150 men who entered the navy from Chelsea, very 
 few were either wounded or killed ; but there was among them 
 equal love of country, equal courage, equal devotion to the ser- 
 vice, and, living or dead, they should have equal honor. 
 
 But we remember, on all these memorial days, the dear ones 
 whom the departed left, the widows and orphans, fathers and 
 mothers ; and they, too, appreciate our remembrance.
 
 134 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 But do we realize the noble sacrifice of the wives who cheer- 
 fully parted with their husbands, mothers with their sons, sisters 
 with their brothers ? how with their own hands they girded 
 upon them the sword or the knapsack, and bid them God-speed, 
 when they' could almost as easily have severed their heart- 
 strings. I had constant opportunity to know the cheerfulness 
 with which they made the sacrifice, and how anxious they were 
 that the name of their dear one should be untarnished, and 
 would say, " Better dead than dishonored." 
 
 And we remember, too, those earnest women, who, upon the 
 faith that all men are brothers, and all soldiers patriots, during 
 the whole war kept up a constant supply of those comforts but 
 for which more ot you might be resting under this monument. 
 I have a thousand reasons for being grateful to them ; I know 
 you have. 
 
 And so you remember with gratitude those other women 
 who went to the field, and accepted hardship and sacrifice to 
 care for you and your associates. 
 
 And, at this hour, we cannot but recall the recent transla- 
 tion of one of those dear to you, to me, and to thousands be- 
 i-iik-s one who sought to do her work with patriotic devotion 
 to the cause and an earnest love of the flag, and who found in 
 her ministry to her country's defenders a constant joy.* The 
 grief at her loss, which wrings ray heart to-day, must find its 
 only balm in the faith that all must be well which is ordered 
 from on high. And if she never more smile upon TIS on earth, 
 we have always with us the memory of a beautiful life. 
 
 I am grateful that she had one opportunity to participate in 
 a ceremony like this, when, in 1866, a few of us, men and 
 women of Massachusetts, visited Bell Isle, and decorated with 
 flowers the graves of the Union soldiers who died there while 
 prisoners. That service was a sad one compared with this, for 
 it recalled a thousand painful memories. 
 
 SOLDIERS OF POSTS 35 AND 23 : To-day, all over this land, in 
 every hamlet, in every city, upon lonely graves, in national, 
 public, and private cemeteries, you and your associates make 
 this floral fraternal tribute. In doing it, you express your own 
 affection and a nation's gratitude. 1 ou awake anew the memo- 
 ries of the lost the war the victory. 
 
 And if our human hearts will sometimes make us grieve for 
 those who, too soon, have " gone before," we must remember 
 that men 
 
 " Live in deeds, not years ; in thoughts, not breaths ; 
 In feelings, not in figures on a dial ; " 
 
 * Helen L. Gilson (Osgood).
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 135 
 
 and that 
 
 " He most lives 
 Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best." 
 
 At the conclusion of Mr. Fay's address, Mayor Frost made 
 the following brief remarks : 
 
 SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OF THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUB- 
 LIC : The eloquent sentiments expressed in the address and 
 prayer leave but little for me to say. 
 
 The civil authorities of our city have gladly responded to 
 your invitation, and are here present to join with you in this 
 pleasant, duty of scattering flowers those beautiful emblems of 
 God's smiles upon the graves of those who gave their lives for 
 our beloved country. 
 
 "While we thus honor their memory, we also honor the sur- 
 viving heroes of those battles which saved us in the days of 
 peril. And we trust that generation after generation may con- 
 tinue this practice of decorating the graves of these patriots ; 
 thus teaching their descendants, through all future time, that 
 whenever our country is in danger, those men who spring to 
 her defence shall never be forgotten. 
 
 After the decoration services in the Garden Cemetery, the 
 procession re-formed and visited Woodlawn, where the graves 
 of our buried soldiers were also decorated. There also the 
 grave of Mrs. Helen Gilson Osgood was decorated in a like 
 manner flowers in great variety and profusion. 
 
 AT CHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 At noon of the 30th of May, Post 11, G. A. R., of Charles- 
 town, formed in front of the City Hall, and, headed by Brown's 
 Brigade Band, marched through Harvard, Washington, and 
 Main streets to the old buryimj-ground. About sixty members 
 turned out, and each carried a handsome bouquet. At the 
 ground, prayer was offered by Chaplain Charles G. Pease, a few 
 remarks were made by Commander H. R. Sihley, two original 
 odes, written by Miss S. E. Perkins and Edmund Bradford, were 
 sung by the members of the Post, and the flowers were then 
 strewn upon the graves. They proceeded to the Bunker Hill 
 and Catholic burying-grounds, on Bunker Hill street, where 
 the ceremonies were repeated. They then marched to Cause- 
 way street, Boston, escorted by the Charlestown Cadets and 
 City Guard, where they embarked in horse-cars for Cambridge, 
 to participate in the exercises at Mount Auburn. 
 
 MB. BRADFORD'S ODB. 
 The battle storms of war are still, 
 The clash of arms is o'er,
 
 136 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 And silenced now on plain nnd bill 
 The deep-mouthed caution's roar. 
 
 Our heroes saw the coining strife, 
 
 And girt them for the fray ; 
 In Freedom's cause they gave up life 
 
 And all its dear array. 
 
 The Starry Flag above them waved, 
 
 And Freedom led them on, 
 And Treason's brazen hosts they braved, 
 
 Till victory they won. 
 
 The cause for which their blood was shed 
 
 Has triumphed, though they fell ; 
 Strew flowers upon their earthly bed 
 
 As tolls the funeral knell. 
 
 No silent, deep Lethean stream 
 
 Holds them in its embrace ; 
 Their memories on earth are green, 
 
 And live to bless our race. 
 
 IN SOMEEVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 In this town the military, citizens, and school-children 
 united with the G. A. R. The Somerville Light Infantry, 
 Lieutenant Tufts, commanding, left their armory at about two 
 o'clock and marched to the Town Hall, accompanied by Ed- 
 munds' Brass Band. Here delegations of citizens and school 
 children were received, and the enlarged procession proceeded 
 through Highland Avenue, Central, Summer, Howard, and 
 Milk streets to the cemetery. The soldiers' monument, erected 
 by the town two or three years ago, was decked with flowers at 
 every available place. Two large bouquets crowned its top, 
 and beneath, a picture of our martyred President was placed. 
 Tablets on either side of the monument bore the names of sixty- 
 four soldiers who had given their life for the country. Tri-colors 
 extended from each tablet to the top of the monument, and in 
 the rear a flagstatf had been erected, from which the national 
 colors floated at three-quarters mast, and streamers reached to 
 the ground on either side. 
 
 The military entered the cemetery and marched around it 
 with arms reversed, the band playing a solemn dirge, after 
 which each deposited at the foot of the monument a floral offer- 
 ing. Many of the children and citizens also paid a floral 
 tribute to the memory of the fallen. 
 
 The remaining services consisted of prayer by Rev. Henry 
 H. Barber, of the Unitarian Church, a dirge by the band, and 
 appropriate remarks by M. Lebbeus Stetson, (the chief marshal,)
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 13*7 
 
 Hon. George O. Brastow, chairman of the committee of ar 
 rangements, Mr. John M. Tobiu, formerly of the 9th Regi- 
 ment, and A. H. Bailey, of Somerville. 
 
 At the suggestion of Hon. G. O. Brastow, he and Capt. 
 Tobin were delegated to visit Mount Auburn and decorate the 
 umves of Somerville soldiers there, and the military visited the 
 Cambridge Cemetery, where three volleys were fired over the 
 grave of Capt. Willard C. Kingsley. 
 
 REMARKS BY LEBBEUS STETSON. 
 
 FELLOW- CITIZENS : We have assembled together to-day, in 
 this beautiful " garden of the dead," for the high and holy pur- 
 poses of doing honor to the illustrious men who fell fighting 
 valiantly in the great cause of human liberty. It is most fit 
 ting, on this solemn occasion, that we should offer our prayers 
 to the God of the living and the dead. 
 
 Prayer by Rev. Henry H. Barber. 
 
 SPEECH BY MR. L. STETSON. 
 
 FELLOW-CITIZENS OF SoMEKviLLE : The occasion which has 
 called us together to-day is one which comes home to the hearts 
 of every loyal citizen in our land. The history of the last seven 
 years is still fresh in our remembrance. The heroes who fell in 
 the five hundred battles lie buried in every portion of our na- 
 tion's soil 
 
 Their bones are on the Southern hills, 
 
 And on the Southern plain, 
 By brook and river, lake and rill, 
 
 And by the roaring main. 
 
 We come to-day, both old and young, with flowers and garlands 
 to decorate the graves of these our sons and brothers, who laid 
 down their lives in this most holy cause. We honor ourselves 
 by honoring them, because we redeem the pledges we made 
 them when they rushed into the contest, leaving home and all 
 they held dear, to defend their country in the hour of her great- 
 est peril. We told them that we would care for them and their 
 families, and as they went forth all hearts and voices hailed 
 them as our only hope ; but, alas ! how many of them were des- 
 tined never to return. According to the report of the Adjutant- 
 General three hundred and nxty thousand have been removed 
 from the different battle-fields, and buried in the National 
 Cemeteries. How can we express our admiration of the heroic 
 valor of these champions of liberty. The poet has said, that
 
 138 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 They who for their country die, 
 
 Shall fill an honored grave, 
 For glory guards the soldier's tomb, 
 
 And beauty weeps the brave. 
 
 How readily they adapted themselves to the stern realities of 
 war. The toilsome marches through an unknown country had 
 no terrors for them, " onward to meet the foe " was their only 
 hope, and when night came, and the "bivouac " was their rest- 
 ing-place, then they showed the true qualities of the soldier. 
 
 Give him a blanket, and at Night's falling 
 He'll think of the Land for steel and blood calling ; 
 
 He'll ne'er close his eye with a home sigh or sorrow, 
 But a vow to strike home, wooing death on the morrow. 
 
 By an order issued at Washington by General Logan to the 
 Grand Army of the Republic, this 30th day of May was set 
 apart for this holy purpose; that in every city and town, wher- 
 ever a soldier's grave should be found, it should be decorated 
 with flowers, as a memorial of the services they had performed 
 in the cause of their country. 
 
 The citizens of Somerville have erected this splendid monu- 
 ment, to the memory of eighty-live soldiers of their quota who 
 fell on the battle-fields, or died in hospitals, or in the prison- 
 pens at the South. To-day, with sorrowing hearts, we perform 
 this loving tribute, and renew the pledges made to them, that 
 we will always hold them in kind remembrance, and care for 
 the widows and orphans and as each year rolls on in its course, 
 we will renew our vows of fidelity to the great cause which cost 
 us so much blood and treasure. As we stand by the graves of 
 these heroes, our minds revert back to the dark days of 1865, 
 when the land was in mourning and in tears, at the news of the 
 sudden death of Abraham Lincoln by the assassin's hand. As 
 we gaze on the face of this greatest of martyrs and heroes, 
 which hangs on yonder monument, we feel that he alone is 
 worthy to lead that host of martyrs, who died that we as a 
 nation might live. 
 
 Bat, thank God ! a better day has dawned upon our beloved 
 country. Peace has been proclaimed. The opposing armies 
 have returned to their former occupations, and we have every 
 reason to hope that the noise of war shall never again be heard 
 in our land ; and may the days to come be verified, as described 
 by the poet " Longfellow : " 
 
 "Were half the power that fills the world with terror 
 Were half the wealth bestowed on camps and courts 
 
 Given to redeem the human rnind from error 
 There were no need of ar&enals, nor forts.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 139 
 
 The "Warrior's name, would be a name abhorred, 
 
 And every nation that should lift again 
 Its hand against its brother, should on it's forehead, 
 
 Wear evermore the curse of Cain. 
 
 Down the dark future, through long generations, 
 
 The echoing cry of violence shall cease ; 
 And like ;i " Bell " in solemn sweet vibrations, 
 
 I hear once more the voice of Christ say " Peace.' 1 '' 
 
 " Peace ! " And no longer from th< se brizen portals, 
 The blast of war's dread organs rends the skies, 
 
 But beautiful as sons of the immortals 
 The holy melodies of love .*hall rise. 
 
 " Give me Liberty, or give me Death ! " was the immortal 
 exclamation of Patrick Henry. Our brothers, the heroes to 
 whose memory yonder monument was raised by their grateful 
 townsmen, did their full share in the patriotic work of securing 
 and perpetuating the glorious boon of National Liberty, though 
 at the sad sacrifice of their valuable lives 
 
 " But 'tis sweet, O 'tis sweet for one's country to die I 
 From Fame's glittering ladder they've stepped to the sky! " 
 
 It is most fitting that now, in this period of peace, after the 
 stern alarums of war have been stilled and the shocks of battle 
 have ceased, we here meet to strew flowers upon the graves of 
 our martyrs now in the spring time, when the bright blossoms 
 are falling around us, presaging the ripe fruits ere long to be 
 scattered, with an equally wide diffusion, over the land. 
 
 So the heroic deeds of our fallen braves, in connection with 
 those of their surviving compatriots, have already commenced 
 to yield the fruits of their labors a country saved from dis- 
 memberment, and rapidly recovering from the wounds of war 
 a nation more formidable and influential than ever among the 
 powers of the world a whole race of men, women and children 
 emancipated from the chains and evils of slavery their educa- 
 tion and adaptation to a life of freedom, in good progress the 
 civil, political and religious rights and privileges of all men 
 equally protected by law, and in process of universal recogni- 
 tion by public sentiment throughout the different States; these 
 great and good results, with the unnumbered beneficent influ- 
 ences following in their train down through ages to come, have 
 all been achieved in consequence of the individual and collective 
 patriotism, the unflinching courage, the devoted fortitude, the 
 matchless skill, and all-conquering valor of the Grand Army of 
 the Republic ! 
 
 This army, whether in service on the banks of the Potomac 
 or the James, on the Cumberland or the Mississippi, on the
 
 140 MKMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 " historic march to the sea," or on the decks of our invincible 
 navy, was ever constantly backed and sustained by a people at 
 home, whose loyalty knew no check under any adverse circum- 
 stances whose liberality was unbounded whose steadfastness 
 to principle was the highest moral heroism, and whose force of 
 will was quenchless and irresistible. Springing from such a con- 
 stituency, inspired by the same elements, and having the holiest 
 of causes the defence of the only free republic on earth to 
 support, nothing of human opposition could daunt or long de- 
 feat, and nothing but the continuous frowns of heaven could 
 possibly prevent the final and glorious triumph of our arms. 
 
 All this, fellow-citizens, must have been in accordance with 
 the high decrees of the Supreme Ruler of the Universe ; and as 
 we review the signal favor ever shown us since the beginning 
 of our national existence, we can but believe He hath fully or- 
 dained that 
 
 u The star-flowering banner must never be furled, 
 For its blossoms of light are the hope of the world." 
 
 Yes, our American Union is gazed upon by the downtrod- 
 den millions elsewhere, as the veritable Kohinoor of Liberty, 
 set among the nations of the earth to flash light upon the dark- 
 ness of despotism to irradiate the world with the sublime doc- 
 trine of the divine right of THE PEOPLE to self-government, rather 
 than subjection to kings and usurpers and to give a practical 
 illustration of a constellation of independent political States 
 acting in harmony with their own National Government. Like 
 the stars of the planetary system, may the States of this Union 
 hereafter differ from each other only in glory, while revolving 
 around a common centre, all glowing res pi end en tly with the 
 living lights of FEEEDOM, JUSTICE AND HUMANITY ! 
 
 AT BBIGHTON, MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 July 27, 1868. 
 
 Evergreen Cemetery at Brighton was the scene of solemn and 
 deeply impressive ceremonies, attendant upon the observance of 
 the second anniversary of the dedication of the monument erect- 
 ed there in memory of the brave men who gave their lives for 
 the salvation of their country. 
 
 Two years ago the monument was completed and appro- 
 priately dedicated, and last year its first anniversary was ob- 
 served by a gathering of the surviving comrades of the deceased ; 
 and at the conclusion of the services they mutually agreed that 
 each year, so long as they lived, that day should be set apart by 
 them for a testimonial in memory of the departed. This year
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 141 
 
 the preparations for the display were made upon a more exten- 
 sive scale. Invitations were extended to Post 15 of Boston, 
 G. A. R., and also to the same organization in Cambridge, 
 Post 30, as \vell as to the members of the First Massachusetts 
 Battery Association, and other kindred organizations, to unite 
 with the returned soldiers of Brighton in making the occasion 
 one of interest. 
 
 Post 15, Or. A. R., fifty men, under command of Lieut. -Col. 
 G. II. Hovey, in company with a detachment of thirty men from 
 the 11th Massachusetts Battery Association, under command of 
 Geo. W. Booth, took the cars at the Boston and Albany depot 
 at 1.15, and- on arriving at Brighton were received by the 
 Returned Soldiers' Club of Brighton, under command of the 
 President, John L. B. Pratt, and headed by the Cambridge 
 Band, marched to the square, where the procession was formed 
 as follows : Cambridge Band ; Returned Soldiers' Club of Brigh- 
 ton ; detachment of twenty-seven men from the Ordnance De- 
 partment of Watertown Arsenal, under command of Sergt. 
 Eagleson ; Post 15, G. A. R., Boston ; Post 30, G. A. R., Cam- 
 bridgeport; thirty-five men, under command of Senior Vice- 
 Coin in and er, W. H. Carey; Nonantum Lodge, 116, of Brighton, 
 under command of J. G. Davis, N. G., accompanied by delega- 
 tions from Friendship Lodge, No. 20, Cambridgeport ; N. ^E. 
 Lodge, 4, of East Cambridge ; and Lafayette Lodge, 51, Water- 
 town, thirty men. 
 
 At about 3 o'clock the procession left the square, and 
 marched to Evergreen Cemetery, about a mile distant. At the 
 entrance the gateway and arches were profusely draped with 
 the Stars and Stripes and crape, while over the entrance, in the 
 centre, were the words : " While Honoring the Living, we 
 Mourn the Fallen." On leaving the hall of the Association, in 
 the square, each person in the procession was furnished by the 
 ladies with beautiful bouquets, and when they reached the mon- 
 ument the ranks separated and each man placed his floral tribute 
 upon the base of the monumental shaft, which itself from base 
 to summit was entwined with evergreen and beautifully draped 
 with the nation's iiag. The different organizations formed in a 
 semicircle around the monument grounds, while hundreds of 
 spectators were sitting or standing in the immediate vicinity, 
 and, as soon as the order was restored, a dirge was performed by 
 the band, followed by the reading of Scripture lessons and 
 prayer by Rev. S. W. McDaniel, who served during the late 
 war as chaplain in one of the regiments. The choir of the First 
 Church, of which Mr. McDaniel is the pastor, united with the 
 audience in singing the following original hymn, written by 
 Augustus Mason, M. D. :
 
 142 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Now to our patriot dead we've paid 
 
 The tribute of immortal tame. 
 
 While gratefully we breathe each name 
 On this memorial shaft displayed. 
 
 On many a Southern field they fell, 
 
 Battling for Freedom and the Right; 
 
 And in the thickest of the fight, 
 They bore their country's standard well ; 
 
 Or perished in the traitor's pen ; 
 
 Or mid the hardships of the field, 
 
 Their loyalty with life they sealed, 
 And died like brave, true-hearted men. 
 
 To all who sleep a soldier's sleep, 
 
 Wh re'er they lie in hallowed ground, 
 Or those above whose grass-grown mound 
 
 Sad stars their lonely vigils keep 
 
 To all our brave, heroic band, 
 
 Who nobly met a soldier's tate, 
 
 This monument we consecrate, 
 God bless them and our native land ! 
 
 At the conclusion of the hymn, Maj. Charles Rice, of 
 Brighton, in a few appropriate remarks, introduced as the ora- 
 tor for the occasion Mr. J. L. B. Pratt, who, on coming for- 
 ward, said that the occasion was one on which he felt most 
 keenly his inability to give proper expression to sentiments wor- 
 thy such an event. The gathering of veterans who had served 
 in the campaign with the now silent dead, whose memory they 
 sought to keep fresh and green within their hearts, together 
 with so large a number of the citizens of Brighton and adjacent 
 towns, gave evidence that the noble, self-denying heroism of 
 those martyrs had not been forgotten, and that the principles for 
 which they so generously devoted their lives were still valued 
 by the people. It had been his fortune to be associated in the 
 camp and in the battle-field with many of those whose death 
 they were now commemorating ; and while he and those before 
 him, who had endured the privations of a soldier's life, might 
 forget the changing scenes of to-day and to-morrow ; while they 
 might forget the impressive scenes of this occasion, they never 
 would forget the terrible struggle through which they had passed 
 in their efforts to assist in maintaining their glorious Govern- 
 ment ; and while they might mingle their tears with those of 
 thousands of others for the loss of dear friends, companions, 
 brothers, they still could feel consolation in the thought that 
 their death had been glorious, and that they had gone forth de- 
 termined to conquer, or return on their shields.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 143 
 
 The creation was eloquent, and commanded the closest atten- 
 tion throughout. 
 
 A dirge by the band concluded the exercises in the imme- 
 diate vicinity of the monument, and the company adjourned to 
 the beautiful grove in the cemetery, a few rods distant, where 
 had collected a large audience, composed principally of ladies, 
 among whom were several widows of deceased soldiers. 
 
 A .small platform had been erected, and seats scattered among 
 the trees gave those present a good opportunity to listen to the 
 exercises. Mr. Pratt, in the name of the friends of the deceased, 
 and the Brighton Association of Returned Soldiers, briefly 
 thanked those from out of town for their kind assistance in car- 
 rying out the programme, and then introduced the orator of the 
 day, Rev. Mr. Frederick A. Whitney, who, after a brief intro- 
 duction, read the order of General llogan relative to the deco- 
 ration of soldiers' graves, and stated that, while the friends of 
 the movement in Brighton countenanced the movement most 
 heartily, they thought it better to postpone the offering of their 
 floral tributes until this occasion, the anniversary of the dedica- 
 tion of the monument. At the conclusion of the order, the 
 reverend gentleman spoke as follows : 
 
 ADDRESS OF KEV. FREDERICK A. WHITNEY. 
 
 I need not remind you how well this admirable order was 
 obeyed on the 30th of May last. We all remember how gen- 
 erally through the land, with what grateful and tender emotions, 
 with what lavish contributions of beautiful flowers, the graves 
 and monuments of our fallen soldiers were visited and adorned. 
 It was thought best that for this year the citizens of this town 
 should particularly observe the anniversary of the dedication of 
 this beautiful monument, as, on the last July, they observed its 
 first anniversary, and as had been contemplated before General 
 Logan's order was issued, instead of the earlier date in May. 
 Hereafter it will be our pleasure to join with our countrymen 
 in deed, as well as in spirit, on the common day of commemo- 
 ration. 
 
 Gratefully and reverently, then, we come here to-day to 
 think of our departed heroes, and, with them, of the great band 
 of co-patriots who died to save our land. With prayers of 
 thanksgiving to Almighty God " who was on our side when men 
 rose up against us," we honor them who, under God, were our 
 defence. With words of eulogy and songs of praise we mani- 
 fest our remembrance. With sweet flowers and evergreens we 
 wreath this massive monument, so exquisitely wrought, that 
 bears the name of our native or adopted dead, and bedeck their
 
 144 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 graves. That great body of brave soldiers who went from all 
 the ranks of lite, in the glow and promise of youth and in the 
 strength and maturity of manhood, and fell by thousands in the 
 frtruu'iJe with armed rebellion, we commemorate them anew. 
 
 . indeed, of this numerous host sleep around us in these 
 consecrated grounds. Not all, even of our o\vn brave boys, are 
 here, save as Christian faith permits us to fancy their blessed 
 spirits may hover about us in our grateful service. Hearts 
 among us, I tell you, friends, that still mourn the beloved who 
 came not back from the batttle-fields, send to-day their tender- 
 est offerings to distant burial spots where such repose. To sun- 
 ny Carolina, where Barry was borne from the sick bed in hos- 
 pital to his grave at Hilton Head ; to Virginia, where, on the 
 disastrous field of Bull Hun, Bennett fell and sleeps, and to the 
 same great State, where the rolling Shenandoah, at Front Royal, 
 engulfed the youthful form of Gushing, as he sought, by swim- 
 ming, to join his regiment on the other side ; to Georgia, where, 
 at Ackworth, Dailey was wounded and died ; and where, at the 
 rebel prison at Millen, Day met death by starvation, having first 
 tasted the horrors of Anderson ville, at the recital of which the 
 heart of the civilized world faints ; to Fredericksburg, Ya., 
 where Frost died in hospital and was buried ; to the memorable 
 battle-field of Gettysburg, Pa., where Golding fell and lies ; to 
 Kedysville, Md., wnere Grover died and was buried wounded 
 eight days before at the battle of Antietatn ; to Port Royal, 
 S. C., where Niles died suddenly from disease and was laid to 
 rest ; and to the old graveyard at Falmouth, Va., where, spared 
 through many engagements, but stricken with paralysis, Rice 
 sleeps ; to Bull Run again, where the elder Russell fell ; to Ship 
 Island, in the Gulf of Mexico, where Starkey died from sick- 
 ness and was interred ; to Boykin's Mills, in South Carolina, 
 where Stevens was instantly killed in battle, and where he rests ; 
 to the Florence Stockade, in the same State, where Thompson 
 died a prisoner ; and to Alexandria, Ya., where Warren the 
 younger, dying in hospital, was interred ; to all these places 
 fond affection prompts some among us, it may be, especially to 
 turn their wishful thoughts, and would lay, how gladly ! these 
 sweet floral offerings on those far-off graves. 
 
 I have recited the names borne on our monument of those 
 who came not back from the war. With them I must not omit 
 the names there inscribed of Dudley, and Fowle, and Fuller, 
 and Howe, and Plummer, and Ring, and Russell the younger, 
 and Warren the elder, part of whom returned enfeebled by dis- 
 ease, but to be kindly ministered to and nursed by home and 
 friends, till shortly they closed their eyes amidst familiar scenes,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 145 
 
 and were interred in these grounds ; while of others of them, 
 their bodies only were, by a merciful Providence, brought ten- 
 derly back to rest likewise here, in these peaceful shades. 
 
 These our departed ones whom we specially commemorate, 
 this spacious and beautiful Cemetery that bears the appropriate 
 and touching name of Evergreen, this monument and these 
 graves adorned, represent for us to-day the great company who 
 laid down their lives in the late war, and whose bodies lie scat- 
 tered through the land. In discharging here this grateful ser- 
 vice of commemoration, we would embrace in our loving re- 
 gards and would honor them all. To all, and to no few alone, 
 our gratitude is due for our nation spared and our Union re- 
 stored. Through fortunes how various they fell ! The forms 
 of many, how marred in war, on which affection even could not 
 ask to gaze ! On the features of others, stilled in death, were 
 friends permitted to look in all their native freshness 
 
 " Before decay's effacing fingers 
 Had swept the lines where beauty lingers." 
 
 They went forth with you, their brave comrades, not count- 
 ing your own lives dear, so victory might be won for the na- 
 tion, encountering danger, suffering, death, while we, so many, 
 abode peacefully in our homes. Can we become ever unmind- 
 ful of our obligations to these our defenders ? Can ever affec- 
 tion grow cold, or, as years revolve, can the spots where repose 
 their ashes, or the monuments reared to their name, be neglect- 
 ed j Never, it would seem, could this dread indifference steal 
 over the people's heart, would each one take up the burden of 
 the gifted poet, who sang so well the labors and sufferings of 
 our martyr hosts, " They died for you and me." 
 
 " Four hundred thousand men, 
 
 The brave, the good, the true, 
 In tangled wood, in mountain glen, 
 On battle plain, in prison- pen, 
 
 Lie dead for me and you I 
 Four hundred thousand of the brave 
 Have made our ransomed soil their grave, 
 
 For me and you 1 
 
 Good friend, for me and you ! 
 
 Bring, then, the beautiful flowers and evergreens of the 
 opening Spring, or of the rich and fruitful summer, twine their 
 monuments, and adorn their graves. Come, comrades of the 
 fallen, who marched with them, and suffered with them, and 
 stood with them in the din of battle, and saw them fall. Come, 
 friends, who mourned the death of the good and true, and 
 the pleasant lights that seemed to have gone out in your 
 10
 
 146 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 homes. They are not dead, but live more trulv^ than before 
 
 father^ aiitl mothers and old men, and join in the glad services 
 <>t' commemoration that shall keep green their memories and 
 help perpetuate the good institutions for which they were the 
 sacrifice. It is the hour and the place most fit for quickening 
 the sentiments of gratitude for the past and resolution for the 
 future. Grateful for the patriot dead, as we stand by this elo- 
 quent shaft that tells fhe whole story of their noble deeds, let 
 all pledge themselves anew to the holy cause of Freedom, Pa- 
 triotism, Loyalty. "Welcome the flowers ! As the sweet Eng- 
 lish poetess, Mrs. Hemans, sung so tenderly of them, as most 
 grateful in festal hours, on the conqueror's homeward way, in 
 the captive's prison-cell, at the bridal, at the altar, at the burial, 
 so bring them now ! And, mingling with their sweet perfume, 
 the very prayer we breathe here, the good purposes we cherish 
 for our beloved country, the dear memories we call up of the 
 departed shall hallow and bless us, and ascend as grateful in- 
 cense to heaven. 
 
 " Bring flowers to the shrine where we kneel in prayer 
 They are nature's offering, their place is there ; 
 They speak of hope to the fainting heart ; 
 With a voice of promise they come and part ; 
 They sleep in dust through the wintry hours ; 
 They break forth in glory bring flowers, bright flowers ! 
 
 Bring flowers, fresh flowers, o'er the bier to shed, 
 
 A crown for the brow of the early dead ; 
 
 For this, through its leaves, hath the white rose burst ; 
 
 For this, in the woods, was the violet nursed ; 
 
 Though they smile in vain for what once was ours. 
 
 They are love's last gift ; bring ye flowers, fresh flowers ! " 
 
 A beautiful original poem was read by Augustus Mason, 
 M.D., and was warmly applauded. A brief address was made 
 by Mr. Is . M. Gaylord, Department Chaplain of the G. A. E., 
 and the exercises were concluded by singing " America," and 
 the Benediction was pronounced by Rev. Mr. McDaniel. 
 
 The Chief Marshal was A. T. Brewer, of Brighton, assisted 
 by Capt. Thomas Appleton, Richard Smart, and H. P. Milton. 
 
 Among the color-bearers was Mr. Wm. Dudley, more than 
 fifty years of age, who was with Sherman in his entire campaign. 
 
 AT NEWTON, MASS. 
 The day was unpropitious, and yet this circumstance did not
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 147 
 
 prevent a large number of the patriotic ladies of Newton from 
 gracing the occasion with their presence, while others, unable 
 to attend, were with the brave soldiers in spirit, in their mission 
 of affection at the graves of departed comrades. The Chief 
 Marshal of the day was Gen. A. B. Underwood, who performed 
 the various duties of his position with ability and earnestness, 
 indicating that his heart was in the work. 
 
 The procession at Newton ville was formed with commend- 
 able promptitude. Escort duty was performed by Triton Fire 
 Engine Company, of West Newton, who had with them their 
 fire apparatus, drawn by horses, and profusely decorated with 
 flowers. The Company numbered forty, dressed in a uniform 
 of red shirts and glared caps. It is officered as follows : Fore- 
 man, David Almon ; Second Foreman, Henry Bixby ; Third 
 Foreman, P. J. Monks ; Clerk, C. H. Stacy ; Steward, G. D. 
 Merriam. It was eminently proper that this Company should 
 take part in the proceedings, for a number of its members were 
 participants in the struggle, several having lost their lives for 
 the cause. Several members of this Company marched with 
 the soldiers. 
 
 The following deceased soldiers were members of this Com- 
 pany previous to their enlistment : 
 
 John Forsythe, Jr., Sergt., Co. H, 16th ; Eben Buck, Sergt., 
 Co. B, 44th ; Daniel Sanger, private, Co. K, 32d ; John Allen, 
 do., Co. G, 1st ; Fred. A. Cutter, do., Co. K, 32d ; William N. 
 Freeman, do., Co. 1, 1st ; Joseph R. Pratt, Co. K, 32d. 
 
 Next in order came five hundred school children, each hav- 
 ing a . bouquet, which in many cases with some labor they 
 had gathered the previous day in the woods of the town. It 
 was a pleasant sight to witness the enthusiasm of these little 
 ones on this occasion. 
 
 About two hundred of the citizens of the town, headed by 
 the Board of Selectmen, followed. Then came sixty of the 
 returned soldiers and seamen of the town, headed by Martland's 
 Band, of North Bridgewater. Among the soldiers were Gen. 
 J. C. Edmands, Major Boyd, Adjutant Haviland, of the 12th 
 Mass. Regiment, Captain Clark of the U. S. N. ; and Captains 
 Benson and Kingsbury and Surgeon Whitney of the 13th, who 
 constituted a delegation from Post 15 of the G. A. R. There 
 was also a Youthful Military Company, of the Bigelow School, 
 Newton Corner, the members of which appeared to have ac- 
 quired considerable efficiency in the drill manual for this espe- 
 cial occasion. 
 
 The Mechanic Fire Company of Newton Upper Falls joined 
 in the procession, and the rear was brought up by about two 
 hundred carriages, filled with ladies and gentlemen.
 
 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 The procession, as it moved along Walnut street to the 
 Cemetery, a distance of a mile and a quarter, was rather im- 
 posing in size, and creditable also to the patriotism of the people 
 of tin: town. Reaching the gates, the firemen, citizens, Arc., 
 stood at each side with uncovered heads as the soldiers marched 
 forward and formed a circle about the monument, which had 
 been decorated with a magnificent evergreen wreath, a beautiful 
 floral cross, and numerous bouquets of flowers. Behind the 
 soldiers were grouped the school-cbildren, citizens, and firemen, 
 the whole completely covering the eminence in the centre of 
 which rises up the graceful granite shaft that will keep the 
 names of the dead soldiers in perpetual remembrance. 
 
 The proceedings at this point commenced with the perform- 
 ance of a dirge by the band, followed by a fervent prayer by 
 Rev. D. L. Furber, of Newton Centre, Chaplain of the Day. 
 A circle of bouquets was then placed by soldiers and citizens 
 about the monument. 
 
 The following hymn, written for the occasion by Rev. S. F. 
 Smith, was then sung by the soldiers and audience to the tune 
 of " Peterborough." 
 
 HYiTtf. 
 
 Grateful, the pious feast we keep 
 
 In memory of the dead, 
 And where the valiant soldiers, sleep, 
 
 Strew honors o'er their bed. 
 
 As Spring-flowers deck the silent earth, 
 
 As stars the skies illume, 
 These loving tributes, lo ! we bring, 
 
 To grace each hallowed tomb. 
 
 The land they saved their honor keeps, 
 
 While dark oppression cowers, 
 And every tear affection weeps 
 
 Is crystalled into flowers. 
 
 The deeds they wrought, the truths they sealed, 
 
 Their memory, dear, in death 
 Are fragrant as the blooming field, 
 
 Or Summer's perfumed breath ! 
 
 God of the living and the dead, 
 
 Like am'ranths on their tomb, 
 The trust for which their blood was shed, 
 
 Keep in immortal bloom. 
 
 t The soldiers, preceded by the band, and accompanied by the 
 citizens, firemen, and school-children, proceeded to the graves
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 149 
 
 of the soldiers buried in the ground, which they decorated pro- 
 fusely with tiowers. In many cases the graves had been pre- 
 viously visited by relatives and friends on a similar errand of 
 love and devotion. We repeat the names as follows : 
 
 Win. R. Benson, Theodore L. Brackett, 1st Lieut. Ebeu 
 White, Maj. Henry S. Lawson, John B. Rogers, Leopold H. 
 Hawkes, Edward Lyman, Henry C. Harrington, Wm. A. Har- 
 ris, Thos. L. Jackson, Wm. H. Rice, Lewis Houghton, Eben R. 
 Buck, Lucius F. Trowbridge, Charles Ward, Thomas C. Nor- 
 cross, M. T. II. Roffe, Lemuel F. Bassett, Alfred Washburn, 
 Wm. H. Johnson, Wm. H. Belcher, George E. Huntress, 
 George Ivimball, and Stephen L. Nichols. 
 
 Returning to the monument, one verse each of "America" 
 and " Auld Lang Syne " were sung, after which the soldiers 
 marched to Newton Corner, where detachments were designated 
 to visit the graves of Surgeon Kendall, John L. Flagg, and 
 Charles F. Hooker, at the Lower Falls grounds, and of William 
 Fell and Charles S. Brown, at the Upper Falls. 
 
 AT NATICK, MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 The floral tribute on the 30th of May to the memory of the 
 nation's dead was paid in Natick, in a most fitting manner, by 
 the children of the public schools. A long procession, bearing 
 the early flowers 01 the season, was formed at the appointed 
 hour in the public square. The soldiers' monument recently 
 erected, bearing the names of eighty-six deceased soldiers, was 
 entwined with evergreens and decked with flowers. As the 
 procession passed around it, the children flung flowers at its base. 
 The procession then moved to Dell Park Cemetery, where rest 
 the remains of most of those whose bodies have been returned 
 from the fields where they perished. Arriving at the cemetery, 
 this procession of hundreds of children encircled the grave of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Hamilton Wilson, the only son of 
 Senator Henry Wilson, and were addressed by the Rev. Addison 
 Parker. 
 
 We come, he said, to this resting place of the dead to pay a 
 grateful tribute. We come to scatter fresh flowers upon the 
 graves of our dead heroes, in obedience to the request that has 
 gone forth through the land that this simple and expressive 
 tribute shall this day everywhere be paid. WTierever through- 
 out this broad land the instincts of patriotism find utterance, 
 the martyrs of the great rebellion shall thus receive evidences of 
 the remembrance and gratitude of their countrymen. While we 
 carve in enduring marble the names of our heroic dead, while
 
 150 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 monumental shafts and memorial tablets are rising to com- 
 memorate their devotion, we this day visit the places where 
 reposes their sacred dust, and tenderly bestrew their graves 
 with the flowers of springtime. As the jears roll on, may this 
 national tribute, now offered for the nrst time, become an 
 annual custom by which the unborn generations shall keep 
 umlimmed the remembrance of the heroes whose lives have 
 been the price of our restored national unity. 
 
 We may esteem it to be a rare privilege that the remains of 
 so many or our fallen sons have been gathered from the distant 
 places where they perished. Never before, in a war of great 
 magnitude, have so many bereaved ones been permitted the 
 solace of this great consolation. 
 
 " 'Tis little, yet it looks, in truth, 
 As if the quiet bones were blest 
 Among familiar names to rest, 
 And in the places of their youth." 
 
 Most of those who fell still repose on distant fields of conflict, 
 by the roadside where they perished, near the hospitals where 
 tfiev languished, in the prison-pens, where privations wrought 
 their fearfiil tortures, or in the cemeteries where the nation has 
 garnered up their mortal remains. While we do honor to the 
 few of the fallen who are buried here, we will tenderly remem- 
 ber also with them the vast sacramental host that perished in 
 the stern strife of civil war. Sacred be the spots where lie the 
 heroic dead, and sanctified by their burial in it be the whole 
 land they saved. The re-united country shall be the perpetual 
 and proudest monument which the nation can dedicate to their 
 names and memories. Let these children, bearing flowers to 
 deck the graves of fallen heroes, remember ever that the 
 soldiers, whose graves they bestrew with the flowers of spring, 
 loved their country that they fought for it, suffered for it, and 
 died for it. It was sweet and honorable for them thus to die. 
 It was for them sweeter to perish for their country rL :i to have 
 lived to ha.ve seen her dismembered, dishonored, and abased. 
 Their example teaches you to love your native land. Learn, 
 then, from them how exalted is the virture of patriotism ; let 
 childhood and youth this day, as they strew flowers upon the 
 graves of the patriot dead, resolve they will ever be loyal to 
 their country, devoted to her service that they will cherish her 
 honor and guard her fame. 
 
 At the close of Mr. Parker's address a prayer was offered, and 
 the children in procession laid their floral offerings upon the 
 grave of Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson, where they had gathered,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 151 
 
 and then visited and decked the other graves with flowers. 
 Sorrow-stricken kindred, as they beheld this rite performed by 
 children's Imnds over the lust of their lost and loved ones, 
 returned to their home* with hearts chastened and ennobled by 
 these kindly offices to the loyal dead of the great Rebellion. 
 
 AT LYNN, MASS. 
 
 The ceremony of strewing with flowers the graves of those 
 soldiers who fell in the late war, was performed in the city of 
 Lynn, by Post No. 5, G. A. R., in an impressive and interesting 
 manner, on Saturday afternoon, May 30. The fact that these sad 
 rites were generally observed throughout the loyal States, added 
 to the solemnity of the occasion, and as the procession moved 
 along, the sound of distant cann/>n. which were being fired in 
 the neighborhood of Boston, boomed a mournful requiem on the 
 ear. The weather, though far from being bright or spring-like, 
 was yet a trifle more favorable than that to which we have of 
 late been accustomed. Though a thick mist hung like a pall 
 over the earth, still the rain kept oft* until the evening, when the 
 ceremonies were nearly concluded. The afternoon was par- 
 tially observed as a half-holiday, and a large crowd of people 
 wended their way towards Pine Grove Cemetery, to witness 
 the procession and the ceremonies. The national colors were 
 displayed at half-mast from the various flagstafis in the city, 
 and suggested a thousand tender and patriotic associations. The 
 members of the Post, to the number of about one hundred and 
 thirty, under the command of Post Commander Gardner S. 
 Morse, mustered at Cadet Hall at one o'clock, and formed in 
 procession in the following order : 
 
 Escort of Police. 
 Aids. Marshal. Aids. 
 
 Lynn Brass Band. 
 
 Post No. 5, G. A. R. 
 
 Disabled soldiers, in carriages. 
 
 Former members of the army and navy. 
 
 The procession looked exceedingly well, each member of the 
 Post being becomingly dressed in a plain suit of black, with 
 fatigue cap, white gloves, and a rosette of white and black 
 satin. Each man bore a wreath, or one or more bouquets of 
 flowers, some of which were of a very choice description. The 
 bright green leaves and brilliant blossoms contrasted pleasantly 
 with the dark dress of the men, and shed, as the procession 
 passed, a grateful fragrance on the air. 
 
 The column first passed through Market, Broad and Union 
 streets, to the Eastern Cemetery, where the graves of the soldiers
 
 152 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 buried there were decorated, the band playing a dirge. From 
 thence they marched through Chestnut, Broad, Exchange, 
 Union, Washington, Monroe, Market, Summer, Commercial and 
 South Common streets to the Western Burying Ground, where 
 the- Mime ceremonies were performed, the bell of the Second 
 Universalist Church being tolled during the time. They then 
 marched up North Common street to the City Hall, where the 
 procession was joined by His Honor the Mayor, Rev. R. N. 
 \V right, and some invited friends. They then passed up Frank- 
 lin and Boston streets to the Pine Grove Cemetery, where a 
 large number of carriages and spectators had already assembled. 
 Marching up to the centre of the Cemetery, they halted in front 
 of a small platform draped with the national colors, which had 
 been erected by the side of the, Soldiers' Lot for the occasion. 
 A large concourse of persons was assembled at this point, and 
 after a slight pause Post Commander Morse introduced Rev. 
 Mr. Wright, pastor of the Second Universalist Church, and who 
 himself had lost a son in the war, who made a comprehensive 
 and most impressive prayer, which was listened to with pro- 
 found attention the members of the Post remaining uncovered 
 during the time. 
 
 A select choir, consisting of Miss M. E. Bartlett, Miss K. M. 
 Plummer, Mr. C. E. Fairbanks and Mr. Edward Butler, then 
 sang the beautiful chant, "Hear, Father, hear our Prayer." 
 Post Commander Morse then spoke as follows : 
 
 COMRADES AND FELLOW-CITIZENS : I need not allude to the 
 solemnity of this occasion. I need not speak of the mournful 
 interest which attaches to the exercises of this day, or the sub- 
 dued pleasure we all feel in meeting on this consecrated ground, 
 bearing in our hands these beautiful tributes to the memory of 
 the patriot dead, for I know that every true soldier's heart will 
 be strengthened, and quickened by the ceremonies of the occa*- 
 sion. In compliance with orders from the national Headquar- 
 ters, we have marched, not for the sake of any ostentatious 
 parade or public display, but for the purpose of quietly decorat- 
 ing with fresh flowers these soldiers' graves of raising above 
 these still, dead forms that flag, which, when they, with us, 
 were strong, living men, through many marches, sieges and bat- 
 tles, they followed long, fought for, loved so well, and at last 
 laid down their lives to protect. 
 
 Comrades in arms, brave men ! true men ! martyrs of liberty 
 may we never forget them, and may a grateful, prospered 
 nation, saved by their valor, ever cherish their memory. 
 
 Comrade T. E. Yassar, pastor of the First Baptist Church, 
 then delivered the following address :
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 153 
 
 Standing amid these burial acres, where have fallen so often 
 the mourner's tears, the verdure of early summer opening 
 around, the breeze faintly murmuring througj^ these quivering 
 pines, the leaden clouds dropping like a pall over the graves of 
 our dead brothers, we might well lay the garlands of our affec- 
 tion, and then go hence in silence, listening only to the echoes 
 of holy prayer. Since it has been otherwise arranged, however, 
 give me for a little space your sympathy, remembering that hu- 
 man utterance must need fall below the level of the hour. 
 
 Not for the sake of vain display have the pursuits of industry 
 to-day been laid aside. Not on an idle, senseless errand have 
 we, with draped colors and badges of grief, hither come. Little 
 taste have those who have shared the stern realities of active 
 service for sham or show; but, joining a brave brotherhood 
 banded together to maintain principles struggled for on many a 
 bloody field, we consecrate these hours to offering such tribute 
 as survivors may to the memory of the faithful, now for earth 
 no more men who fought to plant the nation's flag again on 
 every staff' whence treason had torn it, but who died with- 
 out the eight. So have all lands and ages honored their loy- 
 al sons. Hebrew poetry has few strains more sadly sweet 
 than the dirge chaunted over " the beauty of Israel " falling 
 down in the dust and darkness on Gilboa's tragic heights; 
 and old Greece and Rome rarely turned out such processions 
 as went with speech, and song, and offering, to pay homage 
 to their heroic dead. 
 
 Not with such tokens of gratitude and admiration as they 
 were wont to bear, do we gather around this honored dust. 
 Wonders of art, weapons, ornaments, gems, are not the gifts we 
 bring. More in keeping with a purer faith and tenderer memo- 
 ries the meed. Wreaths woven from evergreen, whose life the 
 long winter has not chilled, whose tints drifting snows have not 
 bleached symbols of an affection that abides unwasted and un- 
 withered mute prophets of immortality, we lay upon these 
 graves. And also flowers flowers, that nowhere seem out of 
 place, from the bridal head whereon we bind them, to the cold 
 breast of the dead on which they are laid ; flowers, before 
 whose fragile beauty little children clap their hands, and the 
 gray-haired look with as deep delight we scatter on the green 
 turf covering brave breasts. Pleasant is the reflection, that all 
 through the land patriots will so keep the day. On the ridgy 
 slopes of Gettysburg, where thousands rest ; along the banks 
 of the Antietam, where repose most who fell those terrible Sep- 
 tember days ; on Lookout Mountain, where broad acres furnish 
 sepulture to multitudes gathered from all adjacent fields ; at
 
 154 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Arlington, whose Heights are crowned with tiers of tombs ; at 
 Andersonville and Belle Isle and Salisbury, where so many 
 ghastly victims rf the prison-pen, true to the last, laid down in 
 less noted buriaTplaces on Southern soil, holding the nation's 
 slain ; in hundreds of graveyards on Northern plains and hills, 
 to which the brave-hearted from " the front " were borne to 
 await by the side of kindred the awakening hour in all these 
 places, now made sacred forevermore, kind hands will this day 
 lay chaplets from sun to sun. 
 
 Ten years since, and a soldier's grave was something rare 
 enough to go out of the way to see. In a beautiful enclosure 
 on the Hudson, where in childhood I often strayed, and where 
 the dust of nearly all my kindred rests, there is one tomb at 
 which, in the past, many stopped. No costly monument arrest- 
 ed the eye. The slab was old and very plain, but, after record- 
 ing name and age, it added this simple line " A soldier of the 
 Revolution." Many summers the grass has waved on that un- 
 adorned mound, yet few passed it without lingering long enough 
 to do homage to the hero who girded on his sword when the rod 
 of oppression weighed heavily, to win deliverance for his land. 
 And when Time shall make the wondrous scenes through which 
 these latter days have led us seem more wonderful, reverence as 
 profound shall be felt and shown for the names of those who gave 
 up life to preserve what patriot fathers earned. To-day the 
 shadows of bereavement yet brood too heavily over many a 
 heart and home to see the great good which their sore loss has 
 gained. In every appeal to the sword, those who fall are such 
 as the land can least afford to lose. It is not the aged, whose 
 work is nearly done, whose term of service naturally soon would 
 end not the feeble, the infirm, the superannuated not such as 
 have, gone aside from industrial activities for whom the nation 
 in stern straits call. Something choicer is the demand. The 
 strong right arm which years have never weakened, the nerves 
 that disease has not unstrung, the eye which has not yet been 
 robbed of fire, the limbs that journey unwearied over leagues, 
 the face that neither time nor pain has furrowed, the head a 
 stranger to gray hairs, the mind whose perceptions yet are sharp 
 and quick, and vigorous and clear, the will resolute, unfalter- 
 ing, firm, the hopes sanguine, buoyant, full of cheer, the affec- 
 tions warm, unblighted, fresh this is the material of which a 
 government makes its armies, and which so fearfully fast it uses 
 up. And then there will rise thoughts not only of what the 
 lost were, but of what they might have become. How many a 
 father had plans matured, reaching beyond his own days plans 
 that sons were to carry out when the sire was gone. How
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 155 
 
 many anticipated having the child's stout arm to lean on as the 
 step grew tremulous and slow. How parental pride pictured 
 success; for those in whom existence was bound up prizes 
 gained, positions won. How the neighborhood, the State, the 
 nation, counted on what its young men should achieve. And 
 when, instead of finding such expectations realized, the fair, the 
 promising, the loved, were mowed down in swaths, it was not 
 strange that, at the first, smitten sensibilities writhed in agony ; 
 not strange if even to-day sad hearts, looking on these ceremo- 
 nies through tears, remember only the fearful price they helped 
 pay for the nation's ransom ; not strange if hearts that have 
 gone through these lesser Gethsemanes, find over them darkness 
 brooding still. But to the graves on which tear-drops yet fall like 
 rain, they by-and-by shall come with emotions tender and sub- 
 dued. Gone will be t^ie anguish under which they have been 
 walking bowed ; gone the bitterness which has turned their day 
 to night, and remembering chiefly the issues of the bloody 
 agony, catching the holy hallelujahs in which the thunderous 
 discords once shattering the air sunk away, this shall be the tes- 
 timony borne " Our beloved perished not in vain the reward 
 was weightier than the sacrifice the glory greater than the 
 gloom." 
 
 To settle the question whether this nation should perish or 
 endure, and solve the greater problem whether popular govern- 
 ment was possible, Lynn sent to the army and navy more than 
 three thousand men. One hundred and fifty of this number 
 were lost in actual service, and quite a number more, honorably 
 discharged, came home only to get a welcome given and die. 
 About a score wasted in Southern prisons. Their remains lie 
 with other sufferers, tar away ; their names are on the Repub- 
 lic's martyr roll. We have visited about seventy graves to-day, 
 and on them left the tribute of our love. These, probably, are 
 all who found burial here. Within this lot, consecrated to such 
 as fell, some more enduring memorial doubtless will one day 
 rise. But be it never so massive, so majestic, so imposing, the 
 results they contributed to secure will be more grand aiid last- 
 ing far. Great truths are longer-lived than granite or marble or 
 bronze. Not yet do we see all for which they wrought attained. 
 In the beginning, self-preservation alone was aimed at, but un- 
 consciously every blow was to tell on something beyond. Little 
 as we knew it either the living or the dead something more 
 than the nation's life was to be purchased through the vast ex- 
 penditure of pain. Immense and intense as was the anguish, 
 there has been ordained for it remedial power. The forms of 
 our beloved were not shrouded in pale or bloody death, happy
 
 156 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 homes were not riven or darkened, the nation did not pass 
 through such convulsive throes, merely to determine whether 
 "government of the people, by the people and for the people," 
 should prevail, or perish from the earth. Deliverance from long 
 iniquity was to result from the grief, and pain, and loss. And 
 when that shall have fully come when a merciful God shall 
 have restored our waste places when the magnificent temple 
 of American Liberty shall stand out in its august and radiant 
 beauty when the land, thoroughly renovated, shall send to 
 heaven one grateful, glad thanksgiving when the crime and 
 oppression which engendered the strife shall not only have been 
 shattered, but utterly extirpated when the Union shall have 
 been perfectly reestablished on a more solid and so more endur- 
 ing basis when tranquil millions dwell in a better peace than 
 before, under the shelter of institutions totally renewed when 
 a purified people shall send forth its benfgn ministries wherever 
 its commerce whitens the sea or its language greets human ears, 
 then shall the sublime compensation for all this waste and wreck 
 of life appear; then shall a fit monumental pillar over the loyal 
 dead have been reared. When a policy of reconstruction, based 
 on the everlasting principle of right, shall fully have prevailed 
 when, where war's ravages have been sternest, cities shall 
 spring up, and universities rise, and institutions founded in love 
 send their blessed influence, widening like an expanding wave's, 
 then shall it be seen that the pillars of this prosperity were 
 planted in soldiers' graves, and it shall be their glorious memo- 
 rial as long as the land keeps on its high career. 
 
 And doubt not, friends, that such a consummation shall be 
 reached. The air may still be thick with bodihgs of ill, but 
 they shall vanish by-and-by. Why, where is now the snow that 
 last winter blocked the thoroughfares of travel, and flushed the 
 fields, and choked the mountain gorges? Where the Arctic 
 sleet, the death-frosts that stripped the forests, the bitter cold 
 sheeting hundreds of leagues with its icy palls ? They have be- 
 come this May -day's crystal brook. They are in the air we 
 breathe, in the tender vegetation springing, in the wealth of 
 bloom beginning to gladden the eye. And the vexing questions 
 that yet hang on our horizon and make settled peace seem far 
 away, shall as harmlessly vanish, leaving but " the blessed mem- 
 ory of rights they vindicated and the honorable scars of wrongs 
 which they effectually redressed." 
 
 Citizens of Lynn, standing with us around these honored 
 graves, it remains for you not only to be here dedicated afresh to 
 those interests for which the departed gave "the last full 
 measure of devotion," but to meet the issues of the present and
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 157 
 
 face the prospects of the future with cheerful hope. Gloomy 
 forebodings never more misbecame place or hour. Recalling, 
 as tlit'st- services do, days which tried men's souls, let them 
 nerve every heart with courage. What though strife and con- 
 fusion and contention are not yet utterly done away ? The Lord 
 God omnipotent reigneth, and for the right good shall emerge 
 from these still disordered times. 
 
 " Has all this sacred blood been shed, 
 Have we thus mourned our glorious dead, 
 And shall the end be wrath and woe ? 
 The knell of Freedom's overthrow, 
 A country riven ? 
 
 " It will not be ; 
 
 We trust, O God, Thy gracious power 
 To aid us in our every darkening hour; 
 This be our prayer O Father, save 
 A people's freedom from its grave ; 
 All praise to Tbee." 
 
 Friends of the patriot dead, we bleud our sympathies with 
 yours, ;ui(i give them expression in the offering of the hour. 
 But not in tliis way alone. In forms more practical and tangi- 
 ble would we speak our love. To cover the defenceless heads 
 of orphanage and widowhood, left shelterless by the calamities 
 of war, to support the weakened, wearied steps of age, from 
 which the strong staff was taken, is in part our work. To our 
 care fallen comrades committed their dependent ones-%, sacred 
 trust. We accept the obligation thus imposed to the full meas- 
 ure of our power. And now, while we share with you in the 
 chastened grief these ceremonies will naturally awake, give us, 
 too, to share in the proud remembrance that these lost sons, and 
 husbands, and fathers, and brothers, fell in the high places of 
 the land, contending for liberty and law. Give us to share with 
 you the consoling reflection, that, though they perished, the 
 country lived ; and permit us, with you who gave them up, to 
 send out the all-hail of that grand future sown in tears and 
 blood. 
 
 Comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, and other 
 soldiers participating in these solemnities, our dead companions 
 seem mustering again and falling into line. As the Eastern 
 warrior imagined that the shades of his slain brothers closed 
 often around him, so, to our fancy, those once with us on march 
 and post, in camp and field, afloat and ashore, seem coming back 
 as we thus hallow then* memories. Again the drums are roll- 
 ing, and colors tattered in a score of battles wave. In mighty 
 square and column form a third of a million men, who did all
 
 158 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 tlmt arm of mortal might, and then died where the missiles of 
 destruction flew thick^ or sickened in the tangled swamp, or 
 starved in the foul stockade, or sank jn the boundless blue. 
 Names that history will embalm are in those battalions, but 
 thousands more, iust as faithfnl, whose services shall go umnen- 
 tioned, are also there. 
 
 " Gathered home from the grave, 
 
 Risen from sun and rain, 
 Rescued from wind and wave, 
 
 Out of the stormy main, 
 The legions. of our Brave 
 
 Are all in their lines again." 
 
 Be their presence an inspiration to all honorable deeds, to un- 
 swerving patriotism, to a pure, unselfish, noble life. Returning 
 from these rites, may sublimer purposes be stirred and aspira- 
 tions reaching out after immortality be strengthened. 
 
 And now, as the sun hastens to its going down, we turn 
 away. Farewell, brothers, to whose memory we have given 
 these hours. Your work has ended, but that work the latest 
 age the nation sees shall not outlast. When the strange drama 
 of its history shall have closed with songs of praise, then shall 
 be seen, as cannot now, how wondrous the harvest of life and 
 progress gathered from seeds of decay and death sown beneath 
 these mounds ; how great the issue and how grand the reward 
 of all such sacrifice ! 
 
 tfp " Here let them rest ; 
 
 And summer's beat and winter's cold 
 Shall glow and freeze above this mould 
 A thousand years shall pass away 
 A nation still shall mourn this clay, 
 Which now is blest." 
 
 The ceremony of strewing the graves with flowers was then 
 reverently and mournfully performed, but, before it could be 
 concluded, the rain commenced to fall, and umbrellas in great 
 force were quickly pressed into service. Returning to the plat- 
 form, Mr. J. Warren Newhall read the following 
 
 POEM. 
 
 Friends of the noble slain, we come to-day 
 To scatter flowers upon the soldier's grave ; 
 
 Here Love and Gratitude together pay 
 The heart's fond homage to our Fallen Brave. 
 
 You could not gather for a holier rite ; 
 
 To pluck the beauteous flowers of rare perfume, 
 And weave them, tinted by Heaven's lovely light, 
 
 Into a garland for the hero's tomb.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 159 
 
 What fitter offering could Remembrance bring, 
 Than these fair offspring of the fragrant bowers ? 
 
 Seeming like symbols of the ' Eternal Spring," 
 
 Or God's pure thoughts written on earth in flowers. 
 
 Aye, bring fresh wreaths to deck the hallowed spot 
 
 Where rest the ashes of our honored dead ; 
 Which from the b.ittle-field ye gently brought, 
 
 To lay within the warrior's dreamless bed. 
 
 All through the land for which they nobly died, 
 
 Unto these shrines shall kindred ones repair, 
 To kneel o'er those who fell in manhood's pride, 
 
 And lay Affection's floral tribute there. 
 
 Thus, wheresoe'er the soldier shall be laid, 
 'Neath Auburn's costly tombs of sculptured stone, 
 Or in the humble churchyard's quiet shade, 
 
 There let those emblems of our love be strewn. 
 
 Thence, floating upward to th' o'erarching skies, 
 
 Heaven's azure canopy above them hung, 
 A richer, purer incense shall arise 
 
 Than ever priest from .golden censer swung. 
 
 Not for mere hero-worship are we here, 
 
 Adoring Fame born of conflict and death, 
 But our beloved ones' memory to revere 
 
 Our Youth, our Pride, our Valor, and our Worth. 
 
 We saw them from our threatened homes depart, 
 To strike for Freedom an avenging blow ; * 
 
 And, pressing back the yearnings of the heart, 
 Staying the tears of love, we bade them " Go." 
 
 We heard of them upon the battle-field, 
 
 And glorious was the record which we read ; 
 Marching the sword of Liberty to wield, 
 
 Till Treason quailed before their mighty tread. 
 
 Oh, how we trembled when the pending strife 
 Sent its vague rumors winging through the air ! 
 
 Lest in the cruel fray some precious life 
 Had for the country's weal been given there. 
 
 And when 'twas told " the battle had been won," 
 Our loved ones safe from harm, and all was well, 
 
 How fervently we thanked the Eternal One, 
 How our glad hearts with gratitude did swell I 
 
 Then came the tidings of their gallant, deeds, 
 
 How they hurled back the fiery, fearful tide ; 
 Of how they saved Columbia in her need 
 
 Then, now we blessed them in deep loyal pride.
 
 160 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Once more we heard of them ; but ah ! we bowed 
 AY i tli brow convulsed by grieC, and quivering breath, 
 
 To learn that those of whom we were so proud, 
 Lay cold and still in the embrace of Death. 
 
 Oh 1 then how empty seemed the sound of Fame 
 
 How dear was victory at such a price ! 
 Oft we repeated o'er the cherished name, 
 
 And thought the good less than the sacrifice. 
 
 With careful hand we raised the lifeless forms, 
 And homeward gently bore our cherished dead, 
 
 To lay them where no cruel battle-storm 
 Should sweep in ruthless fury o'er their bed. 
 
 We placed them tenderly beneath the sod, 
 Whispering, " O Earth, take back the dust ye gave ; " 
 
 Then, bruised and bleeding from Affliction's rod, 
 We turned in sorrow from our Fallen Brave. 
 
 Then Liberty, Columbia's genius, spake : 
 
 " Precious, indeed, are lives like these to give ; 
 
 Weep, but repine not, though fond ties may break ; 
 They died, but ah ! they dkd that I might live. 
 
 " Yea, weep, yet murmur not ; rather rejoice 
 
 That ye could give such treasures in my name ; 
 Their deeds gleam out like gems of rarest choice 
 Set in imperishable crowns of Fame. 
 
 u Ye will forget them never, but shall tell 
 
 Unto your children's children how they fought 
 Beneath my starry emblem how they bravely fell, 
 And Freedom's peerless heritage re-bought. 
 
 " And wheresoe'er a soldier's sepulchre 
 
 Is made, thither the Comrade's feet shall tend, 
 When Spring's soft breath and sunny pinions stir 
 TJie bending spray, where birds their chorus blend. 
 
 " There shall they bring from Flora's fairest bowers 
 
 The choicest blooms by sunshine e'er caressed, 
 Till every grave shall seem a gate of flowers, 
 Through which the sleeper's soul passed home to rest." 
 
 Thus counselled Liberty ; and we come forth 
 To accept and execute the high design ; 
 
 Surviving Comrades through the loyal North 
 Will make each hero's grave the patriot's shrine. 
 
 And we will count this as the choicest day 
 In the year's calendar, when we renew 
 
 Our love perennial, and these offerings lay 
 In reverence to the valiant and the true.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 161 
 
 Blest privilege, thus to honor Valor's tomb 
 
 An hour unto their worth to consecrate ! 
 Perchance e'en now from their 4>lest spirit-home 
 
 Their blessings float down through the pearly gate. 
 
 They died defending Freedom 'gainst her foes ; 
 
 They're sleeping for the flag that bears no stain ; 
 Oh, better thus to die, and thus repose, 
 
 Than to live on in Treason's shameless train. 
 
 But some, alas ! are resting where they fell ; 
 
 Not e'en a rude stone marks the lonely spot ; 
 Ah ! who shall visit that sequestered dell 
 
 By what foud hand shall garlands there be brought ? 
 
 Kind Heaven its angel-messengers shall send, 
 To linger where the tangled fern-leaves wave, 
 
 With dew and sunshine that lone spot to tend, 
 Till sweet wild flowers shall deck the unmarked grav . 
 
 Thus shall it be, that not one resting-place 
 
 Shall e'er neglected or forgotten be, 
 But o'er these mounds shall Honor, Love, and Praise 
 
 Perform the rites of 'Memory's ministry. 
 
 And on this sadly sweet memorial day, 
 
 The stranger who the noisy city shuns, 
 Shall gaze upon your sacred task, to say, . 
 
 " See how Columbia loves' her martyred sons." 
 
 Rest, hallowed dust ! the affection we bore ye 
 
 Ever shall glow like a halo of light ; 
 Remembrance shall ever her vigils keep o'er ye, 
 
 True as the stars to their mission by night. 
 
 Peacefully rest, while we tell the proud story 
 
 To those who assemble these honors to pay, 
 Of how the bright garlands of Earth's highest glory 
 
 Were bound round your brows as your life ebbed away. 
 
 Glorified spirits in regions immortal, 
 
 Shades of our martyrs who over us bend, 
 Upward ye speed, through the fair pearly portal, 
 
 Where the grand music of seraphims blend. 
 
 Changed are life's joys for enjoyments supernal, 
 
 Shadows laid by for the substance above, 
 Earth's transient fame for the glories eternal 
 
 Bestowed in the mansions of Infinite Lova 
 
 Friends of the fallen, let holiest emotions 
 
 Inspire us with love for this beautiful trust ; 
 Smile on us, Heaven, as in loyal devotion 
 
 We hallow their memory and honor their dust. 
 
 11
 
 162 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 The choir then sang the following hymn : 
 Strew all their graves with flowers 
 
 They for their country died, 
 And freely gave their lives for ours 
 
 Their country's hope and pride. 
 
 Bring flowers to deck each sod, 
 
 Where rests their sacred dust ; 
 Though gone from earth, they live to God, % 
 
 Their everlasting Trust ! 
 
 Fearless in Freedom's cause, . 
 
 They suffered, toiled, and bled, 
 And died obedient to her laws, 
 
 By truth and conscience led. 
 
 Oft as the year returns, 
 
 She o'er their graves shall weep, 
 And wreathe with flowers their funeral urns, 
 
 Their memory clear to keep. 
 
 Bring flowers of early Spring 
 
 To deck each soldier's grave, 
 And Summer's fragrant roses bring 
 
 They died our land to save. 
 
 After the singing of the hymn, the procession re-formed and 
 marched back to the hall, where it was dismissed. The Catho- 
 lic burying-ground, owing to the extreme distance from the 
 centre of the city, was visited in detail by a number of soldiers 
 in carriages, by whom the ceremony was performed. At the 
 request of Post No. 11, of Charlestown, three soldiers were also 
 sent to Nahant to decorate the grave of Comrade E. F. Whit- 
 ney, of the Fifth Mass. Regiment, who lies buried there. 
 
 AT SAUSM, MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 It was a fitting and beautiful resolve of the Grand Army of 
 the Republic to adopt the ceremony, long practiced among the 
 French and introduced into the South by the French settlers, of 
 decorating the graves of their dead comrades, and it touched a 
 chord in the popular heart, and was responded to with quick 
 sympathy. The members of Post 34, of Salem, did themselves 
 honor on this occasion. Their appeal for flowers and evergreens 
 was promptly answered, and at their rooms in Essex Block, on 
 Friday and Saturday forenoons, were many ladies (several of 
 whom had themselves yielded up on their country's altar those 
 they held most dear), busily preparing wreaths, crosses, and 
 bouquets, from the masses of flowers and evergreens sent there 
 for the decoration of the graves of the loved ones, the silent tear
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 103 
 
 and occasionally a trembling of the active fingers, attesting the 
 emotions of their hearts as they tastefully arranged the beautiful 
 and fragrant emblems. 
 
 At half past one o'clock the line was formed in front of the 
 Post Headquarters, in St. Peter street, and at two o'clock the 
 procession moved through Essex and Washington streets to the 
 Tabernacle Church. First came a platoon of the Salem police, 
 in uniform, under the command of Assistant-Marshal Dalrym- 
 ple, followed by the Salem Brass Band ; Post 34 as escort, in 
 uniform of forage caps, dark clothes, and white gloves; four 
 barouches containing the orator and chaplains of the day, and 
 disabled soldiers ; soldiers and sailors of the late war, with the 
 Sutton Drum Corps. Each man bore a bouquet or wreath, and 
 the carriages were loaded with beautiful flowers and floral em- 
 blems. Gen. Pierson, the Post Commander, had the direction 
 as Chief Marshal. 
 
 The church pulpit was covered with the Union flag, and 
 bouquets, wreaths, crosses, and stars, were tastefully arranged 
 on the rear wall and other appropriate places. The services 
 were opened by an organ voluntary, by Mr. "William Agge, the 
 organist of the church, who officiated in this capacity during 
 the musical exercises. Then followed a responsive chant, the 
 46th Psalm, u God is our refnge and strength, a very present 
 help in trouble " the reading by Rev. E. S. Atwood, of the 
 South Church, chaplain of the 5th Massachusetts Regiment. 
 The choir consisted of a fine quartette of male voices Stephen 
 P. Driver, Capt. George M. Whipple, William H. Whipple, and 
 Dr. George S. Woodman whose rendering of all the selections 
 was much admired. The prayer, fervent and impressive, was 
 by Rev. E. B. Wilson, of the .North Church, chaplain of the 
 24th Regiment. The following beautiful Ode, written for the 
 occasion by Mr. Stephen P. Driver, the chorister, formerly Q. 
 M. S. of the 22d Regiment, was next read by Chaplain Atwood, 
 and snng by the quartette, to the music of a fine German hymn, 
 composed for male voices : 
 
 ORIGINAL ODE. 
 
 Where our martyred dead are slain, 
 
 Moaning pines, and sobbing sea, 
 Shronded hills, and tears of rain, 
 
 Join in Nature's Litany. 
 
 Freedom's floral incense flings 
 
 Odorous sweets through all the land; 
 
 While Columbia grateful sings 
 Requiems to her Hero-band.
 
 164 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Camp Eternal gained at last, 
 
 Victory ivon, :md inarches o'er, 
 Trumpet's blare, or bugle's blast 
 
 Breaks tlieir bivouac nevermore. 
 
 Honor to the B:aves! who fell 
 
 Face to face with Hoary Wrong! 
 Honor to the naim-s which dwell 
 
 Shrined in Fame's Hi>toric Song! 
 
 Appropriate selections from Scripture were then read by 
 Rev. S. F. Chase, of the Lafayette street Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, chaplain of the 3d Maine Regiment, followed by the 
 "Gloria Tibi" from the choir, after which Gen. Cogswell de- 
 livered a most impressive and eloquent address, which was lis- 
 tened to with the closest attention by the crowded audience, 
 whose emotion during its delivery could not be repressed : 
 
 ADDBES8 OF GEN. WM. COGSWELL. 
 
 COMRADES ASTD FRIENDS: The Grand Army of the Republic, 
 comprising now nearly all of the honorably discharged soldiers 
 and sailors of the late war, and organized for the purpose of 
 perpetuating the memory of fallen comrades, and assisting their 
 families, has set apart this thirtieth day of May for each Post 
 of the Society to visit the soldiers' graves in its vicinity, and, 
 with appropriate ceremonies, to pay the respect due to the 
 memory of those whose noble and willing deaths in the great 
 struggle have secured to us peace, universal liberty, self-respect, 
 and the respect of others. 
 
 And to-day, throughout every loyal State in the Union, and 
 happily in some of the States lately in rebellion, the graves of 
 the loyal dead, who fell in the defence of their country and 
 their flag, are being decked with flowers, those appropriate em- 
 blems of love and remembrance, at the hands of their living 
 comrades-in-arms, and their relatives and friends a just, and 
 honorable, and most becoming tribute from the living to the 
 heroic dead ; from those to whom has been secured forever the 
 rich boon of civil and religious freedom to those who fought 
 and died to secure it. It is the tribute of genuine loyalty and 
 sincere affection, independent of sect, party, or condition, to 
 those immortal heroes, whose graves are in every churchyard, 
 or whose bones lie whitening on every battle-field from the 
 Heights of Gettysburg to the waters of the Rio Grande. 
 
 And in this Christian duty, in this grateful, noble work, 
 both far and wide, in city, town and hamlet, on the slopes of the 
 Pacific, by the rolling prairie, in the valley, and on the hill-side, 
 by the lonely grave unmarked by stone or slab, but which has
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 165 
 
 still its silent and loving watcher, meet, to-day, the mother 
 whose son lias gone, the wife whose husband has been taken 
 from her, the sister with a brother lost, and the child whose 
 father gave up his life in battle meeting with their tears and 
 pray ITS. and with their offerings to beautify the spot where their 
 love and hopes are buried; meeting to renew their grateful re- 
 membrance and to realize once more their loss of those they 
 loved so well, and whose souls, in the dread day of battle, went 
 up to God in glory. 
 
 Here meet the returned soldier and sailor, the able and the 
 maimed, those who have fought, and those who have both 
 fought and bled, by the side of those to whose memory they now 
 do honor here they meet to mark their love and reverence of 
 the Union dead, whose valor they have so often witnessed, and 
 to whose willing sacrifices they can so well attest here they 
 meet to carry out one of the chief objects of their extensive or- 
 ii':i!:ixation, u respect to the memory of their dead " and " a care 
 for the comfort of those they left behind." . 
 
 And here also meet those friends of the soldier, who were 
 so steadfast in war, and now in peace are still so true ; those 
 friends, whose willing hearts and hajids, and generous purses, 
 filled to overflowing the great storehouses of the Sanitary Com- 
 mission. As they came once with their gifts of comfort and 
 healing and to preserve life, so now they come to-day with 
 flowers to keep green the memory and the fame of those who 
 died, so many of them, with words of blessing on their lips for 
 the good angels of that noble charity. 
 
 And well is it, that in this house of God, with prayer and 
 song and the reading of the Holy Word, we begin the dis- 
 charge of our part of this grand, this solemn, and this sacred 
 duty. And in this holy, reverent work, as we send our prayers 
 to God, as with the dust our tears we mingle, and as we 
 strew with flowers the sod which covers these loved forms 
 from earth, let us draw the veil, for to-day, over the passions 
 and feelings of the hour, and let one tear fall, and one prayer 
 ascend, for those who fell, not for us but against us they, too, 
 had mothers, and wives, and sisters, and children,, who loved 
 them well, and, surely, beyond the grave our feelings of injury 
 and wrong should not extend. 
 
 When I turn from the wonders and achievements of this 
 war through which we have passed, from the deeds of valor 
 done and the fields of victory won, from those heroes who 
 sprang alike from the parlor of the rich and the hovel of the 
 poor, and from all the grandeur and sublimity of that four years' 
 conflict for right, and justice, and freedom, to the long, sad list
 
 166 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 of those it cost to secure all this, to those of our own whose 
 li vis went out in their country's battles; when I recall those 
 it names, alas! too many of them! of Lander and Merritt, 
 of Williams, Dearborn and Allen, of Buxton, Hodges, Phillips, 
 tin- Batchelders, and Hill, and those many others, ^not less be- 
 . -e not spoken, but greater even, because their valor and 
 their sacrifices were to go down, perhaps, unheralded and unsung 
 when I think of the one hundred and twenty graves in our 
 midst, and the many, many others on distant fields which no stone 
 marks out, and of those who suffered a living death in prison, 
 and whose bones may never be recovered, and remember how 
 tlu-v fought while life lasted, and whether victory was perching 
 on our banner or defeat saddening our hearts, never faltered or 
 wavered, but marched on, in full faith in the glorious consum- 
 mation which came at last ; when I think of our own dead, and 
 the almost three hundred thousand more ; when I recall those 
 bulletins from every blood-red field, which carried sorrow and 
 mourning to almost every household, and brought to us the 
 ead tidings of those who had died that we might live; when I 
 think of those victories which were so dearly bought, those Union 
 
 f raves whose name is legion ; when I realize the fact that the 
 est were almost sure to fall the first ; when I remember those 
 who in their devotion to the cause never thought of life, and who 
 in their desire to show the one, so freely gave the other, and of so 
 many of my own beloved comrades and associates whom I have 
 eeen fall, with a smiling face to heaven and their feet towards 
 the foe I feel myself unworthy to be here, or to attempt 
 "to speak their glory or their worth. 
 
 And let me close these words of mine, so few and so in- 
 adequate to the grand and noble theme, with those purer and 
 better words of Mr. Lincoln, himself now one of the greatest 
 and noblest of the Union dead, spoken at Gettysburg, at the 
 Soldiers' Cemetery : 
 
 " Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth 
 upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and ded- 
 icated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now 
 we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation 
 or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated can long en- 
 dure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We are 
 met to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting-place of those 
 who have given their lives that that nation might live. It is 
 altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a lar- 
 
 fer sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot 
 allow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who strug- 
 gled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or to
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 167 
 
 detract. The world will very little note nor long remember 
 what we x<iy here ; but it can never forget what they did 
 here. It is fur us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here, to the 
 unfinished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on. It 
 is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining 
 before us ; that from these honored dead we take increased de- 
 votion to that cause for which thev here gave the last full meas- 
 ure of devotion ; that we here highly resolve that these dead 
 shall not have died in vain ; that the nation shall, under God, 
 have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, 
 by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." 
 
 After the address "America " was sung by the whole congrega- 
 tion, led by the choir and organ, and the benediction was pro- 
 nounced by Chaplain Wilson. 
 
 At the close of the services in the church, the procession was 
 reformed, and proceeded through Washington, Essex, JSTewbury, 
 Brown and Howard streets to the Howard Street Cemetery, 
 crowds of people accompanying the march and thronging the 
 cemetery. During the ceremony of strewing flowers on the 
 graves the band played a dirge. 
 
 At the soldiers' lot, in Harmony Grove, a spot was desig- 
 nated, and especially decorated, in memory of those who sleep 
 on distant fields. 
 
 During the exercises, the post-office, banks and places of 
 business generally were closed, and the flags were displayed 
 at three-quarters' staff. 
 
 From Howard street the procession visited, in succession, the 
 Orne Street and Catholic Cemeteries in North Salem, Harmony 
 Grove, the Monumental Cemetery in Peabody (where twenty- 
 six graves were strewn, committees having previously performed 
 the same duty in the old bury ing-place), and then returned to 
 Salem, closing the ceremonies at the Broad street and Charter 
 street grounds. 
 
 At Harmony Grove, where sixty-eight of the dead heroes 
 lie, the graves were each appropriately designated by a small 
 American flag, provided by the trustees of the cemetery. Many 
 of the graves here were profusely decorated with flowers by the 
 hands of family affection ; on some were placed photographs of 
 the sleepers, and touching inscriptions, such as "Our Dear 
 Boy," u Home is not home without thee," <fcc., while relatives 
 stood by, tears coursing down their cheeks, as they gratefully 
 thought of the honors paid to the departed, and tenderly remem- 
 bered their dead. 
 
 At Broad street, where General Lander is buried, there was 
 a most impressive scene. The other graves having been deco-
 
 168 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 rated, the line was drawn up before the General's resting-place, 
 the band playing a dirge; and after Commander Pierson had 
 placed upon the tomb several beautiful emblems prepared by the 
 hands of Mrs. Lander, the hero's widow, the members of the 
 Post and the soldiers and sailors, uncovered, passed by, and each 
 one threw upon the tomb a floral offering, literally covering it 
 with flowers. 
 
 The procession then moved to the Charter street ground, 
 where a single soldier sleeps, and having discharged their duty 
 to their last dead comrade, the Post escorted the soldiers and 
 sailors, and the orator and chaplains of the day, to the Town 
 Hall, where parting salutes were interchanged, and then marched 
 to the Post headquarters, and were dismissed, concluding their 
 labors at eight o'clock. 
 
 The number of graves decorated was 154, viz : In the Howard 
 street ground, 30 ; Orme street, 5 ; Catholic, 17 ; Harmony Grove, 
 68 ; Broad street, 7 ; Charter street, 1 ; Peabody, 26. 
 
 AT NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 Capt. S. A. E. Dame, the Commander of Post 49, was the 
 prime mover in Newburyport and vicinity in the commemora- 
 tion services, under General Logan's Order. 
 
 At 10 o'clock A. M. the committee and the members of the 
 order, together with the friends of the deceased soldiers, and the 
 Amesbury brass band, proceeded to the Belleville Cemetery, and 
 wended their way to the graves of the deceased soldiers, which 
 had been previously designated by a flag, and laid upon each 
 one a bouquet or a wreath of flowers and evergreens which had 
 been prepared and contributed by the lady friends of the organ- 
 ization. After the graves had been decorated a prayer was 
 made by Rev. Dr. Fiske, and a dirge played by. the band. 
 They then proceeded to the Oldtown burying ground, where 
 the same ceremonies were gone through with, the prayer being 
 made by Rev. Mr. Thurston, and the band performing an 
 impressive dirge. 
 
 At the City Hall the services commenced at 2 o'clock P. M. 
 by the singing of a hymn, the words and music by Martin 
 Luther. Then followed a prayer by Rev. Dr. Campbell, and 
 the reading, by Dr. Spaulding, of the following poem, composed 
 by Capt. Luther Dame : 
 
 Scatter bright flowers where tears have been shed, 
 
 Over the graves of our patriot dead ; 
 
 Twine into garlands the myrtle and rose, 
 
 To deck the green earth where their ashes repose.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 169 
 
 Sadly we In id them away to their rest 
 IK'urts we had cherished, loved and caressed 
 Borno from the battle-field, wounded or slum, 
 Filling the household with sorrow and pain. 
 
 Kind words at parting still sound in our ears, 
 Though days have grown months and months become years, 
 And lips that turned pale with "good by 1 ' at the door, 
 Have mouldered to dust, and will greet us no more. 
 
 Many a mourner to-day will reveal 
 
 Traces of sorrow they cannot conceal; 
 
 Words will be spoken, and tear drops will start, 
 
 Bespeaking the grief that lies deep in their heart. 
 
 The bugle no more at the dawning of light 
 Calls up the worn soldier to arm for the fight ; 
 For the conflict of death has ceased on the plain, 
 And peace sheds her blessings upon us again. 
 
 Long shall their deeds live in story and song 
 How they struggled for right and battled with wrong; 
 Their fame is immortal, their life's work is done, 
 Their armor ungirded, and victory won. 
 
 The choir, consisting of delegations from the various church 
 choirs in the city, numbering one hundred members, and assisted 
 by an orchestra and the Amesbury Band, then performed the 
 choral " To God on High," from the Oratorio of St. Paul, the 
 singing under the direction of Mr. C. P. Morrison. 
 
 Col. Stone then made some interesting remarks, in which he 
 reviewed the history of the custom of strewing flowers on the 
 graves of departed heroes, tracing it back to the ancient 
 Romans, Greeks, and Hebrews, and expressing a hope that it 
 would be continued as an exemplification of our patriotism and 
 love of our departed friends. 
 
 Dr. S. J. Spaulding next made an eloquent speech, in which 
 he reviewed from experience the vicissitudes of a soldier's life, 
 depicting the scenes that present themselves to the tourist 
 on Southern soil, of graves and destruction and desolation all 
 of which, in view of the grand result, can be justified on the 
 principle that the end sanctifies the means. 
 
 The choir then sung a choral from the Oratorio of Elijah, 
 and the services were concluded by a dirge from the band. 
 
 The procession, escorted by the Gushing Guard and City 
 Cadets, preceded by the Amesbury Brass Band, then formed, 
 and marched from the foot of Green street, through Merrimac, 
 and up State to the Oak Hill Cemetery, where about twenty 
 graves were decorated. The grave of Capt. A. W. Bartlctt 
 received a contribution from each member of the dishing
 
 170 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Guard, till it was literally covered with flowers and wreaths of 
 evergreen. At the conclusion of the ceremonies of decoration 
 the choir sung a hymn, followed by a prayer from Rev. Dr. 
 Spaulding and a dirge by the band, when the line of march was 
 taken up for the New Burial Hill. 
 
 In this cemetery between 30 and 40 graves were found 
 marked with the National flag, indicating that that number of 
 fallen heroes slept beneath its green turf. After the flowers had 
 been placed on their graves, a prayer was offered by Rev. D. P. 
 Pike, and a dirge was played by the band, when the procession 
 proceeded to the Old Burial Hill, and performed the same kind 
 offices for their comrades who sleep in that ancient enclosure. 
 The services here were conducted by Eev. Thos. Borden ; and 
 after a flnal dirge by the band, the company marched to the 
 rooms of the Army and Navy Union on State Street, where they 
 were dismissed by their commander, to come together again 
 next year. 
 
 A detachment of the Post was sent to the graves of Preston 
 Newhall, at Turkey Hill, and Capt. C. E. Cress, at Curson's 
 Mill, and Elbridge Graves in Salisbury. 
 
 The following is a list of the names of the soldiers and sailors 
 whose graves were visited, and which includes all whose location 
 could be ascertained by the committee. If any have been omit- 
 ted we trust their positions will be ascertained before the next 
 anniversary. 
 
 BELLEVILLE. L. D. B. Somerby, Whitman Holmes, W. H. 
 Jackman, Joseph Cossar, John Cotton, William D. Lee, Wil- 
 liam Bowlin, E. Roberts, Moses Wigglesworth, A. Maxwell, 
 Joseph Littlefield, William Littlefield. 
 
 OLDTOWN. David Shackford, F. G. Lunt, Daniel P. How- 
 ard, J. H. Ryan, Wm. G. Pickard, Wm. T. Varina, Jabez 
 Atwood, George Atwood, D. H. Mansfield. 
 
 OAK HILL CEMETERY. A. W. Bartlett, A. P. Reed, J. A. 
 Cushing, Edw. Dodge, Horace W. Dodge, M. M. Mumford, 
 Frank Knapp, Chas. W. Poor, Philip Coombs, Alfred F. Lee, 
 Wm. L. G. Green, Charles G. Burbank, Goodwin A. Stone, 
 Henry Stone, Wm. Cook, M. S. Pettingell, Hiram R. Poor, 
 Nath. F. Stover. 
 
 NEW BURYING GROUND. William Page, John G. Whiting, 
 Wm. C. Colby, J. M. T. Goodwin, John Black, J. W. Lunt, 
 Thos. P. Lunt, John H. W. Talbot, Chas. W. Huse, Wm. H. 
 Daniels, S. H. Lunt, Joseph Burns, Daniel R. Shaw, James 
 Graham, Jerry Downs, J. F. Channel, Wm. C. Forbes, James W. 
 Dixon, George W. Dearborn, George W. Mace, Chas. L. Cole, 
 T. G. Wentworth, J. F. Tarr, Daniel H. Colby, James H. Foy,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 171 
 
 Caleb C. Pike, J. G. Dillingham, A. J. Nash, Warren Thomp- 
 son, J. P. Xeal, Joseph Coulliard, John Melincb, Edward T. 
 Gurnev, Edgar T. Rundlett, J. Wakefield, Daniel R. Shaw, 
 John F. Lee. 
 
 OLD HILL. George T. Wakefield, Robert C. Rich, John 
 Holland, David R. Hinkley, Thomas Brown, Michael H. Larey, 
 James Welch. 
 
 AT LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 The city which furnished the first martyrs, and within whose 
 borders the graves of over 120 of these braves are to be seen, 
 could not but act in accordance with the suggestion of Gen. 
 Logan. Post No. 42 of the G. A. R., Lieut. George A. Mar- 
 den, Commander, responded to the order by commencing prep- 
 arations, and profuse contributions of flowers were made by 
 citizens, and even the school-children were allowed part of a 
 day to gather wild flowers, for the purpose, which time they im- 
 proved with all the zeal of children. A committee visited the 
 cemetery and other burial-grounds in the forenoon, and decorat- 
 ed the graves. The relatives and friends of many of the de- 
 ceased soldiers also added to the offerings. Flags were sus- 
 pended at half-mast, and there were many decorations befitting 
 the dny. 
 
 About 2 o'clock a procession, numbering about one hundred 
 members of the post and a company of former soldiers, accom- 
 panied l>y the Lowell Brigade Band, marched from Mechanics' 
 Hall through the principal streets to the Lowell Cemetery. 
 When the procession reached the vicinity of the chapel in the 
 cemetery, the members stood with uncovered heads while the 
 band played a dirge. The other burial-grounds were visited in 
 turn, and similar respect shown the deceased comrades. After 
 a march of about six miles the procession reached Monument 
 Square about a quarter past five o'clock. Entering the enclos- 
 ure the members formed a circle about the Ladd and Whitney 
 monument, which had been elaborately trimmed and decorated. 
 Each member added something to the profusion of flowers, and, 
 after a dirge by the band, Rev. Horace James, Chaplain, offered 
 prayer. Commander Marden addressed his comrades, saying 
 that it was a privilege to lay above the ashes of their dead com- 
 rades these beautiful tributes of the field and garden. Mayor 
 Richardson was called upon to respond for the citizens, and ex- 
 pressed his gratification that such a beautiful tribute had been 
 paid, which he trusted would be an annual one. Rev. Horace 
 James was the last speaker.
 
 172 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 COMMANDER GEORGE A. MARDEN's SPEECH. 
 
 COMRADES: We have performed a sacred, a pious duty. 
 "We have visited the graves of those comrades who once stood 
 shoulder to shoulder with us on the field of battle, but whose 
 hallowed remains now lie buried in our midst, and we have 
 scattered upon them the choicest treasures of spring-time. An 
 old poet has said, that it " is sweet and honorable to die for 
 one's conntry." If this be true and who can doubt it ? it is 
 also sweet and honorable for us to gather the flowery wealth of 
 the field, forest and garden, and to scatter it above the sacred 
 dust of those who have died for their country. 
 
 Comrades, this is rather a time for silence than for speech. 
 The bright wreaths and garlands around us, and the heaps of 
 flowers we have scattered on the graves of our fallen comrades 
 in the burial-places we have visited to-day, speak far more elo- 
 quently than any word of mine or of any one else can do, how 
 deeply and tenderly we cherish the memory of those whom we 
 have met this day to honor. I remember that, during the past 
 five or six years, the words of one of the sweetest of the old 
 English poets have been quoted so often, that it seemed to me 
 they must appear almost hackneyed ; and yet, during the past 
 week as I have been engaged in the preparation for tfie ceremo- 
 nies we have undertaken to-day, those words have been contin- 
 ually sounding in my ears, and it has seemed to rne as if that 
 old poet, writing years and years ago, must have had a sort of 
 prophetic inspiration, and looked forward to such a day as this, 
 when he said 
 
 " How sleep the brave who sink to rest 
 By all their country's wishes blest! 
 When Spring, with dewy fingers cold, 
 Returns to deck their hallowed mould, 
 She there shall dress a sweeter sod 
 
 Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. 
 By Fairy hands their knell is rung ; 
 By forms unseen their dirge is sung ; 
 There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray, 
 To bless the turf that wraps their clay; 
 And Freedom shall awhile repair 
 To dwell a weeping hermit there." 
 
 But our concern is not alone with the dead. It is one of the 
 principal objects of the association we have formed to aid and 
 succor the living. And as we come fresh from the graves of 
 those who gave up their lives in the struggle for the preserva- 
 tion of the nation, let us consecrate onrseives anew to the work 
 of comforting and assisting the bereaved ones they left unpro-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 173 
 
 tected. And let us see to it that none of the widows or orphans 
 of our deceased comrades, or the suffering and needy of those 
 who are still with us, shall lack for aid and consolation which it 
 is in our power to give. 
 
 I know you will pardon me, comrades, if I refer also to 
 others of our old companions in arms, whose graves are scatter- 
 ed all over the South, and are to-day decorated only with such 
 flowers -as the lavish hand of Nature has provided. 
 
 Scattered on Southern fields they lie, 
 
 Where tropic breezes gently sigh ; 
 
 Under the shade of orange tree, 
 
 Upon the fields of Olustee ; 
 
 Or on the sandy drifts that pile 
 
 The barren waste of Morris' Isle ; 
 
 Buried in melancholy lines 
 
 Among the swamps o'f Seven Pines. 
 
 And hundreds more, half-buried still, 
 
 On slopes of Games' and Malvern Hill ; 
 
 Lying beneath the waving grain 
 
 On broad Manassas' war-scarred plain ; . 
 
 Scattered 'mong gloomy woods that drees 
 
 The long haunts of the Wilderness ; 
 
 Adown the Mississippi's coast, 
 
 Among the winding bayous lost ; 
 
 Or with a nation's tears interred 
 
 In thy great tomb, O Gettysburg. 
 
 Rest, ye brave men, where'er ye lie I 
 
 Your valor brought us victory. 
 
 Green be the sod above your graves, 
 
 O'er which your flag in triumph waves; 
 
 Green be your memory that lives 
 
 With all the brightness valor gives; 
 
 Hallowed by nation saved from wreck ; 
 
 Hallowed by friends your graves shall deck ; 
 
 Hallowed by patriotic men, 
 
 Orator's tongue and poet's pen ; 
 
 But doubly hallowed here by us 
 
 Who mourn our battle-comrades' loss; 
 
 Though in uncoffined graves ye lie, 
 
 Ye are of those not born to die. 
 
 Comrades, we are not alone in this celebration. The 'kin- 
 dred and friends of those we mourn, and the citizens of Lowell 
 generally, have responded nobly to our call upon them for co- 
 operation in this pious work how liberally, let this ample 
 decoration all about us, and the garland-strewn graves of our 
 dead bear witness. Let me then introduce to you, as their 
 representative on this occasion, His Honor Mayor Richardson. 
 
 MAYOR RICHARDSON : Said that, impressed as he was by the 
 solemnities of the occasion, upon a spot so sacred aa that where
 
 174 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 they were assembled, within the shadow of the monument erect- 
 ed to the earliest martyrs in the great struggle for the preserva- 
 tion of the nation's life, he felt that it would be almost sacrile- 
 is for him to permit any feeble utterances of his to disturb 
 the sad reflections which filled the minds of those who were 
 gathered around him. He fancied that their memories were 
 wandering back into the past, and they were living over in their 
 imagination their struggles and sacrifices, and that there came 
 to their minds the remembrance of some beloved friend, the 
 companion of their march, in the camp, by the bivouac fires 
 who, when the call for battle sounded, went eagerly to the con- 
 test, and who, amid the cannon's booming and the rattling of 
 the musketry, while perhaps the joyous shouts of victory were 
 ringing in his ears, fell and poured out his young blood, a will- 
 ing sacrifice upon the altar of his country. Under such circum- 
 stances he felt that silence was not only more appropriate, but 
 more eloquent, than speech. Yet, having been invited, as the 
 representative of the citizens of Lowell, to participate in the 
 services of the day, he was conscious that, in justice to them, he 
 should express the deep interest which they had felt in the cere- 
 monies of the occasion. It was fit and proper that from time 
 to time we should pause in our active and busy career, and, in 
 some solemn and appropriate manner, acknowledge the deep 
 debt of gratitude we owe to the departed heroes, to whom, and 
 their compatriots in anus, we are indebted for the blessings of 
 liberty which we now enjoy. 
 
 It is said that the Athenians were accustomed to pay espe- 
 cial marks of honor to those who fell in battle. Their remains, 
 enclosed in costly caskets, lay for a time in state, beneath gor- 
 geous canopies, in one of the public squares of the city. They 
 were then borne with civic honors to their last resting-place in 
 one of the most beautiful groves in the suburbs of that ancient 
 city ; there costly monuments of enduring brass were erected, 
 and pleasant walks beneath overhanging trees invited the people 
 to the sacred spot, that they might never forget the debt which 
 the living owe the dead. Why should not the people of this 
 our young and glorious America imitate this beautiful and 
 touching example ? I am sure I speak the sentiment of every 
 man and woman in Lowell, when I express the hope, that in 
 the Spring of every year hereafter, the ceremonies of to-day 
 may be repeated, not for your sakes alone, not alone for those 
 who sleep beneath the sods upon which you have, with fond 
 affection, strewn the beautiful flowers of Spring, 
 
 " for they wear a truer crown 
 Than any wreath that man can weave them,"
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 175 
 
 but for the people at large, that they may be reminded of the 
 sacrifices which the preservation of our nation cost, and learn 
 to treasure it as a priceless blessing to be transmitted to the 
 latest posterity. 
 
 But, my friends, the lowering clouds admonish me to close 
 these brief remarks. It seems as if a propitious heaven had 
 withheld its rain until the last resting-places of your deceased 
 comrades had been decked with flowers, and now, when that 
 sad tribute to the departed has been paid, had opened its gates, 
 that the gentle showers which now are falling might freshen 
 and preserve the floral decorations on the graves of the noble 
 men, the memory of whose virtues and patriotism will live ever 
 fresh in the minds of all. 
 
 ADDRESS BY CHAPLAIN JAMES. 
 
 Mr. James commenced his remarks by alluding to President 
 Lincoln as being a victim of the war, the commander-in-chief 
 of our forces, and the noblest Roman of them all, and to recall 
 attention to him in connection with this observance in honor "to 
 our departed heroes, he wished to read his famous Gettysburg 
 speech. On the 19th of November, 1863, when Mr. Lincoln 
 was on his way to the consecration of that cemetery, and he 
 was told that he would be expected to say something on the 
 occasion, he wrote in a few minutes' time, and, after the close 
 of Mr. Everett's brilliant oration, read this brief, compact, elo- 
 quent speech, which ought to be repeated until every American 
 knows it by heart. 
 
 " Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth 
 on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedi- 
 cated to the proposition that all men are created free and equal. 
 Now, we are engaged in a great civil war. testing whether that 
 nation, or any nation so conceived and dedicated, can long en- 
 dure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We 
 have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting- 
 place for those who here gave their lives that the nation might 
 live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. 
 
 " But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot con- 
 secrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living 
 and dead, who struggled here, nave consecrated it far above our 
 poor power to add or detract. The world will little note or 
 long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what 
 they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated 
 here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have 
 thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedi-
 
 176 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 cated to the great task remaining before us ; that from these 
 honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for 
 which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we 
 here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain ; 
 that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom ; 
 and, that government of the people, by the people, and for the 
 people, shall nut perish from the earth." 
 
 After reading this speech, Mr. James took in his hand a 
 beautiful bouquet of pure white flowers which the ladies had 
 presented to him to bear in the procession, and said : " This 
 bouquet, distinguished above all the others which we have used 
 to-day in its purity and immaculate beauty, I consecrate to the 
 memory of President Lincoln, the great martyr to Liberty, 
 whom every soldier and citizen delights to honor." (The bou- 
 quet was then handed to Adjutant Smith, and by him deposited 
 upon the monument, and three ruffles were beat upon the 
 -drums.) The speaker then continued somewhat as follows : 
 
 " We have now nearly completed, comrades and friends, the 
 duty of piety, of fraternal affection, and respect for the mem- 
 ory of our fallen companions, which we had proposed to per- 
 form. Laboring from early dawn until this hour, with the kind 
 assistance and cooperation of many of our ladies and fellow- 
 citizens, we have visited every grave of a deceased soldier or 
 sailor, and have left upon it the sweet memorials of our affec- 
 tion and gratitude. We have not intended to omit a single 
 individual. Having taken great pains to discover the resting- 
 place of every comrade, that we might make him the object of 
 our affectionate attentions, it will be a spurce of keen regret to 
 us if we shall find that any one has been omitted who ought to 
 have shared in this grateful tribute. Some of us turned back 
 from our line of march, having learned of one such instance, 
 and. collecting a few bouquets cheerfully contributed by female 
 friends, laid them tenderly upon the grave of a soldier whose 
 widow and little daughter were made happy by the act, and 
 would have wept over its omission. We recognize the 'right of 
 every one alike, of whatever rank or regiment or nationality, to 
 share the honors which belong to the brave defenders of their 
 country ; and if we have somewhat more profusely decorated 
 these graves by which we now stand, and around which these 
 multitudes are gathered, it is because these comrades were rep- 
 resentative men, their blood was the first to be poured out, and 
 their monument stands in the heart of OUT city. These elabo- 
 rate adornments are symbolic of what we would gladly have 
 done for all had it been practicable. They express sentiments 
 no more grateful than we feel toward the humblest individual
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 177 
 
 who reposes in a soldier's or a sailor's grave. And now, having 
 laid wreaths of honor upon the bosoms of our braves, we will 
 let them sleep sweetly on. 
 
 " They're shrouded in the flag of stars, 
 Beneath whose folds they won the scars 
 
 Through which their spirits fled, 
 From glory here to glory where 
 The banner blue in fields of air 
 Is bright with stars forever there, 
 Without the stripes of red." 
 
 Light rest the earth upon their bosoms ; green be the turf 
 above them. And may a nation's gratitude and love drop tears 
 over their lowly beds, and scatter flowers around them in the 
 Spring-time ; and let me say that our hearts beat warmly to- 
 ward those widowed ones whose sad, 'tearful faces tell of the 
 sorrow that is mingled with their joy to-day. We feel for their 
 orphaned children, and do here pledge our faith anew to bear 
 their wants upon the current of a ready sympathy. In your 
 behalf, my comrades, I assure them again that the benevolent 
 designs of our association shall be carried out toward them and 
 theirs, so long as one of us shall survive to proffer the kind 
 offices of love and duty. 
 
 Before we separate, let me heartily thank this thronging 
 multitude for the sympathy and assistance they have rendered 
 us in this service of piety and patriotism. Along the line of 
 our route I noticed mothers teaching their children to throw 
 kisses toward us as we passed, and I said in my heart, God bless 
 those mothers ! and God bless their children ! 
 
 We close our simple services to-day venturing to express. the 
 hope that this grand national observance may do much to 
 cement the bonds of a closer union, to soften asperities, to aid 
 the work of reconstruction, and cause every citizen to prize 
 more highly the heritage of freedom which we enjoy. It is a 
 happy augury for us that the statue of Victory, with extended 
 wings, stands before us, looking forth over a land rescued from 
 rebellion, and assuring us that the precious blood of our fallen 
 brethren, on the land and on the sea, was not shed in vain. 
 Let us cherish the omen, and address ourselves to duty with 
 new heart and hope. 
 
 The apostolic benediction, pronounced by the chaplain, ter- 
 minated the services in Monument Square, and the immense 
 concourse of spectators, who had given the most earnest atten- 
 tion, quietly dispersed. 
 12
 
 178 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 AT LAWBENCE, MASS. 
 
 The ceremony of depositing flowers npon the graves of the 
 Union dead was performed here under the direction of Post 39, 
 Grand Army of the Republic, in the presence of about five 
 thousand persons. At about 2 o'clock a procession was formed 
 at Needham Hall, consisting of the Post, numbering about one 
 hundred men, the city government in carriages, and a long line 
 of vehicles, escorted by Company I of the 6th Regiment of 
 Infantry (of which Corporal Sumner H. Needham was a mem- 
 ber when it passed through Baltimore), Company K of the-same 
 regiment, and the 4th Light Battery on foot, headed by the 
 Lawrence Brass Band. It marched through Essex, Jackson, 
 and Haverhill streets to the Common, where several hundred 
 school-children fell in ; also a car containing twenty young 
 ladies of the High School. The procession then proceeded by 
 the shortest route to the Cemetery. 
 
 At the City Cemetery the people were gathered around the 
 monument of Needham, the first man shot on the memorable 
 19th of April. After a solemn dirge, the assemblage was ad- 
 dressed by Captain Merrill. 
 
 CAPTAIN GEO. 8. MERRILL'S ADDRESS. 
 
 COMRADES AND FELLOW-CITIZENS : When, a little more than 
 seven years ago, the first cannon-shot of rebellion, against the 
 citadel of our liberties, resounded over the length and breadth 
 of our land, arousing the nation from its sweet dream of peace, 
 and awaking in every loyal heart tumultuous throbbings of fer- 
 vent patriotism, how cheerfully did the noblest and best of our 
 young men, those nearest our home circles and hearts, offer 
 themselves as a bulwark in their country's defence ; and with 
 how much joy, albeit tempered with sorrow, did we give them 
 our heartiest blessings, and bid them God-speed, in their great 
 mission of patriotism and justice. And on that dark afternoon 
 in April, while the nation w r as overwhelmed with sadness, as 
 the intelligence came flashing to us of that brutal assault in 
 Baltimore, of the re-baptism of our Commonwealth in martyr's 
 blood, and the sacrifice to the infernal spirit of Treason of one 
 of our own loved sons, stricken for his loyalty to the flag, how 
 did every heart respond to that immortal message of our great- 
 hearted Governor, " Send them to us tenderly." Yes, " ten- 
 derly," and in the spirit of that word come we here to-day, in 
 common with our comrades and fellow-citizens over the length 
 and breadth of our land, around these sacred mounds, to the 
 roll-call of the fallen. Here, to deck with the most beauteous
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 179 
 
 and fragrant of earth's productions, the resting-places of the 
 noblest and best of men they who, closing their eyes and ears 
 for the last time upon earth, amid the carnage of battle, the 
 whistle of the bullet and shriek of the shell, opened them again 
 to the bright flowers of the spirit-land, and the joyous reveille 
 of heaven. 
 
 " The muffled drum's sad roll has beat 
 
 The soldier's last tattoo ; 
 On life's parade, no more shall meet 
 These brave and fallen few. 
 
 On fame's eternal camping grounds, 
 
 Their silent tents are spread, 
 And glory guards, with solemn round, 
 
 The bivouac of the dead." 
 
 And standing here to-day, three years after the successful 
 close of our nation's great struggle here, beneath the very 
 shadow of the eloquent granite marking the resting-place 01 
 our first martyr, from every drop of whose blood sprung 
 myriads of armed men, to do battle for God. their country, and 
 truth fitting is it that we bring hither garlands most choice 
 and fragrant, to make the silent mounds as fresh and beauteous 
 as the deeds of these, our lost, are cherished and revered in our 
 hearts. And as we would honor their patriotism, emulate their 
 example, glorify their Jieroism, an( j teach our children the 
 sacredness of the great cause in which they offered up their 
 young lives, let us scatter over their graves the brightest beau- 
 ties of life the glad tokens of a blessed immortality. And 
 may the services, now inaugurated, be perpetuated through 
 eai-h recurring year, so long as the Republic shall stand ; thus 
 shall 
 
 " Each grave become a hallowed shrine a mecca for men's feet, 
 Around whose sacred bounds shall countless pilgrims meet 
 To bless the hands that struggled, the hearts that nobly bled 
 The soldiers and the sailors the stricken, fallen dead. 
 
 Thus to the hero martyrs the brave who lived and died ; 
 To all who bled for freedom's cause, we'll point with holy pride ; 
 And leaning o'er each silent bed, as here we bend to-day, 
 We'll place our choicest garlands o'er their consecrated clay." 
 
 At the close of his remarks he invited the company to unite 
 in prayer with their fellow-soldier, Eev. D. C. Knowles, of the 
 Haverhill street Methodist church. After the prayer the band 
 played " Pleyel's Hymn." Rev. J. B. Moore, of the Unitarian 
 church, Chaplain of the Post, then delivered the following ad- 
 dress :
 
 180 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Standing by the grave of Suraner H. Needham, tlie first, 
 martyr of the war of Freedom, we are assembled to-day to call 
 the roll of the honored dead anew, and to lay a fresh tribute of 
 love and gratitude upon their graves. 
 
 occasion is complete in itself. It needs no help of 
 gpeecli to make it memorable. These eloquent flags waving at 
 BO many head-stones, with no stripe erased, and no star ob- 
 scured ; these bayonets gleaming in the sunshine ; these echoing 
 cannon, this tap of drums ; these beautiful flowers borne by 
 loving hands, contributed by loving hearts ; these sacred memo- 
 ries baptizing us all speak to us to-day more eloquently than 
 man can speak, in a language which we can all understand. 
 
 Three years ago the great army of Freedom came marching 
 home, its battles all fought, its victories all won ; rebellion con- 
 quered, treason vanquished from the field, the Constitution vin- 
 dicated, the Union preserved, the nation saved our citizen 
 soldiers came back to their homes to exchange the weapons of 
 ' defence for the implements of industry, and preserve by the 
 ballot that which they had gained by the sword. The thinned 
 ranks of every returning regiment, the blood-stained flag which 
 our boys brought back to us, told the terrible cost of the sacri- 
 fice over which peace had been proclaimed. The shadow of 
 that flag fell upon every home. The price of that 'peace was 
 paid by every heart. From every river, from every hillside, 
 from the quiet of the village, from the 1 hum of the city, from 
 the rich man's palace, from the poor man's cottage, from the 
 workshop and the warehouse, from the pulpit and the platform, 
 from the forum and the bench, from Congress, and from all the 
 people, the defenders of the Government had sprung ; and 
 when, with the music of victory, our armies returned, the 
 cypress was twined with the laurel at every hearth-stone, be- 
 cause the long roll of killed, wounded, and missing was an- 
 swered by some heart in every home. This was the significant 
 fact of the war. The army by which it was waged was the 
 army of the people, created and sustained and encouraged by 
 the people, whose will it was sent to execute, whose Govern- 
 ment it was pledged to maintain. Unlike the armies of history, 
 unlike the armies of surrounding peoples, it was organized for 
 no personal or sectional grasp of power or dominion, but for 
 the preservation of that national integrity and unity which had 
 made the United States of America the model republic of the 
 world. The great Union army was no arena for personal ambi- 
 tions. In her ranks only those men could lead who were them- 
 selves led by a spirit of entire consecration to those grand ideas 
 of justice, and progress, and freedom for which its battles were
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 181 
 
 waged. General after general was thrown to the surface, but 
 those only were retained whom the people weighed and ap- 
 proved. Three years of our war were spent in educating our 
 leaders. They came up from the people, tliey were tried by 
 the people, and in the might of the people their successes were 
 achieved. Three years of the war were also spent in educating 
 ourselves up to the right standard of duty. We went down to 
 Bull Bun with proclamations, and were defeated. We marched 
 through Maryland, defending rebel property,.and were defeated. 
 We encamped upon the Peninsular with a candidate for Presi- 
 dency, and were defeated. We crossed the Rappahannock amid 
 the clash of personal ambition, and were defeated. We kept 
 the musket from the negro, and were defeated ; until, at last, 
 the Almighty purpose was revealed ; the Emancipation Procla- 
 mation was signed, Liberty for all mankind belched from the 
 cannon's mouth, and the walls of secession came tumbling 
 down. The Spring of 1864 found the army marshalled for a 
 single purpose, and that of Justice for the whole land. The 
 end and the victory swiftly came. With Sheridan, who never 
 stopped to unbuckle his spurs from New Orleans to Winchester; 
 with Sherman, who plunged into the 'mountains at Cumberland 
 and came out at the sea ; with Grant, who shut his lips upon 
 the word "victory" at the Wilderness, and seems determined 
 never to open them again until he has reached the end of " his 
 line ; " with such men, and such a purpose, God gave us vic- 
 tory, God gave us peace. 
 
 But, fellow-soldiers and citizens, this is not the occasion for 
 eulogizing our generals or our leaders. History will care for 
 them, name by name. We bring our floral tributes here to-day, 
 we bring the best affections and gratitude of our hearts here to- 
 day, that we may lay them upon the graves of those noble men 
 who stood shoulder to shoulder in the ranks, breasting the 
 charge of treason, resisting the mad hate of rebellion ; those 
 noble private soldiers and officers of the line, whose loyal, 
 courageous hearts, whose strong right arms bore generals, and 
 people, and government to victory, and saved the national 
 honor and renown. Fellow-citizens we have never yet fully 
 recognised the sacrifices and the services of the private suldier. 
 The men who did the work. The men who did the fighting. 
 The men who formed the line on which Grant himself fought 
 it out, not only for a single summer, but for three terrible 
 years. Those brave boys in blue, whose only insignia of rank 
 was the American eagle upon their buttons. Those million 
 heroes whose tread went over the land, shaking treason from 
 its throne, and shattering the confederacy into fragments.
 
 182 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Those privates in the ranks who gave all their devotion, who 
 gave all their aspirations, who gave themselves / whose blood 
 streaming out upon the battle-plain cemented the union to- 
 gether forever. These are the men whom we came here to 
 honor to-day; whose graves we visit as the monuments of our 
 Ugliest national glory. 
 
 Fellow-soldiers and citizens, this is not a day of sadness and 
 gloom. We come here not so much to mourn as to rejoice. 
 Kejoicing in the. recollection's of those lives whose virtues we 
 commemorate in this hour. We come not for the bvrial, but 
 for the resurrection. The resurrection of those principles of 
 justice, and patriotism, and love of country, that constitute the 
 safeguards of the Republic. Ours is a two- fold purpose to-day. 
 We intend to keep green the memories of our fallen heroes, and 
 to take up and perpetuate their heroic work! That work is 
 eternal. The price of liberty is vigilance. The war demon- 
 strated the fact that a free republic is no longer an experiment. 
 " .Neither the blandishments of peace, nor the stern trials of 
 war," were able to defeat the central purpose of the nation, 
 justice, and liberty, and equal rights to all. 
 
 Come then, fellow-so^iiers and citizens, and let us pledge our 
 devotion and loyalty anew. By all the memories that meet us 
 here ; by the purity of our institutions ; by our exalted privi- 
 leges ; by the dignity of our national birthright ; by our declara- 
 tion of independence, rebaptized in blood ; by the i ntegrity of 
 our. constitution, preserved upon a hundred battle-fields, let us 
 now pledge our loyalty and patriotism anew, close up our ranks, 
 and march on to the glorious destiny that awaits us. Unfurl 
 again that dear old flag, whose shining stars led our brave boys 
 through all the long and dreary marches of the war, and stood 
 over the place where victory lay. That flag has never yet trail- 
 ed in defeat. By the blessing of God, it never shall. 
 
 The exercises at the monument were concluded with a hymn 
 composed by Mrs. Mary D. Merriam, which was sung by the 
 younw ladies of the High School to the music of Adeste Fideles, 
 (The Lord is my Shepherd). 
 
 Bring hither the flowers of earliest bloom, 
 
 Wave back with their fragrance all terror and gloom, 
 
 Make lovely the passage of Life to the tomb, 
 
 For the lost ones ol'earth have only gone home. 
 
 Thougli fathers, and wives, and sisters, may weep 
 At the thought of Death's slumber so silent and deep, 
 Yet remember, ye mourners, those soldiers will keep 
 Their sentinel guard around you while you sleep.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 183 
 
 Not here, in the dust, doth the soldier heart lie, . 
 Nor far, far away beyond the blue sky ; 
 But sometimes so near, you can almost d. scry 
 A form by your side, and the same loving eye. 
 
 Then come with fresh flowers, and scatter them here, 
 No time is more fitting, no tribute so dear; 
 These offerings of Love their spirits will cheer, 
 As onward they march in the Heavenly sphere. 
 
 Though camp-life is ended, their work is not done, 
 They fought a pood fight, yet their race is not run, 
 But onward, and upward, towards God the great Sun, 
 Sounds a higher command to every one. 
 
 Soldiers, dear soldiers, your mem'ries shall live, 
 
 "While we have a tear or a flower to give ; 
 
 Honor be yours, oh. ye true-hearted braves, 
 
 When we see the old flag, and the homes of the slaves. 
 
 The association and their comrades, then passed about to 
 the different soldiers' graves, which were designated by small 
 union flags, depositing flowers upon them and hanging wreaths 
 over the monuments and head-stones. At the grave of Elias 
 Williams, late a member of the band, who died shortly after 
 leaving the service, " Departed Days," was played by his former 
 associates. From the City Cemetery, the company went to the 
 Catholic burial grounds where the ceremonies were continued 
 until every grave which could be identified was visited. 
 
 A detachment of the battery stationed near the Griffin Es- 
 tate fired minute guns while the company were moving around 
 and depositing the flowers, and the booming of the cannon 
 added to the impressive character of the proceedings. 
 
 The Needham monument was tastefully decorated, under 
 the direction of Mrs. F. E. Clarke, and presented a very elegant 
 appearance. The name " Needham " was surrounded by a laurel 
 wreath. On the -opposite side was a floral cross,' and on one of 
 the others was a star, and on the fourth a shield, ingeniously 
 made of wild flowers the stripes of red and white, and the 
 stars of -blue. A large, heavy wreath, was thrown over the top 
 of the monument, and one was hung upon the gate of the en- 
 closure. At two sides of the monument were oval vessels load- 
 ed with rare and beautiful flowers. The cross, wreath, and star, 
 also contained some rich specimens. The weather was not very 
 promising the clouds hanging heavy and threatening all the 
 morning. There was a slight lighting up at noon, but at the 
 time the procession started, there were but few but expected a 
 shower during the afternoon. The rain held off, however, until 
 the services at the monument were concluded, when there was a
 
 184 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 slight sprinkle. It was much more comfortable than if the sun 
 had l:een blazing out. Two or three hours afterwards, the rain 
 came down smartly, and continued to fall during the evening. 
 The procession, of which Col. Melvin Beal was marshal, Col. L. 
 D. Sargent acting as adjutant, returned to Needham Hall at 
 about half-past five o'clock. 
 
 AT TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 The graves of the soldiers, in Taunton, were decorated with 
 flowers by their surviving comrades, under the aupices of Post 
 No. 3, Grand Army of the Republic. In the forenoon of May 
 30th, delegations from Post 3 visited the burial-places in the sub- 
 urbs, about every one of which has a soldier within its precincts. 
 In the afternoon a procession was formed in Fraternity Hall, at 
 two o'clock, of the members of Post 3 and officers and sol- 
 diers not members, each person bearing wreaths, bouquets, and 
 bunches of flowers. The procession proceeded to City Hall, 
 where it received the tire department in uniform, members of 
 the city government, and other citizens, and moved up Main 
 street in the following order : 
 
 Junior Vice Grand Commander; Chief Marshal, Mason W. 
 Burt : Aids, Zaccheus Sherman, Orville A. Barker, George H. 
 Babbitt, Jr., Harry A. Cushman ; National Military Band ; 
 Decorating Squad ; Post No. 3 G. A. R., E. R. Sprague, Com- 
 mander; Chief Engineer Mott and Assistants; Fire Depart- 
 ment ; His Honor the Mayor, and members of the City Gov- 
 ernment ; Citizens. 
 
 The procession moved up North street and Washington 
 street until it arrived at the old Catholic bury ing-ground. 
 There it halted, and the decorating squad, under command of 
 Comrade Win. Watts, entered and placed flowers on the graves 
 of soldiers buried there. The exercises at each graves consisted 
 of laying the flowers upon it, repeating, " In honor of Comrade 
 
 , who lies here," and the saluting with the American flag 
 
 over the grave. The procession then marched to the Plain 
 burying-ground, where the same ceremonies were continued, 
 with the addition of music by the band, and prayer by ex- 
 Chaplain J. C. Emery. From the Plain it moved to Mount 
 Pleasant Cemetery. At Mount Crocker, wreaths and bouquets 
 were deposited in a pile to the memory of a portion of those 
 soldiers whose bodies were not brought home. This exercise 
 was not determined upon until late, so that it was impossible to 
 obtain a full list. 
 
 Capt. W. H. Bartlett, Capt. George Ruby, Charles Dean,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 185 
 
 Wm. H. Harmon, Andrew Westcott, Edson Walker, John Carr 
 Frank Hall, A. C. Dean, Benjamin J. Hall, Erastus L. Dean. 
 
 After the graves had been decorated, the procession halted 
 in the "Dell," and the literary exercises of the occasion took 
 place. Capt. George W. Truell read appropriate selections from 
 (Scripture. Ex-Chaplain J. 0. Emery made the prayer. The 
 Post Commander made a few introductory remarks. Ex-Dis- 
 trict Commander Alfred M. Williams then delivered the follow- 
 ing address : 
 
 MEMORIAL ADDRESS. 
 
 COMRADES AND FRIENDS : It has fallen to my lot who am 
 unworthy to express, in spoken words, that regret and that 
 honor which we all bear to our martyred comrades, and which 
 we have just signified by these flowers, which are the beautiful 
 thoughts of nature, expressed with a beauty and power far 
 beyond any language of man. But neither words nor flowers 
 can fully signify the feelings with which we regard these heroes, 
 whose last resting places we have visited this day. The flowers 
 will fade ; the words are but passing sounds. Our feelings will 
 last our lives. As long as the nation lives, it will remember 
 these men. Yet, although this ceremony is but for the moment, 
 we are glad it has taken place, and proud to bear a part in it. 
 It is a visible embodiment of the spirit of the country. We 
 know that all over the loyal North, at this very hour, the same 
 ceremony is taking place. In almost every burial-place in the 
 land, from Maine to Missouri, where lie the remains of the 
 soldiers of that army which crushed the mightiest rebellion the 
 world ever saw, there comrades have gathered, as we have 
 gathered, and strewn upon their graves these tokens of remem- 
 brance, of love and of honor. This day should become one of 
 the sacred days of the Republic, and equal in honor to that day 
 which we have celebrated for so many years as the birth-day of 
 the nation. The second birth of the Republic should have its 
 day of observance. No nation and no country has thus given 
 such united honor to .its defenders. From the earliest times, 
 since men reverenced virtue and bravery, there have been cere- 
 monies of respect to the heroic dead. Isolated battle-fields have 
 been dedicated, single monuments raised, and solitary ceme- 
 teries adorned. But this is universal. The whole nation unites 
 in it. True, the ceremony is performed by the surviving com- 
 rades of those who fell, but those who represent the corporate 
 existence of the city lend us their presence, and citizens and 
 women and children look on with respect. All hearts partici- 
 pate in tlr's ceremony. As in the war time it fell to the lot of
 
 186 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 some to go forth to the fields of danger and hardships, others, 
 on account of sex, or age, or bodily infirmity, could not go. 
 But all who contributed of their wealth, or their work, or their 
 prayers, aided in crushing the rebellion. The army in the field 
 could not have lived but for that mightier army at home, which 
 gave and toiled and prayed for them. Those brave hearts of wo- 
 men, who went forth and bore with unshrinking nerves the 
 horrors of the hospital, are as truly defenders of the Union as 
 those who fought in the field. To some it was given to do much ; 
 to others little. All those who did their whole*duty are entitled 
 to equal honor. So of this ceremony of to-day. We arrogate 
 to ourselves no special merit. The kind hands and tender hearts 
 which furnish these flowers have done their part. The public 
 sentiment which aids and honors this display, is an impalpable 
 honor to the dead. We but give form to the universal senti- 
 ment of the land. 
 
 Elut, comrades, we have a sacred chain of recollections, 
 which the public does not share. As we have passed from 
 grave to grave to-day, there is not one of those who lay sleeping 
 beneath the sod but some of us remember. Perhaps some of us 
 calls to mind how he stood by his side when he fell by the sud- 
 den bullet of the enemy, or helped bear him away on the bloody 
 stretcher, or heard his last groan amid the rows of pain and 
 anguish in the wards of the hospital. Perhaps he helped give 
 him his first burial, when the rough box was lowered into the 
 shallow hole, it may be, with a soldier's requiem, a volley 
 of musketry, or as often without, in the haste of victory or 
 retreat. The spot that first received him may have been by the 
 broad Potomac, or on some of those numberless battle-fields 
 that make Virginia a dark and bloody ground, far surpassing 
 the original of the name. Perhaps it was in the barren woods 
 of North Carolina, or on the endless plains of Louisiana by the 
 sluggish bayou, beneath the sad cypresses, and amid the alien 
 scenery of the tropics. Perhaps he breathed his last in the 
 confined cot on shipboard. Those spots gave up their dead, and 
 they were returned to these final resting-places in the land that 
 gave them birth. Their kindred and friends followed them to 
 their graves, while their comrades were risking their Jives 
 in the distant regions where they fell. But the survivors have 
 returned, and we now unite all over the land in paying these 
 ceremonies of respect, which we could not pay when we were 
 scattered and struggling, and without the means. 
 
 It needs not to recite the list of those whose graves we have 
 visited to-day. To some it was given to win a fame like that of 
 Lieutenant Swasey. The battles of Captain Ingell were counted
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 187 
 
 by scores. The whole city was struck with sorrow at the death 
 of Lieutenant Paull. For myself, I can never think without a 
 thrill of the bravery, the kindliness, the heroic persistence of the 
 great soul in the weak body of Sergeant Payson. We each and 
 all have some one whom, we remember with peculiar affection. 
 Each one of these was a comrade to one of us, and the heart 
 needs no words to recall his image. We do the same honor to 
 the private as to the officer, for he was entitled to the same. We 
 recognize the heroism of him who died before he ever saw a 
 battle, as well as of him whose body was covered with honorable 
 wounds. God measures the intent, not the action. 
 
 Nor while we thus lay our tokens of regard on the graves of 
 those who were brought home from their distant burial-places, 
 some by the relatives and friends, and others by the powerful 
 hand of that great fraternal society which makes all its mem- 
 bers brothers, and continues its kind offices to the grave, do we 
 forget those who moulder where they fell. We remember 
 as deeply as these those comrades who sleep, it may be, in 
 graves unmarked even by the rough head-board that tells that 
 a soldier is sleeping beneath, or perchance flung into the 
 careless ditch by the loathsome prison-pen, or fallen like 
 the heroic Christian, Captain Bartlett, in the thick of the 
 deadly tight, so piled with corpses that he could not be recog- 
 nized or sunk in the soundless depths of the ocean. We cannot 
 revisit their graves in the body, but we do in the spirit. It 
 needs 710 storied urn nor sculptured marble to keep their names 
 alive in our hearts or in the hearts of the country. 
 
 This is the beginning of the Soldiers' Memorial Day. 
 In another year this band will again assemble here, and from 
 year to year it will continue to assemble. Year after year, the 
 band of the living will grow smaller, the band of the dead 
 increase, until the time will come when some feeble, grey-haired 
 man, who now stands before me in the pride of youth and 
 strength, shall essay with feeble hands to lay a flower on 
 the graves of us all. Which one of us he will be, none of us 
 can say. What his .feelings on such a day will be, we all 
 can imagine. 
 
 It may be that this Soldiers' Memorial Day will not pass 
 away from the usages of the country. It may be, that after the 
 last one of us has gone to his final resting-place, that posterity 
 will take up the burden, and that as long as the country 
 remains a country that the graves of those who fought against 
 the great rebellion will be marked, and receive their yearly 
 tribute of honor. 
 
 However that may be, it is certain that ere many years not
 
 188 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 one of ua will be able to perform or to aid in the ceremony 
 The sight of these graves should remind us that we shall soon 
 be called to shift our camp, and join the squad that has gone 
 before us into the unknown country. May each one of us be 
 ready when the order comes. 
 
 At the conclusion of the address, His Honor, Mayor Ehodes, 
 made some brief remarks, that this would be the beginning of a 
 memorial day to be hereafter sacred to the purpose of lifting us 
 from earth to the heights of sorrow and the purer emotions of 
 the mind which it brings. He said it was the universal desire 
 that there should be a soldiers' monument erected by the city, 
 and could assure the soldiers that it was not for any neglect on 
 the part of the city government that measures had not been 
 taken to effect it. At the present time the expenses were very 
 heavy, but he could assure them that nothing would be lost by 
 the delay. The Mayor spoke in his usual graceful vein on the 
 gratitude due the soldiers, and the sanctity of the present 
 harmony. 
 
 Dr. Andrews was then introduced, who spoke briefly con- 
 cerning the effect and relations of the war. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Pollard then delivered the benediction. 
 
 The utmost interest was manifested in the ceremony by the 
 community. The stores were generally closed at the request of 
 the Mayor, and a very large concourse assembled to witness the 
 procession and the ceremonies. The beautiful amphitheatre at 
 Mt. Pleasant was perfectly alive with humanity. More touch- 
 ing than all, was the tears of the relatives and friends of the 
 deceased who witnessed the tokens of remembrance and honor 
 placed upon the graves of their loved ones. 
 
 Many of the wreaths, bouquets and crosses were of great 
 beauty. Those placed over the remains of Lieut. Swasey at 
 Mount Pleasant Cemetery, and of Capt. George Godfrey at 
 Plain St. Burying ground, were anchors beautifully decorated 
 with flowers. Among the other wreaths was one to the mem- 
 ory of Sergeant Payson, to Capt. Wm. H. Bartlett, Wm. F. 
 Macomber, Jr., George Standish, Henry C. Benton, and others. 
 
 AT NEW BEDFORD, MASS. 
 
 The decoration at this place was performed by Post No. 1, 
 G. A. R. In accordance with the published programme, the 
 comrades, about one hundred in number, assembled at their 
 headquarters at 9 o'clock, on Saturday morning, when a pro- 
 cession was formed as follows : 1st A "Cavalry escort of twelve, 
 aH veterans, commanded by Capt. G. R. Hurlbut, with Capt.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 189 
 
 E. Robbing as aid ; 2d The New Bedford Brass Band, Israel 
 Smith, leader ; 3d Post No. 1, Grand Army of the Republic, 
 Lieut. Freeman C. Luce, commander (the officers mounted, and 
 the comrades on foot, headed by Lieut. J. B. Bowman) ; 4th 
 The boat-carriage, the "Novelty," containing the flowers, fol- 
 lowed by other carriages, in which were disabled soldiers and 
 sailors. 
 
 The procession, thus formed, moved to City Hall, where it* 
 was joined by the speakers, Chaplain, and the invited guests of 
 the Post, in carriages, and also by the colored veterans, twenty 
 in number, under command of Capt. Wesley Furlong. Among 
 the guests, were the Mayor, the President of the Common 
 Council, Postmaster Chapman, Capt. Fengar, of the U. S. Rev- 
 enue Cutter Active, and several other national and State 
 officers. 
 
 Soon after 10 o'clock, the procession again moved, passing 
 through the streets designated m the programme, to the Rural 
 Cemetery, halting near its centre.' Here the guests left their 
 carriages, the comrades formed in line, the band played a dirge, 
 prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. Mulcahey, and then detach- 
 ments from the Post proceeded to decorate the graves of their 
 dead brothers in various parts of the cemetery. These graves 
 had been each marked by a little flag, so that the work ot scat- 
 tering upon them the beautiful, fresh garlands of flowers, was 
 readily performed. The number of graves of soldiers in this 
 cemetery is twenty. 
 
 From this point, the line of march was taken up for the Oak 
 Grove Cemetery, where similar services were performed, thirty- 
 five graves of soldiers being strewn with the floral offerings. 
 Some of the comrades had also been charged with, and perform- 
 ed the duty of decorating the graves of soldiers at the Catholic 
 Cemetery, nine, and at the Peckham West Ground, seven. 
 Flowers were also sent to decorate the burial-places of Lieut. E. 
 B. Nye, of the 14th battery, at Pocassett, and of private Alex- 
 ander Tripp, of the 5th battery, at Westport. 
 
 The procession then, passing through the cemetery to Parker 
 street, moved to the Common. As it appeared on County street, 
 a salute of 35 guns was fired by veteran members of the 5th 
 battery, under command of Lieut. H. H. Fisher. Entering the 
 Common from Pearl street, the members of the Post were 
 drawn up in front of a platform erected just west of the monu- 
 ment, around which was gathered an immense number of citi- 
 zens. Capt. W. S. Cobb, chairman of the committee of arrange- 
 ments, called the vast assembly to order ; prayer was offered by 
 Rev. Dr. Quint, Chaplain-General of the Grand Army of the
 
 190 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Republic, and then James Bunker Congden, Esq., being intro- 
 duced, made the following address : 
 
 SOLDIERS OF THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, AND FELLOW- 
 CITIZENS : It is good for us to be here. "We are made holier and 
 happier by such ministrations. The day of strife is over ; and 
 as we perform our pilgrimage to the spots consecrated as the 
 resting-places of our martyred dead, we can strew flowers upon 
 hem, wet with manly tears, unvisited by any feeling of bitter- 
 ness or resentment towards those whose babaric treason brought 
 them to untimely graves and made us mourners. 
 
 Our hearts are too full of holy emotion, our thoughts too 
 highly elevated above the distractions of the period of bloody 
 contention, to find room for feelings of hatred or revenge. Noth- 
 ing that the man in gray has done or can do, even if his soul is 
 burthened with the murderous and mournful scenes of Ander- 
 sonville, can disturb us now, as we kneel in prayer over the 
 graves of our consecrated dead, and scatter flowers upon the 
 green turf that covers their cherished remains. 
 
 The absorbing emotion is that of gratitude gratitude to 
 God for His guidance and support in the dark hour of peril 
 gratitude towards our brothers who through His providence 
 were made the instruments of our deliverance. Not to the 
 living, but to the dead have we consecrated this day. We grace 
 their tombs with beauty and fragrance, and we would make 
 the loveliness and sweetness of our offering emblematical of 
 those pure and elevated emotions which the circumstances of 
 our gathering are calculated to inspire. 
 
 Thoughts of the dead of the Great Rebellion no longer carry 
 us to the fields of blood, or to the still more awful horrors of the 
 prison-house. We no longer see them mangled and dying upon 
 the battle-field, slowly and in suffering wasting away in the 
 hospitals, or agonized by the torments of Andersonville or the 
 Libby. All that is connected with them now is beautiful and 
 fragrant. " Flowers, sweet flowers," are the fitting emblems 
 of the feelings which belong to this interesting demonstra- 
 tion. 
 
 Bring flowers to the shrine where we kneel in prayer, 
 
 They are nature's offering, their place is there ! 
 
 They speak of hope to the fainting heart, 
 
 With a voice of promise they come and part, 
 
 They sleep in dust through the wintry hours, 
 
 They break forth in glory bring flowers, bright flowers. 
 
 Bring flowers, pale flowers, o'er the bier to shed, 
 A crown for the brow of the early dead !
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 191 
 
 For this through its leaves has the white rose burst, 
 For tliis in the woods was the violet nursed. 
 Though they smile in vain for what otice was ours, 
 They are love's last gift bring ye flowers, pale flowers. 
 
 We are selfish to-day. Our hearts are with the dead of our 
 own household ; our flowers are scattered upon the graves of 
 our friends, our brothers, our fathers. We are thinking of the 
 lost ones of our homes ; our companions in the conflict ; of those 
 dear to us by the ties of kindred, dear to us by the tender' mem- 
 ories of past companionship in danger and in triumph. Every 
 heart here has a cherished association, which is to him hallowed 
 and perennial. Born of conflict, suffering, blood, time has mel- 
 lowed and beautified and consecrated it, so that it has become a 
 "joy of grief," and "flowers, sweet flowers," speak the language 
 most in harmony with its tender emotions. Each brings his 
 offering, typified by his floral garland, to this spot dedicated to 
 the dead of our beloved city, and they are mingled in a wreath 
 of glory and of gratitude which we reverently place upon the 
 monument New Bedford has reared to those sons who were 
 loyal unto death. 
 
 Here is our Memorial Stone for all. Our quota of the dead 
 of the conflict are not all here. Some are resting in graves un- 
 known, some in graves far away ; and these cannot be reached 
 by you to-day in your pious pilgrimage. But the wreath which 
 you place upon this consecrated shaft is " a crown for the brow " 
 of each of our brothers who gave his life to his country. We 
 have flowers for the graves tar away, for the graves unknown. 
 We can revive the memory of the dead, although we may not 
 know where their remains are mouldering. 
 
 We gather our thoughts at home. Other hands than ours 
 will to-day wreathe garlands for the monuments of the victims 
 of the Rebellion ; and wherever the tardy spring-time has opened 
 a flower to be reached from the grave of a " soldier taking his 
 rest," and there is one loyal heart beating near, that flower will 
 be plucked and reverently laid upon the solitary tomb. There 
 will be wreaths for the lofty and the lowly ; and he who shall 
 this day weave a garland for the youthful and noble Shaw, will 
 duplicate his offering, and place it upon the brow of one of the 
 brave and true-hearted Africans who share his bloody grave 
 beneath the ramparts of Wagner. 
 
 Our hearts are at home. We look upon this graceful and 
 enduring shaft, and we 
 
 See the noble HODMAN'S name, 
 
 High upon the stone appear 
 On the obelisk of fame 
 
 Youthful ROWLAND follows near.
 
 192 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 BBOWX, whose sable brothers wept, 
 
 When their gallant leader died ; 
 BLAKE, who well his station kept, 
 
 Finn his well-played guns beside. 
 There the firm and fearless NYE, 
 
 Who upon the battle-field, 
 For his country dared to die ; 
 
 Shouting, " I will never yield! " 
 WATSON, FRANCIS. OTTIWELL, 
 
 Hold a high ana honored place. 
 ALMY, KEMTTOX, here as well, 
 
 All the martyred names we trace. 
 
 And the lone; roll of those we cannot name in our mind's eye 
 we can see their names, too, upon the enduring granite ; there 
 is a garland of flowers for each and for all ; and to their memory 
 we pay the homage of reverent and grateful hearts. 
 
 It is good for us to be here. He who reverently and grate- 
 fully makes a pilgrimage to the spot where lies the patriot sol- 
 dier, who gave his life for his country and for freedom, and for 
 the expression of those emotions places a violet upon the soldier's 
 grave, has received a re-consecration to the work which belongs 
 to the citizen and the patriot. The Grand Army of the Repub- 
 lic will be truer to their high and holy calling because of the 
 sacred services of this day. Hallowing the memory of the dead, 
 they will be more true to the living ; and the disabled comrade, 
 the lonely and destitute widow and the sorrowing orphan will 
 find advocates for their claims in the softening and elevating 
 experiences of this day. Recognising the claim of the soldier 
 who fell for his country, to be remembered with honor and 
 gratitude, we shall all more truly estimate the worth of the 
 nationality they died to preserve, and be better prepared to 
 labor, and if need be to die in its defence. 
 
 Thus from " the flower which fadeth," tenderly and rever- 
 ently placed upon the graves of our honored dead, shall there be 
 reaped a harvest of permanent and enduring good. We shall 
 find in the future, that the garlands we have woven are 
 
 " Withered not a leaf- 
 Fadeless the glory of their spring-time life ; 
 Sweet and refreshing and a joy forever." 
 These flowers are all " Immortelles; " in the heart 
 Forever consecrate ; and thus transformed, 
 They bloom united to the sacred " Word," 
 And with it " stand " forever. 
 
 See the fruit, 
 
 Born of tender leaf, the fragile flower 
 Joy, linked with Beauty, Gratitude and Hope. 
 This is the fleeting loveliness of earth,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 193 
 
 Touched by the hand of charity divine, 
 Changed to a ministry of holiness, 
 Yielding immortal fruit." 
 
 The Band then played an appropriate piece of music, when 
 the Rev. Dr. Quint spoke as follows : 
 
 "Who died in defence of their country." Seven years 
 have gone since they began to die. Hardly had the head of the 
 column entered the rebellious States, hardly had the keel of the 
 war-ships cut the Southern waters, when the roll of the dead 
 was begun. Thenceforward it lengthened year by year through 
 four years of warfare. Dead on the slippery decks ! Dead by 
 the camp-fires of a night ! Dead in the smoke-cloud of battle ! 
 Dead in the murderous prison pens ! Time, which has hidden 
 the trenches under the green grass, and ploughed over the track 
 of the heavy guns, has softened the first violence of mourning 
 into gentle sadness, and is healing a nation's wounds. But 
 wherever loyal men and true comrades are, to-day a people 
 brings its offering with which to garland the graves of their 
 dead heroes. 
 
 We pause by this memorial stone, comrades and citizens, for 
 a parting service. We could not find all the graves to-day. 
 You know where they are. The waters are the restless graves 
 of some. The bluffs of the quiet rivers cover some. The 
 thronged burial-place where drooping captives mustered strength 
 to bury the starved dead, hold some in endless captivity. So, 
 now you have decked the graves of those who sleep at home, 
 pause, and here honor the graves of those who sleep far off. 
 
 This is no time for many words. Sometimes words are 
 helpless, because the great idea disdains the bondage of 
 language. The men whom we remember were not men of 
 words, but deeds. All their words were written with their 
 bayonets. With their sabres they shaped the destiny of their 
 land. " They died in defence of their country.! " What is 
 more eloquent than the majestic simplicity of that phrase ? 
 " Their country ! " Let not him try to measure the length and 
 breadth of these words, who thinks of his country only as a 
 place to buy and sell and get gain 1 Let him not try to sound 
 the depth of these words, whose idea of his country is only that 
 wherein he shall get public office and honor and profit ! 
 
 Let him not aspire to the height of these words who thinks 
 that peace is better than righteousness, safety better than 
 manhood ! They who endured hardship, and dauntlessly met 
 the fiery storm, and poured out their blood, and lay with their 
 white faces upturned to God, they knew in their life-time 
 knew what " our country" means. They, in their graves, tell 
 13
 
 194 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 113 that no country can live without law and liberty and true 
 manhood ; and because they saw, in the Flag, the soul of the 
 Great Republic, with strong hearts and chivalric daring they 
 planted themselves by the Stars and Stripes, and now sleep till 
 the reveille of the resurrection morn. 
 
 Better than words do the things of this day speak. Hear 
 them. 
 
 This service says that the old soldiery do not forget their 
 comrades. Fresh in memory are those who were once with us 
 in marcli and battle. True men do not forget those with whom 
 they stood shoulder to shoulder in the greatest, hardest times 
 this land ever saw. The fellowship of the living, welded in tire 
 still endures. Some men look angrily on the great brother- 
 hood of former soldiery, which now covers the loyal land. They 
 affect to feel danger from the hundreds of thousands who link 
 their hands under the leadership of the gallant Logan. But 
 pause and think you, you who frown are the fellowships of the 
 battle-tield, made in love to the flag, sworn to on the altar of 
 death, to fall asunder like blades of grass mown down ? Think 
 you that men who rested together on the hard ground, stood in 
 the same line, followed the same flag, charged together when 
 death \vas in every step ; men who were deprived of home and 
 had no friends but each other, and closed up as the dying fell 
 do you ask that they shall throw aside these ties of life and 
 death ? Can you not instinctively feel that they cannot do it ? 
 that they cannot abandon their needy and often friendless com- 
 rades, and the widows and orphans of the dead ? that they can- 
 not dishonor themselves by destroying the sympathies of a 
 glorious cause ? Bear with us, we pray you, in this thing. 
 Think not hard of us for our soldierly care of comrades. If it 
 be a weakness in us to cherish old memories, yet deal tenderly 
 with m, and grant us this one little boon ; for once you needed 
 us, and then nothing was too much to promise us when you 
 asked us to encounter death. We did it. When we ask you to 
 let us keep fresh the ties of death, will you not do it ? Be not 
 jealous because we remember each other. Dangerous ? Yes, 
 once, dangerous to the traitor and rebel. But not now. Men 
 who perilled life for law may be trusted in peace. Dangerous 
 again, only should the lawful authorities need their right'hands 
 again, and then dangerous only to the disobedient and law- 
 less. See ! only the color-guard carry muskets, and the muz- 
 zles are tilled only with flowers. There is no danger in these 
 flowers. There are no bullets hid under them. Peacefully, 
 soberly, reverentially, loyally, we lay the flowers on the graves 
 of the dead.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 195 
 
 Let the flowers tell our minds. When the war was young, 
 the volleys over the grave announced a soldier's burial. AVhen 
 the war grew sterner, the volleys ceased ; and hut for the sullen 
 shots of the foe, the dead were laid down in silence. Ah, me! 
 the many over whom I have said" Eartli to earth, ashes to ashes, 
 dust to dust !" Now. these spring flowers on the graves are the 
 emblems of peace which blesses our land. We bring them as 
 puch. We adopt the substitute. Hands that once grasped the 
 sword-hilt, now scatter flowers. Accept our meaning. 
 
 You do accept it. We thank those that plucked and gave 
 these flowers for the soldiers' graves. We Gratefully acknowl- 
 edge the general answer to our request in this city. Women's 
 hands, the hands which never tired when, for the soldiers, they 
 knit, and sewed and rolled the lint, while their tears fell on the 
 work and their brave hearts nerved themselves women's hands 
 have brought the peaceful offering. Do they not say : " Soldiers, 
 we do not forget the fallen ; soldiers, we honor still the manhood 
 that was once our defence." And as we take the gentle gifts, 
 we say, " As you trusted us in war, so can you trust us in 
 peace." 
 
 Citizens, we thank you for vour sympathies. We expected 
 it. These are your dead. T*hey went out from your homes. 
 They are of your blood. There was weeping and moaning in 
 your streets when they fell. We are one of you now. When 
 armies disbanded, the soldier laid aside his garb and became a 
 citizen again. War was not our business. Peace was our ob- 
 ject. Only in memory and friendship is any line existing. In 
 that memory, we gratefully acknowledge all honor which you 
 pay to the departed. We appreciate the words which have been 
 spoken here by your representative, whose warm sympathies and 
 continued help in the work of peace, we do not forget. We re- 
 call with gratitude all who worked at home for their country's 
 cause, and cherished their country's defenders in the field. Not 
 less, because no scruples forbade us to follow the bugle's call, do 
 we think those who, in obedience to their life-long convictions, 
 could not see their way to use the sword, yet earnestly, kindly, 
 gently ministered to those who held the sword. Not less do we 
 feel gratitude to them, in that with oath, pen and voice, they 
 nerved themselves to sacrifice and stand up for the right. 
 
 Tenderly think we now of the widow and orphan ! As the 
 flowers were placed on yonder graves, we saAv tears falling from 
 lonely women's eyes. We saw silent children there. Oh, how 
 full of meaning is this day to them ! Are not these scenes, 
 which tell of respect to their dead, a comfort to them ? The 
 God of the fatherless and the widow, be their God 1
 
 190 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 "With a fearful price was our country ransomed. Yet there 
 13 no bitterness in our hearts towards those that were our ene- 
 mies in the field. We are not offended because Southern women 
 strew with flowers the graves of their dead. Though mistaken 
 and misled by ambitious leaders, those men were brave men. 
 They sealed their faith by their blood. Lowered would be the 
 Southern people in our thought, did they forget the memory of 
 the soldiers that fought so sturdily in their unhappy project. 
 We can distinguish between their often reckless bravery and 
 their mistaken cause ; and now that that cause is dead, and our 
 once foes have yielded, and the flag is undisturbed, no soldier, 
 however loyal, cherishes hate to the men he met in the rude 
 shock of battle. For their traitorous leaders, there is never- 
 more trust; as for the gallant men whom they deceived, when 
 they broke ranks forever, the controversy ended, and we are 
 friends. 
 
 On this day we reiterate our allegiance to the flag of our 
 country. We honor those who fell in its defence. We drink 
 in new inspiration of loyalty, obedience and faith. By the 
 graves, we become truer patriots, unselfish, unflinching in duty. 
 
 You counted the number of guns, just now, in the national 
 salute. Thirty-seven guns. Who said you might count that 
 number ? No State gone ; no star vanished from the flag. Who 
 seized the dropping stars and fastened them in the blue field 
 forever ? 
 
 Now the nation lives, not maimed nor severed. In her noble 
 sympathy, reaching from sea to sea, and from the Lakes to the 
 Gulf, she lifts up ner undimmed banner, and calls forth to her 
 trust, the gallant soldier who led her armies to victory, not 
 GRANT of the North, nor of the South, nor of the East, nor of 
 the West, but GRANT of APPOMATTOX, stern and fearless in duty, 
 but gentle, like a true soldier, to the vanquished; the nation 
 trusts him to fulfill her vows, that beneath the folds of her flag, 
 shall life, liberty, right, be preserved to the living, and over the 
 gallant dead shall be dropped the tears of gratitude, and on the 
 green graves shall be scattered the flowers of Spring. 
 
 The benediction was then pronounced by Rev. Tyler C. 
 Moulton, Chaplain of the Post, when flowers were strewed 
 about the base of the monument, and the shaft was decked with 
 wreaths and garlands, while the band played "Leaf by leaf the 
 roses fall," and " The Star-Spangled Banner." 
 
 The impressive ceremonies at the monument concluded, 
 three guns were fired as a signal, the procession was re-formed, 
 and proceeded to Fairhaven. As it reached the residence of 
 Capt. John A. Hawes, a halt was made, and a generous and
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS'. GRAVES. 197 
 
 beautiful contribution of flowers was placed in the flower-car- 
 riage. Arrived at the Riverside Cemetery, the members of the 
 Post, with their guests, and a large concourse of citizens of 
 Fairhaven, gathered about the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, 
 recently erected by the town authorities. A platform stood 
 near, upon which were seated the Selectmen, Rev. Dr. Quint, 
 Capt. Hawes, and others. 
 
 Capt. Hawes, chairman of the committee charged with the 
 erection of the monument, addressing his fellow-citizens, re- 
 marked, that soon after the arrival ot the remains of the first 
 Fairhaven soldier who fell in the war, at a meeting of the trus- 
 tees of the cemetery, Mr. Edwin R. Almy moved that a suitable 
 lot be appropriated for the burial of those who should fall in 
 defence of their country. This was done, and we stand by the 
 spot selected. In 1867 the town voted to erect a monument, 
 and raised a committee for that purpose. The committee se- 
 cured the services of Geo. F. Meacham, Esq., the architect, who, 
 said Capt. H., voluntarily and nobly exceeded his contract by 
 adding some three feet to the height of the shaft. 
 
 "And now, Mr. Chairman of the Selectmen of Fairhaven," 
 said the speaker, pointing to the neat monument of Concord 
 granite, suitably inscribed, u there is our report not written on 
 parchment, but in imperishable stone. May it stand till the 
 great Father, who has conducted us through a long and arduous 
 struggle, shall see fit to crumble it to dust." 
 
 Capt. Hawes said the town authorities had decided to infor- 
 mally dedicate the monument on that occasion, and called upon 
 Rev. Dr. Quint to perform that service ; who, after eloquently 
 referring to the services in which the Post had been engaged on 
 that day, spoke of the purpose of rearing the monument. It 
 was to honor the dead who gave their lives for their country ? s 
 defence. Their names are graven upon its sides. But no such 
 inscription is needed to perpetuate their memory; for their 
 names are graven in the heart? of the living ; nor in these alone ; 
 they live in the imperishable history of the country. In rearing 
 this stone to their honor, those who raised it honored them- 
 selves. 
 
 Dr. Quint then happily spoke of the significance of the 
 monument, of the lessons it teaches, and of the inspiration it 
 should give. He spoke, too, of the claims of the living breth- 
 ren of those who were thus remembered to-day ; and asked that 
 simple justice be done to the men who had nobly braved the 
 dangers of war, that the country might have peace. At the 
 close of his remarks, which were entirely extemporaneous, he 
 offered the dedicatory prayer, and closed with the benediction.
 
 198 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 The simple rite of decorating the monument with wreaths 
 and bouquets, and strewing with flowers the seven graves of 
 soldiers in the cemetery, \vus performed by the comrades of the 
 Post, a detachment of whom had been previously sent with a 
 similar tribute to be placed on a soldier's grave in the Xaska- 
 tucket Cemetery. 
 
 This closed the services of the day. The procession then 
 returned to this city, reaching City Hall at about five o'clock 
 p. M The members proceeded to their headquarters and were 
 i smissed. 
 
 There was a profusion of flowers, all fresh and beautiful, 
 manv of them wrought into tasteful wreaths, crosses, and bou- 
 quets witnesses not only of the generosity of the givers, but 
 of the kindness of the ladies, who skillfully wove the garlands. 
 
 The procession was not imposing by its length ; but consid- 
 ering the threat of rain in the morning, and the fact that no 
 special etfort had been made at display, it was highly satisfac- 
 tory. The great distance passed over, and the great length of 
 time occupied in the service, deterred many from joining the 
 procession. But there was no lack of interest in the service. 
 All along the route, demonstrations of respect were made. The 
 keepers of the cemeteries had draped the entrance to each with 
 flags ; flags were displayed at half-mast upon the public build- 
 ings, on various flag-stafls, and upon several private residences 
 both in this city and Fairhaveu. The school-ship also had her 
 flags at half-mast. 
 
 AT FALL RIVER, MASS. 
 
 The procession started from the City Hall at about half-past 
 1 o'clock, in the following order : 
 
 A detachment of eight policemen. Mechanics' Band, 18 
 pieces. Aids. Chief Marshal. Aids. Company B, M. Y. M., 
 uinler command of Capt. B. D. Davol, 21) men. Post 46, G. 
 A. R., about 50 men, under command of Capt. Frank McGraw. 
 Returned Veterans, about 75 men, under command of Capt. 
 Chas. D. Copeland. Company D, M. V. M., 32 men, under 
 command of Capt. S. L. Braley. Hi^h and Grammar School 
 boys, 208, under the charge of Mr. JT. Milton Hall. Girls of 
 the High and Grammar Schools, under the direction of M* 
 A. K. Slade, Wm. H. Gordon, and Leonard. St. John's Tem- 
 perance Society, 37 men, preceded by their Band, 17 pieces. 
 Carriages with Disabled Soldiers, as follows : Michael Coughlin, 
 "Win. Deplitch, Xathan Boomer, William II. Carpenter, Wil- 
 liam II. Bennett. Carriages containing Chaplains, Speakers, 
 Mayor, and Members of the City Government.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 199 
 
 The route of the procession was up Main to Cherry, through 
 Cherry to Rock, up Rock to Prospect and the Cemetery. 
 
 On arriving there, the procession marched in and halted 
 near the Soldiers' Burial Lot, Post 46, G. A. R., stationed 
 around the monument ; the remainder of the line was ranged 
 in a circle round the lot. On the lot were seats for the chap- 
 lain, speakers, and members of the City Government. Here 
 services appropriate to the occasion were observed, as follows : 
 
 Music by the Mechanics' Band " Pleyel's Hymn." 
 
 Address by Rev. S. W. Butler, who spoke as follows : 
 
 SOLDIERS OF THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC : Again, in 
 obedience to the order of your commander, do yon close your 
 ranks, but not as in the days gone by. Again the music of the 
 Band rises amid the trees not wild, high, and clamorous, as 
 six years ago this May mouth you heard it, as, on the field of 
 Williumsburg, Hooker collected parts of scattered bands, and 
 sought to cheer the dying and inspire the hearts of the over- 
 matched columns. You stand beneath the peaceful shade of 
 " Oak Grove " to-day. The foliage of last year lies brown and 
 crisp upon the ground, while the springing leaflets of the foliage 
 that is to be is Ted upon the bough. Six years ago to-day, you 
 closed your decimated files in Fair Oaks, Va., where Nature's 
 order was reversed, for the early leaf upon the trees was brown 
 and sere with the flames of battle, while the fallen leaves of the 
 previous year were red with the life-blood of your comrades, 
 whose memories you to-day come to revere. 
 
 The propitious heavens bend in peace over your formations 
 to-day, as they arched over your smoking columns at Gettys- 
 burg. Scenes and experiences have greatly changed with you 
 since, in field or hospital, you closed the eyes of your comrades; 
 but not changed in the soldierly affection which binds your 
 hearts to theirs whose links were forged and welded in the 
 white heat of battle. And fitting is the tribute you offer to the 
 memory of these departed. 
 
 We say departed, for those you called your comrades are not 
 here. And though 
 
 *' On Fame's eternal camping-ground 
 
 Their silent tents are spread, 
 And memory walks with solemn round 
 The bivouac of the dead," 
 
 yet are these tents deserted, and the tents only of the bivouac 
 remain. Say not that beneath these mounds they sleep. The? 
 soldiers of the Grand Army of the Republic neither surrender 
 nor sleep upon their post.
 
 200 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 These mounds of earth, to our ill-lighted vision present to us 
 illusions which betray our thoughts into disastrous sadness as 
 your comrades at Ball's Bluff were betrayed to their deaths by 
 moonbeams shining through the vistas of the forest, revealing 
 to the eyes of the scout the illusion of foeinen's tents. 
 
 From Plymouth Rock to the Golden Gate, from Oak Ridge, 
 111., where lies the body of the noblest martyr, to Oak Grove, 
 Mass., where rears the humblest stone, not one but marks the 
 resting-place of the brave ; for 
 
 " While the good swords rust, 
 And their steeds are dust, 
 Their souls are with the saints, we trust," 
 
 promoted to the armies of heaven, which on white horses follow 
 the "Lamb whithersoever He goeth. There they " hunger no 
 more," for the rations are ever bountiful. " They shall thirst 
 no more," for their line of march is eternally by the margin of 
 the " River of Life, which flows from beneath the foot of the 
 Throne of God and the Lamb forever." Neither shall the sun 
 light on them in the weary march, nor any heat in the hour of 
 battle, for their warfare is accomplished. No more in stockade, 
 or prison, or hospital ward, do they weep unavailing tears of 
 manly love for homes and firesides, while the ponderous days 
 crush heart and hope, until the dead line is to them a welcome 
 boon. " These former things " to them, as to us, are " passed 
 away." 
 
 And when they passed away, they bequeathed to us the 
 legacy of their memories, which shall be perpetuated while 
 Massachusetts hills are green, and flowers spring from their 
 verdant sods ; and their lives, though to us a vapor, shall be to 
 us as the pillar of cloud and fire to Israel, a healing shadow in 
 the noon of our national prosperity, and a beacon of cheer in 
 the night of calamity. They have left us the rich legacy of 
 their altar tombs, from whose fires we will ever rekindle the 
 torches of their patriotism as accumulating years of luxury and 
 peace shall enervate the same. They have bequeathed to UB 
 those jewels of their manly hearts, whose presence was in fancy 
 near them when victory paled upon the glaring eyeballs, and 
 the shouts of triumphant comrades were lost in the surges of 
 the dark river, the legacy of their mothers, their sisters, their 
 wives, their children. And we come to-day to enrich our minds 
 with those legacies of memory which will give us to as noble a 
 'life for the untarnished perpetuity of the Republic, as they 
 have nobly died, and to take more closely to our sympathies 
 those by whose poverty and bereavement we are made rich.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 201 
 
 It is fitting, then, that you, the surviving comrades, should 
 come, and, by the sweet persuasions of your fidelity to their 
 memory, seek to secure to posterity, inviolate, the Republic of 
 their love and the purchase of their blood. It is fitting that the 
 citizens should hither come to be continually aroused to that 
 vigilance whose eternity is the price of liberty. It is fitting 
 that capital should hither come, for these are the vaults whose 
 coin of valor redeems from worthlessness the medium of our 
 commerce. It is the grass of these and other mounds whose 
 spirit transfigures the intrinsic poverty of every gold dollar into 
 nominal wealth. 
 
 Whirl away, spindles ! clash, clattering looms ! fly away, 
 shuttles ! but pay your homage here. But for the lives that 
 passed from there, amid whizzing bullets, clashing bomb, and 
 hustling shot, the sinews of your strength were repudiate. 
 Here let children come to gain inspirations which shall aid them 
 to as nobly live for the Republic, as these have noblv died. 
 
 Here let the Christian come, and at the altar of the nation 
 offer the sacrifice of contrite hearts to Him who ruleth in the 
 armies of heaven, and giveth the beauty of His chosen to be 
 " slain upon the high places " in the completion of His own 
 omniscient benevolent purposes. 
 
 After which, prayer by the same. 
 
 Music by the Band " America." 
 
 Mayor Fairbanks spoke as follows : 
 
 OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE 46TH POST OF THE GRAND 
 ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC : The ground upon which we stand is 
 truly sacred soil ; and we are here in compliance with an order 
 from the Commander-in-Cliief of the Grand Army of the Re- 
 public, that we may, through the emblem of flowers, express 
 the sweetness, fragrance, and beauty of our remembrance of 
 your departed comrades ; and, by the freshness and greenness 
 of our offering, show that we still appreciate their great sacri- 
 fice. 
 
 This is a place of silence. Here human oratory is vain, and 
 man's applause a mockery. We are. surrounded with objects 
 more eloquent than speech. Yes, there are times and occasions 
 where words fail to express our thoughts, feelings, and emo- 
 tions ; and yet we are not here to-day as comes a procession of 
 mourners. It has been said that it is glorious to die for one'p 
 country. Yes, and it is glorious to live with the conscious feel- 
 ing that we have dared death to save our country. So, as we 
 come within these beautiful grounds, and gather around this 
 sacred spot, our minds need not be filled with gloom ; and yet 
 our tongues may falter in giving utterance to our feelings.
 
 202 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 If disembodied spirits ever take cognizance of earthly- 
 scenes, may we not believe that the heroic spirits of those whose 
 honored names are cut upon this splendid monument are now 
 hovering over us ? Were it so, and could we communicate with 
 them, we should fail to find fitting words to make known our 
 thoughts and grateful emotions. And could these exalted spir- 
 its speak to us of things of time, we would be eager listeners. 
 What would they say 1 Hark ! " God only knows what the 
 Boys in Blue suffered for their country. Earnestly love and 
 cherish the land for which we died. Sustain, respect, and honor 
 our living comrades. Care for and protect our parents, our 
 widows, and our orphans." 
 
 And now, gentlemen and ladies, will we ever grow remiss 
 in this obvious duty ? Let us all in our heart of hearts answer, 
 No. And as we yearly come to this consecrated shrine, to 
 decorate with flowers these graves, may we take anew our sol- 
 emn vow. 
 
 Dr. Robert T. Davis spoke as follows : 
 
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, AND YOU RETURNED YETEKANS OF 
 THE ARMY AND NAVY : After so long a silence and absence, I 
 know of no other occasion which could have impelled me to 
 address you other than this profoundly solemn and touching 
 ceremony ; but it is indeed an honor and privilege to participate 
 with you in this act of respectful and loving homage to the 
 precious and sacred memory of our patriot dead, who died that 
 their country might survive that its institutions might not 
 perish from the earth. 
 
 At this moment, over all the land which they have saved, 
 this sweet and beautiful tribute is tenderly and reverently offered 
 at the shrines which rise so thickly from the green earth where 
 sleep our heroes. 
 
 And fresh and fragrant as these flowers which youth and 
 innocence and beauty have placed upon this cherished spot, will 
 ever remain the recollection of these priceless services. 
 
 We knew them in life, and saw them depart from their 
 homes ready to abide the dread issue of battle on which were 
 staked the honor, safety, and salvation of their country, and 
 willing in that sacred cause to peril life and personal fortune, 
 whether humble or exalted to abandon forever, it might be, 
 the dearest associations, friends, family, neighborhood ties, all 
 that is sweet, tender, lovely, cherished, and beloved, all that 
 brightens and warms our interior nature know full well how 
 rude and severe the test which they and their surviving com- 
 rades so nobly endured. This is the place, this the time, this 
 the presence ; for here stand the living soldiers of the great war
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 203 
 
 confronting the shaft which, standing upon the earth where rest 
 the mortal relics of their brothers in arms, points upward to 
 their eternal home, for us all to renew the inspiration of this 
 great epoch from which we are just emerging. 
 
 Prior to the Rebellion this nation had achieved a proud and 
 envied name and place among contemporary States. In her 
 very birth she had startled the world by uttering the sublime 
 doctrines of the Declaration of Independence, that trumpet-call 
 and battle-cry of Freedom to all mankind in all the ages. 
 
 But hostile men, influences, and institutions, had, almost 
 from the foundation of the Government, conspired to weaken 
 our attachment to those glorious truths for which Washington 
 fought, and Jefferson wrote, and Otis spoke, and Franklin 
 labored, to crumble and destroy the rock of our political faith 
 the ark of our political salvation, upon which the patriot and 
 the Christian rested as if it were the covenant of Jehovah ; for 
 they knew that Divine lips had uttered the injunction, " Thou 
 shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" words which proclaimed 
 to all people and all generations the great idea of the equality 
 of mankind and the brotherhood of the race. 
 
 Failing in this, they instituted fratricidal war, to divide a 
 nation they could not seduce or control. They organized gov- 
 ernments, isslied proclamations, mustered armies, and dared the 
 nation to a contest for its existence. 
 
 Then was seen the true majesty of patriotism and loyalty 
 when allied with liberty. From all quarters of the loyal land 
 came that mighty host whose columns, spite of wounds, t-iek- 
 ness, and death, never thinned, but always increased, keeping 
 pace with the unflagging spirit and unfailing resources of a 
 great people through tour years of desperate struggle, till rebel- 
 lion was annihilated, and our beloved country, purified by sacri- 
 fice and baptized in the blood of its patriot martyrs, rose to a 
 higher <le.-tiny and a grander life. 
 
 The illustrious names arid great events which crowd this 
 mournful but glorious period have ennobled the nation, and 
 temper, purpose, and character of every American, is celebrated 
 by a knowledge of the great trial through which his country 
 succost'ully passed. 
 
 First among the names which our time has given to immor- 
 tality must always be reverently mentioned that of the lamented 
 and martyred Lincoln, the rarest, purest, noblest statesman of 
 this a<re, whose unerring sagacity guided us through every 
 danger and difficulty, who fitly crowned his high functions by 
 proclaiming the enfranchisement of a race the greatest act in 
 all the rolls of time and whose martyr-death embalmed his 
 rr.t>norv in the hearts of his countrymen forever.
 
 204 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 The great Preserver of nations and of men did indeed bless 
 while He chastened us He raised up for us great military and 
 naval captains to lead our armies and navies to victory, and un- 
 counted thousands of brave hearts to follow the national flag on 
 land and sea, to uphold it on the perilous ridges of battle, to 
 march to assured victory beneath its folds, or calmly die in its 
 defence. 
 
 He nerved those brave hearts to endure a more dreadful 
 ordeal than that of battle to bear without repining the attacks 
 of that invisible foe which, aided by fatigue, exposure, and pri- 
 vation, fastens its deadly grasp upon all the functions of life, 
 wastes the muscle, thins the blood, attenuates the frame, making 
 robust manhood a tottering wreck weaker than infancy, till at 
 last life ebbs away and the unequal struggle ends. Or, more 
 happily, the healing influence of time and change enables the 
 survivor to emerge from the shadowy valley into the sunlight 
 of earth and hope. 
 
 They were enabled to endure to the end horrors peculiar to 
 this struggle, and which shocked the civilized world, loading 
 their perpetrators with enormous and unequalled infamy, and 
 crying to the very courts of Heaven, for vengeance against these 
 monsters in human form who could deliberately inflict starva- 
 tion upon prisoners by the fortunes of war. 
 
 In the performance of their great task our armies in the field 
 were sustained by the wisely directed and unstinted energies ot 
 the national and State governments, who hesitated not to em- 
 ploy in their behalf all the resources at their command. 
 
 They were aided by individual and associated effort, freely 
 and zealously contributed by all classes and both sexes, so that 
 the soldier, under all the varied conditions of his arduous lite, 
 knew that his grateful countrymen were ministering to his wants 
 with sleepless, efficient, unfailing, loving care. 
 
 The attitude of our own beloved State, from the commence- 
 ment to the close of this contest, was worthy of her old renown. 
 It could not be otherwise, for her purpose was interpreted and 
 her will executed by one of the most illustrious of her chief 
 magistrates. Massachusetts acted with the arm and spoke 
 through the lips of John A. Andrew an arm that never fal- 
 tered and lips that never uttered a word unworthy the grand 
 old Commonwealth in this heroic period of her history. At his 
 summons her citizen soldiery marched to the field and shared 
 with their brethren of other States the dangers and honors of 
 the struggle. Many have returned ; some bearing honorable 
 wounds, others happily unscathed, but many sleep their last 
 sleep in that Southern laud which their blood has redeemed
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 205 
 
 from rebellion and bondage. In the swamps of Virginia, by 
 the waters of the ]\lississippi, among the mountains of Tennessee, 
 on the coasts of Carolina, where they nobly fighting fell, there 
 they rest ; and witli them those whose names you have inscribed 
 upon imperishable marble, so that your descendants in the gen- 
 erations to come may know to whom in part they will owe the 
 priceless blessings of a free government. 
 
 That shaft bears witness that our own city furnishes its fiill 
 share to swell that roll of honor. I need not mention to you 
 their names ; they are alike engraved upon that column, and 
 the warm and living tablets of your hearts. Some of you who 
 are their living representatives here showed their toil and dan- 
 ger in the gallant and much-enduring army of the Potomac, ita 
 earlier sufferings and trials, its brightening fame at Antietam 
 and Gettysburg, and its final triumph. But not alone there ; 
 over all the theatre of war, from Mississippi to the sea, from the 
 northern line of rebellion to the Gulf, our gallant soldiers and 
 sailors were found fighting treason and battling for liberty 
 always beneath the national flag, whose gleaming folds waved 
 over no truer or braver defenders. 
 
 Veterans of the army and navy, and fellow-citizens, it is 
 appropriate and just that you should thus commemorate the 
 services of those who fought with you and for you during this 
 long struggle. All nations, ancient and modern, Christian and 
 heathen, have religiously cherished the memories of those who 
 have fallen in the military service of their country. 
 
 The reason is obvious; to peril life in the national defence, is 
 the severest test of patriotism, and the spirit which prompts 
 that sacrifice deserves enduring honor ; while the homage which 
 it receives educates and develops that noble sentiment which is 
 the only security for the continued life of nations. So long as 
 its sons are willing to die for their motherland, so long will it 
 endure to shelter and bless them and their children. At the 
 hour when a people shall be unwilling to abide this test, they 
 will find that they have no longer a country worth saving, and 
 those lives they will have deemed more valuable than honor and 
 freedom transmitted undimmed through centuries of glorious 
 national life, may prove to be an intolerable burden of humilia- 
 tion, misery, and disgrace. " Better be where the extinguished 
 Spartans still are free, in their proud charnel of Thermopylae, 
 than stagnate in that marsh." 
 
 Let us, then, for the cause of our country, no less than in 
 grateful memory of them, render at stated seasons due honor to 
 those brave men whose lips, alas, now voiceless, whose forms 
 now mingling with the common mother of us all, have left so
 
 206 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 eloquent an example to us and future times. May the hour 
 never come when we shall have a less vivid sense of our obliga- 
 tions to the heroic dead, in whose presence we reverently stand. 
 Rather from age to age, with the expanding growth and ad- 
 vancing greatness of the Republic, may we not hope that their 
 fame will brighten in the light of their achievements, till it be- 
 comes commensurate with the glory of their country ! 
 
 A parting word to you, returned veterans of the armies and 
 navies of the Union : 
 
 You each possess a badge of honor in the evidence of your 
 honorable discharge from active military and naval duty. That 
 simple fact reveals a proud record which you can never forget. 
 It is the evidence that at a most critical period you fought for 
 your country. This is an elevating and noble consciousness, a 
 proud and enviable distinction. The Frenchman, of whatever 
 rank, has been accustomed to regard with usual respect the 
 veterans of the Empire, for in them he recalled the glories of 
 the first Napoleon, and the military greatness of France. Need 
 I say that you have earned at least equal honor, fighting for 
 freedom and your country not for empire and a name. And 
 hereafter, when eloquent orators shall discourse of this great 
 theme, and recite in glowing words to admiring thousands over 
 all the land how the armies and navies of the Union conquered 
 the great Rebellion ; how Vicksburg, protected by its lofty 
 bluft's and frowning batteries and mighty river, succumbed to 
 the all-conquering patience and genius of Grant ; how, realizing 
 the very romance of battle, our armies fought and won upon 
 the misty summits of Lookout, where the thunder of our cannon 
 rivalled the thunder of heaven's artillery among the clouds ; 
 how the gallant Shaw and his brave though black comrades in 
 arms laid down in death while their immortal spirits rose in 
 glory from the rebel ramparts of Wagner ; how Farragut and 
 his brave tars sailed through the jaws of death, and New 
 Orleans and Mobile were won ; how the peerless Sheridan, 
 whose breath was victory, saved the fight at Winchester, and 
 followed, like a pursuing fate, the broken fragments of the 
 Rebellion, till Appomattox closed the scene ; and how in that 
 awful and momentous hour, when the fortunes of the Republic 
 hung suspended upon the issue of battle in the valleys of Penn- 
 sylvania, and for three days the veteran legions of Lee were 
 hurled in successive and deadly shocks upon the army of the 
 Potomac, till at last the defeated hosts of Rebellion withdrew, 
 our banners advanced and the spirit of freedom shouted victory 
 from the sun-crowned heights of Gettysburg ; then you, and 
 each of you, can proudly say, I, too I, too, was a soldier of the
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 207 
 
 Republic ; I, too, fought for Union, for liberty, for the rights 
 and interests of untold millions of men. 
 
 A poem followed, by John Westall, Esq. : 
 
 Bring flowers to-day- 
 The fairest flowers of May I 
 And let the nation pay 
 
 Its grateful tributes here, where monumental stone 
 Shall keep the patriot warriors' names for ages known. 
 
 Bring flowers to-day ! 
 And lay them on the graves 
 Where but the earthly liea 
 Of our heroic braves ; 
 And keep alive their noble memories, 
 As the illimitable years in grand succession rise. 
 
 Bring flowers to-day 
 
 The purest, sweetest, richest of the May I 
 
 The violets blue, 
 
 As our brave warriors true ; 
 
 The roses red, 
 
 Red as the blood they shed ; 
 
 The lilies spotless white, 
 
 Pure as the starry light 
 
 Which led them in the fight, 
 
 Triumphant for the Right ; 
 The red, the white, the blue, 
 Like the dear flag which o'er them flew 
 In victory, 
 So splendidly, 
 
 On many a battle-field, 
 
 When cannons thundering pealed, 
 
 And bayonets flashed, 
 
 And mad Rebellion dashed 
 Like waves against Freedom's eternal rock, 
 And perished in the shock. 
 
 Bring flowers to-day 
 The red, the white, the blue, 
 
 Of every shade and hue, 
 And let fair maidens lay 
 
 Their wreaths around each patriot warrior's honored name, 
 And crown with noble fame 
 
 The memory of the soldier brave, 
 
 And the brave sailor on the salt sea-wave, 
 
 Who once so freely gave 
 
 Their own clear life, their country's life to save I 
 
 Bring flowers to-day, 
 
 From the fresh hills where the wild breezes play, 
 From gardens fair, 
 Where all the murmuring air 
 Is full of songs of bird and bee, 
 And crimson apple-blooms are opening free. 

 
 208 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Bring flowers to-day I 
 The fragrant purple spire, 
 And buds, whose hearts of fire 
 Speak of the loving hands who place them here, 
 So tenderly and dear ; 
 
 Which all hearts move, 
 
 The sweet mementos of a nation's love : 
 
 The grateful homage which a nation pays 
 
 To her heroic dead, 
 In her heroic days. 
 
 Not here they sleep I not here they rest 
 
 Beneath the earth's green breast 1 
 
 Earth here but claims her own, 
 
 Beneath the sculptured stone. 
 
 But from the body's prison 
 
 Their spirits have arisen ; 
 
 As from the seed the plant must rise, 
 
 To bloom in Summer skies ; 
 As from the darksome shell the blue-bird springs, 
 Spreads on the golden air its happy wings, 
 And with its heart of joy its song exulting sings. 
 
 Not here they sleep ! not here they rest 1 
 
 Earth here but holds her own : 
 
 Their spirits to celestial climes have flown, 
 
 And have immortal grown 
 
 In that fair world where death is never known ; 
 
 In that bright world of light 
 
 Beyond our mortal sight, 
 
 Where Love brings endless day, with blessings infinite. 
 
 How many memories rise, 
 
 Like stars on Summer skies, 
 As we read o'er the record of the dead 
 Who for their country fought, and toiled, and bled ! 
 
 The hissing shot on Sumter's bastioned wall ; 
 
 The martyred Lincoln's call ; 
 
 The rising of the North ; * 
 
 Magnificent beyond compare ! 
 And when the troops came pouring forth, 
 The hopes which bloomed so bright and fair, 
 Alas ! too soon to fade upon the Summer air : 
 Then the long, weary, weary, weary years, 
 Filling our hearts with grief, our eyes with tears, 
 Till the bright dawn came, scattering all our fears, 
 Emancipation leading in the way, 
 And at its heavenly call burst forth the glorious day. 
 
 Then Victory rose imperial by our side ; 
 
 The Slave became a Man ; 
 
 And through the nation's pulses ran 
 A higher life ; and higher rose the tide 
 Of hope, that might have died ; 
 But Justice ruled the hour, 
 And with invincible power
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 209 
 
 She led the nation to its grandest deed. 
 
 Then came the heroic Meade, 
 And Gettysburg flashed o'er the waiting land, 
 As fled away the routed rebel band ; 
 And Vicksburg twinned the glory of that day, 
 And brave old Farragut lashed to the mast in Mobile's crimson bay, 
 Lit up with splendor all the applauding sea 
 "With his great victory. 
 
 O days of wonder I when each dawn arose, 
 
 Bringing new triumphs o'er fair Freedom's foes ; 
 
 When Sheridan like lightning flew 
 
 Up the dark valley, ever brave and true, 
 
 And by the grace of Heaven the lost was won, 
 
 By Victory's darling son ; 
 
 When Sherman's matchless march from mountain to the sea 
 
 Wrote a new page in Glory's history , 
 
 When through the fiery Wilderness our dauntless braves pressed on, 
 
 Till the great work was done, 
 
 Fighting it out on that line day by day, 
 
 Leaving their silent mounds to mark the way ; 
 
 Till the Spring came with all her sweetest flowers, 
 
 And the whole land was ours ; 
 
 The nation's armies, led by him whose words were few, 
 
 Who taught us patience, and whose triumphs grew 
 
 In grandeur, for his master mind 
 
 The great campaign designed, 
 Swept o'er the field, and saw the nation's want, 
 And every rebel fell before all-conquering Grant. 
 
 O great as good and calm as Fate, 
 
 Modest as brave, and, like all truly great, 
 Seeking thy country's good, and not thine own 
 Through every office ; and through that alone 
 She turns to thee in peace as well as war, 
 Placing in thy tried hands her destinies ; 
 For thy great name shines o'er her like a star 
 Serene and steady o'er tempestuous seas, 
 The hope and beacon-light to every mariner. 
 
 Within our heart the bells are ringing still, 
 
 As they rang once on every vale and hill ; 
 
 For Peace came down from heaven again, 
 
 And her bright olives waved o'er mount and plain, 
 
 While grand thanksgivings rose like mighty seas, 
 
 And patriots on their bended knees 
 
 Blessed Heaven for all our victories. 
 
 As if the full-orbed sun should in an instant drop 
 From the clear noonday sky, 
 They ceased, and wail and cry 
 Proclaim the nation's agony. 
 
 The martyr Lincoln fell 
 In the bright morn of glory's grandest day, 
 And sorrow such as tongue can never tell 
 Held o'er us unchecked sway. 
 
 14
 
 210 MEMORIAL CEREMONIE9 
 
 His greatness we had never known till then ; 
 
 His simplest grandeur made him first of men ; 
 
 His honesty, the spotless citizen. 
 
 What was our loss we never knew till now, 
 
 By the deep contrast which our hearts all know 
 
 And speak with quivering lip, as we in silence bow. 
 
 Ah me ! what sadness mingles with our joy. 
 
 Such discipline we need 1 
 Here bends the widow ; there the orphan boy 
 
 His father's name will read. 
 The empty sleeve, more eloquent than speech, 
 The patriot heart will teach ; 
 The warrior leaning on his crutch 
 The obdurate soul will touch ; 
 
 His halting step will tell 
 
 How the brave soldier fell 
 Wounded, where shot flew thick and fast, 
 And Death came sweeping by upon the hurtling blast. 
 A grateful nation makes each child its ward, 
 From every want its treasures must keep guard 
 The fairest monument it builds alone, 
 With justice for its corner-stone. 
 
 Who gave their lives for us, that we 
 
 Might, reap the fruit of liberty ? 
 
 This sculptured monumental stone 
 
 Tells by whose hands the costly work was done. 
 
 The honored names of thy brave sons are here, 
 
 America, forever dear I 
 
 While on its tablets, standing side by side, 
 As they once stood in battle's bloody tide, 
 Where they together fought, together died, 
 
 To stay dark Treason's crimes, 
 
 Are names from other climes. 
 Beneath thy banner they were one, 
 In duty all thine own ; 
 
 True Scot, brave Celt, and English hearts of oak, 
 Breaking the Traitor's yoke, 
 His chains and slavery, 
 And giving to humanity a broader scope 
 For nobler life than Europe dared to hope. 
 
 Ye Veterans from many a hard-fought battle-field, 
 
 Who come this day to yield 
 
 Your hearts' deep tribute to your comrades brave, 
 
 You saved your country in her darkest hour ; 
 Her voice still calls : again she bids you save 
 Her liberties 
 From all her enemies, 
 
 And with a freeman's power 
 Fight her great battles now at home in peace, 
 Till every wrong shall cease ; 
 And when in joy returns each fair November sun, 
 Let your pure ballots keep what your bright bayonets won.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 211 
 
 Let us keep fast what Freedom here has gained : 
 
 The ballot true, from every fraud unstained, 
 
 Guarded by bands well trained, 
 
 Impartial, equal to eacli citizen ; 
 
 The strength of loyal men, 
 
 This is the fortress of our Liberty ; 
 
 Who keeps this pure, shall evermore be free, 
 
 While o'er the land unnumbered schools, like flowers, shall rise. 
 
 And countless sacred spires point upward to the skies. 
 
 Oh, words are weak beside the grave, 
 When patriots die our liberties to save ! 
 Yet here we may renew 
 
 Our vows to Freedom, and here consecrate 
 Ourselves to her great service, firm and true. 
 Above our heads our country's banners wave 
 Their stars of stainless white in their bright fields of blue, 
 
 Shining like stars around heaven's morning gate. 
 Here we may pledge each faithful heart and hand, 
 To stand 
 
 By Freedom's sacred cause ; that all the land, 
 From green Niagara's rainbow-crowned spray, 
 To the Arcadian shores of Tampa's placid bay 
 From Shasta's peak of ever-sparkling snow, 
 To the wide fields of far-off Mexico, 
 Shall never, never more be trodden by a slave. 
 Here shall the people, true to Freedom's cause, 
 Live under equal laws ; 
 And every taint of tyranny shall fade, 
 Nor race nor color shall their rights degrade ; 
 That all may live in peace till life's bright sands are run, 
 In happy freemen's homes, the happiest 'neath the sun. 
 
 Music by the Band " Star Spangled Banner." 
 
 At the close of the exercises at Oak Grove Cemetery, Mayo? 
 Fairbanks was requested to read the following inscription, which 
 was attached to a cross of evergreens and flowers, very tastily 
 arranged : 
 
 " These flowers are contributed to the memory of Abner 
 Lawton, the little drummer-boy, who lies in his lonely grave in 
 a far-off Southern cemetery. His name is inscribed on our Sol- 
 dier's Monument at Oak Grove Cemetery. Please dispose of 
 them in a way you consider the most appropriate, and oblige 
 
 A FKIEND." 
 
 The ceremony of. strewing the graves of their former com- 
 rades was then performed by the members of Post 46, G. A. R. 
 
 After which, the procession took up its line of march for the 
 North Burial-ground, the Catholic Cemetery, and Friends' 
 Burying-ground, at each of which the ceremony of strewing 
 the graves was performed. The procession then re-formed and 
 returned to City Hall, where they were dismissed.
 
 212 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 At Oak Grove Cemetery were flags and streamers arranged 
 with tine effect. Over the outside entrance was the following : 
 
 " Let the living honor the patriotic dead." 
 
 On the inside was the rnotto : 
 
 " They died for their country and liberty." 
 
 These were in an arch intertwined with flags and streamers. 
 
 Over the Soldiers' Burial Lot, in an arch, were the words, 
 " We will cherish the memory of our departed heroes." On 
 the arch were fifteen flags, with a shield at each end. 
 
 AT HINGHAM, MASS. 
 
 The arrangements for the decoration of the soldiers' graves 
 at Hingham were under the charge of a committee of thirteen 
 returned soldiers, headed by Brigadier-General Luther Stephen- 
 son, Jr., and the same number of citizens, headed by Capt. John 
 Stephensoa. In the forenoon the cemeteries at Liberty Plain, 
 Nantasket and High street were visited, and the graves of the 
 soldiers buried in these localities decorated with flowers. In 
 the afternoon a procession was formed at Fountain Square, em- 
 bracing the returned soldiers and sailors of the town, several 
 large carriage loads of young ladies, a juvenile military company 
 dressed in Zouave uniform, the teachers and scholars of the pub- 
 lic schools, the town officers, ministers, and managers of the 
 Hingham Agricultural Society, and a large number of citizens 
 on foot and in carriages. The music was furnished by the 
 South Hingham Cornet Band. The display of flowers was very 
 extensive, and almost every person in the procession carried a 
 bouquet. Some of the bouquets were composed of very choice 
 flowers, and were very beautiful. 
 
 The procession first proceeded to Fort Hill Cemetery, and 
 Gen. Stephenson made a very brief address, and gave the mili- 
 tary history of each soldier buried in that place, and as these 
 statements were made, parties of young ladies were sent out 
 from the central stand to decorate their graves. Rev. Mr. Ful- 
 ler, a returned soldier, then made some remarks and offered 
 prayer, aftef which the procession resumed its march for the 
 cemetery at Hingham Centre. The ceremony of decorating the 
 graves was repeated in the same manner here, and Rev. Mr. 
 Tillson offered prayer. The Hingham cemetery was the last 
 one visited, and at this place the members of the military escort 
 placed the bouquets which they had carried during their march, 
 around the monument which has been erected there, inscribed 
 with the names of forty Hingham soldiers who gave their lives 
 for their country, and whose remains are buried in distant 
 graves.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 213 
 
 GENERAL STEPHENSON's SPEECH. 
 
 FELLOW-SOLDIERS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : Throughout our 
 land the returned soldiers and sailors of the late war, in connec- 
 tion with the people, are assembling to-day, to decorate with 
 flowers, and with our country's emblems, the graves of those 
 who gave up their lives in support of the Union, and in defence 
 of the principles of civil and religious liberty. In every town- 
 ship and city from the North to the South, from the shores of 
 the Atlantic to the slopes of the Pacific, these floral offerings 
 will be paid. 
 
 Thousands and thousands of graves will be adorned to-day, 
 with the choicest gifts of nature, to show a soldier's love for his 
 comrades, and a nation's gratitude for their services, and their 
 sacrifices. 
 
 No town in our Commonwealth can show a more honorable 
 record ; no place can boast of nobler or better soldiers than our 
 own ; and we, its people, are assembled to pay our tribute of 
 respect and love for the fallen ; to express our sympathy for 
 their afflicted friends, and to stir up the channels of memory, 
 that their lives and deeds may be kept fresh and green in our 
 hearts. 
 
 From this part of our town, three of our citizens, belonging 
 to one family, went out as a part of the quota of Hingham. The 
 f;i.ther,Wm. H. Jones, served in the 4th Mass. Cavalry, and was 
 killed at the battle of Honey Hill. One son, Gardner Jones, 
 enlisted in the 32d Mass. Vols. With two others he volunteered 
 to perform a perilous duty at Laurel Hill, Va., and with one of 
 his companions, was mortally wounded. Sergt. William H. 
 Jones, Jr., of the 18th Vols., was buried in this place. He was 
 one of the first to volunteer at the commencement of the Rebel- 
 lion, and fought at the battles of 2d Bull Run, Antietam, Fred- 
 ericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. He was one of 
 the best soldiers in his regiment. 
 
 In this cemetery also repose the remains of David W. Cush- 
 ing, 35th Mass. Vols., who was killed at the battle of South 
 Mountain, after only one month's service. 
 
 Benj. Lincoln, 4th Mass. Cav., died in this town from dis- 
 ease contracted in the service. Samuel M. Lincoln, 23d Mass. 
 Vols. ; and John Pierce, who was connected with the Mass. 
 Reg't. and was killed in battle. 
 
 The young ladies selected tor the purpose, then placed flow- 
 ers over the graves of those mentioned by Gen. Stephenson. 
 
 During this exercise, the S. H. C. Band gave selections 
 adapted to the occasion from music arranged " a la rninore ; " 
 after which Rev. Mr. Fuller, of the Methodist-Episcopal Church,
 
 214 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 was called upon. Mr. Fuller stated that he had been in the 
 service ; had fought under Gen. Burnside, and carried honorable 
 scars having been wounded in three places. He was with a 
 kind commander ; one who was always foremost in expeditions 
 of danger ; who said to his men " cmne" and not " go" Yet 
 there were trials, hardships and long marches to be endured, 
 which none but a soldier could appreciate. He was pleased to 
 know that the men who laid down their lives for the salvation 
 of their country were not forgotten. Mr. Fuller spoke of those 
 who encouraged and of those who discouraged enlistments dur- 
 ing the war. 
 
 At the close of his remarks, the procession was reformed and 
 marched to the cemetery at Hingham Centre, passing, on its 
 way, many fine displays of " the flag of our Union " ; among 
 which we name Mr. Anderson's and Mrs. Fuller's, at West 
 Hingham ; Mrs. Crocker's, and the Temperance Hall, in Lin- 
 coln s Building. Mr. Thos. F. Whiton's house was very taste- 
 fully arranged with flags and spiral decorations ; also Dr. Ezra 
 Stephenson's and others. 
 
 Arrived at the Hingham Centre Cemetery, the services were 
 similar to those at Fort Hill. Rev. Mr. Tilson, invoked the 
 divine blessing. His prayer was an eloquent appeal to God, 
 who alone was able to comfort those who felt their sorrows re- 
 newed. Flowers were then distributed over the graves of Lieut. 
 Frank Thomas, Lieut. Edward W. Halcro, TJ. S. .Navy, and 
 William H. Beal. 
 
 Lieut. Francis Thomas, 12th Mass. Yols., was killed at the 
 battle of Gettysburg, while acting as Inspector General on the 
 staff of Gen. Baxter. He was engaged in all the battles in 
 which his regiment participated up to the time of his death, and 
 was a brave and efficient officer. 
 
 Lieut. E. W. Halcro, U. S. Navy, was a comparative stran- 
 ger amongst us ; but where known, was loved and esteemed as 
 an officer and a gentleman. He served in the Gulf squadron 
 under Com. Farragut. 
 
 Private Wm. H. Beal enlisted in the 40th Mass. Yols., and 
 was wounded at the battle of the Wilderness. 
 
 Leaving this spot, the procession next moved to the Hingham 
 Cemetery, where a large assemblage was gathered to witness and 
 hear the closing services of the day. A temporary monument 
 had previously been erected by some of our public -spirited citi- 
 zens in a conspicuous location, upon which we noticed the fol- 
 lowing names : 
 
 Thomas Tinsley, 1st Mass. ; Horace Burr, Charles H. Marsh, 
 llth Mass. ; Sanluel Spencer, 12th Mass. ; Michael Fee, 16th
 
 AT TUB SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 215 
 
 Mass. ; Nelson F. Corthell, Thomas Churchill, David W. Her- 
 sey, 18th Mass. ; Alvin Tower, 20th Mass. ; George D. Gard- 
 ner, Edward A. F. Spear, Charles E. French, Henry C. French, 
 John S. Neal, Thomas Sprague, James T. Churchill, 39th Mass. ; 
 Jeremiah J. Corcoran, 40th Mass. ; John W. Gardner, 8th 
 Maine ; William J. Stockwell, 30th Mass. ; George W. Bibby, 
 James L. HaskeU, Demerick Stodder, William Breen, Washing- 
 ton I. Stodder, Wallace Humphrey, Jacob G. Gushing, Daniel 
 D. Hersey, John Q. Hersey, Horatio P. Willard, 32d Mass. ; 
 Kichard J. Farrell, 2d U. S. Art. ; Michael Thompson, 5th U. 
 S. Art. ; William H. Jones, Dennis Scullery, 4th Mass. Cav. ; 
 Henry B. Livingston, Yet. Res. Corps. ; Major Benj. C. Lincoln, 
 2d U. S. C. I. ; George Merritt, U. S. Navy ; James Fitzgerald, 
 William B. Gushing, Leavitt Lincoln. 
 
 The names of Don Pedro Wilson and Gardner Jones should 
 have appeared upon tliis monument, but were accidentally omit- 
 ted. 
 
 Here Gen. Stephenson addressed the large assemblage, as 
 follows : 
 
 In this beautiful cemetery are interred the remains of four- 
 teen soldiers and sailors of the Union. We will lay our offer- 
 ings upon the graves of Capt. Edwin Humphrey, llth Mass. 
 Vols., who was killed at the battle of Gettysburg. Capt. 
 Humphrey was one of the fighting men of Hingham ; serving 
 with nis regiment in nearly all the engagements of the Army of 
 the Potomac, from the first battle at Bull Run until his death. 
 His record is honorable alike to himself, his kindred, and his 
 native town. Lieut. Nath'l French, Jr., 32d Mass. Vols., died 
 from the effects of the malaria at Harrison's Landing, in the 
 early part of the war. He was a faithful and efficient officer, 
 and if his life had been spared, would have shown an honorable 
 record in the field. Sergt. Chas. S. Mead, 32d Mass. Yols. ; the 
 youngest of Hingham's soldiers ; the pet of his regiment, loved 
 and respected by all. Peter Ourish, 32d Mass. Yols. ; a brave, 
 conscientious, and faithful soldier; he was killed in battle. 
 Nath'l Gill enlisted as a musician in the llth Mass. Yols., at 
 the commencement of the war. Chas. W. Blossom, 16th Mass. 
 Yols., was engaged in all the battles of the Peninsula, also at 
 the capture of ^Norfolk. Capt. Elijah Hobart served in the 93d 
 N. Y. Yols. ; and was also engaged on the Peninsula ; a brave 
 and talented man. Warren P. Lincoln, 3d Minn. Cav. ; he 
 served at the battle of Murfreesborough, Term., where his entire 
 regiment was captured ; afterwards paroled and sent to the 
 Northwest to fight the Indians. He was accidentally killed at 
 Fort Snelling, while on his return. Corp. H. F. Miller, 39th
 
 216 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Mass. Yols., was engaged in the battle of the Wilderness, and 
 received his mortal wound on the 8th of May, 1864. Chas. E. 
 Wilder, 32d Mass. Yols., was wounded during the campaign 
 under Gen. Grant, in 1864. Hiram Newcomb, 32d Mass. Yols., 
 died from disease after the expiration of his term of service. 
 Horace 0. Barnes, 10th Mass. Battery, was killed at Jones' 
 Farm, Ya., under the following circumstances. His battery 
 being ordered in position to engage the enemy, a detachment of 
 four men were sent to cut down a tree which prevented accurate 
 firing ; but they returned, reporting that it could not be accom- 
 plished by reason of the danger from the enemy's sharpshooters. 
 Private Barnes volunteered to perform the duty, and had re- 
 moved the obstruction, when he received his death-wound. To- 
 day is the anniversary of his death. He was an upright and 
 conscientious man, as well as a brave soldier. Private John 
 Crease, 22d Mass. Yols., was taken sick, before Yorktown, and 
 died in Bedloe's Island Hospital. He was a native of Scotland ; 
 a man of pure and upright character. Lieut. Thos. Andrews, 
 U. S. Navy, died at .New Orleans, while in the service. He 
 was a good officer ; a genial and pleasant man. 
 
 In this beautiful place also lie the remains of one whose 
 name is identified with the history of our country in her first 
 struggle for freedom. We will to-day lay our offerings upon 
 the tomb of Maj.-Gen. Benjamin Lincoln. 
 
 Fellow-citizens, we have paid our tribute of respect to the 
 memory of those who went forth to do battle for their country, 
 and whose remains are deposited in this their native or their 
 adopted town. But forty of the soldiers and sailors whose 
 names are identified with our town, were buried in the places 
 where they died, away from their homes and kindred, in the 
 land of strangers. 
 
 The parents of those whose graves we have decorated with 
 flowers to-day, carry with them the mournful satisfaction that 
 the bodies of those they loved are deposited near their homes, 
 by the side of their friends and kindred. The wife can visit the 
 spot where her treasure lies, and at his headstone pour forth 
 her love and sorrow. Their children can point to the place 
 where their fathers lie, at the same time remembering with 
 pride that they gave up their lives for their country in her hour 
 of extreme peril and danger. But these mournful satisfactions 
 are denied the friends and kindred of those whose ashes are in- 
 terred where they died, away from their homes, away from 
 those they loved. Many of them fell at the cannon's mouth, 
 and were buried on the battle-fields where they fell. Others 
 died from wounds or lingering disease in the many hospitals
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 217 
 
 that were scattered over our land. Some, alas ! drew their last 
 breath in suffering and sorrow, amid the horrors of a Southern 
 prison. No stones mark their graves, and the rude head-boards 
 erected by their comrades have ere this been swept away by the 
 wind and the storm, and the places where they lie can never- 
 more be identified by mortal eyes. Among their number may 
 be found the names of some of the bravest, the noblest, the best 
 of Hingham's soldiers. The returned soldiers and sailors have 
 erected this simple tribute to their memory, and will deposit 
 around their names these emblems of purity, love, faith, hope, 
 and immortality. 
 
 Selections by the Band followed these remarks, after which 
 General Stephenson read the following lines, composed by a 
 lady of Hingham : 
 
 IN MEMOHIAM. 
 
 A Floral Tribute to the Graves of our Patriot Dead, who fell in Defence of 
 
 their country. 
 Tread lightly, speak softly, 
 
 For hallowed the hours 
 Our hearts hold commune through 
 
 The language of Flowers. 
 "With heroes, now taking 
 
 Their furlough of rest 
 From the battles of Time, 
 
 At their Chieftain's behest. 
 
 A place for the Mother 
 
 She bendeth beneath 
 The weight of her love ; 
 
 There's dew on her wreath. 
 The Myrtle * is sacred 
 
 She leaves with us here, 
 Exhaling to heaven 
 
 Her words in each tear I 
 
 And the Father draws nigh, 
 
 His heart at the helm, 
 He crowns his young sailor 
 
 With Cypress t and Elm. J 
 The one tells of sorrow, 
 
 His cloud o'er life's sea ; 
 While the patriot's pride 
 
 The Elm whisp'reth free. 
 
 The Brother with Ivy 
 
 With Balm | and with Bay T 
 Composeth the lyric 
 
 He singeth to-day. 
 
 * Myrtle Enduring Love. Joy Fraternal Love. 
 
 f Cypress Mourning. | Balm Sympathy. 
 
 j American Elin Patriotism. ^[ Sweet Bay Reward of Merit
 
 218 MEMORIAL CEEEMON1E8 
 
 As the sweet flower rhythm 
 
 Is caught by the air, 
 The wind-harps are breathing, 
 
 " God holds him in care." 
 
 The Sister with Snow-Drops,* 
 
 And Violets f blue, 
 Conveys to her brother 
 
 Her greeting anew. 
 The hope of reunion 
 
 She cultures on earth, 
 Through her faith in life's germ, 
 
 Immortal at birth. 
 
 We pause we are silent ; 
 
 The Widow kneels there, 
 By the branches of Yew J 
 
 She planted with prayer. 
 On her breast there's a Flower 
 
 Pervading the sense 
 With its perfume of power 
 
 It calleth her hence, 
 To the home of her youth, 
 
 And mem'ry her part 
 Is playing again in 
 
 Her harmonized heart. 
 
 God's angels, the Children, 
 
 His flowers of Spring, 
 Their Daisies || and Lilies 1T 
 
 In cheerfulness bring. 
 No tribute more grateful 
 
 To-day has been given 
 Incense of innocence 
 
 Rising to heaven ! 
 
 In the beauty of Youth, 
 
 With Cyclamen ** crown, 
 Her arms filled with Roses,tf 
 
 The Maiden kneels down, 
 With her heart in her hands, 
 
 She is looking above, 
 And we see that life's fragrance 
 
 Ascends with her love ! 
 
 Hush ! filling the air is 
 
 The voice of our Braves ; 
 Fellow-comrades, we're here, 
 
 We salute o'er your graves ; 
 And the arms that we use 
 
 Are charged by the heart ; 
 They recall the sad scenes 
 
 Wherein we had part. 
 
 Snow-Drop Hope. || Daisy Cheerfulness. 
 
 Violet, blue Faith. [[" Lily Innocence. 
 
 Yew Grief. ** Cyclamen Diffidence. 
 
 Flower Clematis. ff Rose Love.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 219 
 
 Bring the Palm * for our victors ! 
 
 Death's battle is o'er ; 
 Our Advance will await us 
 
 They watch for our Corps. 
 
 We're waiting these passing 
 
 Have earlier claim ; 
 We're waiting to offer 
 
 The flower of Fame 1 
 
 No strangers are near us 
 
 We all are the friends 
 Of the heroes departed 
 
 We owe them amends. 
 
 Bring hither the Laurel,t 
 
 Enwwreath it with care, 
 And hallow each leaf 
 
 With the glory of prayer. 
 
 Bend the knee and the heart 
 
 At this harmonized hour, 
 For the Spirit of God 
 
 Descends on each Flower. C. L. P. 8. 
 
 Rev. Calvin Lincoln invoked the Divine blessing, after 
 which Rev. Mr. Tilson spoke of the families, and characters of 
 some of the departed. These services were then brought to a 
 close. 
 
 During the forenoon, detachments were sent to the High 
 street Cemetery, and flowers placed over the remains of Sewell 
 Pugslev and Hollis Hersey. Also at Liberty Plain Cemetery, 
 where lie interred the bodies of Albert G. Wilder and Albert S. 
 Haynes, of the 39th Massachusetts Volunteers. A detachment 
 also visited North Cohasset, placing flowers over the graves of 
 Daniel L. Beal, 32d Massachusetts Volunteers, and John Man- 
 uel, Jr., 1st Battalion Heavy Artillery. 
 
 Here the pastor of the village made some very appropriate 
 remarks, and, with a large number of his people, joined with 
 the detachment in honoring the memory of these fallen patriots, 
 who enlisted in the service and bore its hardships and privations 
 that the nation might be saved from dissolution. 
 
 A.T WEYMOUTH, MASS. 
 
 Post 40, G. A. R., of Xorth "Weymouth, assumed the duty of 
 decorating the graves of the departed soldiers with floral offer- 
 ings, and faithfully and becomingly fulfilled their trust. The 
 sky was somewhat lowering, but, notwithstanding this unfavor- 
 able indication of bad weather, a good number of the coni- 
 
 * Palm Victory. f Laurel Glory.
 
 220 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 mand, with the children of the public schools, and citizens, 
 formed in procession at the headquarters, and marched to the 
 Old North Cemetery. Before the line of inarch was taken up, 
 a delegation of soldiers' widows, seven in number, escorted by 
 Mr. J. Ford, approached the column, and through their leader, 
 Mrs. Starbuck, presented a neat American flag to the Post, with 
 the following address : 
 
 ME. COMMANDER AND SOLDIERS or POST JS"o. 40, G. A. R. : 
 Before us is our national emblem, the " Stars and Stripes." 
 They speak to us with many tongues of sorrow and of joy. In 
 the days when you bore it on the field of conflict, when our 
 brave ones fell one by one, when sudden grief had smote our 
 hearts, and our eyes fell on its drooping folds, we saw in it the 
 sadness of death, the unutterable woe of bereavement. When 
 your arms had succeeded and the free winds tossed its folds 
 above, we saw victory written on our banner, and the sunlight of 
 hope glisten from every star. To you, members of Post 4:0, we 
 present this flag, as widows and mothers of those who have 
 joined that invisible Grand Army of the Republic who were 
 once comrades with you. In yonr hands may it ever symbolize 
 those holy principles which only are eternal. Plant its staff 
 firm and high above the flags of error, where the sun of truth 
 may gild its folds, and the stars of heaven in darkest night bap- 
 tize our star with purity and love. 
 
 Though taken completely by surprise at this unexpected 
 offering, the commander of Post 40, Gen. B. F. Pratt, made a 
 fitting reply, paying a tribute to the unwearied and self-sacrific- 
 ing labors of the heroic women of our country during the Re- 
 bellion. The march was then commenced, and on arrival at the 
 Cemetery, prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Emery, followed 
 with remarks by Rev. Mr. Rockwood, the remarks of the rev- 
 erend gentleman being prefaced with a short address by the 
 commander, recounting the circumstances which had called the 
 assembly together. The officer of the guard then stepped from 
 the ranks, and as the color-bearer waved the flag over the grave 
 of each soldier, the floral offerings were deposited by them. 
 
 The command then proceeded to the Landing Cemeteries in 
 carriages, where prayer was offered by Rev. G. Cole ; thence to 
 South Weymoutn, where Revs. Messrs. Hayes and Hewett 
 offered prayer, and continued to East Weymouth, where a large 
 gathering of people had assembled. Prayer was offered by 
 Rev. Mr. "Waldron, and about 8 o'clock the ceremonies were 
 closed by singing " America." In all, forty-six graves were 
 visited, as follows :
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 221 
 
 SOLDIERS' GRAVES VISITED MAT 30th, 1868, BT POST 40, G. A. B. 
 
 NORTH WEYMOUTH CEMETERY. William Pike, Ira W. Bragg, 
 Chas. B. Blanchard, Eugene Kimball, T. B. Gushing, Willard 
 Pratt, Win. A. Bail, Leonard F.Pratt, Chas.E. Gannett, Henry 
 Ritchie, George Starbuck, S. Lewis French, Frank Tirrell, 
 Daniel D. Hersey, Benj. F. Pratt, 3d, Joseph T. Dame, James 
 Pratt 17 
 
 WEYMOUTH LANDING CEMETERIES. George Smalley, Fred J. 
 Gammons, Fred T. Bicknell, A. J. Baker, L. V. Bourne, F. A. 
 Wallace, Joshua Day, Zack Damon, Abram Hobart, Geo. H. 
 Cooledge. 10 
 
 SODTH WEYMOUTH CEMETERIES. Edward L. Thomas, (Main 
 St.), J. G. Jones, (Main St.), D. Newcomb, (Main St.), Boyle D. 
 Hill, (Main St.), O. B. Staekpole, (Pond St.), G. O. Orcutt, 
 (Pond St.), W. A. Holbrook, (Union St.), John F. Ayres, (Union 
 St.) 8 
 
 PLEASANT ST. CEMETERY. Daniel F. Rogers, Adnab G. 
 Leach, Nathan Weeks. 3 
 
 EAST WEYMOUTH CEMETERY' David B. Burrell, M. J. Har- 
 rington, A. C. Hayden, Henry Perry, Win. Goodwin, S. C. 
 Taylor, Geo. R. Healey, Irving J. Totman. 8 
 
 North Weyinouth, 17 ; Weymouth, 10 ; South Weymouth, 
 8 ; Pleasant St. Cemetery, 3 ; East Weymouth, 8. Total, 46. 
 
 BEV. SAMUEL L. ROCKWOOD's ADDRESS. 
 
 FELLOW-CITIZENS : You have now heard from the Com- 
 mander of Post No. 40 of G. A. R. the order to the members 
 of that patriotic organization, and the recommendation to us all 
 to assemble to-day and visit the graves of all our beloved 
 soldiers who have died in the defence of their country in quel- 
 ling the rebellion against the best human government on earth. 
 In compliance, we propose to visit the grave of every one of our 
 fallen heroes of this late war whose remains sleep in this the 
 oldest cemetery of our State save one, and after this, those in 
 each of the other several cemeteries in our town. We do not 
 propose by these ceremonies to consecrate these graves ; this has 
 already been done by the heroic deeds of those who here sleep, 
 and in their dying for the country loved. But hereby we would 
 consecrate ourselves anew to our country and the cause of 
 liberty. With prayer and praise to Almighty God ; with martial 
 music and the waving of our country's flag (dear and sacred as 
 such, but this one made doubly so to you, just presented to you 
 by the widows of some of these fellow-soldiers with solemn 
 charge), over these graves, and strewing with the sweetest and
 
 222 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 fairest flowers we could gather from our conservatories, our 
 houses, and our gardens, and the fresh wild flowers from our 
 fields, woods, and sunny glens. This scene is affecting, this 
 mu^ic is thrilling, and these flowers are beautiful; but if we 
 except true piety to God, there is nothing on earth more touch- 
 ing, more valuable, more beautiful than true patriotism, that 
 love of country which bore these loved ones to their glorious 
 death. We meet to perform a duty sanctioned by religion, 
 reason, and justice. It has been the spontaneous impulse of the 
 human heart in all ages, to reverence and honor those who have 
 periled life and all, and more especially those who have sacri- 
 ficed their lives for the good of others. In the present instance, 
 the union of our country preserved, the rebellion crushed, 
 slavery, the cause of the rebellion, forever abolished, our land 
 made free indeed, we are warranted in remembering and hon- 
 oring our dead, those who died for this great and glorious 
 object. We come not to flatter pride by dropping the tear, and 
 laying gently these sweet flowers upon the graves of high 
 officers alone, but to honor alike all all who loved and died for 
 their country ; the humblest private soldier shall have his due, 
 and soon we will record alike all their names on the monument 
 we shall rear, yonder. So, to-day, we will pay our tribute of 
 respect to our true hero-soldiers who went to the field of battle 
 and to death, without the ambition of power, the hope of promo- 
 tion, or the temptation of gain, but simply from a sense of 
 patriotic duty. In honoring such we confer no benefits on 
 them, but we secure untold good to ourselves. And, now, may 
 God's blessing be upon us in the discharge of these solemn and 
 impressive services. 
 
 AT GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 The graves in all the cemeteries in this town and Rock- 
 port, except Oak Grove, were decorated in the forenoon of May 
 30, by deputies from the G. A. R., Post 45, who faithfully per- 
 formed the duties assigned them. 
 
 In the afternoon the services at Oak Grove took place. The 
 members of the Post, numbering about seventy men, together 
 with the Band of Hope, comprising some one hundred and fifty 
 children, formed in procession, under the marshalship of Col. 
 Andrew Elwell, and accompanied by the Cornet Band, proceed- 
 ed over the route previously announced, to the cemetery. The 
 members of the G. A. R. wore rosettes of red, white and blue 
 ribbon, and carried handsome wreaths and bouquets, as did also 
 the children, and the floral display was the finest ever witnessed 
 on our streets. Minute guns were fired during the march, and
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 
 
 also at the cemetery while the graves were being decorated. 
 Several flags were also displayed at half mast about town. 
 
 On arriving at the cemetery, the procession marched in, and 
 the members of the Post proceeded to the several graves, which 
 they profusely decorated, the band playing a dirge, rendering 
 the scene a most impressive one. There was a very large num- 
 ber of spectators present, probably the largest that ever assem- 
 bled within these grounds. 
 
 After every grave had been visited, the procession marched 
 to the grove, where exercises were held, consisting of singing by 
 the Band of Hope ; prayer and reading of Scriptures, by the 
 Chaplain of the Post, Dr.* J. F. Dyer; and an address by Capt 
 Fitz J. Babson, Commander of the Post. 
 
 OAPT. BABSON'B ADDRESS. 
 
 COMRADES AND FRIENDS : In accordance with General Orders 
 from the Commander of the G. A. R., we have to-day decorated 
 the graves of our fallen comrades with evergreens and flowers. 
 None have been neglected or forgotten, for in the ranks ot 
 our glorious dead we recognize those traits of character which 
 prompted the sacrifice they have made for our country, for 
 humanity and for the oppressed of the world. It is peculiar- 
 ly fitting that from oor hands this tribute should ( come. We 
 l^now how they died and for what they died. No man who 
 has been baptized in the fire of the rebellion can ever forget the 
 patient suffering, the heroic self-denial and generous fortitude 
 of the men whom we have this day remembered with garlands 
 and praise ; and it is a pleasant thought that throughout the 
 length and breadth of our land the comrades of the Grand 
 Army are at this moment engaged in the same patriotic duty. 
 
 It is fitting also that the children should come with us to- 
 day, with their hymns and wreaths of flowers, for them more 
 than for all others has the sacrifice been made. To save them 
 from the horrors and barbarism of war, to transmit unimpaired 
 the glorious heritage of the fathers, to vindicate the principles 
 of liberty and equality for all men, we have fought and con- 
 quered, and to the enjoyment of a government based upon the 
 eternal principles of truth and justice we invite the children 
 to-day. Let them not forget to whom they owe this debt of 
 gratitude, but may each returning spring see them renew with 
 grateful offerings this simple tribute to the fallen brave. 
 
 It is fitting also that the citizens should meet with us around 
 the graves of our comrades. "They have seen them go forth 
 blessed with health, strong in the pride of youth and fearless in 
 the cause of right. They have cheered them on with shouts of
 
 224 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 praise and promise of reward. They have watched their course 
 and know that they have done their duty nobly. They have 
 seen many carried to their last resting-place, while many, many 
 others sleep in their nameless graves. Shall the memory of 
 their deeds die with them? No! The soldier has redeemed 
 the country, and the citizens will redeem their pledge. The 
 widows and orphans, the maimed and disabled, must ever be a 
 sacred trust, while the example of our fallen ones shall be cher- 
 ished as the strongest pledge of the stability of the people's 
 government. 
 
 To the relatives and near friends of our comrades we offer 
 at this time our heartfelt sympathy, knowing the loss they have 
 sustained is great ; for when brave men die many are called to 
 weep. The knowledge that they have fallen in the line of their 
 duty, fighting in the noblest cause men ever were called upon 
 to sustain, carrying with them to their graves the respect and 
 admiration of their comrades, will in some degree allay the 
 bitter grief. With us their memories will ever be green, as 
 we shall annually gather around their graves to remember 
 their virtues and seek to emulate their examples. 
 
 To the ladies and members of the Christian and Sanitary 
 Commissions we return our sincere thanks. Many a soldier 
 unknown to, you has blessed you. Much suffering has been re- 
 lieved by your kind care. Without reward, without ambition, 
 or any of those incentives so highly prized by men, you have 
 toiled and labored for our brave boys, purely from the native 
 kindness of your own hearts. The soldier cannot thank you 
 materially, but he has fought, suffered and died. The cause 
 has triumphed, and with you he is proud to divide his honors. 
 
 And now, Comrades of the Grand Army, although we have 
 come to this place as mourners, although we remember the 
 multitudes of our comrades who lie unrecognized along the line 
 of every battle-field, where no hand shall strew flowers over 
 them save the gentle hand of Him who letteth not a sparrow 
 fall without His notice, with all their memories fresh upon us, 
 still we feel the work has not been in vain. The cause for which 
 we contended has triumphed. The glorious arch of our Gov- 
 ernment stands firm upon the everlasting pillars of truth and 
 justice, with each stone cemented by the blood of our martyred 
 ones. The foot of the slave finds no resting-place on our broad 
 domain of freedom. Education is free for all, and the school- 
 house opens wide its doors to rich and poor alike. Manhood is 
 the test of citizenship, and God's image is everywhere recog- 
 nized as God's child. For this our heroes fought, and for this 
 they died.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 225 
 
 No longer will Americans look to Greece or Rome for ex- 
 amples of heroism and patriotism. There is not a village or 
 hamlet within the lines of the loyal States that cannot produce 
 characters worthy of the best and bravest of ancient times ; and 
 not only in individuals, but in a proud nationality, has this been 
 developed. We are indeed a nation ! The flag of our country 
 symbolizes the power of forty millions of people, strong in the 
 consciousness of duty to be done, proud in the realization of 
 truth and right vindicated. And this stupendous fabric of gov- 
 ernment, this beautiful temple of Liberty, has for its foundations 
 the simple virtues of the people. The men whom we have this 
 day honored by floral offerings were not peculiarly educated or 
 fitted for a military life ; not one of them by profession was a 
 soldier ; but they had been taught at their mother's knee that 
 truth was a Divine attribute, and the foundation of every virtue. 
 They had learned in our schools that patriotism and public vir- 
 tue were devotion to country and loyalty to the Government. 
 They had learned in our churches that self-sacrifice was the true 
 foundation of a Christian life. From these principles, the 
 springs of New England civilization, they imbibed their en- 
 thusiasm. Do we wonder that these men shrunk not from the 
 storm of battle ? No. They would not have accepted life with 
 a coward's name. Not a mother, dearly as she might love her 
 sou not a wife, sad and lonely as her house now is not a child 
 deprived forever of paternal comfort and care, would ask for 
 their life, burdened with disgrace. The proudest legacy a sol- 
 dier leaves is the inheritance of his honor and the glory of his 
 deeds. To you fathers and mothers, wives and children, comes 
 this benediction of glory. In the pride of your approbation he 
 stood, fought, and died. 
 
 Thus has it been, comrades and friends, throughout the war. 
 From whatever section our comrades have come, the sweet, 
 gentle influence of home has strengthened and sustained our 
 spirits, kept our feet to the front, and our hands to the work. 
 And when the Government ceases to respect the honor and 
 purity of our homes, then must the people look to their liberties, 
 for the stream must never rise above its source. 
 
 Comrades, the ceremonies of the day are nearly closed ; we 
 are about to depart from this beautiful spot consecrated by love 
 and affection to the memory of those who sleep beneath its sod ; 
 let not the lesson of this hour be lost upon us. We have strewn 
 flowers over the forms of our comrades. Why are we not num- 
 bered with them ? In the providence of God, death has passed 
 us by. For some purp9se we are spared. Is it not that we 
 may witness the universal homage paid to patriotic virtue, and 
 15
 
 226 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 be thereby strengthened to a still higher and nobler performance 
 of our duty ? JYom every land where liberty seeks to know 
 her children, come the tidings of responsive efforts in her be- 
 half. The example of our heroes, the success of their efforts, 
 has thrilled the heart of every one who bows beneath the op- 
 pressor's rod. American liberty is what the world demands. 
 Our duty is to so fashion it as to fully meet this universal cry 
 to so perform our duties that our comrades' deaths and our own 
 efforts shall not have been in vain, and that our children shall 
 not be obliged to renew the fight we have so fairly won. And 
 when the last taps shall strike for us, and the light of life be 
 extinguished, may we drop asleep, feeling assured that the 
 morning's reveille shall send the old flag to the truck, where 
 the rays of the rising sun shall sweetly welcome it as the em- 
 blem of " Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and insepa- 
 rable." 
 
 At the close of the address the children sang again, after 
 which the procession formed and marched to the vacant lot near 
 the entrance of the cemetery, which was dedicated to the mem- 
 ory of those fallen in battle who now lie in unknown graves. 
 The Stars and Stripes floated over the spot, and on the halting 
 of the procession, Captain Babson made a brief address, sub- 
 stantially as follows : 
 
 COMRADES : It was the custom in ancient Greece to gather 
 up the remains of those who fell in defence of the nation, and 
 carry them in richly decorated cars through the public streets, 
 accompanied by their comrades and the people. In the midst 
 of the procession was a car more highly decorated than the rest, 
 yet containing nothing. This was in commemoration of those 
 whose remains could not be obtained, who, buried immediately 
 after the strife, or on the hasty march or retreat, could never be 
 sought out or recognized. 
 
 In imitation of this ancient custom we have assembled 
 around this spot surmounted by the country's flag, to strew this 
 ground with flowers in honor of those of our comrades who 
 sleep unknown by every battle-field, hospital, and prison-pen of 
 the South. Spirits of our departed comrades, accept this offer- 
 ing and the service of this day as a renewal of our love, our 
 gratitude, our esteem ! 
 
 At the conclusion of the remarks the spot was strewn with 
 flowers, and the band played a dirge. It was one of the most 
 affecting scenes of the occasion, and a fitting tribute to the 
 memory of our fallen heroes now slumbering in unknown 
 graves. 
 
 At the conclusion of the services at Oak Grove, the mem-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 227 
 
 bers of the Post inarched to the depot and took the 5 o'clock 
 train fur Manchester, where they were joined by some of the 
 citizens, and marched to the different cemeteries, decorating iu 
 all fifteen graves. 
 
 The following are the names of the soldiers buried in Man- 
 chester whose graves were decorated with flowers : 
 
 Rosed ale Cemetery : Samuel Hooper, George Andrews, 
 George Stanley, John Harris, Isaac Baker, William Twiss. 
 
 Old Cemetery : Stephen Ferguson, Samuel Pert, Edward 
 Wells, John Leach, Benjamin Farrow, George Lufkin. 
 
 Union Cemetery : Benjamin Allen, Joseph Morgan, Frank 
 Rowe. 
 
 AT AMHERST, MASS. 
 
 Post No. 36, Department of Massachusetts, G. A. R., L. J. 
 Winslow, Commander, successfully carried out General Logan's 
 order for the decoration of the soldiers' graves at Amherst. In 
 the absence of their chaplain, Rev. J. L Jenkins accompanied 
 them to the various cemeteries. Visiting first the cemetery at 
 South Amlierst, where are the graves of Edward Manley, 
 George Dickinson, Morrison Barton, Benjamin Allen, Charles 
 E. Smith, and Porter Nutting, they were joined by the friends 
 of the deceased soldiers, and many other citizens. The exercises 
 were, a prayer by Rev. Mr. Jenkins ; a quartette sang an appro- 
 priate piece, " Mourn for the Fallen ; members of Post 36, 
 formed as a military company, preceded by martial music with 
 drums muffled, and followed by the citizens, marched solemnly 
 in slow time past each grave, the commander at the same time 
 announcing the name of the comrade buried there, and the 
 soldiers and others placing upon the graves wreaths and bou- 
 quets of flowers. After all of the graves had been thus visited, 
 the company was again halted, and the benediction pronounced. 
 
 The next cemetery visited was at North Amherst, where a 
 large number of people had gathered to take part in the exer- 
 cises, and had brought with them a great quantity of flowers. 
 There are here eleven soldiers' graves, viz. : Norman Roberts, 
 Fred. Clapp, Arthur Sears, Fred. Crocker, Edwin Ball, H. C. 
 Plumb, Charles Smith, Charles Baker, Edward Prouty, Cephas 
 Bolio, and Edward Baxter Dickinson. Ten other soldiers from 
 North Amherst were killed, or died in service, whose bodies 
 were never brought home. After the graves had all been visit- 
 ed, Rev. Mr. Herrick made a few remarks well suited to the 
 occasion. 
 
 At half-past 1 o'clock the company was at North Hadley, 
 and, instead of driving directly to the cemetery, by request,
 
 228 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 formed near the flagstaff and marched up, where they were 
 joined by the schools and many of the citizens. A gentle rain 
 was falling while here, but it did not interfere with tiie ceremo- 
 nies. The soldiers' graves here are Henry Fales, Geo. A. Boice, 
 Fred. K. Russell, and Dwight Marsh, each of which was literally 
 covered with flowers. 
 
 The Plainville Cemetery was next visited, at the entrance of 
 which had been placed a banner, inscribed, " In Memory of 
 Plainville Fallen Brave." Not a large number of people were 
 gathered here, but the exercises were much the same as at the 
 other places. Rolin and Silas Cowles, brothers, and both killed 
 in battle or died from their wounds, are the only soldiers' graves 
 in the cemetery. 
 
 At a quarter past 3 o'clock the party arrived in Amherst, 
 formed on the Common, and marched in slow time to the ceme- 
 tery, where they were joined by a large number of the people. 
 The opening exercises were nearly the same here as at each of 
 the other places visited. There are here twelve soldiers' graves, 
 viz. : George E. Cook, George Fitch, Frazier A. Stearns, Samuel 
 C. "White, Marshall Cowles, Charles B. Adams, Sylvester II. 
 Adams, Lyman W. Skinner, Chas. C. Smith, John Thompson, 
 Spencer Church, and Ezra Kelsey. After flowers had been 
 strewn upon all of these graves, appropriate remarks were made 
 by Rev. Mr. Jenkins, Dr. Parker, and Prof. J. H. Seelye, after 
 which all joined in singing two verses of the National Hymn, 
 " America." Mr. Jenkins pronounced the benediction, and the 
 members of Post 36 marched to their rooms in the Amherst 
 House. The whole number of soldiers' graves visited and 
 strewn with flowers during the day was thirty-five. 
 
 RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO POST 36, G. A. B., MAY 30, 1868. 
 
 Nature is mingling her tears with ours, 
 
 As we deck our heroes' graves with flowers ; 
 
 They perished nobly in battle strife, 
 
 And welcomed death, to give the nation life. 
 
 In churchyard, and on forgotten plain, 
 
 'Mid bursted shell, where bullets fell like rain, 
 
 Or horsemen fierce at the bugle's blare 
 
 In thunder charged on the steel-girt square. 
 
 They lie in their last sleep, 'neath the sod ; 
 And we resigned them, in our grief, to God. 
 Honor to them ! And as the years go round, 
 "With tear-dewed flowers bestrew each sacred mound.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 229 
 
 AT UXBKIDGE, MASS. 
 
 Report of Post 25, G. A. JR., Uxbridge, Mass., of proceed- 
 ings on the 30th May, 1868. 
 
 We raised l>v subscription among the citizens of the town 
 about eighty dollars ($80) to pay the expenses of a Band and 
 other necessary expenses outside the Post ; as our Post is email 
 we did not feel like paying for a Band of music, but if the citi- 
 zens were willing to pay for it, we would hear the other expenses, 
 which they seemed perfectly willing to do, by their liberal 
 subscriptions. 
 
 We procured the services of the Slatersville Brass Baud. 
 The arrangements or programme for the day, were made by a 
 committee appointed by the Post, but owing to the lateness of 
 the hour, it was not all carried out. Speeches were omitted. 
 
 The Post met at their hall, at four o'clock, which with the 
 band, formed, and marched to the Common, where the citizens, 
 schools, &c., were assembled to the number of about five hun- 
 dred, were formed in procession, comrade L. B. Willard, Mar- 
 shal ; thus marched to the cemetery, preceded by the band and 
 Post. 
 
 On arriving at the cemetery, a prayer was offered, by the 
 Rev. Mr. Barbour, after which, we proceeded to decorate the 
 graves of thirteen of our fallen comrades. Each grave was 
 marked by a miniature flag. Six young ladies were chosen to 
 deposit a wreath and cross on each grave, after which comrades 
 and citizens scattered flowers on each grave. A record, or 
 slight sketch of each deceased soldier was read at the grave. 
 After decorating the graves, a hollow square, as near as possi- 
 ble was formed, and a memorial sketch was read by G. W. 
 Hobbs, Esq., in memory of those departed comrades not buried 
 here. 
 
 The names of those buried here, are as follows : 
 
 Walter H. Judson, 2d Lieut. Co. C, 4th Reg't. Mass. Yol. ; 
 James Taft, 2d Lieut. Co. H, 15th Reg't. Mass. Vol. ; Henry 
 H. Legg, Priv. Co. H, 25th Reg't. Mass. Yol. ; Hezekiah Hall, 
 Priv. Co. I, 36th Reg't. Mass. Vol. ; Wm. H. Seagraves, Capt. 
 Co. K, 30th Reg't.; U. S. C. T. ; R. M. Sabine. Priv. 
 Co. G, 42d Reg't. Mass. Yol. ; Chas. H. Howard, Priv. Co. K, 
 15th Reg't. Mass. Yol. ; Benj. F. Hall, Priv. Co. I, 36th Reg't. 
 Mass. Yol. ; Henry M. Engley, Priv. Co. H, 15th Reg't. Mass. 
 Yol. ; Abner Haskell, Private 5th Regiment R. I. Yol. ; 
 Prentiss M. Whiting. Capt. Co. A, 1st Reg't. Mass. Yol. ; L. 
 W. Murdock, Priv. Co. G, 42d Reg't. Mass. Yol. ; James F. 
 Russel, Priv. Co. A, 30th Reg't. Mass. Yol. 
 
 Your truly, A. A. SHERMAN, 
 
 P. C. Post 25, G. A. R.
 
 230 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 AT ANDOVER, MASS. 
 
 The services at this place commenced by the teachers and 
 pupils of Abbott Female Academy, and, seconded by the stu- 
 dents of the Seminary, and of Phillips Academy, was quite a 
 success. The public services in the chapel of the Theological 
 Seminary consisted of singing national songs, prayer by Profes- 
 -ur Thayer, who was chaplain of the 40th Mass. Regiment, and 
 reading of patriotic selections of poetry by Mr. J. W. Churchill, 
 of the Seminary. A procession of four or five hundred was 
 formed, headed by twelve or fifteen students of the Seminary 
 and Academy who had served in the war. Mr. L. Bradley, Jr., 
 of the Academy, who belonged to the 1st Mass. Heavy Artillery, 
 took the lead, carrying the banner presented to the Andover 
 Company by the students of Phillips Academy ; the stars and 
 stripes were also borne by Mr. John P. Studely, of the Acade- 
 my, who was a member of the 20th Conn. Regiment, and ac- 
 companied Sherman to the sea, and Mr. James H. Giddings, 
 who belonged to the 2d Mass. Cavalry. The procession visited 
 the cemeteries of the Hill, of the South Parish, and the Episco- 
 pal Society, scattering flowers upon the graves of all buried 
 therein, who were known to bear arms in the war. 
 
 AT FITCHBURG, MASS. 
 
 A large procession formed at the Town Hall, and marched, 
 headed by the Fitchburg Cornet Band, to Laurel Hill Cemetery, 
 where the ceremonies of the day were performed. A large num- 
 ber of people awaited the arrival of the procession at the burial 
 ground. 
 
 The spot on which the procession halted w r as near the sol- 
 diers' monument on the brow of the hill, a beautiful height 
 overlooking the village and river below. The ceremonies were 
 conducted by Post No. 19, G. A. R., and consisted of the sing- 
 ing of an original hymn ; prayer by Rev. H. L. Jones, of 
 Christ's Church, (Episcopal) ; hymn " There is a tear for all 
 that die ; " address by Col. E. P. Loring, and dirge by the band. 
 
 AT GKOTON JUNCTION. 
 
 The citizens of Groton Junction met at one o'clock p. H., at 
 Union Hall, where a long procession was formed under the 
 direction of Surgeon J. Q. A. McCallister, M. D., chief marshal. 
 
 The procession was headed by the Groton Junction Band. 
 Next in the line were the beautiful memorials and decorations, 
 followed by three young ladies, appropriately dressed, represent-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 231 
 
 ing the nation and the States, then the public schools, committee 
 of arrangements, and relatives of deceased soldiers and sailors 
 who died in the war the reverend clergy and invited guests, 
 numerous citizens and others, the line ending with a large 
 number of carriages. 
 
 The procession marched to the Catholic Cemetery, where 
 deeply interesting services were held, and flowers and wreaths 
 deposited upon the graves of the Union dead. 
 
 Leaving here the procession marched to the other cemetery, 
 where a floral tribute was paid to the memory of the soldiers 
 " sleeping in glory there.'' 
 
 At the cemeteries brief addresses were made by Rev. Crawford 
 Nightingale, Dr. Hinds, and Abel Prescott, Esq. The prayer 
 was offered by Rev. Mr. Phillips. 
 
 Thirteen from this village, in Groton, fell in the war, some 
 of whom were not buried here. Appropriate services were held 
 in their behalf. The temporary monument gotten up for them 
 was covered with flowers. 
 
 AT WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 May 30, 1868, was well observed in Waltham as Soldiers' 
 Memorial Day. In obedience to General Orders No. 13, pro- 
 mulgated to all the Posts of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
 Post 29 of this place made due preparation, and well performed 
 its duty. On the same day the soldiers' monument was dedi- 
 cated. These services were considered not only as appropriate 
 to, but as part of the exercises of the " flower day." During the 
 early morning the heavy clouds hung low, and wept as if in 
 memory of the fallen brave ; later the clouds passed by, the sun 
 shone in beauty, telling of that sunlight that never fades, that 
 land where flowers immortal bloom, that immortality known by 
 the patriot martyr soldier. The call issued by the Commander 
 of the Post for flowers was promptly and generously answered ; 
 bouquets, wreaths, crosses, wild flowers in abundance, with the 
 most rare exotics, were sent in in profusion, here and there a 
 bouquet or wreath bearing the name of some fallen soldier friend, 
 but generally sent for the common cause to decorate the graves 
 of those who had fallen in the war, or who returning had since 
 passed away. The only emulation seemed to be who should 
 most aid the returned soldiers in their work of love. 
 
 At eight o'clock the procession was formed at the Post Head- 
 quarters, consisting of members of the Post, other returned 
 soldiers and sailors, pupils of the public schools with their 
 teachers, citizens generally, accompanied by a full band, (Hall's,
 
 232 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 of Boston). Later in the day the procession was augmented by 
 the addition of Waltharn Royal Arch Chapter, Monitor, and 
 Isaac Parker Lodges of Free and Accepted Masons all in fall 
 regalia, the tire department, literary associations, and citizens. 
 
 The line of march was first taken to the old burial-ground 
 where sleep eight fellow-soldiers. Their graves were profusely 
 covered with flowers in the presence of a large concourse of 
 spectators. The line of march resumed the procession took its 
 way to the Catholic Cemetery, where, in the icy halls of death, 
 repose seven of those who gave life willingly that their adopted 
 country might be redeemed from foul rebellion's curse. The 
 graves decorated, the following words were sung by the pupils 
 of the public schools in a feeling and effective manner : 
 
 OH! WBAP THB FLAG AROUND MB, BOYS. 
 
 0, wrap the flag around me, boys, 
 
 To die were far more sweet, 
 With Freedom's starry emblem, boys, 
 
 To be my winding sheet ; 
 In life I lov'd to see it wave, 
 
 And follow where it led, 
 And now my eyes grow dim, my hands 
 
 "Would clasp its last bright shred. 
 Chorus : Then wrap the flag, &c. 
 
 O, I had thought to greet you, boys, 
 
 On many a well-won field, 
 "When to our starry banner, boys, 
 
 The trait'rous foe should yield ; 
 But now, alas 1 I am denied 
 
 My dearest earthly prayer, 
 You'll follow, and you'll meet the foe, 
 
 But I shall not be there. 
 Yet wrap the flag, &c. 
 
 But tho' my body moulder, boy?, 
 
 My spirit will be free, 
 And every comrade's honor, boys, 
 
 Will still be dear to me. 
 There in the thick and bloody fight, 
 
 Ne'er let your ardor lag, 
 For I'll be there, still hov'ring near, 
 
 Above the dear old flag. 
 So wrap the flag, &c. 
 
 Again the line was formed and the procession continued on 
 its way to the New or Mt. Feake Cemetery. Here are the 
 graves of sixteen comrades ; here, as was intended, the special 
 decoration services took place ; here reposes many a loved one 
 who went forth in young manhood's prime and returned to fill
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 233 
 
 a soldier's grave. The soldiers forming in front of the graves 
 of several of their comrades, the following words were sung by 
 the scholars : 
 
 THE VACANT CIIAIK. 
 
 "We shall meet, but we shall miss him, 
 
 There will he one vacant chair ; 
 We shall linger to caress him 
 
 While we breathe our evening prayer. 
 When a year ago we gathered, 
 
 Joy was in his mild blue eye, 
 But a golden cord is severed, 
 
 And our hopes in ruin lie. 
 
 At onr fire-side sad and lonely, 
 
 Often will the bosom swell 
 At remembrance of the story 
 
 How our noble soldier fell ; 
 How he strove to bear our banner 
 
 Thro' the thickest of the fight, 
 And uphold our country's honor, 
 
 In the strength of manhood's might. 
 
 True, they tell us wreaths of glory 
 
 Evermore will deck his brow, 
 But this soothes the anguish only 
 
 Sweeping o'er our heart-strings now. 
 Sleep, to-day ! O early fallen, 
 
 In thy green and narrow bed, 
 Dirges from the pine and cypress 
 
 Mingle with the tears we shed. 
 
 Eev. L. P. Frost then followed in appropriate and interest- 
 ing remarks, of which we give a brief outline. 
 
 ME. COMMANDER AND SOLDIERS : You have assembled to-day 
 in the various burial-places of our town, to remember by affec- 
 tionate tribute your companions of other days. We, your fel- 
 low-citizens, recall the dark hour when the war-cloud was seen 
 first rising from the Southern lands, when the first call was 
 issued for men soldiers, patriots to crush rebellion's power, 
 and to raise our country's flag, dishonored, despised, desecrated, 
 trodden in the dust by so many of our own countrymen, to its 
 old, proud, and honored position. 
 
 We remember how yon gathered round the old flag, and 
 offered your services for the war. . "We remember how, with 
 full ranks, with firm step, with God-like resolution, you started 
 for the seat of war. We remember the agony of the hour, 
 when on the first battle-field some of your number fell. We 
 remember the first soldier funeral ; the tolling bell, the draped 
 church, the words of consolation, the solemn requiem, and the 
 funeral march. * *
 
 234 MEMORIAL CEKEMONIES 
 
 You to-day remember those who went forth with you, your 
 companions in many a weary march, your companions on many 
 a tented and untenfed field, your companions on many a battle- 
 field, the companions of some of you in the prison-house, where 
 death rioted. 
 
 Beneath these and kindred mounds sleep the decaying forms 
 of those who went forth with as proud step as you. W here are 
 Banks, Miles, Rogers, the Browns, Sherman, Fairbanks, Baxter, 
 Rand, Smith, Durriage, and a host of others? They sleep the 
 sleep that knows no waking. Say rather, they know the life 
 that knows no death. They are not here, they have risen; 
 they tread the shore of a glorious immortality ; they will go to 
 war no more. 
 
 'Tis well to remember them this day, and cover their graves 
 with flowers, emblems of immortality. True, these flowers will 
 fade, will perish ; not so the flowers that form their chaplets, 
 that adorn their brows. Our country's future growth, and fu- 
 ture glory, will only add lustre to their deathless names. When- 
 ever and wherever our national banner is unfurled to the breeze, 
 it will add to the glory of their achievements. 
 
 It was a happy thought, by whomsoever originated, thus to 
 decorate the soldiers' graves. Let it become a perpetual cus- 
 tom. Come annually, when flowers are most abundant, and 
 drop a tear in kind remembrance as you thus decorate their 
 graves ; and as one by one you fall, let the survivors remember 
 each companion in arms. Come year by year, till there shall be 
 but one survivor, bending on his staff, the last of glory's legion. 
 And when the legion immortal is full on the other shore, a 
 willing country will place an unfading wreath on each soldier's 
 resting-place. 
 
 At the close of the address, the following hymn was sung by 
 the scholars : 
 
 SHALL WE GATHEE AT THE BTVEB. 
 
 Shall we gather at the river 
 
 Where bright angel feet have trod ; 
 With its crystal tide forever 
 
 Flowing by the throne of God? 
 Chorus : Yes, we'll gather at the river, 
 
 The beautiful, the beautiful river ; 
 Gather with the saints at the river 
 That flows by the throne of God. 
 
 On the margin of the river, 
 
 Washing up its silver spray, 
 We will walk and worship ever, 
 
 All the happy golden day. 
 Yes, we'll gather, &c.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' ' GRAVES. 235 
 
 Ere we reach the shining river, 
 
 Lay we every burden down; 
 Grace our spirits will deliver, 
 
 And provide a robe and crown. 
 Yes, we'll gather, <fec. 
 
 Soon we'll reach the silver river, 
 
 Soon our pilgrimage will cease; 
 Soon our happy hearts will quiver 
 
 With the melody of peace. 
 Yes, well gather, &c. 
 
 After which Rev. Mr. Frost offered the following prayer : 
 
 Almighty Parent, Supreme Architect and ruler of the uni- 
 verse, command thy blessing upon us at this time. As thou 
 didst prove thyself to be our fathers' God, so hast thou proved 
 thyself to be the God of their erring, wandering children. In 
 the day of darkness and peril thou wast with us. When the 
 strength of the strong was weakness, when the wisdom of the 
 wise was foolishness, when great and mighty men trembled and 
 quaked for fear, then thou didst prove thyself to be a God near at 
 hand, and not afar off. We thank thee that thou didst rule in 
 the hour of trial, and that the right triumphed. Bless thy 
 servants who to-day remember in love their fallen comrades. 
 Let their lives be precious in thy sight, we beseech thee. Let 
 them long live to see the prosperity of our country. He-unite, 
 we pray thee, the dissevered sisterhood of States, and let our 
 land long continue to be Emanuel's land, the Garden of the 
 Lord. Let the restored foundations of our Government be laid 
 deep in the principles of thy word, and in accordance with the 
 higher law of eternal truth. Again we ask thy blessing on 
 these returned soldiers, on our commonwealth, and on our 
 country. Bless us as a community in all the varied exercises 
 of this day, and in all the pursuits of life; and as one by one 
 these thy servants shall be called from the labors of earth, may 
 they be found worthy and well qualified, duly and truly pre- 
 pared for that rest which remaineth for the children of God. 
 We ask these and all needed blessings through thy Son, our 
 Saviour, to whom with thee and the Holy Spirit be praise ever- 
 more. Amen. 
 
 A chant was then sung by the members of the High School, 
 and the procession re-formed and marched back to the Post 
 headquarters, where it was dismissed for rest and refreshments. 
 In the afternoon, the procession was again formed, and after 
 marching through the principal streets of the town, entered a 
 large tent erected for the occasion, capable of holding eight 
 thousand persons. This was filled to overflowing, hundreds be-
 
 236 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 ing unable to gain admittance, when a series of the most 
 praiseworthy and impressive exercises took place. 
 
 BENJ. THOMAS, Post Corner. 
 G. F. FKOST, Post Adft. 
 
 AT WORCESTER, MASS. 
 
 The soldiers' graves in all the cemeteries of this city were 
 decorated by the soldiers of the Grand Array. In the afternoon 
 a procession was formed, consisting of the State Guards, High- 
 laud Cadets, Post 10 Grand Army, Gen. A. B. II. Sprague, 
 Grand Commander of the District of Massachusetts, and staff, 
 and Mayor Blake and members of the City Government. It 
 marched to Mechanics' Hall, where the memorial services were 
 held. Addresses were delivered by Major-Gen eral Devens, and 
 others. Governor Bullock, who was expected to address the 
 meeting, telegraphed his inability to be present, saying : " Ten- 
 der to all my sympathies in the solemn exercises of the day." 
 
 AT NANTUCKET, MASS. 
 
 Post No. 2 of the G. A. R. of this town organized, and duly 
 celebrated the occasion by the decoration of the graves of their 
 fallen comrades belonging to Nantucket. Early in the after- 
 noon of Saturday the soldiers, and a large number of the citi- 
 zens and friends, went to the Methodist church, where imposing 
 ceremonies were conducted in honor of the dead. 
 
 The vocal and instrumental exercises were of the choicest 
 kind in selection, and were sweetly and tenderly rendered. 
 " Beautiful Flowers," a solo and chorus, was very touching in 
 its spirit of remembrance ; there was the solemn chant, moving 
 the heart ; while the grand old air, " The Star-Spangled Ban- 
 ner," kindled in patriot breasts a new love for the old flag. 
 Very fitting selections from the Bible, with a most fervent 
 prayer, were sincerely and reverently offered by Rev. Thos. 
 Dawes (Unitarian), who kindly accepted the onerous duties, in 
 the absence of the beloved pastor, Rev. Mr. Starr, and Rev. 
 Mr. Hosmer (Cong.). The address to the soldiers was written' 
 and delivered by Arthur E. Jenks, of this town. The scene in 
 the church, during its delivery, was impressive. There was a 
 hush which whispered to each heart : " The Lord is in His holy 
 temple ; let all the earth keep silence before Him." There sat 
 men whose memories of conflict and triumph were known only 
 to themselves and to God. There drooped the old flag, fringed 
 with its clustering recollections of victory and unfading glory 
 a blazing rebuke to the heartless and ungrateful in humanity.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 237 
 
 The pulpit was prettily draped with mourning emblems, with a 
 beautiful cross, and with wreaths and bouquets of fragrant flow- 
 ers. 
 
 MR. JENKS' ADDRESS. 
 
 SOLDIERS OP THE GKAJSTD ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC : "With 
 prompt and respectful regard for the recommendation of your 
 Commander-in-Chief, you have assembled for the purpose of 
 inaugurating a custom which, in the expression of your General 
 Orders, " will preserve and strengthen those kind and fraternal 
 feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors, and 
 marines, who united to suppress the late Rebellion." 
 
 Such service, annually observed by surviving comrades-in- 
 arms, will lay the hand of sacred commemoration upon the 
 graves of heroes gone, above whose honored dust beautiful 
 flowers will breathe their aroma of memory, which shall be 
 your choicest peace-offering at the shrine of patriot valor ! 
 
 Appropriate, time-honored, even beautiful, this act of yours, 
 which to-day crowns a new era in your soldier-life, while it 
 strews the mounds of your brothers with the Spring's blushing 
 honors. " Flowers are the alphabet of angels," and their speech 
 transcends written language. Life, in all that is sweetest and 
 tenderest, is blessed when then the flowers speak. In early 
 time, we know, the temples of the worshippers were adorned 
 with flowers, and the saying, " Under the rose," was typical of 
 a plighted faith which the young bride held inviolate as the 
 order of the confessional. Flowers lay a more rare than tessel- 
 lated pavement for the feet of victorious veterans coming home 
 from the war. I have seen triumphal arches, and floral pavil- 
 ions, bearing on their fronts grander prophecy than the brazen 
 image of Apollo, scatter their white blossoms, and bend above 
 the conquering heroes, whose true swords, early drawn for 
 Liberty and Country, have been sheathed with honor. 
 
 At feast and festival the bountiful tables are ever graced by 
 the sweet presence of flowers. And as in life, so in death s 
 hour of sadness and grief, the pretty flowers are Heaven's minis- 
 ters still. The young are borne to the tomb with white roses in 
 their bosoms ; in the moments of our last suffering, the passion- 
 flower, whose stem and petals represent the cross and crown of 
 thorns patiently endured by our Saviour, rehearses to us the 
 story of the Atonement, and we learn to lean on the bosom of 
 our Father and our God. 
 
 Nantucket's dead in the war ! How they pass in review 
 before us now ! We loved them living ; shall we not honor 
 them dead ? Yes ; and for this have we assembled here. We
 
 238 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 have not come to them " after the burial," with the misguided 
 poet's wail of despair and unchristian belief, but with faith in 
 the Hereafter. 
 
 Dickens says it is an exquisite and beautiful thing in our 
 nature, that when the heart is touched by some tranquil happi- 
 ness, the memory of the dead comes over it most powerfully 
 and irresistibly. It would almost seem as though our better 
 thoughts and sympathies were charms, in virtue of which the 
 soul is enabled to hold some vague and mysterious intercourse 
 with the spirits of those whom we dearly loved in life. 
 
 And the memory of our dead soldiers buried here, or in 
 other grounds, is with us to-day ; it lifts the veil of skepticism, 
 that it may give us but a glimpse of the glory of their 'appear- 
 ing through sacrifice. 
 
 During the Rebellion, my eyes were arrested by these strange 
 words in a war-bulletin : " A slight skirmish only a private 
 killed, and six wounded." I confess my blood has been chilled 
 and my heart has stood still when I have listened to cruel words 
 like these : Only a private ? "Who that lays claim to any human 
 feeling, can taunt a man on account of modest abilities, or his 
 humble place, it may be, among his fellow-men ? Let him be 
 ashamed when he shall hereafter stand in the marble ohadow of 
 one who " never despised a man because he was poor, or be- 
 cause he was ignorant, or because he was black." 
 
 Every private soldier in our army was somebody's son ! 
 Mother and sister loved him. To them he was the best of sons 
 and brothers ; and all through those long nights of terrible war, 
 while civilians slept in peace, each prayed in agony of spirit, 
 nor closed her weary eyes : " If it be possible, O Lord, let this 
 cup pass from me ; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt." 
 
 Was there no sacrifice there ? Call you such offering of her 
 first-born on the altar of country common ? Nothing in human 
 feeling I know of transcends the emotions of a mother's heart. 
 Recall that sublime utterance of a poor, unlettered woman, after 
 hearing her parish priest relate the history of Abraham : " Oh ! 
 God would certainly not have required such a sacrifice of a 
 mother ! " 
 
 Ah, when we traduce our soldiers, then will we be traitors 
 at heart ; then shall we be ungrateful to men who endured, 
 only as the world's great can endure, the fearful suffering and 
 the unwritten barbarism of war. Let me here call the names 
 of the brave and loyal Twenty -six, four of whom are not buried 
 on the island ; but there are memorial-stones in honor of two of 
 them. I trust that an early day's declining sun will lay its halo 
 of light upon tablets for those not thus honored : Leander F.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 239 
 
 Alley, Ferdinand Alley, Hathaway, Chase, William Grnber, 
 Charles Grnber, Snow, Andrews, Winslow, George H. Swain, 
 John Swain, Moore, Morgan, Hussey, Hiram Fisher, Charles 
 Fisher, Header, Folger, Rivers, Defriez, Mitchell, Tracy, Macy, 
 Smith, Rogers, and Russell. Those remaining of onr island's 
 dead soldiers, whose graves are not here, are peacefully en- 
 shrined in historic fields like Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, An- 
 tietam, and Fair Oaks. Nantucket has thus lain on the altar of 
 Country sixty-seven young men fifty-five in the army, twelve 
 in the navy. And Nantucket ought to rear a monument for 
 these, to be placed in some one of the public squares of the 
 town. Such enduring testimonial in marble is due to their lives 
 of sacrifice. Its index-finger would point to their unfading 
 
 flory, new every morning, fresh every evening. For, in the 
 eautiful thought of Irving, " there is a remembrance of the 
 dead to which we turn even from the charm of the living." 
 
 Reverently let us draw near the hallowed earth that en- 
 tombs them, scattering our garlands. What a spectacle to men 
 and angels ! a country like our own, stretching from the At- 
 lantic; sea, beyond the Western prairies, in every city, town, and 
 village where there is a soldier's grave, in the act of inaugurat- 
 ing a national observance, in the hope that it will be annually 
 celebrated while a survivor of the war lives to honor the lite 
 and death of his departed comrades. 
 
 Parents, sisters, or friends of our island's dead soldiers, 
 whether lying in the home graveyard or in unknown sepulchre, 
 let not your hearts be troubled by the sneers of ingratitude in 
 the ranks of humanity. No cross, no crown ! Be of good 
 cheer; and to-day, while your tears fall as you think 01 the 
 vacant chair, or some kind deed he performed, bind, like an 
 amulet upon your beating heart, the royal truth of that beauti- 
 ful couplet, 
 
 " Only those are crowned and sainted, 
 Who with grief have been acquainted ! " 
 
 No ! we will not forget them, our slain defenders, who 
 fought and died for principles, not policies. I am aware that it 
 is bad to make an unnecessary show of high principles ; but it 
 is far worse not to have any high principles to show. Our peace 
 has been purchased- by the privations and death of our soldiers 
 on land and sea. In our prosperity shall we ignore the dark 
 days of their adversity ? 
 
 Standing as American citizens, in the protection of restored 
 peace, our congratulations ought to testify for the triumph of 
 truth over err >r, and not for aggrandizement of party. Treach-
 
 240 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 ery of men, infidelity, or neglect of our bounden duty, ought 
 not to hide from the light the heroic deeds of our Union sol- 
 diers. No testimony of ours must tell to coming generations 
 that Nan tucket was recreant to the memory of her benefactors, 
 or that she laughed at the cost of blood and treasure which re- 
 deemed our Republic from a fatal plunge into the abyss of 
 anarchy and ruin ; or that she did not remember, while decorat- 
 ing the graves of the fallen heroes, the martyred President, 
 Abraham Lincoln, so cruelly murdered by the demoniac foe. 
 The name and deeds of the great ruler and emancipator to-day 
 lie very near the hearts of his countrymen. It is at the shrine 
 of our purest faith, where we bend the knee in respect for one 
 who lived " with charity for all, with malice toward none." 
 There is a flower of memory for Lincoln, watered by Liberty's 
 tears, and its bloom is eternal ! 
 
 Let us be glad indeed, that out of the smoke and horrid 
 agony of the battle-field came not the vulture to pluck out our 
 eye of faith in the Right. No, no, thank Heaven ! God merci- 
 fully permitted us to receive from the quivering lips of dying 
 patriots His message, that He would bless us with the gifts of 
 peace. What a legacy they bequeathed to us I 
 
 Forget them ? Oh, ignoble heart, 
 
 Thus to be false to those most true ! 
 Methinks their whitened bones would start, 
 
 Like Macbeth's ghosts, confronting you ! 
 
 Like Barbara in old Fredericktown, 
 
 Ye held your standard high in air ; 
 And never that free Flag came down, 
 
 But seemed a benediction there ! 
 
 Our Country's Flag ! Ye bore it on ! 
 
 Ye were the walls of our defence ; 
 If ye were poor or lowly born, 
 
 In glory ye departed hence ! 
 
 Recognition, in this country, of moral worth in a man, dig- 
 nity of character in one word, manhood is the keystone of 
 our civil life. The classic Greeks and Romans supplanted an 
 idea so eminently Christian ; therefore the splendor and refine- 
 ment, if you please, of their pagan economy, became corrupt 
 beyond St. Paul's language to depict, and the miserable empire 
 crumbled and fell ! If we would save ourselves from a mistake 
 so fatal, we ought to trust in God and obey His commandments. 
 Then, I believe, our country's peace will be in His keeping, and 
 not at the mercy of imperialism on the one hand, or suicide on 
 the other.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 241 
 
 To you, Soldiers of the Army of the Kepublic, survivors of 
 maiiy a hard-fought field, what shall I say to add one cubit to 
 your heroic stature? It would be fulsome to attempt. You 
 have passed into History, and a more faithful and powerful pen 
 than mine has already recorded your triumphs. You have 
 written what you have written. \ our scars are all numbered, 
 and Loyalty pays tribute to your brilliant achievements. Nan- 
 tucket honors you, and will ever hold you in grateful remem- 
 brance. In the sensible words of your invincible leader, Gen- 
 eral Grant : " Of your rectitude in the performance of public 
 duties, men will judge for themselves, by your record before 
 them." And those words are true of the citizen as well. 
 
 We must remember at this time, that woman's hands have 
 plucked and arranged the flowers which you will so soon place 
 over the remains of your fellow-soldiers the same willing fin- 
 
 fers that picked the lint, and wound the soft bandages, and 
 ound up the bleeding leg or arm. 
 
 Noble,' self-sacriticing women of the war ! Ye were not the 
 Aspasias or Cleopatras of America ! It was woman's virtue in 
 a good mother that gave us a Lincoln, and not a Julius, for a 
 President ; and, for the great Chief of our armies, the reliable 
 Grant, and not a gifted Antony. Our legions of soldiers did 
 not wait for him in vain. Antony lost Rome and empire by the 
 intoxication of a silly woman's caress. Grant remembered God 
 and duty, and the destiny of nations, and saved the Republic. 
 Nelson, of Trafalgar, became the willing slave of a Court lady. 
 A worthier object, another vision, arrested the eye and heart of 
 the hero of Mobile, while lashed to the rigging of his battle- 
 ship. Because our soldiers and naval heroes were men, true to 
 themselves in the day of their trial, they unconsciously com- 
 mand now the homage of " fair women and brave men." 
 
 Whatever is good in the character of this nation, by the 
 grace of God, has been moulded by our American women of 
 virtue and Christian fidelity. No one familiar with the history 
 of the world will deny the influence of woman. I3y it, when 
 on the side of truth and religion, man acts wisely and well ; by 
 it, when leagued with error and guilty ambition, man becomes a 
 fiend. Think of him who shed the blood of thousands of Hu- 
 
 fuenots to gratify her passion ! If education has placed woman 
 igh, the Christian religion has done more for her. She now 
 looks back with pity upon the wasted years of her sex in a 
 more dazzling age, perhaps davs of lute and love-song, when 
 crazy troubadours or infatuated knights sat lisping at the feet 
 of weak, irresolute women, all untutored in the realms of mind 
 and heart-culture. Blessings, then, the choicest in God's gift, 
 16
 
 242 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 for man's sake, upon all institutions and all privileges that will 
 ennoble, and not degrade her. What a gulf between her who 
 made Nero what he was, and the benignant Isabella of Castile, 
 whose virtue of inspiration and love for the purest knowledge 
 encouraged the daring adventurer, and made Columbus discov- 
 erer of a New World. It was the name of a poor orange-girl 
 that was last on the lips of a dying king ; so, too, among the 
 dying words of greater than kings ancl princes, our expiring 
 patriots, woman's name was breathed last mother, or sister ! 
 And where these were not, that of some kind-hearted hospital 
 nurse. 
 
 You will soon march in procession, bearing your wreaths 
 with you, to yonder churchyard, the resting-place of your com- 
 panions in battle and bivouac our sons and brothers whom an 
 unkind tongue dared to call " common soldiers," but whom God 
 and History, this hour, crown with the hero's laurels and the 
 martyr's name. You will not fail to weave in the evergreen of 
 your memory the sweet forget-me-not for him who, during the 
 furnace-heat of our political peril, guided the affairs of this 
 Commonwealth. Side by side, in this quiet hour, alike repose 
 the Governor of Massachusetts and her thousands of loyal de- 
 fenders. Patron of knowledge, lover of God and his fellow- 
 men John Albion Andrew ! 
 
 While History paints the camp-fire's glare 
 
 That flickered through the Northern gloom, 
 Who reads, will breathe in silent prayer, 
 
 Above thine honorable tomb 1 
 Thy words, pure messengers of grace, 
 
 Clothed like a prophet's golden speech, 
 Held armies in their dreadful place, 
 
 Or cheered them in the deadly breach. 
 For this our holy altars burn 
 
 With incense sacred to thy name ; 
 More eloquent than marble urn, 
 
 Or cenotaph of worldly fame ! 
 
 This your memorial service over, you will return to the 
 business of life. May you bring to the pursuits of peace the 
 patience and manly energies which nerved your hearts and tem- 
 pered every sinew of your being in time of war. To-day, and 
 now, this country calls for young men like you, with hearts and 
 hands like yours. To acknowledge God in all things, while you 
 labor for the American Government (not forgetting the " irre- 
 pressible conflict ") ; to make yourselves eligible to the higher 
 destiny that awaits you ; hereafter to work with the untiring 
 zeal of enterprise ; to freely and manfully discuss all topics of 
 social or national importance ; to open up every avenue to in-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 243 
 
 telligent intercourse and successful thrift; declaring like men in 
 earnest, that for every man and for every woman, black or 
 white, rich or poor, learned or unlearned, the ways of Freedom 
 are God's ways, and that Labor knows no distinction ; these 
 are some of the duties to be performed by the young men of 
 our time. Who then will cry, " There is nothing to do " 2 
 
 Governor Andrew's words are the utterance of the hour, 
 and with these I close : " Patriotism and Christianity unite the 
 arguments of earthly welfare and the motives of heavenly in- 
 spiration, to persuade us to put off all jealousy and all fear, and 
 to move forward as citizens and as men in the work of social 
 and economic reorganization each one doing with his might 
 whatever his hand tindeth to do," 
 
 " To stay the ruthless hand of crime, 
 
 And awe the rage of lust and fear ; 
 The fruits of Nature and of Time, 
 
 Again to ripen, and to rear : 
 Our Country's rankling wounds to heal, 
 
 By faith supreme, with tender pride ; 
 And guard, with consecrated zeal, 
 
 The cause for which her martyrs died ! " 
 
 After the church services were concluded, the soldiers formed 
 in procession in front of the armory on Main street, and bear- 
 ing their wealth of floral treasure, they marched to the several 
 grounds where their soldier-friends lay buried. The sun gave 
 them his smile of benediction, as with muffled drums and fifes 
 they moved to the graves. Here their ceremony brought tears 
 to many eyes. They left no grave uncovered ; over each one 
 the flag hung low, and the triple roll of the drums told how 
 they all were loved. At the Unitarian ground, Capt. I. H. 
 Folger made a few remarks, after which the ceremonies closed 
 with prayer by the Rev. Mr. Dawes. 
 
 ADDRESS OF CAPTAIN FOLGEB. 
 
 FELLOW-COMRADES : It is with great pleasure that I greet you 
 here on this occasion, after the inauguration of what is, I be- 
 lieve, in the future to be a yearly custom throughout the coun- 
 try that of placing flowers on the graves of our fallen brothers. 
 I am gladfrthat this has commenced, though at a late day and 
 by the veterans themselves, and ' trust that its continuance will 
 be kept up as long as there remains one of us to carry out the 
 design, that the memory of those who fought to maintain the 
 Union of the United States may be bequeathed to our children, 
 who will carry fond recollections of their fathers' service as 
 green as the wreaths which we have this day left at the graves 
 of those gone before. The custom originated in the Southern 
 States, by the ladies there placing the choicest flowers of Spring
 
 244 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 on the graves of the Confederate dead. Kot to those who were 
 offered up as a sacrifice to lay the corner-stone of an oligarchy 
 whose riches were to be drawn from the toil of an unfortunate 
 race, bnt to the sacred memory of the dear ones lost in a mis- 
 taken cause. It has been a suggestion to us worthy of adop- 
 tion. While much has been said and done by the country and 
 this town for our returned veterans, we have been too lax in our 
 memory of those who now are lying near us in nameless graves, 
 and, so far as I know, are only recorded in the memory of those 
 of to-day, to be forgotten by coming generations. Is this as it 
 should be? The service of our Army and Navy, with its pri- 
 vations and hardships, is too little realized and appreciated. 
 The extravagant promises made during the war by politicians 
 have, in a small measure, been carried out ; but how little, after 
 all, has been accomplished. " The Union must and shall be 
 preserved ! " was the cry ; but now that the tocsin of war has 
 ceased its alarming peal, our endeavors to maintain the Union, 
 and the whole Union, are being gradually forgotten and passed 
 over as an unpleasant dream ; but we, who together bore the 
 hardships and privations of that life, will never forget what we 
 have endured. It would ill become me as a soldier to make 
 boast of our achievements ; but though our fame is written in 
 lines of blood by land and sea, and will never be forgotten by a 
 grateful nation, still these unmarked graves remain to us a last- 
 ing reproach ; and if others forget and grow indifferent, we 
 should never do so, but see that their memory is carved in 
 granite as enduring as their fame. This town, the banner-town 
 of the State in furnishing recruits for the service, appears to re- 
 main in a wonderful apathy on this subject. "When the war 
 broke out, it was said " .Nantucket had no fighting men." How 
 is that answered ? Over sixty of our townsmen are sleeping 
 their last sleep, while a large number of widows, and pension- 
 ers on the bounty of the General Government, walk our streets, 
 and silently, but with a sad, expressive eloquence, refute that 
 assertion. Her sons have fallen in nearly every general engage- 
 ment, and a nation mourns their loss. It is the endeavor of the 
 Government to place at the head of our veterans' graves, when 
 none others do so, a neat, durable head-board, with their name, 
 regiment, or ship, and time and place of decease. Too many, 
 alas ! are designated " unknown." But what excuse can be 
 offered here for those who are buried among friends ? The 
 attention of the public has, from time to time, been called 
 through the medium of our local press ; but though a constant 
 agitation might produce gratifying results, the writers, as if 
 abashed at their own temerity, have, after writing one or two
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 245 
 
 articles, left it with a moral protest to themselves, that they 
 have performed their share of this duty, and thus left it as 
 every one's business. This is something that should be rectified 
 at once, as it is a tribute, nobly earned, that we owe to their 
 memory ; and I trust that immediate attention will be given to 
 what has already remained too long in silence. Our veterans 
 have now taken this matter in hand, and I hope that persistent, 
 manly efforts will bring an honorable recognition of this claim. 
 The moral feeling of this town is against display of any kind ; 
 but when it was a national question of unity or discord of 
 States, then we remembered that we owed an allegiance to our 
 country, and that the Constitution of our fathers, bequeathed to 
 us at the cost of precious blood and life, should be maintained 
 and passed down intact to those who come after us, even if a 
 like price must be paid : and those whose bodies formed the 
 breastworks of defence for the preservation of that Constitution 
 and Union alike dear to all, should receive, at the hands of 
 those who were benefitted by their sacrifices, the undying record, 
 that those services are appreciated by their grateful townsmen 
 grateful they should be in the fullest sense, because by their 
 endeavors the Union and Constitution were preserved, and they 
 enjoy the happiness of peace. Words do not show sincerity. 
 " By their acts ye shall know them ; " and a few lines by one 
 of the American poets of the day, seem peculiarly appropriate 
 for the occasion : 
 
 " Wut's words to them whose faith and truth 
 
 On war's red tech-stone rang true mettle ? 
 Who ventered life, an' love, an' youth, 
 
 For the gret prize o' death in battle ? 
 To him who, deadly hurt, agen 
 
 Flashed on afore the charge's thunder, 
 Tippin' with fire the bolts of men 
 
 That rive the rebel line asunder ? 
 
 'Ta'n't right to hev the young go fust, 
 
 All throbbin' full o' gifts an' graces, 
 Leavin' life's paupers, dry ez dust, 
 
 To try an' make b'lieve fill their places. 
 Nothin' but tells us wut we miss ; 
 
 Ther's gaps our lives can't never fay in, 
 An' thet world seems so fur from this 
 
 Lef for us loafers to grow gray in." 
 
 But that they are still unhonored even by a plain slab com- 
 memorative of their services, I trust will, ere another year 
 passes, be rectified, and when we again come to freshen our 
 memory, we shall find that they are not entirely forgotten. 
 
 Fellow-citizens, I congratulate you on your hearty coopera-
 
 246 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 tion with us on this, oar memorial day, and on the return of its 
 anniversary, I feel sure I shall see a mass of patriotic faces, 
 when looking at a monument reared to the memory of our 
 honored dead. Every man's heart should swell within him as 
 he remembers that this great inheritance of liberty is his, and, 
 as received from our revolutionary fathers, is transmitted to his 
 hands, to be held in trust for future generations. 
 
 While the procession was on the march, the bells tolled, and 
 gnus were fired at intervals. Thus closed the new day of com- 
 memoration. 
 
 AT MARLBORO, MASS. 
 
 At noon of May 30, nearly every shop and store was closed 
 out of respect to the memory of the dead heroes. In the west 
 part of the town all the shops and stores were closed. A flag 
 was suspended across the street from the headquarters of the 
 Post in Boyd's block, and quite a number of the places of busi- 
 ness displayed flags at half mast. The weather was cloudy, but 
 the air was very sultry. A large number followed the proces- 
 sion, and through the whole route great interest was manifested 
 by our citizens. 
 
 The procession formed at the Town Hall at one o'clock, 
 p. M. under the marshalship of Commander C. F. Morse, in the 
 following order : 
 
 Marshall and Aid ; Westboro' Band ; Post 43, G. A. E. under 
 command of Capt. Parsons ; Disabled Soldiers and invited guests 
 in carriages ; Torrent Engine Co. No. 1 ; Okommakarnesit En- 
 gine Co. No. 2 ; Union Hook and Ladder Xo. 1. 
 
 The order of march was from Town Hall through Main 
 street to cemetery near house of John Chipman, from thence 
 through Main and South streets to Catholic cemetery, thence 
 through South and Main streets to cemetery near Gates House, 
 thence through Main and Pleasant streets to cemetery on Pleas- 
 ant street, thence through Pleasant, Lincoln, Prospect and Main 
 streets to Town Hall. 
 
 The names of those buried in town, and the places of in- 
 terment are as follows : 
 
 At cemetery near John Chipman's, Myron Balcom, Theo. 
 Herbert Goodnow, Chas. Edward Goodnow, Andrew J. Good- 
 no w, William L. Knight, Stephen H. Phelps, Sylvester H. 
 Rice, Rufus C. Rice, Zimri Whitney, Edward X. Welch ; in 
 Catholic cemetery, Michael Clark, Thomas Gallagher ; near the 
 Gates House, Benj. S. Russell, John M. Russell, Wm. F. Brig- 
 ham ; in Pleasant street cemetery, J. Henry Bri^ham, Aaron A. 
 Brighain, Major Henry O. Brigham, Alfred Howe, Henry H.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 247 
 
 Perry, Chapin Bice, Geo. Henry Stowe, Win. Frank Brig- 
 ham, twenty- two in all. 
 
 Prayer was offered at the cemeteries, and at the first and 
 last ones visited a hymn was sung. All the graves were ten- 
 derly strewn with bouquets, wreaths and flowers, and large 
 gatherings of friends and others were present at each place to 
 participate in the interesting ceremonies. 
 
 The march was long and the sultriness of the air made it 
 souie\vhat tedious. The procession arrived at the Town Hall 
 a little past five o'clock, too weary to listen to any addresses, 
 and were dismissed with prayer. 
 
 Delegations from the Post visited the cemetery in the east- 
 erly part of the town, and the one at Robin Hill in the fore 
 part of the day, where they were met by the friends of the 
 deceased soldiers, and strewed the graves with flowers. 
 
 AT "WoBURN, MASS. 
 
 Here the ceremonies were in charge of Post 33, Col. Gram- 
 mar, commander. The Post and the Returned Soldiers' Asso- 
 ciation and citizens formed a procession at 3 o'clock, and 
 marched to the cemetery, where addresses were made by Rev. 
 Messrs. Lansing and Dennan. 
 
 The services were held near the soldier's lot containing 19 
 graves, and these and 7 other graves were decorated. 
 
 Eight graves at the Catholic cemetery in East Woburn 
 were decorated by a detachment of this Post. 
 
 At Stoneham, Mass., a procession composed of citizens and 
 children, was formed in front of the Town Hall at 10 o'clock, 
 and, headed by the Stoneham Band, proceeded to the cemetery. 
 The exercises opened with prayer by Rev. Mr. Byington, an 
 address was delivered by Rev. Mr. Fairchild, and Rev. Mr. 
 Parklmrst pronounced the benediction. The graves, twenty or 
 thirty in number, were strewn with flowers, and the procession 
 re-formed and marched to the Town Hall, where a dismissal 
 took place. 
 
 At Medford, Mass., a procession was formed at 2 o'clock, 
 under the direction of Col. Godfrey Rider, Jr., consisting of Co. 
 E and Co. F, Fifth Regiment, and citizens generally. 
 
 The procession was headed by a band of music, and marched 
 to Oak Grove Cemetery where the impressive ceremony of 
 decorating the soldiers' monument and the graves of heroes in 
 this cemetery was performed. The ladies of Medford con- 
 tributed large quantities of flowers. 
 
 Deerfield, Mass., strewed the graves of her fallen heroes,
 
 248 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 and gathered about her soldiers' monument and listened to 
 short addresses from Rev. Dr. T. H. Hawks and others. 
 
 There was no public ceremony in Greenfield, Mass., but 
 the graves of soldiers were covered with flowers by their friends. 
 
 IN DEDHAM, MASS. 
 
 In this town, in accordance with the programme prepared 
 by the Committee of Arrangements appointed at a public meet- 
 ing of soldiers and citizens, flags were displayed throughout the 
 day, and in the afternoon business was generally suspended. 
 Under the direction of the Floral Committee, the Allin Congre- 
 gational church, in which the exercises were to be held, had 
 been beautifully decorated with flowers, evergreens, and other 
 appropriate emblems, the entrance to the cemetery surmounted 
 with a graceful arch of hemlock, beautifully entwined with flags 
 and flowers, and the graves of the soldiers appropriately marked 
 with colors. 
 
 Shortly before 4 o'clock, p. M., the detachment of returned 
 soldiers, to the number of fifty, bearing the American flag, and 
 preceded by the Bates Cornet Band, marched to the church, 
 where they were received by the Floral Committee, and each 
 presented with a bouquet of choice flowers. Entering the 
 church they took the pews in the center aisle directly in front 
 of the pulpit, which had been reserved for their use. The r 3- 
 maining slips were filled with the pupils of the public schools 
 and citizens. 
 
 At 4 o'clock, the services commenced, and were conduct- 
 ed in the following order : 
 
 Voluntary, by the Bates Cornet Band. 
 
 Invocation, by the Dedham Musical Society, under the di- 
 rection of Mr. E. C. Daniell, Mr. Charles J. Capen presiding at 
 the organ. 
 
 " But the Lord is mindful of His own ; 
 
 He remembers His children. 
 
 Bow down before Him, ye mighty, 
 
 For the Lord is near us ! 
 
 Yea, the Lord is mindful of His own. 
 
 Selections from the Scriptures, and prayer, by Rev. S. B. 
 Babcock. 
 
 " American Hymn " by the Choir. 
 
 Who, when darkness gathered o'er us, 
 
 Foes and death on every side, 
 Clothed in glory, walked before ns, 
 
 Leading on like Israel's guide? 
 'Twas Jehovah ! He appearing, 
 
 Showed His banner far and wide.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 249 
 
 "When the trump of war was sounding, 
 
 'Twas the Lord who took the field ! 
 He His people then surrounding, 
 
 Made the strong in battle yield : 
 To tlie nation roused from slumber, 
 
 He was armor, strength, and shield. 
 
 In the God of armies trusting, 
 
 'Mid their weakness, void of fear, 
 Soon they felt their bonds were bursting, 
 
 Saw the dawning light appear. 
 Clouds dissolving in the sunbeam 
 
 Showed the land of Freedom near. 
 
 Hark ! we hear, to heaven ascending 
 
 From the voices of the free, 
 Hallelujahs, sweetly blending 
 
 With the song of Liberty. 
 Power Almighty ! we the victory 
 
 Ever will ascribe to Thee. 
 
 Lo ! the dove, the olive bearing, 
 
 Plants it on Columbia's shore 1 
 Every breast its branch is wearing 
 
 Where tlie buckler shone before. 
 Praise th' Eternal ! He is reigning 1 
 
 Praise Him ! Praise Him evermore I 
 
 General Thomas Sherwin, Chairman of the Committee of 
 Arrangements, then made a brief and appropriate address to 
 his fellow soldiers, and concluded by introducing Rev. Jonathan 
 Edwards as the orator of the occasion. 
 
 MB. EDWARDS' ADDRESS. 
 SOLDIKRS, WHO HAVE WON US PEACE, AND FELLOW-ClTIZENS : 
 
 When one common sentiment possesses a whole community, 
 but few words are necessary to express it. It is thought and 
 felt, rather than spoken. The assembling of a multitude like 
 this, speaks. The music, sublime and sweet, of voice and in- 
 strument, speaks. The readiness with which men have left 
 their usual business, speaks. The loving interest of so many 
 mothers, and wives, and sisters, speaks. The lifted flags, the 
 bloom and fragrance of flowers, gathered with so much taste by 
 so many lingers of old and } r oung ; the silent memory, peopled 
 with the forms that make us at once sad and proud ; the tear- 
 ful eye ; the exulting smile ; the long procession ; the garlanded 
 graves ; the presence of so many who cheerfully offered, though 
 they were not called to lay down their lives for their country ; 
 the knowledge that this same ceremonial is animating our whole 
 laud to-day these things speak. Yet it has been deemed
 
 250 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 fitting that a few additional words be uttered. All classes of 
 our population are here. All might be well represented by two. 
 Soldiers and children together, within the church's walls, give a 
 new meaning to the words 
 
 " Strength and Beauty are in the Sanctuary.' 1 ' 1 
 
 It has sometimes been said that " Eepublics are ungrateful." 
 Such days as this disprove the assertion. This entire scene is 
 the assurance that we are grateful first, let us hope, to the 
 Lord our God, by whose heavenly providence we are led but 
 then, in their measure, profoundly grateful to those, to all of 
 those, who were willing to hazard their lives that we might 
 have a country, a whole country, a free country. Of our soldiers, 
 some fell for a land in which they were born. They made their 
 own graves by the side of those of their ancestors, perhaps of 
 many generations. These had everything to lose by enlisting in 
 the war ; of ease, and inheritance, and an already established 
 place. But they were ready to resign all their own, in order to 
 save it for others. Noble men ! They sacrificed themselves for 
 the common good. Their country will ever guard their memory 
 beside that of the founders of the Republic. The towns out of 
 which they went forth, cherish the light their deeds reflect upon 
 family names of generations past. This State points to many 
 this ancient town to some such, as the select product of its long 
 cultured institutions. Precious fruit of household gardens, 
 planted years ago in this congenial soil ! Fit inheritors of such 
 as that Capt. Daniel Fisher, of Dedham, who, two hundred 
 years ago, was the first in the neighboring city to beard the 
 Colonial Governor who had become a tyrant ! 
 
 But a peculiar interest warms in our hearts towards a/iwfher 
 class of our soldiers. They themselves sailed like our own dis- 
 tant progenitors, across the great and wide sea that separates us 
 from the old world. These came here that they might find quiet- 
 ness and a home. They came that they might lay the founda- 
 tion of new homes in what they fondly hoped would here be a 
 land of plenty and a land of peace. They had seen enough of 
 strife elsewhere. Many of them had left parents, brothers, 
 sisters, 'or even wives and children, upon the other side. Or 
 they had just succeeded, by incessant painstaking and changeless 
 generosity, in bringing them over. They were busy with new 
 wants, and new cares, as well as new hopes. Some of them 
 could scarcely yet speak the dialect of their adopted country. 
 Yet these, abandoning all, were among the foremost to swell the 
 ranks of the National army. The bugle of freedom they could 
 understand. They risked all their new-born anticipations to
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 251 
 
 rescue America. They could comprehend the words of our 
 great martyr, when, on the Held of the Gettysburg Cemetery, he 
 stated the aim of the conflict to be, that a government of the 
 people, by the people, and for the people, need not perish out of 
 the world. On no graves shall more fragrant wreaths be laid 
 than on those beneath whose sod reposes the dust of men, who, 
 born in Europe, died for the free United States. And from no 
 hearts more fervently than ours shall go up the prayer that 
 every land from which these, our adopted comrades came out, 
 may vet taste the perfect blessings of liberty. 
 
 ]\lost of the friends we lament to-day fell in their youth. A 
 long life which they had in prospect was lost. Yet was it lost 
 to either the^ir country or their kindred ? Nay ! these lost lives 
 have moved us more than any other. They are eloquent in the 
 dust. They crowd about us with all the memorials and all the 
 incentives of honor and heroism. They will live as long as we 
 live. They survive in rebuke to every low aim, in impulse to 
 every high resolve. They survive in our admiration, in our 
 love. But we deeply sympathize with their lonely relatives! 
 Those who expected to lean upon them the parent, that lost 
 his boy, the brother, sister, and dearer still, parted from their 
 treasures we weep with them. Many of these relatives are 
 here. We fervently commend them all to a higher than any 
 human consolation. Let us not forget, let them not forget, to be 
 truly thankful that their resting-places are with us, and not 
 with that 15,000 whose graves no ! the trenches^ where their 
 skeletons lie are just outside the awful stockade at Anderson- 
 ville ! Even those trenches, monuments of what a devotion, 
 will be decorated to-day. The colored race, enfranchised 
 through their murder, does not forget its benefactors. A race 
 that has earned the blessed title "The Soldier's Friend," will 
 see to it, if no others do, that flowers, and tears, and the heart's 
 warm homage are laid on the burial spots of those through 
 whose death has come their emancipation. We thank them. 
 But how glad we are that these graves are at home ! 
 
 But tliere are those whose residence was never with us, and 
 who only left their ashes in our trust. It is a feature of touch- 
 ing beauty on this pensive gala-day, that so many strangers will 
 be remembered here. The hospital camp near by brought them 
 to us. Beneath the monument we shall presently surround, as 
 you may see by reading the inscription, lies the mortal part of 
 about sixty soldiers. They are made our brothers by the com 
 mon cause. We hang flowers there for the kindred who are not 
 here to do it. Fellow-citizens, our soldiers in this great war of 
 the Republic, were either consciously or unconsciously, we now
 
 252 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 know, working out the infinitely benevolent plan of the infinite 
 Kuler. Many of them were conscious of this. It was what 
 gave them their dignity, and their courage, and their fortitude, 
 and their persistence to the triumphant end. On Him may 
 we still rely. 
 
 friends, of the battalion of returned Soldiers and Sailors : 
 When, a few years ago, you gave yourselves to your country, 
 and went hence, our hearts beat over yon with mingled anxiety 
 and approval. When we heard of your deeds of renown or of 
 suffering, our hearts trembled towards you in sympathy. When 
 you came back to cheer the homes you had saved, and to adorn 
 the country you had preserved, our hearts leaped towards you 
 with salutations of the warmest welcome. While we honor with 
 you, this day, your comrades who are no more, we fervently 
 thank heaven for you that remain. May you be as great a 
 blessing to your country in peace as you have been in war. May 
 not one of your just expectations for the glory of your land be 
 disappointed. May you who served so well under an earthly 
 banner, be good soldiers of a Divine Captain. 
 
 I must not detain you much longer from the central tribute 
 by which you are to mark this floral day. It is the soldiers' 
 day! Our thanks for the immense service our soldiers have 
 rendered can be shown, first, in our care to keep the honor, and 
 the purity, and the usefulness of this whole nation, which some 
 died to preserve. But next, we will not forget those widows, 
 those orphans, whom they are here no longer to protect. De- 
 prived of their natural guardians, these are now the country's 
 wards. Four centuries and a half before Christ, it was pleaded 
 for such : " They are deprived of those who loved them, but 
 who, preferring virtue to every connection, have left them 
 fatherless, widowed, and forlorn. We shall best honor the dead 
 by befriending the living. We must assist and defend their 
 widows, protect and honor their parents, embrace and cherish 
 their orphans." If these things were said in heathen Greece, 
 how much more should they be done by us. It shall be done. 
 We congratulate you that, in addition to the flowers which, 
 though so beautiful will fade so soon, you have so far learned it 
 is blessed to give that you mean to supply from the bounty col- 
 lected this week, the material wants of families whose departed 
 you honor. 
 
 Go then. Commend our country to God. Sprinkle flowers. 
 Comfort and assist the bereaved. Kejoice in the spared. And 
 may tbe benediction of the Highest rest upon it all. 
 
 At the conclusion of the address, which was listened to with 
 the deepest attention by all present, the Requiem
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 253 
 
 " Peace to the memory of the brave, 
 Tranquil may their slumbers be," 
 
 was sung by the Choir, after which Prayer was offered by Rev. 
 Geo. G. lairbanks, followed by the grand old Choral "A 
 Mighty Fortress is Our Lord," by the Choir. 
 
 "A sure stronghold, our God, is He, 
 
 A trusty shield and weapon: 
 Our help He'll be, and set us free 
 
 From every ill can happen. 
 A crowd of deadly foes 
 Our onward way oppose, 
 Base follies, fears, and cares ; 
 And sin doth spread her snares; 
 How shall we nee from danger? 
 
 "Through our own force we nothing can, 
 
 Straight were we lost forever ; 
 But for us fights the proper Man, 
 
 By God sent to deliver. 
 Ask ye who this may be? 
 Christ Jesus named is he, 
 Of Sabaoth, the Lord, 
 Sole God to be adored, 
 'Tis he must win the battle." 
 
 The services closed with the benediction, by Rev. J. W. P. 
 Jordan. 
 
 At the conclusion of the exercises in the church, a procession 
 was formed under the direction of General Sherwin, consisting 
 of the returned soldiers, committee of arrangements, invited 
 guests, pupils of the schools, and citizens, which, preceded by 
 the Band, marched to the cemetery, where the graves of the sol- 
 diers from Dedham were visited in succession and appropriately 
 decorated by their late comrades, friends, and the children. The 
 procession then proceeded to the State Lot, where lie buried the 
 remains of sixty-tour soldiers, who died in the camp at Read- 
 ville, whose graves were all appropiiately and thoughtfully re- 
 membered. The exercises of the day were closed here with the 
 singing of America by the whole congregation, with the band 
 accompaniment. 
 
 AT STOUGHTON, MASS. 
 
 In Stoughton the children of the Universalist Snnday School 
 and others, met at the Town Hall at 5 o'clock, p. M., when a 
 procession was formed and marched to Evergreen Cemetery, 
 with flowers, wreaths, etc. A short address was made, and 
 prayer offered by Rev. Mr. Chambre, the pastor, formerly a 
 chaplain in the army. The children and friends then joined in
 
 254 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 singing a hyinn, after which the procession proceeded to deco- 
 rate the graves of fourteen of the fallen heroes whose dust re- 
 poses in that quiet place. They had but just finished when the 
 Easton Post with the Stoughton Village Band arrived, having 
 performed a similar service in Easton. and now come to lay their 
 offerings on the graves of three of their comrades here interred. 
 The dirge was played, prayer again offered, and the crowd dis- 
 persed to their homes. 
 
 Although it was a sort of impromptu affair, hundreds partici- 
 pated ; many eyes were wet and many hearts sad, as we thought 
 of our brethren here, and on many a Southern field, and of him 
 who went down with the ill-fated Cumberland, and of our three 
 martyr graves at Andersonville. 
 
 Ceremonies of the same general character took place in the 
 country towns throughout the State. In Barre, the principal 
 services took place near the soldiers' monument on the Com- 
 mon, which was erected in 1866, but has never hitherto been 
 formally dedicated. Addresses were delivered by Rev. William 
 Crawford, Mr. J. W. Grosvenor, and others, and little girls hung 
 the monument with wreaths. Parties of returned soldiers were 
 then detailed to visit all the cemeteries in the different parts of 
 the town, and decorated the graves of the soldiers there buried 
 with flowers. 
 
 At Essex a procession was formed at the North Church, un- 
 der the marshalship of Lieut. Edwin A. Howes, and proceeded 
 to the Spring Street cemetery. The procession consisted of dis- 
 charged soldiers and sailors, Town Officers, Good Templars, 
 children of the public schools, and citizens generally, accompa- 
 nied by Procter's and Story's band. The exercises at the ceme- 
 tery were quite interesting, consisting of prayer, singing, and an 
 address by Rev. Mr. Bacon, after which a committee, appointed 
 for that purpose, visited and decorated the graves of our de- 
 ceased soldiers who were buried there. This being done, the 
 procession was again formed and proceeded to the Old Burying- 
 ground, decorating the grave of one soldier who was there 
 buried. 
 
 The ceremony of strewing flowers was fully carried out at 
 Ashland, Mass., by Post No. 18, G. A. R. ; the number of com- 
 rades participating was forty-five ; cemeteries visited, two ; and 
 number of graves decorated, thirteen. A eulogy was pronounc- 
 ed by Rev. George B. Potter, and the exercises were closed by 
 singing " America," and a benediction. The citizens, generally, 
 aided in the memorial ceremonies. 
 
 At Holliston, a procession was formed at the Town House, 
 and marched to Lake Grove Cemetery, where the graves of the
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 255 
 
 soldiers were decorated. Reforming, the procession returned to 
 the Old Burving-ground, where, after the graves had been dec- 
 orated, the nymn, " Toll the bell ! the brave are sleeping," was 
 sung by the quartette. An address was then delivered by the 
 Kev. Mr. Best, after which the following original hymn, written 
 by Prof. E. I. Cutler, was sung : 
 
 In the south alone and far, 
 Or beneath the northern star 
 Wheresoe'er onr soldier keep, 
 Scatter flowers upon his sleep. 
 
 In his death victorious 
 He gave all the world for us. 
 Guard his name from growing dim; 
 Dear to us, the dear to him. 
 
 The exercises were closed with prayer and benediction. 
 
 AT WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 According to orders from the Commander-in-Chief of the 
 Grand Army of the Republic, the graves of the gallant men 
 who died to save the nation were decorated, and a proper trib- 
 ute of respect paid to their memory. 
 
 This was rendered the more impressive, as the National 
 Cemetery had not been dedicated, and this ceremony was con- 
 sequently performed. 
 
 The procession started from the City Hall at about half-past 
 two o'clock of May 80th, in the following order : 
 
 Evans' City Band; Co. I, 6th U. S. Infantry, under com- 
 mand of Lieut. Mnrdock ; hearse and pall-bearers ; carriages ; 
 Grand Commander and Staff, G. A. K. ; No. 3 brass band ; 
 Marshal ; mounted officers ; drum corps ; Post No. 3, G. A. R. ; 
 civic societies ; citizens. 
 
 The procession marched down Princess street to Front, down 
 Front to Market, and up Market to the cemetery. Arriving at 
 the cemetery, the procession marched around the graves and 
 halted, when the following services were performed : 
 
 Dirge by No. 3 brass band; prayer, Chaplain Greene; 
 dirge, Evans' City Band ; firing three vollies, Company I, 6th 
 II. S. Infantry ; reading General Order No. 11, G. A. R., Ma- 
 jor Schenck. 
 
 ORATION BY GEN. JOSEPH 0. ABBOTT. 
 
 OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE GRAND ARMY OF THE RE- 
 PUBLIC, OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS OF THE ARMY OF THE UNITED 
 STATES, AND FELLOW-CITIZENS : While any effort of the body or
 
 256 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 of the intellect may attract to itself admiration and applause, 
 every effort of the mind or body receives its character from the 
 nature of the effort itself. If trie act be meritorious in its pur- 
 poses and in its results, then it should gather to itself all the 
 commendation of a deed inherently good. But if the act be 
 wrongly purposed, and evil in results, it ought to receive merely 
 the natural tribute bestowed upon muscular exertion or intellec- 
 tual power. This language is, indeed, axiomatic, and to utter 
 it is but to iterate truisms ; but these distinctions are too often 
 forgotten in the honors which men pay to the living and to the 
 dead. Therefore it is, that in the opening sentences to be 
 uttered over these green mounds, I think it proper to indicate 
 this distinction between the deeds of men, so that, in respecting 
 the natural ties of humanity, we may bow at the shrine ot 
 patriotism so that we may recall, not merely the brave soldier 
 whose martial figure strode over tne battle-field, and fell in the 
 combat, but that we may bring here, with these fresh wreaths, 
 the full volume of homage to the sacredness of law, of liberty, 
 and of justice. 
 
 Honor, then, to the fallen heroes of the nation ! Gathered 
 from distant States, following the fortunes of great armies, they 
 sleep here at last peacefully within this consecrated enclosure ! 
 Distant from homes where their memories are still fresh in sad- 
 dened hearts, the paternal hand of the nation has gathered them 
 to this last repose, beneath the ever-waving folds of the nation's 
 emblem. Ye, who fell on Fisher's flaming ramparts ! Ye, who 
 moistened yonder forests with yotir blood ! Ye, who from the 
 accursed pens of Anderson ville- were borne hither, haggard with 
 famine, but to die ! Brethren with us in arms ! Companions 
 in a great struggle for the preservation of a nation ! Soldiers 
 of the yet invincible Republic ! Prouder than the sepulchres 
 of kings are the graves in which ye sleep ! 
 
 To-day under that military escort which the exigencies of 
 war had not permitted, to the slow measure of the dirge, we 
 have performed these funeral ceremonies. By solemn prayer, 
 and the vollies of musketry, we have committed these dead 
 anew to the earth, and they now sleep in soldiers' graves. 
 
 In the winter and Spring of 1865, the bodies now deposited 
 in this cemetery began to collect in this vicinity. The first ex- 
 pedition against the fortifications at the mouth of the Cape Fear 
 left but a few. The second expedition, which was the last and 
 successful one, furnished probably nearly a thousand from 
 Terry's Tenth Corps alone. Soon after the fall of Fisher, and, 
 in consequence, all the other fortifications at the entrance to this 
 port, the Twenty-third Corps, under Schofield, arrived, which
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 257 
 
 also famished its quota for this phalanx of the dead. On the 
 morning of the 22d of February, Terry's column entered the 
 city of Wilmington, while Cox had already appeared on the 
 Brunswick side of the river. Early in March Sherman's army 
 struck the Cape Fear at Favetteville, and sending to this place 
 his sick and wounded, passed on rapidly to the bloody fields of 
 Bentonville and Averysboro', and thence to Goldsboro' and 
 Raleigh, from which places the sick and wounded also reached 
 this city. Previous to this, however, nearly ten thousand Fed- 
 eral prisoners had been exchanged at this point, who had been 
 collected from various Confederate prisons, many of them in the 
 last stages of starvation and disease, and more than a thousand 
 of whom were unable to walk. The military hospitals were 
 filled to overflowing. Pestilence, and disease, and death, held 
 high carnival, mocking alike at the skill of surgeons or the care 
 of nurses. Five of the medical corps fell before the deadly 
 pestilence. Meantime the scenes at Appomattox Court-House 
 and Durham's Station transpired, and the dissolving armies of 
 Lee and Johnston scattered nomeward. The struggle was end- 
 ed. Its victories and its defeats were behind us, and the stern 
 visage of war relaxed. But the pestilence still kept its sway, 
 and the dead-cart still bore constantly to the common grave 
 those who, having escaped the battle-field, had famished in pris- 
 ons until they were ripe for disease. 
 
 Thus it was that there were at that time centered at this 
 then military post, ofiicers and soldiers from nearly every army 
 of the United States. There were those who, inspired by the 
 first enthusiasm, had mingled in the anticipations and disasters 
 of the first Bull Run. There were those who had advanced 
 with McClellan, on the Peninsula, and told stories of Seven 
 Pines and Malvern Hill and the Chickahominy. Old soldiers 
 who had fought with Joe Hooker and Sumner, and who 
 inarched with Meade to the victorious height of Gettysburg, 
 recounted adventures with those who charged in the fearful 
 assault at Wagner. Also, there were the bold and daring 
 Westerners who remembered the early days in Missouri, who 
 boasted of Shiloh, and Vicksburg, ancl Chickamauga, mingled 
 with those who coursed through the valley of Shenandoah with 
 Sheridan, and afterwards encircled Richmond and Petersburg 
 with Grant. Many of these soldiers of the Republic, after an 
 experience which we cannot now definitely know, were scat- 
 tered, some on the sands of Federal Point, some in the pine 
 woods on either side of the Cape Fear, near where each might 
 have fallen, while others were collected in the long trench with- 
 in the limits of Oakdale. The Government, with a tender re- 
 17
 
 258 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 gard for those who served it, has prepared this last resting- 
 place, and within it has collected all the remains which could 
 be found. This the Government has done, not so much in care 
 for the perishable earth which they have become, as in recogni- 
 tion of the services rendered by these men to their country, and 
 as a testimony, which shall be imperishable, to fidelity and loy- 
 alty. To-day we dedicate to this sacred purpose this National 
 Cemetery. These hallowed precincts shall ever hereafter be 
 protected by the national flag and the national power. Sacred 
 to heroism and to patriotism, no sacrilegious foot shall tread 
 these paths or breathe this air, but it shall remain like a national 
 altar, which each patriot may in all future time find unpolluted. 
 And in some long distant day, when posterity shall read of these 
 bitter times as we now read of King's Mountain, and shall re- 
 call the name of Sherman as we now recall that of Greene or 
 Sullivan -when this slender shrubbery may have become an 
 overarching shade of majestic trees, and these slopes peopled, 
 may be, with statuary which shall image the deeds of the men 
 who rest beneath the turf, shall have become sacred from clus- 
 tering memories, then still may its green retreats be the resort 
 of those who are worthy to be called the sons of the Republic. 
 
 He is justified who speaks thus at the present time, because 
 these graves were not here, this occasion would not have been, 
 had not a portion of the American people ignored the plainest 
 and simplest duties of citizens, and joined in armed resistance 
 to that authority which demands of us, by its own right, obedi- 
 ence. If that resistance to this authority was right, then we 
 ought to make this an occasion of lamentation over the follies 
 of the men whom we this day honor, or of regretting that they 
 were the deluded tools of tyranny ; or, if government is a 
 farce, and, as some seem to believe, with no more foundation 
 than a game of chance ; if which follows logically all our 
 late miseries were but horrid and sanguinary amusements, then 
 these men are entitled merely to the respect due to the fallen 
 gladiator. But if this nation had a right to its own integrity 
 and existence I do not mean merely the conventional right 
 derived from custom, or the stronger right of compact, but the 
 profounder right in which was involved the highest interests of 
 men, the maintenance of natural and inherent rights among 
 men, which indeed is the basis of the Government itself then 
 every grave around us becomes that of a nation's defender and 
 of a people's champion. Nay, it becomes that of the champion 
 of the highest principles of equity and justice. 
 
 This is said thus emphatically, because few wars arise from 
 so profound a cause as ours. It was not a wrangle between two
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 259 
 
 monarchies for territory or power, or to avenge a fancied insult 
 of a sovereign. It was not a war for plunder, nor to preserve 
 the balance of power. But it was a collision between two an- 
 tagonistic principles in society, wherein one was being gradually 
 worn away by attrition with the other, until, as if inspired with, 
 life and infuriated by the abrasion, it sprung up in resistance. 
 Whosoever imagines that our controversy ot arms arose from 
 any other cause, has not read aright. I therefore draw a deep 
 and broad line between combatants of such a character. There 
 is a deep gulf fixed between them. We have no right, now that 
 the struggle has ended, to pretend to be ignorant of these dis- 
 tinctions, or of the nature of this contest. We are hypocrital, 
 and were, while in armor, mere mercenaries, if we do not claim 
 for the Union dead that softer repose which comes from superior 
 virtue. 
 
 Nor were it necessary for me to press this point so bluntly, 
 were this cemetery located in another latitude. But here, where 
 Treason still lurks in different guises, where its insidious poison 
 still festers in society, and where to have been a soldier against 
 the Kepublic is esteemed a merit, it would be unmanly and dis- 
 ingenuous in him who drew his sabre for the protection of the 
 Republic, to have withheld these expressions. While I say 
 this, I desire to throw no contumely upon the graves of the 
 gallant dead who composed the armies of the insurgent States, 
 nor even to impugn improperly the motives of the living ; but 
 I mean that forever hereafter, so far as my influence may go, 
 there shall be no fame, however lofty and unsullied, which shall 
 not blacken if yoked with Treason ; and no man who can raise 
 his parricidal arm against the Republic which is the common 
 parent and protector of us all, and not sink into ineffable and 
 irretrievable infamy. 
 
 And now, beneath these fresh laurels, we leave these silent 
 comrades within the Nation's enclosure. Sadly we move away 
 from this great companionship. We have again seemed to look 
 upon the deep lines of blue ; upon the floating standards, and 
 upon the arms flashing in the sun. Their last march is ended. 
 They participate no more in the pageantry of war. Here, where 
 neither tablet nor obelisk records their deeds, they will sleep 
 until the great reveille sounds for all men, but above them shall 
 continually gather the affections of a grateful people. 
 
 At the conclusion of the oration, a hail-storm burst upon the 
 vast crowd of spectators, and they dispersed rapidly, with the 
 exception of the societies, who formed ranks and marched home 
 under a discharge of hail-stones, with the step of tried veterans 
 as they are.
 
 260 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 The hearse was decorated with flags and crape, and bore on 
 its sides the following motto : 
 
 WE HONOR 
 OUR NATION'S DEAD. 
 
 It was drawn by six dark horses, trimmed with rosettes, and led 
 by six members of the G. A. R. Each member of the G. A. R. 
 carried a cross covered with evergreens and flowers, at a shoul- 
 der, which were placed at the heads of the ranks of graves. 
 The cemetery is a large enclosure containing between two and 
 three thousand graves, arranged in columns and ranks as they 
 shot shoulder to shoulder. Eventually it will become an orna- 
 ment to the liberality of the Government which does not forget 
 its dead. Lieutenant Gibbs, of the 8th U. S. Infantry, deserves 
 great credit for the taste and skill displayed in the arrangement 
 of the grounds. The mound in the centre of the cemetery was 
 adorned with the names of many of our fallen generals, whose 
 heroic deeds will ever live in the hearts of the American people. 
 Among them were McPherson, Sedgwick, Berry, Kearney, 
 Baker, &c. 
 
 Major Upham, Post Commandant, contributed much to the 
 occasion by his advice and assistance. The following order was 
 issued by him, which was generally observed. Much of the 
 shipping displayed their colors at half-mast, as a proper tribute 
 of respect. Many private buildings were also adorned in like 
 manner. 
 
 WILMINGTON, X. C., May 29, 1868. 
 SPECIAL ORDERS, ) 
 No. 40. j 
 
 I. The 30th of May having been designated for the dedica- 
 tion of the National Cemetery at this Post, in tribute of respect 
 for the nation's dead, all military duty, except the usual police 
 duty of the garrison, will be suspended during that day. Coun- 
 ty and municipal offices will be closed for the transaction of 
 public business, except those pertaining to necessary police 
 duties. 
 
 Masters of vessels are requested to display the National 
 colors at half-mast, from sunrise till sunset. 
 
 II. Company I, 6th Infantry, will act as escort to the funeral 
 cortege, and will be paraded on the Company Parade Ground 
 at half-past 1 o'clock, P.M. J. J. UPHAM, 
 
 Bretft Major U. 8. A., Capt. 6th Infy, Commanding Post. 
 
 AT RALETGH, N. C. 
 
 In pursuance of the programme, the procession was formed 
 at the south front of the Capitol, at 2 o'clock, P.M. Gen. Nelson
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 201 
 
 A. Miles acted as Chief Marshal, assisted by Col. Richmond 
 Price, Col. Andrew Geddes, Maj. C. 13. Whittemore, Maj. John 
 D. Black, Capt. Louis E. Grander, and Maj. O. J. Sweet. Pre- 
 ceded by the band of the 40th Infantry, the members of the 
 Grand Army, and other citizens, marched to the cemetery, 
 where the exercises were commenced at about half-past 3 
 o'clock. 
 
 The flag of the 1st North Carolina Volunteers was borne in 
 front of the procession. 
 
 The order of proceedings was announced by Maj. T. A. 
 Byrnes. After an eloquent and impressive prayer by the Rev. 
 T. 13. Fiske, and the singing of an ode appropriate to the occa- 
 sion, by the large assemblage, the following odes, written by 
 request for the occasion, were read by Geo. O. Spooner, Esq., in S 
 the order in which they appear : 
 
 BY MISS CABRIB HALEY. 
 
 With Nature's fairest gifts we come, 
 
 To deck these silent, solemn mounds ; 
 And though the flower's lips be dumb, 
 
 Yet speak they love, that hath no bounds. 
 
 They show that those who bravely stood 
 
 In truth's defence, in loyal might, 
 Though for this cause they've shed their blood, 
 
 They live in hearts that love the right. 
 
 The Flag they bore through conflict's rage 
 
 The Flag that o'er their dear dust waves 
 Oh, hallowed Flag ! may history's page 
 
 Ne'er tell thou'rt gone from o'er these graves. 
 
 Oh, sacred dust of those who fell 
 
 In gory strife's appalling hour, 
 Remembrance of their deeds shall well 
 
 Within our souls with searching power. 
 
 Our Father ! aid us well to love 
 
 Our land, and its defenders true ; 
 Teach all in faith to look above, 
 
 And give us strength the right to do. 
 
 BY MRS. W. R. RICHARDSON. 
 
 Dead heroes, sleep ! a nation's tears 
 
 Flow o'er thy mouldering dust ; 
 All loyal hearts, all future years, 
 
 Will praise thy battles for the just. 
 
 'Twas thine to strike, thy land to save 
 
 For all that man holds dear 
 In battles fierce, on ocean's wave 
 
 To smite the traitor's heart with fear.
 
 262 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Thy work is o'er the country's free ! 
 
 A grateful people deck the graves, 
 That tyrants through the earth may see 
 
 The tributes paid our fallen braves. 
 
 Sleep on, brave freemen sleep thy last, 
 
 Till from thy gory beds 
 Jehovah's trump shall sound the blast, 
 
 And heavenly wreaths shall crown thy head. 
 
 THE UNION DEAD BY W. W. BOLDEST. 
 
 A nation saved weeps o'er the brave, 
 
 "Who, faithful to its life and laws, 
 'Mid march, and siege, and suffering, gave 
 
 Themselves unto its holy Cause. 
 
 On rugged mount, in sylvan shade, 
 
 By murmuring stream and sounding deep, 
 
 'Neath soil their valor classic made, 
 The heroes of the Union sleep. 
 
 To future Time's remotest verge 
 
 Let votive offerings deck each grave, 
 And sacred eulogy and dirge 
 
 Lament them, bravest of the brave 1 
 
 The flag still soars towards the sun: 
 
 The Union fears no traitor now : 
 Freedom for all at last is won, 
 
 Aud Glory crowns the nation's brow. 
 
 Half mast the flag ! the minute gun 
 
 Roll forth its heavy note of woe ! 
 Their fame is sate, the work is done 
 
 Of those who calmly sleep below. 
 
 War may again his havoc make, 
 
 New actors fill their allotted part, 
 Yet still these memories, fresh, shall wake 
 
 Their echoes in the nation's heart. 
 
 The oration was then delivered by Dr. H. C. Yogell. At 
 the conclusion of the oration, and after benediction by the Rev. 
 H. M. Tupper, the people dispersed through the grounds to 
 decorate the graves. 
 
 The number of graves is estimated at 1,180, and the bouquets 
 laid upon them were not less than 2,500. The number of per- 
 sons present was not less than 4,000. 
 
 Among other persons present not above mentioned, we ob- 
 served Gen. Clitz, Commander of the Post, Gov. Holden, Hon. 
 Thos. Settle, Hon. John T. Deweese, C. L. Harris, Esq., Wm. 
 M. Coleman, Esq., Prof. W. C. Kerr, Maj. Bewey, Col. T. P. 
 Johnston, and Maj. Lynn.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 263 
 
 Nothing occurred to interrupt the proceedings or to mar the 
 appropriately solemn feeling that pervaded the large assemblage. 
 It has been stated that the procession " consisted mainly of col- 
 ored persons." This is true. But it is no reflection on the 
 gallant dead, and not at all discreditable to the occasion that 
 the loyal people were not backward, as others were, in showing 
 their respect for the occasion. 
 
 The fine band (colored) of the 40th Regiment was present, 
 and by its superior performances added much to the interest of 
 the occasion. 
 
 ORATION BY DB. H. O. TOGELL. 
 
 I am persuaded that a common feeling of respect for the 
 memory of the dead has influenced this assemblage to-day. It is 
 a tribute none should withhold, who are interested in the sub- 
 ject, complicated with those who lie within this enclosure. If 
 any class of men, living or dead, deserve the consideration and 
 respect of their fellow-citizens, it is the patriot soldier who has 
 periled or lost his life in the cause of his country. Men may 
 build cities, and endow institutions of charity, and die remem- 
 bered for their beneficence, in which they have sacrificed no 
 personal inconvenience or comfort, while the soldier leaves all 
 that makes life valuable, and submits to the danger and priva- 
 tions found in camp and field, and becomes the safeguard and 
 defence, not of a city but of a nation ; a government in whose 
 existence cities and charities are vested. These constitute the 
 soldier's claim while living, and his demand, when dead, to the 
 consideration and respect of every loyal man. "When the people 
 cease to be grateful to those whose strong hearts and muscle 
 proved the bulwark of defense, when their interest and liberty 
 were at stake, and danger threatened the final rupture of a 
 united and prosperous government, then may the grass grow 
 rank and long on the graves of its victims, and human gratitude 
 become a myth of the past, and sympathy a satire upon 
 humanity. 
 
 Kind acts like " kind words never die." They will live in 
 their influence when generations have passed away, and like a 
 ripple on the wave, they will wash the sand on either shore of 
 mortality. True, the dead may not feel the act of to-day in 
 
 farlanding these graves where their bodies moulder. There is, 
 owever, a sympathy linking living minds in the memory 
 awakened by the flowers which wreath the place of their en- 
 tombment It speaks a silent eloquence which reaches the heart, 
 no flourish of rhetoric or metaphor can attain, and forces upon 
 us the feeling " Blessed are the dead."
 
 264 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 It is not merely what we see around us to-day which makes 
 this spot hallowed ground. It is not the flowers strewn around 
 and over these graves which swells the heart with emotion. The 
 attraction is not found in ornamenting these walks and avenues. 
 There is something more involved than the mere parade and 
 show of bringing garlands of flowers to lay upon a strang;er 3 s 
 grave. These bones are the nation's trust. They became so 
 under circumstances that will render their graves a special in- 
 terest and care, when we shall have passed away, and will go 
 down to coming ages, a memorial of a disaffection, as causeless 
 as it was sad and disastrous to the public interest and national 
 pride. 
 
 This cemetery is a striking comment on the wide-spread 
 desolation which had nearly made the existence of a Republic a 
 nullity, and wiped out the result of our fathers' blood and toil, 
 in throwing off the yoke of a foreign despotism, and would have 
 reduced the confederation of States to a feudalism. But for this, 
 these graves would not have been made, and thousands of val- 
 uable lives might have been saved to their country and their 
 friends. It is often found that blessings long continued, become 
 ineffectual in producing contentment. Desire becomes rampant 
 for change, and under the whip and spur of excitement men 
 rush inconsiderately into the conception of imaginary evils 
 which a little time and patience would have overcome. There 
 are appropriate remedies for every wrong. Wretchedness and 
 ruin follow in the wake of a causeless strife. There is a time 
 for men to think ; an hour when they should "ponder the paths 
 of their feet." That time and hour has been, and is now. A 
 voice comes up from these graves and from thousands of others 
 whose homes have been made desolate, and could it be heard 
 to-day, it would cause the hills and vales surrounding our once 
 quiet and happy homes to echo, and each ear tingle through the 
 length and breadth of the land with the cries of agonized 
 mortality. 
 
 Men of North Carolina, think ! Men of the country, think ! 
 Not upon a single blessing lost. Not upon homes made deso- 
 late by mistaken strife. Not upon the flattering speech of 
 demagogues. Think for yourselves, your wives and children. 
 Think for posterity, in combining a true loyalty and patriotism, 
 with industry and persevering toil ; and although it may not 
 restore your dead to your homes and your firesides, your posi- 
 tions will become elevated, and your possessions will again grow 
 green under your fostering care, and your homes happy and 
 prosperous under a restored confidence in yourselves and others, 
 with a government saved from the wreck of internal broils.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 265 
 
 That man who is constantly harping upon technicalities, and 
 confines his patriotism and loyalty to what was, or has been, is 
 at fault, and is no less untrue to his country than himself. It is 
 not the men whose sinews breasted the smoke and strife of 
 battle, who keep up this strife and discontent among the masses, 
 but the loungers at home, whose sensitive nerves evaded the 
 smell of gunpowder and the tasting of death. Such men may 
 make fair speeches, and call you cowards, for your disinclination 
 to follow their lead, but you have faced the deadlier aim of the 
 shot and shell of the battle-field, and need not fear to meet them 
 in a war of words. The advancement of intelligence and the 
 exercise of forbearance with a close application of the means of 
 relieving the necessities, the past few years have inaugurated 
 will soon cover the breaches. Leave these " by-gones " with 
 their cause and origin, and seek the recuperation of wasted for- 
 tunes and the establishment of a true loyalty and patriotism on 
 a foundation so broad and deep, that future generations may 
 find no cause for a breach of their fealty. Then may the symbol 
 of our nationality rest secure and undisturbed in its majesty and 
 pride on its pinnacle, and the dome of freedom reflect the glory 
 and power of her institutions, and unfurl her banner to the 
 world without the absence of a single star. 
 
 The sacrifice of human life is terrible to contemplate. It 
 was a fearful price to pay, and every section of the country is 
 overshadowded by the gloom of the retrospect. If there is any 
 power in a general sympathy arising from similar causes of dis- 
 tress and suffering, to reunite and consolidate suspended in- 
 terest, then each and all who have become alienated from cir- 
 cumstances have the panacea at hand, for the whole land groans 
 under the burden, "Joseph is not." Surely this cemetery has 
 become a favored spot where affection lingers over the graves of 
 the loved and lost, and where reflection is awakened to the un- 
 certainty of earthly hopes and prospects. This is one of the 
 great life lessons we have been, or are to be taught, that the 
 tendency of progress, and all with which we have to do, is to 
 decay. 
 
 " What does not fade ? The tower that long has stood 
 The crush of t!i under and the warring winds, 
 The flinty pyramids sind walls of brass, 
 Fall by the slow but sure destroyer, Time : 
 Achaia, Rome and Egypt moulder down, 
 And all these worlds that roll around the sun. 
 The sun himself shall die." 
 
 We little know what is before us. The past is ever with us 
 -the future never. The place of the birth and burial are often
 
 266 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 widely apart. Here lie the representatives of nineteen differ- 
 ent States, whose homes have been made desolate, if they are 
 not abandoned. Who can tell the days and months of anxiety 
 and watching their absence has caused ? Who can portray in 
 colors sufficiently vivid and striking the wretchedness and want 
 which have followed their protracted absence ? The widowed 
 and burdened heart, the wail of helpless orphanage, the whiten- 
 ed locks and bending forms, occasioned by the pressure of an 
 anxiety which marks the uncertainty of expectation and hope 
 deferred ; all this and more is involved in the death of the oc- 
 cupants of these graves. 
 
 Here is a large field, in which imagination may grow weary 
 in the vagueness which environs the history of those on whose 
 tombs affection is not permitted to shed a single tear. A solemn 
 and painful interest is thrown around this burial plot, from the 
 consideration, there are none to watch them, who have a per- 
 sonal interest in it. They died far from home and kindred. 
 Is one to soothe them in their last moments. None to close their 
 eves in their final sleep. None to receive the last thoughts from 
 all else withheld. Strange hands administered to them the re- 
 lief their necessities required. Strange voices were around 
 them. Amid the din of battle, or in the discomforts of a 
 soldiers' hospital, they passed to their final home ; and now the 
 strife of conflict is over, the government in whose interest they 
 fought and died, have disinterred and gathered their remains 
 from the unavoidable isolation of a first burial, and having re- 
 cased them, they have placed them permanently in this ceme- 
 tery under a compensated guardian cy to await the trump of the 
 archangel, in the final resurrection. 
 
 What matters it, though no obelisk points its shaft to heaven ; 
 though no broken column, emblematical of the quiet sleeper ; 
 though no sculptured rose drooping on its shattered stem, repre- 
 senting the death of the young and ardent ; though no stately 
 monument lifts its gorgeous pile within this enclosure, reared to 
 rank and greatness ; this shall be none other than hallowed 
 ground, where others than ourselves may come, and receive 
 instruction in the silent and modest appeal of the soldier's 
 grave. The sun shines, but they hail not its light ; the wind 
 blows, but they feel not the breeze ; the seasons revolve, but 
 they heed it not ; the voice of business and pleasure is as loud 
 as ever, but they hear it not ; the voice of mercy is proclaimed 
 and the song of praise sung, and the cry of prayer presented, 
 but they know it not. Thus hushed in death's last sleep lie the 
 former bone and sinew of the nation's defence. 
 
 Their graves have become a legacy around which precious
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 
 
 267 
 
 memories cluster. Their epitaphs are written on tablets which 
 conflagrations or inundations cannot reach. History may not 
 deal in individuality, according to each their sphere or place of 
 action, in camp and Held, but when the record of the fearful 
 struggle of the last seven years is written up, full justice will be 
 done the rank and tile of the armies of the Kepublic, and a halo 
 of glory will wreathe the memory of those who shared the toil 
 and danger of the achievement or fell in the contest. 
 
 The best Generalship in the world (and ours was second to 
 none), could not have been substituted for those who backed the 
 knapsack and carried the musket, persevering through mud and 
 dust on the weary march, or breasting the combat, firmly and 
 until inchingly contesting the advance or pursuit, or recoil, and 
 at hazard of life and limb, bearing the old flag back to its 
 original position. Their devotion to the caiise was equal, if not 
 more than equal to the history of ancient or modern warfare. 
 
 Instances of the most thrilling interest were witnessed. 
 Said a man wounded in the battle of Fredericksburg, " Boys, I 
 am shot, don't wait for me ; just open the folds of the old flag, 
 let me see it once more," and while the film of death was on his 
 eye, he caught it in his hand, pressed it to his lips, and under 
 the booming of cannon and fire of musketry, the noble spirit of 
 Captain Ferry sought a fairer, purer sky. 
 
 " He sleeps his last sleep, he has fought his last battle, 
 No sound can awake him to glory again." 
 
 Among the 1,178, who are entombed in these grounds, conse- 
 crated by the government as a soldiers' cemetery, 545 are un- 
 known. No trace is left to mark their birth-place or parentage. 
 No human power can trace their history all is a blank, unknown. 
 
 " Like dew on the mountain, 
 
 Like foam on the river, 
 Like a bubble on the fountain, 
 They are gone, and forever." 
 
 They were doubtless the pride of some mothers' hearts! 
 They were probably the stay and staff of a father's hope. 
 Around them loving arms were entwined in wifely or sisterly 
 affection. The burden of their absence lies heavily on some 
 inind. Where where, in the universe of God, was the place 
 of their abiding ? Tell me ! Oh tell, ye spirit of the slumber- 
 ing dead, What is thy name, and where is the bosom that 
 nourished thee ? Break, break the deathly silence of thy tomb, 
 and unravel the painful mystery involved in thy death and 
 burial. Speak ! thy country calls thee to thy reward. Speak ! 
 this is the nation's memorial day, for her buried dead, her
 
 268 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 slaughtered millions. They do not answer. " After life's fitful 
 fever, they sleep well." Wrapt in the mysterv of the grave, all 
 speculation is unavailing. We must leave tnem in the dead 
 quiet of their graves, until the sea yields us her quota with the 
 earth, and the " dead, small and great, stand before God." Of 
 them and their friends it may be said : 
 
 " The heart, the henrth is desolate, the fire is quenched and gone, 
 That into happy childhood's eyes, once brightly laughing shone ; 
 The place where mirth and music met, is Imshed through day and night, 
 O, for one sunny face of all that there shed light." 
 
 In your prosperity and enjoyment of peace, forget not those 
 whose plaintive notes went up around the camp tire and from 
 the battle-field, " Who will care for mother now ?" Speak 
 kindly of the soldier. Infuse cheer into the home he has left 
 desolate. Let not your eyes look coldly on the vacant chairs 
 the war has occasioned ; give your influence and patronage to 
 those who were the means of preserving your country. Unnum- 
 bered generations must pass away before these will cease to in- 
 vite your kindest regards. Because a soldier is maimed and 
 crippled, it is no reason why he should be cast aside. Give to 
 him some business, where one arm and one leg will serve him in 
 obtaining a subsistence. 
 
 To deck these graves with flowers is a very small affair, and 
 only a trifling tribute to the memory of the dead. If our sym- 
 pathy is limited to the acts of to-day, it will be a poor return 
 for periled life. It would be a sad comment upon humanity, 
 should any withhold such a contribution to a stranger's grave, and 
 more sad still, if any should wish to mar what death has left of 
 frail mortality, and carry out the instinct of the hyena in attack- 
 ing defenceless bones to satisfy a sectional prejudice. The inno- 
 cent cause of such a feeling can well aftord to do without a 
 flower grudgingly withheld. Can such a spirit succeed by en- 
 gendering strife and recrimination ? Will such a spirit bear the 
 scrutiny of offended justice ? It is a burlesque upon humanity 
 and civilization. " From such a spirit, angels and ministers of 
 grace defend us !" Oh, that God would open for the nation a 
 JBethesda in which this moral leprosy of the people might be 
 cured ! O, for the spirits of a former day. Where are the Clays ! 
 and Websters ! andJacksons! and their cotemporaries, whose 
 firm integrity and indomitable courage rose above the strife of 
 conflict and party or sectional prejudice ? 
 
 " Their words were bonds, their oaths were oracles, 
 Their love sincere, their thoughts immaculate, 
 Their tears pure messengers, sent from their hearts, 
 Their hearts as far from fraud as heaven from earth I"
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 269 
 
 There is such a thing as " withholding more than is meet, 
 and it tendeth to poverty." Those of narrow minds and limited 
 conceptions, are rarely capable of sufficient self-denial and self- 
 sacrifice to maintain and labor for the public good. 
 
 The men of a former period knew a dearer name than self, 
 and owned a greater fear than death. When the anthem of the 
 free is lost in the clank of new-forged chains, how that clarion 
 of '98 that blast for universal freedom will ring over the years, 
 and over the graves, and over the silence of ten thousand nights, 
 along the corridors of half a century ! They who aforetime 
 stood hard by the helm of the Ship of State have gone aloft, 
 but the tones of the lookout come down to the rocking deck, 
 like light from the solemn stars. 
 
 Consecrated and devoted in their eloquence and power to 
 the general interests of the country, they rose above the limit of 
 sectional prejudice and party lines, and bent their whole ener- 
 gies in maintaining reciprocity of feeling and union of action. 
 These are the spirits now demanded, who would not stoop to a 
 mean act to gratify a personal pique, or subvert the dignity of a 
 true humanity to cultivate animosity and hate. Men may 
 honestly and conscientiously differ in their religion and politics, 
 without cultivating exclusiveness, and shutting out the kindlier 
 properties of heart and mind : 
 
 " Great God ! when the spirit of freedom shall fail, 
 And the sons of the pilgrims in sorrow hewail, 
 
 Their religion and liberty pone ; 
 
 Oh, send back the form?, that shall stand as they stood, 
 Unsubdued by the tempest, unmoved by the flood 
 
 And tu Thee be the glory alone." 
 
 The true and false intermingle in society like clouds skirting 
 a clear skv, and the selfish often become spots on the feast of 
 charity. With such, the best motives are impugned, and the 
 purest objects which can ennoble and dignify humanity, are 
 treated with scorn and contempt. Wherever this element ex- 
 ists, under whatever garb, the influence is disastrous, and fatal 
 to the best interest of society. There is no better maxim for 
 the practical purposes of life, than that uttered centuries since, 
 "A soft answer turneth away wrath." "He that ruleth his 
 spirit is better than he that taketh a city." " There are six 
 things doth the Lord hate ; yea, seven are an abomination unto 
 him : A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed inno- 
 cent blood ; a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations ; feet 
 that be swift in running to mischief; a false witness that speak- 
 eth .lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren." In 
 moulding our spirits after this model, and in yielding ourselves
 
 270 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 to its teaching, our influence will become reformatory in check- 
 ing the turbulency and restlessness of misguided passion ; and 
 the gold of the refiner will not be purer than its effect upon the 
 public mind. 
 
 On a dark night, when a storm was on the deep, and dark 
 clouds " hung thick athwart the sky " and settled with increas- 
 ing gloom where, lone and cold, the brave hearts of centuries 
 were entombed, a vessel had long been struggling to gain a place 
 of safety. The starboard and larboard tack had been made 
 without success. Weary and worn, the occupants of that reel- 
 ing craft were about yielding to the inevitable doom to which 
 their helplessness consigned them. Hope had well-nigh yielded 
 to despair, and there seemed nothing left to that exhausted 
 band, but to throw aside all thoughts of human safety, of home 
 and friends, and prepare for that long-dreaded moment, a grave ; 
 the waves were opening for them, the storm-cloud for their 
 mantle, the winds for their vigils, and they seek for their fainting 
 spirits, far starward, a home in the great Pacific of God. 
 
 By one of those strange interpositions by which the Divine 
 mind provides for the extremes of human weakness, a cry from 
 the lookout brought hope and joy to the fainting crew. They 
 were saved. It was the light reflected upon the foaming surge, 
 from the tower erected on that dark and treacherous coast, 
 warning the unwary, and pointing to a place of safety. On 
 bended knee and with grateful hearts, on that night of storm, 
 the crew blessed God for the light so opportunely sent to meet 
 the crisis, if not to quell the power of the storm. 
 
 What the light-house is to the sailor amid the perils of his 
 outward and homeward bound, humanity is to man in the exer- 
 cise of its sympathetic and social properties. It is this which 
 conduces to smooth the roughness of the way we tread, and 
 straighten the crookedness of human paths. The pressure of 
 the storm is lessened by the sympathy accorded us in passing 
 through it. The social properties of the heart, like oil cast 
 upon the angry waves, breaks the power of the life-struggle to 
 the tempted and tried. There is power and majesty in the sym- 
 pathy of a well-disciplined humanity in blunting the keenness 
 of disappointed hope, and in alleviating human wretchedness 
 and sorrow ; taming the rage and thunder of human passions, 
 and in quelling the spirit and power of anarchy and despotism. 
 Human sympathy well regulated and properly directed, consti- 
 tutes for society and the country, 
 
 " Nature's storm-proof fortresses, 
 
 By Freedom's children trod, 
 Man's invulnerable walls, 
 The Masonry of God."
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 
 
 It is pleasant to the eye, and grateful to the heart, to behold 
 the light of a single star, on a dark and stormy night. It is 
 the promise of Hope ; but Hope bursts into a reality, when the 
 rainbow spans the heavens, reflected from the dregs of the pass- 
 ing storm. So does the Great Architect of the universe make 
 the wrath of man contribute to his praise, causing truth to 
 sparkle and brighten under the prejudices that bound it, and 
 break forth into noontide splendor and meridian glory. Truth 
 gathers strength from the pressure, as love warms into life, and 
 the social and domestic relations tighten, under the impediments 
 which environ it. 
 
 The intrinsic value of Faith is in the trial, and being " well- 
 founded, fears no danger." The country has had her days of 
 darkness. Clouds have settled upon her prospects, her progress 
 has been retarded, her very existence threatened, yet above the 
 din of conflict she rose, and the spirit and heart of the Repub- 
 lic sought refuge in a purer atmosphere. Faith ascended with 
 the violence of the storm. Hope nerved the heart to breast the 
 conflict, while charity spanned the Heavens in robes dipped in 
 sunlight. 
 
 The rolling cloud, the sulphurous glare, the howling storm, 
 are passed, and the eapitol of the nation stands forth in its 
 strength and beauty, bright and glittering, with dome and shaft 
 and architrave lighted by the rays of the morning sun, while 
 the truth and principles of her foundation is marching step by 
 step to the eternal skies. 
 
 " Long may it live and every blast defy, 
 Till Time's last whirlwind sweeps the vaulted sky." 
 
 AT NEWBERN, NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 The procession was formed on Broad street, right resting on 
 Craven, at nine o'clock in the morning. 
 
 General James E. Fleming, who had been selected as Chief 
 Marshal, was assisted by the following officers. 
 
 The DivisionCommander : 
 
 1st Division, Col. Stephen Moore ; 2d Division, Maj. A. R. 
 Dennison ; 3d Division, Capt. J. H. Porter. The Aids and 
 Staff Officers : Col. Thomas B. Hunt, Col. R. P. Smith, Maj. A. 
 Coats, Surgeon J. K. Fleming, Surgeon Jno. B. White, Surgeon 
 Henry J. Menninger. 
 
 Capt. John F. Kulifson, Capt. H. H. Hitchcock, Lieut. Sidney 
 Tuttle, Capt. E. C. Tunis and Mr. F. M. Pierson acted as aids 
 to the division commanders. 
 
 The procession moved down Craven street to Pollok, up
 
 272 
 
 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Pollok street to George, and up George to the Cemetery, in the 
 following order :.. Chief Marshal and Aids; Staff Officers 
 mounted ; Reverend E. M. Forbes, Chaplain ; Hon. W. H. S. 
 Sweet, Orator; His Honor, Major Win. L. Palmer, Mayor. 
 
 FIRST DIVISION. Band ; Company C, 40th U. S. Infantry, 
 under command of Capt. Walter S. Long; officers and soldiers 
 of the U. S. army ; officers and men of the U. S. Marine, coast 
 survey, and revenue service. 
 
 SECOND DIVISION. Ex-officers and soldiers of the army; 
 ex-officers and sailors of the navy ; patriotic organizations. 
 
 THIRD DIVISION. Ladies in carriages; wagons containing 
 flowers, wreaths, garlands, crosses and other decorations; citi- 
 zens. 
 
 The procession was large and imposing. From the head of 
 the column to the long array of carriages, a space of over half 
 a mile was occupied. The colored people followed the proces- 
 sion in great numbers. It is estimated that there were 
 between two and three thousand persons in line. Many of the 
 mounted citizens carried Guidon flags furled and draped in 
 mourning, making a beautiful effect. A number of the car- 
 riages in line carried the following mottoes, lettered in gold 
 upon blue silk : 
 
 " Enjoy, but forget not the price of Liberty." 
 
 " Kemember the Gallant Dead." 
 " Our love of Country stronger than our love of Home." 
 
 As the procession passed the camp of the 40th Infantry, the 
 garrison flag was lowered to half-mast, where it remained until 
 after the completion of the ceremonies. Arriving at the ceme- 
 tery, the head of the column halted until the ladies had 
 alighted from the carriages. The gentlemen dismounted, after 
 which the procession passed into the enclosure. The work of 
 decorating the graves was then commenced. 
 
 Twenty-one minute guns were fired by a detachment of the 
 40th Infantry, under command of Capt. Hargous. The number 
 of guns corresponds with the number of States having repre- 
 sentative dead in the cemetery : 
 
 Maine. New Hampshire, Connecticut, New- York, Pennsyl- 
 vania, North Carolina, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, 
 Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland, 
 Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Kentucky. 
 
 THE DECORATIONS. 
 
 At the entrance to the Cemetery an arch was erected,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 273 
 
 covered with evergreens, and bearing a motto in box-leaves 
 upon dark ground, 
 
 " UNION DEAD." 
 
 There being over three thousand graves, it was impossible to 
 decorate all the individual ones. 
 
 Twenty-six crosses had been constructed, wound with ever- 
 greens ana flowers. One of these crosses was placed over each 
 one of the lots occupied by the dead of the aboved-named 
 States, and over those of the regular army, the navy, the signal 
 corps, the Quartermaster's employees, and the construction 
 corps. A large reverse of each cross bore upon its cross-arm 
 the name of the State, in white letters, upon back scroll. 
 Besides these general decorations, many of the grave's received 
 individual attention of mourning friends and relatives, promi- 
 nent among which was an arch erected over the graves of 
 the 3d N. Y. Cavalry, bearing the well known and appropriate 
 inscription : 
 
 Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. 
 
 On the south side, and opening upon the cemetery, a large 
 platform and a number of canvass shelters had been erected for 
 the accommodation of the assemblage. 
 
 The decorating of the cemetery and graves being over, the 
 meeting was organized, and opened with prayer by the Rev. E. 
 at M. Forbes. 
 
 Doctor H. J. Menninger then introduced Capt. "W. H. S. 
 Sweet, who spoke as follows : 
 
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN Friends of the Union Dead: 
 It has been said that the sense of justice is so strong in the 
 human breast, that no form of law or institution can long 
 remain unchallenged, if it does not conform to the demands of 
 this perpetual Dictator over civil governments ; that each gene- 
 ration beholds the enormity with new indignation, and enters 
 fresh protest against it, until finally Wrong goes down before 
 the moral force of Right. Humanity, perfected in justice, is 
 the consummation of human government. 
 
 It is the sad reflection of this occasion that the adjustment 
 of our laws to a practical recognition of this truth should have 
 demanded the outpouring of an ocean of fraternal blood. 
 
 Seven years ago, the peace of our country was rudely 
 disturbed by the shock of civil war. The beautiful constellation 
 upon our nati<kial banner was suddenly obscured by the lower- 
 ing cloud of rebellion rebellion so thoroughly organized, 
 militarily and politically, that ten States, embracing a, large 
 portion of our national domain, and one-third of our entire 
 18
 
 274 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 population, were torn from their moorings in the Union before 
 we were fully awakened from our dream of a future as peaceful, 
 prosperous and glorious as had been the past. 
 
 A long rumbling sound, like the roll of a muffled drum, is 
 said to precede and announce a volcanic eruption; but this 
 people were hurled into the seething maelstrom of a terrible 
 civil war almost without premonition. It seems that in this 
 precipitation of the conflict a kind Providence designed to 
 magnify our national trial, in order that self-government might 
 be more conclusively vindicated against open and secret foes at 
 home and abroad. 
 
 The war of the American revolution settled the theory of 
 self-government. This theory has been nearly a century in 
 ripening into a tangible, consistent fact. During this transition 
 period, there militated against this theory of self-government, as 
 enjoyed by one portion of our people, an antagonistic practice 
 as endured by another portion of our people. This theory was, 
 and is, based upon the broad, enduring basis of humanity. It 
 recognizes brotherhood in the human family. Just as an object 
 cast upon the bosom of a placid stream becomes the centre 
 of concentric ripples, each reproducing itself in enlarged pro- 
 portions while the inner are dying away, so the lump of clay, 
 animated with the breath of God, and cast by His hand upon 
 the bosom of the stream of time, is the centre extinct of 
 concentric circles of human existences sustaining, each toward 
 the other, the relation of cause and effect. Radiating, ramified 
 lines of descent bind centre to circumference. If there could be 
 a simultaneous and successful effort on the part of every family 
 in the land to trace out their lines of descent, their departing 
 footsteps would echo along converging pathways tending to 
 a common centre, and thence to the throne of God. As 
 with our forefathers, so with us, this thought of universal 
 brotherhood enlarges our conception of the whole duty of man 
 by giving prominence to the idea of the unity of the human 
 race in our great family. Our forefathers were philanthropists. 
 
 The coexisting antagonism to which we have adverted, un- 
 fortunately survived our revolutionary struggle, and insinuated 
 itself into the new Government ; because might, ever tenacious, 
 never concessive of power, temporarily withstood moral force, 
 and finally it arrogated to itself the very perversion of the Gov- 
 ernment from its original character. 
 
 Tame, craven submission, or patriotic, bloody resistance, 
 were the dread alternatives. 
 
 I kave thus merely adverted to some of the phases of our 
 earlier history, so as to revive your recollection of the circum-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 275 
 
 stances under which one and a half million of patriotic young 
 men sprang into arms in defense of their country. 
 
 As our forefathers secured the theory of self-government by 
 the bayonet and bullet between Lexington and Yorktown, so, 
 by the bayonet and bullet between Sumter and Appomattox, 
 have their descendants secured the embodiment of that theory 
 in all the ramifications of our Government. 
 
 After four years of bloodshed and carnage, of agony and 
 gloom, our people joyfully beheld the smoke of battle floating 
 away, and our beautiful land once more bathed in the glorious 
 sunlight of peace. 
 
 The painful alternations of the public mind between the 
 buoyancy of hope and the depression of despair untold wealth 
 dissipated as the morning dew and, far above and greater than 
 all, an unnumbered host of dead these represent the cost, men- 
 tal and material, of effecting this happy issue out of our na- 
 tional troubles. 
 
 National patriotism, when inspired by the magnetic influ- 
 ence of human sympathy, is the noblest of enthusiasms. 
 
 We have assembled here to-day to commemorate the valor 
 arid patriotism of the heroes whose dust has been piously gath- 
 ered from the battle-fields of eastern North Carolina and de- 
 posited in this cemetery consecrated to them by the Govern- 
 ment for whose salvation they laid down their lives. They 
 rescued our fair fabric of Government, created by the purest 
 and most patriotic men of any age or clime, not only from a 
 well-organized and powerful rebellion, but, under Providence, 
 from the humiliation, degradation, and subjugation sought to be 
 imposed upon us, in the dark hour of our struggle, by our an- 
 cient and common foreign enemy. 
 
 AVlien Napoleon marched his army into Egypt? he urged his 
 troops to deeds of valor with the appeal, " Soldiers, forty cen- 
 turies look down upon you from these pyramids." 
 
 This precious slumbering dust, when animate, leaving the 
 peaceful pursuits of life, sundering the tender ties of friendship 
 and love, and assuming the habiliments of the soldier, incurred 
 exposure, hardship, fatigue, danger, death, inspired by no such 
 love of glory, but rather by the consciousness which animated 
 the hero of Trafalgar " Our country expects every man to do 
 his duty." 
 
 When the Indian king inquired of the great Athenian phi- 
 losopher who \As the happiest among men, his response was, 
 that " No man should be pronounced happy till his death." 
 Thrice happy, then, he who incurs death because his lov<5 of 
 country is so broad as to embrace humanity.
 
 276 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 This inclosure was purchased pursuant to act of Congress 
 ratified February 22d, 1867, the 135th anniversary of the 
 Father of his Country, and consecrated for all time to the patri- 
 otic and Christian purpose of interring Union dead. All that 
 was mortal of 3,380 patriot soldiers, representing twenty-one 
 States of the Union and every branch of the service, has been 
 gathered here ; and here, patriots will repair and mournfully 
 linger as long as exalted patriotism and valor can command the 
 unbought homage of the heart. 
 
 Our comrades who here sleep their last sleep have fallen at 
 the threshold of life, in the vigor of early and promising man- 
 hood. Each of these numerous mounds represents a vacant 
 chair a desolate hearth-stone an afflicted father a broken- 
 hearted mother an affectionate sister or a loving wife, the depth 
 of whose sorrow no human consolation can reach. 
 
 While we would not disturb the repose in which the patriot 
 soldier sleeps, our sympathy for the afflicted and surviving kin- 
 dred is as deep, as strong, as ineffaceable as is our regret that so 
 costly sacrifices were rendered necessary to preserve our Union 
 undivided, and our starry flag undimmed in its lustre. 
 
 In the presence of this sacred dust we involuntarily think of 
 the events connected with the occupants of these silent tombs. 
 The reluctance with which parental love yielded to love of 
 country and consecrated a son to its salvation the suffused 
 eyes which looked a " good-by " which the tongue could not 
 utter, as the manly form of the youthful hero parted with loved 
 ones at home the perfecting of military discipline and drill 
 the hurried march to the front the bivouac the exposures and 
 hardships of forced marches the exchange of fire on the skir- 
 mish line the general engagement the rattle of musketry and 
 the thunderings of artillery the death wound such, doubtless, 
 is the history of most of those who sleep within this sacred in- 
 closure. 
 
 Their earthly career is ended. No reveille disturbs the 
 quiet in which they repose. Peacefully commingling with the 
 dust of their foes, each " lies like a warrior taking his rest." 
 
 May we who survive gather from this a lesson of wisdom. 
 Refraining from crimination and recrimination, may we all, 
 representing as we do every shade of sentiment in the deadly 
 conflict of the recent past, exercise the Christian virtues of for- 
 giveness, and doing good unto those who despitefully use us. 
 
 We have not the power of rolling away as a scroll the great 
 curtain which hides the future from the present. We are pro- 
 foundly ignorant of what events of gladness or sadness lie 
 athwart our national pathway. But should our country ever
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 277 
 
 again be precipitated into the clash and conflict of arras to 
 pivserve its integrity against foes, foreign or domestic, may 
 Almighty God continue His kind, beneficent favor toward us as 
 a nation by supplying the places of our departed patriots who 
 slumber in the national cemeteries, and whose patriotism and 
 valor and virtues are this day being commemorated in every 
 section of our country where they repose. Let us, on the occa- 
 sion of this floral tribute of respect to their memory, by fair 
 hands, re-dedicate "our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred 
 honor " to the cause for which unnumbered hosts so recently 
 sealed their devotion with their life's blood. 
 
 CEREMONIES IN PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 AT GLENWOOD CEMETERY. 
 
 About half-past 4 P. M., Post No. 8 appeared marching in 
 procession, accompanied by the Washington Band. The cere- 
 monies were opened by a number of young ladies from the 
 vicinity of Twelfth and Oxford Streets, who marched over and 
 between the graves, chanting a mournful dirge. The Rev. J. 
 "Walker Jackson was then introduced, and made the following 
 remarks : 
 
 I felt, a few days ago, when asked to make some remarks 
 upon this solemn occasion, as if it wonld be a work entirely un- 
 necessary. I felt, as it was said of a beggar a little while ago, 
 who was sitting by the wayside, uttering but few words, but 
 stretching out his maimed arm toward those who passed by in 
 silence. Some one said : " Why don't you ask for what you 
 want ? Speak ! " He lifted up his arm, and said, " So I do. 
 My rags speak ; my wounds speak ; my crutches speak ; my 
 crooked limbs speak every thing about me speaks ! 
 
 I feel at this hour as if every thing about us speaks. These 
 graves speak to us of sacred suffering, of silent and heroic en- 
 durance. These graves speak to us of men who, being dead, 
 yet speak to us of the great work accomplished for us. You 
 know, as you enter Laurel Hill Cemetery, there is a beautiful 
 picture in stone that will entrance you. At the very entrance 
 of the city of the dead a great artist has put there in marble an 
 incident that gave Sir Walter Scott a name for one of his 
 novels, in which he immortalized- Robert Pattieson, of Scotland, 
 under the name of Old Mortality. There is Old Mortality, 
 with the animkl that carried the implements standing by his 
 side, and Sir milter Scott talking to him, while he is renewing 
 the inscription on the tomb of some old Carneronian hero who 
 fell hi the wars of that land.
 
 278 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 We are meeting here today with Old Mortality brighten- 
 ing the names and heroic sacrifices of those heroes who fell in 
 the greatest struggle known for agus. You are bringing their 
 names back with the name of Abraham Lincoln, that great 
 man, who grows greater as the days, weeks, and months roll 
 into years, since that terrible night of his taking away from us, 
 when the country lost the purest of its statesmen, the wisest of 
 its rulers, the most magnanimous of its men of State. He said, 
 at Gettysburg, while looking on the graves of the soldiers dedi- 
 cated there : " It is not for us to dedicate this spot. The brave 
 men who fought here, and who fell here the brave men who 
 bled here have consecrated this place. It is left for us to con- 
 secrate our lives to the service of proving that the Government 
 of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish 
 from the face of the earth." 
 
 We are not here only to decorate these graves, but to dedi- 
 cate our lives to their unfinished work, and resolve that all men, 
 from the rising to the setting sun, shall be free now and forever. 
 We meet here for that purpose. I speak the name of that great 
 General, of whom all present will say he is the grandest captain 
 of the age, and say for ourselves that we mean to fight it out on 
 this line if it takes all summer, until the whole laud is free. 
 
 As I stand here, my mind goes back to the past. I think of 
 the 14th day of April, 1861, when, in this city and all over the 
 North, in every village, town, and hamlet, there was a great 
 uprising when the flag was insulted in Charleston harbor, as it 
 floated over the walls of Sumter. When the news came that 
 the flag had been surrendered into the hands of rebels, all rose 
 as a man to put the rebellion down, and it is now known in our 
 history and perpetuated by their sacrifices. The rebels fought 
 by making trinkets of the bones of our prisoners, by starving 
 them to death at Anderson ville and Libby, hunting them with 
 bloodhounds, and shooting them dow r n in cold blood. The peo- 
 ple rose all over the land, and a result followed that was only 
 foreseen by a few far-sighted persons. This rebellion unfettered 
 every slave, and made him free. Glory to the Lord of hosts ! 
 Let us give glory to God the King the Saviour who spoke, and 
 the people were free. 
 
 We meet here to strew these graves with flowers. Men die 
 indeed who die in a bad cause. None search for their graves 
 to strew them with flowers ; but those who die in a good cause, 
 live. They who have died in this good cause, live in the hearts 
 of the people. Those who die in this cause, grow with the 
 years and grow bright in the memories of those who remember 
 the service they rendered in the good cause. They redeemed
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 279 
 
 the country, and will live in the history of the country. Tablets 
 will preserve their memories. Their children will talk of them 
 hen-after ; younger brothers will speak of the death of their 
 brothers, and speak with reverence when they say, " He was a 
 soldier/' 
 
 Their orphans are now and forever the children of the Re- 
 public. They hover around us by night and by day. They 
 speak louder than we can do that universal language that 
 touches all hearts, thrills us to the soul. Here golden images 
 will be placed. Here some one else's mothers, children, broth- 
 ers, or sisters are meeting around the graves of your fathers, 
 children, or brothers, that died that all families mignt live that 
 died for the universal brotherhood of man, that it might live 
 over the whole land. 
 
 Whilst we honor these, will we not honor the wounded who 
 live ( who speak in our streets who say to us, We have been 
 wounded ; we, too, have suffered in that great cause ? There 
 will come a time in the history of the country when a wound 
 will be brighter than a star upon the breast of a soldier. When 
 the mountains are worn out and the rivers cease to flow, the 
 names of these men will be kept fresh in the book of the na- 
 tional remembrance. Honor to the mothers, fathers, and chil- 
 dren of the slain ! Brave men ! they look down upon us, and 
 brave men catch the inspirations of the dead who look down. 
 
 When Mr. Jackson had concluded, the choir of Green street 
 Methodist Episcopal church sang a dirge for the gallant dead, 
 and the ladies present took the flowers, of which a large quan- 
 tity were on the ground, and, opening the bunches, strewed 
 them over the graves at the lower end of .the cemetery. The 
 band played a dirge, after which the procession re-formed, and 
 marched to the upper end, where lie about two hundred and 
 fifty other graves. The ladies again marched around, singing, 
 " My country, 'tis of thee." 
 
 The ladies then strewed the flowers, when Rev. J. Walker 
 Jackson said : It is not necessary for me to speak here again. 
 All soldiers who fell in defence of the flag are made sacred to 
 us by the great struggle through which we have passed. Though 
 dead, they still speak to us, because we feel the sacredness of 
 the cause. We feel that there should be a public sentiment in- 
 spired and kept alive, and the fires of patriotism kept burning 
 on the home altar. It still burns.. This land is dear to us all. 
 It is made doufcly dear by the precious blood of our companions 
 who died to recteem the land from bondage. 
 
 The Rev. John Clothier, formerly chaplain of the 88th 
 Pennsylvania Volunteers, then said : How precious it is for the
 
 280 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 mothers and sisters of the dead to have the spot marked where 
 they can come and shed sympathizing tears 1 These men died 
 nobly in defence of the country and the land which held their 
 homes. May it teach us to feel how dependent we are upon 
 the Lord. May we live in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and be thankful to Him that He has preserved those who have 
 survived the great peril. May Jesus Christ guard us all here- 
 after. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Jackson then delivered the benediction. 
 
 Each grave was marked with a miniature flag, and many 
 were surrounded by those to whom the deceased had evidently 
 borne close relationship. Some were weeping bitterly, while 
 others wore an aspect that tears would have much relieved. 
 The solemn scene seemed to impress every one ; even there the 
 most reckless and gayest at times felt its saddening influence. 
 The words of the speakers fell with great force on the sombre 
 multitude, and many could not resist, but were compelled to 
 give way to their feelings ; even strong and brave men wept, as 
 perhaps they had not for years before. 
 
 Many a veteran felt the tears rolling down his bronzed 
 cheeks as he looked upon the simple headboard that bore the 
 name of a comrade near and dear to him, with whom he had 
 beguiled many a weary hour of the camp, and perhaps sudden- 
 ly missed from his side in the smoke and clangor of battle, with 
 the shrieking shell and deadly minie howling and whistling over 
 his head. Many were present from curiosity, and were as much 
 affected as the relatives of the dead ; for it is a hard heart in- 
 deed that does not have some sympathizing feeling in the midst 
 of such scenes as these. 
 
 At the head of each grave stands a simple pine headboard, 
 without paint or ornament, with the name and regiment of the 
 deceased soldier rudely cut in with a knife. These boards can- 
 not, in their present condition, long withstand the encroach- 
 ments of the weather, and should at least have several coats of 
 paint. There are men in this city, noble and generous philan- 
 thropists, who were foremost in lending a helping hand to the 
 soldier when alive ; and surely they could now step forward and 
 see that such an act of true Christian benevolence is attended 
 to. Many of the men interred at this place are from other 
 States, their bodies resting far from the place of their homos, in 
 a strange city, and the time may arrive when relatives will come 
 in search of them, and, if this duty is not attended to, find no 
 record to mark the spot where lie the dear departed ones. 
 
 A portion of the G. A. R. visited the Lafayette Cemetery, 
 where the bodies of the brave soldiers who died at the hospitals
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 281 
 
 of the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon were interred. 
 The ladies associated with the Union Volunteer Refreshment 
 Saloon, assisted by ninety young ladies and gentlemen, commit- 
 tee of the Refreshment Saloon, together with the Soldiers of the 
 Republic, decorated with flowers the graves of the brave de- 
 parted who are buried there. A number of speeches were made, 
 by the officer in command and other gentlemen. 
 
 AT LANCASTER, PA. 
 
 The ceremonies in this city proved very solemn and interest- 
 ing. The day was very beautiful clear and bright one of the 
 pleasantest of the new summer. At 1 o'clock the bells of the 
 various churches commenced tolling, and continued until the 
 close of the ceremonies. At about the same hour, Post No. 84, 
 Grand Army of the Republic, one hundred strong, under the 
 command of Post Adjutant J. K. Barr, and preceded by the 
 City Cornet Band, entere'd the Court-House, where they re- 
 ceived the crosses, wreaths, bouquets, and decorations from the 
 hands of the ladies who had arranged them. The Post then 
 marched to Orange street, literally covered with flowers with 
 which to decorate the graves of their dead comrades. The pro- 
 cession immediately passed into the graveyard of the Episcopal 
 church, where it filed around the graves of Capt. Thomas B. 
 Barton, of Company B, 1st Pennsylvania Reserves, and Capt. 
 Robert M. Jeffries, Company F, 115th Regiment, P. Y. While 
 the wreaths were being placed upon their graves, the members 
 uncovered. The procession then returned to Duke street, where 
 it was joined by the Junior American Mechanics, delegations 
 from several of the senior lodges of the American Mechanics, 
 and also delegations frm the American, Hook and Ladder, 
 Friendship, and Sun Fire companies. The procession moved 
 up Duke street to the Lancaster cemetery, the several fire com- 
 panies on the route displaying their colors at half mast or draped 
 in mourning. On approaching the cemetery the band per- 
 formed a funeral march with a peculiarly sad effect. Long 
 before the procession had arrived, however, many hundreds of 
 people had preceded it, and the scene was both sad and brilliant. 
 The procession tiled around the lot in which rests the remains of 
 Maj.-Gen. John F. Reynolds, who fell at Gettysburg. Col. 
 Milton Weidler, *'ho served under that gallant soldier up to the 
 time of his deatb\entered the inclosure and placed a cross, ex- 
 quisitely adorned Avith flowers, against the monument ; two other 
 crosses, of smaller size, were also placed on the grave, one on 
 each side of the larger one. During this ceremony the band
 
 282 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 performed a solemn dirge. The graves to be decorated Lad 
 each previously been marked by a small American flag, and in 
 casting the eyes over the cemetery, these little flags were seen 
 fluttering in every direction. Many friends and relatives of the 
 dead heroes were present, and sad memories were called up by 
 the scene. The procession then passed from grave to grave and 
 performed the mission for which they were deputed. 
 
 The cortege then proceeded to St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery, 
 and from thence to Woodward Hill Cemetery. At both of 
 these places the graves of the soldiers were decorated. Zion's 
 Cemetery, adjoining Woodward Hill, was also visited, and the 
 following graves decorated : John McCracken, Co. , 1st P. Y. 
 K. C. ; Jacob Kiel, Co. I, 21st Pa. Cavalry ; Abram Grofl'; 
 George Presterly, 79th ; Frederick A. Weller, Co. E, 1st Pa. 
 Artillery ; Jacob Coonley, Co. H, 122d ; William Hoffman ; 
 John veagley; Herman Bechler. The procession next pro- 
 ceeded to St. Joseph's Cemetery, in St. Joseph street. The bell 
 in the church tower tolled so'lemnfy as it approached, while 
 flags, draped in mourning, hung from the windows, as well as 
 from the windows of adjoining houses. The ceremony of dec- 
 oration was again gone through with over the graves of the 
 following soldiers : Lieut. Matthias Hart, Co. A, 203d, killed at 
 Fort Fisher, January 15, 1865 ; Corporal Joseph Delzeit, Co. C, 
 99th, killed at Gettysburg, July 3d, 1863 ; Frank M. Flur, Co. 
 K, 77th ; Frank J. Schmied, Co. K, 79th ; James J. Hawkes- 
 worth, Co. K, 77th. The next and last place visited was Shrei- 
 ner's Cemetery, corner of Chestnut and Mulberry streets, where 
 the graves of John Jones, Co. G, 99th, and Edwin M. Shreiner, 
 the only two soldiers' graves in the place, were appropriately 
 decorated. The procession then disbanded, each of the organi- 
 zations taking part separating for their* respective quarters. In 
 the evening, at 8 o'clock, a large number of citizens assembled 
 in the Court House to listen to an address by Rev. J. Isidor 
 Mombert, of St. James' Episcopal Church. The address, which 
 was a very able effort, occupied about an hour in its delivery, 
 and enchained the audience by the graphic descriptions given of 
 many of the most prominent scenes of the war. The speaker 
 referred, at the opening, to the significance of the ceremonies 
 performed during the day, and then proceeded to a history of 
 the organization of the crude volunteer forces in 1861, and their 
 gradual transformation into accomplished and brilliant soldiers. 
 The address abounded in many striking passages, and also touch- 
 ing eulogies on some of the heroes.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 283 
 
 AT CARLISLE, PENN. 
 
 Col. William M. Penrose was announced to open the cere- 
 monies at 2 o'clock, with an address, and at that hour the Court 
 House was filled to its utmost capacity. The officers, soldiers 
 and band from Carlisle Barracks, the clergy of our town, the 
 Union Philosophical Society of Dickinson College, the public 
 schools, together with Post No. Ill, G. A. R., and a large num- 
 ber of ladies and gentlemen, constituted the very large and in- 
 telligent audience. After an earnest prayer, by the Rev. W. 
 R. Mills, pastor of the M. E. Church, Capt. J. D. Adair intro- 
 duced to the audience Col. Penrose, who proceeded to deliver a 
 very able and interesting address, showing the peculiar fitness 
 and beauty of the ceremony about to be inaugurated, and call- 
 ing upon all patriotic citizens to aid by precept and presence in 
 its observance. The address concluded, the procession was 
 formed in the following order: Members of Post No. 114, G. 
 A. R. ; clergy ; Carlisle Barracks Band ; officers and soldiers 
 from Carlisle Barracks ; U. P. Society from Dickinson College ; 
 the public schools ; the public generally. The procession first 
 moved to the Old Grave Yard, the band playing a solemn dirge 
 and the church bells tolling during the entire march. Here the 
 graves of the dead heroes were decked with the choicest and 
 most fragrant flowers of the season. Many an eye. was moisten- 
 ed, and many a bosom swelled with emotions, alike of sadness 
 and pride, at this touching testimonial that the Nation's Heroes 
 are held in most grateful memory. Alter similar exercises at 
 the Catholic Church Yard and Ashland Cemetery, the procession 
 returned to the Court House, where Gen. R. M. Henderson de- 
 livered the closing address. Gen. Henderson's remarks were of 
 a character most appropriate to the occasion, and were delivered 
 in a most eloquent manner. The Divine benediction was then 
 pronounced, by Rev. Wm. C. Leverett, and the audience dis- 
 missed. 
 
 AT JERSEY SHORE, PESTN. 
 
 In compliance with the request of the committee of arrange- 
 ments, those of the citizens having flags in their possession dis- 
 played them at 8 A. M. There was a large flag stretched across the 
 street from the headquarters of the G. A. R. A salute was fired, 
 which was continued, at intervals of fifteen minutes, until 1 
 o'clock. At 2 o'cl|ck, the church bells were rung for the assem- 
 bling of the citizens, large numbers of whom were already as- 
 sembled. The procession was formed as follows : 1st. band ; 2d. 
 soldiers' widows and orphans ; 3d. members of G. A. R. ; 
 4th. clergy and invited speakers ; 5th. soldiers, not members of
 
 284 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 the G. A. R., and citizens. Arriving at the cemetery, the pro- 
 cession halted, and a most beautifully appropriate prayer was 
 offered by Rev. J. H. Grier. Order No. 11 was read by James 
 Jones, after which the procession visited each soldier's grave in 
 succession, strewing flowers, garlands, wreaths, &c., upon each 
 one. It was stated that the G. A. R. designed to pay equal re- 
 spect to each soldier, but that relatives and friends of the de- 
 ceased might pay such additional honors to them as they saw 
 proper. These ceremonies having been concluded, every grave 
 naving been visited, the procession halted at the mound, and the 
 following exercises took place : 
 Singing, by the Glee Club, 
 
 Nightwinds are mournfully sweeping, 
 
 Whispering oak branches wave I 
 Where your loved ashes are sleeping, 
 
 Forms of the true and the brave 1 
 Silence reigns breathless around you, 
 
 All your stern conflicts are o'er, 
 Deep is the sleep that hath, bound you, 
 
 Trumpet shall rouse you no more. 
 
 Sweet and serene be your slumber ! 
 
 Hearts for whose freedom ye bled, 
 Millions, whom no man can number, 
 
 Tears of sad gratitude shed. 
 Never shall morn brightly breaking 
 
 Enter your chambers of gloom, 
 Till the last trumpet awaking 
 
 Sound through the depths of the tomb. 
 
 At the conclusion of the singing, the Rev. "W. TV. Meech, 
 A. IVf., pastor of the Baptist Church, late a chaplain in the U. 
 S. Army, proceeded to deliver the following 
 
 ORATION. 
 
 The Cemetery where we are assembled is a fit place for the 
 burial of our citizen soldiers who were brought home from the 
 fields of their glory to rest with their kindred. This May day 
 is a fitting time for us to come to their graves with our floral 
 offerings. The reflections suggested by the occasion of such 
 honors paid to their memory, are eminently becoming and pro- 
 fitable. 
 
 The landscape spread out before us is rich in the combina- 
 tion of natural beauties ; and rich in its historic associations. 
 It combines in one view the Bald Eagle mountains on the right, 
 and the Muncy Hills on the left, both stretching far away in 
 the distance, and almost at our feet glide the waters of the west 
 branch of the Susquehanna, with its green banks spread into 
 beautiful fields surrounding our homes and the borough of 
 Jersey Shore, itself on the very spot where the early settlers put
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 
 
 to flight the rude savages in the days of the Revolution. Antes 
 Fort, just across the river, is a reminder of the heroism of 
 Colonel Henry Antes and his little band of militia, who built 
 in the summer of 1776, and from it protected the settlers 
 against the incursions of the wily Indians, then incited to 
 hostility by the British. 
 
 This fruitful valley you now behold had long been a kind of 
 paradise to the aborigines. The red men in their native sim- 
 plicity built wigwams in its shady dells, roamed through its 
 primeval forests, hunted game on its mountain sides, danced 
 before the Great Spirit to the music of their war songs, and 
 paddled their light canoes over the crystal waters of the gentle 
 Otzinachson.* But another race was to occupy it. The hand 
 of industry was to change the wild wood to a scene of cultiva- 
 tion. The waters of the Otzinachson and its tributaries were to 
 become a power for human industry. The canal, the railroad, 
 and the telegraph, were successively to be introduced as indices 
 of progress in the facilities of living, moving, thinking beings, 
 till populous towns and villages now mark their courses. 
 
 Our present position and prosperity are not the results of a 
 day nor a year, secured without toil and privations. It has re- 
 quired many long years of patient labor and suffering in sun- 
 shine and storms to attain the blessings and privileges we this 
 day enjoy. Our fathers exhibited a self-denying patriotism that 
 created us a nation. In prayers, and tears, and blood, they laid 
 its firm foundations ; and in departing, they committed to us 
 the care of the noble superstructure of a State proclaming as its 
 religious creed the doctrine " Soul liberty," and as its political 
 thesis, " All men are created free and equal." Under the 
 working of these principles in religion and politics our land has 
 become an asylum for the oppressed of all lands, the hope of 
 republicanism throughout the world. 
 
 We learned in the days of childhood to revere the memory 
 of the patriots of that mighty struggle which made us an inde- 
 pendent nation. In our youth AVC admired the specimens of 
 their eloquence in behalf of civil and religious liberty, to secure 
 which they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred 
 honor. From year to year, we have met on the ever glorious 
 4th of July to celebrate our independence, and, with hearts 
 aglow with gratitude and gladness, we have recounted their 
 toils, their trials, aid their triumphs. Many long years passed 
 ere their hope of av'ree and prosperous country was a full and 
 crowned reality. But it came, when by the ordering of an all- 
 wise Providence it would be most secure. It requires but a glance 
 
 * The Indian name of the West Branch.
 
 286 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 at the history of nations to see that our past is without a paral- 
 lel in the increase of population, in the development of all the 
 resources of material prosperity, in the progress of scientific 
 research, in the production of literature, in the embellishments of 
 art, and in the perfection of their civil institutions. 
 
 Within the memory of our oldest inhabitants we have in- 
 creased from 13 to 36 States, and from 3,000,000 to over 
 30,000,000 of inhabitants. Many years, from immigration alone, 
 we have increased over a thousand a day. With most marvelous 
 rapidity we have leveled forests, and tunneled mountains. Vil- 
 lages and cities have sprung up as by magic, and valleys vast as 
 empires have been turned from a wilderness to beautiful fields, 
 to " bud and blossom as the rose." Our mountain streams 
 have been madp a power for mills and factories, and then to 
 bear on their bosoms to the ocean the products of our industry, 
 and the fruits of our land. We have dug from the bowels of 
 the earth a mineral wealth of untold value. For our aid in all 
 the departments of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, 
 we have created facilities by the fertility of our inventions that 
 lessen much of our toil. By the increase of our channels of 
 intelligence the school-boy of to-day may compete with the sages 
 of antiquity. With every demand for statesmanship we have 
 found the men to conduct us in our onward progress, till high 
 above all the evidences of our wealth and power, above all the 
 beauties and benefits of our country and climate has towered up 
 this crowning fact, that the teeming millions of our people are 
 the freest, happiest on the earth ; and that they enjoy in larger 
 measure than the world has ever before known the privileges 
 and prerogatives of true manhood. 
 
 In an evil hour the spirit of disunion spread its blighting in- 
 fection through the South. The doctrine of State rights was 
 proclaimed, and efficient measures adopted to weaken the senti- 
 ment of nationality so strong at the North. The plan proposed 
 by Calhoun in his time, was adopted, to " fire the Southern 
 heart " with the determination to secede from the General Gov- 
 ernment, and set up a Confederacy of their own. But when 
 they adopted the Montgomery Constitution, and actually in- 
 augurated war upon the U. S. Government by the bombard- 
 ment of Fort Sumter, the loyal masses of the North awoke to 
 the importance of the crisis, and rushed to arms for the protec- 
 tion of their Capital, and the preservation of the Union estab- 
 lished by their patriot fathers. After eighty years of unparal- 
 leled prosperity, the Government was called on to defend its 
 life against " States discordant, belligerent." The national flag 
 was dishonored by men who had solemnly sworn to defend it. The
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 287 
 
 American Congress was beleaguered by an armed force of rebels, 
 while assembled to adopt means for the salvation of the country 
 from the parricidal hands of its own misguided children. Well 
 do some of us remember looking in on that Congress on the 
 fourth of July, 1861, as they met in solemn and determined 
 counsel to devise ways and means to suppress the rebellion. It 
 was a stern lesson for us to learn. But the course of the rebels 
 in arms soon taught us that if we had peace again it must be 
 secured by an inglorious surrender or a victorious prosecution 
 of the war. The whole people were aroused. The respor.se to 
 the first call of the President for troops exceeded all expecta- 
 tions. Like -the old heroes and heroines so justly celebrated in 
 history, our fathers and mothers freely gave up their best be- 
 loved on the altar of their country. ,' 
 
 " Then said the mother to her son, 
 
 And pointed to his Shield; 
 Come with it, when the battle's done, 
 Or on it from the field." 
 
 In the issues thrust upon us, we were made to feel that we 
 were so forced into the conflict that we could not avoid the war 
 without unutterable dishonor ; that if we failed to subjugate the 
 rebels with the men and means at our command, we should 
 justly expose ourselves to the contempt of all nations. In 
 short, we believed that no army ever fought in a more just and 
 righteuiH cause, and that every battle would add value to our 
 national history. But for this conviction of the righteousness 
 of our cause, how could we comfort the many mourners who 
 sent forth the very jewels of their households to die that the na- 
 tion might not perish ? 
 
 "We fought, not for empire, nor for power, nor for the love 
 of martial glory, nor for the gratification of a vindictive passion, 
 nor even for the abolition of slavery that great system of wrong 
 which underlay the education of caste, and fostered an oligarchy 
 that would never rest till it culminated in the rebellion. We 
 fought simply to preserve our own from destruction, that the 
 Union might live. But God included in the results the liberty 
 of the bondmen, of whom he said by his providence, " Let my 
 people go that they may serve me." Accordingly he gave little 
 success to our arms |ill emancipation was proclaimed, not only 
 as a measure of military necessity, but as an act of justice. 
 Regarding the situation, and the use our enemies made of these 
 bondmen, a soldier said : " We are not fighting to free the ne- 
 groes, but we are freeing the negroes to stop the fight." 
 
 While we fought to preserve our nationality, the Divinity
 
 288 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 that shapes our ends determined the result should embrace as 
 one people, living under one government established by the 
 people and maintained for the people, the whole territory from 
 the chain of lakes on the North, to the great gulf on the South, 
 and reaching from the Atlantic wave to the Pacific surge ; and 
 that this whole country should be called the United States of 
 America. With the guiding hand of Providence so manifest 
 in our national history as it has been from the time when our 
 ancestors landed on Plymouth Rock or planted the settlement 
 at Jamestown, we could but go forward, appealing to the God 
 of battles, pouring out our treasure and our blood till a restored 
 Union spread the protection of our flag from East to West, from 
 North to South. The first year of the war a patriot poet wrote 
 of that flag : 
 
 " All nature sings wildly the song of the free, 
 The red white and blue float o'er land and o'er sea : 
 The white in each billow that breaks on the shore 
 The blue in the arching that canopies o'er 
 The land of our birth, in its glory outspread, 
 And sunset dyes mingle the stripes of the red. 
 Day fades into night and the red stripe retires, 
 But the stars on the blue light their sentinel fires ; 
 And though night be gloomy with clouds overspread, 
 Every star keeps its place in the arch overhead : 
 When the storm is dispelled and the tempest is through, 
 We shall count every star on the field of the blue." 
 
 Our democratic institutions demand an equality of rights for 
 all the people, especially their rights to " life, liberty, and the 
 pursuit of happiness." These can never be enjoyed except as 
 the requirements of the Constitution are fulfilled, guaranteeing 
 a republican form of government to every State of the Union. 
 It is true, that since the last armed force of the rebels surren- 
 dered to our victorious army, the Ship of State has been tossed 
 on a stormy sea. But our faith in the Constitutional Republic, 
 as a ship of safety, must never waver so long as the star flag 
 waves from her mast-head, and she is manned by so many brave 
 and true men. In our weal and in our woe, may God be our 
 help. 
 
 " Thou, too, sail on, ship of State. 
 Sail on, O Union, strong and great! 
 Humanity, with all its fears, 
 With all the hopes of future years, 
 Is hanging, breathless, on thy fate. 
 We know what Master laid thy keel, 
 What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel ; 
 Who made each mast and sail and rope ; 
 What anvil rang, what hammers beat ; 
 In what a forge, and what a heat,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 289 
 
 Were spread the anchors of thy hope. 
 Fear not each sudden sound and shock ; 
 'Tis of the wave, and not the rock : 
 'Tis but the flapping of the s.-iil ; 
 And not a rent made by tlie gale! 
 In spite of rock and tempest's roar, 
 In spite of false .ights, on the shore, 
 Sail on ! nor fear to breast the sea: 
 Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee ; 
 Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, 
 Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, 
 Are all with thee, are all with thee." 
 
 God teaches men and nations by His word, and by the voice 
 of His providence in accordance with that word. Many lessons 
 are never learned till experience teaches them by its stern pro- 
 cesses. When the war was upon us, we felt that it would be a 
 reproach to our courage, our patriotism, our intelligence, and 
 the high moral tone of our community, if we did not our utmost 
 to maintain the righteousness of our cause. It is still a time 
 for the deepest convictions of the heart to find full expression. 
 Men must be what they seem. Their acts must be approved or 
 condemned as they accord with our sense of justice. Motives 
 of self-interest or mere worldly prudence must give place to the 
 majestic duty of the hour. The blessings of a free Govern- 
 ment must be handed down to the future generations who are 
 to people this vast country. 
 
 Excellence comes from patient thought and persevering 
 labor. Sufferings are antecedents of success. Our Saviour 
 "for the joy that was set before him endured the cross and des- 
 pised the shame " of his humiliation. Recognizing the Divine 
 relation of hardness endured to victory secured, let us pay due 
 honors to the memory of the patriots of 1861 to '65, who by 
 their sacritices preserved the Union founded by the heroes of 
 the Revolution in 1776 to '83. Let it be seen that the living 
 men and women of to-day " embalm their names with equal 
 honor and a common love ; " 
 
 M And they who for their country die 
 
 Shall fill an honored grave ; 
 For glory lights the soldier's tomb, 
 
 And beauty weeps the brave." 
 
 I never see a returned soldier in the army blue but I think of 
 him as a comrade imarms. I never see the maimed hero on his 
 crutches or with his empty sleeve, but my sympathies are stir- 
 red for a companion in perils. I never see the wife made a 
 widow and the children orphans by the patriotic devotion of a 
 husband and father, without my heart being moved to syrnpa- 
 19
 
 290 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 thize with them in their loss. Well may the soldier's orphans 
 prize the names they inherit, and the Government their fathers 
 died to save make them the pensioners of its bounty. They are 
 the children of the Republic. God has made the nation their 
 guardians. We are the trustees of the fair fame of their honor- 
 ed parents. What a trust ! Let us honor them in their pat- 
 riotic devotion, in the hardships they endured as good soldiers 
 for their country, in the death they died as martyrs to freedom, 
 and in the graves where rest their mortal remains, many of them 
 far from the graves of their kindred. 
 
 Fellow citizens, the returned soldiers of the Grand Army of 
 the Republic are with you here to-day, to pay just honor to the 
 memory of their fallen companions. We are here to strew flow- 
 ers on their graves, to recall their heroic self-devotion to their 
 country's service in the hour of its peril. We are here to honor 
 the trust they left us as a rich legacy, to perpetuate the glory of 
 their names in our nation's history ; and to get our hearts re- 
 impressed with all those patriotic excellencies that so much 
 adoni humanity. In his address delivered at the consecration 
 of the soldiers' cemetery at Gettysburg, Everett said : " It was 
 appointed by law in Athens, that the obsequies of the citizens 
 who fell in battle should be performed at the public expense, 
 and in the most honorable manner. Their bones were carefully 
 gathered up from the funeral pyre, where their bodies were 
 consumed, and brought home to the city. There, for three days 
 before the interment, they lay in state, beneath tents of honor, 
 to receive the votive offerings of friends and relatives, flowers, 
 weapons, precious ornaments, painted vases (wonders of art, 
 which after two thousand years adorn the museums of modern 
 Europe) the last tributes of surviving affection. Ten coflins 
 of funeral cypress received the honorable deposit, one for each 
 of the tribes of the city, and an eleventh in memory of the un- 
 recognized, but not therefore unhonored, dead, and of those 
 whose remains could not be removed. On the fourth day the 
 mournful procession was formed ; mothers, wives, sisters, 
 daughters, led the way, and to them it was permitted, by the 
 simplicity of ancient manners, to utter aloud their lamentations, 
 for the beloved, and the lost ; the male relatives and friends of 
 the deceased followed ; citizens and strangers closed the train. 
 Thus marshalled, they moved to the place of interment in that 
 famous Ceramicus, the most beautiful suburb of Athens, which 
 had been adorned by Cimon. the son of Miltiades, with walks 
 and fountains and columns ; whose groves were filled with altars, 
 shrines, and temples ; whose gardens were ever green with 
 streams from the neighboring hills and shadecl with trees sacred
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 291 
 
 to Minerva, and coeval with the foundation of the city ; whose 
 circuit enclosed 
 
 " The olive grove of Academe, 
 Plato's retirement, where the Attic bird, 
 Trilled his thick-warbled note, the summer long ; " 
 
 whose pathways gleamed with the monuments of the illustrious 
 dead, the work of the most consummate masters that ever gave 
 life to marble. There beneath the over-arching plane trees, 
 upon a lofty stage erected for the purpose, it was ordained by 
 law, that a funeral oration should be pronounced by some citi- 
 zen of Athens, in the presence of the assembled multitude. 
 "Such were the tokens of respect required by law to be paid at 
 Athens to the memory of those who had fallen in the cause of 
 their country." It is no less appropriate, that we as Ameri- 
 cans, native and naturalized, come to these graves of our citi- 
 zen soldiers in this solemn procession, and with appropriate 
 services adorn their low graves with our floral offerings. 
 
 The custom of decorating graves with flowers prevailed 
 among the Greeks and Romans. Simonides wrote for Sopho- 
 cles' epitaph, 
 
 " Wind gentle evergreen to form a shade 
 Around tlie tomb where Sophocles is laid, 
 Sweet ivy, wind thy boughs and intertwine 
 With blushing roses and the clustering vine ; 
 So shall thy lasting leaves with beauty hung, 
 Prove a fit emblem for the lays he sung." 
 
 This custom is still observed in England, Wales, Germany, and 
 the United States. It is a custom full of eloquent appeals to 
 the hearts of sorrowing survivors, and is fraught with such asso- 
 ciations as induce an elevation of sentiment, and a poetry of 
 feeling adapted to modify our grief and invest the sepulchre 
 with the kindly emotions of hope and immortality. 
 
 u On the earth, the thorns and roses are blending 
 And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb." 
 
 The bridal and the burial have alike sought their richest em- 
 blems among these fairest symbols of beauty and decay. The 
 old Romans not only used flowers for personal decoration but 
 made them the accessories of religion. These delicate em- 
 blems adorned their priests, altars and sacrifices. Their statues' 
 were crowned with them. Hence Venus was represented wear- 
 ing roses, Juno with the lily, and Ceres with her hair en- 
 twined with wheat and poppies. With cypress they decked 
 the dwellings of the dead, because if once cut down it will not
 
 292 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 spring np again. It had a true significance with them, because 
 they neld death to be an eternal sleep. With a more cheering 
 faith, we plant in its ste^d the evergreen and those redolent 
 flowers, whose roots being buried rise again. 
 
 " The little flowrets raise their heads, 
 And bloom as gayly on the grave, 
 As if reposing on such beds, 
 
 As nature to her children gave." 
 
 Our minds are involuntarily disposed to pensive musings when 
 we stand beside these morfnds decorated with the floral emblems 
 of affectionate remembrance. We dwell in fondest recollections 
 on the excellencies that adorned the character of the loved and 
 lamented. But the highest hopes of this life are often like the 
 brightest of earth's flowers, the soonest faded. The rosy light 
 of youth's soft cheek is gone, the mystic charm is broken, the 
 vital tide ceases to flow, and the idols of our hearts, " the war- 
 rior and the son of song," are laid beneath the sod. The song 
 of joy is changed to dirge-like strains. The heart-strings are 
 swept by mournful emotions. The eye is dimmed by tears of 
 sorrow; and sadness fills the home of the bereaved. Then do 
 we invoke the -symbolic language of Flora, as the most eloquent 
 of all tongues, and with her oratory of perfumed silence tell 
 alike of a mother's love or a sister's affection. No word spoken 
 can rival the delicacy of sentiment expressed by this vocabu- 
 lary. 
 
 " In Eastern lands they talk in flowers. 
 
 And they tell in a garland their loves and cares ; 
 Each blossom that blooms in their garden bowers, 
 On its leaves a mvstic language bears." 
 
 The flowers on the grave, bright and fresh, or faded and wither- 
 ing, speak to the heart in language too plain to be misunder- 
 stood, and tell of the changing nature of all things here, where 
 " we all do fade as a leaf." The words of men die away and are 
 forgotten. The tones of the minstrel and the cadences of the 
 orator are fleeting as the song of summer birds. But the great 
 truths which God has written upon the flowers with which we 
 deck these graves, are everlasting. 
 
 On the eve of triumph, Nelson flung to the breeze from the 
 mast-head of his ship this memorable signal, " Westminster 
 Abbey or Victory." It was an appeal to the deep sanctities of 
 the human heart, for there rested the ashes of their heroes. 
 When our fallen braves said, " Give us liberty or give us death" 
 they too appealed to the highest instincts of humanity. Let 
 this cemetery where their sacred dust is entombed, by the sweet
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 293 
 
 gliding Otzinachson, be our Westminster Abbey. Hither mav 
 we come from year to year, as on this May day when the earth 
 is in its richest sunlight, and the beauty and bounty of nature 
 unite -to impress us with the fitness of all God's handiwork 
 here may we come, laden with the bright, beautiful flowers, 
 and a> we strew them upon the graves of our heroic dead, 
 repeat the story of their self-sacrificing devotion. Let us re- 
 count their services and their virtues. The eye shall kindle 
 at tlie remembrance. The lip shall quiver at the thought. The 
 heart shall leap with the emotion. And from these and other 
 soldiers' sepulchres shall go out a succession of patriot heroes, 
 that shall perpetuate their virtues while they immortalize their 
 glorious names. 
 
 " They never fail who die 
 
 In a crent cause : the block may soak their gore, 
 
 Their heads may sodden in the sun ; their limbs 
 
 ]>e >trung to city jiates or castle walls ; 
 
 But still tlieir spirit walks abroad. Though years 
 
 Eiapso, and others share as dark a doom, 
 
 They but augment the deep and sweeping thoughts 
 
 "Which overspread all others, and conduct 
 
 The world at last to freedom." 
 
 May He who gave to our fathers a Washington, and to us 
 a Lincoln, make us all worthy of his favors. May He preserve 
 our country through all coming time as an asylum for the op- 
 pressed of all lands ; and make us worthy of the patriotism by 
 which our liberties were secured and maintained. 
 
 "Let Spain boast her treasures that grow in her mines, 
 Let Gallia rejoice in her olives and vines ; 
 In bright sparkling jewels let India prevail, 
 With her odors Arabia perfume every gale. 
 'Tis Columbia alone that cm boast of the soil 
 "Where the fair fruits of virtue aud liberty smile." 
 
 After the conclusion of Mr. Meech's oration, a song was 
 sung by the Glee Club. After a very brief address by Rev. B. 
 F. Stevens, and music by the band, the benediction was pro- 
 nounced by the Rev. Mr. Sherlock, of Baltimore, and the party 
 retired from the cemetery. 
 
 AT HUNTINGDON, PENN. 
 
 The procession was organized at the Court-House. It was 
 preceded by the Huntingdon Silver Cornet Band, followed by 
 the Officers of the Post and others with appropriate badges of 
 mourning, the clergymen of the place, and a large portion of 
 our citizens, and to the music of the muffled drum, the band
 
 294 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 playing the dead march, and the mournful tolling of the bells 
 - from every church-tower in the place, the solemn and impressive 
 march was taken toward the city of the dead. 
 
 On arriving at the cemetery, a prayer was offered by Rev. 
 J. W. Plannett, after which a brief address to the assemblage 
 was delivered by Hon. John Scott, substantially as follows : 
 
 SOLDIERS AND CITIZENS : When called upon, an hour or two 
 ago, to deliver a short address to the people assembled here to- 
 day, my answer was, that upon such an occasion I could not 
 say " no ; " and I almost felt as though I ought not to say 
 " yes." But, upon reflection, perhaps it is as well that he who 
 addresses you to-day should not have been called upon to think 
 for really, what is to be said is more a matter of feeling than 
 of thought ; and the struggle with me is to suppress that feeling, 
 and find words to give utterance to appropriate thoughts on this 
 occasion. We are met as citizens, at the request of the surviving 
 soldiers, for the purpose of doing honor to the memory of their 
 comrades who have given their lives as a sacrifice on the altar 
 of their country, and in the sentiment, if not in the language of 
 the address read in our hearing, as " the price of an undivided 
 Republic." And is it not fitting to thus assemble? is it not 
 recognizing a feeling that has animated every people and every 
 nation that has ever been worthy to claim and enjoy a place and 
 a name amongst the people and nations of the earth ? When 
 we look abroad, we find that England has her Westminster 
 Abbey, where her honored dead, in literature, in arms, and from 
 every condition and walk of life, find an honored place; and 
 when we cross the Channel, we find the streets of Paris adorned 
 with the statues of those whose names have been rendered fa- 
 mous by fighting the battles of their country. There trophies 
 of victory are cast into monuments to hand down to posterity 
 the names of those who have achieved those victories, and thus 
 serve to indicate the gratitude of the natio^ even after the na- 
 tion itself has gone down to dust ; while the citizens who love 
 their memory gather annually to strew flowers upon their 
 tombs. Is it not right that among the boys and girls that sur- 
 round me here to-day, the feeling be inspired, that if their coun- 
 try needs their services, they go to the discharge of a high duty 
 an honored one if they survive it, and a glorious death if they 
 fall ? Is it not right that the boys here to-day be taught this 
 sublime sentiment, as they stand around the flag with those who 
 scatter flowers on the graves of those that have died in defence 
 of that flag ; and can it be possible that there are any who are 
 unwilling that it should be so taught ? I do not believe that 
 any are. It is proper it is right. We come here to-day, not
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 295 
 
 so much to mourn over the dead, as to inculcate their example 
 and give encouragement to those who survive. Oh, the price 
 we have paid for the peace we this day enjoy ! How long since 
 trembling hearts, now in the enjoyment of security and peace, 
 were listening for the roar of hostile cannon to come up through 
 the gaps of our mountains from the Shenaudoah and the Poto- 
 mac '. "\Ve are now in the enjoyment of tranquillity and peace ; 
 and to whom do we owe it? Can you believe it I could Dot, 
 till told, a few minutes ago, by one of the surviving friends 
 that twenty-seven of the young men who went out from our 
 midst a few years ago, to stand between us and the enemy, this 
 day lie sleeping in this cemetery ? What would we say to-day, 
 if asked to offer up twenty-seven of the living who stand around 
 us as a sacrifice for any earthly object ? And when you scatter 
 this all over this broad land, from every viljage and every haua- 
 let and every city ; when you multiply the great host that have 
 gone down to the city of the dead, that we to-day might stand 
 here in the enjoyment of the liberties for which they fought, oh, 
 how great the sacrifice ! Is there not a lesson of encourage- 
 ment to their surviving comrades ; and is there not a lesson of 
 endurance and patriotism to those who are enjoying the fruits 
 of the sacrifices and toils of the dead ? These men have buried 
 their comrades ; they are here to-day -to do them honor. There 
 are those around us who have buried sons, brothers, and hus- 
 bands ; and oh, what a price have they paid for this security ! 
 And ought it not to be a shame, a blistering shame, when we 
 look at the price that only one of those bereaved ones have paid 
 in dropping a tear over the graves of the departed dead, ought 
 it not to be a shame for any man to grumble when called upon 
 to pay a small tax in dollars and cents to support the Govern- 
 ment for which these men died? This is another lesson which 
 should sink deep into the hearts of the boys here to-day, that, if 
 another war should come in defence of the old Flag, that the 
 race of soldiers is not run out. We come to learn this lesson 
 and to pay this tribute of respect and reverence to the mem- 
 ory of the dead ; and while we mourn that they are dead, we 
 come to do them honor, not merely to mourn for them, although 
 the flag is clad in mourning, and a badge of sorrow is on each 
 soldier's arm. ThAe men have gone down as soldiers ; and 
 there are some, too, Vho have gone down as soldiers, whose re- 
 mains are not here some, who went away buoyant with life, 
 but whose friends have not even the poor consolation of know- 
 ing that their remains are here ; but although their mortal re- 
 mains are not here, they are here in spirit to-day, and we are 
 here to do them honor, too. Oh, there is many a battle-field,
 
 296 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 every turf of which, to borrow the language of another, is a 
 " soldier's sepulchre ; " and as the people come to strew flowers 
 over the graves of these that are here, they are now planting 
 laurels all over the Wilderness and the battle-fields of the South, 
 that will bring forth fruits of patriotism in the future, when this 
 shall be, as it will be, an undivided Republic. No, we come 
 not to mourn these men. 
 
 " They have been mourned as brave men mourn the brave, 
 And wept as nations weep their cherished dead 
 With bitter, but proud tears ; and o'er their heads 
 The eternal flowers, whose root is in the grave, 
 The flowers of fame, are beautiful and green, 
 And by their grave's-side pilgrim feet have been, 
 And blessings pure as men to martyrs give, 
 Have there been breathed by those they died to serve. 
 They lived as mothers wished their sons to live ; 
 They died as fathers wished their sons to die ; " 
 
 and having done so, we are not here simply to mourn their loss, 
 but to reverence their memory and to Ijpnor them for their 
 deeds, with the desire that the Government which they lived 
 and labored and died for should long continue to recognize the 
 debt of gratitude it owes them, and those they have left behind 
 them ; and in this spirit, fellow-citizens, let us come and offer 
 " flowers, sweet flowers," over the graves of the departed. 
 When God made man, He placed him in the Garden, and the 
 first book from which he read God's love was the pure leaves 
 and bright foliage of the flowers ; and when He drove him out 
 from the Garden and from His. presence, He gave as a compen- 
 sation those bright flowers which come up everywhere to bud 
 and blossom and open toward heaven. Let us now go and scat- 
 ter these sweet memorials over the graves of our honored dead, 
 that their fragrance may, mingled with our prayers for the land 
 they died to save, ascend heavenward. 
 
 The list of fallen soldiers interred in the.cemetery was then 
 announced by Mr. M. S. Lytle, Senior Vice-Commander, as 
 follows: Yalentine Bearing, Co. F, 125th P. Y. I.; Alfred 
 M'Allister, Co. H, do. ; Ulric-h Paul, Co. F, do. ; Benjamin Wil- 
 liams, Co. C, do. ; Leonard Moebus, Co. K, do. ; George Africa, 
 Co. C, do. ; William Friedley, Co. F, do. ; William Corbin, Co. 
 H, do. ; James D. Cunningham, Co. B, do. ; William K. Rohm, 
 Co. B, do. ; Col. J. Blanchard Miles, do. ; G. Alfred Westbrook, 
 Co. D, do. ; David Lamp, do. ; William H. Long, Co. B, 147th 
 P. V. I. ; William Glazier, Co. B, do. ; J. H. Thompson, Co. 
 1), 5th P. Y. I. ; Edward K. Nash, do. ; Maj. William H. Rus- 
 sell ; John Fletcher, Bat. D, 1st P. Y. Art. ; Wilbur H. Kins- 
 ley, 145th P. Y. ; George D. White, Co. I, 5th Pa. Reserves ;
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 297 
 
 Surgeon H. K. Neff, 8th, do. ; John M. Beamer, Co. A, 110th 
 P. V . I. ; Joseph Leftard, Co. D, 148th, do. ; Jonathan Mor- 
 gan ; John Corbin ; William P. Anderson, U. S. A. ; William 
 J'>arrick; Fred'k Snyder, Napoleon's army; Maj. D. McMur- 
 trio. After which the procession of soldiers was re-formed, 
 every soldier's grave visited in turn, and every funeral mound 
 garlanded with a wreath of laurel and bouquet of wild flowers. 
 
 AT WASHINGTON, PENN. 
 
 The soldiers of the G. A. R., and other soldiers, formed im- 
 mediately at 1 o'clock P. M., in front of their hall on Beau 
 street, and, preceded by the Marshals, the brass band, and mar- 
 tial music, proceeded to the two graveyards situated in the lim- 
 its of the borough. On arriving there, the graves were, under 
 the direction of General Hall, one of the Executive Committee, 
 and Capt. J. S. Stocking, in command of the company, properly 
 decorated with flowers and pine wreaths. After which, a salute 
 of three rounds was tired over the graves by the company. 
 During the decoration, while the soldiers in line were marching 
 from grave to grave in pursuance of their sad duty, the band 
 discoursed appropriate music. The ceremony over, the pro- 
 (i'>-ion marched back to the Court-House, when it was joined 
 by the Union Literary Society of Washington and Jefferson 
 College, and citizens. Each soldier in line having been pre- 
 senU-il with a beautiful pine wreath and bouquet, the whole pro- 
 
 -:<>n now marched for the cemetery. On arriving there, the 
 exercises were opened with prayer by Rev. Dr. Brownson, 
 
 The ladies then sang a beautiful song. 
 
 I^ev. Dr. Davidson delivered the following speech : 
 
 SOLDIERS or THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, AND FEL- 
 LOW-CITIZENS : In accepting the invitation to address you on this 
 occasion, I imposed upon myself a task, to the adequate per- 
 formance of which I now find I am wholly incompetent. Its 
 demands have proved to be far greater than I had anticipated. 
 Moreover, I am painfully conscious that what I may say will 
 fall far short of meeting the expectations which are necessarily 
 created by the novelty and importance of the occasion, and the 
 solemnity of the pAce. I must therefore earnestly ask your 
 indulgence, and beg you to hear me with clemency. First of 
 all permit me to say, that the place of our assembling to-day is 
 not only peculiar, but it is well calculated to peculiarly impress 
 U8. to make us more than ordinarily serious and thoughtful. 
 We are here, in this quiet and beautiful cemetery this lovely, 
 consecrated resting-place of the dead. We dare not be trifling
 
 298 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 if we would. Every thing here is inviting us to the observance 
 of the strictest decorum is bidding us both speak and hear 
 with gravity, with reverence, and with awe. Above us is the 
 deep blue vault of heaven, down from which the all-seeing eye 
 of Jehovah is looking directly upon us ; and other eyes also, 
 perhaps. Around us are these mute yet loudly speaking monu- 
 ments and remembrancers of our own frailty and mortality. 
 Beneath us is the very ground in which the graves of some of 
 us will shortly be dug graves around which our Mends will 
 mournfully and weepingly gather, while over our bodies, then 
 cold and silent, will be solemnly said, " Earth to earth, ashes to 
 ashes, dust to dust." How, then, can we be otherwise than seri- 
 ous and solemn? But the object of our assembling is also 
 peculiar. Never before were we here, in an associated capacity, 
 for a similar purpose. On other occasions when we came, it 
 was to bury the dead ; now we are here to revive and honor the 
 memory of those already buried those over whose sleeping- 
 places, in most cases, the green grass has now been growing for 
 more than one summer. We are here, actuated, we trust, by 
 the spirit of true patriotism, to scatter flowers on the graves of 
 Union soldiers the graves of our nation's martyred heroes. 
 Those brave and noble men who fought and bled in freedom's 
 cause ; men who cheerfully and heroically laid their lives as a 
 sacrifice on their country's altar ; men who, when they saw 
 their country's flag smitten down and trailed in the dust by 
 traitors' hands, impelled by the same spirit of patriotism that 
 fired the hearts and nerved the arms of our Revolutionary fath- 
 ers, sprang to arms, and rushed to the field to rescue that flag ; 
 and there, amid the smoke and thunder of battle, did rescue it, 
 and, lifting it up, once more planted it on the ramparts of Free- 
 dom, where it now waves more gracefully and proudly than 
 ever before, 
 
 " O'er the land of the free, 
 And the home of the brave." 
 
 It is to do honor to the memory of these glorious champions, 
 these immortal heroes, that we are here to-day. By the simple 
 act we perform, chiefly through the patriotic and tasteful min- 
 istrations of fair hands by this appropriate, expressive, happily- 
 conceived ceremony, we purpose, not only to make beautiful 
 and render fragrant the graves in which these heroes sleep, but 
 to so revive and enshrine their deeds and memory in our 
 hearts, that we may be able to cherish them there as long as we 
 live, and then transmit them as a rich legacy to our children 
 after us. What we here do, then, is not only peculiar, but it is
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 299 
 
 commendable highly commendable. It is the plain, the 
 obvious dictate, not only of humanity but of religion. It is but 
 the fitting tribute of an enlightened and sanctified patriotism. 
 It is not political, but patriotic ; it is not partisan, but national. 
 It must, therefore, commend itself to the cordial approval of 
 every truly loyal citizen of the nation, no matter to what section 
 of the country he belongs, nor with what political party he 
 stands identified. It challenges our credulity to the utmost, to 
 believe that any one, save a rebel by name, or a rebel in heart, 
 can disapprove of what we here do. Who that loves his coun- 
 try, who that prizes constitutional liberty, who that honors the 
 " dear old flag," does not reverence in his heart of hearts the 
 memory of those heroic men by whose valor, and blood, and life, 
 we to-day have a country to love, constitutional liberty to prize, 
 and the "dear old flag " around which we may yet, thank God, 
 rally ; around which we do rally ; around which we will ever 
 rally. Lives there a man among us, who from hostility to the 
 cause for which our brave men gave their lives, refuses to join 
 us iu the ceremonies of this day ? who will not bring his garland 
 of flowers to decorate their graves ? Lives there such a man ? 
 If so, God pity him, God pity him. Verily he deserves not the 
 name of an American citizen. I was about to say, and I will 
 say it, that man is " tit for treason, stratagems and spoils trust 
 him not." The liberties of the country are not safe in his 
 hands ; not safer than is the life of a man in the hands of the 
 midnight assassin. Such an oue deserves not to share the ben- 
 edictions of this glorious land he ought to be expatriated. 
 And if there be one spot on God's footstool more barren than 
 another ; if there be one country in which despotism and x anar- 
 chy reign in their most fearful forms, 'tis there he deserves to 
 live, and there he deserves to die. We now repeat it, the object 
 for which we are assembled is a commendable one highly com- 
 mendable. It must command the cordial approval of every 
 loyal heart in the country. Our nation is indebted for its exis- 
 tence, under God, to every loyal State in the Union ; but to 
 none more deeply than the good old Keystone State of which 
 we are proud to be called citizens. As from the beginning, 
 Pennsylvania has had the honor of being the Keystone of that 
 beautiful arch on \Jfcich the Federal Union, has thus far, so 
 securely rested, so now she has the additional honor of having 
 been, during our late national struggle, the wall of adamant, the 
 wall of fire, beyond which the armed host of secession could 
 never pass. Twice they tried it ; but twice they failed. The 
 God of battles seemed to have said to them, " Thus far shall ye 
 go but no farther, and here shall your devastating march be
 
 300 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 stayed." Gettysburg proved to be the fatal Waterloo to the 
 Confederate armies. There victory turned on the side of the 
 Union cause ; there freedom throttled despotism, and there lib- 
 erty triumphed gloriously. On that famous battle-Held, now 
 transformed into a national cemetery for Union soldiers, it 
 was decided, by a three days' sanguinary struggle, that " the 
 government of tlie people, by the people, and for the people, 
 shall not perish from the face of the earth." Gettysburg is 
 henceforth to be immortal. But Pennsylvania was not only the 
 wall of adamant, the wall of fire, to the Union cause ; not only 
 furnished the soil on which the great decisive battle of the war 
 was fought ; but she also furnished her full quota of both men 
 and means to prosecute the war. Of her record in this regard, 
 she may'be justly proud. No officers in the whole army were 
 more gallant than hers ; no soldiers more brave. They fought 
 hard and well. They made for themselves an honorable record. 
 Their deeds of valor are inscribed on a scroll that is imperisha- 
 ble. Their fame is destined to be perpetuated as long as Amer- 
 ican Independence endures. And God grant that may be while 
 the world stands. But in all this glory of Pennsylvania, our 
 own patriotic county claims no meager share. Her men and 
 her means were freely given. She sent, in all, more than twenty- 
 five hundred men ; the equivalent of two full regiments and a 
 half of her best sons to swell the ranks of the Union army. 
 These did brave work ; heroically endured the fatigue of the 
 march, the privations of the bivouac and camp, and stood by 
 their colors in the fierceness of the battle. Many of these, 
 through God's kind providence, lived to see the cause for which 
 they fought triumph, and to return in peace to their homes and 
 friends, bearing on their brows the laurels of victory. Most of 
 them remain with us. A goodly number participate in these 
 ceremonies. Not a few bear about with them the visible marks 
 and scars of their valor and daring. Honor to them all, immor- 
 tal honor ! And Heaven's richest benedictions be theirs now 
 and forever ! 
 
 But, alas ! alas ! many of her twenty-five hundred never 
 came back. Poor fellows ! some of them fell in beittle, some 
 lingered and died in hospitals, and a few perished in those ac- 
 cursed Southern prisons in all, not much short, if any, of eight 
 hundred. Only think of that ! Eight hundred of our noblest 
 citizens sacrificing their lives to save the country to save the 
 country for us ! Immortal honors to these immortal heroes ! 
 Some of them sleep in these graves here before us ; some in 
 other parts of this cemetery ; and others in various burying- 
 grouncls throughout the country. It is on these and similar
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 301 
 
 graves all over this great .Republic that a loyal people to-day 
 scatters flowers. We gladly join these loyal millions ; and 
 \vhile we make beautiful and render fragrant the graves of our 
 sleeping heroes, we would at the same time catch the inspira- 
 tion of their sublime patriotism, and swear eternal hostility to 
 treason and rebellion, in every form and in every place. Here 
 would be a fitting place to close these remarks, but a few words 
 more must be added. When the brave ones fell at whose 
 graves we to-day gather, many a heart was made to bleed ; 
 many a father and many a mother uttered bitter lamentations ; 
 many a wife was doomed to the darkness and desolation of wid- 
 owhood ; many a child to the helplessness of orphanage. To 
 all these let our profoundest sympathies be extended. And 
 may the day never come when the gratitude of this nation shall 
 allow these widows or these orphans to want for any thing. 
 The flowers we strew to-day will soon wither and die. To-mor- 
 row they will be gone. We need, to perpetuate the memory of 
 our heroic dead, something more enduring something that the 
 summer's sun cannot consume nor the winter's frost destroy. 
 That something is a beautiful monument or memorial chapel, 
 erected on that eligible spot in this cemetery appropriated to 
 that purpose. All that is needed is the money. That the peo- 
 ple of the county have. A part of it has already been secured. 
 Four thousand dollars have been collected, and are invested in 
 Government bonds. Two thousand more are subscribed, and 
 can be had when needed. But these six thousand dollars are 
 little more than half enough to build such a monument or chapel 
 as your committee think will be worthy of the object contem- 
 plated, or will satisfy the wishes of the people of the county. 
 A cheap one can be erected with the money already secured ; 
 and, we are authorized to say, it will be, unless measures are 
 promptly inaugurated to increase the fund. If this is done we 
 shall all be sorry ; we shall be heartily ashamed of ourselves. 
 Will not some one move again in this cause ? An earnest ap- 
 peal to the people is all that is needed. The money will be 
 forthcoming. We commend the subject to all concerned, but 
 most earnestly and confidently to the soldiers of the G. A. R. 
 If they undertake the work in good earnest, it will be done. 
 r iiicn, on some may-day a year hence, if we live, we shall gather 
 hcTcf again, not only to strew flowers on the graves of our heroic 
 dead, but to dedicate a monument on which, or a chapel, on the 
 tablets of which shall be inscribed the name of every deceased 
 Union soldier of the county a monument or a chapel on which 
 we ourselves may look with pleasure and pride ; and on which 
 generations coming after us may also look with pleasure and
 
 302 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 pride, while they contemplate it as the tribute of the hearts and 
 the work of the hands of their patriotic ancestors. 
 
 And now, peace to the ashes of all the soldiers of the Union 
 who sleep in their graves ; and to all who still survive, prosper- 
 ity and happiness here, and glory immortal hereafter. And 
 thou, *' dear old Flag," around which we rally, still beautiful 
 with thy stripes and bright with thy stars, wave on, wave on, 
 peacefully and proudly, 
 
 " O'er the land of the free, 
 And the home of the brave." 
 
 After Dr. Davidson closed, the ladies sang another song, and 
 the decoration of the graves was proceeded with. The number 
 of soldiers' graves decorated was forty, one of the graves being 
 that of Lieut. Joseph Irons, of the 1st U. S. Artillery (an officer 
 on General Cadvvallader's staff at the battle of Churubusco), 
 who fell August 19,1847. Lieutenant Irons was as brave a 
 soldier as ever drew a sword, was known everywhere as a daring 
 man, beloved by officers and men, and it was fitting to strew 
 his grave with flowers. A beautiful motto, " Honor their Mem- 
 ory," the letters being covered with pine, was placed over the 
 Cemetery gateway. A most beautiful banner was placed over 
 the gate of J. S. Young, Esq., photographer, who lives on the 
 cemetery road. It consisted of a picture of Mr. Lincoln draped 
 in mourning, surrounded by festoons of flags and ribbons. The 
 soldiers, on passing, saluted it with appropriate marks of re- 
 spect. A cannon placed in the cemetery was fired every five 
 minutes during the march of the procession, and while the deco- 
 ration was proceeding in the borough graveyards. 
 
 AT SHIPPENSBURG, PENN. 
 
 According to the programme, at half-past 5 o'clock, p. M., the 
 procession was ordered to move. In a short time subsequent, 
 the Chief Marshal, assisted by Captains Baughman, Landis, and 
 Snow, formed the procession in the following order : Band ; 
 officiating clergymen ; twenty-seven little girls with flowers, 
 wreaths, decorations, &c. ; colors of 130th and 202d Regiments ; 
 soldiers ; citizens. The procession first visited the Public 
 Graveyard, where rest the remains of R. C. Moore, Co. K, 201st 
 Pennsylvania Regiment. After decorating the grave, the band 
 played " Pleyel's Hymn." Prayer by Rev. Mr. Hassler. The 
 procession then moved to the Lutheran graveyard, where the 
 strewing of flowers was again gone through with upon the fol- 
 lowing graves : Samuel Golden, Co. H, 3d Pa. Cav. ; "William
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 303 
 
 
 
 Gulp, Co. A, 7th Reserves ; George Brenizer, Co. D, 130th Pa. 
 Inf. Prayer by Rev. Mr. Price. Music Dirge, by the band. 
 
 The procession then proceeded to Spring Hill Cemetery. 
 The church-bells tolled a mournful requiem, while at regular 
 intervals a gun was discharged, as the procession moved along. 
 The entrance to the Cemetery was artistically festooned with 
 wreaths, flowers, and drooping flags. The graves to which the 
 honors were to be paid had been previously marked with minia- 
 ture flags. On arriving at the centre of the Cemetery, and 
 after an impressive and eloquent prayer by Rev. Mr. Glessner, 
 the committee of arrangements divided the little girls into 
 squads, and proceeded to place the wreaths and flowers upon 
 the graves previously designated, during which ceremony the 
 band performed a requiem. The following soldiers are buried 
 in the Cemetery : Capt. Samuel Speese, Co. F, 13th Pa. Cav. ; 
 Lieut. William Duncan, do. ; Capt. David Harper, 4th Iowa 
 Inf. ; Lieut. W. W. Harper, Co. K, 7th Pa. Reg. ; Lieut. Sam- 
 uel Patchell, Co. D, 130th Pa. Reg. ; George M'Lean, do ; 
 Henry Miller, do. ; Joseph Matthews, do. ; William Grabill, 
 do. ; Nicholas Lenhar, do. ; Jacob Coover, do. ; George Fry, 
 Co. B, 107th Pa. Reg. ; David Shugars, do. ; George Koser, 
 do. ; William Mariner, 75th Pa. Reg. ; Abner Trone, Co. H, 
 3d Pa. Cav. ; Josiah Gamble, do. ; W. S. Seavers, Co. F, 17th 
 Pa. Cav. ; Samuel Speese, Jr., Co. F, 21st Pa. Cav. ; Robert 
 M'Farland, Quartermaster's Department ; James Mifflin, do. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Houck then addressed the vast assemblage. 
 His allusions were well-timed, and proper tribute and words 
 were spoken in memory of the fallen heroes. Most solemn, 
 indeed, were the exercises, and there were but few who did not 
 drop a tear over the resting-places of the loved and lost martyrs 
 to Liberty's holy cause. The band played "Old Hundred," 
 after which the exercises were closed with Divine benediction, 
 when the audience retraced their steps to town, where they 
 were dismissed. 
 
 AT READING, PENN. 
 
 In Reading, the decorative ceremonies were witnessed by at 
 least six thousa\^i people. For hours the roads leading to the 
 cemetery were lined with men, women, and children. The day, 
 too, was beautiful, though the morning augured an unpropitious 
 afternoon. At precisely 1 o'clock the procession moved in the 
 following order : Guard of Honor, uniformed and equipped, 
 bearing the American flag draped in mourning ; members of 
 Post No. 16, G. A. R., each bearing a wreath, bouquet, and
 
 304 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 cross ; soldiers and sailors generally ; ambulances with crippled 
 and maimed soldiers ; Perseverance Council, U. A. M., preceded 
 by a large American flag carried by twelve boys ; Ladies' Com- 
 mittee in carriages ; citizens. The procession moved up to the 
 head of Penn street, where it divided into two or three parties, 
 each of which was designated to visit the cemeteries in that 
 direction. The graves therein having been visited, the line was 
 again formed, and the entire procession marched to the Charles 
 Evans Cemetery, where the ceremonies were solemnly impres- 
 sive. After a prayer bt the Rev. J. F. Meredith, and a dirge 
 by the band, the vast audience was addressed as follows : 
 
 REV. j. F. MEREDITH'S ADDRESS. 
 
 MY FRIENDS, COMRADES, AND FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN : It is 
 some embarrassment to me to arise in this presence to speak on 
 this never-to-be-forgotten day a day which inaugurates a cus- 
 tom not to be neglected while the American people appreciate 
 patriotism or breathe the spirit of liberty. I could desire that 
 the choice of the committee of arrangements had fallen on some 
 one more able than myself to discharge this duty. But being 
 invited to speak on behalf of my former friends and comrades 
 in arms, I am here to do the work as best I can. 
 
 I congratulate you, my countrymen and comrades, on the 
 auspicious dawning of another national holiday, to take its 
 place with the 4th of July and the 1st of January. The 30th 
 day of May will be looked forward to in coming years as the 
 4th of July is now, only with other feelings, deeper and more 
 profound. "We now hail the summer holiday as the anniversary 
 of the nation's birth the day when the Continental Congress 
 declared that the Colonies, of a right, ought to be free, inde- 
 pendent States, and to secure that result they (the signers) 
 pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. This 
 spring-time holiday will remind the nation of those hundreds 
 and thousands of the best and bravest of the nation's sons, who 
 poured out then- blood like water that the nation might not only 
 be, but continue to live through all coming time. The summer 
 holiday reminds the nation that there is one" shrine the old 
 State House in Philadelphia around which the national heart's 
 tender affections twine ; and who does not feel inspired with a 
 deeper love of liberty as he looks upon the room and its decora- 
 tions where the immortal Declaration was first announced ? 
 This spring-time holiday will remind all that there are more 
 than five hundred thousand shrines, each as precious as the hall 
 where the Declaration was born, at which the nation loves to
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 305 
 
 bow. These shrines we to-day, for the first time, consecrate to 
 the cause of human freedom, by decorating them with ever- 
 greens and flowers, in the name of the survivors of that grand 
 army which settled the question (for the present century at 
 least), that the American people ought all to be free and have 
 the right of self-government. Two hundred thousand green 
 graves, two hundred thousand altars, two hundred thousand 
 sacrifices as offerings to human freedom, to the great cause of all 
 time, the cause of oppressed humanity, the cause of human 
 rights, the cause of truth, purity, honesty, justice, and progress. 
 "We come to-day with music and banners with garlands of 
 sweet and beautiful natural flowers, woven into wreaths and 
 bouquets by the delicate hands of honored and lovely ladies, to 
 decorate and embalm the graves of the precious dust of those 
 we knew, those we honored, those we loved, those who stood up 
 in the great fight of the ages, those who went forth at their 
 country's call to defend their country's cause, to defend that 
 beautiful and glorious flag from the insults thrown upon it by 
 foul traitors' hands. There is scarcely a grave of a fallen sol- 
 dier who was interred within the Union lines, that has not been 
 at some time honored with flowers ; but it was done by private 
 hands, and by some loved one who wept in silence and loneli- 
 ness. But to-day the great body known now in history as the 
 Grand Army of the Republic, and destined to be more exten- 
 sively known and felt, conies forth to do honor to the memories 
 of the heroic dead. And what more fitting could they do ? 
 They might erect monuments of marble, iron, and of bra.-s, that 
 would stand through coming years as evidences of power and 
 appreciation, but these would not show that tender love for 
 these persons, their deeds and their memories, as these fresh and 
 fragrant flowers of May. This is a national act; this is an 
 ffffi.ci.al act. This shows the thousands of widows and orphans 
 of the land that their dear ones are not forgotten by their living 
 comrades, and that their death was not in vain. No, my coun- 
 trymen, their death was not in vain. They died that you and I 
 might live that we might live in peace, and quiet, and happi- 
 ness that our children, and their children, on through future- 
 generations, might have a free school, a free church, and a free 
 Bible. SupposiSy.they had refused to die ; suppose that those 
 hundreds of thousands who are with us who are now here 
 had refused to sacrifice life, and had at once surrendered to the 
 rebels, as that large class who stayed at home during the war 
 and did all they could against the soldier and his cause, wanted 
 they should ; suppose they had accepted the dogma of the sage 
 of Wheatland that we had no right to coerce a State to do 
 20
 
 306 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 right that all the States had a right to go out, and that we 
 could not compel them to stand by the Constitution ; suppose, 
 I say, that those thousands had refused to resist with their lives 
 this dogma, what, to-day, would our country have heen ? What 
 should we have been ? Our Stars and Stripes would have been 
 swept away, and the " Stars and Bars " would have floated in 
 their stead. Our free schools, and free Bibles, and free pulpits, 
 and free ministers, and free people, all, all. would have been 
 
 fane gone to chains and a vassalage worse than that of ancient 
 gypt, Babylon, or Rome ; and to-day, instead of decorating 
 the graves of our comrades fallen in glorious and honorable 
 battle, we should have been weeping in silence at the grave of 
 Liberty herself. 
 
 When we look at our vast country, with all its resources of 
 wealth and power, at our system of free government, with all 
 the appliances for further advancement in greatness and intelli- 
 gence, reaching as it does from ocean to ocean, with its fields, 
 and mines and streams, its hills and valleys, smiling in the sun- 
 light of freedom, inviting the poor and oppressed of all lands to 
 come and occupy them, to plow and reap, to build, and grow 
 and be happy when we look at all this and think what we 
 would have been had the rebellion proved a success, we feel that 
 our comrades did not die in vain, and we feel that this is but a 
 small token, indeed, of the love that we ought to show their 
 memories. What tender emotions are awakened to-day in our 
 minds as we bend over the silent, yet eloquent mounds, where 
 the American soldier sleeps his last sleep. 
 
 My comrades, we remember the dark days of the rebellion ; 
 we remember the march, the camp, the bivouac, the battle, the 
 hospital, the burial. All these things come fresh to us to-day, 
 and with these, the familiar faces, and voices and songs of those 
 whose death we lament to-day even as much as the day they 
 fell at our side. Many of those who sleep in these graves that 
 have just been visited and garlanded were personally known to 
 me, and most of them to you, and may I beg your indulgence 
 while I refer to some of them, for time would fail to mention 
 all. 
 
 Here lies the dust of the brave and noble BRENHOLTZ, who 
 went forth in the youth of his manhood to battle for the right. 
 The Union cause had no warmer friend nor more earnest advo- 
 cate, and could he have been spared to his country and the army, 
 he would have risen to high distinction in both, for he was both 
 brave and eloquent, qualities which are popular with soldiers 
 and citizens. Here, too, sleeps CLEVELAND, the generous, the 
 cheerful youth, who, in the darkest day and on the most difficult
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 307 
 
 and dangerous work, had a kind word and a bright smile for all. 
 He was loved by his men because he loved them in turn. Green 
 grow the grass and bright bloom the flowers over the graves of 
 such youthful heroes. Here slumbers MC!LVAIN, who fell at 
 Sulphur Springs, Virginia, while guarding the passage of the 
 army trains from the guns of Jackson. He was accomplished 
 and prepared to have taken high rank among the young soldiers 
 of Pennsylvania, but while discharging his duty he fell for his 
 country. Here repose KNODERER, and ANDREWS, and GEIES, 
 and LANTZ, and TOTHEKO, and FINNLY, and many others, whose 
 names I have not time to mention, all as noble and as worthy 
 as those names I have called, men who, on the fields of the war, 
 stood up for the holy cause of truth and against falsehood and 
 violence. 
 
 But who will place flowers on the graves of McLEAN, and 
 PAKKER, and RUSH, and that long list of those who were buried 
 in the sands of the distant South on the field of their glory, and, 
 in consequence, their graves unknown ? We cannot visit them 
 to-day ; we cannot formally decqrate them ; but we do it in our 
 hearts, and the surviving friends of those of our comrades who 
 thus fell and whose resting-places remain unknown will be 
 pleased to know that we include them in this day's celebration. 
 We mean to honor the graves of all, from the highest rank 
 among the officers to the humblest drummer-boy of the army, 
 nor will we be circumscribed as to nationality or condition. It 
 is enough for the Grand Array to know that the sleepers fell in 
 defence of our country and her flag. 
 
 The survivors of the American army which has saved this 
 country have come home to the peaceful walks of business with 
 broader minds and higher views of life and duty than they had 
 when the war broke upon us. There were many great questions 
 which we had not thought much upon before the war. Among 
 those questions was human rights. That was the question, the 
 main question underlying the struggle ; and that was the great 
 question which was settled. The war declared that all men 
 who live on this continent shall live freemen and not slaves ; 
 that the few shall not govern the many, but that the major- 
 ity shall rule ; afcd that no man shall be deprived of his natural 
 and God-given rights because of his nationality, religion, or 
 color. And as an organization, we repudiate all such narrow 
 views as those advocated by the soldiers' enemies I mean 
 those men who stayed at home during the war and slandered 
 those that were in the field, and refused to give them the right 
 to vote, because they were fighting the battles of their country 
 those who went prowling around whining, " This is a white
 
 308 
 
 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 man's government." My comrades, we, to-day, at the graves 
 of our fallen brethren, hurl our rebuke to all such narrow-mind- 
 edness and unfairness, and declare that we believe in the 
 largest liberty for all men, irrespective of nation or color. We 
 say that this country is a government of the people, by the 
 people and for the people, and we mean all the people. We 
 do not mean if we can prevent it that any particular class 
 shall rule. We the American soldiers are opposed to class 
 rule : we mean that the people shall rale ; we mean that the 
 ballot-box shall be the free and full expression of the people 
 here the people are to speak and their expression here shall be 
 the supreme law of the land, " accidental Presidents " and 
 faltering Senators to the contrary, notwithstanding. We want 
 all the great national issues decided here. We, the soldiers, 
 are not afraid of the people we can trust them, for we know 
 that those who stood by us during the dark days of the war will 
 not desert us now. 
 
 We have been disappointed in the past our country is not 
 yet what we have reason to hope it would have been by this 
 time. There are thousands of our comrades who are in suffer- 
 ing circumstances many men without feet and without arms 
 are seen every day in our large cities grinding at hand-organs 
 or carrying heavy burdens, who ought to be provided for by the 
 National Government, and who doubtless would have* been 
 looked after if our great Lincoln could have been allowed to 
 live, but the slave power put him to death and the same 
 power spared the life of his successor that it might once more, 
 through him, get possession of the National Government, to be 
 used in behalf of the fallen fortunes of the rebels. That has 
 been done. Jefferson Davis could not have done us any more 
 harm in the White House, with the present Congress at his 
 back, than Andrew Johnson has done and perhaps not as 
 much because we should not have looked for any mercy from 
 him, and should therefore have been prepared for the worst. 
 Look at what Johnson has done. He has repudiated Congress, 
 violated the plain enactments of the House and Senate, refused 
 to admit the rebellious States back again unless the rebels and 
 traitors could have the power, has insulted and degraded Sheri- 
 dan and Sickles two of the bravest generals of the army. He 
 has tried to so complicate the way of the General-in-Chief of 
 the army that he could destroy the confidence of the people in 
 him, and so break down his chances as his successor; he has 
 pardoned and patronized the vilest counterfeiters of the land ; 
 consorted with the vilest and most wicked secessionists; has re- 
 fused to use his influence and prevent the murder of innocent
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 309 
 
 Union men and returned Union soldiers; in short, he has used 
 all liis power and patronage to undo all the .Grand Army did 
 tor the country and humanity during the tive years of war. In 
 Andrew Johnson we have been disappointed and most shame- 
 fully betrayed ; but that was not the worst. We have been dis- 
 appointed and betrayed in the United States Senate; the sol- 
 diers have been outraged, and the graves of these, our own dead 
 companions, have been dishonored, the day that those seven men, 
 wlmia we thought were with us and for us, refused to condemn 
 Johnson for high crimes and misdemeanors, for which the whole 
 world declared he was guilty; the. graves of Ellsworth and 
 Greble, and Baker, and Lyon, and Reynolds, Sedgwick, Sum- 
 ner, Mansfield, Stevens, Reno, Smith, Foote, and Lincoln, and 
 the hundreds of thousands of the rank and file, were dishonored 
 and condemned. If Andrew Johnson is right, and if those 
 Senators voted right, then we were wrong, then the war was 
 wrong, then the rebels were right, and our men died useless 
 deaths. We have been disappointed, but we are not in despair; 
 we have been cast down, but we are not destroyed ; we are to- 
 day, as the Grand Army, more than five hundred thousand 
 strong, fully drilled, tried and trusty ; we have the invincible 
 Logan at our head, who has never been defeated on the field or 
 forum ; we are in harmony with the citizens of all the States ; 
 we have inscribed liberty and equality on our banners, and we 
 expect to succeed ; we look for success because we are in sym- 
 pathy with the spirit of the age, because we are on the side of 
 justice and truth, and, above all, because God has blessed our 
 cause is blessing it, and will bless it in the future. 
 
 And now, my comrades and countrymen, we have much to 
 do ; our work is only beginning; we must not rest nor lay our 
 armor by until all our disabled comrades are completely provid- 
 ed for beyond the reach of want and care. These men deserve 
 this at our hands. These brave fellows with armless sleeves, and 
 legless pantaloons, who now have to almost beg for their living, 
 ought to be provided for by the Government with comfortable 
 homes. And if the Government could collect the whisky tax, 
 of which it has been defrauded during the present administra- 
 tion, it would be^ifiicient to make all such soldiers and their 
 families comfortable for life; and then there are thousands of 
 orphans orphans of soldiers whose fathers fell in battle, or 
 died in some Southern prison pen, like Andersonville or Belle 
 Isle. Their children ought to be educated by the Government, 
 and t<-r this purpose we must provide schools and homes. Our 
 work then is not done. No, my countrymen, not until the old 
 flag floats in peace and quiet from every flag-staff, from ocean to
 
 310 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 ocean ; not until the citizen soldiers have all their just rights 
 granted them ; not until the principles which underlie our Gov- 
 ernment, and for which our comrades died, and for which we 
 periled our lives, are triumphant on this great continent ; we 
 must now buckle on our armor anew, and go into the coming 
 contest, resolved that our great leader, who has jut been select- 
 ed as the soldiers' standard-bearer, shall be overwhelmingly 
 elected to the Presidency of the country which his genius and 
 bravery saved. There is a bright future before this nation ; it 
 was necessary that we should be tried in the furnace of civil 
 war ; it was necessary that our institutions should be thorough- 
 ly tested in all points. And it is encouraging to know that af- 
 ter having been thus weighed in the balance, we have not been 
 found wanting. We have come out of the war a stronger Gov- 
 ernment than we were at its commencement. We have seen 
 most of the weak places in our Constitution, and have been able 
 to improve them. Our Government has now proved itself able 
 to resist foreign invasion and civil rebellion ; we have proved 
 that the National Government is paramount to State Rights, 
 and that Congress must be equal to the President ; and we have 
 proved that the people are capable of impeaching an unworthy 
 and wicked Chief Magistrate, when he does violate the laws. 
 Thus we have reached the climax of a republic, and have shown 
 the world that the United States Government is not a failure. 
 And now, having removed out of the way of our national pro- 
 
 ress the great burden of domestic slavery, and opened the 
 outhern States to the millions of free people that will come to 
 them from all land, we are ready for a President in whom the 
 people can trust, and who shall be in harmony with Congress. 
 Then will the people arise and spring forth as the grass ; busi- 
 ness will burst forth into new life everywhere ; and the country 
 will witness such a course of prosperity as has not been seen 
 since the birth of time. Soon will the iron track be finished 
 which spans the continent, and the wealth of the far-oif Indies 
 w^ll be poured upon our golden shore, and roll eastward, helping 
 to develop the resources of the great valley of the Mississippi, 
 which is destined to be the home of millions of free, happy and 
 powerful people. Such is the future of our country, if we can 
 only have a peaceful and successful administration of our Gov- 
 ernment, and we hope to have after the 4th of March next. 
 
 The Grand Army of the Republic, aided by those patriotic 
 citizens that stood by them during the war, will put into the 
 Presidential chair Ulysses S. Grant, one of our comrades, and 
 the General of our Armies, and the greatest Captain of this 
 age. Then will such men as Sheridan, and Sickles, and Thomas,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 311 
 
 and Meade, the hero of Gettysburg, have a friend who will re- 
 cognize and appreciate their distinguished services ; then will 
 the one-armed men, and the widows and orphans of soldiers, 
 Uave a friend in the White House; then will corruption hide 
 itself from public places ; then will sober men be selected for 
 the general offices ; then will the people respect the high office 
 of President; and then shall we have peace and quiet and plen- 
 ty in all our land ; then shall we be proud of the past; then 
 will be realized the true glory of Donelson, Vicksburg, Atlanta, 
 Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Petersburg and Appomattox ; then 
 shall we love the memory of our fallen heroes more than ever, 
 and year aiter year we shall come to re-deck their sacred shrines ; 
 and I predict that the custom will continue as long as the Ame- 
 rican people shall hate treason and love human freedom. And, 
 my comrades and fellow-countrymen, what more need be said \ 
 These flowers will speak more eloquently, as they wither and 
 dry on these graves, than any human tongue possibly can. 
 
 The ad-lress was listened to with the profoundest attention ; 
 its patriotism breathing, as it does, an ardor of genuine, out- 
 spoken loyalty. The different graves were visited, at the con- 
 clusion of the pastor's remarks, and decorated each with a cross, 
 a wreath and a bouquet, the solemn dirges of the band accom- 
 panying tlifi ceremony. On behalf of the soldiers, the Commit- 
 tee of Ladies accompanying them were designated to pay 
 similar honors to the grave of Mrs. Rosa C. Nicolls, which was 
 accordingly done. This was a just tribute to the memory of a 
 noble-hearted, generous, patriotic Christian woman ! The cere- 
 monies were concluded about 4 o'clock, when the procession 
 moved to the city and dismissed. 
 
 AT POTTSVILLE, PENN. 
 
 Post 23, of Pottsville, made preparations to decorate the 
 graves of Union soldiers on the 30th of April, and also invited 
 Rev. Franklin Moore, D. D., pastor of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, Pottsville, to deliver in his church on Sunday morning, 
 May 31, a sermto commemorative of the beautiful and touching 
 ceremony. * 
 
 On Saturday, 30th, amid the tears of many of the surviving 
 relatives of the dead heroes of the Republic whose remains lie 
 buried in the cemeteries of Pottsville, Post 23 carried out the 
 order of Gen. Logan, and on Sunday attended the Methodist 
 Episcopal Churcli, where services of the most impressive char- 
 acter took place.
 
 312 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 SERMON BY THE BEV. FRAXKUX MOORE, D.D. 
 
 GEK. xxxv. 19, 20. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to 
 Eph rath, which is Bethlehem. A nd Jacob set a pillar upon her grate ; that is 
 the p'Mar of RacheVs grate unto this day. 
 
 II SAMUEL, i. 19. The beauty of Israel it slain vpon thy high places ; ?tow 
 are the mighty fallen ! XEHEMIAH, ii. 5. And I said unto the king, if it please 
 the king, and if thy servant hare found favor in thy sight, that thou wo>ildent 
 send me vntojudah, unto the city of my father's sepukhre*, that I may build it. 
 
 The text is a spiritual mosaic ; the truth couched in every 
 block is beautiful, while the combined effect is in harmony with 
 the tender memories and solemn thoughts which possess our 
 souls this . morning. Yesterday, gentlemen of the Grand Army 
 of the Republic, it was your mournfully pleasant privilege to 
 hang wreaths twined by affectionate hands, upon the monu- 
 ments, and to scatter fresh flowers upon the graves of your dead 
 comrades-in-arms. To-day you are assembled in the sanctuary 
 of God, to hallow the solemn ceremony so recently performed 
 by sacred thoughts, and by the appeal of prayer to Him who is 
 the Father of mercies and the Father of nations. There are 
 three thoughts which flow out from our composite text, and to 
 each one of them, we will devote onr attention with the hope 
 that, although slightly expanded in the discourse, the thoughts 
 themselves may linger in our souls as the attar of roses will 
 cling to the pure walls of an alabaster vase. It is cheering to 
 know that, as yesterday, many sympathetic hearts clustered 
 around you while your ministry of love was done upon the 
 graves of the brave dead, so now, your fellow-citizens are here 
 in the house of the Most High, to share with you in the lofty 
 fellowship of noble thoughts, fervent prayers, sweet affections, 
 and softly -flowing tears. 
 
 The memory of the dead is a sacred treasure of the human 
 heart. To remember those who have departed out of this 
 life, is the instinctive action of the soul. It is not merely an 
 exercise of the intellect, but an irrepressible passion of the 
 heart. Passionate memories of those whom we knew intimately 
 and loved sincerely, spring up in the soul as a plant leaps from 
 the bosom of the earth, as leaves and flowers burst from encas- 
 ing buds. It is natural and reasonable that such memories 
 should enthrone themselves within us. They are an attestation 
 of man's immortality. Yes, my hearers, human afl'ections laugh 
 at the narrow confines of earthly years, and at the ravages of 
 death. Death may hush the living voice, break up the con- 
 scious fellowship of the present time, and resolve the body, that 
 goodly and stately tabernacle of the soul, into damp mould and 
 loose dust. Still, when all his havoc is wrought, and hearts and 
 homes are lonely, and the light of loving eyes is dimmed with
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 313 
 
 tears which will not staunch at the word of persistent command, 
 yet a scene is witnessed evermore which proclaims, " O death, 
 where is thy sting \ O grave, where is thy victory ? " Crowds 
 of human souls line the sullen river of death on either shore, 
 win It ; (heir afiectionate remembrances and yearnings span the 
 gloomy river with more brilliant than rainbow arches; with 
 arches which pledge even out of the shadows of death, eternal 
 life and eternal re-union, to all who are submissive to God's 
 plan of Salvation. This faith in immortality which generates a 
 precious memory of the dead, is a heritage of the race from its 
 origin men grasped the blessed truth either by intelligent 
 fait!!, or by spontaneous feeling, and acted accordingly. Jacob, 
 of whom it is recorded, that at the close of his pilgrimage, " he 
 gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up trie ghost, and 
 was gathered unto his people" the company of those who had 
 gone into the land of life before him, heartily believed in the 
 future existence of the soul. It was this faith which nurtured his 
 love when Rachel was dead, and so in blended faith and love, 
 " he set a pillar upon her grave." In alter years, as he drew 
 near his own death, he remembered and spoke tenderly of Rach- 
 el, whom now he doubtless expected to greet again, and be 
 with her forever. Heathenism, half-believing, half-doubting, 
 yet irresistibly concedes by action, the fact of our immortality. 
 
 Without some faith of the heart in it there never had been 
 the care for the remains of the dead which was manifested. The 
 ashes of the illustrious Roman, Pompeius, were hastily deposit- 
 ed on the margin of the sea, on the shore of Egypt. Of this 
 event an eloquent historian of our own day says: "Lucan be- 
 wails the disgrace of the illustrious remains, still confined to 
 their wretched hole in the sand, and surmounted by a fragment 
 of stone on which the bare name of Magnus had been traced 
 with a burnt brand." If the dead were not invested with the 
 majesty of an endless existence, humanity, both in heart and 
 action, would soon accommodate itself to the appalling fact. It 
 woukl then be indeed " out of sight, out of mind." The dead 
 would be to our minds much as our favorite animals are ; as the 
 handsome horse tVat bore us bravely up the hills and through 
 the valleys, or, as the dog that has fawned upon our hands and 
 lovingly served us in his humble offices. AVe would remember 
 them as we do the instruments \ve employed during the passing 
 hour to serve our various purposes, and which having accom- 
 plished their ends, we fling them aside and think of them no 
 more. But now that our dead were not only lovelv and pleas- 
 
 . if m f 
 
 ant in their lives, but in death have only changed places and 
 modes of existence still live grandly on, and will live on for-
 
 314 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 ever and ever, we will fondly cherish their memory, and we will 
 spread the slab or erect the pillar over their graves. Aye, and 
 we will often visit those graves, sometimes to 'weep, and some- 
 times to rejoice there. When the murky winter is overpast and 
 spring plumes the hills with blossoms, and floods the air with 
 thrush warblings, wild-bird anthems, we will strew their 
 graves with bright and beautiful flowers, and say as we do so, 
 " These flowers are the alphabet of our hearts ; with them we 
 spell out, Faith, Hope, Heaven. With these hieroglyphics of 
 our hearts, we write upon your dusty graves, O companions of 
 our other years. We love you still, and hope to be with you 
 again where no death-mist will settle down between us ; where 
 our hearts will pulse forever in springtime gladness." Flowers 
 express in their structure and colors, the most delicate affections 
 and appreciations of the soul, for " The flower seems to be the 
 portion of the vegetable on which nature has bestowed the most 
 pains. The least conspicuous flowers reveal under the micro- 
 scope an exquisite beauty." They answer the purpose of guard- 
 ing the developing germs, their petals are thus built around 
 the citadel of life as a palisade of splendor. While accomplish- 
 ing this useful end in the economy of vegetable life it has pleas- 
 ed God to make them his choice expression of beauty and 
 elegance, and thereby elevate the common course of nature into 
 a teacher of the etherial, spiritual, and eternal. It ought to 
 excite our grateful admiration that while our bountiful Creator 
 is providing for the wants of our bodies, our humble eartlily life, 
 he is the same time confronting us with types of a loftier and 
 lovelier life by transmuting the garden, the field, and the forest, 
 into grand galleries of such deliciously planned and exquisitely 
 wrought fine art as smiles at all human imitations. Earth be- 
 comes under this art-work of God, the rocky wall, on whose 
 front is traced year after year, and age after age, the matchless 
 ideals which spring up in the Divine mind. The art must ex- 
 press the nature of the artist. This annual pageantry of flowers 
 should not be lost upon us who behold them ; but as they fade 
 away to sight and sense, they should, Divine cartoons as they 
 are, sweet designs of an infinitely great intellect and good heart, 
 be transferred to the eternal walls of our souls, and glow there 
 as inspirations to perpetual praise. 
 
 " God might have bade the earth bring forth 
 
 Enough for great and small, 
 The oak tree and the cedar tree, 
 
 Without a flower at all ; 
 He might have made enough, enough 
 
 For every want of ours ;
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 315 
 
 For luxury, medicine, and toil, 
 
 And yet have made no flowers. 
 Our outward life requires them not 
 
 Then wherefore have they birth ? 
 To minister delight to man, 
 
 To beautify the earth ; 
 To comfort m.-m to whisper hope, 
 
 Whene'er his faith is dim ; 
 For whoso caretli for the flowers, 
 
 Will much more care for him ! " 
 
 Flowers, then, are a touehingly tender and appropriate trib- 
 ute to the memory of the dead. They are the beautiful thoughts 
 of the Creator which have blossomed into material forms, and 
 we do well to train them around, and to scatter them freely upon 
 the graves of those whom we love. Soldiers of the Republic, 
 your delicate deeds of love to your dead comrades, is grounded 
 upon the truth of man's abiding existence ; is an act worthily 
 done by the brave, and we trust that the custom thus inaugurat- 
 ed will continue until the last soldier of the Grand Army, his 
 hand tremulous with age, shall sprinkle Spring flowers upon his 
 hosts of valiant brothers who rest from the toils of life in that 
 long, deep sleep whose reveille shall be the trumpet call of the 
 resurrection. 
 
 The patriot dead have- an affectionate, enduring remem- 
 brance in the souls of their countrymen. It is the spontaneous 
 verdict of men in all ages, that " lit is sweet and glorious, hon- 
 orable, to die for ones country;" that the men who have 
 "jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the 
 field," should never be forgotten by those for whom they have 
 thus perilled and even given up their lives. The dead or living 
 soldier's charter of claims upon the sympathies and remem- 
 brance of his countrymen, is written with the point of his 
 sword, and virtually, or in fact, with his own blood. It is a sa- 
 cred charter, and ought to be respected. Saul and Jonathan 
 fell bravely fighting the foes of Israel, and David, magnani- 
 mously forgetting all injuries which he had received from the 
 one, and rememberWg the noble love of the other, poured out 
 his soul in a gush or manly lamentation for the dead defenders 
 of the nation, a lamentation so brilliant and beautiful, that it is 
 a gem of martial literature throughout all time. " The beauty 
 of Israel is slain upon thy high places ; how are the mighty 
 fallen." These words seem to constitute a key-note to every 
 dirge of the brave which has since been woven by the pen or 
 harp of genius. There are peculiarly strong claims upon na- 
 tional remembrance which can be urged in behalf of the dead 
 soldiers of our Republic. In citing a few of them, it is not
 
 316 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 necessary for me to say, and yet it may be well to say it, to 
 ward off all unjust prejudice, that the holy Sabbath is not the 
 time, nor is the sanctuary of God the place, to indulge in the 
 violent passions and vituperative language of a partisan. I 
 shall endeavor to state the truth which a Christian ought to 
 affirm touching recent events that truth which history will 
 doubtless assert when the passions of the hour are hushed, and 
 the men of this generation shall have passed away from earth. 
 The rectitude of the cause in whose defence our soldiers fought 
 or died in the late civil war, stamps their services with dignity 
 and value. 
 
 The necessity was upon them of battling against their fellow- 
 countrymen. But still the Grand Army of the Republic was, 
 from iirst to last, but a huge assembly ot citizens called out by 
 rightful authority a posse comitatus, to quell the riotous and 
 rebellious conduct of their brethren who were snapping asunder 
 the strong bands of that law " whose seat is the bosom of God ; " 
 whose observance is the only guarantee of social order. The 
 one party fought with a bravery worthy of a better cause, in 
 the interests of human oppression, for the express purpose of 
 making the oppression of a proscribed race the corner-stone of 
 a new nationality. The other party unfurled the original flag 
 of the country, with " Union " inscribed upon it, and went into 
 and passed all through the bloody struggle with "Liberty" as 
 their battle-cry. Men who thus championed the cause of that 
 enlightened, legal liberty, which, until forfeited by crime, is the 
 God-given right of every man who comes upon the earth^ are 
 the brothers of the valiant men of all ages who have stood up 
 for the defence of the truth. While they live and demean them- 
 selves as upright citizens, they should be honored, and when 
 they die they should be tenderly mourned. Those of them who 
 died in battle, or since the war have died, are honored with the 
 regrets of all the noble elements of the nation ; the regrets, at 
 all events, of all men whose minds are not clouded by unreason- 
 able prejudices which are destined to be buried in the graves of 
 those cherishing them. The heroic daring of the Federal sol- 
 diers their sublime corn-age entitles them to the perpetual 
 gratitude of their countrymen, and to the admiration of the 
 world. Never in all the martial contests of by-gone times has 
 there been such a widely diffused and enlightened patriotism as 
 was witnessed in the Union army. The purity of purpose, the 
 solemnity of resolve, the noble aspirations, of very many who 
 rallied under the Union flag, have immortalized the national 
 character, and ennobled mankind, proving to what sublime 
 heights of thought and action the race may ascend under the
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 317 
 
 inspiration of Liberty and Nationality. Volumes of records of 
 noble speeches and still nobler deeds have been preserved, but 
 libraries of heroic utterances and heroic actions will remain on 
 those more complete records of creation which are never scanned 
 by human eyes. Allow me to awaken in the minds of some 
 who hear me, memories of thrilling occurrences with which 
 themselves have been familiar, by the citation of one or two 
 fragments of history. In the first battle of Bull Run, Captain 
 Putnam svas knocked down by a shot and a cry was raised, 
 " Our captain is killed," when he sprang up and cried, u No, he 
 is not killed, boys ; forward for God and Liberty ! " " Tell my 
 friends," said a soldier who was killed, " that I did all I could, 
 and died like a man." 
 
 Lieutenant Welch, when he fell, was standing within twenty 
 feet of the enemy, and shouted, " Help me God, I will never 
 run. I will die here ! " Such heroism upon the part of the dead, 
 and upon the part of the men who still survive, demands honor 
 and gratitude to the living, and flowers, bright and sweet, to be 
 strewn upon the graves of all who have fallen in battle, or in 
 the march of life which sooner or later terminates with all men 
 at the gates of the tomb. 
 
 The grand and benignant results of the brave demeanor of 
 the Union soldiers clearly require that these men be not forgot- 
 ten by their countrymen. Gratitude is proportionate to the 
 benefits received, as well as to the purity of intention which 
 imparts those benefits. Hence the apostolic utterance in view 
 of redemption. "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable 
 gift." Measured by this law, the gratitude of the country 
 to her faithful soldiers in the civil war, should be very great. 
 What are the excellent fruits of the victories of the Grand Army 
 of the Republic ? 
 
 1. National unity and popular liberty have been secured for 
 ages to come possibly for all time to come. The Federal 
 armies went into the great conflict with the inscription on its 
 banners, " The Union forever," but before the conflict closed 
 before final victory was gained, the powerful Providence of 
 God compelled the nation to write another splendid sVntiment 
 by the side of the Union motto, " Liberty throughout the land 
 to all the inhabitants thereof." The logic of events clearly 
 proved that the purpose of God was either, Liberty to all men 
 in the land, or Death to the Nation. When men saw this pos- 
 ture of tlrings, they shouted in their hearts, " The will of God be 
 done." " Give us Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and 
 inseparable." Then the victories which gained Atlanta, and 
 Savannah, and Petersburg, and Richmond, culminated in the
 
 318 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 
 
 capitulation of Appomattox Court House, and sweet smiling 
 peace waved her olive branch over the land. Now the two 
 thoughts evolved by the great conflict were thus, National unity, 
 and popular liberty expressing itself in the form of popular 
 government. We have reason to believe these two thoughts 
 are deeply graven in the national heart as in the rock forever. 
 There is a law in human affairs which we may express in this 
 manner : Great crises of human agony are the seals of lire 
 which God would plant on human consciousness, in attestation 
 of some vital truths, truths essential to the Divine honor and 
 human well being. The deluge illustrates this law the mem- 
 ory of it was preserved among the traditions of all nations. 
 And, no doubt, it acted for ages as a powerful protest of God 
 against apostasy from Himself stayed to a large extent the 
 ravages of idolatry. So the impression is now made by the late 
 struggle, that the decree of God is, North and South, East and 
 West, of this land are to live together under one government. 
 Men will not lightly assail this decree which is written in blood, 
 by the point of the bayonet, over much of the soil of the coun- 
 try. This unity of government over a vast territory is in our 
 age of railways, ocean steamers, and telegraphic lines, a practi- 
 cable thing. It may be said that for purposes of government 
 our Continental Republic will be as compact in A. D. 1875, as 
 was the single Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1825. More- 
 over, the impression, inasmuch as one of the test questions of the 
 war was, Can a Republican Government prove itself equal to 
 the task of self-preservation in time of Rebellion? the im- 
 pression, by the affirmative answer which victory gave to the 
 solemn question, on the national consciousness, is, that the one 
 Government of this Co'ntinent must be Republican in form. 
 The successful conclusion of the war vindicated the yearning 
 resolve couched in the closing words of tjie brief and brilliant 
 speech of our late lamented chief-magistrate, upon the battle- 
 scarred field of Gettysburg, a speech of which the eloquent 
 Everett said to its author, " Ah ! Mr. Lincoln, how gladly I 
 would exchange all my hundred pages to have been the author 
 of your twenty lines !" The decree, solemn and fixed, by the 
 blood of the mighty dead, and by the vows of the brave living 
 men of this nation appealing to God to sustain them is, " That 
 government of the people, by the people, and for the people, 
 shall not perish from the earth." My brethren, you will join 
 with your speaker in uttering a deep, Amen, to the glorious 
 sentiment ! 
 
 2. Border wars have been prevented such wars would have 
 been, had the recent conflict taken a different issue. The 19th
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 319 
 
 century would have been disgraced with a repetition of the 
 violent and bloody raids between the English yeomanry and 
 Scottish clans. 
 
 3. A vast continental, internal commerce has been secured 
 by the triumph of the Union arms. A commerce free from the 
 embarrassments of international restrictions. When we think 
 of our constantly increasing population ; of our long rivers and 
 huge lakes ; of our shores laved by the billows of two oceans, 
 we are prepared to anticipate a commerce amounting to so 
 many millions of tons and millions of dollars, that, without full 
 thought on the elements which will produce the stupendous re- 
 sult, the figures placed before us now would seem fabulous. 
 
 i. A splendid Civilization, including by this word all that 
 enters into human welfare, will be developed on the American 
 Continent. Literature will flourish ; fine art will blossom into 
 beautiful creations which congeal noble ideals into abiding 
 actualities ; and pure and undetiled religion, asking for nothing 
 but a field of free thought, will triumph all over this wide- 
 spread liepublic. Humanity, like the century cactus which 
 blooms after one hundred years of struggle with all that op- 
 poses its vigorous life, will, after, its thousands of years of tribu- 
 lation and conflict with all influences which would repress it, 
 will, at last, on this continent, break forth into the brilliant 
 bloom of that golden age for which philanthropists have longed ; 
 for which holy men have "prayed, and which God's soul-enrap- 
 tured and fiery -eyed prophets have predicted would yet mantle 
 the earth all over with beauty and benediction. This good 
 time so surely coming that its morning gleams are around us 
 now, will be the jubilee age of the world. It will be, compared 
 witli the past, socially, and in human destinies, what one of 
 these luscious May days among our grand mountains is com- 
 pared with the bleak and dark days of December. 
 
 In my health-seeking walks, splendid scenes surround me. 
 The wood-thrush, nestling himself in the solitudes, of the forest, 
 flings abroad his short but sonorous and sweet song, richly 
 quavering and clear, as if his throat were some brilliantly 
 breathing clarionet. Then he pauses awhile, as if luxuriating 
 in the echoes of his own brief and beautiful notes, and thus his 
 happy hours flow away. At the same time the song-thrush, 
 standing upon the topmost, pendulous branch of some stately 
 tree, yields himself to complacent chatterings, rolls out delicious 
 trills, and pours out passionate outbursts of joy which flood the 
 air all around with their sweet influences. He gathers inspira- 
 tion as he sings, so that one looks up in admiration at the beau- 
 tiful bird poised on his airy perch, an incarnation of ecstasy.
 
 320 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 And then, while far away the pine-crested mountains trail their 
 massy heights immediately around, the dogwood tree lifts its 
 blossoms like snowflakes above the verdure of the laurel bushes 
 and the low pines. Oh, it is such a jubilee of nature which 
 greets us in Hay, as does, indeed, aptly and eloquently portray 
 the glories of those dawning days when Jesus shall reign from 
 " the river unto the ends of the earth." 
 
 The sufferings and toils of the Grand Army of the Union 
 have forged many of the glittering links which bind us of the 
 present age to this rapidly advancing age of divine and human 
 glory. 
 
 Whoever may forget the dead soldiers of the nation, you, 
 their comrades, will not. Yesterday was to you a day on which 
 the fountains of your hearts were unsealed. The past rose up 
 before you with all the distinctness of a present reality. The 
 camp-life summons to rise and retire to rest. The march, the 
 impending and the raging battle, with the grief over fallen fel- 
 low-soldiers, and joy of victory. The solemn anxieties of the 
 times when men's hearts were failing them for fear of what 
 next might happen when the destinies of the nation were 
 hanging on every passing hour. Yesterday was a sad day to 
 you, as well as one of complacent triumph. The nation sympa- 
 thized with you ; the air seemed burdened with a solemn sor- 
 row, and the continent was resolved again into a Bochim a 
 place of weeping. 
 
 The graves of the dead should be adorned and shielded 
 against all desecration. Nehemiah mourned over the desolation 
 ol Jerusalem, the city of the Great King. His heart was espe- 
 cially sorrowful at the thought that the sepulchres of his fathers 
 should be dismantled and dishonored. As memory of the dead 
 is a natural outgrowth of the doctrine of immortality, so orna- 
 mentation and care of the tombs of the dead is a reverential 
 tribute of human nature to the Bible doctrine of the resurrec- 
 tion of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. It is well, 
 then, that we look tenderly to the places where our loved ones 
 sleep. Let us mantle their dusty homes with green sods of 
 moist and delicately waving grass ; let us teach the ro-e to 
 bloom sweetly above them ; let us cause the mignionettc and 
 heliotrope to fling out their sweet breath upon the summer 
 breeze, and let us trail the myrtle all around their lowly and 
 narrow dwelling-places, as though we would thus plant a silent 
 prophet there, who should whisper into the ear of faith, that 
 though these dead are now, in body, thus cabined, cribbed, and 
 confined, yet they shall hereafter, in the majesty of redemption, 
 mount from the dust, as the lark mounts from the meadow in
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 321 
 
 joy and song, cleave the sky and ramble, each one, as a free 
 child of God, throughout all the immensities of the universe. 
 Nor let the graves of the patriot dead be forgotten by the hand 
 of affection. 
 
 Let the sepulchres of the brave be made worthy resorts of 
 weeping freedom. Let the solid stone tablet, with fitting in- 
 scription upon it, brood over the slumbering body of the fallen 
 hero. Let the marble shaft spring above the dusty dwelling- 
 place of the soldier of his country. Let the morning and eve- 
 ning sun, which shall greet, gild, and linger on its sides and 
 play upon its summit, symbolize the showering benedictions of 
 his countrymen which will stream from age to age, to honor his 
 name and memory. 
 
 From age to age the honorable fame of this patriotic Army 
 will endure. It will not decrease, but rather increase with the 
 flow of years. When the passions of the times are stilled in 
 the grave, and the men of this generation have passed away 
 from the earth, the gathering plaudits of coming generations 
 will greet the memory of the men who, in a great crisis, saved 
 the national life. Your fame is now in its spring freshness, but 
 undeveloped in its fulness. It is a fame which will grow, until, 
 like the summer sun, it will suffuse all the land with its steady 
 glow. A great, good cause glorifies the men who defend it and 
 give it triumph. Your local fame is secure. While these 
 mountains stand and the tributaries of the Schuylkill dash from 
 their woody sides away off to the sea, you will be remembered, 
 and your memory blessed by your fellow-citizens of all parties 
 in the good days to come. 
 
 Soldiers of Post 23, G. A. R., we have now held, I trust, a 
 season of pleasant communion together, in musing upon the 
 memory 01 the dead. Upon honor and ornament to their 
 tombs, and upon the well-merited fame of the valiant soldier 
 and defender of his country's life and glory, I hope the hour we 
 have passed together will hereafter linger as a solemnly sweet 
 memory in our souls. Suffer me now to remind you, that " the 
 fashion of this world passeth away." Mark well a vision of St. 
 John, upon the lonely, rocky sea-beaten islet of Patmos " And 
 I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose 
 face the earth and the heaven fled away ; and there was found 
 no more place for them." Again he looked, and exclaims : 
 " And I sa*w a new heaven and a new earth ; for the first heaven 
 and the first earth were passed away ; and there was no more 
 sea." An irresistible wave of oblivion is destined to roll over 
 all fame which is limited to earth, and man upon earth which 
 is not in some way linked with the holy and eternal. There is 
 21
 
 322 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 a memory of blessing and rapture which we may all gain 
 through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and which will abide 
 throughout all ages, world without end. It is the remembrance 
 which God bears toward all who love and obey Him in the faith 
 of Jesus. In the rush of the complex creation, we cannot 
 always be remembered by the creature with that distinct recog- 
 nition of our individuality for which we all yearn. But our 
 God " telleth the number of the stars ; He calleth them all by 
 their names." If you will cleave unto Him with all the fer- 
 vency of your souls, He will never forget, never leave nor for- 
 sake you. You will glow upon the heart, and blaze before the 
 benignant eye of our august and ever-blessed Creator, each one 
 of you an eternal star of glory ! 
 
 AT MlNERSVILLE, PfiNN. 
 
 The day was duly ushered in, in Minersville, by the firing 
 of a cannon at 6 A. M., by a squad from Post No. 17, G. A. R. 
 This firing of the cannon was continued at intervals of half an 
 hour, until 6 P. M. The day was celebrated by Post No. 17, and 
 the citizens generally of the town. The places of business in 
 town were closed from 2 p. M. to 5 p. M., only a few persons re- 
 fusing to close their business places during that time. We note 
 this action with commendation, showing, as it does, that the 
 mass are indeed friends of the patriot dead, and ever ready to 
 show their appreciation of their great services for the country. 
 
 At 2 P. M. the members of the Post, and citizens generally, 
 met at the headquarters of Post No. 17, and a procession was 
 formed in the following order : Drum Corps ; Committee of 
 Arrangements with Emblems ; Members of G. A. R. ; Wagon 
 with Flowers ; Firing Party ; Citizens. 
 
 The procession marched in this order to each of the seven 
 cemeteries in the vicinity of the town. At each of the ceme- 
 teries (except the Catholic) the following ceremony was per- 
 formed : Planting of Emblems ; Singing of Dirge by the Choir. 
 Address delivered or poem read, during which the committee 
 decorated each soldier s grave with flowers, a wreath of laurel, 
 and a flag. Firing by squad. 
 
 During the moving of the procession the school-house bell 
 was tolled every minute, from 2 to 5 P. M. 
 
 The emblems referred to above were twelve in number, and 
 were composed of beautiful immortelles handsomely arranged 
 in the following manner : Six wreaths, various sizes ; two 
 crosses, two baskets, one anchor, and one heart. These beauti- 
 ful emblems were presented to the Post by Mrs. Joseph Gart-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 323 
 
 ley, of Minersville, and Mrs. E. V. Machette, a lady friend, of 
 Philadelphia. They were distributed among the seven ceme- 
 teries as justly and equally as possible, having a due regard to 
 the size and beauty of the several emblems, and also the num- 
 ber of soldiers interred in each cemetery. The Post returns its 
 sincere thanks to the generous donors for their generosity on 
 this occasion, accepting it as but another instance of the devo- 
 tion to our country of the loyal women of the land, who were 
 ever ready to do all in their power to promote the comfort, alle- 
 viate the sufferings, become ministering angels of mercy in 
 dreary hospitals, and who were always praying the God of bat- 
 tles to grant success to our " Boys in Blue." The thanks of the 
 Post are also due to the drum corps, the ladies and gentlemen 
 of the choir, the Revs. Jeffries and Frame, the ladies of Miners- 
 ville for their contributions of flowers, and to the citizens gen- 
 erally, for their assistance in making this ceremony a perfect 
 success. The following is the list of the soldiers interred in the 
 seven cemeteries in the vicinity of Minersville : 
 
 WELSH BAPTIST CEMETERY. David Owens, Co. H, 97th 
 Ohio Yols. ; Joseph Morgan ; William Jenkins, Co. F, 48th Pa. 
 Vols. ; George Baker, Maine Vols. 
 
 IRISH CATHOLIC. Michael Lavell, Co. F, 48th Pa. Vols. ; 
 James Burgan, Co. E, 5th Pa. Vols. ; Barney McMichael, Co. 
 K, 96th Pa. Vols. ; Thomas McGurl, Co. I, 8th Pa. Cav. ; Pat- 
 rick Binney ; Patrick McGee, Co. K, 96th Pa. Vols. ; Patrick 
 McCal lister, do. ; John McGurl, Co. K, 67th Pa. Vols. ; Thomas 
 Boran ; Michael I. Mohan, Co. F, 109th Pa. Vols. ; James N. 
 Tobin ; John Duffy ; Michael Brennan ; William Bell, 3d Pa. 
 Cav. 
 
 CONGREGATIONAL. John Roberts, Co. G, 3d Md. ; John 
 Powell ; Thos. Harman ; John Jones, Co. B, 55th Pa. Vols. ; 
 Harry Owens, Bat. A, 5th Artillery ; Thomas Lewis, Co. F, 
 48th Pa. Vols. 
 
 METHODIST EPISCOPAL. John Simons ; Michael Wilson, Co. 
 F, 48th Pa. Vols. ; John C. Hoskins, Sergt., Co. A, 129th Pa. 
 Vols. ; Wm. Durr, do. ; Horace Straub, Co. F, 48th Pa. Vols. ; 
 James Bradley, do. ; Charles Bedford ; N. Foust, Co. E, 5th 
 Pa. Vols. ; Joseph Heisler, Co. A, 129th Pa. Vols. ; Hiram 
 Thomas ; Robert Jefferson ; .John Lloyd, 48th Pa. Vols. ; Wm. 
 Atkins, do. ; John Goodfellow, 96th Pa. Vols. ; Thomas Reese ; 
 Thomas Williams ; one unknown ; B. Cobley, 65th Pa. Vols. 
 
 GERMAN LUTHERAN. John Bowman ; Charles Cohler, 6th 
 Pa. Cav. ; Daniel Martin. 
 
 GERMAN CATHOLIC. Matthias Powley, Co. B, 32d Ind. 
 Vols. ; Wm. Kuhn, Co. E } 55th Pa. Vols.
 
 824 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 MIXERSVILLE CEMETERY. Capt. G. A. Lawrence, Co. A, 
 129th Pa. Vols. ; Capt. II. G. Bennett, Co. E, 55th Pa. Vols. ; 
 Sergt. R. A. Jenkins, Co. H. 48th Pa. Vols. ; Charles Jenkins, 
 Co. I), 69th Pa. Vols. ; Jacob Witman, Co. H, 48th Pa. Vols. ; 
 Thomas Weaver, Co. E, 5th Pa. Vols. 
 
 AT GETTYSBURG, PEKN. 
 
 In this place the people generally cordially united in the 
 movement. In response to the call of the Committee, a large 
 number of floral offerings were sent in from various points in 
 the county ; the children of the Orphans' Home at Womelsdorf, 
 Pa., through Mr. R. A. Lyttle, one of the teachers, sending by 
 express a large box of wild floucrs from their mountain Home. 
 
 In the course of the afternoon people came pouring into 
 town from every direction in unexpected numbers, and by 5 
 o'clock, p. M., when the stores and places of business closed, onr 
 streets were alive with a busy, moving throng of people. At 
 half-past 5, P. M., a procession was formed in the public square, 
 Tinder the marshalship of Capt. John F. McCreary, and moved 
 to the National Cemetery in the following order : 1. The chil- 
 dren of the National Orphans' Homestead, carrying bouquets 
 and banners representing the various States whose dead repose 
 in the National Cemetery. 2. Vehicle draped with the Ameri- 
 can flag, containing the floral tributes. 3. Gettysburg Brass 
 Band and Drum Corps. 4. Gettysburg Zouaves, Capt. Norris, 
 and Franklin Zouaves, Capt. Eicholtz. 5. Soldiers of the war, 
 and citizens. As the procession moved through Baltimore 
 street, the bells of the churches were tolled, and on entering the 
 Cemetery grounds the drum played the " Dead March." 
 
 The military and citizens formed around the base of the 
 monument, where the exercises were opened with an impressive 
 prayer by Rev. H. C. Grossman. Lieut. Win. R. Eyster then, 
 on behalf of the Committee, briefly explained the purport of 
 the ceremony, reciting the following passage from Percival : 
 
 " Here rest the great and good. Here they repose 
 After their generous toil. A sacred band, 
 They take their sleep together, while the year 
 Comes with its early flowers to deck their graves. 
 
 * * The joy 
 
 With which their children tread the hallowed ground 
 That holds their venerated bodies, the peace 
 That smiles on all they cherished, and the wealth 
 That clothes the land they fought for these, though mute 
 As feeling ever is when deepest these 
 Are monuments more lasting than the fanes 
 Reared to the kings and demi-gods of old.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 325 
 
 Here let us meet, and while our motionless lips 
 
 Give not a sound, and all around is mute 
 
 In the deep sabbath of a heart too full 
 
 For words or tears, here let us strew the sod 
 
 With the first flowers of Spring, and make to them 
 
 An offering of the plenty Nature gives, 
 
 And they have rendered ours perpetually." 
 
 Rev. Dr. Brown followed in a brief but eloquent address, in 
 the course of which he remarked in substance : We have como 
 to do honor to the noble dead to strew with flowers the graves 
 of those who died that we and the nation might live. We have 
 come not in midwinter or with cypress wreaths, but in Spring- 
 time, when the fields are green, and the flowers blooming, and 
 birds singing, that, in sympathy with universal Nature, we 
 might bring our grateful offering of- reverence and affection. 
 Seven years ago, and hundreds of thousands, who now sleep in 
 soldiers' graves, were pursuing their peaceful avocations at 
 home. \\ hen their country called, they left home and loved 
 ones to uphold their country's flag and their country's honor. 
 As they heartily bade farewell, they were assured that thev 
 would be cherished at home,' and if any left children behind, 
 they should be the children of the Republic. Here, on this 
 hill, they met the hosts of Rebellion and Treason, and here 
 thousands laid down their lives for freedom and the Union. 
 The price of their death was victory and safety for us and the 
 nation. The pledges given to the noble soldiers of the Union, 
 we have now come to fulfil to keep alive their mourners, and 
 strew with flowers their graves. Their orphan children the 
 representatives of half a million would strew these flowers 
 upon the graves of their fathers, and the nation would recognize 
 them as her own. 
 
 The noble dead, who fell here and on these neighboring hills, 
 need no eulogium from our lips. They have secured the proud- 
 est of all earthly honors', and their tombstones bear this inscrip- 
 tion : They Died for their Country. There is no danger that 
 they will be forgotten. They live in the hearts of more than 
 twenty millions of citizens of this great Republic. From all 
 sections of the land, from across the ocean and from the isles of 
 the sea, do pilgrims visit this hallowed spot. Not only spldiers 
 and comrades-in-arms, but statesmen and patriots, gray hairs 
 and tender youth, young men and maidens, come, and will con- 
 tinue to come. Two days ago, and the delegates of one of the 
 largest denominations, meeting in the Capitol of the State, left 
 their Master's business for a day to come hither; and venerable 
 servants of God from nearly every State did reverence at this
 
 326 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 ehrine of Freedom and Liberty, where their sons and brothers 
 fell and sleep. 
 
 These flowers to be strewn tell that their death was beauti- 
 ful and fragrant. It is noble and beautiful thus to die for one's 
 country ; and the whole land is fragrant with the odor of their 
 heroic deeds. The blessings of peace and prosperity which we 
 enjoy, they have secured for us. Ours is a debt of gratitude 
 which no words or actions can ever express. But .long as the 
 Union lasts and may it be perpetual ! let a grateful people 
 visit their resting-place. 
 
 Strew flowers, sweet flowers, on the soldiers' graves, 
 For the death they died the nation saves. 
 'Tis sweet and glorious thus to die 
 Hallowed the spot where their ashes lie. 
 
 Professor Eerrier then pronounced the benediction, which 
 closed the exercises at the monument. The decorating of the 
 graves followed, the children of the Orphans' Home passing 
 from block to block, depositing the floral tributes, and chanting 
 the following lines : 
 
 Lightly, lightly, lovingly tread 
 O'er the dust of the patriot dead, 
 Strew the flowers and the triumph wreath 
 O'er the brave who sleep beneath. 
 
 Lightly, lightly, lovingly rest 
 Wreath and flower upon each breast, 
 Offerings pure and sought with care, 
 Sacred made by love and prayer. 
 
 While this ceremony was going on, national airs were played 
 by the Band, and a salute of twenty-two guns (one for each 
 block of graves) was fired two of the rebel pieces presented to 
 the National Cemetery by the General Government being nsed 
 for the purpose. They were effectively manned by details from 
 the Zouaves. The scene at this moment was inspiring. The 
 mellow rays of the setting sun bathed the Cemetery Hill in a 
 flood of golden light. The chanting of the orphans mingled 
 with the music of the Band, broken by the occasional booming 
 of cannon, while over two thousand people, drawn together by 
 the common impulse of doing honor to the patriot dead, looked 
 on ; all returning with a truer appreciation of the debt of obli- 
 gation the nation owes to its fallen heroes. 
 
 In the evening some interesting exercises took place in the 
 school-room of the Orphans' Homestead, opening with prayer 
 by Professor Stoever, and followed with vocal music by the 
 children, under the lead of Lieutenant Norton, and the reading
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 327 
 
 of an original poem by Miss Latimer, commemorative of the 
 sacrifices made in behalf of the. Republic by its fallen soldiers. 
 
 AT COKRY, PENN. 
 
 On Thursday, June 25th, according to appointment, Post 70, 
 G. A. R., of this city, accompanied by a large number of citi- 
 zens, performed the appropriate ceremony of strewing the 
 graves of the fallen brave in our cemeteries and those at Colum- 
 bus. The procession formed at 2 o'clock at the headquarters of 
 the Post, on the corner of Centre and Washington streets, and, 
 preceded by the Corry Brass and Martial Bands, and followed 
 by nearly forty carriages, proceeded to the cemetery. Previous 
 thereto, however, a squad visited the Catholic Cemetery to 
 decorate the grave of a soldier who lies there, it being the re- 
 quest of Father Lonergan that no formal ceremonies be had. 
 AVhen the procession arrived at Pine Grove Cemetery, the fol- 
 lowing exercises were had : 1st. Reading the General Order of 
 General Logan, by Rev. Mr. Leslie. 2d. A very feeling, elo- 
 quent, and appropriate prayer by Rev. J. T. Protheroe. 3d. 
 Song by the ladies. 4th. Strewing the flowers. Then the band 
 struck up a patriotic air, and the procession re-formed and rode 
 out to Columbus. Arriving at the church in that place, a large 
 concourse of people, including the Sunday-school children of 
 the place, were in waiting. Toeee joined in the procession, and 
 all marched to the East cemetery. There the exercises were 
 opened by the reading of the General Order by Post Com- 
 mander Buss, followed by an excellent prayer by Rev. L. L. 
 Spencer, and a song by the ladies of Columbus. Two graves 
 were there decorated. The procession then proceeded to the 
 West cemetery, strewing there the graves of three fallen braves. 
 
 C. S. Wilson, Esq., then delivered a short address, the bene- 
 diction was pronounced by Rev. J. S. Lytle, of Corry, and the 
 exercises of the day were concluded. 
 
 ADDBES8 OF 0. 8. WILSON. 
 
 CITIZENS AND SOLDIERS : No civilized nation ever forgot its 
 soldiers. By order of Gen. Logan, Commander-in-chief, May 
 30th is the day set apart to strew with flowers, or .otherwise dec- 
 orate, IfJie graves of deceased soldier's. This is the 30th day of 
 May continued. The ceremony is to strengthen and preserve 
 those kind and fraternal feelings that have bound together the 
 soldiers, sailors and marines, who fought shoulder to shoulde* 
 to suppress the rebellion. In the spirit of your order, soldi en
 
 328 MEMORIAL CEEEMONIES 
 
 cherish tenderly the memory of your dead comrades. Guard 
 their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the wealth and 
 taste of a nation can do for their adornment and security, is but 
 a fit tribute to their memory. Truly, let no rude foot tread on 
 this hallowed ground. Let none but reverent visitors and fond 
 mourners come here. Let no neglect no ravages of time, tes- 
 tify to present or coming generations, that you have forgotten 
 the honored dead. And if other hearts grow cold, and other 
 hands slack, you will observe the ceremony as long as the light 
 and warmth of life remain. On the 30th day of May, of each 
 successive year, you will gather round the passionless mounds, 
 and strew o'er them the choicest flowers of spring, aud raise 
 above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor. It is 
 truly to be hoped that this ceremony will be kept up as long as 
 a survivor of the war shall remain, to honor, the memory of his 
 departed comrade. If the Athenians could wreath the monu- 
 ments of their dead warriors with flowers, and dream of an 
 eternal Elysium for them, purchased by self-sacrificing bravery, 
 you will not forget our dead warriors, for a devotion to country 
 as honorable and self-sacrificing as any the ample page of his- 
 tory records. 
 
 This is another National Anniversary, and justly so, for 
 there is not a hamlet in a Northern state, but gave a soldier 
 no village however small, but has within its churchyard the 
 bones of some patriot, who came home battle-scarred and weary, 
 to rest from labors well accomplished no family but misses one 
 familiar face. Our citizens, all over our land, are joined to the 
 dead by that affeetio'n which death cannot unloose. They will 
 gather here every year with you, and strew flowers upon the 
 graves of the noblest of our race. No honor is too great, that 
 a loyal and grateful people can do in memory of those who per- 
 ished for principles that all are obligated to preserve. Let the 
 people adorn their resting places, and feel in the presence of 
 these little mounds, that they tread on holy ground. It is to be 
 hoped that this National Anniversary, like the observance of the 
 Fourth of July, will be kept up from year to year. What 
 though there are no noisy demonstrations no ringing of bells 
 booming of cannon, and other accompaniments of a Fourth 
 of July celebration, it will" reach an under-current of feeling, 
 and vibrate a 'chord, that will chain the patriotic heart to its 
 country more firmly than all other ceremonies combined. 'Tis 
 here our hearts are touched by the better angels of our nature. 
 Here sleep the honored dead. " The breeze fans their verdant 
 covering, the sunshine and the storm pass over them," yet no 
 sound proceeds from them, save this : " Protect that flag."
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 329 
 
 Around the patriot's grave each year will stand the father who 
 remembers his manly boy the mother her darling son broth- 
 ers and sisters will be here who will be reminded of the fami- 
 ly's brave favorite and last, though not least, in this annual 
 pilgrimage, will be the widow and orphans of the deceased. 
 Can any man show how well he loves his God, (be he soldier or 
 citizen,) better than in finding clothing and caring for these wor- 
 thy objects of a nation's protecting care. The departed heroes 
 have done as they could to family, kindred and country. By 
 what they have done and sacrificed, we still live in the land of 
 the free, and the home of the brave. Citizens, you promised the 
 soldier at his enlistment, that you would care for and protect his 
 family; don't forget their poverty and want. The surviving 
 soldier has done enough for you and me, if he should not alone 
 and unaided, look after the interests of these objects of charity. 
 You may well from your abundance afford to look after them, 
 if the soldier could afford to offer up his life upon the altar of his 
 country. Yet having done so much, let it be recorded to the 
 immortal honor of the living hero with his armless sleeve, that 
 he is doing more for them to-day than you are. Citizens, I am 
 only reminding you of your duty to these objects of a nation's 
 benefaction. Soldiers, I learn from the orders you have read to- 
 day, that you are pledged to care for the widows and orphans 
 of the soldiers, sailors and marines, whom war has left among 
 us, in your several posts of the G. A. H. This is more than your 
 duty. You did your duty upon the field. You rushed to arms 
 at \c.\\r country's call. You served your time in one of the 
 mo>t sanguinary struggles of the centuries. During that strug- 
 gle there were moments when the fate of this nation hung upon 
 your unflinching and heroic bravery. Amid iron rain and lead- 
 en hail, you pressed on, yielding to no check. Shattered column 
 after column was closed up and pressed on, only to be mown 
 down in the cumulative harvest of death. You know what 
 sieges and hotly contested battle-fields mean. Aye, and too 
 many of you know what Andersonville and Libby mean, where 
 mind, spirit and soul were systematically starved out of living 
 men, so that reason was dethroned, and the victim was neither 
 alive nor dead not an animal, nor yet a human being ; and 
 from the contemplation of these living skeletons with the va- 
 cant and idiotic stare of a starved soul, civilized warfare, aye, 
 and savage, turns with loathing indignation and disgust. 
 
 The country owes you more than it can ever pay, for stand- 
 ing by it during its gloomiest hours of trial. From all over this 
 land you went forth, leaving happy homes and loving families, 
 and all to save the Republic, that liberty should not perish from
 
 330 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 the earth. Yes, young and old went. Some in the earlier 
 years of youth, and some in the maturer years of manhood, hy 
 thousands and hundreds of thousands. The whole land is tilled 
 with graves, that tell us with expressive silence, the sacrifices 
 patriotism has made. You represent their survivors. May 1 
 say that you have gained a glorious immortality ? If there be a 
 patriotic department in the kingdom (and I think there is), and 
 if the books have been rightly kept, on presenting an honorable 
 discharge, you must be admitted to a seat. 
 
 What may I say of the honored dead ? There can now no 
 longer be a doubt of immortality. Their deeds, their worthy 
 deeds alone, have rendered them immortal ; though dead they 
 live. In this world " no man liveth for himself alone some die 
 that others may live. The citizens at best are but for a day, but 
 the country is for all time." The aged man plants the shade- 
 tree, not for himself, but his children and children's children, 
 who may come after him. The dead warrior watered with his 
 blood, the tree of our liberty, not for himself, but for others, who 
 now pluck its fruit. May I say they are in the patriot's heaven, 
 keeping step to the martial music of the spheres ? As Lincoln 
 said, let us say : " That we here highly resolve that these dead 
 shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall 
 have a new birth of freedom ; that Government of the people, 
 by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the 
 earth." 
 
 AT SCHTTYLKILL HAVEN, PENT*. 
 
 The ceremony of decorating soldiers' graves was observed in 
 Schuylkill Haven by Post 26, G. A. R., in the following man- 
 ner: In obedience to previous notice, the members of Post 26, 
 preceded by the Brass Band, marched to the house of Mr. Wm. 
 H. Levan, where they were joined by a committee of fifteen 
 ladies, representing the various churches in said Borough. The 
 citizens turned out en masse and joined in procession. The 
 stores and other places of business were closed during the 
 solemn display. The whole procession then moved to the Epis- 
 copal Cemetery, thence to the Large Cemetery. On arriving at 
 the latter, the assemblage listened attentively to appropriate 
 addresses delivered by Rev. Mr. Yeiser, Dougherty, Kline, and 
 Beckley, after which a dirge, composed expressly for the occa- 
 sion by Miss C. G. Robinson, was sung. The work of beautify- 
 ing the graves was then commenced. Each grave was visited 
 in succession, and an abundance of flowers was strewn over each 
 of the nineteen graves.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 331 
 
 AT ST. CLAIE, PKX.V. 
 
 Extensive preparations had been in progress for several days 
 by a detail from Post 47, G. A. R., in order to make every pos- 
 sible solemnity for the occasion, and too much credit cannot be 
 given to the detail for their energy and labor. Some time pre- 
 vious to the appointed hour, our town had the appearance of an 
 old style of holiday, and at the time for the procession to move 
 all was in a blaze of enthusiasm, the Post numbering about one 
 hundred members, with the St. Clair Cornet Band, which dis- 
 coursed some excellent music. The column moved off with 
 Junior Sons of America ; Good Templars, and Cadets of Tem- 
 perance, all under command of Post Commander H. B. Ses- 
 inger, down Main street to Odd Fellows' Cemetery ; bells ring- 
 ing, minute-guns tiring, and all business places closed. Upon 
 arrival at the Cemetery, the Baud struck up a beautiful dirge, 
 when the column assumed the step of the dead march to the 
 sacred ground, where lay some of our fallen heroes. After being 
 drawn up in line, the Rev. Mr. Burrows offered up an appro- 
 priate prayer, and a beautiful ode was sung by some comrades. 
 Parade was dismissed for a few moments for the purpose of 
 strewing the graves with flowers and other decorations. Assem- 
 bly being sounded, line was again formed and marched back to 
 Main street, where a large delegation of ladies, gentlemen, and 
 children of various orders from Wadesville was received; posi- 
 tion being assigned them, .line was marched to the German and 
 Irish Cemeteries, and Welsh and Borough Cemeteries, where the 
 closing ceremonies took place, with prayer by comrade Rev. 
 Mr. Ashton. Line was again formed and marched through our 
 principal streets ; our citizens were much pleased at the very 
 satisfactory manner in which all the ceremonies were performed, 
 and feel as if under any circumstances our borough has -the 
 material for demonstrations equal to any of our sister towns. 
 At the cemeteries many tear-bedimmed eyes and flushed cheeks 
 spoke more eloquently than words, of the feelings that were 
 at work within the hearts of all. The day passed off without 
 the slightest mar or interruption, and after all had dispersed to 
 their quiet homes an invocation of God's goodness appeared to 
 give the ceremonies an endorsement from Him, and the 
 " Heavens were moved to tears." Comrade Rev. Mr. Ashton de- 
 livered an impressive sermon to the Post on Sunday evening, 
 with many good and patriotic points in his arguments. 
 
 AT POTTSTOWN, PENN. 
 The ceremonies were performed under the auspices of Potts-
 
 332 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 town Post, No. 106. At six o'clock p. M., the members of the 
 Post, and other soldiers of the late war, assembled on Hanover 
 street, near High, where an organization was effected. A de- 
 tachment marched to Keystone Hall, procured the flower- 
 wreaths kindly contributed by our patriotic ladies, and then 
 resumed position on Hanover street, where they were joined by 
 Stanley's Union Cornet Band, and, soon after, by Guldin's 
 Cornet Band. At half-past six o'clock, sharp, the procession 
 moved to the Old Brick Church, and the six soldiers' graves in 
 the churchyard were appropriately decorated. The line of march 
 was resumed for Pottstown Cemetery, where twenty of our 
 fallen braves are interred. A banner, bearing the inscription, 
 " In memory of our absent dead," surrounded by evergreens 
 and flowers, was placed near the western gate. As each sol- 
 dier's grave was visited, the soldiers in line, filing right and left, 
 surrounded the burial plot ; a miniature national flag, on which 
 was engrossed the name and regiment of the deceased, was 
 planted at the head of the tomb, over which was placed a wreath 
 of flowers. During this ceremony, which was observed at all 
 the graves the late comrades of the patriot dead stood uncov- 
 ered, the flag was drooped over the grass-mantled mound, and 
 the band played a mournful dirge. 
 
 During the ceremonies the stores and other business estab- 
 lishments in the borough were closed, and the church bells 
 were tolled. 
 
 The following is a complete list of the deceased soldiers, who 
 served in the Union army during the rebellion, buried in this 
 locality, and whose graves were visited on the occasion above 
 noted. The date given is the time of burial : 
 
 Henry Gilbert, 53d Pa. Vols., Sept. 1861 ; Edwin L. Eoy- 
 er, 53d P. V., Nov. 19, 1861 ; Samuel Eeifsnyder, 53d P. Y., 
 Dec. 1, 1861; Paul Frick, 53d P. V., July 12, 1862; Jacob 
 Nagle, 53d P. V., July 15, 1862 ; William Malsberger, 53d 
 P. V., Dec. 12, 1862; Edward Kocher, 68th P. V., March 23, 
 1863 ; Jacob Schoenly, 53d P. V., April 12, 1863 ; John Lan- 
 dis, 68th P. V., May 29, 1863; Frank W. Yocum, 6th P. Cav., 
 June 30, 1863 ; John Haas, 175th P. Y., July 17, 1863 ; Jerome 
 Byar, 26th P. M., Aug. 24, 1863; John E. Levengood, Feb. 10, 
 1864 ; Thomas Dearolf, 68th P. V., July 20, 1864 ; George 
 W. Schwenk, Oct. 23, 1864; Geo. W. Holt, 53d P. Y., Nov. 
 21, 1864 ; Geo. W. Bechtel, 53d P. Y., Feb. 4, 1865 ; Thomas 
 M. Mauger, 68th P. Y. ; Edward K. Weand, 53d P. Y., April 
 12, 1865; John B. Mauger, May 12, 1865; Henry Fryer, 53d 
 P. Y., July 15, 1865 ; John Henry Fryer, 53d P. Y., 'Jan. 20, 
 1866 ; Charles Trayer, Sept. 9, 1866 ; Mathias Fox, Sept. 14,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 333 
 
 1866; Abram Weidner, Marine, Jan. 8,1867; John H. Eoot, 
 53d P. Y., April 12, 1868 ; Albert G. Davis, 15th P. Cav., 
 May 27, 1868. 
 
 AT WAYNESBURG, PENN. 
 
 Prompted by the sacred feelings of affection, springing 
 from personal friendship, patriotism and gratitude combined, 
 and laying aside all differences of political opinion, the surviv- 
 ing soldiers of the war, the ladies and citizens of this town and 
 vicinage, united in this labor of love. Having assembled at 
 the Court House, at 2 o'clock, p. M., each one bringing his or 
 her offering of flowers, tastefully formed into bouquets, wreaths, 
 crosses, hearts, shields, &c., the procession was formed bv the 
 Marshals, J. Jackson Purman, Robert Adams and William 
 Hays, as follows: National Brass Band ; Chaplain and Speaker; 
 Soldiers preceded by color-bearer, Joseph Cooke, with flag at 
 half-mast ; Citizens preceded by ladies with flowers. 
 
 On arriving at Green Mountain Cemetery the following 
 exercises were nad : Dirge by Brass Band ; Prayer by Rev. C. 
 A. Hampton ; Yocal Music ; Address by Rev A. D. Hall ; Dec- 
 orating of graves which was performed by the procession 
 moving in regular order, from grave to grave, and strewing them 
 with bouquets as they passed. 
 
 Ceremonies being over at the cemetery, the procession again 
 took up its line of march, first proceeding to Hookstown, and 
 thence to Morrisville, and at the graveyards of each, substan- 
 tially the same ceremonies were performed ; the procession then 
 returning to Waynesburg, and dispersing to their homes. 
 
 AT NEW BUFFALO, PA. 
 
 The members of Post No. 66, together with invited com- 
 rades not members, uniformed, armed, and equipped, under the 
 command of Comrade E. D. Wells, aide-de-camp for the dis- 
 trict, proceeded to the burying-ground, about three quarters of 
 a mile from town, where were interred the remains of the 
 deceased soldiers. On arriving at the burying-ground, they 
 marched through it, saluting in turn the grave of each comrade ; 
 after which, they stacked arms, and decorated the graves with 
 wreuths and strewed them with flowers. They then retired to 
 a shady spot, and listened to an appropriate address delivered 
 by a comrade, said address being prepared by him for the occa- 
 sion. They then marched to town and encamped, and cooked 
 suppers in soldierly style and of soldiers' fare. After supper, 
 had company drill and dress parade, and then dismissed. The 
 proceedings passed off very well, and all were well pleased.
 
 334 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 AT HARRISBUKG, PENN. 
 
 All over the city, flags were displayed from public buildings 
 and dwellings, and the city assumed a holiday attire. A large 
 flag was suspended from the Capitol building at half-mast, the 
 front facing West State street being decorated with the State 
 flags of the different regiments who had carried them through 
 many a gory battle, and torn and riddled by shot and shell. 
 The Hope Engine house was decorated with American flags. 
 Their large flag was hung at half-mast ; and upon the cupola 
 large flags, bearing the motto, " We Mourn the Martyred of our 
 Holy Cause," were displayed. Over the door was placed the 
 inscription, " We Mourn ; " and in the centre of the front, " A 
 Nation Mourns," with flags surrounding. Messrs. Gardner and 
 Sayford had a motto placed over their door, " Rest in Peace ; " 
 and in East State street, and all over the city, the display of 
 banting and appropriate mottoes was both noticeable and nu- 
 merous. Everywhere was the emblem of our nation's honor 
 flung to the breeze. 
 
 At half-past 1 o'clock the procession started from the Capi- 
 tol building, and proceeded out East State street to the Harris- 
 burg Cemetery, in the following order : Band ; Members of 
 the Grand Army of the Republic ; Soldiers, Sailors, and Ma- 
 rines ; Resident and Visiting Clergymen ; Schools ; Associa- 
 tions ; Citizens. On the arrival of the procession at the Hams- 
 burg Cemetery, an eloquent prayer was offered by Rev. C. I. 
 Thompson. The following hymn, which was written by Mr. 
 Jno. S. Boyle, Clerk in the Auditor-General's ffice, and which 
 was an entirely impromptu affair, having only been suggested to 
 him the evening before, was sung by the assemblage. 
 
 Tune" Pleyel's Hymn." 
 Sftand we now with drooping head 
 Where repose our martyr' d dead ; 
 And with mournful voice we raise 
 Funeral paeans to their praise. 
 
 That our glorious land should be 
 Dedicated to Liberty, 
 Offered they their precious lives 
 As a ransoming sacrifice. 
 
 Grant them, Lord, eternal rest 
 On thy gracious, loving breast ; 
 May their memories ever shine 
 With a lustre all divine. 
 Looking from the teeming sod 
 Prayerful up to our God, 
 O'er their graves with loving care 
 Strew we flowers sweet and rare.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 335 
 
 The friends and comrades of the deceased then proceeded to 
 strew flowers and decorate the graves, the band meanwhile dis- 
 coursing a solemn dirge. At the conclusion of these exercises, 
 the assemblage was again called together, and proceeded to the 
 centre of the grounds, where addresses full of eloquence and 
 patriotism were delivered by Rev. Dr. Fisher, of Utica, N. Y., 
 Kev. Mr. McCorkle, of Detroit, Mich., Rev. Dr. Duryea, of 
 Brooklyn, N. Y., and Hon. Wm. E. Dodge, of New York. ^ At 
 the conclusion of the orations the whole assembly united in sing- 
 ing, " My Country, 'tis of thee," &c., the band accompanying 
 with music. The Benediction was pronounced by Rev. Mr. 
 Boing, of Tennessee, when the procession moved to the Ca'tho- 
 lic Cemetry, where the ceremony of strewing flowers over the 
 grave was again gone through with, according to the pro- 
 
 gramme, the services being conducted by Father Maher, in the 
 atholic faith. The assemblage then returned to the city, hav- 
 ing shown their reverence and affection, and honored the dead 
 whose memory is inscribed high on the roll of fame. 
 
 The patriot sleeps in the land of his choice, 
 
 In the robe of a martyr all gory, 
 And heeds not the tones of the world-waking voice, 
 
 That covers his ashes with glory. 
 What recks he of riches, what cares he for fame, 
 
 Or a world decked in grandeur and beauty ; 
 If the marble shall speak that records his proud name, 
 
 He fell at his post doing duty. 
 
 The Delany Guards assumed the management and conduct- 
 ed the ceremonies at the colored cemeteries. They formed at 
 their hall in Tanner's Alley, and, headed by martial music, 
 and followed by an immense concourse of. colored people of 
 both sexes, proceeded, about 3 o'clock, to march out to the 
 cemeteries devoted to their use, where flowers were strewed 
 over the graves and appropriate ceremonies delivered. 
 
 AT CATTARATJGUS, PENN 
 
 The members of Post 74, Cattaraugus, responded to the call 
 of their commander-in-chief, and made the necessary prepara- 
 tions for the decoration of the soldiers' graves lying in Fair view 
 Cemetery. The Post was formed in front of their hall on Front 
 street, headed by the Bath Cornet Band, and from there pro- 
 ceeded to the front of the Hon. David Thomas' residence on 
 Second street, where the procession was formed, and joined by 
 the Chief Burgess, Hon. John Williams, and Rev. Messrs. Earle, 
 Best, and Lehr, and Miss "Wison's and Miss McKee's schools.
 
 336 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 The procession then marched to the Cemetery, where the Post 
 and schools proceeded to decorate the graves. The procession 
 then formed in front of the large Soldiers' Monument, when 
 prayer was offered by the Rev. Mr. Best, and addresses deliv- 
 ered by the Rev. Messrs. Earle and Lehr ; the Rev. Mr. Lehr 
 closing the ceremonies with prayer. The roll of the dead heroes 
 lying in the Cemetery was then called by one comrade, and re- 
 sponded to by another in giving the cause of death, &c. ; after 
 which, a salute of three rounds was fired in honor of the dead 
 heroes. The procession then returned and paraded the princi- 
 pal streets of the town , and, returning to the Hall, was dis- 
 missed. 
 
 AT NEWCASTLE, PENN. 
 
 The morning was cloudy, but without the threatening of 
 rain; the atmosphere just warm enough and just cool enough 
 to be pleasant, and the streets in excellent condition. About 
 half-past 9 o'clock a large number of ladies, all bearing fresh 
 and beautiful Spring flowers, assembled on the public square, 
 and were formed in order for procession. At 10 o'clock every 
 business house, including all the banks and offices, was closed ; 
 and, except for the large crowds on the streets, the town wore 
 the appearance of Sabbath. Precisely at 10 o'clock, the Grand 
 Army left their hall, headed by the excellent Silver Cornet 
 Band, and marched down Washington street, the band playing 
 the Dead March in the most perfect style. On arriving at the 
 square, the Grand Army was halted, while the band marched 
 on till a gap was made between them sufficiently large to admit 
 the long procession of ladies who were in waiting to join the 
 procession. Everything moved in the most perfect order, and 
 with a silence and solemnity at once appropriate to the occasion, 
 and impressive. Even the word of command was given in a 
 subdued tone, and the very boys, usually so full of life and 
 romping, seemed to catch the spirit of the occasion, and were as 
 orderly as they could have been if they were acting as pall- 
 bearers to one of their dearest playmates. It was a beautiful 
 sight, that long line of the fair and lovely of the land, followed 
 by stalwart men who had braved death in its most sudden 
 form many of whom bore upon their persons the marks of 
 sanguinary conflict now marching with reverently bowed heads 
 to the solemn music for the dead, each loaded with wreaths and 
 garlands with which to adorn the last resting-place of their 
 Fallen comrades. After crossing the bridge, the martial band 
 took up the solemn strain, and the immense throng kept time to 
 the muffled drums till the gate of the cemetery was reached,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 337 
 
 when the cornet band performed one of the most beautiful 
 dirges we have ever listened to. On arriving at a spot where 
 many of the soldier dead of the cemetery sleep, a large hollow 
 square was formed round the graves, when the Grand Army 
 stood at rest with uncovered heads, and W. T. Dougherty, the 
 Post Commander, stepped forward and invited the relatives of 
 the deceased soldiers buried in the cemetery inside the square. 
 Then ensued a scene beyond the power of pen or pencil to por- 
 tray. While a sweet, sad requiem seemed just breathed from 
 the brass throats of the instruments, women bent with the 
 weight of years, women in the bloom of life, maidens just bud- 
 ding into womanhood, and those of tenderer years, took their 
 places beside the last resting-place of their loved and lost. He 
 who looked upon that scene, with all its surroundings, and felt 
 no moisture on his cheek, should never boast of his manhood. 
 Mr. Dougherty then read the General Order under which this 
 ceremony was observed, accompanying it with a beautiful little 
 speech of words well chosen, in regard to the fitness of paying 
 this tribute of respect to their departed comrades. Rev. \^. T. 
 Wylie was then called on, and offered an eloquent prayer. 
 Then commenced the calling of the roll of Lawrence County's 
 dead, whose lives were sacrificed that their country might live. 
 As each name was called, the response came from one of the 
 survivors of his company, telling how he met his death ; as for 
 instance : Captain vangorder ! " Died of wounds received at 
 second Bull Run." And so on till near four hundred names 
 were called, and still the list was not complete. Another re- 
 quiem was played by the band, and Colonel Leasure, the orator 
 of the day, was introduced. Colonel Leasure made a beautiful 
 and appropriate speech of about ten minutes' duration, and 
 then the Grand Army separated into four platoons, and, assist- 
 ed by the ladies, proceeded to strew with tne beautiful flowers 
 they bore the graves of their comrades. One of the most beau- 
 tiful incidents occurred at this time. The heavens had been 
 covered with a thick veil all the morning ; but just at the mo- 
 ment the strewing of flowers commenced, the sun burst through 
 the clouds and shone with unusual brilliancy upon the scene. 
 The feathered songsters in the trees, whose presence had hereto- 
 fore been unknown, struck their liveliest notes, in beautiful con- 
 trast with the solemn dirge so well performed on the instru- 
 ments, as though all nature was in sympathy with the ceremony. 
 Wherever the grave of a soldier was known, it was visited, and 
 the fairest flowers of Spring-time strewn over it. Nor were 
 those forgotten who, by the vicissitudes of war, were denied 
 burial among their kindred. A beautiful mound has been erect- 
 22
 
 338 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 ed " to those not buried here." In the centre was planted the 
 Stars and Stripes, and upon this mound was reverently laid 
 beautiful wreaths, composed of evergreens and choicest flowers. 
 Every one engaged in the delightful task had a flower for those 
 who went away and came not back. The concluding prayer 
 was offered by Rev. Mr. Cowden, and the procession returned, 
 all certainly feeling better because they had been there. 
 
 OBATION BY GENERAL LEA SURE. 
 
 COMRADES AND FELLOW-CITIZENS : Which one of us, having 
 just heard the roll-call of the dead, would dare to detract from 
 the holy awe of this occasion by attempting to make a display 
 of himself in a set oration ? No human tongue, no mortal lips, 
 can add to the solemn eloquence of the voices from the graves 
 of our martyred comrades. The Roman patriots believed that 
 it was " a sweet and glorious privilege to die for one's country." 
 
 My friends and comrades ! millions of men have died for 
 their country ; have died for a preservation of a dynasty, or for 
 the perpetuation of the divine right of kings in a particular 
 and long descended royal line, and their lives were yielded up 
 ungrudgingly, and right loyally ; and, no doubt, to them it was 
 
 "Dulce et decorum pro patria mori," 
 
 inasmuch as king was to them instead of country. But, to die 
 for a great cause, as did these our fellow soldiers, now lying so 
 peacefully under our feet ; to die for a cause that enfranchised 
 a race that counts its millions slowly toiling from the depths of 
 the barbaric ages for a cause that speeds onward the progress 
 of civilization many centuries a cause that underlies the rights 
 of God-bom humanity over the whole earth the cause of indi- 
 vidual right, regardless of birth, caste, color or sex in short, 
 the cause of " the dear God who made and loveth us," as mani- 
 fest in the flesh, to die in such a cause as this is indeed to place 
 one's name on the roll of the " Immortals." 
 
 A portion of that roll has just been called in our audience, 
 and we have heard Fame respond, telling how and where they 
 fell and where they lie. It is for us, my fellow-citizens and 
 comrades, to remember why they fell, and guard against the 
 possibility of the exceeding great and precious sacrifice of their 
 dear sweet lives being lost or frittered away among the mush- 
 room statesmen of the hour, who assume to form plans and pol- 
 icies to settle over again that which we and these our dead com- 
 rades settled finally and forever in the dread arbitrament of 
 battle. We did not go forth as partisans of this or that man or
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 339 
 
 party. "We liad no party cry ; but, merging all former parti- 
 sanship in the one great cause of loyalty to the Constitution, 
 and the legitimate Government, we counted all things but dross, 
 we might win in the tight against the combined powers of ty- 
 ranny and barbarism, as arrayed against the interests of civil- 
 ization and humanity. The battle was not confined to our own 
 country. It wag " the conflict of the ages," on a broader thea- 
 tre than ever fought before : the struggle of the individual man 
 to reach his proper level as man, unfettered by kingcraft or 
 priest-craft, to stand before the universal Father, accountable 
 only to Him, as represented by the aggregate of his fellow men, 
 made in the image of God. 
 
 In the angust presence of these mounds that gently swell over 
 the bosoms of our gallant comrades, we can indulge in no light 
 fancies, nor flippant illusions. We :-an only remember how true 
 and devoted these men were, who are but the representatives of 
 three hundred thousand, in forsaking home and all the holy in- 
 fluences that hallow the altar upon the hearth-stone, and re- 
 member the duties they have bequeathed to us. 
 
 They have bequeathed to us the duty of standing up for that 
 fo1* which they fell / and amidst the clamor of faction and the 
 insane demands of party, oh, my blood brothers ! let us stand 
 for the integrity of the organic law of the land, and the purity 
 of its administration, even as we stood shoulder to shoulder 
 amidst the clouds and dust of battle, when we mingled our 
 blood with that of these our slain comrades. 
 
 Many of you, my blood brothers ! have lain, even as I have, 
 beside those of our now dead comrades, in the field hospital, 
 awaiting in our turn the cruel kindness of the surgeon, and we 
 have seen their lives slowly ooze away mingling the crimson 
 current with our own in tiny rivulets, to fatten the soil of ail 
 inhospitable country ; and we have seen their eyes slowly glaze 
 with the films of death, and have received their last words of 
 loving endearment for the dear distant ones, to be seen no more 
 on earth ; and through this bloody baptism we have been born 
 again into the birthright of an American citizen. Let us not 
 sell it for a miserable mess of pottage. 
 
 Amidst all the clamor of party, and the solicitations of self- 
 seekers, let us distinguish the true from the false, and stand 
 firmly in peace by those who stood firmly with us when to stand 
 required the strength of a man panoplied by the armor of the 
 right! 
 
 To those of our friends present who are not comrades in the 
 Grand Army of the Republic, I have a word of explanation : 
 It is charged that we are a " political organization." If to sup-
 
 340 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 port the soldier's widow, to cherish his orphan children, to stand 
 by another soldier, socially, morally and politically, constitutes 
 a political organization, then we are a political organization ; 
 but I assure you, my friends, that we know no party in politics 
 that departs from the landmarks of the Constitution and the 
 laws of the land, no matter by what name it may be known. 
 
 It may seem strange that the observances of the day are 
 under the supervision of a secret organization. What would 
 yon have ? Here, and all over the country, lie the remains of 
 our fallen comrades. Shall they lie in forgetfulness and k ' in cold 
 obstruction rot ?" For reasons best known to politicians, the 
 powers that be, ignore the patriot slain ; and it remained for 
 Major-General John A. Logan, Grand Commander of the Army 
 of the Republic, to issue an order that the numerous Posts of 
 the Army decorate the graves of our dead comrades, all over 
 the land, with wreaths and flowers, on this day. I am thankful 
 that somebody has given authority to the pent-up feelings of 
 patriotic hearts, to meet by common consent at the yet fresh 
 graves of our ^one before brothers ; to offer up the tribute of 
 pure and suffering hearts on our common altar of love and loy- 
 alty ; and, therefore, for myself and comrades, and brother sol- 
 diers, I thank the Grand Commander, Major-General John A. 
 Logan, for his order setting apart this day to garland the graves 
 of the immortals. 
 
 These few graves are but the representatives of many others 
 scattered all over the country, in every State and Territory ; 
 and. while we strew flowers over these graves, in our heart of 
 hearts we garland all the graves of the undistinguishable but 
 not unhonored dead that lie on the waysides of our old marches, 
 on the lonely picket post, on the mountain path, by sluggish 
 Southern fever-smitten rivers, on the hotly contested and aban- 
 doned skirmish line, and on the neutral ground between the 
 hostile and menacing lines of the opposing hosts, in the gemmed 
 and coralled caverns of the deep blue sea, everywhere where- 
 ever lies one loved and " missing in battle," or starved in Rebel 
 prisons in our hearts, this day, over the length of the land, 
 we garland with the laurel all last resting-places of the noble 
 dead. 
 
 AT EKIE, PENN. 
 
 Sunday afternoon was one of the cheeriest and brightest of 
 June, and in the shade of the trees of the cemetery, made cool 
 and pleasant by the breeze from the lake, from three to five 
 thousand of our citizens were collected to witness the ceremonies
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 341 
 
 connected with strewing with flowers the graves of the soldier 
 dead of Erie. 
 
 On the day before all preparation had been made. The 
 ladies contributed the flowers, and made the bouquets and 
 wreaths, and the members of the Post of the Grand Army of 
 the Republic prepared the platform for the use of the speaker, 
 the band and the choir. This was at the southern part of the 
 grounds, in the shade of the large trees on the hill-side. Sev- 
 eral flags adorned the stand, among which was the battle-marked 
 standard of the heroic Eighty-third Regiment. The soldiers' 
 graves were designated by a small flag on each, and the plan 
 of route for decorating parties to follow determined on. As 
 the time approached, the members of the G. A. R. were formed 
 in line in front of the stand, and large numbers of spectators 
 gathered around, many of whom were relatives of tne dead. 
 At the appointed hour, the ceremonies were introduced by 
 Mehl's brass band playing several national airs. Then followed 
 the singing by a choir of two ladies and two gentlemen, Mrs. 
 General Walker, Miss Lizzie Hunter, Mr. Brewster and Mr. 
 Little, of the song, " Where Dwell the Dead I" 
 
 Where do they dwell ? 
 'Neath grassy mounds by daisies, 
 Lilies and yellow-cups of purest gold ; 
 
 Near gray-grown walls, 
 Where in wild summer noons, 
 
 Fresh leaves are rustling ; 
 Where, 'neath large autumn moons 
 
 Young birds are nestling 
 Do they dwell there ? 
 Do they dwell there ? 
 
 Where do they dwell ? 
 In sullen waters lying 
 
 On beds of purple sea-flowers newly sprung, 
 Where the mad whirlpools wind and ceaseless sighing 
 Frets sloping banks, by dark green weeds o'erhung : 
 Where, by the torrent's swell, 
 
 Crystal stones glitter, 
 While sounds the heavy bell 
 Over the river. 
 
 Do they dwell there ? 
 Do they dwell there ? 
 
 No : for in these they slumber to decay, 
 And their remembrance with their life departs ; 
 They have a home not dark nor far away, 
 Their proper home within our faithful hearts t 
 Their happy spirits wed, 
 Loving forever ! 
 
 There dwell with us the dead, 
 Parting ah, never !
 
 342 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Where do they dwell ? 
 *N"eath grassy mounds, by daisies, 
 Lilies and yellow-cups of fairest gold; 
 
 Near gray-grown walls, 
 Where, in wild, tortuous mazes, 
 
 Old clustering ivy wreathes in many a fold; 
 Where, in red summer noons. 
 
 Fresh leaves are nestling 
 Where, 'neath large autumn moons, 
 
 Young birds are nestling 
 Do they dwell there ? 
 Do they dwell there ? 
 
 The Pastor of Park Church, Rev. G. F. Cain, offered up a 
 fervent prayer. Mehl's band followed with a dirge. The choir 
 then sang the hymn beginning, 
 
 " O, for the death of those 
 Who slumber in the Lord," 
 
 at the conclusion of which Colonel Curtis delivered the follow- 
 ing address : 
 
 ADDKESS OF COLONEL CUKTIS. 
 
 FELLOW-COMRADES : We, the survivors of the late civil war, 
 accompanied with many sympathizing friends, have taken occa- 
 sion to visit the sepulchres of our fellow-comrades of that gigan- 
 tic and sanguinary struggle for our national life, and to strew 
 their graves with wreaths and flowers, as an appropriate testi- 
 monial of our tender affection and mournful recollection. We 
 wish also to manifest by this floral tribute our own and our 
 country's appreciation of their self-sacrificing patriotism and de- 
 votion to country, for which, when assailed, our comrades freely 
 laid down their lives. We have the fullest confidence that the 
 Government will gratefully remember their meritorious service, 
 and tenderly care for the widows and orphan children which 
 they have left to mourn their loss. 
 
 PI istory records an Athenian custom, which was to wreath 
 with flowers the monuments of those who had fallen in battle. 
 Their fertile imaginations also provided an Elysium which was 
 especially set apart for the eternal rest of those who had sacri- 
 ficed themselves in their country's defence. There it was sup- 
 posed or imagined that crystal streams from pure fountains 
 always flowed, and that the sweetest flowers constantly bloomed. 
 Such were the honors bestowed by a highly cultivated and 
 patriotic people upon their brave defenders. The American 
 nation has never yet, nor will it ever fail to bestow the highest 
 honors upon their country's defenders. The memory of the
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 343 
 
 patriots who fell in our revolutionary struggle for our indepen- 
 dence, are as fresh in the memory of the nation as it was when 
 our independence was achieved ; so it will be with those who 
 sacrificed their lives to maintain in its integrity the Government 
 which our fathers established at the expense of so much blood, 
 treasure, and suffering. While w r e are moved and grieved with 
 the sad thoughts of the events this wicked and causeless rebel- 
 lion forced upon us; when we remember the perils and dangers 
 which seemed to overhang our beloved country remember the 
 conflict a long time wagecl with doubtful success ; when we re- 
 flect that all these dangers were dispelled ; that the Union army 
 were finally triumphant ; that our country, with its free institu- 
 tions, and the blessings which flow from them, were preserved ; 
 we cannot but feel that our comrades, whose loss we mourn, 
 have not fallen in vain. Human life is not altogether measured 
 by the number of years to which it may be prolonged, but that 
 life is the most valuable and the longest which best subserves 
 life's great ends. " Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy coun- 
 try's thy God's and Truth's," is a wise saying, and worthy of 
 all commendatiou. What end can mortal man attain more 
 glorious than yielding himself up for the salvation of his coun- 
 try ? Our comrades whose graves we have met here to-day to 
 decorate, lived long enough to furnish a glorious example for 
 the imitation of future generations. The pages of history no- 
 Vhere record the struggle of any people for their nationality 
 more heroic and sanguinary than our own. Throughout that 
 terrible conflict the fate of our country hung suspended upon 
 the unflinching bravery and persistency of our gallant army 
 and navy. Our shattered columns were constantly advanced 
 amid the iron tempest howling around them, many times only 
 to be gathered in a plentiful harvest of death. Still their deci- 
 mated ranks, with the greatest alacrity, were immediately filled, 
 and our columns moved on prepared and willing to meet any 
 danger, or incur any sacrifice, however great. The country 
 looked upon the great struggle with the most intense anxiety, 
 always hopefully, but many times trembling for the final result. 
 At last the nation was gladdened by the joyful intelligence that 
 the Union was triumphant, and that the great rebellion waa' 
 crushed forever. At a frightful cost as the ridged graves of our 
 fallen comrades scattered throughout every State will testify 
 the Union of these States has been preserved ; not only pre- 
 served, but we are enabled to transmit it to our posterity, puri- 
 fied and strengthened by the fiery ordeal through which it 
 passed. We have not only maintained the unity of our country 
 with its free institutions, but we -have won the respect and admi-
 
 344 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 ration of every civilized nation throughout the globe. We pre- 
 sent the sublimest spectacle of any nation on the earth Gov- 
 ernment strong, powerful, just, and magnanimous ; desiring only 
 to scatter the blessings of its free institutions, like the dews of 
 heaven, upon the high and low, upon all conditions 'of men, 
 everywhere within its borders. Such being some of the fruits 
 which the self-sacrificing patriotism which our deceased com- 
 rades contributed to secure for their country, and for generations 
 yet unborn, can it be said that the object obtained was not worth 
 the sacrifice which has been made ? In my humble judgment, 
 no sacrifice which mortal man can possibly m'ake, would be too 
 great for the inestimable blessings which are vouchsafed to this 
 people by the preservation of this free Government. The great 
 contest is ended happily indeed and it becomes our duty now 
 to set ourselves at work and reap the fruits of our victory to 
 re-adjust and reconstruct the States lately in rebellion, so that 
 their institutions may conform to their changed circumstances 
 and harmonize with the free institutions of free States. We 
 will then become what we ought to be a homogeneous people. 
 When the angry passions which have been engendered in the 
 recent conflict shall have passed away ; when the States lately 
 in revolt shall be made to understand their own true interest, 
 and what will best promote their own happiness and welfare, 
 the people of these very States will then rejoice with us in our, 
 nationality, our common country, and the prospect of a glorious 
 destiny. That this Government has a great mission to perform, 
 and will become a model Republic, I firmly believe. That its 
 existence may be perpetual, is my earnest prayer. 
 
 The address was immediately followed by the ceremony of 
 decorating the graves. The company of members of the Grand 
 Army of the Republic, each carrying wreaths and bouquets, led 
 by the band, moved to the center of the grounds, where the 
 company was divided into sections, each section taking a differ- 
 ent course. Marching over the routes designated, a wreath was 
 placed by the commander over the flag on every grave, and each 
 comrade, as he passed, with uncovered head, dropped a portion 
 of his bouquet upon the mound. The graves in the Irish and 
 German Catholic graveyards were visited, and decorated in likfe 
 manner as those in the City Cemetery. 
 
 The following are the names of the dead, whose graves were 
 thus visited : 
 
 COMMANDER CHAPMAN'S DIVISION R. W. Scott, Robert Finn, 
 John A. Irvin, Strong Vincent, Lockwood Caughey, George 
 Griswold, Eugene Chambers, John Daugherty, R. W. Whallon, 
 Samuel Fluke, M. Van Avary, Wm. Warren, Josiah K. Good- 
 win.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 345 
 
 COMRADE WALKER'S DIVISION Thos. Hill, James M. Yager, 
 Jno. W. McLane, Washington Brown, Ira V. B. Jackson, Geo. 
 AY 7 . McDaniel, Russell Cook, Lafayette Bran, D. R. M. Brown, 
 Hamilton Miller, James Miller, John Nicholson. E. D. Hul- 
 bert, Chas. H. Brace, Marcus Lewis, Lt. Horatio Lewis, E. P. 
 Brace, Horatio B. Sprague, Austin Corbin, John Muller. Capt. 
 Wade, Harley Hillburn, William Wittich, John Sell, John 
 Englehart, David Hayberger, J. Fickinger, Chas. Dickinson, 
 Edwin Sampson, Robert Fletcher, Isaac 1. Pherrin, Charles 
 Howard, Chas. Blessing. 
 
 COMRADE CRONIN'S DIVISION 7mA Catholic Wm. Connell, 
 Thomas Turley, Thomas Fagan, John W. Duggan. German 
 Catholic August Wagner, A. Pleifer, Joseph Babo. German 
 Lutheran John E. Eisentraut, Jacob Witter, Nicholas Kessel. 
 
 At the conclusion of the decorations the different divisions 
 marched back to the stand, where the exercises were closed by 
 the choir singing the " Doxology," in which the company 
 joined. 
 
 AT CRESSONA, PENN. 
 
 At 2 o'clock, P. M., the Post left camp and proceeded to 
 Borough Cemetery. The ceremonies were opened by a prayer 
 from Rev. G. S. Broadbent. Rev. Frederick Krecker then 
 delivered an address. The graves of deceased comrades (eleven 
 in number) were then decorated with flowers by the Post. Im- 
 mediately after decorating the graves, a patriotic song was 
 sung by the ladies, the comrades joining in the chorus. Rev. 
 G. S. Broadbent then delivered an address, after which a pray- 
 er was offered by Rev. Frederick Krecker. The Post then 
 marched to camp and dismissed. 
 
 AT TREMONT, PENN. 
 
 The honorably discharged soldiers of this borough met in 
 front of Odd Fellows' building, on Saturday afternoon at half- 
 past 4 o'clock, and formed in line, and at 5 minutes after 5 
 o'clock took up the march according to the programme laid 
 down in circular. Each soldier was provided with a bouquet, 
 and all felt that they were about to perform a tribute of respect 
 that called forth their tenderest feelings their earnest devo- 
 tion the fulfilment of their vows to cherish the memory of 
 their fallen comrades. The march was taken up Centre to Oak, 
 to Laurel, to Union, to Centre, to Clay, to the Reformed and 
 Lutheran Cemetery, where the following graves received their 
 equal tribute of honor : Cyrus Dull, ISitli P. V., Wrn. Dau-
 
 346 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 bert, 42d P. Y., Wm. Daubert, 50th P. Y., Joseph Halla- 
 baugh, Joseph Snyder, Co. H, 6th P. Y. A countermarch, 
 halt, and a few appropriate remarks by the Rev. F. Klinefel- 
 ter and prayer by the Rev. Mr. Barnhill. The march was 
 then continued to the Catholic Cemetery, and the following 
 are honored as before : James Fogerty, John Cleary, Co. H, 
 26th P. Y., John Gallagher, countermarch, halt, and an ad- 
 dress by Father Marron, who spoke of the many virtues of the 
 heroic dead, and pictured in glowing colors the results pur- 
 chased by their blood and the blood of their predecessors. 
 All honor to the dead who fought in such a glorious cause. 
 It should be the boast of parents, wives and children that 
 their fathers died while fighting the battles of freedom. The 
 Catholic clergy then read prayers over their dead, and the 
 march was continued down Clay to Coal, to Spring, to Cen- 
 tre, to the Book Store, where a fresh supply of flowers were 
 furnished and the march continued to Pine, to Church, to 
 M. E. Cemetery, and the following were duly honored : Geo. 
 Wilson, 3d Pa. Cavalry, Frank Lehman, Thos Angus, James 
 Ferguson, Reese TV". Roberts, 3d Pa. Cav., Joseph Watts, 
 Charles Minnich, Charles Shaundy. A few appropriate re- 
 marks by the Rev. Mr. Barnhill, and prayer by Rev. F. Klinefel- 
 ter, and the representatives of many battles returned and were 
 brought to a halt in front of the Odd Fellows' Hall, where they 
 were addressed in a short but pithy speech by Rev. Father 
 Divine of the Catholic church, and were then dismissed. 
 
 There being no Post in Tamaqua the ceremony of decora- 
 ting the graves of soldiers in that borough was conducted under 
 the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Sunday school of that 
 place. 
 
 AT WEST CHESTER, PENN. 
 
 The ceremonies took place in this borough under direction 
 of Post ]STo. 31, of that organization. At the hour appointed, 
 9^- A. M., about one hundred and twenty members assembled at 
 their room on Church street, where they formed and marched 
 to the Court House, preceded by Capt. Sweeney's Cornet Band. 
 A touching and impressive prayer was offered by Rev. Jos. S. 
 iEvans, Post Chaplain, after which Comrade Wayne Mac Yeagh, 
 Esq., the orator of the day, was introduced, and delivered an ap- 
 propriate address. At the conclusion of the address, which occu- 
 pied about one hour in its delivery, a benediction was pronounced 
 by Rev. John Bolton, of the Episcopal church. 
 
 The Post was then re-formed, and in column of four, proceed- 
 ed to Greenmount Cemetery. Upon entering the cemetery the
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 347 
 
 band commenced playing a dead march. The committee of ar- 
 rangements had previously caused a small flag to be placed at 
 the head of each soldier's grave, so that there was no difficulty 
 in discovering their location. As the procession approached the 
 grave, each man uncovered the column opened and passed on 
 either side the members dropping their contributions of flowers 
 on the graves as they marched slowly by. 
 
 At two o'clock P. M., the members of the Post re-assembled 
 at the Court House and proceeded to Oakland Cemetery, where 
 the ceremonies were continued. The Catholic Cemetery was 
 also visited, through the kind permission of the Priest, and the 
 remains of four soldiers who lie in the Friends' Burial ground on 
 the hill, were also visited by the Post on its return to the bor- 
 ough. 
 
 At Mahanoy City the ceremonies were performed by mem- 
 bers of Post No. 110. The Post met at an early hour in the 
 afternoon and marched to graves of two of of their comrades, 
 where prayers were offered by the ministers of the place. On 
 the following Sunday appropriate ceremonies were held in the 
 churches. 
 
 AT MlDDLEBTJBG, PfiNN. 
 
 Post No. 56 met at 1 o'clock, p. M., formed in the following 
 order: 1st. P. C., and O. D. ; 2d. four small boys with bou- 
 quets ; 3d. Martial music ; 4th. comrades wearing white sashes 
 around waist ; next non-commissioned, with blue sashes ; next 
 S. Y. C., J. V. C., with red sash ; P. C., buff sash. Then 
 marched to Hassinger's Burial-ground (two miles), decorated 
 the graves of four soldiers, returned to Middleburg, and about 
 4 o'clock re-formed at Post Headquarters ; from thence proceed- 
 ed to the Lutheran Grave-yard, in the same order as above ; af- 
 ter arriving at the grave, the Adjutant first read the following 
 extract of General Order No. 11 : " We are organized, com- 
 rades, as our Regulations tell us, for the purpose, among other 
 things, ' of preserving and strengthening those kind and frater- 
 nal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors and 
 marines who united to suppress the late rebellion.' "What can 
 aid more to assure this result than by cherishing tenderly the 
 memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade 
 between our Country and its foes ? Their soldier-lives were the 
 reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their deaths the 
 tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their 
 graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth 
 and taste of the Nation can add to their adornment and se- 
 curity, is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain de-
 
 348 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 fenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed 
 grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of 
 reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of ava- 
 rice or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or the 
 coming generations, that we have forgotten, as a people, the cost 
 of a free and individual Republic. If other eyes grow dull, 
 and other hands slack, and other hearts cold, in the solemn 
 trust, ours shall keep it well, as long as the light and warmth of 
 life remain to us." 
 
 The P. C. then stepped forward, and in the words of the 
 General Orders No. 11, said : " Let us, then, at the time ap- 
 pointed, gather round the sacred remains and garland the pas- 
 sionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers and ever- 
 greens of the Springtime ; " (P. C. strewing the grave with 
 flowers, and each comrade throwing on a sprig of evergreen ;) 
 " let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dis- 
 honor ; (color-bearer waves the flag over the graves) ; " let us, 
 in this solemn presence (each comrade raises his right hand to 
 heaven) renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they 
 have left among us, a sacred charge upon a Nation's gratitude, 
 the soldiers and sailors' widows and orphans." 
 
 Prayer by the clergy. 
 
 An appropriate hymn or song, as " "Wrap the Flag Around 
 me, Boys," or " America." Addresses by Revs. Long and Shindel, 
 Comrades Parks and Wright. Re-forming of Parade and re- 
 turn to Post headquarters. 
 
 At the grave, the music took position at the foot, the P. C. 
 at the head, Adjt. to his right, Clergy to the left, Comrades tc 
 the right and left, forming a circle around the grave Relatives 
 within the circle. 
 
 AT NEW BERLIN, PENN. 
 
 At 1 o'clock, p. M., the Post met at their rooms and pro- 
 ceeded to the Cemetery, where they sodded and decorated 
 the graves of fifteen fallen comrades. At 6 o'clock, the mem- 
 bers met at their rooms, formed company, each member carrying 
 a bouquet ; preceded by the brass band and clergy, they march- 
 ed to the slow notes of a funeral dirge to the cemetery. As the 
 company came to the grave of one of the comrades, the first file 
 would halt at an open order, the rest filing through, when the 
 color-bearer planted the flag on the grave and the first file de- 
 posited their bouquets upon the grave ; after which, one of the 
 comrades delivered a short eulogy upon the fallen brave. 
 
 After the ceremonies in the Cemetery, the comrades marched
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 349 
 
 back to the Town Hall, where appropriate addresses were de- 
 livered by three of the members of the Post. 
 
 AT TOWANDA, PENN. 
 
 ADDRESS OF BEV. WILLIAM HARRIS. 
 
 SOLDIERS OF THE G. A. K., LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : Pur- 
 suant to the call of the Commander-in-Chief of the G. A. R. we 
 have met to-day to pay the tribute of loyal and loving hearts to 
 the memory of the " heroic dead, who made their breasts a bar- 
 ricade between our country and its foes." Nor does this cere- 
 mony alone signify that it is the early, martyr graves of our 
 own loved and lost that we have come to garland with the first 
 flowers of spring. We cannot but let our memories first recur 
 to those whose last resting-places we have just passed in review, 
 the brave and gallant Watkins whose privilege it was to die 
 on the field, at the front Adams, Bogart, Gary, Fox, and the 
 long sad list of Bradford's heroes ; but we must on such a day 
 as this sink all local and personal feelings in the broad unselfish 
 Union sentiment which knows no State or section, but regards 
 our country, as, thank God, it is still preserved to us, one and 
 inseparable. 
 
 We have met as part of a great host, who, I doubt not, have 
 assembled this day in every Northern city, village, and hamlet, 
 to engage in like unselfish, patriotic spirit in this sad, yet grate- 
 ful service. For while the complaint is often loud and bitter 
 against the ingratitude of the saved to their saviours, and there 
 may have been at times, and in certain localities, some show of 
 truth in the complaint, yet I believe that there is still enough 
 of honest, hearty patriotism left in the land to give largely this 
 token that the Grand Army of the Republic is not forgotten 
 either in the persons of its living or its dead. Surely they 
 ought never to be forgotten while the Republic lives, for to 
 them the Republic owes its life. We are apt to lose our indi- 
 viduality, and its appropriate sentiments, in the mass; but 
 bring the case home each to himself. Suddenly, without warn- 
 ing, as you are pursuing your peaceful way in fancied security, 
 a ruffian, maniac with brooding over fancied wrongs, seizes you 
 by the throat, pinions your arms, and threatens your destruc- 
 tion, unless you meekly submit to robbery, dishonor, and mutila- 
 tion. But at the moment of your greatest peril, when all seems 
 lost, and yet life never seemed so precious, your own son throws 
 himself upon the traitorous wretch, and in striking him to the 
 earth receives his own death-blow. Noble, daring boy ! how 
 agonizingly would you mourn over his sad yet glorious fate ;
 
 350 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 how tenderly would you lay him down to sleep in his martyr 
 grave ; how lovingly and gratefully would you cherish his mem- 
 ory, and especially every incident of his brave sacrifice; how 
 costly a monument would you raise above his last resting-place! 
 ^.li ! it would need no call from his living brothers to bring you 
 year by year in early spring-time to plant his grave with flowers 
 and decorate it with garlands. Yet this is the very debt we owe 
 to the memory of the brave " Boys in Blue." In yonder graves, 
 in every cemetery in the land, there rest these heroic dead 
 Columbia's sons who, when maniac Treason sought to throttle 
 Liberty, to rend the Republic in pieces, to shame us before the 
 world, to flaunt the ensign of a slave confederacy in our very 
 faces, sprang to the rescue, and gave their lives for the life of 
 our Fatherland. 
 
 Men and women of these peaceful mountain valleys, you do 
 not, cannot know the full measure of the debt you owe to these 
 heroes of the war for the Union. Fully to appreciate it you 
 must have seen the fair, garden land of America, the sunny 
 South, stunted and blighted, and year by year exhausted and 
 laid waste under the ruinous economy of " the peculiar institu- 
 tion ; " and then have realized that under the proposed exten- 
 sion of this system the whole land would have been thus impov- 
 erished and desolated; even Yankee enterprise would have 
 been paralysed, and freedom have passed into the lexicon of a 
 dead language. You must have, too, a clearer apprehension of 
 the resources, the power, and the deadly determination of the 
 men of the South. At the very time that we were fondly ex- 
 pecting with 75,000 men to drive them to the Gulf shore in 
 ninety days, they had 250,000 men under arms, men who had 
 been drilled and officered for months before the first gun was 
 fired at Sumter. Slowly, through four weary, deadly years, we 
 were taught the lesson of the giant proportions of the Rebellion, 
 and the imminent peril from which we were saved by the (to the 
 South unexpected] pluck and determination of Northern sol- 
 diers, backed by the united sentiment of the masses of the 
 people. Had these dead heroes, whose graves we this day de- 
 light to honor, been the cowards they were estimated by the 
 chivalry of the South, we would more fully appreciate to-day, 
 by bitter experience, what the peril was, and how great a salva- 
 tion was wrought for us by the costly sacrifice of young and 
 noble lives. 
 
 Then, on the other hand, rightly to estimate what was done 
 and suifered for your salvation, you must have followed step by 
 step the trail of the Grand Army of the Republic, and wit- 
 nessed what was borne by the living and the dead who grappled
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 351 
 
 with the monster. My own memory recalls many an untold tale 
 of heroic endurance of sufferings to which death seemed a happy 
 release : for it was peculiarly my lot to see the sad, heart-rending 
 side of the field of glory. Out of many like scenes memory calls 
 up distinctly a little, rough, un painted church down in the 
 s\vamps before Yorktown, early in the war, before the devoted 
 women and men, -frho afterwards did so much to alleviate suffer- 
 ing, had begun to press forward to the front in their noble work 
 to which strong men came, out from the ranks of hardier com- 
 rades, to die by the slow poison of malaria, and whose little grave- 
 yard grew day by day to formidable proportions. Yes ! tenderly 
 nurtured boys, far from loving care and .home tenderness, cut 
 off from the anticipated career of glory, before they had ever 
 fired a shot. I tell you that was a harder martyrdom than the 
 quick death from shot or shell amid the excitement and emula- 
 tion of a victorious battle-tield. And this day's ceremony 
 recalls many a lonely, isolated grave, hastily made on the eve 
 of a march, over which this spring time will scatter no flowers, 
 but only rank, matted grass, fed by the uncoflSned mouldering 
 remains of a son, a husband, a lover. 
 
 In the same retrospect I see brave men, who had passed un- 
 scathed by the enemy's missiles through the "Seven Days," 
 but enervated by fatigue, starvation and exposure, sweltering 
 under the blazing sun of " Tophet," fading day by day till they 
 were mere living ghosts ; see them crowded into tents, and 
 barns, and tobacco sheds, wasting away for the lack of what you 
 squandered in lavish abundance among these peaceful moun- 
 tains of the North. I see them after a great battle, gory, and 
 mangled, and maimed, spread out on the bare ground, under 
 the drenching rain, suffering untold agonies of pain and thirst, 
 and the heart-sickness of their isolation from home and loved 
 ones; yet uncomplaining, self-sacrificing, pointing out some 
 fellow-sufferer more needy of immediate relief than themselves; 
 a boy with a shattered arm, sustaining with the other a com- 
 rade shot through the body, helping him to reach the field 
 hospital. Yet this was not the worst. Some of you here to-day, 
 among the few survivors of that carnival of loathsome disease 
 and misery and awful death, may be able to tell something of 
 the Southern prison, that foul blot upon the humanity and the 
 honor of the South upon which the world cries shame ! and 
 "which all their gallantry and chivalry can never wipe out. Yes ! 
 you must hava seen Anderson ville, ever fully to appreciate in 
 any full degree, what was suffered by our hero dead, to save 
 you, my fellow citizens, from falling under the thrall of a gov- 
 ernment which could countenance this enormity. Nor was this
 
 352 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 all. The General Order of the Commander-in-Chief alludes to 
 those " sacred charges npon a nation's gratitude, the soldier's 
 and sailor's widow and orphan." Aye, every dead face turned 
 up on the field of blood told a tale of agony in some desolated 
 household. Here and there the threads of this vast romance 
 and tragedy of war have been gathered up, but there are vol- 
 umes yet untold, that never will be told, ad all these dying 
 groans, and widowed hearts, and blighted homes, represented 
 by the unknown dead cast into the long trenches on the battle- 
 field, are to be added to the great price wherewith we have 
 bought our freedom. Missing ! so the return ran ; so many 
 wounded, so many missing. It was the saddest return of the 
 three, when you knew what it meant to weary, waiting, breaking 
 hearts, sickened by hope deferred. There are missing ones from 
 our own graveyard to-day, and as we strew the bloom of spring- 
 time on these sad mounds, let us not forget an oblation for those 
 who lie in some nameless grave, whose long-sought place will 
 never be known till the last trump shall call them forth to the 
 resurrection life. 
 
 Do you remember when Kilpatrick made his celebrated raid 
 into the entrenchments of Richmond, the return came to us, 
 " Kilpatrick has come through safe, with the loss of only 150 
 men commanded by Capt. Dahlgren." Pardon me if I repeat 
 what I then wrote, because it expresses the sentiment 1 would 
 convey with the freshness of the times then present, which re- 
 moteness, and later thoughts in other channels have worn away : 
 
 Only a hundred 'and fifty, 
 
 And DAHLGRKX who rode at their head, 
 Only a hundred and fifty, 
 
 Crushed and mangled and dead. 
 
 The grim old Sergeant rode foremost, 
 
 The hero of ir.any a fight, 
 And a fair-haired boy was bugler, 
 
 Some household had lost its light ; 
 
 And husbands and sons, and fathers 
 
 Came trooping along behind, 
 In a long unbroken column, 
 
 As through the forest they wind. 
 
 'Twas but a hundred and fifty 
 
 That were doomed to prison or gravq ; 
 Only a hundred and fifty, 
 
 And DAHLGREX, so young and brave. 
 
 The Rebels burst out upon them 
 
 With a fiendish wild-cat scream, 
 To the right are shells and grape-shot, 
 
 To the left their bayonets gleam.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 353 
 
 " Charge ! " 'Twas the last word of DAHLQBKN, 
 
 The Sergeant and Bugler are down, 
 And brothers, and sons, and husbands 
 
 Lie mangled and bleeding around. 
 
 'Twas but a hundred and fifty) 
 
 Cut off from companions or slain ; 
 Only a hundred and fifty, 
 
 Whose valor was all in vain. 
 
 A mother at home is reading, 
 
 A widow left poor and alone, 
 Her son has gone for the Union, 
 
 Why bursts from her lips such a groan ? 
 
 " ' KILPATEICK is safe ' Thank Heaven ! 
 
 ' He is in our lines with his men ; 
 Only a hundred and fifty ' 
 
 O God, was one of them BEN ! " 
 
 * * * 
 
 Only a hundred and fifty, 
 
 'Twas only a trifle, no more 
 Only a hundred and fifty, 
 
 But many a heart's left sore. 
 
 One of Sir Walter Scott's most graphic sketches is of the pious 
 enthusiast, commonly known as " Old Mortality," who was 
 wont annually to visit the graves of the heroic Covenanters, 
 cleaning the moss from the gray stones, and renewing with his 
 chisel the half-defaced inscriptions. Scott says of him : " Mo- 
 tives of the most sincere, though fanciful devotion, induced the 
 old man to dedicate so many years of existence to perform this 
 tribute to the memory of the deceased warriors of the Church. 
 He considered himself as fulfilling a sacred duty, while renew- 
 ing to the eyes of posterity the decaying emblems of the zeal 
 and sufferings of their forefathers, and thereby trimming, as it 
 were, the beacon-light which was to warn future generations to 
 defend their religion even unto blood." Mutatis mutandis, this 
 is our office, and that of those who year by year shall succeed 
 us in this pious and patriotic duty, to " let no neglect, nor rav- 
 ages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations 
 that we have forgotten, as a people, the cost of a free and un- 
 divided Republic." 
 
 But we would fail to do justice to all the varied forms of 
 
 heroism, in which life even was sacrificed to the cause of the 
 
 Union, should we this day forget the noble men, and especially 
 
 the noble women, who left their homes of ease and luxury, in 
 
 23
 
 354 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 order to minister to the comfort of the sick and wounded in 
 hospitals, and even on the battle-field. Avoiding all invidious 
 distinctions among the living, I may freely speak of one whose 
 life was actually sacrificed to this labor of patriotic love. Love- 
 ly in her graces of form and feature, of distinguished birth and 
 social position, brilliant, talented, the cherished favorite of a 
 wide-extended circle of friends, she wore out her young life in 
 unremitted devotion to the alleviation of suffering in the "West- 
 ern Army. When the graves of the heroic dead, who gave their 
 lives for the Union, are this day strewed with the flowres of 
 Spring, the fairest chaplets, glistening with the dewdrops of 
 grateful tears, should decorate the grave of Margaret Breken- 
 ridge. 
 
 AT CONNEAUTVILLE, PENN. 
 
 In compliance to General Order No. 11 and Post Order 'No. 
 
 I, Post No. 107 met for the purpose of strewing with flowers the 
 graves of our honored dead. Notice of said meeting had been 
 given, and all soldiers not members of the G. A.. E,., invited to 
 attend. The attendance of members, soldiers, and citizens was 
 good ; and at the appointed hour a procession was formed, as 
 follows : 1. Music. 2. National Colors. 3. Officers and mem- 
 bers of the Post, with flowers. 4. Fire Department in undress 
 uniform, with flowers. 5. Ladies and Citizens, with flowers; 
 which then proceeded to the cemetery, where the following or- 
 der of exercises was carried out : Heading General Order No. 
 
 II, by Post Commander, Maj. J. S. Dunn. 2. Prayer by Rev. 
 Mr. Hallees. 3. Address by Comrade Capt. S. M. Davis. 4. 
 Strewing graves with flowers. 5. Prayer by Rev. F. Brown. 
 The procession was then re-formed, and returned to the encamp- 
 ment, and a regular meeting of the Post held. 
 
 AT SPRINGFIELD, ILL. 
 
 In accordance with previous arrangements, the committee, 
 consisting of ladies and gentlemen, appointed to superintend the 
 decoration of the graves of Union soldiers at the Camp Butler 
 Cemetery, assembled at the State House at 1 o'clock, P. M., and 
 from thence proceeded to. the depot of the T. W. & W. Railway, 
 and left by special train at 2 o'clock for Camp Butler. In addi- 
 tion to the committee, a large number of ladies and gentlemen 
 took passage on the train. On arrival at the site of old Camp 
 Butler, the company formed in procession, and marched to the 
 spot where rest the remains of many Union soldiers who died in 
 the hospital at the above camp. The cemetery is situated on 
 rising ground, only a short distance from the old camp ground, 
 and is surrounded with a good picket fence.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 355 
 
 The graves, numbering several hundred, are furnished with 
 white head-boards, upon which are inscribed, with the exception 
 of four or five, the name, age, and number of the regiment to 
 which the deceased belonged. On arriving at the entrance to 
 the cemetery, eveiy visitor was provided with flowers, and pro- 
 ceeded to the shade of a tree growing in the cemetery, where 
 the services of the occasion commenced by the whole assembly 
 joining in singing the patriotic and stirring hymn, " America," 
 commencing with, 
 
 " My country, 'tis of thee, 
 Sweet land of Liberty, 
 
 Of thee I sing * 
 Land where my fathers died, 
 Land of the pilgrims' pride, 
 From every mountain side 
 
 Let Freedom ring." 
 
 After which Rev. Mr. Carr, of the North Baptist church of this 
 city, offered a solemn and impressive prayer. At the conclusion 
 of the prayer, Dr. Geo. T. Allen delivered the following ad- 
 dress : 
 
 "Sweet are the uses of adversity," and joy is blended with 
 the associations of sorrow characterizing the ceremonies of even 
 this sad occasion. It is a sacred though mournful pleasure and 
 holy duty to honor the memories of those who freely gave their 
 lives for their country's unity and salvation. Many of us, now 
 alive and present, passed safely through the terrible ordeals in 
 which these dead offered themselves up, willing sacrifices on the 
 altar of patriotism ; and it best becomes us their brothers-in- 
 arms, relatives, and friends during life of all men, and it well 
 becomes the soldiers' mothers, widows, wives, sisters, and or- 
 phans now mingled with us, to unite in these heartfelt ceremo- 
 nials in honor of the noble dead. This day, throughout our 
 wide land, at the suggestion of Illinois' gallant and gifted son, 
 Gen. John A. Logan, we, for the first time as a people, meet at 
 the grave, to honor the heroic dead. This affecting ceremony, 
 thus inaugurated, will, we all trust, be affectionately perpetuated 
 from year to year and from age to age. The graves around us 
 contain the sacred remains of martyrs of treason. These all fell 
 through the efforts of American citizens to destroy American 
 nnity and nationality. As recently as A. D. 1860, we had our 
 4th of July ovations everywhere north of " Mason and Dixon's 
 Line," and the day was honored at many points in Dixie. 
 Every man and woman desired to attend these celebrations, and 
 the children cried if compelled to remain at home. The public 
 addresses on these occasions were ever patriotic, if not always
 
 356 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 able or eloquent. Every auditor responded enthusiastically to 
 each loyal sentiment. The name of Washington was hailed as 
 the synonym of all that was grand and patriotic in humanity ; 
 while that of Benedict Arnold fell on loathing ears as the quin- 
 tessence of all that was disloyal and grovelling. Then, the 
 whole nation believed that our country could never again be 
 cursed by the birth and life in it of another such political luftiis 
 naturae ; but within twelve months from July, 1860, the whole 
 country was corrupt with worse traitors than Benedict Arnold 
 or Aaron Burr. "When Arnold turned Tory, and stole the man- 
 tle of Judas Iscariot to serve George III. and the Devil in, our 
 ancestors were simply experimenting in the principles of civil 
 liberty ; their civil and political status was then a shadow, not 
 a reality. No man then living could declare they would suc- 
 ceed in casting off the yoke of England, and driving the British 
 soldiery and Hessian mercenaries from the land ; nor could 
 human wisdom then predict that final success with them would 
 secure to the people national and constitutional liberty, or per- 
 petuate in the New the despotisms of the Old World. In those 
 days of political darkness, Arnold turned traitor, fell from his 
 high estate, and was, " like Judas, damned to everlasting fame," 
 and 
 
 " Sank to the vile dust from which he sprung, 
 Unwept, unbonored, and unsung," 
 
 and patriotism and liberty everywhere this day prolongs the loud 
 " Amen ! " But the traitors of 1861 rebelled when the work 
 of 1776 had incubated and become a living reality, and God 
 had breathed into it the spirit of national immortality when 
 the Union had advanced nearly a century upon the most glori- 
 ous mission ever sanctified to a people ; during which it had 
 been the hope of oppressed humanity everywhere, and a beacon- 
 light in the path of civil and religious progress, and of human 
 liberty to all the nations of the earth. In 1860, Abraham Lin- 
 coln was constitutionally elected President of the United States, 
 and every true man in the nation 'Submitted to his administra- 
 tion during the four years of his official term, determined to aid 
 in correcting abuses after subduing the Rebellion. President 
 Lincoln, with unexampled success, labored manfully through 
 more cares and responsibilities than ever beset any other man 
 in America. God gifted him with peculiar faculties befitting 
 the particular crisis of his presidency, and his name will be 
 transmitted to posterity as gloriously as any that honors the 
 pages of history. None but the Saviour of man has had a more 
 important mission on earth, or filled his destiny better, than
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 357 
 
 Abraham Lincoln. If there be anything in fore-ordination, 
 God predestinated him before the foundation of the world to be 
 the saviour of our country, and then laid aside the materials for 
 his composition until the time arrived for his advent among the 
 sons of men. To my mind, his character is as noble, his patri- 
 otism as lofty, and his mission as grand, as Washington's, and 
 his name will descend through all time as sacred in the memory 
 of every true American. After the clouds of the late Rebellion 
 and the smoke of battle will have passed away before the rising 
 sunshine of national unity, the ashes of Washington and Lin- 
 coln will, in the minds of their countrymen, be mingled and 
 consecrated in the same urn, their histories recorded on the same 
 tablet, and their spirits associated in the same blessed eternity. 
 We could not fully realize the thought of Pope, 
 
 u An honest man, the noblest work of God," 
 
 until Abraham Lincoln had finished his temporal course, and 
 time, with him, had culminated in the fruition of eternity ! 
 Abraham Lincoln's name is now as immortal as if Gabriel had 
 dipped his fingers in the sunbeam, and written it in letters of 
 living light across the cerulean arch of heaven. There are 
 miracles of war as well as of peace. In so wide a land as ours, 
 longitudinally as well as latitudinally, with all its diversities of 
 climate, interests, and prejudices, some have fancied the ties 
 that bound the States in one a mere rope of sand ; but the 
 attack, even of a domestic foe, on our flag, drew from the avo- 
 cations of peace five hundred thousand armed patriots into the 
 field, with all the implements of warfare. During more than 
 four years, the waste of war of battle, swamps, and hospital 
 was more than replenished. The army that entered the contest, 
 in 1861, was, in 1864, divided into those who were yet treading 
 the paths of death toward an eternal national unity and those 
 who had become dust, to enrich the soil and consecrate the 
 cause of freedom, and seed to produce an eternal harvest of 
 patriots. Having sealed their love of country with their blood, 
 these martyrs had, in the spirit, ascended on high, to watch how 
 faithfully or faithlessly the spared veterans were continuing the 
 contest for a consummation in victory and unity. Death never 
 before, in the history of the world, held such high carnival as 
 during the late four years of war. Our dead, who expired on 
 the battle-fields of the contest inaugurated in 1861, would more 
 than make up all the armies of the Revolution of 1776 on both 
 sides. Better blood was never shed in a holy cause since that 
 offered for the salvation of man on Calvary. When, in imagi- 
 nation, we attempt to summon the men who entered the strug-
 
 358 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 gle in 1861, and those who joined us in 1862, we realize that 
 half of .the number sealed their love of country and of liberty 
 by contending for these unto death. During the last year of 
 strife, we who were spared could feel that the spirits of these 
 heroes had ascended on high to watch the contest and cheer our 
 final victory. At the close of the Rebellion, the nation was 
 summoned to witness the mingling of the blood of our noblest 
 patriot, Abraham Lincoln, with that of all the immortal victims 
 who had preceded him through mortal struggles and agonies to 
 an eternal oasis of glory. Over the grave of Slavery the world 
 now consecrates the mingled sacrifice a sacred ovation to 
 Liberty. 
 
 " How sleep the brave who sink to rest, 
 
 By all their country's wishes blest ! 
 
 "When Spring, with dewy fingers cold, 
 
 Returns to deck their hallowed mould, 
 
 She there shall dress a sweeter sod 
 
 Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. 
 
 By fairy hands their knell is rung ; 
 
 By forms unseen their dirge is sung ; 
 
 There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray, 
 
 To bless the turf that wraps their clay, 
 
 And Freedom shall awhile repair, 
 
 To dwell, a weeping hermit, there." 
 
 As, in the time of our Saviour, women were the last at the 
 cross and the first at the grave, so, in our day, they are the last 
 and most faithful in the army hospital and the most watchful at 
 the soldiers' cemetery. We now behold around us their labors 
 of love and sisterly sympathy. In tbe recent war, men were 
 not the only patriots, nor are they our only victors. The women, 
 in their proper spheres, fought as valiantly and as triumphantly, 
 and they were the ministering angels of our army, our navy, and 
 our country. They organized our Union Aid Societies, and with 
 self-sacrificing labors of love they perpetuated the supplies of 
 our heaven-honored Sanitary Commissions. When, war-worn or 
 wounded, the soldier retired a brief time from the contest, they 
 welcomed him home with the sunshine of warm hearts, consoled 
 him with patriotic words of cheer and comfort, and, when recu- 
 perated through their tender ministrations, even encouraged him 
 to return to the field of duty and danger. They visited our hos- 
 pitals, and remained, self-exiled, far from homes of love and 
 comfort, to cheer the Union soldier when disabled, either in the 
 hospitals, camps, or swamps of Dixie. We cannot realize all 
 the women of the North endured during every day of four 
 years of war. Their husbands, or fathers, or sons, or brothers 
 in some instances all were in the field. We were not always
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 359 
 
 in danger. Even weeks passed, at times, during which we 
 seemed safe ; but our wives, our mothers, our sisters, and our 
 daughters, feared the passing hour was that of danger perhaps 
 of death. We may study me lives of all the glorious women 
 of ancient and modern times, of sacred and profane history 
 the heroines of religion or patriotism, who have triumphed over 
 evil in any age ; or been self-immolated for a great and God- 
 engendered principle anywhere ; but when we remember our 
 mothers, our wives, our sisters, and our danghters, the Union- 
 loving women of the war and of to-day, we nnd that the race 
 of heroines endures in our country, and that nobler spirits never 
 graced the earth, nor were redeemed in heaven, since the crea- 
 tion of woman, when " the morning stars sang together and the 
 sons of God shouted for joy ! " 
 
 At the conclusion of Dr. Allen's remarks, General Tyndale, 
 of Philadelphia, was called upon, and made some appropriate 
 remarks, referring to the brave men who had 'died on the battle- 
 fields of the South in defense of our homes, our fathers, moth- 
 ers, wives, and daughters ; to those who had suffered thirst and 
 hunger, and endured long marches, that the cause of liberty 
 and free government might triumph, as being entitled to all the 
 honors which a free people could bestow. Arid all lie could say 
 in their praise was felt by every patriot in the land. At the 
 conclusion of General Tyndale's remarks, the ladies and gentle- 
 men proceeded to decorate the graves, placing upon each of the 
 boards at the heads of the graves a bouquet or wreath of flow- 
 ers, and, in some cases, strewing flowers upon the graves. Some 
 of the most beautiful flowers and wreaths were placed upon the 
 graves of the u unknown " dead a touching testimonial, that, 
 though their names were unknown, their patriotism was remem- 
 bered by grateful hearts. The ceremony concluded, the people 
 returned to the shade, when Col. George H. Harlow came for- 
 ward and requested the assembly to raise their right hands ; and 
 as they did so, he read the following in a distinct and impressive 
 manner : 
 
 " Before Almighty God, and within the precincts of the last 
 resting-place of our heroic dead, we renew our devotion to the 
 Union and the cause for which they gave their lives, and we 
 here again renew our vows to defend and perpetuate Freedom 
 and the Union ; to all of which we pleo"ge our lives, our for- 
 tunes, and our sacred honor. So help us God." 
 
 The Long Metre Doxology was then sung, the benediction 
 pronounced, and the large assembly retired from the cemetery 
 and proceeded to the cars, arriving in the city at about half-past 
 5 o'clock, P. M.
 
 360 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 IN CAEROLL COUNTY, ILL. 
 
 " The hearts of our people will not consent that the graves 
 of our soldiers should be unremerabered," said the editors of 
 the TJiomson Courier. Our own county honored the memory 
 of its loyal hearts. The only public ceremony was at Mt. Car- 
 roll. Although not present, we learu that the ceremonies were 
 interesting and impressive. The old friends and neighbors of 
 the gallant dead tenderly cherish their memories as they honor 
 their deeds. No truer nor better men were found in the service 
 than the sons of " Little Carroll." " When men have shown 
 themselves brave by deeds, their honors also should be displayed 
 by deeds." These our neighbors " were taken away from their 
 glory rather than their fear." Their example, their patriotism, 
 their principles, we commend, more forcibly than by words, by 
 the honors paid to them, and the place given them in the love 
 and esteem of all true' Americans. It is the sentiment which 
 Mr. Lincoln expressed so worthily on the battle-field of Gettys- 
 burg: 
 
 " In a larger sense we cannot ctonsecrate, we cannot hallow 
 this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled 
 here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. 
 The world will little note nor long remember what we SAY here, 
 but it can never forget what they Dm here. It is for us, the 
 living, rather to be dedicated to the great task remaining before 
 us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to 
 the cause for which they here gave the last full measure of de- 
 votion that we here highly resolve that the dead shall not have 
 died in vain that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth 
 of freedom, and that Government of the people, by the people, 
 and for the people, shall not perish from the earth." 
 
 For the honorable deeds of the gallant dead, and for the glo- 
 rious cause in which they met their fate, their graves were beau- 
 tified on Saturday less beautiful than the affection and esteem 
 which paid the tribute. The hearts of the people were enlisted, 
 and the service was one of mournful pleasure and of sincere 
 devotion to the memory of our heroes. As long as this free 
 Republic stands, let the graves of the conquerors of the great 
 Rebellion be annually decorated with flowers ; let us, in these 
 solemn yet beautiful ceremonies, renew our pledges to aid and 
 assist those whom they have left as a sacred charge upon a na- 
 tion's gratitude the soldiers' and sailors' widows and orphans. 
 
 " Give the dead soldier room, 
 . But oh, seal not his tomb, 
 For he'll fall into rank if you utter his name.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS* GRAVES. 361 
 
 Sleep on, boy in blue, 
 And dream the dream through. ; 
 Good night to thy form, but good morn to thy fame ! " 
 
 AT DECATUK, ILL. 
 
 " The love that survives the tomb," says Irving, " is one of 
 the noblest attributes of the soul. If it has its woes, it has like- 
 wise its delights ; and when the overwhelming burst of grief is 
 calmed into the gentle fear of recollection, then the sudden an- 
 guished and convulsed agony of the present, ruins of all that 
 we most loved, are softened away into pensive meditation, and 
 all that in the day of its loveliness. Who would root sorrow 
 from the heart, though it may sometimes throw a passing cloud 
 over the bright hour of gayety, or spread a deeper sadness over 
 the hour of gloom ; yet who would exchange it for even the 
 song of pleasure or the burst of revelry ? No ; there is a voice 
 from the tomb sweeter than songs ; there is a remembrance of 
 the dead to which we turn from the charm of the living." 
 This fact was strikingly exemplified last Sunday afternoon, in 
 Greenwood Cemetery, at Decatur, where an immense crowd 
 we may say almost the entire adult population of the city, of 
 both sexes assembled to witness the deep, sad, and solemn 
 scene of strewing the graves of departed heroes with flowers. 
 The affecting ceremonies were opened by the Rev. S. D. Pul- 
 ford, rector of the Episcopal church, offering up a fervent 
 prayer. He was followed by Rev. A. L. Brooks, pastor of the 
 Second Presbyterian church, in an address marked with great 
 earnestness, pathos, and power, which was listened to by the 
 vast concourse with breathless silence. Next came the solemn 
 yet beautiful and affecting scene of singing, and strewing the 
 graves of the soldiers with flowers. The exercises were con- 
 cluded by Rev. F. G. Thearle, pastor of the Baptist church, 
 pronouncing the benediction, prefaced by a few appropriate re- 
 marks, after which the crowd commenced to slowly and solemn- 
 ly wend their way from the city of the dead back to the city 
 of the living. As we turned to leave the " sacred grounds," we 
 could not help thinking of the many brave and gallant youths 
 from this county, now sleeping their last sleep in the far sunny 
 South, on the fields where they had fallen, far away from home 
 and friends, whom to meet and see, and receive a welcome and 
 a blessing at home, was the uppermost thought that animated 
 their patriotic hearts. Who can forget their struggles, their 
 privations, and their fidelity to principle ? The men who went 
 forth from Macon and fell martyrs to their principles, were 
 among the worthiest of Illinois' sons ; and co-aid they have be-
 
 362 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 held the large and sorrowing assembly at the cemetery last 
 evening could they have beheld those gray-haired old men 
 bowed down with age and grief, and those of middle age, as 
 well as many of their comrades, devoting one afternoon to their 
 memory and could they have beheld the many fair daughters 
 of Decatur, beautiful as Beatrice Cenci, as modest as Ruth, and 
 as pure as the blue ether of heaven, decorating the graves of 
 those who fell for the same cause, they would have exclaimed, 
 " How well they love us ! we are not forgotten." 
 
 AT AURORA, ILL. 
 
 Long before the hour appointed for the procession to move 
 into line and march to the different cemeteries, the people had 
 begun to gather on Broadway, in front of the hall of the G. A. 
 R., and by the time they were ready to move, the streets were 
 densely packed. When the hour for marching- arrived, the pro- 
 cession formed on Broadway, with Col. J. W. Parrington as 
 Marshal, and moved into line. The Grand Army Band, play- 
 ing a patriotic air, after the Marshal, then came a platoon of sol- 
 diers on foot, among their number many of our most respected 
 citizens and business men. Next to the " platoon " came two 
 beautiful black horses, arrayed in the war trappings of an 
 officer. They were intended to represent the horses of Col. 
 Silas Miller and Major Harkness. Next to the horses came a 
 band volunteered for the occasion of Dr. Hamlin, the famous 
 " Wizard Oil Man." Next to Dr. Hamlin came the soldiers on 
 foot, and the old soldiers and officers who were not in the line, 
 with a musket. Next came the German Band ; and then the 
 long string of carriages. After crossing the island and the 
 bridges, and on arriving at River street, on the west side, the 
 bands played the " Dead March," while the procession moved 
 slowly up the street. Here the west side citizens had congre- 
 gated, filling up River street, and all fell in and tramped slowly 
 up to the cemeteries. Hundreds of little children, all bearing 
 in their hands bouquets of flowers, gathered by their own little 
 hands, followed along on the side of the procession. The boys 
 and girls even the colored children had secured little flags, 
 and carried them in their hands. The G. A. R. Band, when the 
 procession reached the west side cemetery, played that soul- 
 inspiring air, so much loved by the soldiers during the late war, 
 " John Brown's Soul is Marching On." After passing the yard, 
 Dr. Hamlin's Band played a Quickstep. While passing between 
 the west side cemetery and the Catholic grounds, the citizens, 
 many of them, sent out beautiful bouquets to the soldiers. On
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 363 
 
 approaching the Catholic cemetery, they played " The Cottage 
 by the Sea." Arriving within the yard, the platoon and citi- 
 zens formed a hollow square. The choir of Aurora chanted that 
 beautiful piece, " What is Life ? " 
 
 From the associations of this burial-place the Catholic priest 
 had kindly been invited to make the address, or the prayer ; 
 but on his having magnanimously declined the honor, the Mar- 
 shal, after a prayer by Rev. Charles Button, introduced Col. D. 
 F. Carnahan, who spoke as follows : 
 
 Fellow-soldiers, ladies and gentlemen, and citizens all who 
 prize the memory of those who sleep so sweetly in these hon- 
 ored graves : We have assembled, for the first time in our his- 
 tory, to pay a floral tribute to the departed heroes our com- 
 rades and friends. We are gathered where our thoughts should 
 be many, but our words few. We have come with memorous 
 offerings to departed comrades, and we lay them above their 
 sleeping dust silently, reverently. We stand in thought, as it 
 were, by the very altar where our brave soldiers laid down their 
 lives in sacrifice fortheir country. It is a place where thoughts' 
 should be very busy in summoning up the memories of the de- 
 parted. 'The' garlands which we weave, the flowers which we 
 bring, the words which we utter, are in memory and honor of 
 the fallen soldiers who sleep beneath the turf which we to-day 
 visit, and as well also in honor and memory of all who every- 
 where fill graves in the cause of the Union. Our acts to-day 
 are representative. In garlanding these graves, we would gar- 
 land all similar graves ; in remembering the soldiers, we would 
 remember all the soldier-dead. We need, therefore, to send our 
 thoughts forth, far and swift, to every .great camp, along every 
 line of march, into every unpretentious spot where a soldier un- 
 strapped his knapsack, wrapped him in his blanket, and laid 
 him down to die. We should recall every prized one, as well 
 as the many whom in camp and hospital we have seen wither 
 like autumnal leaves, or, like winter leaves, fall in the stormy 
 bla*st of battle. We should recall the many hasty burials and 
 the lonely graves which we have seen.' Ah ! fellow-soldiers, 
 you remember what lonely spots we used to bury the brave 
 boys in ! You remember how lonely your comrade died that 
 dark night how lonely he laid through that day, until the little 
 squad laid him slowly and sadly dpwn in that lonely grave, and 
 left him left him, to march on, and on, and on ; and there, far 
 from your home, he sleeps to-day. But is he forgotten ? Your 
 swelling heart answers, No. Some, indeed, were buried by 
 those who did not know their names, and could only label the 
 little head-board with the sad word, " Unknown." And have
 
 364 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 you not feared that many of those little head-boards on which 
 you marked so carefully, with tear-dimmed eye, the name of 
 your comrade, and your company, and your regiment that 
 even those little marks and monuments are gone the soldier 
 actually sleeps in an " unknown grave," with only now and 
 then a stranger to pass by and say, " This is the grave of a 
 Union soldier." Compared with this, the money spent is noth- 
 ing, the debt incurred is nothing. We can lose the money, and 
 can pay the debt, and live in comfort all the while, and be rich 
 after, our country restored to greater prosperity than ever, but 
 our three hundred thousand dead are gone forever. But who 
 can say that the price paid is too great for the boon bought with 
 their blood ? They have given us this magnificent Republic, for 
 the first time free indeed, and one forever free beyond a perad- 
 venture. Their blood has melted away four million fetters, lift- 
 ed four million free hands gratefully to heaven, invested four 
 million of our people with civil rights, and washed away the 
 foul stain of shame from Freedom s escutcheon. That blood 
 has settled forever every question as to the perpetuity of this 
 Union, and sealed the settlement with its crimson stamp. All 
 honor, then, to the brave soldiers whose bodies mouldeV, because 
 their blood saved our nation's life, and sealed the immortality 
 of our free Government. Then 
 
 " Bring flowers bring flowers o'er their graves to shed, 
 As a crown for the brow of the loyal dead." 
 
 And thus be it ever ; yea, while flowers bloom, grass springs, 
 or water runs. As long as these waters flow southward free to 
 the ocean, may we remember how our brave ones poured South 
 at their country's call. 'As long as grass grows green on these 
 prairies, may their memories flourish in our hearts as the green 
 bay tree. As long as flowers deck our earth, may we have 
 hearts and hands to deck the soldier's grave. They do de- 
 serve it. 
 
 " For our boys in blue were brave and true, 
 
 For God and their country dying ; 
 With a watchful pride that is ever new, 
 
 We'll garland the graves where they're lying. 
 And well we may ; where our heroes lie 
 
 The very ground is holy ; 
 His name who dared for his country to die, 
 Is sacred, though ever so lowly." 
 
 But not alone with pleasure should we remember the fallen. It 
 is well to remember them thus, and it is a pleasant thought that, 
 as balmy Spring travels northward, and flowers spring in its 
 pathway, true hearts and hands have gathered flowers and show-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 365 
 
 
 
 ered them ceaselessly on these heroes' graves. But I have ima- 
 gined that, if the fall of these flowers should awake these dead 
 for a moment, many such an utterance as this would be heard : 
 *' Thanks for these tokens, but bring no more such vain obla- 
 tions ; bring no more fading flowers to my grave, until you 
 have borne substantial fruits to my toiling wife, my uneducated 
 child, my crippled comrade." I was glad when the Grand Com- 
 mander of the G. A. R. issued his command : When flowers 
 come, and your land blooms in beauty, bear flowers, to soldiers' 
 graves ; and I should be better pleased if, in autumn, another 
 command should come : When fruits are ripe, w y hen your houses 
 teem with plenty, bear a portion to the needy bereaved. And 
 God grant that this may be ever, while a soldier or a soldier's 
 friend remains to remember what the soldiers of the Union did 
 for us. Flowers must be borne to their graves in Spring, and, 
 in Fall, fruits to those made needy by the war. 
 
 After this short speech, the platoon of soldiers filed past each 
 grave, part on each side, each soldier scattering the flowers upon 
 the graves of the different soldiers buried: After the soldiers 
 came the citizens, each casting their tribute of evergreens and 
 flowers upon the green sod, the German band playing a dirge 
 while this was in process. The soldiers then fired three rounds 
 as a funeral Salute over the graves, and the Catholic who had 
 " nailed the flag beneath his cross," and died true to his faith in 
 each, was left to the silence of his last camping-ground. The 
 procession then marched to the West Side Cemetery, the band 
 playing, u Rally Round the Flag." As they came up to the 
 cemetery, only martial music was played. On entering the 
 grounds, the soldiers formed a hollow square as before, and the 
 choir sang " Oh, Wrap the Flag around me, Boys." Then the 
 Rev. Mr. Clark made a prayer, and the Marshal introduced 
 Sergt. John C. Sherwin, who said : 
 
 COMRADES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: Three years have now 
 fully passed since mild-eyed Peace first smiled upon us, after 
 the decision of the bloody issues of the time, and smoothed with 
 her benignant glance the iron frowns of war. We are assem- 
 bled now in quiet and security, instead of clamor and tumult. 
 There are no more exhausting marches over mountains and 
 through valleys ; no more long nights of watching ; no long 
 lines of imperial blue, with their " Liberty or Death." We 
 come here to-day with flowers, and with our words, to honor 
 our comrades who are gone. And yet, what are words, espe- 
 cially here in the presence of these graves of men who passed 
 through the hell of battle, who have been where muskets vol- 
 lied, where artillery thundered, where shell crashed and shot 
 t
 
 366 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 
 
 plunged men who, in " war's red touchstone, rang the true 
 metal." What are our weak, futile, senseless words over the 
 graves of men whose deeds are immortal ? One of the greatest 
 nations of antiquity had the custom of crowning the brows of 
 her living victors those who had conquered in battle with 
 wreaths of oaken leaves. The soldiers who have conquered in 
 this war expect no crown and ask no chaplet of flowers ; but 
 they have instituted among themselves the custom of decorating 
 the graves of those who have fallen, with flowers. Tranquil, 
 and humble, and subdued, O fallen comrades, we come this day 
 to lay our sweet tribute of flowers upon thy graves. The offer- 
 ing is not much, but it is all we have. Their perfume will soon 
 escape their very substance, under the not midsummer sun, 
 will soon wither and fade entirely away ; but were we to pile 
 up the columns of moulded bronze or chiselled marble upon 
 thy graves, they would soon crumble and fall to the ground in 
 a few years they would be useless to thy name. Thy deeds are 
 thy monument valorous, heroic, constant, brave, and true 
 thy deeds are thy monument. Its base is down deep in the 
 hearts of thy countrymen, its apex is among the stars. God's 
 own glories play about its summit, and bathe it in His supernal 
 light. It stands eternal, immutable, enduring, and lasting as 
 thy own courage and truth. Oh, comrades 1 we, your survivors, 
 standing by your graves, and in the shadow of that monument 
 which you have thus built for yourselves in the hearts of your 
 countrymen with the remembrance of your toils and your de- 
 votion fresh in our hearts, remembering what you did that your 
 country might live, and that liberty might exist bring these 
 our only gifts, as the fittest offerings for the tombs of conquer- 
 ors. We lay these flowers upon thy graves, and for the rest we 
 are silent. The band of Dr. Hamlin then played a beautiful 
 and touching dirge, while the solemn procession filed past each 
 grave marked with the starry flag the sign of each hero's rest- 
 ing-place. Then forming again into line, the procession moved 
 toward the city, the bands playing all the way. They passed 
 np to Oak, then down to Galena, over to Downer Place down 
 to the river. As they came back to River street, a large con- 
 course of people met them, and fell into line for the East side. 
 The minute guns were firing all the while. When they arrived 
 at Broadway, the street was completely blocked up, with only 
 room for the procession to pass. As they passed up Broadway, 
 many were seen weeping at the doors and windows. At Clark 
 Seminary the only demonstration was a large flag displayed 
 from one of the upper windows. When the head of the pro- 
 cession arrived at North Avenue, near the Seminary, the last
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 367 
 
 carriages were just entering the bridge. At Spring Lake Ceme- 
 tery, they formed around the monument of Col. Silas Miller, on 
 which was displayed a large wreath of evergreens and flowers. 
 After grounding arms, the choir sang, " Send them home ten- 
 derly. A prayer was then offered by the Rev. Mr. Willing, 
 after which the Marshal introduced Surgeon D. W. Young, who 
 said : 
 
 COMRADES AND FELLOW-CITIZENS : To me the ceremonies of 
 the day have been peculiarly interesting. They have brought 
 back to my mind vividly many of the trying scenes and events 
 of the late terrible war. As we have marched from cemetery 
 to cemetery, ray thoughts have been carried back to our lonely, 
 dusty, and fatiguing marches through Missouri, Arkansas, Mis- 
 sissippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and the Caro- 
 linas. As we passed from grave to grave and deposited the 
 flowers from our bouquets, now almost exhausted, it has remind- 
 ed me of the many hard-fought battles through which most of 
 you have passed has taken me back to the terrible struggle 
 and slaughter of Pea Ridge, Corinth, Perry ville, and the many 
 battle-fields where we left so many of our noble comrades, that 
 our regiment had soon dwindled down, until, like the remnant 
 of our bouquets, it became small in size and few in number. 
 With these come recollections of the hardships endured, and 
 the mighty achievements of the noble men prominently before 
 me. I say, well may we turn out with music to strew flowers 
 on the graves and erect monuments to their memories. We 
 should indeed consider it a rare privilege, and should practice it 
 annually, faithful to the end of time. Yes, fellow citizens, well 
 may the places where the ashes of such men repose be marked 
 with costly monuments and beautified with flowers. The sad- 
 dest thought is, that so many sleep in " unknown " graves, 
 where they fell upon the field, with their faces toward the 
 enemy by the wayside, in the swamps, and upon the Southern 
 hills where their graves are recorded among that mighty host 
 with the simple inscription, " Unknown." There they lie 
 noble boys ! where we buried them, in trenches and ditches, 
 simply wrapped in their soldier-blankets no monuments, no, 
 not even a common board or simple stake to mark their lonely 
 graves. 
 
 Comrades, while your duties and positions called you to the 
 immediate front, where the fierce battle raged and the destruc- 
 tion was done, my duties and position called me farther to the 
 rear. I was less Exposed ; still it was my painful duty to nurse 
 and comfort the dying, and mend and remodel the torn and 
 lacerated fragments of human forms as they came from the
 
 368 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 trench and field. I desire now and here to say, and to bear 
 testimony to their noble patriotism and sacred memories, that, 
 among the many thousands who passed through my hands, and 
 whom I saw upon the field and in the hospitals, mangled, torn, 
 lacerated, and dying, not one ever in my hearing said he regret- 
 ted that he had enlisted, or complained of his fate. No ; the 
 noble fellows gave their limbs and their lives freely and uncom- 
 plainingly that the nation might be saved, and this freed Re- 
 public, with its sacred institutions, preserved and perpetuated. 
 I ask, then, is it not eminently proper that we should decorate 
 the graves of those who have accomplished and endured so 
 much, and perpetuate their names to the end of time ? "When 
 I compare these men, their deeds and their sufferings, with the 
 able-bodied peace-sneaks who loitered in the rear and at home, 
 speculating upon the Government and upon soldiers' rations, 
 meeting in conventions and resolving the four years of terrible 
 and destructive war, that saved the nation and crushed the Re- 
 bellion, and sundered the shackles of the slave, a failure ! I 
 claim great odds in favor of the soldier. In my opinion, the 
 stay-at-hoines should crave such opportunities as this to-day 
 yes, pray for their coming in order that they might turn out 
 in force to decorate the fallen heroes' graves. It should be a 
 pleasure to them ; they should be willing to go on foot into the 
 various swamps and wildernesses of the South, to hunt the un- 
 marked and unm.onumented graves of those noble " Boys in 
 Blue," to secure the opportunity to decorate them. 
 
 Comrades and Fellow-citizens, while I wish to encourage and 
 urge such demonstrations as this to-day while I desire very 
 much to see every Union soldier's grave marked by a monu- 
 ment and decorated with the sweetest and brightest flowers, I 
 desire equally to urge upon you the fact that we as soldiers, and 
 you as citizens, have other and even more sacred duties to per- 
 form. The noble cripple is in our midst, and their families, the 
 widows, wives, and children of the sacred dead, demand and 
 deserve our kindest attention. They have, morally, the first 
 claim upon the property of this nation yes, yours and mine. 
 Their husbands, fathers, and protectors laid down their lives 
 that the nation might live, and we enjoy it. I say, feed and 
 clothe the living maimed and crippled heroes ; care for the 
 widows ; feed and clothe and educate the orphans of the de- 
 ceased soldier, so that they may become honored and useful 
 members of society. This will produce loftier monuments and 
 more fragrant flowers than art or cultivation can produce. I, as 
 an American citizen, a taxpayer of the Republic, and a soldier 
 of the Grand Army of the United States, demand and urge
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 369 
 
 that a more liberal allowance and provision shall be made for 
 the families of the fallen soldiers. 1 claim they should at least 
 be placed upon a par with those greedy, fat, and lazy " bond- 
 holders." I say, pay them their poor pittance their bounties 
 and pensions in as good money as you pay the " bondholder " 
 his interest and his bonds. If the one, a rich and idle consumer 
 of poor men's earnings, rolling in wealth and easy comfort if, 
 I say, they can draw from the public treasury their dollar in 
 gold for the greenbacks they paid let the poor wounded, 
 maimed, and crippled soldier, or his lonely, starving widow and 
 orphan children draw their dollar in gold for the life or the 
 limb they paid. 
 
 In conclusion, I say, a nation, a State, a county, a town, a 
 city, a people, that will allow their maimed and crippled sol- 
 diers to be sent to a poor-house, or compel them to beg from 
 house to house about the streets for the necessaries of life, are 
 not fit to enjoy the blessings of a free and enlightened govern- 
 ment. 
 
 After this speech, the G. A. Band played that beautiful 
 piece, " Lincoln's Fuueral March," while the decorations were 
 in process. Then firing the three rounds, they marched on 
 down Lincoln Avenue to the old cemetery. At the residence of 
 Mr. Terry, the observatory was handsomely decorated with 
 nags, and on the front of his residence was displayed in full 
 view a large and magnificent portrait of the late ^President Lin- 
 coln, surrounded with a beautiful wreath of flowers and flags. 
 While the procession passed down Lincoln Avenue, the bell of 
 the M. E. church was tolled. At Fox the procession turned 
 and went to Root, thence down to the old cemetery, where the 
 hollow square was again formed, the platoon " grounded arms," 
 and assumed the " place rest." The choir sang, " We shall 
 Sleep, but not Forever," when, after a prayer by the Rev. Mr- 
 Ebbs, the Marshal introduced Capt. A. 0. Little, who said : 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen, and Comrades, victors and survivors 
 of many a sanguinary field : Standing here to-day, amid these 
 marble monuments, lifted up with pious and reverential care, 
 to perpetuate the memory of the departed dead, and amid these 
 grass-covered and soon to be flower-strewn graves, the blue and 
 lofty dome of the eternal heavens above my head, the green and 
 flower-begemmed earth beneath my feet, and in the presence of 
 this audience, it is with extreme reluctance that I lift up my 
 feeble voice amid such surroundings, to break this solemn and 
 impressive silence. But the hour, the day, the circumstances 
 of our meeting here, the memory of the heroic deeds and the 
 heroic names we have gathered together to honor, these must be 
 24
 
 370 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 at once my apology and defense. We have met to do honor to 
 the memory and the dust of men better than their time men 
 who stood out before their age, and in sublime self-abnegation 
 gave their lives that liberty might be perpetuated among the 
 American people, and freedom made possible for the race. 
 Standing here among these monuments of the fragility of all 
 things human, we are impressively reminded of the brevity of 
 human life, and how " we light mortals eport our brief life 
 minuet above bottomless abysses, separated from us only by a 
 film," and how all " life, like a spent steed, is panting toward its 
 goal." * * * In all the worlds of God there is no effect 
 without a cause, and in the boundless universe every particle of 
 matter, and every attribute of mind, from the dust we tread 
 beneath our feet up to systems of worlds careering through the 
 realms of space from the first feeble evidence of reason in the 
 infant mind, up through endless gradations to the all-compre- 
 hensive mind of Him who dwelleth in the circle of the heavens 
 all, all is governed by law, fixed and inexorable, and which 
 eternally goes crashing around in iron grooves. It follows that, 
 in the economy of the universe there are no accidents ; calami- 
 ties do not spring up spontaneously, but are the legitimate off- 
 spring of violated law. All the varied forms of sin " that 
 blood-thirsty wolf prowling around the human fold " are but 
 the sequences of crime and violated law. War ofttimes God's 
 "Damascus blade" of retributive justice, cleaving down the 
 colossal forms of tyranny and wrong is but the logical ultimate 
 of our godless systems of ethics and economics our practical 
 atheism, professing Christianity, and our abnegation of that 
 law, the crowning attribute of God inexorable justice. In 
 this perhaps too material age, busied with the vast moneyed 
 interests of commerce and trade, cotton and corn, we are prone 
 to forget or swift to ignore this great underlying principle of 
 God's moral government. Still, as in Spring-time buds and 
 blades are silent but sure prophecies of coining harvests of fruit 
 and golden maize, so the 'love of truth and justice cropping 
 scantily out here and there from the inner depths of the soul of 
 the grim trenchant man of the world, are certain harbingers, 
 foretelling the ultimate triumph of the just thing and the true, 
 and induce the belief that in some age, be it never so remote, 
 humanity will rise to an altitude sufficiently commanding to see 
 and to acknowledge that the immutable laws of justice have 
 their source and seat in the bosom of Divinity ; that they alone 
 can give permanence and security to the present, and guard 
 against the vicissitudes and changes incident to the future. It 
 is familiar knowledge, that for more than three quarters of a
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 371 
 
 century we had violated and spurned these immutable laws ; in 
 a more than figurative sense, " Justice had fled to brutish 
 beasts." In the meridian splendor of the grandest of the ages, 
 the most enlightened people on the face of the earth, professed 
 believers in the common brotherhood of man and universal 
 fatherhood of God, enunciated a doctrine new and strange in 
 these centuries of ours, that there is no law higher than the 
 statutes of men. Democratic demagogues assembled in Na- 
 tional Conventions, and elsewhere, were not the only men who 
 sent up an atheistical howl against the Higher Law. While 
 Justice, weeping, stood afar off, the " keel of our Christian 
 civilization " surged over the prostrated forms of one seventh 
 part of our entire population, and men there were of every 
 party, and priests of every creed, who dared, with stony heart 
 and impious tongue, to ask God's blessing on the cruelty. 
 
 From the banks of the Tiber, Rome, which had "rocked the 
 cradle of two civilizations," ruled the world and gone down to 
 ruin, conjured us by the mangled remains of her murdered 
 Tully ; and Greece, through the eloquent lips of her dying 
 Demosthenes, plead with us to lay the foundations of oui 
 governmental fabric upon the immutable principles of justice. 
 But the ceaseless activity and intense individuality of the 
 American mind, regardless of consequences, and impatient of 
 restraint, either human or Divine, drove its ploughshare of utili- 
 tarianism through creeds and formulas of the past, hoary with 
 age, and stamped with venerable authority, and from amid 
 their ruins evoked a new genius, with" golden front and sinews 
 of iron, which pointed to its railroads and telegraphs, its mines 
 of iron and of gold, its fields of coal and its granite warehouses, 
 its dextrous agents dancing upon fragile ropes above the thun- 
 ders of Niagara, riding upon the wings of the wind, linking 
 together continents by sub-marine cables, uniting oceans by 
 isthmus canals, and said, lo ! this is my age, the age of material 
 power and material inspiration ; and maddened with ambition, 
 lusting for gain, insatiate of power, unmindful or regardless of 
 the warning lessons of the past, with more than oriental devo- 
 tion we knelt and worshipped at its shrine. In vain did the 
 voice of history on the one hand, thundering along the course 
 of rained and desolated empires, pealing out from the buried 
 grandeur and magnificence of the past, portray to us the inex- 
 orable sequence of national injustice and crime ; and equally in 
 vain on the other did the genius of our republican institutions, 
 standing at the golden gates of the future, and holding in her 
 hands the bloody cerements of the past, warn us by the disas- 
 trous fall of other nations, great and powerful as ours, to be-
 
 372 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 ware of the whirlpools and maelstroms of wrong and error into 
 which they had fallen, and had sunk to rise no more. But 
 admonitions, warnings and consequences were alike unheeded ; 
 forgotten or ignored was the great law of retributive justice, 
 firm in the economy of God as the pillars of the universe, sure 
 as the march of the planets or the heave of the sea and our 
 grand old ship of state, cut loose from her ancient moorings, 
 with traitor captain and traitor crew, drifted amid waters strange 
 and unknown to the patriot masters who " wrought her ribs of 
 frteel." But the mailed hand of retributive justice was at length 
 laid upon us ; like a " thunderbolt from a cloudless sky," like 
 the sudden " bursting forth of volcanic fires," internecine and 
 civil war burst upon us. There was a change of programme ; 
 there was a sudden shifting of the scenery in the solemn drama 
 of our national affairs, when God reached forth his hand and 
 tore aside the curtain, and discovered us to ourselves and to the 
 world, on the brink of disunion and fatricidal strife. At such 
 a sight good men and angels might weep ; we might fancy a 
 " snickering laugh ran thro' the world below," and Death grinned 
 horribly a ghastly smile. But if the shock was great, the recoil 
 was greater ; " as lightning, like a bright wild beast leaps from 
 its thunder lair," the loyalty of the nation wakened from its 
 torpid dream of fancied security, instinctively rushed to arms. 
 Then over all our broad domain rolled the wild, desolating sea 
 of civil war. It dashed in spray and foam along the rock- bound 
 shores of New England ; on black, treacherous wave broke in 
 upon the heart of the empire city ; westward in its all-embrac- 
 ing arms it crushed Missouri ; it crested the eternal snows of the 
 Rocky Mountains with a crimson spray ; it burst in frenzied 
 fury over Texas; while in Pennsylvania, over Virginia, the 
 Carolinas, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee, it surged a vast 
 red sullen tide. The ground swell reached the continent of 
 Europe, and the startled nations in wonder, not unmingled with 
 awe, shuddered and turned pale. For four agonizing years we 
 sweltered on in a sea of fraternal blood ; for four years retribu- 
 tion gleamed from the polished shafts of a million bayonets, and 
 thundered from the sullen mouths of ten thousand cannon. 
 Not until the demands of justice had been satisfied ; not until 
 we had offered up a bloody holocaust of half a million slain, 
 did God roll back the over-arching cloud of lowering gloom. 
 Not until, as has been well said, '* What we refuse to see He 
 had set in a light so ghastly bright that it almost dazzled us 
 blind ; not until what we refused to believe He had written all 
 over the continent, with the sword's point dipped in the blood 
 of our best and most beloved."
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 378 
 
 But the great rebellion is ended. Its sun went down in a 
 sea of blood ; God grant it may rise no more. The continent 
 no longer trembles as though an earthquake rent it, beneath the 
 tramp of the marshalled hosts of war. 
 
 " The drums are all silent, the bugles are still 
 There's a pause in the valley, there's a halt on the hill." 
 
 God has crowned our efforts in the cause of humanity with mar- 
 vellous success. Our song of triumph, with increasing strength 
 and volume, echoes and re-echoes from an ocean on either hand, 
 the lakes behind, and the Mexique Gulf before; even our 
 former enemies mayhap it be in a subdued strain join with 
 us. The poor and the oppressed of all lands catch up and give 
 to immortality the undying paean. Already the horizon 
 brightens years of resplendent glory, peace, and prosperity, 
 oh anting the choral hymn of the ages, advance to meet us. 
 Joyfully we welcome thee. All hail ! hereafter, future ! so 
 auspiciously dawning upon us. Bnt these inestimable blessings, 
 and the prospect of a bright and happy future, were secured to 
 us by a terrible sacrifice. That the blessings of free government 
 might be preserved to us and to our children, and freedom be 
 no longer a mere possibility, or experiment, but an adamantine 
 actuality among men, three hundred thousand of our fathers, 
 husbands, brothers, and sons nobler, better, sublimer far than 
 we offered themselves a sacrifice for the sins of the nation. 
 And to-day,' from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, from the 
 everglades of Florida to the Ohio, their bones lie bleaching and 
 mouldering amid the ruins of an hundred battle-fields where 
 the grass grows greener and the flower blooms fairer because of 
 their blood. In those grand and harmonious ages which we 
 hope are yet to come, when oppression and wrong shall all have 
 passed away, the sublime sacrifice and the heroic death of these 
 men shall challenge the profoundest reverence and the highest 
 admiration of the philosopher, the historian and the statesman. 
 The poet, inspired by the lofty theme, shall fling to the world 
 songs of " lovelier beauty and harmony, of yet sweeter accord ; " 
 and before the painter and sculptor, inspired by their lofty deeds 
 and heroic daring, the star of Parrhasius ana Praxiteles shall 
 grow dim. When the scattered ashes of this grand period in 
 our history shall be gathered up and treasured in " history's 
 golden urn," generations yet unborn, deep within the bosom of 
 the future, struggling with new and stranger forms of despotism, 
 shall instinctively turn to that the grandest era in human his- 
 tory- for light and guidance, for lofty examples of heroism and 
 patriotism ; and there rekindle the fires of liberty, the love of
 
 374 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 justice and constitutional equality, and from thence shall gather 
 into their souls such grand inspirations, such hatred of oppres- 
 sion and wrong, as shall ultimately break every yoke, and make 
 men everywhere, and for all succeeding time, what God de- 
 signed they should be, equal in franchises, equal in immunities, 
 equal before the laws of men, as they are equal in the Courts of 
 Heaven. 
 
 I have said that three hundred thousand gave their lives that 
 the nation might be free, and the estimate is not too great. 
 They were swept from the land of living things by hunger and 
 thirst, by pestilence, and every conceivable form of disease ; 
 from the dungeon and the " dead line," by the deadly knife of 
 the assassin, and the sharp rifle of the ruflian, and in the white 
 heat of battle, as leaves are shaken down by autumnal storms, 
 and thrust foully into the earth I had almost said to be forgot 
 for to-day a vast majority of them sleep in " unmarked 
 graves/' No monumental shaft in solemn grandeur lifts its 
 stately head proclaiming to the world, here lie the fallen heroes 
 who gave their lives that the nation might be free. Forgotten, 
 did I say ? No ; by all the generous blood shed on a thousand 
 battle-fields in defence of human rights, no ; by the sacred mem- 
 ories which cluster around the names in that long line of mar- 
 tyrs to the cause of liberty, reaching down through all the ages, 
 110 ; by the sacred shrines of human freedom, they are not for- 
 gotten. We may forget them the nation which they died to 
 save, may forget them but God never forgets. Where the 
 Mississippi chants their eternal requiem where the Potomac 
 rolls down to the sea God's angels are keeping watch and 
 ward above their graves. No, my dead comrades, you are not 
 forgotten. Sleep in peace. Hands 'seen and unseen are this 
 day strewing flowers above your heads, and presently the world's 
 benediction shall fall upon your sacred graves. This generation 
 may not be worthy to lift the monuments which shail perpetu- 
 ate to the latest time the memory of your heroic deeds, your 
 toil, your suffering, and your martyrdom, but a generation, yet 
 to be, of loftier soul and nobler thought, shall 
 
 " Glean up your scattered ashes into history's golden urn." 
 
 To the dead and the living who joined that glorious army of 
 freedom, and fought for the liberties of the race, not this nation 
 only, but the world owes a debt of gratitude which it can never 
 pay. In concluding, let me say, a just regard for the inestima- 
 ble services they have done the cause of numan freedom, and 
 especially the cause of freedom in America, demands that their 
 memories be kept ever sacred, and in our consciousness, ever
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 375 
 
 fresh and dewy as the breath of God. Build them monuments 
 in every part of our broad domain ; make them of the purest 
 Parian marble ; you cannot make them purer than their heroic 
 and disinterested deeds. Build them to the sky ; you cannot 
 lift them to the heights of their lofty fame. To my dead com- 
 rades sleeping here, and everywhere in this land, redeemed and 
 regenerated by their generous blood in the name of every man 
 and woman in America in the name of the down-trodden and 
 oppressed of every land and clime, I say, sleep in peace. Com- 
 ing generations shall hold sacred your graves. History shall do 
 you justice. Peace to your sacrea ashes. Hail ! and farewell. 
 
 The graves were then decorated here as at the other ceme- 
 tery, the last round was fired, and the procession marched to the 
 Park, where the choir sung " Our Country," when the Marshal 
 introduced the Rev. Chas. Button, who addressed the audience 
 in a touching and eloquent speech, as follows : 
 
 LADIES, GENTLEMEN, COMRADES oy THE CONQUERING ARMY OF 
 THE REPUBLIC : It is well that we are met to-day to gar- 
 laud the graves of our fallen heroes. It is in accordance with 
 the throbbings of every loyal heart, and in a line of the patriot- 
 ism of the ages. Ancient Greece paid especial respect to the 
 memories of her sons fallen in battle in defence of the Repub- 
 lic. At the funeral ceremonies, and on the return of each anni- 
 versary occasion, the magistrates appointed the most distin- 
 guished orators to address the people upon the virtues of the dead, 
 the cause in which they fell, and to impress upon the living the 
 duty of imitating their gallant defenders. Thus Pericles, among 
 the Athenians, pronounced the eulogy over those who were first 
 slain in the Peloponesiau war; and Demosthenes, the silver- 
 tongued orator, performed the same service for those who fell in 
 the ill-fated battle of Chaeronea ; and among the Romans, those 
 who were distinguished in battle, or had gained a victory, were 
 crowned with palm leaves ; a branch of cypress or pine was fixed 
 upon the doors of their houses, while they were borne tenderly 
 to their graves upon their shields, and the gratitude of the na- 
 tion was spoken out over them, and a monument, suitably in- 
 scribed, was set up where they were lain. 
 
 Ptolemy took up the body of Alexander the Great, and in a 
 golden com'n bore it from Babylon to Alexandria, with great 
 pomp and ceremony. And the early Christians pronounced 
 eulogies, and partook of the sacrament of the supper over the 
 graves of the martyrs of the faith. And we come to-day to pay 
 our tribute of respect to the martyrs of liberty, to those who 
 died that the nation might live ; and as Cranton sung, so we 
 eay:
 
 376 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 " It is a happy fate to lie entombed, 
 In the deep recesses of a \vell-loved land." 
 
 And as we bow at each soldier's grave, we can exultingly say : 
 
 " Beneath this stone lies Bias, who was horn in the illustrious Prienean 
 land, the glory of the whole Ionian race." 
 
 Fellow-citizens and Comrades, it is no ordinary service we 
 perform to-day ! We come to call up the mighty deeds of valor 
 in the past, to kindle anew the sacred fires of Patriotism on the 
 altar of liberty, and to bind a chaplet of flowers on the brows 
 of the heroic dead, emblem of a nation's gratitude, and pledge 
 of enduring memory. In a national sense, the ground where 
 they now lie is holy, and every witnessing bush a sentinel of 
 liberty. " A-fire with God, and let him who sees take off his 
 shoes." On the high funeral pile of the honored dead, among 
 the ancient pagans, a living eagle was bound, which, as the 
 flames consumed the bodyrof the dead, liberated, flew heaven- 
 ward, and thus was fabled to bear away the soul of him they 
 would deify, and fix it among the stars of light. In another 
 sense our eagle, the genius of liberty, shall mount higher and 
 higher, and fly in broader circling flights, as he rises from the 
 sepulchres of our slain heroes, and will build his nest fast by the 
 altar of God, in the grand temple their hands have made for 
 him. But why do we bring our flowers and lay our tributes to- 
 day on these graves ? All history attests that mere brute cour- 
 age and power can have no abiding place in her annals. It was, 
 then, the spirit, the moral quality of our late contest, which 
 points the victories they gained, with the golden tips of national 
 blessing, as truly as the steel pointed the weapons with which 
 they fought. It was a war of principles, of mighty ideas, 
 brought along from the past. And our victories have projected 
 themselves into the pregnant future, and on the four sides of the 
 grand national shaft which shall yet be raised up in sight of the 
 whole world, we will inscribe Religion, Liberty, Equality, Frar 
 ternity. The angel of mercy brought the cup of republican 
 liberty down from heaven. He lingered awhile in the States 
 of Greece and Rome, and offered it to the Swiss Cantons, and 
 States-general of Holland, and for a day held it up to the view 
 of the French. And then he brought it across the ocean, and 
 pressed it to the lips of the Pilgrim fathers, and they passed it 
 on to the statesmen of their times. And the glowing utterances 
 of Adams, Hancock, Otis, Ames, Henry, and others, were taken 
 up, and by the pen of Jefferson were embodied in our immortal 
 declaration of right, and with the point of the sword our great 
 Washington engraved this declaration upon the national entab-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 377 
 
 lature. Such was the origin and such the baptism of our liberty, 
 and such were the witnesses attending it. The thunder-storm 
 and the tornado are made the ministers of God, yoked to the 
 car of His purposes. And so is war. A soldier's bayonet drove 
 back the spring which revealed the horrors of the inquisition. 
 The battle axe of the hastily gathered legionaries struck away 
 the foundations of the old Bastile, though opposed by the royal 
 troops, and the prediction of Louis XVI., who lazily turned 
 upon his bed at midnight, and said, It is only an insurrection. 
 
 The tide of popular liberty, from the scaffold of Hampden, 
 rolled the rough edge of war around the throne of Charles I., 
 and from which he first went into exile, and then to execution. 
 Charles Martel met the " shadow of the sun," on the plains of 
 Tours, in a seven days' battle of unexampled slaughter, but the 
 issue gave us the best living type of civilization, and the Bible 
 instead of the Koran. And often has the halberd of the soldier 
 cut away the coils of ignorance and superstition, from which 
 priests and statesmen could no more extricate themselves, than 
 could Laocoon from the coils of the sea serpent. And it was only 
 " a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel." which could 
 possibly carry conviction to the hearts of our people, on the sub- 
 ject of a gigantic wrong among us. And this it was that gave 
 freedom to 4,000,000 of men, and placed in their hands the bal- 
 lot the defensive weapon of freemen. 
 
 But our brothers went forth to the high places of the field ; 
 a million of men sprang to arms, and swore by Him who liveth 
 forever that the "jewel of Liberty shall remain forever in the 
 family of Freedom." Our mothers, like the Spartan matrons, 
 said, " Go, my son, and may God protect you in duty and the 
 right." And each noble boy replied : 
 
 " Who would be a traitor knave, 
 Who would fill a coward's grave, 
 Who so base as be a .-lave, 
 Let him turn and flee." 
 
 It was for country, with its glorious historical and traditional 
 past, for which they endured hardships in the bivouac, the 
 march, and in the red strife. It was a glorious day for the 
 American name when, in the distant port of Smyrna, a captain 
 of a man-of-war looked down upon an 'adopted citizen in chains 
 and said, "Do you wish the protection of my government?" 
 Martin Kosta answered, "I do." "Then you shall have it," 
 said Ingraham, and the man was set free. And it was for this 
 proud eminence that our boys took the starry banner and bore 
 it in triumph across the burning sands of Carolina, the swamps
 
 378 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 of Georgia, and from the banks of the Cumberland, the Missis- 
 sippi, the Ogeechee, and up Missionary Ridge and Lookout 
 Mountain, and planted it on its rocky heights. 
 
 Leonidas brandished his sword flashing in the sunlight at 
 Thermopylae, and said, " Witness, ye rocks and hills, I swear 
 Greece shall be free." So our Sherman rose up in his saddle 
 and pointed his sword to the sea, and the veterans hewed a pas- 
 sage to Savannah. 
 
 And the Cumberland went down with our flag flying, and 
 fighting with her guns to the last. And let us not forget our 
 Kearsarge and our brave Farragut. But at what a cost was 
 this ! Three hundred thousand of our men have died as the 
 result of this war ! And what a debt we owe the survivors, and 
 to the families of the slain, and to the country ! Let it never be 
 said that the Republic is ungrateful to its defenders and their 
 families. And let us year by year perpetuate the memory of 
 our fallen comrades by a service like the present ; and as we bow 
 at their graves, with God we will leave them. 
 
 "Bring flowers, pale flowers, o'er the grave to shed, 
 A crown for the brows of the soldier dead; 
 For this thro' the leaves hath the white rose burst, 
 For this in the woods was the violet nursed, 
 Though they sigh in vain for what once was ours, 
 They are love's last gift, bring flowers, bright flowers." 
 
 Thus ended the first decoration ever held in Aurora. 
 
 Ax BUNKER HILL, ILL. 
 
 The comrades of the Post at Bunker Hill set at work ear- 
 nestly, and it was publicly announced that on the day specified 
 the graves of the soldiers sleeping in the cemetery at that place 
 would be decorated. 
 
 Long before the hour arrived, the people of the surrounding 
 country and neighboring towns commenced making their appear- 
 ance laden with flowers. Business was entirely suspended, and 
 at half-past two o'clock a procession was formed, headed by the 
 Bunker Hill brass band, next the members of the Post, then 
 citizens and strangers generally, and proceeded to the beautiful 
 cemetery. 
 
 Before this the soldiers' monument was finely decorated a 
 wreath of evergreen winding from the base to the top, from 
 which floated the flag for which so many now sleeping here had 
 bravely fought. The tolling of bells, and the faint strains 
 of music gently reaching the ear, indicated that the procession 
 had commenced its inarch. Soon it arrived on the ground, and 
 forming a circle the exercises commenced :
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 379 
 
 1. Music by the Band ; 2. Reading of Order No. 11 ; 3. Yo- 
 cal Music " Toll the bell, the braves are sleeping ;" 4. Praver, 
 bv Rev. J. W. Lane; 5. Yocal Music "Lay him low;'' 6. 
 THE ORATION by Mr. E. W. Hayes : 
 
 ORATION. 
 
 Standing beneath this serene sky, overlooking these broad 
 fields now teeming with wealth and beauty, making glad and 
 ravishing the heart of every beholder, with the almost limitless 
 prairie spread out before us, and the graves of our brethren 
 beneath our feet it is with hesitation, with reverential awe, with 
 an almost overpowering sense of weakness, that I lift my poor 
 voice to break the silence of God and Nature ; but the duty to 
 which you have called me must be performed. Grant me, I beg 
 you, your indulgence, your sympathy. 
 
 It was appointed by the laws of Athens, that the obsequies 
 of the citizens who fell in battle should be performed at the pub- 
 lic expense, and in the most honorable manner. Their bones 
 were carefully gathered from the funeral pyre on which their 
 bodies had been burned, and brought home to the city. There 
 they lay in state for three days before the interment, under tents 
 of honor, to receive the votive offerings of relatives and friends 
 flowers, weapons, precious ornaments, painted vases the last 
 tributes of surviving affection. Ten coffins of funeral cypress 
 received the honorable deposits one for each of the tribes of 
 the city and an eleventh to the memory of the unrecognized 
 but not unhonored dead, together with those whose remains 
 could not be recovered. On the fourth day the mournful pro- 
 cession was formed. Mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters led 
 the way, and to them it was permitted, by the simplicity of 
 ancient customs, to utter aloud their lamentations for the beloved 
 and lost; male relatives and friends of the deceased followed ; 
 citizens and strangers closed the train. Thus marshaled, they 
 moved to the place of interment in that famous ceramicus, the 
 most beautiful suburb of Athens, which had been adorned by 
 Cimon,the son of Miltiades, with walks, fountains, and columns ; 
 whose groves were filled with altars, shrines and temples, and 
 whose gardens were kept forever green by streams from the 
 neighboring hills, and shaded by trees sacred to Minerva; whose 
 circuit enclosed 
 
 * * " the olive grove of Academe, 
 Plato's retirement, where the Attic bird 
 Trilled his thick-warbled note the summer long ;" 
 
 whose pathways gleamed with the monuments of the illustrious 
 dead, the work of the most consummate masters that ever gave
 
 380 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 lite to marble. There beneath the over -arching plane-trees, on 
 a stage erected for the purpose, it was ordained that a funeral 
 oration should be pronounced by some citizen of the republic in 
 the presence of the assembled multitude. 
 
 ouch were the honors required to be paid at Athens to the 
 memory of those who fell for their country's cause. We, friends 
 and comrades in armsj have met this day in pursuance of an 
 order from the Commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the 
 Republic, which has been read in your hearing. The object of 
 our coming together, as you have just heard, is to give some 
 token of remembrance to our dead comrades ; to show to all 
 mankind that we have not forgotten their noble lives, their 
 glorious death. On this beautiful day we, the soldiers of the 
 .Republic, have gathered in little groups all over our beloved 
 country to pay an humble tribute to the noble sacrifice they 
 made for the salvation of liberty, of human right; and this day 
 shall the same grand anthem be echoed by the old hills of the 
 frozen North, and re-echoed over the broad savannas of the 
 sunny South. This day shall the willow and cypress be twined 
 to their memory from the mountains to either sea from where 
 the sun bids our land a bright " Good Morning," to where his 
 last ray kisses her a fond " Good Night" from vespers even to 
 the curfew's toll, shall this day speak their praises and their 
 worthy deeds. 
 
 When first foul treason reared her hideous head within our 
 borders, and the deep-toned war-dogs bayed death from their 
 black and horrid throats, and the tocsin sounded the call to arms, 
 then from valley, plain and hillside went up one shout of patrio- 
 tic fervor that made the welkin ring. Then were seen our 
 youth our noble youth hastening to obey their country's call 
 
 "From North, and East, and West they came, 
 They left their plowshares in the mould, 
 Their flocks and herds without the fold, 
 Their sickles in the unmown grain, 
 Their corn half garner'd on the plain, 
 To right their wrongs, come weal, come woe, 
 To perish or o'ercome the foe." 
 
 Then he who but yesterday was a beardless boy tending his 
 father's flocks or learning some useful calling, to-day stood forth 
 a man, proud of his country, of his birth-right of freedom, a 
 patriotic fire kindling his eye and bracing his sinews. They 
 came not as serfs or slaves come, with fear and trembling, to 
 obey the behest of their tyrant master ; but with ioyful alacrity 
 they came to offer their services if need be, tneir lives in 
 freedom's, law's and their country's cause. Then did we see
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 381 
 
 men, strong men, shed tears, great crystal tears, and pure as the 
 dewdrop not because they were called upon to leave home, 
 friends, and calling, for the hard services of the tented field, 
 but because the ranks were full and they had been left out. 
 
 Soon came the shock of arms, the horrid din of battle ; but 
 'to you, my comrades, who have stood in the awful breach where 
 Death and Hell held revel, it is not necessary for me to describe 
 the scene. Each one of you can call to mind, aye, could not 
 drive them from memory if you would, the stern array of battle 
 when each moment expectation waited for the cannon's opening 
 roar when glancing down the formed line, each man marked 
 the countenance of Yiis friend and breathed silent prayer to the 
 Great Almighty Father, that when the strife should cease they 
 might be permitted to meet each other safe from harm. Then 
 all were pale and silent, with firm set lips and heaving breasts, 
 but with a look that told of victory or death. 
 
 Hark ! did you hear that gun ? It was the signal for the 
 fight. Forward and then, grant, oh ! merciful Father, that we 
 may never see such sights again. The hard contested battle 
 over, the field was either lost or won, and those of us who had 
 been spared gathered again within our camp. TJie roll the 
 saddest ever heard was called ; one and another answered not ; 
 a brother, friend or comrade was not there ; he was gone, for- 
 ever gone ! 
 
 " We buried him darkly a f dead of night, 
 
 The sods with our bayonets turniug 
 By the struggling moonbeams misty light, 
 And the lantern dimly burning. 
 
 " No useless coffin enclosed his breast, 
 
 Nor in sheet nor fn shroud we wound him ; 
 But he lay like a warrior taking his rest 
 With his martial cloak around him. 
 
 " Few and short were the prayers we said, 
 
 And we spoke not a word of sorrow, 
 But we steadfastly gazed on the face of the dead 
 And bitterly thought of the morrow. 
 
 " Slowly and sadly we laid him 
 
 From the field of his fame fresh and gory; 
 We carved not a line, we raised not a stone, 
 But we left him alone in his glory." 
 
 Mayhap we left him where he fell, with none but foes, cruel, 
 savage foes, to gather up his precious dust ; or what is almost 
 Worse, in that last fearful charge he was taken a prisoner, 
 dragged away to those most miserable pens, where thousands 
 were crowded together, to starve, and droop, and die a death
 
 382 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 lingering and awful beyond comparison. Go with me now, 
 when all is hushed and calm and still. The day is gone, and 
 from yon azure arch the silver moon sheds down her quiet 
 light ; no sound is heard save the distant sentries' tread, and 
 the low deep groan of the wounded or the parting prayer of the 
 dying. But let me throw a pall over a scene which no words 
 can adequately depict, and on which no one who has a heart in 
 his bosom desires to dwell. Scarce one among us, fellow-sol- 
 diers, but has bent over some dying comrade to catch the last 
 whispered accents of his voice, the last message of love to those 
 at home a mother, wife, or sister far away and often have we 
 heard the sentiment : " Dulce et decorum est pro patria rnori." 
 
 " "We saw in death his eyelids close, calmly 
 As to a night's repose ; like flowers at set of son. 
 
 Come to the bridal chamber, Death ; 
 
 Come when the mother feels for the first time her first-born's breath ; 
 
 Come when the blessed seals which bind the pestilence are broke, 
 
 And crowded cities wail its stroke ; 
 
 Come in consumption's ghastly form, 
 
 The earthquake's shock, the ocean's storm ; 
 
 Come when the heart beats high and warm 
 
 With banquet, song and dance and wine, 
 
 And thou art terrible. The tear. 
 
 The knell, the groan, the pall, the bier. 
 
 And all we know, or dream, or fear 
 
 Of agony are thine. 
 
 But to the hero, 
 
 When his sword has won the battle for the free, 
 
 Thy voice sounds like a prophet's words, 
 
 And in its hallowed tones are heard 
 
 The thanks of millions yet to be. [cUrae." 
 
 Rest, soldier, rest! there is no prouder grave, even in our own proud 
 
 To you, fathers, mothers, wives, sisters, children of the fallen 
 brave, I hardly dare to speak. Their memory is a precious 
 boon. Your emotions would shame my poor words, but know 
 ye this we have not forgotten them. For their death our 
 nation owes you a debt of gratitude it never can repay, and 
 while a boy who wore the blue survives it shall not be forgotten. 
 Well do you remember those days of gloom, of anxious solici- 
 tude, of dire suspense, when, with trembling fingers and blinded 
 eyes, you scanned those long lists of killed and missing, and 
 when at last the sad news came that your dear one was number- 
 ed with the dead, how you bowed your head with grief, still 
 thanking God for this he did his duty well, and died an 
 honored soldier's death. How much prouder and more consol- 
 ing is the memory of that dear friend than his presence could 
 have been had he proved recreant in the hour of danger. I knew
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 383 
 
 an aged man who had two sons ; the one fled his home and 
 country to avoid his duty, the other fell on the field of battle ; 
 and as that old man spoke to me of his unworthy son, he said : 
 " Oh, that he had died as his brother ! Then my tears would 
 have been tears of love and pride, not tears of shame ! " As- 
 sembled friends, we who have gathered here this day have a 
 strong, an indissoluble tie to bind us to our country and to each 
 other in the death of those whose memory we this day commem- 
 orate. They have left to us a priceless legacy a country saved 
 with liberty secure. Let us guard it well, remembering this, 
 
 " That Freedom's battle once begun, 
 Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son, 
 Though oftimes baffled 'tis ever won." 
 
 And they have left us something more. Their widows and 
 orphans are among us, and by kindly care and sympathy for 
 these we can best show our honor for their memory. That 
 sympathy which says, " Be ye clothed and fed," and yet turneth 
 the hungry and naked away empty, is not such as God and hu- 
 manity can commend ; not such as evinces gratitude to those 
 who gave a husband or a father for the purchase of inestimable 
 blessings to our common country. That care which can calmly 
 see the soldiers' orphaned children reared in ignorance or crime 
 and not stretch forth a hand for their rescue, is not the care of 
 the Christian or the patriot, not the care taught by that rule, 
 " As ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so unto 
 them?' 
 
 While we this day call to mind the fallen brave, let us not 
 forget our martyred chieftain. He who for four long years with 
 noble courage steered the ship of state over a raging sea ; whose 
 eye was ever watchful when dangers thickened round, and his 
 hand steady on the helm when the night was darkest and the 
 tempest roared ; to him the soldier ever looked with confidence 
 and hope. Just when the ship had reached the haven where 
 Peace stood smiling on the shore, then he was stricken down by 
 treason's foulest blow. He died for Freedom's holy cause, 
 
 " That cause for which we wave the sword on high, 
 And swear with her to live, for her to die." 
 
 Proceed we now to garland the monuments and deck the 
 graves of our sleeping comrades with earth's purest, brightest, 
 sweetest offspring flowers. Let us bring our tributes to their 
 tombs with thankful, grateful hearts for the peace we now en- 
 joy, for a country saved from the curse of treason, for the good- 
 ness of God in preserving our lives while so many fell by our 
 side, and for permitting us this day to do this humble act of 
 homage to their memory.
 
 384 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 "Bring flowers, young flowers, to deck this stone, 
 "Which tell of brave spirits that from earth have flown ; 
 Bring flowers, they are springing in wood and vale, 
 Their breath floats out on the Southern gale, 
 And the touch of the sunbeam hath wakened the rose, 
 Whose perfume is sweet to our comrades' repose. 
 
 Bring flowers, bright flowers, from hillside and plain, 
 Their colors recall the deeds of the slain, 
 They are emblems of valor, honor, and truth ; 
 They remind us of those who have died in their youth; 
 Who died by the hands of traitors and knaves 
 Who were willing to die, but not to be slaves. 
 
 Bring flowers, fresh flowers, from quiet homes, 
 Where a son or a brother never comes : 
 Let them be sprinkled in the tear-drop's dew, 
 For they tell of a memory that's ever true ; 
 That shall always cling through coining time 
 To the one who was taken in manhood's prime. 
 
 Bring flowers, pale flowers, on the grave to shed, 
 
 Where sleep their long sleep our country's dead ; 
 
 For this through its leaves the white rose burst; 
 
 For this in the wood was the violet nursed ; 
 
 Though they smile in vain for what once was ours, 
 
 They are Love's last gift ! Bring flowers, bring flowers ! " 
 
 After the oration, the band took a prominent position on an 
 elevated portion of the grounds. The procession then marched 
 to each grave, and after the announcement was made by the 
 Adjutant of the Post, as to when the soldier enlisted, the num- 
 ber of his regiment, the length of service, the place and time of 
 death, the decorating committee, consisting of Messrs. Flanna- 
 gin, Atchison, and Mathie, received the contributions of flowers 
 and wreaths and strewed them over the graves. The same scene 
 was repeated at each grave until the entire number had been 
 decorated. The following is a list of the soldiers : 
 
 Serg't Leander Bird, enlisted at Bunker Hill, 111., Aug. 1862 
 in Co. A, 97th Reg. 111. Yols. Died in hospital at Memphis, Tenn., 
 July 1, 1863. Corp. Sam'l Bird enlisted at Bunker Hill, 111., Aug. 
 1862, in Co. A, 97th Reg. Yols. Died in hospital at Jefferson 
 Barracks, Mo.. July 1, 1863. Lieut. Theodore H. Gildemeister 
 enlisted at Bunker Hill, April, 1861, in Co. F, 7th Reg. HI. 
 Yols. Afterward transferred to Mississippi Marine Brigade, 
 and commissioned as Second Lieut. Honorably mustered out 
 with his command. Died at his home near Bunker Hill, April 
 25, 1866. Lieut. A. C. Atchison enlisted at Bunker Hill, 111., 
 April 15, 1861, in Co. F, 7th 111. Yols. Honorably discharged 
 at expiration of term. Re-enlisted Aug. 8, 1862, in Co. A, 
 97th 111. Yols., commissioned as First Lieut. Killed in battle 
 May 20, 1863, before Yicksburg, Miss. Frederick Davis en-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 385 
 
 listed at Bunker Hill, El., July, 1861, in Co. F, 7th HI. Infan- 
 try. Died at Bunker Hill, 1862, while absent from his com- 
 mand by reason of sickness. Joseph Tupper, a member of Co. 
 C, 114th Keg. 111. Vols., died at Bunker Hill while on leave of 
 absence. Lieut. J. B. T. Mead entered service 1861, was com- 
 misioned as Adjutant 28th 111. Infantry. Mortally wounded in 
 battle of Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., April 6, 1862, died at 
 St. Louis, Mo., April 26, 1862. George A. Adams enlisted 
 at Bunker Hill, 111., 1861, in Co. B, 1st Missouri Cav. Died in 
 hospital Sept. 24, 1861. David H. Stark enlisted 1864 in Co. 
 , 152d Reg. 111. Yols. Died Feb. , 1867, at his home near 
 Bunker Hill. Samuel Squires enlisted in 1862 at Bunker Hill, 
 111., in Co. A, 97th Keg. HL Vols. Died in hospital at Jefferson 
 Barracks, Mo., Marcn 1, 1863. James Breath entered the 
 service at Bunker Hill, Feb. 1864. Died at Camp Butler, 111., 
 while awaiting muster. Gilbert Hamilton enlisted at Bunker 
 Hill, April, 1861, in Co. F, 7th Keg. Ill Yols. Discharged at 
 expiration of term. Re-enlisted in the 59th 111. Yols. ; trans- 
 ferred to the Kara Fleet, and died on board the Ram Monarch, 
 Feb. 8, 1863. Theodore Sneideker enlisted Aug. 11, 1862, in 
 Co. B, 80th Keg. 111. Yols. Died at Bridgeport, Alabama, 
 April 9, 1864. H. A. M. Wick, a member of Co. B, 1st Mo. 
 Cavalry, died in hospital at Rolla, Mo., Dec. 3, 1861. Harman 
 T. Davis enlisted in Mississippi Marine Brigade, Dec. 10, 1862. 
 Discharged by reason of disability, May 10, 1863. Re-entered 
 service in 144th Reg. 111. Yols.. October, 1863. Discharged at 
 expiration of term. Died at his home near Bunker Hill. 
 George Rickner entered service July, 1861, in Co. F, 7th Reg. 
 HI. Yols. Died in hospital at Fort Holt, Kentucky, Nov. 27, 
 1861. Albert Rodney Sawyer, Asst. Surg. 33d Mo. Infantry, 
 entered service Sept. 18, 1863 ; discharged Jan. 20, 1864, bv 
 reason of physical disability. Died at his home in Bunker Hill, 
 May 21, 1868. Win. Truesdale, commissioned as Colonel and 
 placed on staff duty as Chief of Secret Police, Army of the 
 Cumberland. Died at his home in Bunker Hill, Nov. 26, 1867. 
 Geo. W. Love enlisted in Co. G, 10th Mo. Infantry. Mustered 
 out in 1862, on account of disability. Died October, 1867. 
 
 AT ELGIN, ILL. 
 
 At 2 o'clock, p. M., the soldiers formed in column by twos 
 in the following order : Elgin Brass Baud ; Martial Band ; Flag 
 draped in mourning and decked with a laurel wreath ; Capt. G. 
 F. Lewis, P. C. ; Soldiers in column by twos ; Citizens on foot ; 
 Citizens in carriages. At half-past 2 the column moved off, 
 taking Chicago, Centre, and Du Page streets in their route to 
 25
 
 386 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 the cemetery, each soldier carrying a beautifiil bouquet present- 
 ed by the ladies of Elgin. As the column arrived at the ceme- 
 tery gate, without halting, undoubled files and in single rank, 
 preceded by the Martial Band playing a funeral dirge, and con- 
 ducted by J. B. Newcomb, filed to the left, and as they passed 
 a soldier's grave, each comrade strewed flowers upon it. There 
 were twenty-nine of them, those silent sleepers, the representa- 
 tives of every battle-field of the war. Their resting-places were 
 distinguished from all others by flags, and many of them by 
 beautiful wreaths and bouquets placed there by the hands of 
 affection. But there were a few that seemed lost and friendless 
 in this u silent city of the dead " a plain, paint-lettered board 
 to mark the spot, that will soon decay and their names be for- 
 gotten. 
 
 After the graves of all had been visited and decorated, the 
 soldiers formed in a hollow square around the stand, where a 
 temporary pole had been raised, upon which a flag was flying 
 at half-mast. Rev. C. E. Dickenson offered up a fervent prayer, 
 which was followed by a quartette entitled " They are Gone." 
 Rev. W. D. Atchison was then introduced. 
 
 ADDRESS BY REV. W. D. ATCHTSON. 
 
 FELLOW-CITIZENS : I am quite conscious that I shall speak 
 upon this occasion under a feeling that the subject to be brought 
 before you is not altogether a new one. I may say some things 
 that have been said by others over the fall of those to whom we 
 now come to pay honor. And yet I am reminded that ninety- 
 two years have passed away since the beginning of the Revolu- 
 tionary struggle, and although the defenders of* our cause then 
 have all passed away, we never tire of speaking and hearing of 
 their noble deeds and sacrifices for liberty ; and when we con- 
 sider the circumstances under which our comrades fell, we shall, 
 I trust, never tire of telling to our children, and children's chil- 
 dren, their heroic deeds. Standing in this silent city of the 
 dead, where the jars and tumults of life that disturb us, trouble 
 not the quiet sleepers beneath the sod, we are reminded of that 
 mortality that awaits us, the living. But we are also reminded 
 by the many tokens of friendship we see around us, that though 
 
 Death may the bonds of life unloose, 
 It can't dissolve our love. 
 
 Here the affections of the living often linger by the tomb of 
 departed loved ones ; and, dear as the place is to them on this 
 account, it is rendered doubly so to us from the fact that here 
 rests a number of our fallen patriots, who, by their manly 
 efforts, aided in the deliverance of our country in her hour of
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 387 
 
 peril. And it seems highly fitting in this beautiful May month, 
 now as the trees are putting forth their foliage, ana the air 
 comes to us freighted with the fragrance of Spring, that we 
 should pay some token of respect to their memory. But why 
 all this demonstration for them ? Why not make the same for 
 others who have fallen in peace ? Because, in a peculiar sense, 
 it may be said that these men did not die a common death. Of 
 them it may truthfully be said, They died not for themselves, 
 but for us. Neither did they die in a common cause not com- 
 mon, because of its importance and righteousness. This gave 
 them courage in the day of battle. By the great Teacher it has 
 been truthfully said : u Greater love hath no man than this, 
 that he lay down his life for his friends." And this is precisely 
 what our gallant dead have done. It was not that they loved 
 war ; for they were educated in schools of industry, and were 
 taught to love the ways of peace. They were not, like the 
 ancient Greeks and Romans, educated to glory in war. But 
 while they were educated in schools of peace, they were taught 
 to love liberty and to respect the Constitution and laws of their 
 own beloved land. And it was only when these were assailed, 
 and the Flag insulted by traitors, that they sprang, as if by 
 magic, to its rescue, and only accepted war as the last and most 
 fearful way to peace and safety. And although not educated to 
 the use of arms, they were neither wanting in courage nor skill 
 in the day of trial ; thus convincing the world that intelligence, 
 when the necessity arises, makes its possessor all the stronger. 
 Did the world ever witness such a sight ? An army born in a 
 day composed of men from every walk and calling in life, 
 from the field, the shop, the counter, the college, the school, the 
 court, the pulpit, and the sea. I have said that they died for 
 their friends and country. And who reap the fruit of their toil 
 and zeal ? We and our children. They sleep on every battle- 
 field of the Republic, and in every cemetery in the land, hold- 
 ing it sacred for God and liberty. " They died to make men 
 free." But for them, where would our liberty have been ? 
 Trampled in the dust ! And when I look around me to-day, 
 on these beautiful farms, and at those costly residences, those 
 steepled churches and free schools, I am ready, with you, to 
 bend by their graves, and with a full heart acknowledge that to 
 their courage and endurance, under God, we enjoy all these. 
 In our own beautiful cemetery sleep twenty-nine of those who 
 went forth to battle and die for us. These represent no less than 
 sixteen different regiments and nearly every great battle of the 
 war. They are dead, -but not forgotten, as the proceedings of 
 this day fully show. And let none think for a moment that this
 
 388 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 act of thus decorating the graves of loved comrades is a cold, 
 formal, heartless act. It is the impulse of noble and manly 
 affections strengthened and made sacred by the perils of battle. 
 Comrades, you stand to-day members of one of the grandest, if 
 not the grandest army, the sun in the heavens ever shone upon, 
 stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and you stand 
 pledged to be true to the great principles for which you and 
 your fellow-comrades fought. " Part of the host have crossed 
 the flood," and soon time's rapid flight will bear us all away to 
 sleep together on the bosom of the land 'we love the most. But, 
 not to be forgotten ; your graves will be Meccas to which the 
 living will come to kindle the fires of patriotism anew in their 
 own breasts. Unborn generations will rise up to call you 
 blessed, and unborn hands will decorate your grave, as you 
 have the graves of your comrades. Let us, in the language of 
 the immortal Lincoln, uttered as he stood upon the bloody field 
 of Gettysburg, remember that, while we " cannot consecrate 
 ground already consecrated by so many of our honored dead, 
 we can be here dedicated to the great task before us, and from 
 these honored ones we may take increased devotion to the cause 
 for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, and here 
 highly resolve that these martyrs shall not have died in vain." 
 Your work will not be done until every revolted State shall 
 again be represented in the Halls of Congress, and that, too, on 
 the principles of " life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." 
 In this work there must be given unceasing devotion, and I 
 doubt not but that it will be given. Let traitor hands again be 
 raised, and the sword of these guardians of our liberty would 
 leap from its scabbard, flashing in the sunbeams of heaven with 
 more brightness and terror than ever before, turning every way 
 to guard the Tree of Liberty. Comrades, never lose sight of 
 this fact : 
 
 Soldiers brave are all for Union, 
 
 North and South, East and "West ; 
 All the States in loved communion, 
 
 Heart and hand with freedom blessed : 
 We are a band of brothers, 
 
 All the States are sisters, too ; 
 And in time there will be others 
 
 That shall happy vows renew. 
 Let the hopeful words be spoken, 
 
 On the wings of promise borne ; 
 Never shall the links be broken, 
 
 Never shall the flag be torn ! 
 Union now and Union ever, 
 
 Soldiers brave for Union all ; 
 We will keep it safe, and never 
 
 Shall our glorious Union falL
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 3S9 
 
 No, never ! It will be sweet to thus pass away, to mingle our 
 dust with those who now rest ; to feel, as we lie down, that the 
 work of the Grand Army of the Republic has not been in vain. 
 No ; like a belt of light, their work will span the globe, and 
 when that day shall come that shall witness the " sword beaten 
 into plowshares and the spear into pruning-hooks, and the des- 
 erts shall blossom like a garden," not only will the mighty gen- 
 erations that follow us here, but from Africa and India, will 
 men look to the sun in the Western skies, and feel that the sac- 
 rifices of this great army sleeping under his beams, led, in no 
 small degree, to the peace and glory that they will then enjoy. 
 The monument that you may erect on this spot will wear away 
 before the touch of Time ; but the monument that the true 
 soldier has erected by his devotion shall never fade ! 
 
 At the close of the address, the singers were again intro- 
 duced, and sang, " Our Own Brave Boys." 
 
 AT WATERLOO, ILL. 
 
 In the forenoon of the 30th of May, the invited comrades 
 (thirty-five) of Post No. 279, Columbia, 111., under command 
 of C. Renter, their P. C., arrived, armed and equipped, with 
 colors flying and a fine band of music, and were conducted to 
 headquarters. At 1 o'clock, p. M., the parade was formed ; the 
 members of the G. A. R. numbered eighty-two, all armed and 
 equipped, and marched P. A. Comrade W m. Lofink command- 
 ing as follows : Two guides with rods, dressed in mourning ; 
 Twelve Musicians ; The Colors of the 49th Regiment 111. Vol. 
 Inf., carried by Capt. S. Sondag, accompanied by two color ser- 
 geants, 4 boys sons of soldiers carrying baskets with flowers ; 
 next marched Comrade C. H. Kettler, Commander of Post No. 
 274 and Speaker of the day ; Colors of the Post No. 274 ; Com- 
 rades of Post No. 279 ; Colors ; Comrades of Post No. 274 ; 
 Late Soldiers of different regiments, and Citizens. 
 
 With reversed arms, appropriate music, and colors in mourn- 
 ing, they marched through a part of the town, directly to the 
 graveyard, situated about half a mile from the town, and halting 
 in the centre of the same, formed in line, where Comrade Capt. 
 C. H. Kettler delivered the following address : 
 
 LADIES, GENTLEMEN, AND COMKADES : You have assembled 
 here to perform an office as graceful as it is beautiful. This 
 amiable custom of decorating with flowery tokens of esteem 
 and admiration the graves of our heroic dead, finds its original 
 in the affections and in the gratitude of all good men, as you 
 yourselves this very day can personally bear witness. If you 
 should need further proof of this fact, it will be necessary only
 
 390 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 to recollect that, in every age and in every nation in which 
 valor and patriotism were held to be virtues, this custom has 
 been punctiliously and feelingly honored. Hence you have 
 come around and among these green graves, that you may be 
 enabled to truthfully affirm, that you have left no duty unper- 
 formed and no honor unbestowed. 
 
 And, my friends, the warmth and bounteousness of the 
 affection which fills your hearts for the friends and the lovers, 
 for the sons and the fathers, for the brothers and the husbands, 
 who repose in these silent graves, is reflected from the aspect of 
 vernal Nature whch surrounds us this day. All Nature is ma- 
 turing with genial warmth. The floral May, which, with her 
 abounding beauties, is grateful to the eye, will soon be followed 
 by the "leafy month " of June. Let the hue of this " leafy 
 month of June " color with perennial freshness the memories of 
 the brave soldiers whom you to-day reverently honor. 
 
 My friends, it needs not for me to speak about the excellen- 
 cies and virtues of these good men who have fallen in their 
 country's cause, and who now lie in peace in this beloved ceme- 
 tery. They were all upright citizens of this County ; they lived 
 with you and among you. They went forth from you with 
 Spartan courage and with Athenian intelligence, at the call of 
 their country ; they endured the hardships of campaign in 
 Spring, in Summer, in Autumn, and in Winter ; they marched 
 weary marches over our widely-extended land ; and they, among 
 three hundred thousand heroes, shed their blood for the life of 
 their country. The war, which they successfully waged, created 
 four millions of freemen out of four millions of slaves, and 
 maintained the United States of America, as a nation, " one and 
 inseparable." 
 
 The comrades and citizens then decorated the graves (eight), 
 and three volleys were tired over their graves. After leaving 
 the graveyard, they marched, with music and flying colors, 
 through the town to headquarters. 
 
 AT PEOKIA, ILL. 
 
 The demonstration here was attended with great interest 
 throughout. Before the sun had made its appearance in the 
 morning, the monument in the court-house square was hung 
 with evergreens. A guard was detailed from the Harlow Zou- 
 aves, and placed around the monument, and the flags in the city 
 were unfurled at half-mast, in honor of the dead. 
 
 At about 10 o'clock, the Ladies' League, the surviving com- 
 rades of the soldiers, and a number of ladies and gentlemen, 
 proceeded to Springdale Cemetery, where the ceremony of
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 391 
 
 decorating the graves in the soldiers' resting-place was per- 
 formed. The soldiers' burying-groimd is situated in the centre 
 of Springdale, on a beautiful knoll, and here repose the remains 
 of thirty -three fallen heroes. The graves were decorated with 
 flowers and wreaths, preceded by the singing of sun appropri- 
 ate hymn by the Quartette Club, and a prayer by Rev. G. F. 
 Stearns, when the party returned to the city. About 2 o'clock 
 the soldiers assembled at the armory of the Harlow Zouaves, 
 and marched to the court-house square, where a large assem- 
 bly had already gathered in front of the County and Circuit 
 Clerk's offices. After music by Spencer's Baud, the Rev. W. 
 II. Roberts offered a .prayer, and the Quartette Club sang 
 another song. Capt. W. T. Dodds, Marshal of the day, then 
 introduced R. G. Ingersoll, who delivered the following 
 
 EULOGY. 
 
 Again we have assembled to honor the heroic dead, and to 
 consecate ourselves anew to the great cause for which they sac- 
 rificed all. To their sacred memory this monument rises, and 
 for their dear sakes it is again covered with flowers and the air 
 filled with perfume. There is no more sacred duty than to 
 honor the ashes of the grand dead. These men, whose names 
 are upon this marble, were the defenders of more than their 
 country of more than the Union. They were the defenders 
 of Humanity, Liberty, and Progress. With their strong arms 
 they leveled to the dust as many prejudices as enemies. In the 
 name of the Future they slew the monsters of the Past. They 
 destroyed the false, but they established the true. They abol- 
 ished the infinitely infamous institution of Slavery. They es- 
 tablished the first and the only free Government in the world. 
 They finished what the Revolutionary fathers commenced. 
 They took the flag where it fell from their august hands, and 
 carried it to a sublimer victory. They dedicated our country to 
 Freedom. They laid the foundations of the great temple in 
 which future generations will perform the grand rites of the 
 religion of humanity. They rolled the stone from the sepul- 
 chre of Progress, and found therein two angels, clad in shining 
 garments Liberty and Union who said to them, Progress is 
 risen. With their blood they purified the flag. Their victories 
 allowed us to tear from the statute-books laws made in the in- 
 terest of robbers. Their achievements made it possible for 
 courts to do justice. They took a living coal from the altar of 
 Progress, touched the lips of the people, and all over our fair 
 land men speak for and are willing to die for the rights of man. 
 They broke the shackles from four million bodies and from
 
 392 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 thirty million souls. Yonr country was in danger ; your insti- 
 tutions had been attacked ; armies were in the field endeavor- 
 ing to destroy you. Some one had to go, or the United States 
 would be erased from the map of the world ; some one had to 
 go, or the old flag would be torn forever from the heavens ; 
 some one had to go, or the experiment of free government was 
 an eternal failure ; some one had to go, or Liberty was in dan- 
 ger of perishing from among men ; and these heroic men, whose 
 names are on this monument, went. To defeat the enemy, some 
 one had to die. In order that the splendid eagle of victory 
 might alight on our standard, some one had to die, and these 
 men died. They met death everywhere, and in every form 
 upon the weary march, on guard in darkness and in the storm, 
 on the deadly skirmish line, amid the roar of battle, in the infi- 
 nite excitement of the charge, where victory was achieved, in 
 defeat and disaster, in the hospital filled with pain, in the pris- 
 ons of the South, face to face with famine, upon the treacherous 
 waves of the inconstant sea everywhere where honor called, 
 they laid down their lives, dying nobly, grandly, sublimely, for 
 the right. Dismay they never knew. Fear was a stranger. 
 Grander than the Greek, braver than the Roman, were these 
 soldiers of liberty, attacking the strongholds of treason. Man 
 after man, company after company, regiment after regiment 
 sprang to the conflict, scaled heights, laughing at shot and shell, 
 shouting defiance in the very face of death, sweeping to victory 
 as wave on wave of the great sea, by some wild storm impelled, 
 relentless rushes, roaring, raging, round the ragged rocks. 
 These men we cannot honor. We can honor ourselves by de- 
 fending the principles for which they died by endeavoring to 
 pay the debt of gratitude we owe them by reciting to others 
 the deeds they did, and keeping their dear memory in our 
 hearts forever. These men gave victory to our country, victory 
 to humanity, to progress. Had it not been for them and their 
 comrades, we should have been a miserable and disgraced peo- 
 ple to-day. But, thanks to their achievements, America is still 
 the first nation of the world. We praise them because they 
 fought for man ; we remember them because they destroyed the 
 barbarism of our country, and left our flag without a stain. As 
 the earth, sweeping through the constellations, shall bring again 
 this day, again the graves of all the glorious dead will be gar- 
 landed, again and again will be told their shining deeds, again 
 and again will they be tearfully thanked in the name of all that 
 is dear to the heart of man. Men will become truly free. Civil 
 and religious liberty will be the birthright of all. Slavery in 
 all its forms of caste, prejudice, superstition, and robbery, will
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 393 
 
 have fled the earth. We are more for liberty now than ever 
 before. We are more in favor of education. We have more 
 respect for the rights and feelings of others ; and so it is all 
 over the world. Everywhere we hear the mutterings of the 
 coming storm that will level thrones with the earth. We feel 
 the tremblings of the earthquake that will finally devour the 
 wretches who are robbing and oppressing the people in the 
 name of law, government, and security, and even in the name 
 of God. Tyranny is as insecure the world over, as snow on the 
 lips of a volcano. Prejudices are dying ; man is becoming 
 splendid ; Liberty is beginning to abide with us. We can now 
 speak for the right. During the war the moral atmosphere was 
 purified by the roar of cannon, as the material air is purified by 
 the artillery of heaven. Men grew grand then, and they are 
 growing grander still. We have concluded to give to others all 
 the right we claim for ourselves. We say to all, You shall own 
 your own labor ; you shall own your own soul ; and you shall 
 be protected in these sacred rights wherever the flag floats and 
 the eagle flies. It is unnecessary for me to say anything of the 
 issues of to-day. Every man knows how he stood during the 
 war whether he was for or against his country whether he 
 honors the dead who died for the country, or not. I shall judge 
 no one. But here, t)y this monument covered with immortal 
 names, I thank all who were on the side of Liberty all who 
 were in favor of preserving the nation, that freedom might be 
 given to all. And now that the fearful struggle is over, I am 
 willing to forgive even those who fought on tne other side, the 
 moment they are in favor of liberty for all men. The moment 
 they from their hearts are in favor 'of doing justice to all, that 
 moment I am willing to take them by Jhe hand and forget the 
 past. In a little while we go to our homes. Let us consecrate 
 ourselves again to the cause of Liberty. Human Liberty is the 
 shrine at which I worship. Progress is the religion in which I 
 believe. Liberty is forever, tyranny but for a time. Liberty is 
 the condition precedent to all progress. Let us talk for liberty, 
 work for liberty, until all are free. The people have eyes give 
 them light. They have lungs give them air. They have 
 souls give them liberty. Do not forget the debt we owe to 
 these dead soldiers whose graves you have adorned to-day. If 
 there is beyond this life a better and nobler, these men are in 
 Paradise. If, after the storms of this world, there is rest, these 
 men are at peace. If it is given to the departed to know of the 
 affairs of earth, these men are looking upon us filled with un- 
 utterable joy that their sacrifices were not made in vain. To 
 their comrades now living we tender again and again our more
 
 394 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 than thanks the love of our hearts. The dead the immortal 
 dead, whose bodies rest beneath the flowers we leave clasped 
 in the loving arms of the Infinite forever. 
 
 Alter the eulogy and music by the band, the ceremony of 
 decorating the monument was performed in a most impressive 
 manner. Each soldier placed upon the monument a sprig of 
 Syringa, its language expressive of memory and fraternal love. 
 After which, Rev. Mr. Roberts pronounced the benediction, and 
 the crowd dispersed. 
 
 There is something beautiful in these outward manifestations 
 of remembrance of their fallen comrades by the living soldiers. 
 It struck us as a most appropriate act. The men who were laid 
 to rest in those thirty-three graves, and whose names are en- 
 graved upon the monument, were once as full of life, and as 
 hopeful of the future, as those who performed the acts of grate- 
 ful remembrance last Saturday. To be sure, they knew that 
 some of them must die, but there were none but thought he 
 might return, even while he bared his breast in defense of his 
 country. Although willing to die, he hoped to live. Such 
 manifestations as that of Saturday will keep their memory 
 greener, although it could never perish while the heart glowed 
 
 with a single generous impulse. 
 
 
 
 AT QUINCY, ILL. 
 
 The ceremonies in Quincy were very interesting. The words 
 spoken were few, but they came from the heart. About 2 o'clock 
 p. M., the children of the Grand Army of the Republic Sunday 
 School assembled at their hall, over the Post Office, and witn 
 garlands and bouquets, marshaled into order by their teachers, 
 they marched out to Woodland Cemetery. At their head was 
 
 / _ / 
 
 carried an old tattered and torn battle-nag. A large number 
 of citizens on foot and in carriages followed the procession, car- 
 rying their flowery tributes. Arriving at the Cemetery, while 
 Rosenbusch's Band performed a solemn dirge, the procession 
 proceeded to the graves of the two hundred Union soldiers who 
 had died in the hospitals of Quincy. Gathering around the 
 graves of the fallen heroes, General Frentiss made a few impres- 
 sive remarks, explaining the object of their visit to the city of 
 the dead. All present then joined in singing "My Country, 
 'tis of thee," after which a short prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. 
 Emery. At the conclusion of the prayer another song was sung, 
 while preparations were being made to strew the graves with 
 flowers. Then this impressive and beautiful ceremony was par- 
 ticipated in by the loyal-hearted children and citizens, while 
 they sang " We'll gather at the River."
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 395 
 
 Proceeding to the graves of Quincy's own soldiery, where 
 has been erected a* noble monument by the " Sisters of the Good 
 Samaritan," the company a;ain sang an appropriate dirge. 
 After which the Rev. S. S. Hunting, late Chaplain of the 9th 
 Army Corps, delivered an address. Then followed " Nearer 
 Home,-" sung by four young ladies, all joining in the chorus. 
 Rev. J. C. Sargent, Pastor Fifth Street Methodist Church, sang 
 " My Mission," and several other songs. He was followed by 
 Gen. Bane, who, after a short address, read the following statis- 
 tics : No. of Soldiers buried in National Cemeteries, 238,666 ; 
 buried in Private Cemeteries to be removed, 13,161 ; yet to be 
 removed from battle-fields, 76,263 ; making a total of 328,090. 
 There are 308 Cemeteries in the United States, in which are 
 buried Union soldiers, 81 being National Cemeteries. Illinois 
 has 28,000 dead, and Quincy 214. Otber statistics were given 
 relative to the number of men in the field, etc., after which the 
 General read the following poem, written by an old gray-headed 
 soldier of the city : 
 
 Deep sleeping 'neath this sacred ground, 
 
 The soldier rests in peace ! 
 Here strew sweet flowers all around, 
 
 Nor let the custom cease ! 
 But annually our love renew, 
 
 Through all the coining years; 
 Bring flowers the red, and white, and blue, 
 
 And bathe them with your tears. 
 
 These soldiers will not hear our tread, 
 
 Nor the cannon's loudest roar, 
 Yet still perchance their souls perceive 
 
 Our presence at their door. 
 Then scatter flowers to-day all 'round, 
 
 Upon each soldier's grave ; 
 Our flowers to-day, only abound 
 
 As offerings to the brave. 
 
 After marching around the monument singing " "We'll gather 
 at the River," and strewing flowers afresh upon the graves of 
 the sleeping heroes, all quietly and sadly departed for their 
 homes. 
 
 AT JOLIET, ILL. 
 
 A large number of the citizens, ladies, and gentlemen of 
 Joliet, visited Oakwood for the purpose of decorating with flow- 
 ers the graves of the soldiers who are buried there. Mr. W. A. 
 Steele was President of the day. A praver was offered by the 
 Rev. C. H. Remington, and an address delivered by Dr. B. H. 
 Cheney.
 
 396 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 DR. CHENEY'S ADDRESS. 
 
 SOLDIERS AND FRIENDS : It gave me no little surprise when 
 I was asked to make a few remarks to you at this time. And I 
 am prompted by no feelings of affectation, nor, on the other 
 hand, by any desire to rid myself of a task, when I say that I 
 am not the proper person to address you on this occasion. For, 
 at the outbreak of the war I was not a resident of Joliet, and 
 in the army I was personally known to but few who enlisted 
 from here. Furthermore, I was never personally acquainted 
 with any of the dead in this place, in whose memory we are to- 
 day gathered together. Under these circumstances, I repeat, it 
 was a matter of no small surprise to me that I should be called 
 upon to address you. But unavoidable circumstances prevented 
 your committee from selecting a more suitable person. It 
 seemed to me, however, no more than justice to you as well as 
 to myself, that I should say a few prefatory words of apology 
 before calling your attention to any ideas which the day and 
 occasion might suggest. We are assembled in pursuance of a 
 call issued to the members of the Grand Army of the Republic 
 by their commanding officer, Maj. Gen. Logan; a call in which 
 " to-day is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers 
 or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in de- 
 fence of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies 
 now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in 
 the land." It is needless to allude to the eminent fitness and 
 propriety of such a call as this ; and it speaks none the less 
 loudly to us who are not members of the Grand Army of the 
 Republic, nor the less earnestly to the relatives and friends of 
 the departed. It is well, indeed, in any case, that we should 
 sometimes step aside from our daily avocations, from the hurry 
 and worry of toil, which makes us forgetful of others, in con- 
 cern for our individual selves, to contemplate within the hal- 
 lowed precincts of man's last resting-place the lives of those 
 who have gone before us. This is no more than a just tribute 
 to their memory, and an impressive lesson for ourselves. But 
 how much more fitting, how much more of a duty it is, that we 
 should consecrate an hour to the memory of those who were our 
 former comrades in arms ; who willingly and voluntarily gave 
 themselves a sacrifice for their country ; whose lives were the 
 price of the freedom we enjoy ! And what a reflection it is, to 
 remember that this is not simply a local gathering ; that we are 
 not alone here in Joliet in paying these offices to the dead, but 
 that throughout the length and breadth of the land, for, alas, 
 where is there a spot in all the land, some soldier or sailor does 
 not lie? North, South, East, and West, are assembled to-day,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 397 
 
 the remnant of the hosts who once marched victorious against 
 presumptuous rebellion : assembled, not as formerly, at call of 
 bugle or drum, nor armed with shining steel, but bearing only 
 wreaths and garlands, while with uncovered heads, and sad 
 hearts, they pay tribute to the memory of those who once stood 
 shoulder to shoulder with them. Surely, at such a time, the 
 most callous heart must soften ; the most indifferent must feel 
 the warm glow of patriotism ; while each and every one must 
 realize in his inmost soul, the sadness and solemnity which the 
 place and occasion so forcibly suggest. 
 
 But, in the first place, we are naturally led to reflect, what 
 powerful motive was it which led those who sleep around us, 
 and you, soldiers, to leave home, kindred, and friends ; to en- 
 dure unnumbered and untold hardships; to peril life itself! It 
 must be something beyond and above everything else which will 
 induce a man voluntarily to do all this. It was patriotism, you 
 say. Yes, but what is patriotism ? Love of country. True, but 
 what is love of country ? Can you tell me what it means ? No. 
 It cannot be told in words. Only the heart knows its definition. 
 He who has not felt it in his heart, tingling his hand, and nerv- 
 ing his arm, knows not what love of country is. It both prompts 
 and enables a man to give up all that he holds most dear; all 
 that makes his life sweet ; even that life itself. It cannot, then, 
 be a mere attachment to a certain part of the earth's surface, 
 simply because the accident of birth made us its natives. Still 
 less can it be an intrinsic love for a flag, which is but a symbol 
 of nationality. And yet, if in a foreign land, a handful of earth 
 from home will move the very depths of our nature, and you 
 stand ready to defend every foot of your native soil with your 
 life. The sight of this flag, at anytime, thrills our hearts with 
 emotion, while every other is regarded with indifference or cu- 
 riosity. Why is this ? As I said before, this feeling cannot be 
 expressed in words, but we may obtain some conception of the 
 might of its influence and the grandeur of its power, if we re- 
 flect that it lifts us up from all sordid and selnsh motives into 
 the grand brotherhood of common interests, hopes and princi- 
 ples. It was in the latter that lay the strength of the Union. 
 It is in the latter that her strength still lies. It was no hatred 
 of the South; no enmity to her customs or institutions, which 
 roused the IsTorth to arms ; which filled each patriot's heart with 
 indignation, and compressed his mouth with stern resolve. It 
 was because the principles which are the bulwark of our liber- 
 ties, and the safeguards of our perpetuity as a Government, 
 were attacked. Previous to the war, many thought the feeling of 
 patriotism, as regards the General Government, was not very
 
 398 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 strong; that the Government had never been sufficiently cen- 
 tralized to engender and foster such a feeling ; and that such 
 was the independence of State governments, sectional feeling 
 would rise superior to any attachment to the Country at large. 
 This was more particularly the view at the South, where patri- 
 otism was, in many instances, almost confined within State 
 boundaries. At the outbreak of the war, I was a resident of 
 Louisiana, and have often heard such views expressed. But how 
 did the result justify them ? Did not the pulse of the nation 
 " close with a shock on its heart " at the sound of the first gun 
 against Sumter ? And when the first shudder of horror was 
 passed horror that this flag had been fired upon ; and fired 
 upon, not by foreign foes from some fancied grievance, or from 
 jealousy of our growing power, but by those whom it protected ; 
 those who owed all that they had and were to it ; those who had 
 grown up under its folds ; when this first shudder of sorrow 
 and horror had passed, the great heart of the Nation, which 
 had stood for a moment still, gave a throb of indignation, which 
 sent the warm life-blood pulsating from one end of the land to 
 the other, thrilling every nerve, and rousing each member to 
 self-defense. The feeling was so universal that it at once gave 
 rise to a phrase which became hackneyed; that very fact show- 
 ing the unanimity and determination of which it was the expo- 
 nent. " The Union must and shall be preserved." Mark you, 
 shall l>e. The necessity of its preservation was no better estab- 
 lished than its certainty. The issue of the conflict was not to be 
 doubted for a moment. Why ? Because the principles for 
 which these dead heroes, and you, soldiers, fought, were identi- 
 cal with those of Truth, and "the eternal years of God are 
 hers ! " At no time, not even at the darkest hour, were the 
 clouds so thick that the sun of Justice did not shine through the 
 rifts, bidding us go forward with confident hearts. It might 
 take longer or shorter; it might demand greater or less of pre- 
 cious sacrifice; but the result was morally certain. The Union 
 must be, and it was preserved! This leads me to consider, for 
 a moment, what has been gained by this terrible war. "War is, 
 in itself, always an evil, and brings many evils in its train. But 
 we may be sure that so great an evil never aiflicts mankind, 
 without other evils previously existing as a cause. It is only a 
 merciful Father who overrules these evils to the ultimate good 
 of his children; whose judgments are unsearchable; whose 
 motives we dare not presume to consider ; whose ways are the 
 majesty of mysteries. Enough that out of great evil He brings 
 good ; enough that He permits those who " go forth weeping, 
 bearing precious seed, to come again rejoicing, bringing their 
 sheaves with them."
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 399 
 
 It is not unfitting, then, that we look about us after the 
 struggle is over, to see what has been gained by so great sacri- 
 fice. What do we reap from so precious seed ? What sheaves 
 may we bring home rejoicing ? First, and above all, the Union 
 has been preserved ; the Government has become established 
 upon surer foundations ; it has been shown that treason will no 
 more be tolerated in this land of liberty, than within the realms 
 of the autocrat of the Russias ; it has been demonstrated that 
 freedom and lawlessness are not synonymous, but, on the con- 
 trary, incompatible. Furthermore, the nation has awoke to a 
 higher aim, and a purer life, since the first blow at her existence. 
 Unprincipled men have not been wanting to improve the oppor- 
 tunities offered to enrich themselves at their country's expense, 
 but the mass of the people are honest in heart, stern in purpose, 
 and untiring in endeavor to maintain the laws, and preserve the 
 country. Let us not omit to mention among the good results 
 of the war, the freedom which it brought to four millions of 
 another race. Although having no such object, this was one of 
 its inevitable results. And GOD forbid that any prejudice of 
 color should blind our eyes, or fetter our tongue, in the recog- 
 nition of the fact that this is, in itself, a great good. This stable 
 Government, then ; this nation, tried like gola in the furnace of 
 affliction ; our country, literally born again in anguish and sor- 
 row, and rebaptized with precious blood, is the heritage which 
 our martyred dead have left to us ; to their children, and to 
 ours. Shall we not cherish their memories 2 Shall we not 
 bring our children, and our children's children here, and say to 
 them, " Uncover your head, and pay reverent homage to those 
 who counted their lives nothing, that you, and I, and all who 
 should survive them, might continue to enjoy those inestimable 
 
 Erivileges and blessings which they had themselves enjoyed ? " 
 hall we not say to them, and to ourselves, " Let us be also ever 
 ready to maintain, at any cost, this heritage intact?" 
 
 Here lies the genial and gifted BARTLESON ; the first in Joliet 
 to enroll himself among his country's defenders ; whose earnest 
 spirit saw but one course to take, and he took it ; whose ardor 
 could not be restrained by the comforts and fascinations of 
 home, nor weakened by the allurements and rewards of profes- 
 sional fame ; nor yet subdued by subsequent disease, imprison- 
 ment, and disabling wounds; whose best monument is the 
 memory of his endearing virtues, his pure patriotism, and daring 
 bravery. Noble commander of a thousand brave men, where 
 are they to-day i Alas ! how many of them returned only as 
 he returned. 
 
 Yonder rests the cultured MATTESON, to whom luxury and ease
 
 400 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 were as nothing, when duty and his country called ; who gladly 
 endured every privation, and willingly faced death, so that he 
 might aid in putting down rebellion against the government he 
 loved. Further on lies that is left us of the brave and youthful 
 GROVER ; who, upon the threshold of a life full of rich promise 
 for the future, did not hesitate, but cheerfully gave that life to 
 his country. Here, too, sleep RANDALL and MARSH, the pride 
 and hope of fond parents and friends ; whose hands were ever 
 ready to defend the right, and who sealed with their blood their 
 devotion to the cause of justice and truth. Here rest the re- 
 mains of SHAW and RATCLIFF, among the first to lay down their 
 lives in the common cause. And here are CLARK and REY- 
 NOLDS, whose weary march is over, whose duty is well done. 
 Yonder shaft marks the spot where lies the gallant BOWEN; 
 who, the hero of many hard-fought fields, yet lived to stand 
 upon the threshold of his country s deliverance, and who saw 
 
 " E'en in Death's night. 
 The golden glow of Freedom's dawning light I " 
 
 And here are ANDREWS, ATKINS, one of the NICKERSONS, the 
 other still lies at Gettysburg, where he fell, BASSETT, and 
 COPPY, and DIKEMAN, and others ; some killed by the enemy's 
 bullet, others the victims of exposure, want, and disease. But 
 what matters it how or where they fell? They are none the less 
 their country's heroes. For he is no less a martyr and a hero, 
 who, wasted by privation and disease, surrenders his life to his 
 country upon the narrow cot of the silent hospital, than he who 
 gloriously falls amid the clash of arms, and roar of cannon upon 
 the field of battle. In another county rests the remains of the 
 brave and earnest ERWIN ; who faced danger and met death as 
 he did every other duty cheerfully, calmly, determinedly. 
 Although his grave is not here, Will claims him none the less 
 for her own.. Far to the East, among the kindred and friends 
 of earlier years, sleeps the high-spirited young ROUSE, whose last 
 words come to us like a psalm of life and duty, in all the elo- 
 quence of sublime self-sacrifice. " It is well, Captain, my 
 country needed me ; Christ can save me." It does not lessen 
 the grandeur of these words, nor do injustice to him who uttered 
 them, to remember that they but expressed the feeling of thou- 
 sands of others, as devoted as he. Where is brave SNOAD? 
 one of the many victims to the cruel want and fell disease of a 
 rebel prison ; those charnel-houses where sickness and suffering, 
 disease and death, ran riot by the license of a malignant foe ; 
 where grim despair had his seat, and upon whose portals was 
 written the inscription of old : " Let him who enters here leave
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 401 
 
 hope behind." Not to open afresh old wounds do I recall these 
 things, but it is fitting that we should remember at this time 
 what things have been endured for our sakes. "What shall I say 
 of LEONABD, of HOLMES, of WOBTHINGHAM, of GREENMAN, and 
 of unnumbered others, who still lie on the fields where they 
 fell ? Though absent, are they not ever present with us ? 
 Though we may not strew their graves with flowers to-day, we 
 do not the less cherish and reverence their memory. Soldiers 
 and friends ! these are they who, being dead, yet speak to us ; 
 and the voice of whose deeds is eloquent in example and pre- 
 cept ! Truly it is meet that not the cypress and yew alone 
 should mark their sacred places of rest, but that the laurel 
 wreath should be twined above them, and that Nature should 
 give her choicest flowers of every hue to adorn the patriot's 
 grave. And, O, as we deck their narrow houses of rest with 
 peris) i able flowers, let us rear and tenderly cherish for them in 
 our hearts, the perennial blossoms of gratitude, love, and re- 
 spect ; blossoms which will never fade. And may each and 
 every one of us, in the presence of these sacred remains, renew 
 with himself the covenant of allegiance to his country. 
 
 But while we mourn our dead around us, and while, with 
 mute hearts of grief that find no words, we extend the hand of 
 sympathy to the bereaved and afflicted in our midst, let us not 
 forget the many whose dead even have never returned ; those 
 whose nearest and dearest on earth sleep in unknown graves on 
 southern soil, or rest at the bottom of the sea. Many a home 
 has had all its light darkened ; on many a hearthstone are the 
 ashes of desolation, many a heart sorrows with a sorrow that has 
 no consolation, not even the sad one of knowing where the loved 
 one lies. Perhaps he was reported " missing ; " there was some 
 hope, but the heart grows faint with long and cruel waiting, 
 then sickening suspense gives place to the anguish of despair, 
 and then the dull pain, that comes but once, but comes for life. 
 And let us, too, remember the needy widow and orphan, and 
 be mindful of those of our comrades who still survive, indeed, 
 but so wasted and crippled by disease and wounds, as to in- 
 capacitate them for work. God forbid that we should give the 
 lie to professed patriotism by turning away when any of these 
 need our aid. Let us not sentimentally write " In Memoriam " 
 on our own hearts alone, but let us, also, with an ever ready 
 "hand, write it upon the hearts of others. Let us show our rev- 
 erence for the dead by our treatment of the living. Deeds 
 speak volumes, sentiment is but a breath. You will pardon me 
 if I permit myself to allude to a personal friend who fell at 
 Kenesaw. I had not seen him for some four years, as he served. 
 26
 
 402 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 during the first period of the war, with the army of the Potomac. 
 By accident I learned, just before we reached Kenesaw Moun- 
 tain, that he was with our forces, in Gen. Geary's division. Be- 
 ing in a distant corps, however, I had no opportunity to see him 
 until the troops reached the vicinity of Atlanta. I then called 
 and inquired for him, and was told that he was killed at Kene- 
 saw. Killed ? Dead ? I could scarcely believe it. He whose 
 hand I had confidently expected to grasp within a moment in 
 friendship, was dead. As I rode back to my quarters, I asked 
 myself, " Why is it that Wheeler is gone and I am here ? " 
 Why was this finished scholar, this man of fine intellect and 
 large heart, who stood always ready to aid in every good word 
 and work, and who would, so far as human foresight went, be 
 of far more use in the world than I could ever expect to be, 
 why was he taken and I left? Truly "Death loves a shining 
 mark." Many of our brightest and best fell at their posts dur- 
 ing duty. It is not, then, in any magisterial spirit that I ask 
 you if this thought should not find a place in our hearts at this 
 time. Why are we still living, when so many better than we 
 are gone ? Why was it necessary that they should be sacrificed, 
 while we are spared ? Let such a reflection teach us to prize 
 even higher the blessings we enjoy, as we recall the price paid 
 for them. I have thus endeavored to briefly allude to the na- 
 ture of the fearful conflict through which our beloved country 
 has passed ; the motives which led those in whose memory we 
 are assembled to-day, to lay down their lives in the struggle ; 
 the blessings incalculable which have been bequeathed to us, 
 and to all posterity, by this sacrifice ; and some of the lessons 
 which, it seems to me, we should draw therefrom. Oh ! let us, 
 soldiers, folio w-countrymen all, keep ever green in our hearts 
 the memory of our hero-dead ; let us teach our children to rev- 
 erence them, and to prize as they did the principles in defence 
 of which they fell ; let us, by our every word and act, show that 
 our reverence is not a mere beautifully expressed sentiment, but 
 a deep, earnest purpose, underlying everything we think, or say, 
 or do, as citizens of our dear Fatherland. Thereby shall we 
 embalm them with spices more precious than those of the 
 Orient; thus will their monuments be more enduring than 
 stone. 
 
 AT PARIS, ILLINOIS. 
 
 The G. A. R., loyal citizens, and children of the public 
 school at this place, formed in procession, at the public square, 
 and marched to the Presbyterian grave-yard, preceded by the 
 Paris Brass Baud, where the graves of soldiers were decorated,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 403 
 
 and appropriate prayer made by. Rev. S. Newell, D. D., and 
 patriotic song by the children. 
 
 From thence they proceeded to the Cemetery, where, after 
 decorating the graves of soldiers, Col. W. B. McCord made the 
 following roll-call of Edgar county soldiers, who lost their lives 
 in suppression of the rebellion : 
 
 FIRST MISSOURI ENGINEERS. John C. Helms, George C 
 Spencer, Lewis F. Roberts, Samuel Morton, Benjamin Rogers, 
 A. Myers, Henry Fodge, Benjamin Wood, Joshua Huckaby, 
 Andrew Bennett, Frank Wallace, James Givens, Alfred Luce, 
 William Keker, F. M. Quiet, D. H. Hibarger, William Jewell, 
 Samuel P. Ewing, Samuel G. Rackman, Andrew Jewell, Cor- 
 poral McDaniel, John Miller, David Cook. 
 
 SEVENTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. Col. Wm. D. Blackburn, B. F. 
 Burton, Joseph Buntain, D. Beachum, B. F. Buckingham, J. 
 II. Bawdon, Emanuel Burton, Benjamin Banning, James Car- 
 ver, J. W. Craig, James Denham, Michael Dailey, Henry Faith, 
 John Grigsby,' Charles H. Hunting, G. H. Harrington, John 
 James, Lindsey Green, J. A. Minor, John Martin, J. W. Miller, 
 Thomas McCarty, J. G. Johnson, Joseph Osborn, F. M. Smith, 
 A. G. Tweedy, Eli Thayer, J. W. Tucker, Dillard B. Tucker, 
 J. Wilson, James Givens. 
 
 TWELFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. Lieut. John Koogle, James 
 Canedy, Reuben Harris, Jameo F. Stout, Hiram Y. Saunders, 
 Samuel E. Dust, George Yates. Thomas Guyman, Chester H. 
 Phillips, Albert G. Roberts, Judson McCormick, John Evans, 
 Chester D. Howe, John Brundi:e, John Anthon, William H. 
 Bull, Henry B. Hall, Wright Madden, Wm. Thompson, Haley 
 W. Shirer, Jesse K. Runyan, H. C. Harding, Tobias Bowers. 
 
 TWENTY-FIRST ILLINOIS INFANTRY. Coir J. W. S. Alexander, 
 William Nichols, James H. Roberts, Edward F. Minier, Charles 
 Vanamburg, Milton Hutton, George Benner, James Prator, 
 John Gordon, Tilghman Hartraft, John S. Buntain, James 
 Pettijohn, Elias Pettijohn, Joseph T. Robinson, George Blace, 
 John R. Black, Isaac N. Coughanour, John F. Cassatt, Richard 
 E. Hamilton, William Lewis, Adam Lewis, Hiram M. Smith, 
 Joseph F. Everett, Elliott Goodnough, John Evans, Oliver 
 Keyser, Henry A. Fhinastock, Stephen D. Jones, ElishaMilum, 
 Daniel Ertler, Perlonzo A. Roberts, John Hanley, Thomas C. 
 Hurst, William C. Frink, Elisha Trout, George Dodds, William 
 Dungess. 
 
 TWENTY-FIFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. Maj. Charles Clark, G. 
 W. Kirby, Alonzo Manning, David H. Galway, John T. Ken- 
 dall, Jackson Kendall, Wm. W. Longfellow, Joseph Grover, 
 Bellows, David Loop.
 
 404 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 TWENTY-NINTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. Capt. Jason Sprague, 
 Lieut. A. Hostetter, William Smith, Oliver P. Scott, Newton 
 Johnson, Peter Ganty, John Davis, Tilghman Thornton, Milton 
 "Wheeler. Charles Buckingham, John Bush, John Wimsett, 
 Lewis Clark, Charles Alexander, William Markwell, Isaac 
 Simpson, John Farris, Harrison Cursan, Win. Terpening, Ed- 
 ward Ryan, Marion Scott, William O'Neal. 
 
 THIRTY-FOURTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. Jacob Stoneburner. 
 
 FORTY-THIRD ILLINOIS INFANTRY. George Thompson, - 
 
 . 
 
 FIFTY-FOURTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. Major S. York, assassin- 
 ated by home traitors, Henry C. York, A. Tabor, M. H. Wilson, 
 D. Moffatt, F. Golden, W. T. Golden, D. C. Wood, J. Bright, 
 J. Xihizer, L. Welman, J. Blakesley, N. Griffith, Charles Ha- 
 ney, J. W. Smith, John Wade, William H. Miller, John Mim- 
 sell,. Thomas Lang, Lewis Battzell, Horton H. Bennett, Peter 
 Hull, Sr., Peter Hull, Jr., William Rairidon, Henry Luttison, 
 Amos Thomas, Oscar Alvord, J. W. Swisher, C. T. Rowell. 
 
 FIFTY-NINTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. Patrick Reynolds, W. 
 H. Smith, J. W. Hurst, Jefferson Honold. 
 
 SIXTY-SECOND ILLINOIS INFANTRY. Lieut. Calvin Titus, 
 Newton Y. Griffin, Wellington Adams, William Lamasters, 
 Gideon Henson, John Hudson, Waller Holston, Jerome Red- 
 mon, Thomas Redmon, William Mason, William Vandine, Ge- 
 rard McKee, Boon Connery, John Green, Samuel D. Sheets, 
 Alexander Brown, Allen Harrington, Henry Whitney, Michael 
 Phaheen, David Leatherman, John Hall, Joseph Strucher, 
 James Maples, Elverton W. Chase, John Dalton, Joseph Smith, 
 Marion Sweat, J. W. Hampton, John Breniger, James Bennett, 
 William W. Mansfield, James Temple. 
 
 SIXTY-FOURTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. Capt. J. Harry Stoner, 
 William Buckler, James Clinton, Jacob Givens, Thomas Scott, 
 Silas Mishler, Josiah Mishler, Nathan Wilber, William Smith, 
 James McCoy, Daniel Rogers, William Carlisle, Jacob Givens, 
 Charles Boyd, John W. Boyle. 
 
 SIXTY-SIXTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. Col. A. K. Campbell, 
 Lieut. Jlillery B. Yanliew, Andrew J. Curnutt, Amos Jones, 
 D. N. Farnham. Samuel Han, John James, Stansbury Hollis, 
 Eli Tucker, Thomas S. Ewing, Samuel A. McNutt, Oliver B. 
 Gaston, Jesse Brinkerhoof, Henry S. Lease, James M. Wright 
 who fired the first shot at Fort Donelson, Arthur Earnest. 
 John M. York, Charles Paty, Adoniram J. Stone, William 
 Jewell, Willis F. Hukill, Simpson E. Drake, John N. Doak, 
 James Ray, Jonas Denton, - Denton, John Larimer, William 
 Gillis, John Watts.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 405 
 
 SEVENTY-NINTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. Col. Sheridan P. Read, 
 Capt. John H. Patton, Carson Shelledy, George W. Green, 
 Abednego Saunders, Frank Ray, John Roberts, Andrew J. Rob- 
 erts, James Stokesberry, Charles P. Scott, Peter Pross, John T. 
 Jones, Samuel G. Ewing, Thomas E. Ewing, William Morse, 
 Charles W. Squires, George Driskell, Jerome Henson, George 
 
 Kg, James L. Mercer, Samuel A. Russell, Edward R. Harris; 
 .Mm Buckmaster, George H. Herrick, William Keyser, Reuben 
 Keyser, Henry C. Thomas, James McDaniel, William Adkins, 
 Cyrus Benner, John D. Brown, Barnard Carr, George W. Ever- 
 ett, Thomas Elliott, James W. Jennings, Amos J. Landsdown, 
 Joseph Rudy, Wesley Strickland, Julius Y. Wilhoit, Theodore 
 Arterburn, Albert Burton, Thomas U. Blevins, James M. Crist- 
 tier, William Cristtler, Benjamin F. Fuller, Marion France, 
 John W. Ho well, George Hartsell, Pleasant Hendricks, Samuel 
 Hickey, Robert McNanney, A mater Moody, Thomas K. Ogden, 
 Alexander Scott, Joseph H. Smitli, Fred D. Stark, Adolphus D. 
 Wynn, Asa Williams, John W. Wate, Peter H. Zink, Arthur 
 E. Legor, N. T. Ingersoll, Miles Arbogast, John Adams, Wil- 
 liam Buckannon, Philip Brady, William Carpenter, Daniel L. 
 Connor, John W. Crumm, Daniel Claybaugh, William Clay- 
 baugh. George H. Carpenter, John Grover, James M. Huffman, 
 John Kirk, William R. Merriman, Isaac N. Price, David X. 
 Price, Aaron Patterson, Daniel C. Patton, James B. Robinson, 
 John T. Sluss, John Schunce, Emsley J. Trogdon, Samuel 
 Waltz, George W. Yakle, Theodore M. Elliott, D. C. Parish, 
 C. P. Loope, John Fregon, Harvey Keyser, Jabez Sprague, 
 George Leofler, William Holston, Abner Clinton, Nathan Clin- 
 ton, Duck, James McHard, John M. Hannah, James M. 
 
 Burkett, William H. Cole, John Hart, Robert Hart, Thomas 
 Porter, Henry Paine, David H. Hutson, Daniel Rumsey. 
 
 ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-FIFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. Martin 
 L. Brown, John Read, Robert Tweedy, Lewis Ringo, Samuel 
 Bailor. 
 
 ONE HUNDRED FIFTIETH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. Lieut. Joseph 
 Hollis, William Lawrence, George N. Stark, Jacob R. Rose. 
 
 Miscellaneous : Gen. Theodore Read, Maj. F. M. Osbourn, 
 O. Carr Shaw, Noble Dows, Thaddeus Payne. 
 
 55th U. S. Colored Infantry : Lieut. Wilson A. Price. 
 
 Additional list : William J. Partridge, 30th Illinois Infantry ; 
 Joseph Fears, do. ; Isaac McCann, 34th do. ; David Langley, 
 do. ; David P. Clark, 21st do. ; Harrison Nay, 79th do. ; John 
 Clernmens, do. ; Lincoln J. Conkey, do. ; Harvey Ray, 66th 
 do. ; E. B. Pratt, do. ; Jesse W. Hendricks, do. ; Augustus C.
 
 406 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 do. ; William Ward, do. ; Samuel E. Jones, 12th do. ; 
 Isaac Blackmail, do. ; Samuel J. Joy, 12th' New Jersey In- 
 fantry ; Niles Collins ; John Lindsey, Kansas ; Oscar Gooldy ; 
 Isaac Y. Quinland, llth Indiana Cavalry ; Win. M. Powers, 
 do. ; Harry Winser, do. ; Francis Morgan, do. 
 
 At the conclusion of the roll-call of Edgar County's con- 
 fributiou to the great army of the nation's defenders who gave 
 their lives for Union and Liberty, the children sang a patriotic 
 song, and prayer was made by Rev. W. M. Reed ; after which, 
 Rev. John R. Eads delivered the following 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 It is with no ordinary emotions that we come to this hour 
 and to this hallowed ground. We stand in the midst of the 
 ashes of many who yielded their lives in defense of our im- 
 perilled country. 
 
 Dead must be that heart which is unmoved by such sur- 
 roundings. We are here that we may, by appropriate ceremo- 
 nies, honor the memory of those soldiers who went out from 
 this County and lost their lives in the late civil war. Thousands 
 of our fellow-citizens, in all parts of our country, from the Lakes 
 on the north to the Gulf on the south, and from ocean to ocean, 
 are this day engaged in the same generous and grateful task. 
 
 While we all feel that this is an occasion of no little interest, 
 widely variant are the emotions of particular individuals in this 
 assembly. Many are here who lost no near relative in our re- 
 cent bloody war. They come, therefore, not to stand by the 
 
 f raves of brother, husband, son, or father, but to render patriotic 
 onors to those who gave their lives for their country's good, 
 and to sympathize with those who lost their friends in a noble 
 cause. 
 
 Their feelings must be different, in some respects, from those 
 of many whose beloved dead lie here among the remains of 
 cornpanions-in-arms or sleep in a soldier's grave in some distant 
 part of our country. 
 
 Some mothers, like Rachel, refuse to be comforted because 
 their children are not. Some of these fathers saw almost the 
 last ray of earthly hope expire when a beloved son was num- 
 bered with the offerings made on his country's altar. 
 
 And here are the survivors of the dead, once their compan- 
 ions-in-arms, now joining with others in honoring their fallen 
 comrades. The martial music and step, and the staccato words 
 of command, must remind them of other days, when stern duty 
 urged them, into thickest dangers. But their days of battle are 
 over, and we earnestly hope forever. A common sentiment of
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 407 
 
 patriotism animates, it is to be hoped, every bosom ; but with 
 that sentiment there mingles, in some hearts, much more of the 
 feeling of bereavement and sorrow than in others. 
 
 Some of these graves received their sacred deposits early in 
 the war ; others later. Some of the men who offered them- 
 selves from this County did it in response to the earlier calls for 
 soldiers. Others of them lingered at home, in the bosom of 
 their families, and engaged in the peaceful arts of life, till the 
 country's extremest peril called loudly for every man who was 
 capable of military duty. And, though last in the struggle, they 
 evinced no less courage and patriotism than those who answered 
 their country's summons at an earlier day. 
 
 Some of both classes sleep in these grounds, some in other 
 cemeteries in this County ; others have left their bones in South- 
 ern soil on the mountain-tops, in the valleys, along the livers ; 
 while others still, perchance, rest in the ocean's deep bed. 
 
 You. my bereaved friends, bade them farewell in your own 
 joyous homes, pronounced your blessings upon them, and sent 
 them to the tented field invoking the benedictions of Heaven 
 on them and their cause. 
 
 Some of them fell where the fight was the thickest ; some at 
 the picket post ; some died in the hospital, of wounds or dis- 
 ease ; and some others wasted away in prison-pens. 
 
 A few came home to die of wounds or army disease, in the 
 arms of dear friends. The dust of some others was gathered 
 up from the places where they fell in the face of the enemy, and 
 afterwards received in the same bloody soil a soldier's rude 
 sepulture, and now sleep well in these quiet grounds. While 
 we could all sincerely wish that the bones of every one of our 
 soldiers who fell in the recent war might be deposited with 
 those of their kindred at home, this cannot be. Let them rest 
 where they lie. Their names and their deeds shall not be for- 
 gotten. Let the grass and weeds, fattened into rank luxuriance 
 on the blood of the patriot dead, cover the spot where repose 
 their remains, if it must be so. The cold, hurrying Winter 
 winds cover some of their graves with pure, driven snow, and 
 moan over them a soldier's requiem. The Summer night weeps 
 over them its dewy tears in tender and solemn silence. The 
 first beams of the morning sun kiss the pendent dewdrops from 
 the straggling grass and weeds which bend over them, and the 
 quiet evening twilight lingers about these spots as if to do them 
 homage. 
 
 In all ages and among all enlightened people great honor 
 has been paid to the virtues and deeds of those who have offered 
 themselves as self-devoted sacrifices for the public good. Sunk-
 
 408 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 en to the lowest degradation must be that people who would 
 refuse to their noble and patriotic dead the reverence and hom- 
 age which we this day offer to the memory of our deceased sol- 
 diers. If there were any considerable number in your com- 
 munity who were not .ready for this task, or whose meed of 
 praise and gratitude toward those who lost their lives in vindica- 
 tion of the national authority and integrity should be found 
 empty or stinted, I should not like to remain among you. 
 
 We feel almost ready to forgive the ancient heathens for 
 their deification of their heroes and benefactors, especially when 
 we reflect that this method of honoring the worthy was but the 
 perversion of a most generous sentiment, and that that perver- 
 sion was due to their want of the Christian religion. They 
 sought the highest expression of their appreciation of those 
 whom they deified. "We do not propose to imitate the ancient 
 Greeks in the apotheosis of their heroes ; but, under the refining 
 and elevating influences of the Christian religion, it is the pur- 
 pose of a grateful country to write the names of her defenders 
 on the historic page, and engrave them on brass and marble, 
 that they may be known and honored in the coming ages. 
 
 Are there any here this day are there any in all this region 
 who are ready to question the propriety, or even the good, of 
 such a demonstration as this ? Do they ask what good there is 
 in such a display as we this day witness ? What do they mean, 
 when they ask for the ;ood there is in these memorial exercises? 
 What good, I may ask, is there in anything we do ? What 
 good is there in the railroad which runs through your town and 
 county ? It is easy to answer, that it multiplies population by 
 inviting immigrants to your county ; it facilitates the inter- 
 change of commodities between different parts of the country ; 
 it increases the conveniences, and cheapens the necessaries of 
 life, and affords a most agreeable and profitable intercourse with 
 distant parts of the country. This is all well said ; but does the 
 chief advantage of a railroad lie in these outward and material 
 advantages ? If so, how can it be shown that it is any great 
 good to your community ? If you have, by your railroad, ten 
 thousand inhabitants instead of five thousand, who possess no 
 moral or intellectual worth, who can say there is any good in 
 the increased number ? But if you have ten thousand instead 
 of five thousand honest, good people, possessing moral and in- 
 tellectual qualities euch as men should have, you have a decided 
 advantage in the increased population. It is, therefore, just in 
 proportion as by physical and material means the higher moral 
 and intellectual* qualities are developed and fostered, that these 
 means become good.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 409 
 
 Tried by this test, who can doubt the utility of the signifi- 
 cant rites performed in your presence to-day ? Can they fail to 
 awaken and cherish noble, grateful, and patriotic sentiments in 
 all hearts? None will be more ready than myself to acknowl- 
 edge the connection between material prosperity and the higher 
 improvement of men. Railroads, manufactories, improvements 
 in agriculture and architecture, all have a refining and elevating 
 tendency, but they are really useful only so far as they encour- 
 age and facilitate the intellectual and religious improvement 
 of our race. They are to be esteemed just so far as their ulti- 
 mate tendency is to make men better and happier. 
 
 The ceremonies of this occasion, though they may not di- 
 rectly increase any man's wealth or promote his physical health, 
 are to be estimated according to their power to beget and en- 
 courage good feeling. If we leave these grounds and carry 
 about with us for days to come any quickened and improved 
 sentiments of gratitude and patriotism, these exercises will 
 prove of great value to us. And now I put this question to 
 every one who hears me : Do you not, under the inspiring sur- 
 roundings and rites of this hour, realize a quickened sense of 
 gratitude toward God for our country's integrity, and toward 
 the brave men who laid down their lives to this end ? and do 
 you not feel that, by the sacrifices which it has cost to preserve 
 our nationality, as well as to achieve it at first, we are laid un- 
 der indissoluble obligations to protect and transmit it unim- 
 paired to the coming generations ? If you will allow me to an- 
 swer this question, I will say for myself, that I feel committed 
 anew to do all in ray power to promote my country's welfare, 
 and to cherish toward it a more enthusiastic reverence and affec- 
 tion. And this expression of a personal feeling, I doubt not, is 
 heartily responded to by every generous heart before me. Cold 
 must be the heart and stolid the intellect which receives no fresh 
 fire from that altar on which we have co'me this day to lay our 
 offerings. Even these children, who have brought their Spring 
 flowers and sweet patriotic songs, feel their young hearts stirred 
 with unusual emotions, and cannot fail to receive impressions 
 from this day which are to make them wiser and better citizens 
 of this Republic. It is eminently appropriate that they should 
 participate in these solemn rites. It is of the highest impor- 
 tance to the public weal, and to the domestic happiness of our 
 country, that our children should be taught, when young, senti- 
 ments of patriotism, honor, and liberty, that they may strength- 
 en in them with their strength and grow with their growth. 
 They should be taught that the blessings which we enjoy as a 
 nation are the price of much toil and of the blood of thousands 
 ^' our best citizens.
 
 410 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 I most earnestly entreat the parents whom I now address, to 
 spare no pains to inculcate in their children the principles of 
 patriotism, as well as those of private virtue. Teach them that, 
 next to God and their families, their country challenges their 
 highest affection. Mothers, as you bend over the cradle of your 
 little ones, and soothe them to sleep, let it be with songs of 
 praise to God first, and then with ballads celebrating the sol- 
 dier's deeds, or with the stately epic which exalts our country's 
 glory. And as soon as they can sing, teach them the numbers 
 into which the poets have woven the beauties, the treasures, the 
 virtues, the valor,' and the noble institutions of Columbia's fair 
 land. Let them be taught that true patriotism is to be the 
 mainspring of their actions as citizens of this Republic that 
 their first offerings are to be made to the God of their being ; 
 that their second are to be laid on their country's altar. 
 
 You have done well for your children this day. They are 
 here in large numbers. You have decked them with chaplets 
 and posies, and filled their hands with evergreen wreaths inter- 
 twined with beautiful and fragrant flowers. You have taught 
 them the sweetest songs to chant in this city of the dead, about 
 these tombs of fallen heroes. Y^ou have provided that they shall 
 be effectually taught sentiments of the true, the beautiful, and 
 the good. To us, who are older, these graves of our fallen sol- 
 diers appeal with unspeakable solemnity, to guard sacredly the 
 cause for which they gave up their lives. The blood of our 
 brothers crieth to us from the ground. Its language is, " Love 
 your country ; cherish her liberties ; maintain her honor." 
 Wretched ingrates must we be, utterly unworthy of the na- 
 tional blessings which we enjoy, if we do not conscientiously 
 and faithfully heed that sepulchral voice. Great as our country 
 is in the extent of her territory, the variety of her soil and cli- 
 mate, the wealth of her fields and forests, and the undeveloped 
 treasures of her rocky beds ; in her intellectual and moral 
 forces, in her science and art, and in the glory of her past his- 
 tory, without a constant, deep, pure, Christian patriotism, she 
 cannot endure as a republic. But it may be asked by some, if 
 such exercises as these do not tend to excite sectional feeling, 
 and to beget vindictiveness toward those who were recently at 
 war against the Government ? I think not. We are bound by 
 every consideration of patriotism and reverence toward those 
 w r ho sacrificed their lives for our country, to honor their memory 
 now that they are gone. This we can do without cultivating, 
 in any low, sectional sense, feelings of hostility toward the 
 South. "We honor these dead because they fought and fell for 
 our whole country for an undivided country and not for a
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 411 
 
 mere section of it. All our thoughts and purposes and feelings, 
 therefore, on this occasion, should have, and 1 trust have, a na- 
 tional and not a sectional character. And while we must for- 
 ever, and without qualification, condemn those wicked and mis- 
 guided men in the South who, for the perpetuation of an insti- 
 tution which, I doubt not, many of those considered as allowed 
 by the law of God, and which was plainly tolerated by the law 
 of the land, plunged the country into the most bloody war of 
 modern times, let us, at the same time, endeavor to cherish 
 toward the whole South those sentiments of magnanimity and 
 generosity which a great nation, after a victorious struggle, and 
 conscious of the righteousness of its own cause, can well afford 
 to entertain ; and, above all, which our holy religion teaches us 
 to exercise even toward our enemies. Though they were once 
 our enemies, and though there are among them now many who 
 are just as hostile toward the Government and its friends as they 
 ever were, as a community we should regard them as our kin- 
 dred, and as members of this great Republic. I do not now, in 
 these remarks, touch upon any questions of policy in the politi- 
 cal reconstruction of the South. Tliis would not be appropriate 
 here. I only speak of the sentiments which we should enter- 
 tain toward this desolated and smitten section smitten of God 
 and man. While we honor our own dead, let us not condemn 
 them, if, prompted by natural affection, they weave garlands for 
 the graves of their own soldiers. We cannot ask them to sun- 
 der the ties of affection for their fallen brothel's, which death 
 itself has not broken. Let them cherish their dead. Let them 
 raise monuments, if they wish, to perpetuate their memory. 
 Let them write their names in the fair pages of history ; let 
 them embalm them in song ; let them show that they have 
 hearts to love ; and the liberal Christian world will applaud, 
 and not condemn. But let them yield the unholy cause for 
 which they fought a cause which is held in utter detestation 
 and horror by all the most enlightened Christian nations on the 
 earth let them do this, and henceforth we are to have one his- 
 tory, one purpose, and one destiny. As we stand in the midst 
 of these graves, let us rise above all petty feelings of low re- 
 venge toward our brothers of the South ; let us feel the holy 
 inspiration of the Christian doctrine, that all men are our 
 brothers and that it is Christ-like to do them good, and not 
 harm. By the exhibition of Christian charity and a large- 
 hearted generosity toward them, and not by withholding de- 
 served honors from our own cherished dead, we are to exemplify 
 the spirit of our Master, and to win back to our country and 
 our firesides those who, in an hour of madness, laid violent
 
 412 MEMORIAL CEEEMONIES 
 
 hands on our fair Temple of State, and sought to mar its almost 
 faultless proportions. We most sincerely and solemnly aver 
 that it is not our purpose, that it is not our desire, in the honors 
 which we pay our dead, to alienate sections nor to excite ani- 
 mosity or revenge among the citizens of any part of our com- 
 mon country. But we do purpose to do our utmost to give an 
 imperishable fame to our nation's defenders. They must live in 
 its history. They have accomplished their work, and now rest 
 from their labors. No war, nor blood, nor fatal fray will be 
 witnessed by them again. Silent, still, and undisturbed is their 
 rest in this consecrated place. To these graves, in the coming 
 days, the patriotism of this country will make many willing pil- 
 grimages. Over them many hearts will sadden and beat with 
 tenderest emotions, till their throbbings shall cease in death. 
 Over the ashes of these quiet sleepers will be kindled anew the 
 waning fires of patriotism in many a loving bosom. Sleep on, 
 now, ye fallen heroes of a noble battle, and let us who live, live 
 for God and our Country. 
 
 After the address, the following original poem was delivered : 
 
 OUK HONOBED DEAD. BY HKNKY W. DAVIS, M. D. 
 
 Who fears to speak of Boys in Blue ? 
 
 Who blushes at the name ? 
 When cowards mock such patriots true, 
 
 Who hangs his head for shame ? 
 He's all a knave, or Treason's slave, 
 
 Who sneers at loyal dust ; 
 But true men, like you men, 
 
 Will weep to-day with us. 
 
 We bless the memory of the brave ; 
 
 We claim them for our own ; 
 Some lie before us in their grave, 
 
 Some sleep in graves unknown. 
 'Tis true, they're gone : but still lives on 
 
 The fame of those who died, 
 And true men, like you men, 
 
 Remember them with pride. 
 
 Many there were who, far away, 
 
 Life's sacrifices made, 
 And some by strangers' heedless hands 
 
 In lowly graves were laid ; 
 But though their clay is far away, 
 
 Their memory's with us now ; 
 And true men, like you men, 
 
 Will keep it with a vow. 
 
 The dust of some beneath this earth, 
 
 Among their own's at rest, 
 And the same soil that gave them birth 
 
 Hath caught them to its breast.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 413 
 
 And we will pray, that from their clay 
 
 Full many a race shall start 
 Of true men, like you men, 
 
 To act as brave a part. 
 
 They rose, in dark and evil days, 
 
 To strike for Freedom's land, 
 And loyal fires sprang up ablaze, 
 
 That Treason could not stand. 
 With buoyant life they sought the strife, 
 
 They fell, and passed away ; 
 While true men, like you men, 
 
 Mourn them with us to-day. 
 
 Some fell where Mississippi rolls 
 
 Its restless, turbid title ; 
 And, 'iieath our banner's starry folds. 
 
 Some on Atlantic died. 
 But where all fell, there's none can tell, 
 
 Yet, at the final call, 
 With true men, like you men, 
 
 One Roll shall hold them all. 
 
 Our Roster fails to name the man 
 
 Who bore, o'er field and flood, 
 His country's altars in the van, 
 
 And baptized them in blood ; 
 But when each mound, at trumpet sound, 
 
 Shall ope, and all appear, 
 With true meu, like you men, 
 
 Will promptly answer " Here ! " 
 
 From North and South, from East and West, 
 
 Their country's call they heard, 
 And rushed they forth, while every breast 
 
 With patriot beating stirred ; 
 They little recked the death that becked 
 
 Them on, to homes now here, 
 Where you men, like true'men, 
 
 May drop the manliest tear. 
 
 They stood for right, fot right they spake, 
 
 And stemmed each angry flood, 
 While Southern gulf, and Northern lake, 
 
 Was crimsoned with their blood. 
 Yet, thanks to God, one country's sod 
 
 Enshrouds each fallen brave ; 
 And true men, like you men, 
 
 Will deck each honored grave. 
 
 On Shiloh's bloody plain went down, 
 
 In death, full many a score, 
 And night's dark pall was gathered round 
 
 Stark forms in crimson gore. 
 
 In tearful mood each comrade stood, 
 
 And in his heart he vowed, 
 As true men, like you men, 
 
 To win, or wear their shroud.
 
 414 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 They bore aloft the Flag that flashed 
 
 When Vicksburg's heights were stormed, 
 And fearless on the foe they dashed, 
 
 Where serried ranks were formed. 
 And when the flash and thunder-crash 
 
 Of battle passed away, 
 Of true men, like you men, 
 
 'Twas many fell that day. 
 
 At New Orleans, at Mobile Bay, 
 
 With colors nailed to mast, 
 Triumphantly they plowed their way, 
 
 Though death fell thick and fast ; 
 And every heart, that did its part 
 
 Ere life's last sigh was breathed, 
 To you men, as true men, 
 
 His memory bequeathed. 
 
 And there's the march which histories trace ; 
 
 Among our dead they be, 
 Those gallant souls, who left their base, 
 
 And sought the distant sea : 
 Recording age, on brightest page, 
 
 Writes, " Death and glory won ; " 
 As true men, like you men, 
 
 Their souls are marching on. 
 
 'Twere vain to name each glorious spot, 
 
 Where freemen battle bore 
 In vain recall each sacred grot, 
 
 Enriched by patriot's gore ; 
 But here or there, or everywhere, 
 
 Immortal dead they lay, 
 And you men, as true men, 
 
 Will honor them to-day. 
 
 See, who are gathered here to-day, 
 
 With wreaths and garlands wove ; 
 Mark who will deck each mound of clay 
 
 With mingled grief and love. 
 The father, mother, -sister, brother, 
 
 The wife and child are found, 
 Of true men, who, true men, 
 
 Rest in this hallowed ground. 
 
 Then live their memory may it be 
 
 For us a guiding light, 
 To cheer our love of liberty, 
 
 And teach us to unite. 
 Through good and ill, be patriots still, 
 
 For God and right be found ; 
 Be you men, as true men, 
 As those beneath this ground. 
 
 It is due to some one, to me unknown, to say, that the verses 
 read on Memorial Day are indebted for perhaps all their spirit
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 415 
 
 to a poem read many years since, and on which I drew from 
 memory for some of tlie language and the construction. 
 
 The exercises at the cemetery being concluded, the proces- 
 sion was re-formed, and marched to the Methodist graveyard, 
 where the graves of soldiers were decorated, and, after benedic- 
 tion by Rev. W. M. Reed, the people quietly dispersed to their 
 homes, feeling that it was good for them to have been there. 
 
 AT ALTON, ILL. 
 
 The procession was formed about ten o'clock, A. M., at the 
 hall of the Post. First in order came the band ; next the mem- 
 bers of the Post, clad in their handsome Zouave uniform, and 
 armed and equipped ; then followed in carriages and barouches 
 the invited guests, and many ladies and young girls. The line 
 of march was taken up to Middletown, and from thence through 
 the principal streets of the city ; after which they returned to 
 their hall, where a lunch was partaken of. The procession was 
 then re-formed, and proceeded to the cemetery. The ceremo- 
 nies at this place were opened with prayer by the Post Chap- 
 lain, Lieut. Wm. Consley, after which the ladies proceeded to 
 decorate, with the wreaths and flower?, the last resting-places 
 of the patriot dead. About 110 graves received this tribute of 
 affection. A martial salute was then lired over the graves by 
 the soldiers. Eloquent and impressive addresses, appropriate 
 to the occasion, were then delivered by Capt. Flannigan, Com- 
 mander of the Post, Prof. Mitchell, of Upper Alton, Rev. D. 
 Morgan, of New York, and other gentlemen. After leaving 
 the cemetery the procession proceeded to Upper Alton, where it 
 marched through the principal streets, -and then proceeded to 
 the cemetery of that place, where the same impressive ceremo- 
 nies were performed, and speeches were made by Rev. Dr. Fra- 
 zer, of this city, and Rev. Mr. Root, of Upper Alton. At Up- 
 per Alton the participants in the exercises were most cordially 
 received by the inhabitants, and every assistance possible ren- 
 dered them in the performance of their sacred duty. On the 
 conclusion of the exercises at this cemetery, the procession re- 
 turned to Alton and dispersed. 
 
 One of the pleasantest incidents of the day was the call 
 made upon Capt. Johnson, of Upper Alton. I'his gentleman 
 was desperately wounded at Atlanta, four years ago, and has 
 ever since been confined to his bed. The character of his wound 
 is such that he is compelled to lie constantly in one position 
 upon his face. The members of the Post testified their sympa- 
 thy for this long-suffering hero by visiting him, giving him each 
 a hand clasp, and a kindly word, and then uniting in patriotic 
 songs, together with music by the band.
 
 416 MEMORIAL CEEEMONIES 
 
 AT WESTFIELD, ILL. 
 
 The members of Post JSTo. 226, Department of Ells., at West- 
 field, Clark Co., Ills., met Saturday, May 30th, at 12 o'clock M., 
 at their encampment, for the purpose of performing the cere- 
 mony of decorating the graves of their fallen comrades, who 
 sleep in the neighboring cemeteries. At l o'clock the mem- 
 bers of the encampment were formed in procession on horse- 
 back, under the direction of comrades C. C. Givens, P. C., arid 
 J. J. Brown, S. V., assisted by comrades E. Shanon, Officer of 
 the day, and W. G. Wood, P. Q. M., with comrade Win. Wat- 
 kins, at the centre of the column, bearing the flag of our nation 
 draped in mourning, and each member wearing a badge of the 
 order, also draped in mourning. Marched from thence to the 
 public square, escorted by the Westfield martial band, under the 
 supervision of Dr. J. H. Parcel, where they met a large con- 
 course of citizens ; then proceeded according to the following 
 programme : 1st. Yocal music " America ; 2d. Prayer By 
 Chaplain Rev. Cornell ; 3d. Vocal music " Don't forget me 
 when I am gone." After which Col. James A. Connelly of 
 Charleston, was introduced to the audience, who gave a very 
 touching and patriotic eulogy on the Soldiers. 
 
 The procession then re-formed and marched to the Metho- 
 dist Cemetery, the G. A. R. in front, on horseback, and the 
 citizens in rear, on horseback and in carriages. 11 ere the 
 solemn ceremony of decorating the graves of the fallen com- 
 rades was performed, as follows : 1st. Vocal music " O, wrap 
 the fl&g around me, Boys ;" 2d. The military history of each 
 sleeping comrade was read. Then a beautiful wreath of flow- 
 ers, prepared by fair hands and sympathetic hearts, was placed 
 upon the tombstone of each, with appropriate remarks by com- 
 rades, after which was vocal music "The Soldier's Prayer." 
 The ceremonies at this cemetery then closed with prayer by 
 Chap. Rev. S. Hedges. The procession was again formed, and 
 proceeded to Otterbein Parker, and Good Hope cemeteries, 
 where similar ceremonies were performed as at the flrst. At 
 the close of the exercises the procession returned to town, and 
 was drawn up in line, in front of the hall of the G. A. R., 
 where three loud cheers were given for the old flag of our 
 nation, while the band played a national air ; after which the 
 procession was disbanded by P. C. Givens. 
 
 AT METAMOKA, ILL. 
 
 At this place about thirty soldiers met at Band's Hall, and 
 the citizens and ladies met at the Congregational Church, for
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 417 
 
 the purpose of decorating the graves of our deceased soldiers 
 with flowers. Wm. Lawson, Esq., was appointed Marshal, and 
 soldiers and citizens to the number of near three hundred 
 marched in procession to the Metamora Cemetery, where the 
 Rev. Dr. Lemon offered a very appropriate prayer, and the fol- 
 lowing address was delivered by Dr. Whitmire : 
 
 SOLDIERS OF THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, COMRADES 
 IN ARMS, AND ALL LOYAL MEN AND WOMEN WHO GAVE US THEIR 
 SYMPATHY, AND SUSTAINED US IN THE FIELD WHILE BATTLING 
 AGAINST REBELLION : This time has been set apart by our Grand 
 Commander to do honor to our noble and thrice glorious dead, 
 who were our comrades in the field, battling for the Union, 
 Liberty, and the rights and universal brotherhood of man. 
 This day is, at this time, being celebrated in this same manner, 
 though in many places by a grander array of ceremonies, 
 throughout the length and breadth of this glorious Union, this 
 mighty Republic. But while these ceremonies may be per- 
 formed with more pageantry in different sections of the Union, 
 yet there are none who dare have a higher appreciation of the 
 services, living and dead, of the Grand Army that saved the 
 Union from disruption than we in our humble condition have ; 
 and there are none, however great their position can be, per- 
 mitted to entertain a more profound reverence and respect for 
 our martyred comrades than we ourselves. Our noble and pa- 
 triotic dead sacrificed their lives upon their country's altar, not 
 for themselves and posterity alone, but for us and our children 
 for all time to come, that we might enjoy the blessings of Lib- 
 erty and the advantages of a Nationality, bequeathed to us as a 
 blessed inheritance from our fathers ot the Revolution. May 
 this reverence for our dead comrades in arms never be forgotten 
 by us or our posterity forever. And may this respect and love 
 we owe them, ever remind us that all of them have left behind 
 their precious jewels, more valuable than glittering gems, that 
 must not be forgotten, and must for a time, of necessity, remain 
 the objects of our fraternal care, love, and esteem. The widows 
 and orphans of our immortal dead are the prices of their sacri- 
 fices, and left to us as an inheritance that must neither be neg- 
 lected nor abandoned, but cared for and left to the care of our 
 children after us. May the blessings of Almighty God rest upon 
 them, and the support and sympathy of all loyal people, who 
 were our shield and stay in that terrible conflict, be theirs. 
 
 But, comrades and friends, the honored dead are not all who 
 are entitled to be remembered with love and admiration for 
 27
 
 418 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 their heroic deeds, and splendid achievements ; we see all 
 around us the lame, the halt, and the maimed, who received 
 their honorable wonnds while facing the enemy on the field of 
 carnage, in terrible conflict, where American met American in 
 a death-struggle for the mastery, at the deep-toned cannon's 
 mouth, amid the clash of arms and the rattle of musketry. 
 They too have claims upon us. They have come among us with 
 an empty sleeve, a single leg, or perhaps a shattered and broken- 
 down constitution, as living memorials of their heroic daring 
 and self-sacrificing patriotism, in the defence of their country, 
 and the protection of our own peaceful firesides, which, by the 
 blessing of God, we are at this time permitted to enjoy. Let 
 us hono"r them ! because they too are nature's noblemen. 
 
 It is true, comrades and friends, that it is our duty to re- 
 member, at this time, in honor and gratitude, all those noble 
 boys, patron.8 of manhood and fidelity, who fell in this great 
 struggle for our nationality, and for Liberty, from whatever 
 section they may have come. They were soldiers, and therefore 
 entitled to our respect, and we here do honor to their memory, 
 whatever may have been their state or condition previous to the 
 rebellion. But we have assembled at this time for the special 
 purpose of doing deeds of love to our own noble dead, whose 
 memory, if not their graves, is yet fresh among us. 
 
 Among those from our own town, all of whom we loved 
 while living, and now delight to honor their memory, are, Ed- 
 win Page, Wm. and Cicero F. Ormsby, Luellin and Daniel 
 Stoddard, Wm. Trunnell, W. W. Egbert, Joseph Stowder, 
 Horace Dutton, Wm. Lyons, Jesse Plank, James Plank, Eddie 
 Barker, Augustus Fauber, Charles Greening, Martin Walker, 
 John Stivers, Arthur C. Rallston, Edwin Walton, Thomas Sun- 
 derland, David Evans, John Kindig, and Theudus Slemmons. 
 
 The graves of some of these martyrs to the cause of freedom 
 are among us; others who were less fortunately situated rest 
 quietly, wrapped in their soldiers' uniform, with their blankets 
 for a winding-sheet, in the sand-hills of the South, or on the 
 banks of the Father of Waters, where there is no more sound 
 of the cannon, nor picket-duty to perform ; where they will rest 
 in peace ; where no sound is heard, and no sentinel to pace his 
 beat save the midnight owl, who keeps his silent vigils over 
 their lonely graves. There they will remain and rest in sweet, 
 delicious slumber, till the last but early Reveille of the Judg- 
 ment morn, when our comrades will rise to the roll-call of our 
 Redeemer, where every one of our comrades will stand in his 
 place, and answer to his own name as of old in the company to 
 which he belonged.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 419 
 
 "We will now attend to the sacred duty of strewing the 
 graves of those who are buried among us, and decorating them 
 with flowers, not forgetting to strew, in imagination, the graves 
 of those who lie in Southern soil, lonely, but not forgotten. 
 Peace be to their remains. 
 
 AT CENTRALIA, ILL. 
 
 At 1 o'clock the procession was formed at the City Hall bv 
 Capt. R. D. NOLEMAN, Marshal ; Capt. E. M. WRIGHT and Maj. 
 E. W. JONES, Assistants, in the following order : 1. Centralia 
 Brass Band. 2. The National Flag, draped in mourning, borne 
 by a color guard (in a neat uniform) from the G. A. R. ; fol- 
 lowed by the comrades of the Centralia Post of the G. A. R. 
 under the command of Captains WELLMAN and JAMES CUN- 
 NINGHAM. 3. Decorating Committee of Ladies, in carriages. 
 4. Chaplain and Orators, in carriages. 5. Citizens. 
 
 In this order the procession proceeded to the City Cemetery, 
 where the exercises were opened by prayer by Rev. J. D. GILL- 
 HAM. Escorted by the G. A. R. the Decorating Committee 
 then proceeded to visit and decorate the graves of soldiers which 
 were in various parts of the Cemetery, and designated by a 
 guidon and an evergreen cross, the soldier's name on a card 
 being attached to it finally arriving at the spot where was a 
 collection of graves, being the last resting-place of those soldier- 
 boys who had died at the Soldiers' Home, in spite of the kind 
 care and treatment they there received at the hands of our 
 noble citizen women. The following is a list of the soldiers 
 buried in the City Cemetery : 
 
 Milton Yanatter, 1st 111. Cavalry, 1st Lieut. Robert Jehu, 
 llth 111., Wm. Montgomery, W. Fianders, 38th Iowa, James 
 
 Harrison, 4th Va., Daniel Handy, 4th Mass.. C. Cummins, 
 
 Wis., John Brown, 4th Mass., L. Hage, 45th Mass., Park- 
 hurst, llth 111., Joshua Earl, John Lucas, 77th Ohio, F. Wright, 
 
 38th Iowa, James Martin, 18th 111., John Frank, 111., 
 
 James Monroe, J. Gilmore, 13th Iowa, George Patchen, 34th 
 Iowa, James Brown, 18th Mo. Cavalry, Andrew Allison, 40th 
 
 111., Wm. Neighbors, 1st Ala. Cavalry, Jos. Kruuk, 111., 
 
 W. Ballard, 13th 111. Cavalry, John Smith, llth 111., John 
 Deboth, 14th 111. Cavalry, M. Teinmy, 65th Ohio, James Mas- 
 sey, 7th 111. Cavalry, C. Winnie, 1st 111. Cavalry, James Stal- 
 lions, 1st Lieut. Jos. Zick, 41st 111., Thomas Kell, 136th 111., 
 Albert G. Ball, 48th 111., W. A. Brookins, 48th 111., A. H. Ran- 
 dall, 107th 111., Joseph Stockhamer, 111., John Shade, lllth 
 
 111., H. A. Schauber, N. Y., Joseph Stockhammer, 12th 
 
 Mo., James Patton.
 
 420 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Here the decoration? concluded, and were followed by an ap- 
 propriate song from a cl ub composed of Messrs. SAM McN EIL and 
 GEORGE JONKS, and Misses ADA BRIDDELL and LIZZIE WILLARD. 
 After the song Gen. E. N. BATES delivered an eloquent and 
 appropriate address, paving worthy homage to the sacrifices of 
 the patriot soldier on the altar of his country. He deemed that 
 a sacrifice in its most complete sense, and the people had here 
 assembled to pay a feeble tribute and to bear evidence of their 
 remembrance of that sacrifice. He alluded to the widows and 
 orphan children of the Nation's defenders, and claimed that it 
 is the sacred duty of those now living under the benefits of a 
 restored Government to aid and comfort them a work in 
 which the Grand Army of the Republic, composed of the com- 
 rades-in-arms of those who fell, those who could fully appreciate 
 the trials and dangers undergone was doing a noble share. 
 The Band then played an appropriate dirge, which was followed 
 by the reading of LINCOLN'S Gettysburg Address, by Adjutant 
 I. S. TAYLOR. The club then sang a piece entitled " Lay him 
 low," with marked eifect. 
 
 Maj. E. W. JONES being then announced took the stand, and 
 delivered the following address : 
 
 COMRADES AND FRIENDS : We come here to strew the graves 
 of our fellows in arms, who have died in their country's service, 
 with flowers flowers which offer fragrant incense to their 
 memory and whose ruddy bloom typifies the blood they have 
 spilled. We come here fully realizing the dangers and priva- 
 tions which caused, and the suiferings which attended many of 
 their deaths. We who marched and fought in the same cause 
 and you who upheld their arms, with words and acts of cheer 
 and love and praise, and guarded their backs from the stroke 
 of the Northern tra\j;or, all come with hearts full of the tribute 
 which every American owes to their memory. It is fitting and 
 just that strewing such graves with flowers should become a 
 National custom. Whose name so worthy of being enshrined 
 in the warmest niche of the patriotic heart, as his who sacrifices 
 all the sweet comforts of life, its prospects and the companion- 
 ship of all that makes life dear to him, and finally life itself, on 
 the altar of his country \ These graves contain the remains of 
 those who thus laid down their lives. These remains, could they 
 speak, would tell of Donelson, of Shiloh, of Corinth, of Yicks- 
 burg, of Chickamauga, of Kenesaw, of Knoxville, of Atlanta, 
 and of the u March to the Sea ; " perhaps of Petersburg, of the 
 Wilderness, of Shenandoah and of Appomattox. They could 
 perhaps recount the horrors of Anderson vi lie, of Salisbury, of 
 Libby and of Belle Isle. They could tell of long marches
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 421 
 
 through dust where every breath was suffocating ; through heat 
 which seemed to scorch their brains ; through mud knee- deep, 
 where the worn-out body would have been glad to sink down 
 even to its last sleep ; under pouring, drenching, pitiless rains ; 
 over burning rocks and blistering sand ; over rugged frozen 
 earth and bitter snow and ice, with feet bare but for a scrap of 
 shoe sole or a rag. They could tell of sleeping in their soaked 
 clothing night after night, or with the bitter winter wind whist- 
 ling through their single blanket ; of eating their single hard- 
 tack or handful of corn by the little blaze of the few damp 
 sticks which they had scraped together. 
 
 They could tell of the random, shots along the skirmish line 
 of the rattle of musketry of the advance into the enemy's 
 fire of the charge of the enemy's deadly welcome of the 
 re-forming of the charge again of the scattered foe the pur- 
 suit and the shouts of victory. They could tell of the glorious 
 swelling of the heart when the battle was won. They could 
 tell, probably, many of them of the keen twinge of pain at the 
 first stroke of the bullet, of the hole torn through flesh, sinew 
 and bone as 'twere with a red-hot iron ; of the racking agony 
 when carried from the field, and of weary, agonized weeks in 
 the hospital. Some of them lived to see the great cause for 
 which they had been contending crowned with complete success. 
 Lived to feel the cloud of sorrow and gloom deeper than of the 
 darkest days of the conflict, settle upon their hearts at the cruel 
 murder of the soldier's great-hearted friend and idol, the martyr 
 President; and lived at last to be greeted with peaiis of praise 
 and welcome " When the troops came marching home again." 
 At last, here they lie ; we can no longer reward them for their 
 services. No grateful country can now fill its posts of honor and 
 emolument, with these its most tried and faithful friends. They 
 are finding their reward, we trust, in the land where Treason is 
 eternally punished and Peace forever reigns. But we can keep 
 their names green and rose entwined in our memories. We can 
 make patriotism regarded as noble and sacred, and its deeds and 
 sacrifices remembered and perhaps rewarded in the future by 
 offering our tribute to the memory of the soldier dead. We, 
 comrades, can keep fresh in our affections the recollections of 
 the kindly deeds of our deceased comrades ; of sharing the last 
 hard-tack, the last spoonful of coffee, the scanty blanket or over- 
 coat, of lifting from our shoulder the heavy musket or knapsack 
 when worn out and foot sore on the weary march ; of the nurs- 
 ing as of a sister when-sick in body and soul, and of the thousand 
 brotherlv offices which only fellow-soldiers have occasion to offer. 
 Let us then strew these flowers upon their graves, feeling that we
 
 422 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 are ennobling ourselves, setting an example for the future and 
 performing a kind and sacred duty ; and the spirits of the sainted 
 dead who are hovering about us and looking down upon us to- 
 day, may scatter flowers upon our paths of life. 
 
 " Bring flowers, bright flowers, to strew o'er the grave, 
 
 Where each fallen hero sleeps; 
 They will speak to the heart of an arm that saves, 
 E'en while the mourner weeps. 
 
 " Scatter flowers! they may tell where the buried hopes, 
 
 Where the pride of each household sleeps ; 
 But they smilingly speak of a higher sphere 
 To the heart that mourning weeps. 
 
 "Scatter flowers! they will tell of the tongues that join 
 
 Aloud in sweet Freedom's song 
 Of the millions of voices in grateful praise 
 On the breezes borne along. 
 
 " Scatter flowers, bright flowers, o'er the soldier's tomb 
 
 All bright and blooming and fair 
 They will drive from the silent grave its gloom, 
 And leave a glory there." 
 
 Rev. J. D. GILLHAM, being next called on, responded by 
 making a few appropriate remarks, extemporaneously, heartily 
 commending the exercises of the day, and hoping they might 
 become an anniversary event in the coming future. A patriotic 
 song was then sung by the club, the entire assemblage joining 
 in the chorus. 
 
 AT PALATINE, ILL. 
 
 The members of Post 107, G. A. R. proceeded to the cemetery 
 to-day escorted by a band of music, a large number of the 
 Masonic Fraternity, and a large concourse of people, and deco- 
 rated the graves of the soldiers buried there with wreaths and 
 flowers. Several speeches were made for the occasion by Messrs. 
 R. S. Williamson, M. S. Johnson, Rev. Geo. Wallace, and others. 
 It was estimated that one thousand people were present. At 
 the close the comrades avowed themselves anew through their 
 comrade, A. F. Dohmieyer, that they would stand by and defend 
 the Stars and Stripes, which was proudly floating over them, as 
 they had done during the Rebellion, should the occasion ever 
 require it. 
 
 AT CANTON, ILL. 
 
 About five hundred persons assembled on the public square, 
 and proceeded, under the leadership of Mayor Wright, to the
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 423 
 
 cemetery, than which a more beautiful place cannot be found in 
 the country. The Canton band accompanied the procession and 
 discoursed soul-stirring music. Speeches were made by Rev. 
 J. H. Rhea and Col. Haskell of Canton, interluded by a song 
 by the Glee Club. 
 
 Post No. 79, at Hamilton, 111., also held commemorative 
 services. 
 
 AT CINCINNATI, OHIO. 
 
 At about 9 o'clock the various organizations that had assem- 
 bled to join in the exercises formed in line on Vine and Eighth 
 streets, displaying northwardly, and when all preliminaries had 
 been arranged, General J. Warren Keifer assumed command, 
 and the procession moved off. First in order came the police 
 force of the city, presenting a very fine and soldierly appearance, 
 both in garb and demeanor. The body was commanded by 
 Chief Riiffin, and manoeuvred by Captain Lew Wilson and the 
 several Lieutenants having charge of stations. Behind the po- 
 lice followed a number of carriages, containing the orators of 
 the day, members of our City Council, and many of the civil 
 authorities. A detachment of one hundred United States regu- 
 lar soldiers, from the Newport Barracks, marched next in line. 
 Following this company came the German Veteran Society and 
 the Turners, some two hundred strong ; and after these organ- 
 izations marched the Fifth Ohio Legion, and delegations from 
 seven posts of the Grand Army of the Republic numbering, 
 in all, about four hundred men. The procession was well sup- 
 plied with flags and banners. After pursuing the line of march 
 arranged from Eighth and Yine to Fourth, westwardly through 
 Fourth to Elm, up Elm to Eighth again, down Eighth to Bay- 
 miller, and thence to the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton 
 Railroad depot the soldiers, the German societies, and the mem- 
 bers of the Grand Army of the Republic, boarded the train 
 which had been reserved for them, and were conveyed to the 
 cemetery. Here they found at least three thousand persons 
 wait ing for their arrival and the commencement of the cere- 
 monies. The march was continued up the broad avenue until 
 the Soldiers' Monument was reached. The vast audience hav- 
 ing assembled in front of the soldiers' monument, General J. 
 Warren Keifer, Grand Commander of the G. A. R. for the 
 Department of Ohio, announced that the exercises would be 
 opened with prayer by the Rev. B. W. Chidlaw. After music 
 by the Maeunerchor, Turners and other societies, General Keifer 
 introduced General H. L. Burnett, the orator of the day, who 
 said:
 
 424 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 COMRADES AND FELLOW-CITIZENS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : 
 "We are met to-day under the shadow of this beautiful monu- 
 ment, to strew flowers upon and h'ttiqglj decorate the graves of 
 those who died in the defence of their country ; to pay this 
 graceful tribute to their memory, and honor to the cause for 
 which they paid the last great measure of their lives. In all 
 ages and climes the living have paid honor to the memory of 
 those who died in defence of home and country. History re- 
 cords and poets sing the laudations of those who die that the 
 yoke may be lifted from the oppressed, that those who live after 
 them may be free. Thus died those whom we meet here this 
 day to honor. A little more than seven years have gone by 
 since the winged words of the President sped to the uttermost 
 parts of the land, " appealing to the loyal citizens to favor, 
 facilitate, and aid the eifort to maintain the honor, the integrity, 
 and existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of 
 popular government." At last the conflict had come which this 
 patriot statesman had partial!}" foreseen and prophetically fore- 
 shadowed ; the great moral conflict of ideas had crystallized into 
 the physical conflict, and the wager of battle was upon us. 
 With a prescience almost inspired, he had foretold that this con- 
 flict of ideas " will not cease until a crisis shall have been 
 reached and passed ; " that there was then in existence, in 1858, 
 and had been, almost from the foundation of our Government, 
 an active struggle between " opposing and enduring forces," that 
 would never cease until one should entirely prevail, and the 
 other pass utterly away. This conflict was old as time, yet, in 
 its changing forms, ever new. It was the conflict between the 
 idea that man should be free, against the idea that man should 
 be enslaved. These two ideas, so deathlessly antagonistic, had 
 each its supporters and advocates under the same flag and form 
 of government. Swept of all sophistry, this moral conflict was 
 at the foundation, and was at the basis of our fierce and bloody 
 struggle. This away, all questions of State rights, State 
 sovereignty, Federal supremacy, or centralization of power, 
 would have found judicial and peaceful solution. Without this 
 great question of universal freedom, without the demand on one 
 side that wherever the old flag should wave within our broad 
 domains, there should be recognized and upheld the equal rights 
 of all men, and on the other hand the enslavement of a people, 
 there would have been no death grapple. The men of the 
 North maintained that, " while the lower animals look down- 
 ward upon the earth, God gave man a lofty face, and ordered 
 him to look at heaven and lift his countenance upward, and look 
 at the stars," and that all men, of all grades and castes, if they
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 425 
 
 be but men, and have immortal souls, are equal in their rights 
 before Jehovah. The men of the South believed not so, bat ex- 
 ercised dominion over men, and over the souls of men, and 
 made them do their bidding as the beasts of the field that look 
 downward upon the earth, and thus came war. And when, by 
 the light of the storm, on the 15th of April, seven years ago, 
 Freedom's chief flashed his appeal to the " loyal," to those who 
 loved freedom and desired the " perpetuity of popular govern- 
 ment," there was a great shout of glad response, and all over 
 the free North, along the highways, and in the streets of our 
 beautiful cities, from the rising to the going down of the sun, 
 and in the still night-time, was heard the trampling of the 
 mighty hosts as they gathered to the defence of freedom and 
 the republic. For long years had the people endured what they 
 believed to be national dishonor and innumerable wrongs at the 
 hands of a people who advocated the enslavement of man. In 
 response to this and subsequent calls of their chief, they came, 
 millions of men, to fight for the rights of man, and that the 
 nation might live and be free. 
 
 " They left the plowshare in the mold, 
 The flocks and herds without a fold, 
 The sickle in the unsworn grain, 
 The corn half-garnered on the plain, 
 And mustered in their simple dress, 
 For wrongs to seek a st^rn redress, 
 To right those wrongs, come weal, come woe, 
 To perish or o'ercome the foe." 
 
 Of their great deeds during four long years of bloody war, of 
 their heroic deaths, I cannot now and here speak. They are 
 engraven on the memory of their living comrades, and in the 
 hearts of the good of the land ; they were witnessed by the all- 
 seeing eye of God, and entered in the book of life by the record- 
 ing angel of heaven. Their little mounds dot this great land 
 from lakes to gulf, and from ocean to ocean. Upon the banks 
 of the great rivers, in the sunken valleys, upon the far-stretching 
 plains, on the hill-sides, and on the tops of the great mountains, 
 by the shores of the ever-murmuring seas they are silently and 
 sweetly sleeping, to be disturbed no more until the last great 
 reveille. Reguiescat in pace. Their little mounds are silent 
 monitors to us, appealing with pathetic power, sacredly to cher- 
 ish and preserve what they yielding their lives to save saved. 
 Around the graves of these our dead comrades we gather with 
 bowed heads and chastened spirits. Gazing upon these name- 
 less little mounds, the tear of sorrow will fall that the silver 
 chord should have been so rudely broken. The tear of sym-
 
 426 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 pathy falls silently for the gray-haired sire, the fond mother, the 
 sister, brother, or loving wife, whose all of joy and light went out 
 with the light that once illumined the dust that rests here. We can 
 but mourn these patriotic, unselfish young lives sacrificed. Sad 
 it is to think of the bitter cup that might not pass from their 
 lips, of the sweet ties of affection so ruthlessly sundered, of the 
 golden dreams so rudely shattered, of their aspirations and un- 
 defined soul-longings for glory for names and places in the 
 world all yielded up to the great King of Terrors. What 
 unutterable agony must have compassed the souls of these young 
 soldiers expiring by the way-side, in camp, on the battle-field, in 
 the prison-pen, as they thought of their entombment in name- 
 less graves, to be known and heard of among men no more, 
 forever. And yet these lonely deaths, without any watchers of 
 earth's children, were not without their twilights of glory. It is 
 a soldier's death to meet death face to face and shrink not, with 
 no human eye to witness the struggle, and yet to meet the grim 
 monster with courage and fortitude, dying conscious of duty well 
 performed, and in the faith of the approval of God. Row pas- 
 sionlessly pure and exalted is such a death. The soldier shot on 
 picket guard, or wounded and left on the field of battle, as the 
 red life currents were ebbing, had only the angels and God for 
 his watchers and the earth for his bier. 
 
 " And had he not high honor, 
 
 The hillside for his pall, 
 To lie in state, while angels wait, 
 
 And stars for tapers tall, 
 And the dark rock pines, like tossing plumes, 
 
 Over his bier to wave ; 
 And God's own hand, in that lonely land, 
 
 To lay him in the grave ? " 
 
 The ambition to have their names live after them, and to 
 have their names handed down through the ages, has been the 
 inspiration moving men to some of the most glorious deeds in 
 the world's history. 
 
 Yet this motive was selfish and unworthy compared to that 
 which filled the hearts of our common soldiers who faced death 
 and died, knowing that they passed over the dark river un- 
 known, unsung, forgotten, save as they were a part of a great 
 army performing a mass of heroic actions. Their eulogy no 
 human tongue can fittingly speak. Their trials and endurance, 
 their exalted patriotism, and their great deeds, only God can 
 compute and reward. 
 
 " From the graves of the dead, beautifully and fitly decora- 
 ted with chaplets which should be unfading, it is our duty to
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 427 
 
 < 
 
 turn to the living, and ask whether we have done our whole 
 duty to the survivors of these dead heroes. How many, with 
 broken strength and crippled limbs, have lived to find the chari- 
 ty of the world growing cold. How many have returned to 
 find their places in the 'counting-rooms and the workshops filled, 
 and to learn that the enthusiasm which h'ailed them when they 
 went forth to battle, has passed away with the war-clouds i Let 
 us take this occasion to stir up anew the hearts of the people, 
 and arouse again the enthusiasm for the soldier. Let us go 
 hence to-day with the resolution to organize some efficient and 
 systematic provision for giving employment to those who need 
 it, sympathy and' assistance to those who are still suffering ; 
 words |Of good cheer and hope to those who are humbly but 
 earnestly working their way back into the ordinary walks of 
 human industry. Let it not be recorded in heaven against us, 
 that we, the people, strong and prosperous, in the days of our 
 prosperity and safety, are ungrateful, and have forgotten those 
 who in the days of danger and battle made of their breasts a 
 wall of protection for our lives, our homes, and our country. 
 The thought should be in our hearts, that we shall most effec- 
 tually honor the dead by giving help, and hearty, brotherly sym- 
 pathy to the surviving. 
 
 Let us place the garlands of flowers on the tombs of the 
 dead, but let us beware of concluding that our duty ends here. 
 Let us remember, as the years go by and we are passing away, 
 that 
 
 " Ouly the actions of the just 
 Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust." 
 
 After paying this fitting tribute to the memory of the dead, 
 let us bear away in our hearts this Scriptural injunction : " These 
 things ought ye to have done, and not have left the other un- 
 done." 
 
 And while we mourn here to-day, and our hearts are filled 
 with grief and sorrow that nearly four hundred thousand of 
 the noblest, best, of our land, have perished that the Republic 
 might live while we mourn, we turn to the Great Father in 
 heaven, and give thanks that they died not in vain. 
 
 " Who dies in vain 
 
 Upon his country's war-fields, and within 
 The shadow of her altars ? Feeble heart, 
 I tell thee that tlie voice of patriot blood 
 Thus poured for faith and freedom hath a tone 
 "Which from the night of nges, from the gulf 
 Of death shall burst, and make its high appeal 
 Sound unto earth and heaven."
 
 428 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 It can but be true that this sacrificial blood of the Conn- 
 try's first and best children will save and preserve us a a Xa- 
 tion ; that this " Government of the people, * * for the 
 people : ' will endure through the ages. 
 
 We emerge from the war on to a higher plane of civilization. 
 Our flag is the synonym of freedom everywhere. Throughout 
 all our broad land there breathes not a slave. In truth, now is 
 our starry banner the emblem of liberty and equal rights to all 
 men. We start on a new career of progress and prosperity ; 
 and, founded, as we are, upon these eternal and immutable prin- 
 ciples of justice and freedom, the power and position, the honor 
 and glory to which we may attain as a nation, no mind can con- 
 ceive or compute. 
 
 When this great plain, that is unrolled as a scroll, and 
 stretches from the Mississippi westward to the Rocky Mountains, 
 and as yet unwouuded by the plowshare, shall be filled up with 
 busy husbandmen, and dotted with towns and great cities, when 
 the mineral wealth of that great space extending from the 
 Rocky Mountains to the sea shall begin to be developed, and 
 pour its treasures of silver and gold into* the commerce of the 
 world, and when we shall have completed our railways across 
 the continent, and opened a highway for the wealth and com- 
 merce of Asia, with her six hundred and fifty millions of popu- 
 lation, then, and not till then, will any human mind begin to 
 compute our possibilities of wealth, greatness and power. Om- 
 niscience has decreed us, as a people, a great destiny. Let us 
 be worthy of that destiny. 
 
 "While all good men deprecate the terrible ills of war and 
 deadly conflict, yet out of these great struggles of nations and 
 peoples, great truths are evolved, and thereafter stand revealed 
 and immutable. It is nature's law, that only by the heated fur- 
 nace and the conflict of compressing forces, is the pure metal 
 produced. So it has seemed that all the great truths in the 
 world have come to the people only through dire conflict and 
 the furnace of war and battle. The roar of mighty cannon, the 
 shocks of embattling armies, seem to be but the heart-throbs of 
 mighty nations, as they move on to higher civilization and 
 grander destinies. 
 
 REMARKS OF GOVERNOR B. B. HATES. 
 
 After music, General Keifer introduced Governor Hayes, 
 who spoke as follows : 
 
 COMRADES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : I will not detain you 
 from the ceremonies but a moment. No unconsidered sentences 
 of mine would fitly express the sentiments and feelings which
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 429 
 
 properly belong to the theme of to-day. The brave and noble 
 men, who gave the last full measure of devotion to the cause of 
 nationality and of freedom " who died that their country might 
 live" Lytle, McCook, Lathrop, Will. Jones, Fred. Jones, Patrick 
 and the others, whose names are on the long roll of the honored 
 dead, to whom the beautiful ceremonies of this day are a dedi- 
 cation I know that no poor words of ours can add to their 
 enduring fame. But wishing to gather some flowers in honor 
 of much-loved friends and comrades, who perished in the great 
 struggle for union and liberty, 1 turn to the pages of a favorite 1 
 poem, and read these few verses : 
 
 " You whom 
 
 Our song cannot reach with its transient breath, 
 Deaf ears that are stopped with the brown dust of death, 
 Blind eyes that are dark to your own deathless glory, 
 Silenced hearts that are heedless of praise murmured o'er ye, 
 Sleep deep; sleep in peace ; sleep in memory ever, 
 Wrapt, each soul, in the deeds of its deathless endeavor, 
 Till that great final peace shall be struck through the world, 
 Till the stars be recalled and the firmament furled, 
 In the dawn of a daylight undying ; until 
 The signal of Zion be seen on the hill 
 Of the Lord, when the day of the battle is done, 
 And the conflict with Time by Eternity won. 
 ******** 
 
 "What is worth living for, is worth <'ying for, too, 
 And therefore all honor, brave hearts, unto yon, 
 Who have fallen that Freedom, more fair by your death, 
 A pilgrim may walk where your blood on her path 
 Leads her steps to your graves. 
 
 Let them babble above you ! 
 
 Sleep well, where no breath of detraction may move you, 
 And the peace the world gives not, is yours at the last." 
 
 REMARKS OF GENERAL 3. WABBEN KEIFEB. 
 
 At the close of Governor Hayes' address, General J. Warren 
 Keifer said : 
 
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : I do not come here to-day, by in- 
 vitation, to address you, if, indeed, there is anything I could say 
 which would add to that which has been so well said already. 
 We did not assemble for the purpose of hearing addresses, but 
 for the purpose of going through the solemn ceremony of strew- 
 ing ilowers, emblems of love and affection, over the graves of 
 those noble spirits who died that their country might be saved. 
 While we thus strew the graves of our fallen comrades and 
 friends, let us not forget those who died upon distant fields of 
 battle. Let us drop a tear to their memory, also those noble 
 heroes who went down, like suns, but left upon the mountain-
 
 430 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 tops of death a light that made them lovely. As I said before, 
 I did not come to deliver you an address. I came here because 
 of my attachment to some of the citizens of your noble city 
 with whom I served and with whom it was my great pleasure 
 to serve in the late war Lytle, and others that 1 will not name, 
 whom I had the honor of serving under. Those noble men you 
 know their history ; you know their character ; you know their 
 patriotism ; you know their gallantry ; you know the great ser- 
 vice performed for their country and for human liberty. It is 
 now desired that we repair to the graves of our fallen soldiers 
 here, and there, under the direction of a committee of ladies, 
 perform the last of the ceremonies of the day. 
 
 At the conclusion of the General's remarks, the ladies of the 
 Floral Committee gathered together, and at once proceeded with 
 the grateful work of ornamentation. The three beautiful little 
 knolls, which cluster around the lake, near the colossal bronze 
 sentinel, was first visited, and the circles of graves strewn with 
 thousands of flowers, which loaded the air with fragrance. In 
 the centre of the knoll nearest the soldiers' monument rests the 
 gallant General R. L. McCook, who fell at the battle of Pitts- 
 burg Landing. His grave was very handsomely decorated, and 
 many bouquets were deposited at his feet. In the middle of 
 the next circle of mounds the lamented Colonel Fred. Jones lies 
 buried. His grave was heavily laden with flowers arranged in 
 many fanciful designs, and was visited during the day by large 
 crowds of ladies and gentlemen. The sod under which the 
 noble General Wm. H. Lytle lies, was bedecked with all the 
 charming flowers the spring has yet brought forth. The mound 
 was overrun by tender myrtle in which were entwined variously- 
 hued flowers, sprigs of evergreen, while from the corners of the 
 marble monument erected to his memory depended elaborately- 
 wrought wreaths of white and crimson roses. The grave of 
 Colonel Eisner, of the Fiftieth Ohio, who was killed at Atlanta, 
 was also very tastefully ornamented. His portrait, in a frame 
 of rose geraniums, was hung from his monument, and the lot 
 plentifully strewn with all kinds of flowers ; and there was not a 
 neglected grave of all the hundreds that surrounded those most 
 distinguished. 
 
 REMARKS .OF REV. MAXWELL P. G ADDIS. 
 
 After the ceremonies of decorating the graves of the soldier? 
 had been concluded, a small band of ladies and gentlemen gath 
 ered in front of the monument of General "W. H. Lytle, where 
 brief remarks were made by Rev. Maxwell P. Gaddis. After a 
 short introduction, he said:
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 431 
 
 I shnll never forget the last time 1 met General "William H. 
 Lytle. It was in his own tent, only a few days previous to the 
 time in which he fell so gloriously on the field of battle. I had 
 been with him in Cincinnati. He said, " I have been for the 
 last time in Cincinnati." Said I, " Lytle, yon will live long 
 after victory shall have perched upon our starry banner, long 
 after the wild peans of liberty shall have gone up from ocean to 
 ocean and from the lakes to the Gulf." Says he, " JN r ot o ; the 
 next battle in which I go, Lytle falls ; and I say to you to-night, 
 in the calm quiet of this camp, that I fall simply in defence of 
 that country for which all men who value liberty should love 
 to die." Lytle, thou hast indeed fallen. To-day thy grave is 
 decked with flowers, fresh from the rays of the spring sun that 
 is giving back untold life to our earth, and not many days hence 
 the southern birds now winging their way to northern homes 
 will sing over thy grave that thy immortal spirit still lives ; and 
 we feel to-day that thou didst fall upon the battle-field that man 
 might be free. As he died, the last chain, the last fetter, fell 
 from the limbs of man ; as he died, slavery was wiped from the 
 soil that had been consecrated and hallowed to freedom ; as he 
 died, the upper clouds opened to receive him, with the welcome 
 plaudit, there shall be peace and good-will toward man. We 
 leave thee now. The flowers may fade, but green in our memo- 
 ry shall live Lytle, the poet, the scholar, the gentleman, and the 
 soldier. Here 
 
 " On fame's eternal camping ground 
 
 Thy solemn tent is spread, 
 While glory guards with solemn ronnd 
 The bivouac of the dead." 
 
 AT SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 
 
 The people, with a solemn feeling of reverence, came from 
 the city and country, and, with the first flowers of spring, deco- 
 rated the graves of those who offered their lives as a sacrifice 
 upon the altar of their country. Fern Cliff and Greenmount 
 were both visited during the forenoon by members of the Grand 
 Army of the Republic, and those interested in the decoration 
 of the last resting-places of our valorous soldiers. The business 
 houses of the city were closed from one to four o'clock p. M., and 
 those who attended the exercises at Fern Cliff, according to cor- 
 rect count, numbered one thousand five hundred and fifty seven. 
 A stand on the beautiful slope at the approach to the cemetery 
 had been erected, and appropriately draped with national flags. 
 The national colors were also flying from the soldiers' mound ; 
 and all the graves were more or less strewn with flowers, while 
 some were decorated in the most beautiful manner.
 
 432 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Upon the drooping branches of a tree, at the foot of Linden 
 Avenue, was hung a tasteful bouquet, to which was attached a 
 paper bearing these words : " In memory of one, of whose rest- 
 ing-place nothing is known. Wounded by Indians in Arizona, 
 he wandered away before help could reach him, and of his fate 
 nothing is known to this day. 
 
 At three p. M., music by the band announced that the exer- 
 cises at the stand were soon to commence, and, when the band 
 ceased flaying, a prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Ross. 
 
 EBV. MR. BAUMME'S ADDRESS. 
 
 We are assembled here to-day, relatives, comrades, and 
 friends of our noble soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the late 
 war, that we may join in paying another well-deserved tribute 
 to their hallowed memory. 
 
 It is proper that all of the nation who have the loyalty to 
 prompt to it should be permitted to join this expression of love 
 and regard for these fallen heroes. They belonged to the whole 
 nation ; fought and died for the preservation of its Government 
 and liberties. The sacrifices they made resulted, under God's 
 blessing, in a glorious success, whose benefits became our com- 
 mon heritage. In leaving all personal and private interests for 
 the common good, they became, in assuming the soldier's armor, 
 ours. Their glory is our glory as a nation. We claim, as a 
 loyal people, their blessed memory ; their sacred graves as ours. 
 Their noble deeds have ennobled the national heart. Their 
 sacrifices not only saved the nation in its hour of peril, but has 
 lifted us still higher in the esteem of other Governments, and 
 given us a potent influence in their councils. We claim their 
 graves, therefore, as ours as a nation, and we intend to express 
 by this tribute of fairest flowers, moistened by widows' tears ; 
 sacred hymns made patriotic by tremulous voices of the father- 
 less children, mourning parents, and affectionate brothers and 
 sisters ; of national airs and death marches, played on trumpets 
 heard on the battle-fields. We mean by this majestic tribute, 
 paid to-day in every city and town throughout the national bor- 
 ders, where are loyal graves and loyal hands to decorate them, 
 to express our undying and undiminished love and veneration 
 for these noble warriors. These tastily arranged bouquets, and 
 wreaths, and mottoes, speak the nation's heart. It is a magnifi- 
 cent holocaust, saying, in the tender language of the nation's 
 fairest works and sweetest voices, that if there be one sacred in- 
 tention firmly fixed in the nation's heart, it is that the memory 
 and glory of these patriot soldiers shall never fade. They won.
 
 AT THE SOLDIEBS' GRAVES. 433 
 
 the nation's love by the noblest deeds, performed in the most 
 generous way, and they shall live in the nation's heart, and his- 
 tory, and songs, and speeches. And the longer the nation's ex- 
 istence may by Heaven's favor be prolonged, the stronger and 
 deeper will the nation's gratitude to, and veneration for them 
 become. 
 
 Their heroic deeds take rank in that moral grandeur whose 
 full appreciation requires the lapse of thoughtful years. Their 
 greatness, heartily as it is recognized now, will grow more in 
 splendor as the fruits of their victory shall fall in successive 
 years to enrich the nation's history. It has happened to them 
 as to all prominent actors in either religious or political con- 
 tests, that the excellency of their deeds could not be fully dis- 
 covered until the smoke and dust of battle had been swept away. 
 In such time the aspersions of slandering enemies and the jeal- 
 ousy of lukewarm associates, and the timidity of friends in 
 faintly claiming deserved praise, all conspire in withholding that 
 generous award of honor which after generations take delight 
 in bestowing. Thus the generations to come will continue the 
 repetition of the tributes to these patriots which we have this 
 day inaugurated, rehearsing with ever increasing praise the 
 moral grandeur of their deeds. As to-day's offerings have been 
 made with a spontaneity of affection that shows that it was no 
 task, so a grateful people will never weary in honoring those 
 who preserved its liberties at the sacrifice of their lives, as they 
 do not weary in honoring those earlier patriots who thus won 
 their liberties. 
 
 And it may be said without detracting from our revolution- 
 ary patriots, that the services of those slain in the late war will 
 rank as high as theirs. There was less sacrifice of personal feel- 
 ing and national pride on the part of the revolutionary patriots 
 in taking up arms against a nation, to which but a few of them 
 were bound by near ties of kinship, and which geographically, 
 as well as by sympathy, was so far removed from them. The 
 issue between them and the crown of England was based on 
 principles more clearly defined and distinguished, while the 
 loyal soldiery in the late war were called to take up arms against 
 a portion of their own people at a great sacrifice of pride, as 
 we were taunted with being guilty of engaging in a civil war 
 of persecution on the part of the stronger against the weaker, 
 and to engage in deadly strife with a people whose fathers had 
 sat with our fathers in the halls of legislation, whose sons many 
 of us had associated with pleasantly in school days, and not a 
 few of whom were near of kin to thousands of our families. 
 Moreover it required a finer appreciation of the rights and in- 
 28
 
 434 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 alienable liberties of the people of other races, a teener sense 
 of justice bet ween man and man, and a broader love of our race, 
 to engage in the last war, whose issue was upon principles affect- 
 ing the rights of a large class whom the revolutionary fathers 
 left in servitude while they fought for their own liberties With- 
 out detracting one iota from the perpetual honor so fittingly be- 
 stowed upon the fathers, we may say of these that they and their 
 deeds claim the fulfilment of the inspired author, that "the last 
 shall be first." The work of those sleeping in these graves 
 amid which we are assembled, will make unrivalled chapters in 
 the world's history. 
 
 It is fitting that these decorations should be made under the 
 auspices of the Grand Army of the Republic, by whose Com- 
 mander-in-Chief the different encampments throughout the 
 nation were joined with relatives and friends in this tribute. 
 Not only is this organization made up of the surviving comrades 
 of the dead we thus honor, and therefore best capable of appre- 
 ciating the heroism that brought them to their untimely graves, 
 but one of its primal objects is to foster and perpetuate the 
 friendship and associations of camp life, all of which have been 
 made strong by hardships shared, and secured by stronger claims 
 to all. 
 
 In this organization we but follow the example set by Wash- 
 ington and his surviving comrades, who formed a similar society 
 for this purpose after the close of the revolutionary war. And 
 while cherishing our friendship and regard for each other, we 
 take sad pleasure in joining with relatives and in perpetuating 
 our love and veneration for our departed comrades. 
 
 And now, fellow-citizens, let us offer year by year the incense 
 of spring flowers as incense to their memory, while we offer the 
 incense of a heart's gratitude to our Heavenly Father for giving 
 such men to us in such a time of need, for such a host as they, 
 and for His mercy in hearing the nation's daily prayer, and for 
 His blessing upon their endeavors in behalf of our tottering 
 government. We shall go away from each successive visit to 
 their graves, feeling that we have been lifted up into a nobler 
 spirit of patriotism, that a sanctifying influence has spread over 
 our minds and hearts as here we have recalled the scenes of 
 their childhood days in homes and in sports shared with us, as 
 we have recalled the days when they left our firesides and we 
 bade them " Go to the battle," invoking God's protecting bles- 
 sing upon them ; the anxiety with which we looked over the 
 lists of the dead and wounded in reports of battles, and again 
 when their lifeless forms lay before us, or tidings reached us that 
 they were dead and the place of their burial unknown sadness
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 435 
 
 will deepen on our hearts, but hallowed fruit will come of such 
 visits a-; this. Then let us do it for our sakes. They need not 
 these offers of sorrowing love. They live, as one has said, in a 
 higher, broader sense than any of us. They live in a disem- 
 bodied spirit of love of country, of equal rights, of self-denial, 
 which spreads its inspirations through all hearts which are in a 
 frame of feeling to imbibe it. Of them we may truly say, 
 
 "They need 
 
 No statues nor inscriptions to reveal 
 Tlieir greatness. It is round them, and the joy 
 "With which their children tread the hallowed ground 
 That holds their venerated bone*, the peace - 
 That smiles on all they fought for, and the wealth 
 That clothes the land they rescued theie though mute, 
 As feeling ever is when deepest these 
 Are monuments more lasting than the fanes 
 Beared to the kings and demigods of old. 
 
 Then let us strew the sod 
 
 With the first flowers of spring, and make to them 
 An offering of the plenty nature gives-" 
 
 ADDRESS BY DR. BPRECHKR. 
 
 It was not an unmeaning ceremony, or without reason, in 
 the Grand Army, making this floral offering in memory of 
 those who fell in the cause of human liberty, and the great 
 martyr of a nation of freemen. The sacrifice was for all, and 
 all should keep fresh their memories and their illustrious deeds'. 
 
 Our temporal institutions, extending over the length and 
 breadth of this mighty land, was a cause for rejoicing. They 
 had been perpetuated by the heroic dead, especially honored 
 this day by the people of' this great nation, and we stood here 
 enjoying the blessings and immunities of the thousands who 
 offered themselves as living sacrifices for those dear privileges ; 
 and we stood to-day a great nation, w,ith our territory unbroken, 
 mightier, prouder, grander, and exercising more influence than 
 any on earth. Why was it ? The country was not excited now. 
 Our forefathers had passed through a great Revolution, and 
 through valor and privations had bequeathed us a heritage, but 
 not without a great evil. It, with the strife it had engendered, 
 hung over us day by day and year by year, until, as a free peo- 
 ple, loving the great principles which many of them laid down 
 their lives for, we could stand it no longer. It must be settled. 
 The crisis came, and well did he remember the morning that 
 the President's call for seventy-five thousand men flashed over 
 the country with lightning speed. The national emblem had 
 been torn from the ramparts of Fort J3umter, but the great men
 
 436 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 in Congress said the flag should rise again. It was a time of 
 great fear 'and trembling, and had we known all that would 
 happen ere the old flag should again be unfurled over the land, 
 it would have been greater. It had taken millions for the tight, 
 and hundreds of thousands for the sacrifice. To seventy-five 
 thousand were added three hundred thousand more; and tramp, 
 tramp, they come, three hundred thousand more, Father Abra- 
 ham. But many never returned. But was it not meet for those 
 who did, to remember their fallen comrades, and strew their 
 graves with the early tokens of Spring ? Bring the fresh blos- 
 soms from the green wood, and year after year thus remember 
 them. 
 
 He had looked back over the past, and asked himself what 
 would have been the fate of liberty in the world, had not the 
 good men of this nation responded favorably to the call ; and 
 imagined the great nation and the liberties we enjoy stamped 
 deep beneath the heel of despotism. How long again before the 
 apostles of liberty would rise ? He fancied he could look back 
 to 1861, and see some noble spirit rise from the wreck of free- 
 dom, and grasp at the great principles of human rights, aban- 
 doned to its enemies. But the loyal men of the nation had 
 willed otherwise, and the great principles of human liberty still 
 survive among us. What more appropriate offerings could we 
 bear to the graves of a nation's dead than flowers ? They were 
 fit, and should be offered at the shrines of the fallen in Liberty's 
 cause throughout the civilized world. Let the custom be re- 
 peated next year, and continued from year to year. They gave 
 their lives to the country, and they are ours, and we should 
 stand a united people in the glorious work of honoring their 
 memories all over the land. 
 
 ADDRESS OF T. P. M C GKEW, ESQ. 
 
 Thos. F. McGrew, Esq., followed in an address of much 
 earnestness and power. He remarked that there are in the his- 
 tory of every nation grpat battles memorable conflicts in which 
 its destiny is shaped and determined. To the heroes of such 
 struggles monuments \vere erected and peculiar honors were 
 paid. 
 
 "With other nations, it was the conspicuous leaders in such 
 contests to whom the tributes of respect were offered ; witli us, 
 it was the common soldier whose deeds we keep in grateful re- 
 membrance, and to whose remains we devote our reverent and 
 thankful offerings. Mr. McGrew proceeded to review the prog- 
 ress of the great historical struggles for freedom, carried on first 
 among European nations, and then, upon a broader and worthier
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 437 
 
 tion, in onr own country. In England, the rightful pre- 
 nice of the House of Commons, and the principle of pelf- 
 
 foundation, 
 dominance 
 
 government as opposed to the absolutism of monarchy, had been 
 asserted and established. In America, it Y.'JIS. not only the idea 
 of popular government which had been vindicated, but the yet 
 loftier and more comprehensive principle of equality of rights, 
 irrespective of arbitrary and accidental distinctions the doc- 
 trine of a common humanity, which is the inspiration and vital 
 element of our republican institutions. 
 
 The Proclamation of Emancipation was the grand character- 
 istic event of our recent struggle. It determined the question 
 whether the people, even to the lowest and humblest citizen, 
 should share, equally and justly, the sovereignty which of right 
 belongs to them. Four millions of our fellow-beings constituted 
 the race for whom this question was decided, whose liberties 
 were thus solemnly guaranteed, and who were thereby lifted 
 from hopeless degradation into the light of freedom, education, 
 and independent citizenship. 
 
 To the brave men who won for our country, and for the 
 human race, this memorable triumph, it was meet that we should 
 pay these tokens of respect and adorn their hallowed resting- 
 places with wreaths and evergreens the tokens of mingled 
 grief and gratitude. Our community had been favored above 
 many others, in that so few, comparatively, of the great num- 
 ber of its brave sons who had gone forth to protect and preserve 
 the Government, had failed to return to us. 
 
 But we were still called upon to mourn the loss of many of 
 our dearest and noblest, whose lives have been sacrificed for 
 freedom. Two such instances came freshly to the speaker's 
 memory, and he would ask permission to recall briefly the cir- 
 cumstances of their death. One was a surgeon of a regiment 
 serving in the far West, who was wounded by Indians, and, be- 
 fore help could reach him, had wandered away, and was never 
 heard of more. The manner of his death, and the place where 
 rest his remains, were alike unknown. The friends of that sol- 
 dier had placed a bouquet of flowers on a drooping bough in 
 this cemetery to-day, with a record of his loss, as follows : " In 
 memory of one of whose resting-place nothing is known. 
 Wounded by Indians in Arizona, he wandered away before help 
 could reach' him, and of his fate nothing is known to this day. 
 
 The missing soldier was a surgeon in the U. S. Army, and a 
 nephew of E. M. Stanton, late Secretary of War. 
 
 The other case was that of John Way, a soldier of the 44th 
 Regiment, who served under the flag of his country until he 
 was captured by the enemy, and consigned to that charnel-house
 
 438 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 of the Rebellion, the prison-pen of Andersonville. There he 
 died of starvation. In his last agonizing moments we may well 
 believe that he asked himself, " Will this great nation, in whose 
 cause I perish, remember me in the day of its triumph and the 
 bright future of prosperity and grandeur which lies before it ( " 
 We are here to-day to answer that question to answer it by 
 tokens of grateful recollection and imperishable honor. No ! 
 the heroes of the war which saved us from dishonor and ruin 
 are not forgotten. They will be treasured in the hearts of this 
 people as long as time shall endure. Mr. McGrew concluded 
 his address with an eloquent tribute to the memory of the 
 Union soldiers who died under the flag. 
 
 The band followed with a selection of music, after which the 
 benediction was pronounced by Rev. S. Williams, and the audi- 
 ence slowly dispersed. 
 
 AT FKEMONT, OHIO. 
 
 Shortly after one o'clock the procession moved towards Oak 
 Wood Cemetery, by way of Ballville, in the following order : 
 1st. Chief Marshal, Major A. J. Snyder; 2d. Fremont Brass 
 Band ; 3d. Carriage with minister and speakers ; 4th. Color- 
 bearers : Mr. Brockway carrying the United States Flag, and 
 Mr. John Ramsey carrying the old State Flag of the 72d O. Y. 
 I., both flags draped in mourning; 5th. Soldiers on foot ; 6th. 
 Omnibuses and carriages with the committee of ladies who had 
 charge of the bouquets; 7th. Citizens in carriages. The pro- 
 cession moved through town to the beautiful music of the Band. 
 The number of carnages in line, and those which went to the 
 Cemetery by other roads, numbered nearly three hundred, while 
 the crowd in the cemetery was estimated at from two to three 
 thousand. At the cemetery the Ballville people and the friends 
 from the surrounding county had already arrived. A speaker's 
 stand was erected in the beautiful grove, on which the flags 
 were placed. The graves of soldiers were marked by small na- 
 tional flags. The proceedings were opened with prayer by Rev. 
 Mr. Wykes, after which there was vocal music. The names of 
 soldiers buried in both cemeteries were then read by Major D. 
 C. Smith. The list is as follows: 
 
 ROLL OF HONOR. Cak Wood Cemetery : John Stahl, Eugene 
 Rawson, Maj. 72d O. Y. I., Edward Lewis, John Cochran, Lieut., 
 William Scrymager, 72d O. Y. I., Joseph Gilmore, 72dO. Y. I., 
 Tobias Hershey, J. Purdy, 72d O. Y. I., John Kessler, Maj. 
 49th O. Y. I., I. O. Totten, 49th O. Y. I., Chas. Wood, Maj. 
 51st O. Y. I., S. Cook, 72d O. Y. I., Jacob Snyder, 72d O. Y. L, 
 George Stewart, 25th O. Y. I., Isaac Nigh, 25th O. Y. I., J.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 439 
 
 Lemmon, 8th O. Y. I., M. Morrison, 8th O. Y. I, Manville 
 Moore, 8th O. Y. 1., A. J. Moore, 8th O. Y. I., Charleston 
 Tyler, 21st O. Y. I., John Peters, 8th O. Y. I., William Kirk, 
 8th O. Y. I., Andrew Fisher, 72d O. Y. I., Peter Glass, 72d O. 
 Y. I., I. W. Stewart, William Masou, 72d O. Y. I., Chester 
 Buckland, 72d O. Y. I. Old Cemetery : Richard S. Beaugrand, 
 57th O. Y. I., Henry Michaels, 49th O. Y. I., Win. Parish, 8th 
 O.O., Wm. Fields, 8th O. Y. I., Grant Holcomh, 59th O. Y. I., 
 A. H. Holcornb, 72d O. Y. I., L. Holcomb, 169th O. Y. L, 
 Hoik, 72d O. Y. L, F. W. Russell, 8th O. Y. I., Coles, 
 8th O. Y. I., Seth Cloud, 72d O. Y. L, -- Pryor, 72d O. Y. L, 
 Geo. Tillotson, Capt. 8th O. Y. L, -- Boyer, Win. JSyce, lllth 
 0. Y. I. Private Cemetery : Joseph Williams, 8th ' O. Y. L, 
 Gilbert Williams. 
 
 The band then played a dirge, and the president of the day, 
 Col. J. R. Bartlett, announced the speakers, Hon. Homer 
 Everett, J. K. Hord, and H. W. Winslow. Mr. Everett spoke 
 first, as follows : 
 
 The list of the honored dead, just announced, contains many 
 dear personal friends, the mention of whose names here has 
 awakened emotions that unfit me to speak and almost choke 
 utterance. You will pardon me, therefore, for brevity and im- 
 perfections of thought and speech. 
 
 It was a noble impulse which prompted the surviving sol- 
 diers of the late war for American Liberty and Union, to thus 
 do honor at the graves of their departed comrades. And the 
 means by which it is to be done, decking their last resting-places 
 with earth's brightest and sweetest flowers, was as happy in con- 
 ception as the motive was noble. 
 
 By the ceremonies we not only honor ourselves and the 
 dead, but assure the surviving soldiers mingled with us, of a 
 people's gratitude, and that they too are and will be held in 
 grateful remembrance. We do well to strew flowers on the 
 graves of the children of the republic the martyrs. In the 
 book of nature, where every emotional, mental, and spiritual 
 quality of humanity may find its correspondence and illustra- 
 tion, flowers represent good aftections, thoughts, and inten- 
 tions toward othA-s. As the flower precedes the fruit, and gives 
 notice of its coming, so good thoughts, affections, and inten- 
 tions precede and give promise of deeds in love to others. These 
 cherished dead are now beyond the reach of our good deeds ; to 
 bring fruits to them would be vain, but to indulge good thoughts 
 and affections toward them, should enlarge our souls and wake 
 in our breasts a more vigorous determination to sacrifice our- 
 selves for the good of others. The indulgence in such thoughts
 
 440 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 and intentions may lead ns so to act and speak that those who 
 come after us will be encouraged by our instruction and ex- 
 ample to sacrifice themselves if need be, when the good of the 
 country and liberty shall demand it. 
 
 The great attendance on this occasion from far and near, 
 attests the fact, that the suggestion was only the publication of 
 a sentiment and desire latent in every loyal heart, and already 
 yearning for expression. It seems as if the people were moved 
 by one spontaneous impulse to come up and manifest their 
 thanks to those who died that the nation might live. The fath- 
 ers and mothers, the widows, the orphans, and the affianced of 
 the dead heroes are here. They visit again the sacred ground 
 where their brightest hopes and the objects of their fondest 
 affections are buried. The whole people have come with them 
 to acknowledge their gratitude for their sacrifices and sufferings 
 for the common good. The flag of the Union, the glorious 
 Stars and Stripes are upon the grave of every departed soldier 
 here, and seems as if it would almost stir to life again the heart 
 that could utter with his expiring breath : 
 
 " Then wrap the flag around me, boys, 
 
 To die will be most sweet, 
 With Freedom's starry emblem, boys, 
 To be my winding sheet." 
 
 While doing honor to those heroes whose mortal remains are 
 buried here, we must not forget that many of our patriotic braves 
 are buried in far distant localities ; perchance in the terrible 
 exigencies of war some were never buried, and their bones are 
 mouldering where they fell. Let us, therefore, now and here 
 proclaim that our offerings are tokens of gratitude, not only to 
 those buried near us, but to every brave soldier who lost his life 
 in the cause of the Union. Let us extract some wisdom from the 
 hour and the occasion. Why were these brave men sacrificed ? 
 Nothing more nor less, my friends, than to settle an error in 
 statesmanship. By false teaching, two conflicting ideas were 
 taught amongst the people and arrayed them in hostile parties. 
 This is no time nor place to discuss political questions, but lest I 
 be misunderstood, let me say, that this conflic^ on one side, was 
 that we were not a nation but a confederation of sovereign 
 States, which at all times have the right to withdraw from the 
 Union. On the other side it was contended that the United 
 States has a nationality, a common constitution, a common flag, 
 with a government having the right to enforce its own laws and 
 preserve its existence by force against all enemies, within or 
 without. These two ideas moved the contending hosts on the
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 441 
 
 battle-fields of the late, terrible conflict of arms. By the sword 
 it is decided that we HAVK a common country, a common flag, 
 and that the Union of these States is not a rope of sand, but a 
 bond so strong that no foe can break it. Let us all then accept 
 the teachings of the hour, expel from our minds the fallacy it 
 has cost so much to settle, and here by the graves of these mar- 
 tyrs to liberty inspired by the sacrifices they have made, resolve, 
 that cost what it may this " Union must and shall be preserved." 
 
 At the conclusion of Mr. EVERETT'S speech, there was an- 
 other song by the choir. Mr. HORD then addressed the assem- 
 blage as follows : 
 
 The lateness of the hour and the many duties of the day 
 yet to be performed, admonish me not to detain you longer than 
 the ten minutes allotted to me by the committee. I am glad to 
 perform the part assigned to me in this day's proceedings, and 
 to participate with you in these interesting ceremonies. We 
 have met to strew flowers as mementoes of our affection upon 
 the graves of America's sacred dead. By this we confer no 
 benefit upon the illustrious patriots who are quietly sleeping in 
 their hallowed tombs, but we testify to their surviving comrades 
 whom we exhorted in the name of our country, of liberty, of 
 Christianity, and of the revolutionary fathers, to follow the flag 
 of the nation to the field of carnage and death, assuring them 
 of the tiiture love and gratitude of their country, and the grate- 
 ful remembrance of posterity; that those were no idle words, 
 but meant in truth that they should ever have a dwelling-place 
 in the hearts of their grateful countrymen. No idle curiosity 
 IMS prompted this immense gathering. The same impulse which 
 has brought us together ; devotion to our country and love for 
 her defenders ; is the mainspring to the highest and noblest 
 action, the moving power which makes a free people great and 
 respe'ted. We celebrate to-day the patriotic devotion and self- 
 sacrifice of those who died that this Nation might live. And 
 while we lament their untimely death, we mourn not as if they 
 had died in vain. Though they have departed from amongst 
 us, they are not lost; their images and their memory are cher- 
 ished, not alone by their relatives and personal friends, but by 
 the whole community, and by their countrymen of the present 
 and future generations ; and their patriotism and devotion will 
 render their names illustrious and cause them to live forever. 
 All people in all ages, of all nationalities and religions, have ever 
 paid the highest respect and honor to the memories of those who 
 died for their country, for liberty, and the rights of man. They 
 have been the heroes and demigods before whom the people have 
 bowed down and worshiped. And the feeling which prompts
 
 442 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 this reverence is not irreligious. It is but an acknowledgment 
 of the great service and sacrifice of such as were willing to be- 
 come martyrs for the good of the people. It seems to be so 
 ordered in the economy of this world, that no great and lasting 
 good can be accomplished but at the cost of great sacrifices. We 
 cannot tell why this should be, but history proves the truth 
 of the assertion. No people ever secured their liberty and estab- 
 lished free institutions but by the shedding of blood. The ancient 
 republics renowned in history, and the empires which have 
 swayed the destinies of the world reached their success and 
 greatness through seas of blood. And all the kingdoms and 
 empires of modern times which have become great and power- 
 ful, have reached their preeminence through the blood of their 
 citizens, flowing for centuries until, as it were, it reached to the 
 bridle-bits of the horses of their warriors. 
 
 This is the fearful price of National life, vitality and power, 
 of the supremacy of law and order, and the predominance of 
 right over lawless might and mob violence. Our own Republic 
 was established after eight long years of bloody strife, and War- 
 ren was the first hero who fell in the strife. Though the great 
 name of Washington has seemed to eclipse all others, yet in the 
 hearts of the people, Warren and his fallen compatriots are 
 cherished as the real saviors of the Country. And when we 
 look back over the record of that great struggle, we find the 
 names of many who have made its battle-fields illustrious by 
 their heroic death. Without the shedding of their blood, without 
 the noble sacrifice of those great and good men who, uninfluenced 
 by selfishness, but prompted only by a love of Country, and a 
 desire to promote the welfare of their fellow men, willingly laid 
 down their lives, the establishment of the American Republic 
 could never have been accomplished. As the first period of our 
 history opened amid the fires of the Revolution, so the second 
 has been inaugurated 'amid the carnage of the greatest battle- 
 fields of the world. Before we could enter upon the stage of 
 this new era, and fulfill its destiny, it seemed to be necessary 
 that we should pass through this second baptism of fire and 
 blood, to fit us for the accomplishment of our great and respon- 
 sible duties. We have emerged from this Red Sea of affliction, 
 and are here to honor such as fell in the struggle. As I see the 
 faces of the mothers, wives, daughters and sisters of the buried 
 dead, I am reminded of incidents which occurred upon the bat- 
 tle-field six years ago to-day. I saw on the field, stiff in death, 
 a % soldier from Georgia, with an open Testament, a gift from his 
 wife, clasped in his icy hand. It was not opened to any of the 
 passages which might have contained words of promise and 

 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 443 
 
 hope for himself, but at a page on the fly leaf where were writ- 
 ten the parting words of his wife, dedicating to him the sacred 
 volume. Another soldier, of General Sickles' command, as he 
 lay cold and lifeless, held aloft in his hand a letter. I glanced 
 through its contents, and found that it was from her, who, doubt- 
 less, that night as the telegraph told its tale of death, was bro- 
 ken-hearted. An officer in our regiment, as he double-quicked 
 into the line of battle amid a hails-torm of bullets and bursting 
 shells, took from his pocket the picture of his wife, and, 
 kissing it, his last words were " F arewell, wife ! " A soldier, as 
 the battle commenced, came to his captain and said " I shall not 
 survive this battle, but I am determined to do my duty. Tell 
 my sister, she who gave me her last blessing, that my dying 
 thought shall be of her." In a few moments he was dead. As 
 I laid upon the field thinking of these, together with many other 
 like incidents, a beautiful thought occurred to me. It is held by 
 some scientific men, that when a person dies, the retina of the 
 eye retains, after death, the impression or image of the last ob- 
 ject which it beheld in life, and that the image can be discovered 
 and the object identified by the aid of the microscope. So I 
 thought might it be with the soul, that as it left the body, it 
 would retain the image of the object of its last thought while 
 in the body, and bear its impression into the world of the great 
 hereafter. Then I thought now happy, after all, will these sad 
 mourners be in the end. 
 
 How great the compensation to these noble women of 
 America for their devotion and beautiful self-sacrifice upon the 
 altar of their patriotism ! What happiness for them to know 
 that their images have t>een borne upon the souls of heroes and 
 patriots, into the very presence of Divinity, there to dwell 
 throughout the ages and forever ! Let me say further to you 
 who have buried the loved forms that you cherished beneath the 
 sod, look at the grand results of the toils and sacrifices endured 
 and suffered by you and them the Union saved and peace re- 
 stored, the supremacy of the Constitution and laws of the nation 
 reestablished throughout the whole country, and the institutions 
 founded by our fathers preserved from the hand of violence, and 
 saved to us and our posterity, and the flag and emblem of our 
 nationality again floating triumphant over every State, and hon- 
 ored and respected in every land and upon every sea. Would 
 you, if you could, sacrifice all these, that you might call back 
 to life the noble dead ? Would you roll back the events of the 
 past seven years, and reopen the strife for national existence, 
 and incur the hazard of a possible defeat and failure ? Would 
 you, that you might have them again with you during their
 
 444 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 short lives at best, be willing to see the Union dissevered, our 
 flag dishonored, rebels holding sway over one halt' the country, 
 and the land convulsed with fear and agony, and shrouded in 
 gloom ? Call up the brave spirits of those who sleep their last 
 sleep, who are done with life's cares and sorrows, and ask them 
 if they would be recalled to life at such a cost. And 1 hear 
 their answer " Never ! never ! Long live America ! " Let us 
 profit by their death. The light that shines from a patriot's 
 grave is a pure and holy light, and while we are guided by it, 
 we shall never go into the paths of treason and rebellion. Let 
 that light illumine our pathway, and the noble example of the 
 dead strengthen our love of country and devotion to duty. 
 When patriotism in the hearts of the people is dead, all is lost. 
 It is the life-blood and soul of the national existence, the ani- 
 mating fire which makes a people great, and their history grand 
 and beautiful. When we no longer have brave men who are 
 willing to fall in defense of their country, and have women will- 
 ing to sustain them in the conflict ; when, if ever, we are com- 
 pelled to rely upon a hireling and mercenary soldiery to defend 
 our liberties, we will have no liberties worth defending, and our 
 institutions will soon perish and decay. When the Romans 
 fought their own battles, they controlled the destinies of the 
 world. When they came to depend upon a mercenary army, 
 they became slaves, and the empire of the world passed from 
 their hands into that of barbarians. May the teachings of to- 
 day induce us to quell party strife, to strengthen our devotion 
 to our country and her welfare. And here, in the presence of 
 the illustrious dead, let us renew our oath of fealty to the Union, 
 and swear upon their graves that, notwithstanding the machina- 
 tions of political tricksters and demagogues, this grand Ameri- 
 can Republic shall endure forever. 
 
 REMARKS OP H. W. WINSLOW. 
 
 FELLOW-CITIZENS : The occasion that calls us together to-day 
 is fraught with so many associations and incidents, that I can 
 hardly find words adequate to express the deep emotion of my 
 feelings. It is not the first time the living have paid tribute to 
 the memory of their dead soldiers. It was done in other ages 
 and in other lands. Flowers have been strewed along the path- 
 way of the great and upon the graves of fallen heroes ; but it is 
 something new with us. We meet to decorate the graves of the 
 brave and noble men who laid down their lives in .the struggle 
 to maintain the pillars of this great and glorious Republic. 
 Bravely our fathers of the Revolution fought to establish this 
 Union, and bravely have their descendants maintained the
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 445 
 
 cause. But for the sacrifices and death of these noble patriots, 
 we should not now enjoy the blessings of this glorious Union. 
 They laid down their lives in the cause of Liberty for you and 
 me. Their spirits have gone from earth, but their acts will live 
 forever. This occasion is one of national importance, in which 
 we ought all to take a part. It will become historic ; rising 
 generations will read this demonstration of respect, and wiU 
 visit the graves of the fallen. 
 
 When ambitious and dangerous men plotted to overthrow 
 this Government, these brave patriots rallied under the Stars 
 and Stripes, and went to the front to uphold, maintain, and pre- 
 serve the Union. But a few days ago they left their friends, 
 their relatives, and all that was dear to them, and went forth 
 and battled for the cause of Liberty and Eight. They accom- 
 plished their purpose ; the Union is saved, and ambitious men 
 and traitors, who sought to destroy it, are defeated. And we 
 meet here to commemorate the sacrifices and services of those 
 noble sons, who died that our country might remain. As we 
 this day strew flowers over the honored tombs of the departed, 
 we must remember those gallant heroes who have died in camps, 
 in prisons, and those who have been buried on the battle-fields, 
 far from home, in a foreign land, without the care or soothing 
 words of an aifectionate mother, father, brother, or sister no 
 one to administer to their wants. To those alike will we pay 
 tribute and keep sacred their memories. Those who have sacn- 
 ticed their lives in defense of the Republic are worthy of na- 
 tional respect. We must not, on this occasion, be forgetful of 
 the living. Those brave defenders who have returned home 
 from the smoky field of battle, crippled, emaciated, with broken 
 constitutions, impaired minds, with wounds and disease con- 
 tracted in the service, are each entitled to our gratitude ; and 
 we, as a nation, would be dishonored and recreant to duty, did 
 we not attend to their wants and try to alleviate their sufferings. 
 The terrific conflict through which this Republic has so recently 
 passed, and in which it has so nobly and honorably sustained, and 
 maintained its existence, gives proof of its value, and the valor 
 of its defenders. Other forms of government have existed for a 
 while, and then been overthrown by much less energy and far 
 less resistance. Empires, which have been governed by kings, 
 emperors, and monarchs for ages, have looked upon our repub- 
 lican form of government as a weak and fragile experiment ; 
 but when this gigantic strife and conflict ended, and the result 
 proclaimed through the length and breadth of the land, every 
 nation acknowledged the greatness and the perpetuity of the 
 Union. Though the loss and sacrifice have been great those
 
 446 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 who have been near and dear to ns have been swept away in 
 the heat of battle nevertheless, the Government made and 
 adopted by the fathers of this Republic still remains unshaken 
 and unimpaired. Those wandering orbs that sought to separate, 
 have been held together by the hand of bravery and patriotism, 
 and are being placed back npon the azure field of our national 
 ensign, there to remain for all coming time. 
 
 Now, in commemoration of the gallant heroes who lie en- 
 tombed beneath that national flag, we will strew these flowers. 
 The flags denote their resting-places. 
 
 " All hail, the Stars and Stripes ! 
 
 The words are graven now on every heart, 
 A nation^ watchword, Freedom's song 
 
 Of every future act a part. 
 All hail, the glorious Stars and Stripes I 
 
 The echo leaps from hill to hill ; 
 We first drew breath beneath its folds, 
 
 We'll live and die beneath them still." 
 
 The benediction was pronounced by the Rev. Mr. Wykes, 
 and the crowd dispersed to strew flowers on the graves. This 
 beautiful ceremony was performed not only by the committee 
 of ladies, but by hundreds of others. All the soldiers' graves 
 were covered with flowers and evergreens, and their monuments 
 and tombstones hung with garlands and wreaths. When it was 
 completed, the procession re-formed, and moved to the old 
 burying-ground, where, after prayer, and a song by the choir, 
 Mr. Winslow made a brief address. Flowers were then strewn 
 on the graves, and at their leisure the people dispersed for their 
 several homes. 
 
 AT WARREN, OHIO. 
 
 A large number of the citizens of Warren participated in 
 the solemn and impressive services of the occasion. About 2, 
 p. M., a procession was formed on the public square, under 
 charge of Col. H. G. Stratton, Marshal, and, headed by the 
 Warren Band, proceeded to Oakwood Cemetery. On arriving 
 there, the exercises were opened with prayer by the Rev. Benj. 
 St. John Page, after which Rev. George Pierce delivered a 
 brief address, substantially as follows : 
 
 Alluding to the fact that great events in history were imper- 
 fectly apprehended by the actors in them and their cotempora- 
 ries, and illustrating it by reference to the experience of the last 
 ten years in our country, he said : We are all too near and too 
 much moved by our personal interest to form any comprehen- 
 sive judgment on them. But we know enough already to fill
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 447 
 
 us with a profound sense of gratitude to the living and dead 
 soldiers of the Republic. The condition of the country in the 
 Winter and Spring of 1861 was described. State after State 
 seceded. There was exultation and confidence at the South. 
 The Government was controlled by imbecile and treacherous 
 hands, that interposed no obstacles to the disintegration rapidly 
 going on. The loyal States were divided, its leading men were 
 prophesying peace, and trying to patch up some form of com- 
 promise. It makes one's ears to tingle to think of the deep 
 abasement to which we submitted to avoid a conflict. The loyal 
 people seemed to be fitly represented by Ezekiel's vision of 
 bones that were " very dry." 
 
 And then came the great awakening that followed the assault 
 and capture of Fort Sumter. Then our people received a new 
 baptism, and we had a Pentecost of patriotism. President Lin- 
 coln's Proclamation, and call for seventy-five thousand men, was 
 like the Prophet's call upon the dry bones, and we found an ex- 
 ceeding great army ready to suffer and die for the fatherland. 
 Then all divisions ceased, all loyal lips were outspoken, all loyal 
 hands were active, treasure flowed into the national coffers with 
 unparalleled liberality. Then, and all through the weary strug- 
 gle, we sent into our armies our choicest treasures. Our fathers 
 and sons, husbands and lovers, from every department of life, 
 from farms, and shops, and schools, rich men and poor men in 
 one fraternal band of as noble men as ever breasted the dangers 
 of war. We sent them forth with our benedictions and promise 
 of everlasting remembrance. We cheered them with the assur- 
 ance that every scar they received should be a badge of honor- 
 able distinction ; that, if disabled, they should be made comfort- 
 able by a grateful country's bounty ; that the names of the bat- 
 tle-fields on which they should fight should be associated with 
 their own; that on our gala-days and national festivals they 
 should be honored guests. And we promised that, if they 
 should fall in the service, they should not be forgotten ; that 
 places stained with loyal blood, and graves of fallen braves, 
 should be shrines of patriotic pilgrimage ; that it should be a 
 patent of republican nobility to the son, that his father died in 
 his country's defence against rebellion. The war was fought 
 we all remember through what delays, discouragements, and 
 difficulties to a triumphant issue. It raged over an unexam- 
 pled extent of territory, between immense bodies of men, in 
 innumerable engagements, until the last stronghold was cap- 
 tured and every enemy was subdued. The strife cost immense 
 treasures, sacrificed a multitude of lives. Hardly a home but 
 has had its dead from the camp or battle-field. But we can
 
 448 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 already see, in part, what compensation it has brought. We 
 have an established Government ; we have a Government puri- 
 fied and freed from the curse and stain of slavery. Aristocratic 
 hopes have been forever crushed, democracy has triumphed over 
 its enemies at home and abroad, the Declaration of Independ- 
 ence can be read by us without suppressing any part of it, and, 
 embodying its glorious truths in our national life ; we have 
 promise of a future of greatness and glory such as even eclipses 
 our wonderful past. 
 
 In view of our solemn promises in the past ; in view of the 
 wonderful achievements of our citizen soldiery ; in view of the 
 precious interests they have defended and secured ; in view of 
 the glorious future they have opened to UB, we do well to honor 
 the living and tenderly and gratefully remember the dead. 
 Most fitting is it that to-day, all over our land, that surviving 
 comrades, loving relatives, and earnest patriots, should visit the 
 graves of the fallen braves, and, recalling and recounting their 
 acts of virtue and noble daring, adorn the mounds over the 
 silent dust with Spring's choicest flowers. So shall we make 
 them live again in the character and spirit of those who come 
 after them, and help form a generation worthy to enjoy the 
 blessings they have died to secure. 
 
 At the conclusion of Mr. Pierce's remarks, the procession 
 was re-formed, and proceeded to the several graves to be deco- 
 rated. The wreaths were placed in the following order, by the 
 persons named, who, upon depositing the flowers on the last 
 resting-place of their fallen comrades, pronounced brief bift elo- 
 quent and befitting eulogies : 
 
 BEV. GAYLORD B. HAWKINS. REMAKK8 BY REV. R. M. WARREN. 
 
 The peculiar glory of our country is its Christianity. The 
 most powerful element among us of true prosperity and progress 
 is the Christian element. We recognize this as the corner-stone 
 of all that is virtuous in our national life. Are we, as a people, 
 becoming proficient in the study of human rights are we learn- 
 ing the great lesson of justice ? The text-book is the Bible ; 
 the original code of moral ethics is in the handwriting of God. 
 Hence, to preserve and protect our fellow-men in the enjoyment 
 and exercise of their inalienable rights, and to defend from every 
 foe a Government founded in such principles of equal justice, is 
 the manifest and positive duty of every Christian man. Nobly 
 was this responsibility met by the churches of our land in the 
 recent war. The brave boys at the front heard from our pulpits 
 no uncertain sound. They felt that behind them was a power 
 all Divine the prayers of Christian men and women. And
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 449 
 
 the thought that loved ones were praying for them, nerved 
 many an arm in the day of battle. 
 
 While members of our churches by thousands went forth at 
 the call of duty to die for truth, the pulpit had also its repre- 
 sentatives at the front. Christian ministers were at the head of 
 regiments and companies ; in the rank and file of our armies, 
 and as chaplains 01 regiments and agents of the Sanitary and 
 Christian Commissions, they everywhere administered to the 
 physical and spiritual necessities of suffering and dying heroes. 
 It was the recognition of the loyalty and work of the Christian 
 churches that, more than aught else, encouraged the hearj. of 
 our martyred President. In answer to the address of a delega- 
 tion of a prominent religious body, he said : " God bless the 
 Church ! and blessed be God, who, in this the hour of our great- 
 est trial, giveth us the churches ! " 
 
 We honor, to-day, the memory of a noble representative of 
 the Christian ministry in the list of fallen heroes Rev. Gaylord 
 B. Hawkins, of the Erie Conference. Like many, he went forth 
 from a sense of duty, and, like many, he died at his post. I 
 .well remember to-day his last speech at the session of our Con- 
 ference, at Youngstown, in the Summer of 1862, when burning 
 words of holy trust flowed from a heart tilled with love to God 
 and man. A man of noble impulses, of a generous and self- 
 sacrificing nature, a kind husband and father, a consistent Chris- 
 tian, and an able minister of Christ, his works follow him. 
 
 And while we to-day thus appropriately unite in these 
 memorial services, may these emblems, in their freshness and 
 beauty, be truly emblematical of that respect and affection 
 which shall ever bloom in our hearts in memory of the buried 
 dead. 
 
 CHARLES BOUTON. REMABK8 BY E. B. TAYLOR, ESQ. 
 
 In this grave lies the body of Charles Bouton, late a sergeant 
 in the 171st Ohio Volunteer Regiment. In civil life he was 
 kind and honest ; in camp, cheerful and obliging ; in battle, 
 noble and brave. Let us, then, as we decorate his grave with 
 flowers, and bedew it with tears, also be mindful of his good 
 qualities, and keep his memory green in our hearts. 
 
 HARMON GRATER. REMARKS BY G. T. HULL. 
 
 To the memory of our comrade, Harmon Graeter, of the 
 84th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, who died at Cumberland, Md., 
 Sept. 29, 1862. 
 
 TJLY88E8 M'QUISTON. REMARKS BY W. B. KING. 
 
 To cherish the memory of the dead, in whatever form aft'ec- 
 29
 
 450 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 tion may prompt, is an observance that commends itself alike 
 to the favor of God and man. 
 
 The lowly grave, the ponderous tomb, the rock-hewn sepul- 
 chre, the funeral crypt, and the stately mausoleum, have evoked 
 the highest efforts of Art in the beautifying of the last homes 
 of the honored dead. 
 
 As the patriarchs of old, amid the hills of Palestine, met to 
 embellish the graves of their departed, so we meet to-day to 
 decorate the graves of our fallen braves with an offering of the 
 young year's sweetest flowers. 
 
 ,The silent occupant of this grave, Ulysses McQuiston, was 
 born in 1842. He enlisted in 1861, and returned home to die 
 in 1863. Of him, as of all who have passed away, may be said, 
 He was bom, he lived, he died. In these three great essentials 
 birth, life, and death all mankind have a like destiny. The 
 only universal epitaph would be the simple sentence, " He was 
 born, he lived, he died." 
 
 He was with the Grand Army of the Potomac in its first ad- 
 vance on Richmond, taking part in the seven days' disastrous 
 battles, and also in those of Slatersville and Williamsburg. 
 The hardships of the campaign, with exposure to the deadly 
 malaria of the swamps of the Chickahominy, which swept away 
 twenty thousand of the bravest soldiers of the Republic, so poi- 
 soned his system, that, after a long siege in hospital to regain 
 lost health, he was discharged for permanent disability. Re- 
 turning home, he lived ten months, and was then consigned to 
 the narrow house appointed for all the living. 
 
 Of unquestioned bravery as a soldier, and unswerving fidel- 
 ity as a friend, he presented traits of character worthy both our 
 admiration and imitation. He died in his country's service. 
 He gave his life to fill the measure of her liberty and glory, 
 and, we may confidently hope, reaps a soldier's reward. " After 
 life's fitful fever he sleeps well." No drum-beat, bugle, or roar 
 of cannon will break his dreamless sleep. 
 
 " Rest, soldier, rest, thy warfare o'er, 
 
 Sleep the sleep that knows no breaking ; 
 Dreams of .battle-fields no more 
 
 Days of danger, nights of waking." 
 
 OR8EMUS DUN1.AP. REMARKS BY GEORGE VAN GORDEB. 
 
 A comrade-in-arms, whose experience in the service of his 
 country, though brief, was honorable and full of glory. To-day 
 we see recorded in the long list of Freedom's martyrs the name 
 of Orsemus J. Dunlap, of Co. A, 171st Ohio Volunteer Infan- 
 try, who fell at the post of duty, the llth day of June, 1864.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 451 
 
 We thus honor his memory by decking his tomb with Nature's 
 smiles, in the form of beautiful flowers twined by fair and loyal 
 hands. 
 
 LIEUT. J. J. MUSSER. REMARKS BY J. M. STtHOL, ESQ. 
 
 We are now at the grave of John J. Musser, who enlisted as 
 a private on the 26th of April, 1861, in Co. F, 24th Regiment 
 Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Capt. A. S. Hall. Early in the 
 campaign this soldier was in the contest at Cheat Mountain and 
 Green Briar, and afterwards in the battles of Sliiloh, Perryville, 
 Stone River, Mission Ridge, and Ringgold ; and in all these 
 fiercely-contested battles he did his duty heroically. At Mission 
 Ridge, after three color-bearers had been shot down, he picked 
 up the old battle-flag, and called to his companions to follow 
 him. His officers commended him as one of the bravest of the 
 brave. He served three years, then came home, and afterwards 
 enlisted in the 196th Infantry, where he was promoted and com- 
 missioned Lieutenant. He served until Lee's surrender, and 
 was honorably discharged, having faithfully served his country 
 during the whole war. While in the service, he contracted a 
 disease which produced death, and which occurred at his home 
 in Warren, on the 22d of November, 1865, in the 26th year of 
 his age. He was a moral, upright young man, a brave, true, 
 and ever-faithful soldier. Let us cherish his memory and his 
 heroic deeds. 
 
 JOB D. BELL. REMARKS BY O. M. ME88ER. 
 
 Job D. Bell entered the three-months service, April 27, 
 1861. under the first call of President Lincoln. He was honor- 
 ably discharged July following. Sept. loth, of the same year 
 he enlisted in Co. C., 19th Regt. O. V. I., for three years. He 
 was elected 2d Lieutenant by the Company at its organization. 
 He was promoted 1st Lieutenant alter the battle of Shiloh, 
 which position he held until January 2d, 1863, when at the 
 battle of Stone River he was instantly killed by a shot through 
 the head. By kindness to us on the field of battle he won our 
 love, and to-day we cherish the memory of his many noble 
 deeds. May we never fail, as year by year shall roll around, to 
 come and leave a tribute of our love 
 
 MAJOR GEORGE L. WOOD. REMARKS BY JUDGE YEOMAN8. 
 
 Here sleeps George L Wood, a fellow soldier, and Major 
 of the 125th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and while we 
 this day in grateful remembrance of his services to his country 
 deck his grave with flowers, I would that I could give you, in 
 more than general terms, a history of the services which entitled 
 him to the honor of a soJdier's grave. 
 
 My acquaintance with him prior to the war was slight, I
 
 452 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 only knew him as an attorney, commencing his professional 
 course with a high sense of honor, which entitled him to respect, 
 and M'ith that honesty and candor in his business and profes- 
 sional engagements, which told that he was what I afterward 
 found him to be, not only a faithful companion in arms, but a 
 true and noble man. 
 
 It was on the 15th day of April, 1861, that President Lin- 
 coln issued his call for 75,000 men. Early in May the 7th Ohio 
 Infantry went into camp at Columbus, and among its number 
 was George L. Wood. It would be presumptuous in me to at- 
 tempt to recount the deeds, or to extol the merits of the gallant 
 7th Ohio.. 
 
 It is right and proper that each soldier feels in his heart that 
 his own regiment was the best, while recollections of the camp 
 and the field come back upon us, and fond memory brings before 
 each of our minds the loved comrades who wkh us have shared 
 a soldier's life, whose hands and whose hearts, as brothers, were 
 linked with our own. With kindness and with pride we remem- 
 ber them, and we cannot but feel that ours was the best that 
 went to the field, and yet as if by common assent every soldier 
 will say that the name of the 7th Ohio stands second to that of 
 none other during the war. Faithfully they worked, and 
 bravely they fought, from the commencement to the close, and 
 until disabled by wounds received in battle at Port .Republic, 
 among the bravest of the brave of that regiment was he who 
 now rests here. 
 
 While recovering from his wound in the summer of 1862, as 
 an acknowledgment of his services, he was promoted to the rank 
 of Major of the 125th Ohio, then being formed, and although 
 his wound was not yet healed, he was with us in our camp of 
 instruction, and his efforts to thoroughly drill and properly in- 
 struct that regiment tended much to make it what it afterward 
 became, and showed to us that his heart was in the cause in which 
 he had enlisted. A strict disciplinarian he was ever respect- 
 ful, courteous and kind to officers and privates; and when we 
 found upon leaving camp for the field, that his health had so 
 failed that he could no longer be with us, he had not a comrade 
 that did not part with him with regret, and from the time of his 
 association with us until now, there is no member of that organi- 
 zation with whom he was acquainted, but has ever spoken of 
 him with the highest regard and now remembers him with feel- 
 ings of the most sincere friendship. 
 
 His lamp of life has gone out, and here he rests. May each 
 returning spring-time find his grave strewn with flowers as fresh 
 as the memory of him will be bright and fair in the hearts of 
 his surviving comrades.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 453 
 
 JOHN HEWITT. REMARKS BY CHARLES ABELL. 
 
 In memory of a true soldier one who never missed a roll- 
 call, or shirked a duty. Dear John, the flowers we, place upon 
 your grave will fade and die, but your memory will ever be 
 green in the hearts 'of your loving companions. 
 
 GEORGE N. 1IAPGOOD. REMARKS BT H. A. POTTER. 
 
 
 
 Although we might stand around the grave of a fellow sol- 
 dier in silence, and that silence be more eloquent than words, 
 and though it seems to be needless to bestow praise on those 
 whose lives have been brilliant with good works, and who to be 
 be loved have but to be remembered. Yet may we not with 
 propriety make mention of their virtues, that others may be lad 
 to emulate their worthy example? Nor need there be fear of 
 passing too high encomium upon the character of him whose 
 ashes rests " upon this lap of earth," and on whose grave we, 
 his comrades, delighting to do him honor, scatter flowers to-day. 
 This wreath, which has been twined by fair tingers, and given 
 us to place upon his tomb, although composed of the beautiful 
 of earth, is but as a pebble to the diamond, or a spangle to a 
 star, when compared to that wreath which decks his brow in the 
 laud of spirits. In the year of 1864, the hour of our nation's 
 trial, the time when the patriot's heart sank within him, and the 
 Christian's faith seemed to waver and grow weak as to the ulti- 
 mate success of our cause, Gov. Brough, calling out the regi- 
 ments of Ohio National . Guards, of one of which the deceased 
 was a member (the 51st O. N. G., and 171st O. V. I.), he sought 
 not to find a substitute, or obtain a sword, although well quali- 
 fied to wield one ; he shouldered his musket and went, though 
 much he had to leave, and did his duty and did that duty well. 
 Lieut. George N. Hapgood, as a citizen highly respected, as a 
 soldier greatly esteemed, as a mess-mate honored and beloved, 
 unselfish, sacrificing, full of kindness, ever employed in good 
 works, naturally reticent and reserved, yet to be acquainted was 
 to admire, to know him was to love. I have seen him by the 
 couch of a wounded fellow soldier, serving him with the con- 
 stancy of a brother, with the devotion of a wife, and the tender- 
 ness of a woman, and almost nurse him back to life. I have 
 known him weary and worn with a long tedious march, quite 
 exhausted as the rest, unmindful of self, ministering to the 
 wants of" his comrades, who, in appreciation of his excellencies, 
 afterward unanimously elected him their Lieutenant. But he is 
 gone. Great heart, to us it seemed all too soon. Although he 
 Fell not in battle, had it been so ordered, none would have sub- 
 mitted more cheerfully than he. Fellow soldiers ! let us never
 
 454 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 forget onr fallen comrades ; their virtues let us imitate while 
 fighting life's battle, so that when tattoo shall sound, reminding 
 u> , f closing day, and that life's setting sun draws near; when 
 tityft shall beat lights out, aye, even the light of life, we may rest 
 in peaceful slumbers until the great reveille shall marshal us 
 ag-.'.in, not with call to arms, that we may be led to scenes of 
 blood and carnage, but to bear palms of victory and shouts of 
 triumph over all our foes. 
 
 PETER H. DUBENDORF REMARKS BY GEN. T. J. MCLAIN. 
 
 This beautiful wreath of flowers, prepared by gentle and 
 sympathetic hands, I place over the gallant dead. The brave 
 boy whose remains rest beneath these lovely symbols, was one 
 of our own patriots. Born and reared to manhood amongst us, 
 .the moistened eyes around this grave to-day attest the worth of 
 the soldier who laid down his precious life for his country, that 
 liberty and freedom might live. 
 
 Sergeant Dubendorf enlisted in the 6th Ohio Cavalry, and 
 was a member of Capt. Abell's company, fighting bravely for 
 the flag whenever and wherever he met the foe. He fell at his 
 post of duty, as hundreds and thousands of his glorious comrades 
 did. He was shot by a rebel deserter while standing sentinel 
 on duty near Fort Stonemau, in the region of Washington. 
 
 It is eminently fitting that the loyal millions of our beloved 
 country should lay aside their ordinary business and with one 
 heart and impulse gather around the honored graves of our gal- 
 lant dead, and decorate and bestrew their graves with beautiful 
 flowers. Those noble fellows who left their homes to defend 
 our country against the vile assault of traitors and rebels, who 
 stood like a wall of fire between us and the enemy, must never 
 be forgotten ; no, never, while grass grows or water runs. 
 
 On every return of the flower season may we witness scenes 
 like the present. We promised the boys, when urging them to 
 battle, never to forget them ; let us be true and faithful as they 
 were true and faithful. Whilst remembering the brave boys 
 who died, let us extend the sympathizing hand to their com- 
 rades who are with us, and to the mourning friends of those 
 whose spirits are gone, we trust, to the land of flowers and im- 
 mortality, where no clash of arms or rebel yell will ever disturb 
 them more. 
 
 HENRY ADAMS. REMARKS BY J. O. HtJTCHINS, ESQ. 
 
 The privilege of decorating the grave of Lieut. Henry 
 Adams, has been accorded to me. Those of us who were for- 
 tunate enough to know Henry Adams personally, will remem- 
 ber him as a kind friend, an accomplished and a Christian gen- 
 tleman, and a patriotic citizen and soldier.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 
 
 Many of us well remember how determined he was to enter 
 
 the service of his country in the early days of the war; how 
 
 .nxious friends, fearing that he, physically, was bat illy pre- 
 
 pared for such a service, prevailed upon him to defer.* But 
 
 a the dark dajs of the winter of 180:4-3. the gloomiest 
 
 period of the whole war, came upon us, he rose above all mere 
 
 prudent considerations, and in December, 18o3, entered the 
 
 army as '2d Lieutenant in the 105th O. Y. I. 
 
 On account of his fine business qualifications, he was at once 
 inted commissary of Colonel Hall's brigade, the duties of 
 which position he discharged with signal ability until the close 
 of his career. 
 
 But alas, the result proved that the fears of his anxious 
 friends were only too well founded. It soon became evident 
 that his constitution was too feeble to resist the hardships and 
 exposures of army life. In one short month he was prostrated 
 .ckness, from which he never fully recovered, although it 
 was supposed at one time he would do so. 
 
 Encouraged by these delusive hopes, he, on the 19th of Feb- 
 ruary, telegraphed to one of his brothers to meet him in Nash- 
 inessee. On the 20th, that brother received a despatch 
 that Uenry was dead. 
 
 Thus perished in the prime of life, our lamented friend, 
 deeply regretted by all who knew him. We, his surviving cotn- 
 
 nioos and friends, do, upon this beautiful day, scatter the 
 rers of May over his tomb. 
 
 H. H. AKD OSCAB O. MTT.I.KK. BKMAEKS BT COL. H. G. BTKATTOY. 
 
 I tender this to the memory of Horace H. Miller, private 
 ' , 19th O. V. L His health gave way under the exposure 
 of the soldier's life. He came home but to be buried here. He 
 did what lie could. 
 
 And this to our dear friend and brother, Oscar O. Miller, 
 private in Co. C, 19th O. Y. I., during the three months* service. 
 l ? t Lieut, in the same company and regiment when reorganized 
 in the fall of 1801, promoted to the captaincy of Co. I, and 
 afterwards appointed Capt. and AssL Adjt. Gen. U. S. A. He 
 fMMBed through Rich Mountain, Shiloh, Stone River, Perryville, 
 and Chickamauga. Was one of the tir^t to reach the summit 
 of glorious "Minion Ridge, from thence to East Tennessee, 
 Rocky Face, and on through the daily battles and skirmishes 
 of the Atlanta campaign, to lay his offering down hi the last 
 day, last hour of that ever memorable campaign. He left us 
 but to be brought back a moment afterwards clay. His brave, 
 eager spirit, had passed beyond, to reap the reward he so justly
 
 456 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 merited. We think not only of his loyalty, his bravery, and his 
 kindness, but we also remember his character so pure, so strong, 
 so confident, standing out like a bright beacon of light in the 
 midst of so much passion and moral darkness. We remember 
 this and more. But let us not forget that, while so many of our 
 comrades have been mustered and are sleeping, we remain to 
 finish our term of service. Shall we not fight a good fight ? 
 Shall we not be true to the memories this day calls forth ? Com- 
 rades and friends ! let these mounds never be forgotten by us ; 
 let us endeavor to follow in the footsteps of the departed, that 
 we may join them where the bivouac's rest will not be broken, 
 where joy and peace will reign for evermore ! 
 
 AT BBIMFIELD AND KENT, OHIO. 
 
 The ceremony was designated by the Commander of the 
 Grand Army of the Republic, but the duty was not left to the 
 members of that society alone. 
 
 The exercises at Brimfield were at 12 M., and the con- 
 course of people was very large. The ladies and friends had 
 exerted themselves so as to call out the best citizens of that 
 vicinity. The exercises were opened with prayer by the Rev. Mr. 
 Wilson, and appropriate remarks were made by Mr. H. S. Car- 
 ter and Rev. Mr. Wilson. Fitting and beautiful music was 
 furnished by the choir under the direction of Mr. Warren Sher- 
 man. The old flag the banner of beauty and glory was 
 placed at the head of each grave. The decorations, furnished 
 by the ladies and comrades, were tastefully arranged on the last 
 re.-ting-place of our brave boys, and the audience was dismissed 
 witli the benediction. 
 
 The exercises at Kent were at 4 p. M. Every one was as- 
 tonished at the immense number of people in attendance. The 
 assemblage was one of the best in point of numbers and charac- 
 ter ever gathered in this county. They honored themselves by 
 their attendance and participation in fitly and beautifully dec- 
 orating the graves of the dead with chaplets which should be 
 unfading. The exercises were opened by prayer by Rev. Mr. 
 Wilson, in a fitting and impressive manner. The comrades and 
 friends then proceeded to decorate with choice flowers and 
 wreaths, the graves of those brave and noble men who gave the 
 last full measure of their devotion to the cause of nationality 
 and of freedom. Then followed brief addresses by Major Mar- 
 vin, of Akron, and Rev. Mr. Wilson. The assemblage was 
 then dismissed with the benediction. 
 
 In the evening the Congregational Church was filled with a 
 very large and attentive audience, to listen to the
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 457 
 
 ADDRESS BY REV. B. P. JOIIXBOX. 
 
 SOLDIERS OF THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC : It is by 
 your courtesy that I am invited to address you upon an occa- 
 sion, which, in view of the past, is at once one of sadness and 
 of lively gratitude. The exercises in which you have engaged 
 to-day have awakened in your breasts sentiments both of sorrow 
 and of warm emotion, as memory has recalled scenes of varied 
 cast. Yiews of military life have come up before you, associa- 
 tions of the years of war from the sounding of the tocsin calling 
 to arms the country's brave, till the issue came in victory and 
 peace. 
 
 The picture which thus comes before us is one of light and 
 shade, clouds and sunshine. Who can take in review such a 
 past and stand unmoved. Such a panorama passing before us, 
 the heartstrings thrill with patriotic zeal as we hear the coun- 
 try's call ; we commend the brave who, with many a " God 
 speed," go forth to her redress ; we rejoice to see kindling on 
 every hand the tire of devotion to one's country. The more are 
 we moved because partisan strife and minor differences are cast 
 aside, and men come forward with united purpose to drive back 
 the enemy. Noble sacrifices, where our countrymen and coun- 
 trywomen give friends, property, and themselves, .heart and 
 hand, to aid the cause at stake ! 
 
 Then conies the cry, to battle, and firmly onward moves the 
 determined phalanx ; no river too broad or deep to stay them, 
 no secret mountain pass that cannot be threaded, no hidden foe 
 that daunts the intrepid warriors, no bristling steel, no serried 
 hosts, no roar of cannon can check in purpose the defenders of 
 the right till the laurel crow r ns them. 
 
 Thus we see inscribed upon the canvas before us patriotism, 
 resolution, bravery, triumph. These are the parts of the panorama 
 that awaken the more pleasant sentiments of our emotional na- 
 ture. There are other scenes, clouds mingled with sunshine ; 
 no joy without its counterpart ; we plucked the rose but with it 
 came the pain the thorn produced. It is through much tribu- 
 lation the crown is won. From the time that Ladd and Whit- 
 ney fell in the streets of Baltimore till the sad fate of the im- 
 mortal Lincoln the scene is one of mingled sadness. 
 
 In four years of strife many of our noble soldiers fell a sacri- 
 fice to the cause which they espoused. 
 
 It is of the memory of these we are to speak. This is a 
 subject of interest to all. The soldier is a common benefactor, 
 and every American citizen may well shed a tear of love and 
 gratitude at the grave of the fallen. The life that aims to main- 
 tain the honor of the nation, that seeks the preservation of her
 
 458 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 liberties, that risks every peril in the endeavor to uphold the ban- 
 ner of right and freedom, is ever esteemed worthy of the bright- 
 est laurels a people can bestow, and where such a life is lost in 
 the conflict it deserves our fullest honor, our highest ecomium. 
 We would be recreant to duty, false to the instincts of our nature 
 were we to be ungrateful for our dearly-purchased liberties, and 
 did we not cherish the memories of the dead. Our country has 
 recognized this debt of love and gratitude, and one of her first 
 acts after the close of the contest, was to lay out and beautify 
 national cemeteries for the resting-place of those who fell in her 
 defence. We may not come behind the nations of ancient time 
 in showing respect for the brave that have perished. The lore 
 of antiquity abounds in panegyric pronounced upon those who, 
 inspired by the love of country, were intrepid in the midst of 
 dangers, bared their breasts to the foe, and, in defence of home 
 and liberty, gave themselves to death. The empires of the 
 Orient, long since passed away, still in monumental inscription 
 and costly sepulture speak of their regard for their benefactors. 
 The bards of 'Greek and Latin tongue chose the heroes of war 
 for their subjects when they would put forth their greatest 
 power, and in all ages, from Bible times till the present, the 
 good, the noble, the brave, who have perished in battling for the 
 right have been accounted worthy of the highest ecomium man 
 can pronounce upon his fellows. In fulfilling our duty here, 
 then, we but follow the instincts of humanity, and imitate the 
 examples of our predecessors in all ages of the world. In our 
 eulogy we, of course, include all who have in any way paid with 
 their lives the price of our liberty, whether at the cannon's 
 mouth, in hospital, in prison-pen, or in the arms of friends at 
 home, where many of the sick and wounded came only to die. 
 
 All honor to the patriot dead, who full of hope and trust and 
 zeal went forth to the battle-field ; honor for the sacrifice they 
 made, the exchange of home comforts for camp life, the deli- 
 cacies of the table for soldier's fare ; soft couches for bare floors, 
 or the damp earth ; the shelter of the homestead roof for the 
 relentless storm, a life of ease and comfort for military dis- 
 cipline ; fond parents, brothers and sisters they left behind, not 
 that they loved these less, but their country more. It was a 
 noble impulse that thrilled their breasts and led them to break 
 away from such endearments and to go forward to meet the foe- 
 man. At the sound of danger the artisan dropped his tools and 
 went out to protect us ; the yeoman exchanged peaceful labor 
 upon his fruitful farm, for the clangor and toil and harvest of 
 bones upon the battle-field. These noble-hearted men were from 
 all the ranks of life. The student, the teacher, the physician,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 459 
 
 the lawyer, the minister stood side by side with their country- 
 men ; rich and poor, old and young went together. No land 
 has ever had such cause as ours to boast its gallant defenders. 
 God favored us in sending willing hearts and strong hands for 
 our defence. The call of the country thus met with quick re- 
 sponse from her sons. A. counti-ys Venison be upon their memo- 
 ry. Honor to th>se sleeping warriors fur their bravery. It was 
 no coward foe they went out to meet, but a determined one 
 tired with settled hate and thirsting vengeance, and stoutest 
 hearts were needed to oppose them. The men whose memories 
 we would cherish and perpetuate were intrepid before this mad- 
 dened host, and met them steel to steel, till God gave them 
 victory. Gave them victory, do we say ? Yes, though the mul- 
 titude of the host fell before the glorious news was sounded 
 forth, still the victory was theirs ; theirs in the mind of God, 
 theirs in its near approach, theirs to bequeath to their surviving 
 compatriots. Peace be to them. " Peace to the slnmberers. ' 
 We cannot say of them " vain was their bravery," as did Sir 
 Thomas Moore in eulogizing those slain in an unsuccessful con- 
 test. Our fallen heroes have left us inheritors of what they won 
 by their deeds of valor. The blessings of a free Republic should 
 be upon them. The tombs of these our heroic benefactors are 
 throughout the length and breadth of our land. Some sleep 
 in unknown graves. Where the fatal missile pierced them, there 
 they fell and were buried, some by the kindness of friends ; some 
 by ruthless hands. At the great battle-fields we have gathered 
 them into cemeteries and tenderly committed their remains dust 
 to dust. There are few churchyards in the land that do not 
 bear in their bosom some part of this precious charge. They 
 sleep. Their memories never. 
 
 " Ah 1 never shall the land forget 
 
 How flowed the life-blood of her brave 
 Gushed warm with hope and courage yet 
 Upon the soil they fought to save." 
 
 You, soldiers, and friends of the soldier who have had an 
 interest in decorating the graves of the dead to-day, have testi- 
 fied that you have not forgotten ; that the memories of the past 
 are still dear to you. Flowers are emblems of purity and love, 
 and all that is good and noble and true. They are the gifts of 
 affection ; given by God to beautify the earth and to awaken 
 and cherish in us the sentiments they symbolize. They have a 
 language man has not fully learned, and when we bestow them 
 upon loved ones they speak more than the lips can utter. To 
 scatter them over the sleeping remains of the soldier is a tender 
 and most expressive act. May this be repeated in coming years.
 
 460 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Let these flowers of spring-time, the first floral fruits of the 
 year, continue to be offered upon this altar of memory. You 
 whose peculiar work it is to perpetuate the fame of our coun- 
 try's heroes, let no minor motive lead you to forget your mission. 
 If you are true to your noble work, the influence you exert will 
 not end with the present generation, but posterity will catch 
 your spirit and imitate your example in honoring the champions 
 of American liberty ; and so too will your own names be held in 
 remembrance by those who shall succeed you upon the stage of 
 life. I cannot close without digressing somewhat from the sub- 
 ject allotted, and bespeakirg from all a sympathy for the living 
 whose crippled forms or broleen health testify to the service they 
 have rendered. They are worthy of no small share of your 
 regard, and it is the paramount duty of all citizens to render 
 assistance to any such who may be in need. Lastly ; in render- 
 ing these honors to our fellow mortals, let us not forget our duty 
 to God, to whom we are indebted for every national (as well as 
 every other) blessing. It was he who raised up these heroes for 
 our defence. They conquered because the God of battles was 
 with them. He who is ruler over the nations, putteth down one 
 and setteth up another. We believe it was he who directed our 
 fathers to these western shores and established them a free 
 people, with the good government which they bequeathed to us ; 
 and when some rose up to destroy the nation, when tyranny and 
 oppression were rife, it was God who called forth a patriot band 
 to break the shackles. While, then, we honor the instruments, 
 let us acknowledge God as sovereign, and bow as willing sub- 
 jects befpre Him who will judge the nations and try every man 
 according to his work. 
 
 AT SANDUSKY, OHIO. 
 
 All the forenoon the weather was threatening, and doubtless 
 kept many away, but at 2 o'clock, when the procession formed, 
 the clouds broke away, and the evening proved a most propi- 
 tious one. More than a thousand persons, in carriages and on 
 foot, bearing flowers and banners, proceeded to Oakland Ceme- 
 tery, led by the members of Weller Encampment of the Grand 
 Army of the Republic, and by the Great Western Band. On 
 arriving at the Cemetery, the procession massed near the graves 
 of Col. Weller and Dr. McMeara, where a temporary stand had 
 been erected. Here a most eloquent and touching prayer was 
 offered, by Post-Chaplain Rev." Robert McCune, ol Kelley's Is- 
 land ; the band played a dirge, and short addresses were made 
 b Messrs IsTettleton, 'Colver and Yan Tine. After another
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 461 
 
 piece by the band, the comrades and friends proceeded, with as 
 much system as was practicable nnder the circumstances, to 
 strew flowers on the graves of the fallen defenders of the Union. 
 It was a most beautiful and moving sight. A company of 
 young girls, dressed in the habiliments of Spring, their hats 
 decked with blossoms, bearing baskets of flowers, wreaths and 
 bouquets, passed from grave to grave, accompanied by the com- 
 rades and relatives of the fallen, and strewed the little hillocks 
 with " the bright children of the Spring?' Tears came to many 
 eyes as memory called up the recent bloody past, and all came 
 away feeling renewed gratitude towards those who gave their 
 lives to their country. Everything passed oft' most pleasantly, 
 for which great credit is due to T. H. Goodman, Post Com- 
 mander, and Mrs. O. Follett, the Soldiers' Friend. Sandusky 
 Register. 
 
 AT CLEVELAND, OHIO. 
 
 At West Side Cemetery : the arrangements here were under 
 the control of the G. A. R. A large number of citizens, including 
 many good women who deeply sympathized with the efforts of 
 the departed to save the Nation from destruction, engaged in 
 the work of love and commemoration. Rev. J. A. Thome, after 
 a very touching prayer, addressed a few words to the audience, 
 alluding chiefly to the fact that it was impossible for the human 
 tongue to utter the sentiment of gratitude due to these fallen 
 heroes. In the prayer, the burden of his petition was that the 
 Country might be spared from such another conflict, and that 
 the wounds made by the Great Rebellion might speedily be 
 healed. The graves were decorated by little children beautiful 
 girls, handsomely dressed. Evidently accustomed to the ar- 
 rangement of flowers, their work won the admiration and deep- 
 ly touched the feelings of all present. The sleeping comrades, 
 unknown to very many of those who scattered garlands over the 
 graves, were mostly from Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
 Ohio, Indiana, New York and Germany 54 in all. 
 
 After concluding the exercises at the West Side Cemetery, 
 the procession moved to Woodland Cemetery, preceded by the 
 German Band, which discoursed many very sweet and appro- 
 priate airs during the day. A large number of persons gather- 
 ed there early in the afternoon, and patiently awaited the com- 
 ing of the procession. When it arrived, Col. John N. Frazee 
 led the way to the Monument of the 23d O. V. I., which had 
 been previously covered with beautiful and exquisitely wrought 
 wreaths and bouquets of the most fragrant flowers that could be
 
 462 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 obtained. Halting in front of the obelisk, Mr. T. A. Oakley 
 offered a prayer, and was followed by A. T. Slade, Esq., with an 
 address, of which the following is a synopsis : 
 
 EEMARK3 OF MB. 8LADE. 
 
 SOLDIERS AND CITIZENS : Not having been favored with time 
 to prepare a short address, and not now having time to make a 
 long one, let us in an imperfect way call to mind the lessons of 
 the hour. 
 
 To commemorate those great events which have elevated 
 National character, has been the custom in all ages. History, 
 poetry and eloquence, have each vied in celebrating those exhi- 
 bitions of courage which reflected so much honor upon the Re- 
 publics of antiquity. Rome, a nation which surpassed her 
 cotemporaries in love of arts and arms, erected statues and gar- 
 landed triumphal arches in honor of her victorious brave. It is 
 then in conformity to an ancient custom the most natural and 
 honorable of feelings, the spirit of the loftiest patriotism and of 
 the deepest gratitude that we have this day assembled, in this 
 beautiful cemetery, to decorate the graves of the heroic dead, 
 who fought and fell that their Country might survive. 
 
 We desire, by thus reverently approaching the sepulchres 
 of our departed heroes, mingling our tears with the dews of 
 heaven, spreading fresh flowers mementoes of love and friend- 
 ship over the green mound of the silent sleeper, not only to 
 show our respect and patriotic remembrance of the dead, but to 
 keep alive on the altar of our hearts that living love of country, 
 in defense of which death is so sweetly and so nobly met. 
 
 It is but natural that flowers should give expression to our 
 love for the departed ; theirs is an oratory that speaks in per- 
 fumed silence. Joy and sorrow have their appropriate expres- 
 sion in these mute yet eloquent letters of " the blooming alpha- 
 bet of creation." 
 
 It was a custom among the Athenians to take the bodies of 
 those slain in battle, and bear them back tenderly to the city of 
 Athens, when, on a day appointed, funeral cars were provided, 
 in which were placed the dead of each particular tribe ; but 
 there was one empty car more highly adorned and more beauti- 
 ful than all the rest, in memory of those whose bodies they were 
 unable to recover. In like manner, let us not forget those brave 
 men who lie scattered on the battle-fields of the nation ; their 
 graves are consecrated ground, destined to become classic. The 
 time shall yet come when Lookout Mountain will surpass in re- 
 nown the fass of Thermopylae.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 463 
 
 Wherever their graves may be found, let no pains be spared 
 to beautify and adorn them. Man and Nature shouftl alike con- 
 rtibute to preserve such hallowed ground. Well has it been 
 said, 
 
 " How sleep the brave who sink to rest, 
 
 With all their country's honors blest ! 
 
 When Spring, with dewy fingers cold, 
 
 Returns to deck their hallowed mould, 
 
 She there shall dress a sweeter sod 
 
 Than Fancy's feet have ever trod ; 
 
 By forms unseen their dirge is sung, 
 
 By hands unseen their knell is rung ; 
 
 There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray, 
 
 To bless the turf that wraps their clay." 
 
 It is but natural that the soldiers and sailors who have sur- 
 vived the struggle should form a league of friendship, and that 
 it should take, in this instance, the name of the Grand Army 
 of the Republic pledged to protect the widow and the orphan 
 of the soldier and the sailor ; bound together by the common 
 danger and hardship they have suffered in defense of the " dear 
 old flag." Time will but increase their love for each other, and, 
 in years to come, they will delight to recount their deeds of 
 noble daring in the War of the Great Rebellion. 
 
 Here, standing upon the freshening sods which shut from our 
 mortal view the cherished remains of our patriotic dead, we 
 might mention the names of those we knew most intimately, 
 but forbear to make distinctions where all did so well ; while 
 we might, too, neglect to mention the name of some humble 
 private of the grand army of the dead, who nobly did all man 
 could do. 
 
 It is a touching reflection, a sublime thought, that at this 
 hour, in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard 
 throughout the land, little children are strewing the graves of 
 our sleeping heroes with garlands and flowers. 
 
 Throwing aside all prejudice and unkind feeling, in the spirit 
 of a true union, let each year witness a renewal of these beau- 
 tiful decorations. A fitting tribute to the dead, it will cultivate 
 a high and noble sentiment in the living. While we thus honor 
 the dead, let us not forget these, the companions and survivors 
 of the departed. 
 
 ' The seed which, in these few and fleeting hours, 
 Thy hands unsparing and unwearied sow, 
 Shall deck thy grave with amaranthine flowers, 
 And yield thee fruits divine in heaven's immortal bowers." 
 
 Additional wreaths were then nicely interwoven with those
 
 464 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 already on jthe monument, by the ladies Laving charge of the 
 decoration. Graves in the vicinity were visited and made more 
 lovely by floral decorations. Erie street and Catholic ceme- 
 teries were also visited by the members of the G. A. R., and 
 ladies, late in the evening. 
 
 AT CHILLICOTHE, OHIO. 
 
 The procession, under the supervision of Comrade Charles 
 Schleyer, a$ officer of the day, formed, at 2 o'clock, on Paint 
 street, right resting on Second. The following was the order of 
 formation : 1. Guard of Honor, composed of eight men, uni- 
 formed and armed, and under command of Comrade Henry. C. 
 Taylor. 2. Brass Band 3. From eighty to one hundred little 
 girls, dressed in white, and bearing garlands of flowers. 4. Sill 
 encampment, Post No. 118, G. A. K., members of other Posts, 
 and old soldiers generally, carrying a number of war-worn, 
 battle-stained flags, and a large wreath of roses bearing the 
 motto, " In Honor of our Fallen Comrades." 5. Maimed sol- 
 diers in carriages. 6. Orator of the day, chaplains, and singers, 
 in carriages. 7. Mayor and City Council, in carriages. 8. Citi- 
 zens in carriages, Expresses, &c. The procession arrived on the 
 ground in due season, the spot selected for the services being 
 that portion of the cemetery known as Monumental Circle, it 
 having been selected and donated as the place whereon to erect 
 the Soldiers' Monument, now in process of completion. Before 
 proceeding to the Circle, the procession filed through the main 
 portion of the cemetery grounds. As the -grave of each soldier 
 buried there was approached, the procession halted, and a num- 
 ber of beautiful little girls were sent forward, who strewed each 
 grassy mound with flowers a most grateful tribute, and one* 
 calculated to impress upon the minds of the youthful partici- 
 pants the sacredness of the cause for which the dead heroes had 
 given their all. 
 
 This ceremony completed, the march was continued to the 
 Circle, in the centre of which had been erected a tall scaffold- 
 ing in pyramid shape, around the bottom of which were hung 
 garlands and wreaths of roses. To many of these were attached 
 cords bearing the name of some dear one, accompanied by the 
 date of his death, and one or more appropriate verses, placed 
 there by loving hands. (Those names and verses are given be- 
 low). The upper portion of the pyramid was appropriately 
 draped, while from the top floated a large silken emblem of 
 those liberties which the dead comrades had fought so manfully 
 to uphold. Within the base was placed the model of the monu-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 465 
 
 ment to be erected, which formed an attractive portion of the 
 decorations. 
 
 The exercises opened with the reading, by Comrade A. 
 Kopp, of the General Order from the Corninander-in-Chief, set- 
 ting aside the day as one to be simultaneously observed by the 
 Order ; after which came the offering of prayer by the Rev. W 
 T. Harvey, pastor of the Walnut street M. E. church. Then 
 followed singing by a quartette, consisting of Messrs. S. W. 
 Pearson, L. r. Hatch, Edward McKee, and J. L. Dunlap, who 
 were accompanied on the melodeon by Miss Belle Hatch. The 
 song rendered was an original composition, composed expressly 
 for the occasion, and dedicated to 
 
 OTJB HONORED DEAD. BY L. P. HATCH. 
 
 No more the bugle's blast shall wake, 
 Nor war's alarms the nation quake ; 
 Silent as Summer's smiling morn, 
 When earth with joy she doth adorn. 
 
 No hostile bands to-day arrayed ; 
 War's bristling front ouce more is stayed ; 
 Rolled back those clouds that hovered o'er 
 Their blighting curse has lost its power. 
 
 And now we come, and offerings bring 
 The fairest, loveliest flowers of Spring, 
 And here, with tears, these gifts we spread, 
 Where soon shall rest our honored dead. 
 
 Comrades, though parted, still thou'rt here ; 
 We ever feel your presence near ; 
 And as we deck this hallowed spot, 
 Thy virtues ne'er shall be forgot. 
 
 Some hearts with us are sad to-day ; 
 Death's cruel dart no arm could stay ; 
 We'll try to dry the mourner's tear ; 
 The widowed, wounded heart to cheer. 
 
 Comrades, farewell ! we'll drop a tear ; 
 Though parted, still to us thou'rt dear ; 
 Thy virtues cherished, and each name, 
 Shall be enrolled on the list of Fame. 
 
 After the song, Capt. T. A. Minshall delivered the following 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 COMRADES AND FELLOW-CITIZENS : It is told in Grecian story, 
 
 how. once, all Athens met to do honor to those who fell in the 
 
 Peloponnesian war one of the great struggles of that renowned 
 
 people for individual existence, and one of the first orators of 
 
 30
 
 466 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Greece commemorated with his eloquence the heroic lives of 
 those men who fell in defense of the integrity of their country. 
 We are here to-day in obedience to the suggestion of our Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, and the impulse of deeply awakened recollec- 
 tions, to do honor to those of OUT members who, in our recent 
 struggle for national existence, with us marched forth to battle, 
 and are now numbered with the unreturning brave. 
 
 A little more than eight years since, Peace smiled upon a 
 contented and happy people. The land was filled with the hum 
 of industry, and our commerce urged its sails to every quarter 
 of the globe. In the permanency of our Government we felt 
 secure, because our institutions were free. They recognized no 
 castes, with their privileges overshadowing the energies of the 
 people, and exciting the jealousy of the ambitious. On a sud- 
 den, the whirlwind of battle broke the quietude of the land. 
 Our sky, then so bright, was in a moment overcast by deep, 
 lowering clouds. The tread of armies, with their preparations 
 for war, succeeded the hum of peaceful industry, and the terri- 
 ble realization pressed home to the convictions of a generation 
 grown up under the auspices of peace, that there was no means 
 left but the sword wherewith to maintain the birthright of their 
 fathers. 
 
 . The exigency was upon the country. The peril was great ; 
 but with the peril there came this assurance, that proved in part 
 the salvation of the nation that there was no compromise. 
 Rebellion, as it raised the standard of revolt, dropped every dis- 
 guise. It was not a reformation of abuses that was sought, but 
 the establishment of a separate national existence a people 
 with a government, history, and flag of their own. As there 
 was no peaceful solution, the nation must at once become a na- 
 tion of soldiers. The suddenness with whch this transformation 
 was effected, excited the wonder of Christendom at the time, 
 and remains one of the most remarkable events connected with 
 the war. The boy whose mind had never raised above the pur- 
 suits of husbandly, left his plow standing in the field, the anvil 
 ceased its merry chorus, the many-wheeled mill stopped its clat- 
 ter, the student left his half-conned book, the counting-house 
 was deserted, and all, all pressed for a place in their country's 
 service. 
 
 The French historian records with pride how the provincial 
 youths of France were, in a few months, from the habits of 
 peasantry transformed into veteran soldiers, and advanced to 
 victory, the ensign of their country upon the many historic 
 fields of the French Revolution. It cannot be said that the 
 American youth has the quick martial perceptions of that coun-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 467 
 
 try. They are descended from a race more renowned for stub- 
 born courage combined with a manlv independence, than the 
 impetuous ardor of the former. But the history of both demon- 
 strates that the most invincible soldiery is the battalion of free- 
 men that there is no word like Liberty to enkindle the enthu- 
 siasm of men, and to inspire heroic action. 
 
 The master-spirits of the Rebellion and it. must be admit- 
 ted that they were such went at their work like bold and de- 
 cided men, bent on the accomplishment of their designs. I cannot 
 here undertake to recount the events of the war ; this belongs to 
 the historian. All remember how, for months, the result trem- 
 bled in the balance, and none could predict with confidence final 
 triumph for the nation. 
 
 Many and great were the trials for the country. Fear, as it 
 were, oscillated between doubts of competency on the one hand 
 and patriotism on the other, in those to whom the country had 
 entrusted its sword. We hardly knew, at times, whether there 
 was more to fear from the enemy in arms, than the treachery 
 which lurked in the bosoms of some who were the nation's cap- 
 tains. It is one of the most incomprehensible problems of his- 
 tory, that the cause of human liberty should be so frequently 
 betrayed by the treachery of professed adherents. Cgesar, the 
 people's idol, and one of the great captains of the Roman Re- 
 public, overturned the liberties of his country. Gorgey threat- 
 ened the aspirations of Hungary, in 1848; and Louis JSapoleon, 
 chosen by the people as the President of the French Republic, 
 like a viper, stung to death the virtuous confidence that warmed 
 him into existence. These lessons of history, recalled by cir- 
 cumstances that but too plainly justified the suspicions they 
 awakened, kept the public mind in a continual state of anxiety 
 and dread. Fortunately, the country, in its great struggle for 
 life, was saved from the ruinous consequences of such "base be- 
 trayals as is furnished in the history of other nations ; and the 
 reason is to be found in the virtue and intelligence of the citizen 
 soldiery, upon whom the nation relied as its right arm of de- 
 fence. With such a soldiery, the Rubicon could not be crossed, 
 because they were more attached to the institutions of their 
 country than to the name of any military chieftain. They fol- 
 lowed their flair, and were but little dazzled by the pomp of 
 military splendor. They were soldiers from a sense of duty, 
 and ever anxiously looked forward to the day when they could 
 in peace return to the quiet of their homes and the enjoyment 
 of their liberties ; and had the experiment of a desertion of their 
 country's cause been tried with them, they would have followed 
 the example of those noble Greeks who, in a distant country,
 
 468 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 put to death a traitorous captain, and returned to sustain the 
 liberties of their native land. 
 
 Whatever were the doubts and fears of the people, the sol- 
 diers ahvavs had faith in the ultimate triumph of the country's 
 cause. Who can forget those terrible moments in which the 
 country learned of the first great disaster to its arms a Water- 
 loo defeat accruing at the very moment the time of every vol- 
 unteer soldier expired. Then it was the hopes of the patriot 
 sank within him. Under defeat and national humiliation, the 
 enemy flushed with victory, and buoyant with confidence, would 
 the youth again return to the life of the camp ? The question 
 received a speedy solution, and before the early fall had closed, 
 the call for three hundred thousand had placed the Government 
 in the attitude of defense. What a glorious chapter is this in 
 American history, illustrating as it does, how thoroughly her 
 institutions have taken possession of the affections of the people. 
 The representatives of arbitrary power could but ill disguise the 
 disappointment felt in not witnessing the speedy destruction of 
 republican government on this continent. 
 
 They had felt confident that there was not sufficient virtue 
 in the people voluntarily to make the sacrifice required to sus- 
 tain their Government. Trusting to the predictions of their 
 wise men, they hoped and believed that the knell of American 
 liberty had been sounded. 
 
 In this they were disappointed. The call for three hundred 
 thousand was promptly filled, and when the ranks of these had 
 been depleted by sickness and the casualties of battle, another 
 three hundred thousand came with the same alacrity, while the 
 people contributed their treasure to the prosecution of the war, 
 as the rivers pour their waters into the ocean. And woman, 
 true to the instincts of her heart in the organization of aid soci- 
 eties, added another bright chapter to the history of her many 
 virtues, and gave evidence of a patriotic devotion as noble and 
 beautiful as that of the Roman matrons, who contrihuted the 
 hair of their heads to string the bows of their country's defend- 
 ers. 
 
 At length, after many vicissitudes, the cause of the nation 
 triumphed in a glorious victory. The rebellion was vanquished, 
 the Government was restored, and the old flag again floated in 
 peace from every fortress of the nation. 
 
 Then it was that the joy of the people swelled into a volume 
 that knew no control. It seemed to lift them above the very 
 mountains. From every hill and from every valley, from every 
 rock and from every glen, a song of praise and thanksgiving 
 went up to Him who sitteth in the Heavens and ruleth the af- 
 fairs of men.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 469 
 
 And with reason, for in all the annals of the world there had 
 not been a more gigantic struggle one fraught with so many 
 and momentous consequences to mankind. Had the nation 
 been defeated no one can tell what would have be'en the future 
 of this court try, divided as it would have been into numerous 
 petty states, each jealous of the growth and prosperity of the 
 other. 
 
 And now, comrades and fellow citizens, we have to-day to 
 pay this tribute of respect to the memory of those who sacri- 
 ficed their lives on the altar of their country that such great and 
 dire calamities might be averted from the future of this land. 
 In doing so we not only testify how dear to our hearts are the 
 memory of these men, but the most exalted public virtues are 
 those which spring from fidelity to country. 
 
 Of the many thousands that have from time to time respon- 
 ded to the calls of their country, how many thousands never re- 
 turned ! Where are their graves ? Go to the churchyard where 
 sleep the remains of their fathers, and they will not be found. 
 Their sepulchres are in the soil of another climate on the na- 
 tion's battle-fie'ds. Where they fell in their country's defence 
 there were they buried. Comrades alone performed for them 
 the rites of sepulture. Not in sheet nor in shroud were they 
 wound, but in the humble army blanket as warriors they were 
 laid to rest, and a rude board carved by the hand of some t'ajth- 
 ful comrade alone marks the spot. Comrades, by the ceremonies 
 of this day, how many such places are brought to a vivid recol- 
 lection in your minds. General Thomas, in his congratulatory 
 order on reaching Atlanta, the great city of the South, well said 
 the route of the army could be traced by the graves of our 
 buried soldiers. Every theatre of the war is thus, as it were, 
 mapped out by the graves of our comrades those who, on the 
 field of battle paid the forfeit of their hearts' devotion to coun- 
 try ; of the language of the poet : 
 
 Soldier, rest, thy warfare's o'er, 
 Sleep the sleep that knows no waking, 
 Dream of battle-fields no more, 
 Days of danger, nights of waking. 
 
 No flowers can be strewn by us upon their graves to-day. 
 In a few years the greensward will hardly swell into a hillock 
 o'er the spot where they lie, and the rude boards that now mark 
 their graves will be gone. 
 
 But the memory of their heroic virtues can never perish. 
 These we will cherish in our heart of hearts, and coming gene- 
 rations, as they trace the glory and power of the Great Bepub
 
 470 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 lie in its future course will recall with patriotic pride the manly 
 heroism of those who fell in the great struggle of '61 for the 
 perpetuity of the nation. 
 
 We tell their doom without a sigh. 
 
 For they are Freedom's now, and Fame's. 
 
 We cannot neglect the memory of our fellow comrades with- 
 out becoming recreant to the duty we owe to ourselves and pos- 
 terity. A great American author has said : " A nation's char- 
 acter is the sum of its splendid deeds ; they constitute a common 
 patrimony of this nation's inheritance. They awe foreign pow- 
 ers, and they arouse and animate our own people." Since the 
 days of our revolutionary sires, no such addition has been made 
 to the common patrimony of heroic deeds, and it is our duty to 
 transmit them to posterity as a part of the nation's inheritance. 
 Then in the future let us omit no measure required to discharge 
 this sacred duty to the dead, as well as the obligation we owe to 
 the living, and those who are to come after us. Annually as the 
 spring returns, let their graves be strewn with garlands of flow- 
 ers, while the monumental marble shall rise, and in all the noble 
 eloquence of statuary, testify to the life and self-sacrificing vir- 
 tues of our departed heroes. 
 
 At the close of the address the quartette song, " Stand by 
 the flag of the nation." The song was rendered with fine effect. 
 
 Prayer was then offered by the Rev. H. "W. Biggs, pastor of 
 the First Presbyterian Church, following which a list of all those 
 whose graves were to be decorated, was read by H. C. Taylor. 
 The band then played a dirge, after which the procession re- 
 formed and inarched around Monumental Circle, the children 
 strewing flowers on the spot where the monument is to be 
 erected, thus typifying the graves of all who were buried here 
 and elsewhere. 
 
 AT MANSFIELD, OHIO. 
 
 The Grand Army assembled at their Hall, at 3 o'clock, and 
 promptly at 4 formed in line, and preceded by a wagon contain- 
 ing flowers for the decorations, and the Mansfield Brass Band, 
 inarched to the Cemetery, at the entrance to which, the follow- 
 ing ceremonies were held : Prayer, Chaplain J. E. Twitchell ; 
 Music, National Hymn ; Eeading Order, Adjutant E. Potter ; 
 Remarks, Comrade Isaac Gass, as follows : 
 
 COMRADES AND FELLOW-CITIZKNS : In view of the interesting 
 and impressive exercises which have just taken place, and of 
 those which are to follow, the Committee of Arrangements did 
 well in limiting to a very few minutes the time to be occupied
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES.' 471 
 
 with remarks. E'er to-day's sun shall have set, the graves of 
 dead comrades, who sleep their quiet sleep because they were 
 their country's defenders and whose remains lie buried in 
 almost every city, village, and rural cemetery in the land, will 
 have been honored, as we propose now to honor those who lie 
 here. In issuing the order just read in your hearing, the Coin- 
 niaiider-in-Cliief of the G. A. R. was but carrying out the prin- 
 ciples of the organization. By this organization, is proposed, 
 among other things, the preservation of those kind and frater- 
 nal feelings, which have bound together with the strong cords 
 of love and affection, the soldiers and sailors who have stood 
 together, in many weary marches, sieges and battles to cherish 
 tenderly, the memory of our heroic dead to make provision, 
 where it is not already done for the support, care and educa- 
 tion of soldiers' orphans and for the maintenance of soldiers' 
 widows. Was it not, then, eminently proper, that the Grand 
 Army of the Republic, composed as it is, of soldiers and sailors 
 yet in service, and of honorably discharged soldiers and sailors 
 of the marine corps of the United States an organization ex- 
 isting in almost every county, from Maine to California, and 
 from the Lakes to the Gulf, should designate a day, and not 
 only unite themselves, but invite all patriotic and liberty loving 
 men and women of this land to unite with them in rendering 
 honor to the memory of our heroic dead to those who made 
 their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes. 
 Their soldier lives were the reveille of Freedom to a race in 
 chains. They died that Liberty might live. Then let us guard 
 their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated 
 wealth and taste of the nation can add to their security and 
 adornment, is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain 
 defenders. " Let not wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed 
 ground." Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of 
 reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let neither vandalism, 
 nor avarice^ nor neglect testify, either to the present or coming 
 generations, that we, as a people, have forgotten the terrible cost 
 of a, free and undivided Republic. 
 
 Comrades if other hands should weary, and other hearts 
 grow cold, in this solemn trust, we should keep it well as long 
 as the liyJit and warmth of l>fe are in us. In the recent great 
 conflict the votaries of Union and Freedom were not confined 
 to nationality, nor sect, nor race, nor sex, (for what words can 
 justly portray the untiring devotion of the matchless women of 
 our country, in securing its triumph) so, now, with like absence 
 of distinction, let us all, as the common heritors of our nation's 
 boon of civil and religious freedom, gather around the sacred
 
 472 ' MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 remains of our patriot dead, and garland the passionless mounds 
 above them with the chosen flowers of spring. Let us in this 
 solemn presence, renew our pledges to aid and assist those vrhom 
 they have left amongst us, a sacred charge, upon a nation's grati- 
 tude. Life's evening tattoo has sounded to our comrades who 
 sleep here in their bivouac and thev have lain down in their 
 undisturbed repose. For them the long and weary march is 
 over no more for them the sentinel's lonely beat the battle's 
 furious fray is past. They but sleep let loving hands strew 
 flowers o'er the bed of their repose. They but await reveille 
 the reveille of the skies. 
 
 Song Star Spangled Banner. 
 
 The decorations were then proceeded with, the entire com- 
 pany marching to each grave, where a detail w y as taken from 
 the column, and decorated each grave by placing a bouquet of 
 white flowers at the head, and one of colored at the breast and feet, 
 with a wreath of evergreens at the head and breast. Each grave 
 was then covered with loose flowers, the whole presenting an 
 elegant appearance. Thirty-eight graves and three monuments 
 were decorated in this manner, the names of those honored being 
 as follows : 
 
 Col. Alex. Mcllvain, Col. Jas. Cantwell, Col. T. H. Ford, 
 Maj. Wm. McLaughlin, Adjt. A. (T. Phillips, Capt. J. Christe- 
 fel, Capt. G. E. Winters, Capt. F. A. Coates, Capt. K. L. Avery, 
 Capt. John Costin, Lieut. C. P. Meredith, Lieut. Geo. Schemes, 
 Lieut. Philip Drakert, Lieut. Fred. Harding, Privates Harry 
 Sims, Albert R. Moore, Adam Endly, And. Beacher, John 
 Leahy, H. Potter, Geo. Uhilch, Jos. Alcock, Oliver P. Crouse, 
 
 J. E. Dennison, Brown, John Hownie, James Barden, 
 
 Aug. McDvain, Jos. Campbell, Thos. Croft, W. P. Cook, K C. 
 Dickey, Hiram Potter, Edward Allen, John Bristor, Yal. 
 Beinsott, R. M. Schreifler, Chas. McCornb, Win. Thompson, 
 James Avery, George Lemon. 
 
 After this part of the ceremony was concluded, " Old Hun- 
 dred," was sung by the choir, the multitude of persons present 
 joining in, and making the cemetery ring with the solemn 
 music. The benediction was then pronounced by Rev. J. A. 
 Mudge, when the crowd dispersed, and the Grand Army of the 
 Republic returned to their hall. 
 
 AT DAYTON, OHIO. 
 
 It was just 27 minutes after four o'clock on Saturday morn- 
 ing, when three Napoleon twelve-pounders simultaneously an- 
 nounced that the eventful day had opened, and that it was time
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 473 
 
 to begin the preparation for the patriotic offering. One of the 
 guns was planted at the foot of the flag-staff at the National 
 Soldiers' Home, and was manned by veterans who had seen four 
 vi-ars of the most desperate service ; another tield-piece was 
 located on the highest point of Phillips' Hill, overlooking the 
 city, and was served by a squad of cadets from the Western 
 Military Institute, in command of Captain Rodders ; and the 
 third gun was planted on the area in front of Turner Hall, in 
 the eastern part of the city. The gun on Phillips' Hill was re- 
 moved to the head of Main street, about 10 o'clock A. M. These 
 guns were h'red every half hour during the day, " waking the 
 echoes " from dawn to sundown. Long before one o'clock the 
 people had commenced gathering at the Court-house, and when 
 the hour arrived the sidewalks and steps were filled, and on 
 Main street, south and north, as well as on Third, many were 
 waiting to witness the forming of the procession. Promptly at 
 one o'clock Gen. Wood, Grand Marshal, with his aides, Major 
 F. Lourv, Major P. O'Connell, Major J. V. Thomas, Captain 
 Henry jDornbush, Captain J. T. Patton, Captain James Reber, 
 and Lieutenants Gottschall and A. Knecht, Jr., were on the 
 ground, and the procession was formed soon after, and in the 
 following order : Regimental Band ; Soldiers' Home Band in 
 car ; two waggons tastefully ornamented, in which were seated 
 the young ladies who were to aid in decorating the graves. 
 Three vehicles were also loaded with flowers ; the orator of the 
 day, with the clergy ; King Encampment, No. 20, G. A. R., 
 ( ;.])t. Steve Hayes; Allen Encampment, No. 152, G. A. R. ; 
 Veteran Post G. A. R., from Soldiers' Home ; city police ; city 
 judiciary ; city council ; board of education ; the judiciary and 
 civic authorities of the county ; citizens in carriages. 
 
 Proceeding down Main Street, the procession kept on its 
 way to St. Henry's (Catholic) Cemetery, and thence to Wood- 
 land, where thousands had congregated before it arrived. Over 
 the entrance to St. Henry's Cemetery was a large arch, in rustic 
 fashion, of cedar, and it was inscril)ed in evergreen letters 
 " Honor to Our Unburied Dead." The mystic and potent 
 initials " U. S." marked the bases and apex of this beautiful 
 arch. We learn that the inscription was wrought by the ladies 
 of the Merchants' Hotel, and was their tribute to the memories 
 of the gallant dead. Inside the grounds a platform was erected 
 und>r a weeping willow, and it was most handsomely draped 
 with flags, and festooned with evergreens and flowers. Here 
 and there over the cemetery the graves of soldiers to the num- 
 ber of nineteen were designated by little flags planted on them, 
 and loving hands had already initiated the work of decoration.
 
 474 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Owing to the absence of Father Goetz, the ceremonies at St. 
 Henry's were brief. The graves were tenderly decorated, a fu- 
 neral dirge was played by the band, surviving comrades tired a 
 funeral salute in honor of the sleeping warriors, and to most 
 solemn music, the column resumed the line of march to Wood- 
 land " beautiful city of the dead." 
 
 In Woodland, one hundred and twenty-fooe graves were 
 marked with bright little flags, which silently announced the 
 number of departed heroes who slept there. Already the ma- 
 jority of these graves were most handsomely decorated by 
 friends, who were thus vieing with each other in showing their 
 tender regard. The main point of attraction, where the Com- 
 mittee on Decorations had devoted much admirable taste, and 
 expended a great deal of material, was on Monument Point, the 
 summit of a small mountain which towers above the hills in 
 Woodland, and overlooks the city, and the hills, valleys, and 
 rivers, for miles beyond. Over the two avenues by which the 
 Point is approached, on either side, were erected rustic frames, 
 on each of which is the inscription on one side "A Votive 
 Offering to Our Unburied Comrades." And on the other side 
 " They Slumber on Southern Battle-fields." Suspended be- 
 neath these inscriptions were handsome wreaths, encircling 
 pretty crosses of evergreen. On the Point a rustic platform 
 was erected, around the base of a mammoth flag-staff, to which 
 a regulation flag was suspended at half-mast. The platform 
 was surrounded by rustic railing decked with evergreens, 
 wreaths, crosses, immortelles, and flowers; festooned with moss- 
 es, and draped with flags and crape, and most handsomely cano- 
 pied with the " banner of beauty ; " and the place was appropri- 
 ately furnished with rustic chairs, sofas, and benches. On the 
 east side of this beautiful rustic platform was planted a 12-pound 
 Napoleon gun and caisson, festooned with crape and evergreens ; 
 and on either side were arms stacked, and a hundred men were 
 on guard ! The huge rocks which protrude from the hill-side 
 in the vicinity were draped with flags, and the entire surround- 
 ings were made to harmonize with the grand central figure. 
 Arrived at the cemetery, the column passed under the great 
 flag at the gateway, and entered the grounds. The Grand 
 Army at once proceeded to the pleasant task of decorating the 
 graves of their comrades. In the meantime the main body of 
 the procession marched up to the vicinity of Monument Point, 
 to listen to the interesting exercises. After an inspiring air 
 from the Regimental Band, the Throne of Grace was addressed 
 by Rev. Elder Van Buskirk. The National Band then played 
 a dirge, after which Rev. Mr. Ernshaw, Chaplain of the National 
 Soldiers' Home, was introduced by Mr. Winchell.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 475 
 
 ADDBESS OF CHAPLAIN EAKXSHAW. 
 
 COMRADES OF THE GRAND ARMY OF THK REPUBLIC LADIES 
 AND GENTLEMKN : I rise to address you with a heart swelling, 
 and with the deepest emotion, and when I contemplate the 
 grandeur of the occasion, I am reminded that it demands a 
 higher appreciation and a more eloquent tongue than mine. 
 You will indulge me if 1 say that I am irresistibly carried back 
 to the days of our great National struggle. This great gather- 
 ing of the loyal people reminds me of the time when the coun- 
 try was endangered, and when we pressed the hand and receiv- 
 ed the farewell kiss from those we loved. The tramp, tramp, 
 tramp, of the soldier, recalls the time when we used to sing 
 " We are corning Father Abraham, Three Hundred Thousand 
 more." The booming of cannon and the glittering arms borne 
 on the shoulders of men dressed in blue, carries me back to the 
 days of our conflict and the days of our glory, and this picture 
 is complete to my mind when I remember that we are this day 
 led by one of the Nation's truest and bravest chieftains. It is 
 difficult, indeed, to realize that the battle has been fought, the 
 victory won, and the Nation saved. A closer inspection, how- 
 ever, reveals the faces of men familiar with the trying scenes of 
 war, and these shattered braves from the Soldiers' Home, with 
 empty sleeves and leaning on their crutches, together with the 
 hundred graves, and now this hour bedewed with tears and cov- 
 ered with beautiful flowers, tell me in language unmistakable 
 that the work has been done, and the great sacrifice made. 
 When \ve look out on this immense assembly and behold the un- 
 heard-of devotion to the men who laid down their lives to save 
 the Nation, we are compelled to say that the old adage so spite- 
 fully thrown in our faces by our enemies that " Republics are 
 ungrateful," receives this day its eternal refutation. We can 
 never forget the loyal men and the heroic women left behind, 
 how they stood by us in our terrible reverses, and how they, 
 through the Sanitary and Christian Commissions, loaded us with 
 the blessings of heaven and earth, how readily they heard the 
 wail of the soldier's widow, and tenderly cured for his little or- 
 phans. And now we at the last are thrilled with joy and 
 thankfulness to God for the crowning act of affectionate remem- 
 brance revealed in the "National Soldiers' Home" that crowns 
 yonder hill, where the scarred veterans may tread the beautiful 
 grounds, and enjoy sweet repose through life. All honor to the 
 Nation that thus rewards her noble defenders ! All honor to 
 the patriotic men to whom has been committed the manage- 
 ment of this noble Institution. I feel it a duty and a great 
 privilege to say to you that while the Government, so heartily
 
 476 MEMORTAL CEREMONIES 
 
 sustained by the people, has been so bountiful in bestowing fa- 
 vors on the soldier and his family, the dead that were left on the 
 five hundred battle-tields in the rebellious South have not been 
 forgotten. It was my distinguished honor, too gratefully re- 
 membered, to be detailed by order of Gen. G. H. Thomas to 
 construct the Stone River and Nashville National Cemeteries 
 for the burial of the remains of twenty-two thousand braves 
 that fell in Middle Tennessee. My earnest and patriotic friend, 
 Chaplain T. B. Vanhorn, now before me, had a like honor con- 
 ferred on him in constructing the Chattanooga and Marietta 
 Cemeteries, the one at Chattanooga containing twelve thousand, 
 and the one at Marietta, Georgia, ten thousand. In these four 
 cemeteries, containing more than forty thousand graves, all who 
 fell between Bowling Green, Kentucky, and Atlanta, Georgia, 
 and from fifty to one hundred miles right and left, we diligent- 
 ly searched for the graves of our heroic comrades. On the 
 fields of Shiloh, on the well-remembered bluff, a beautiful ceme- 
 tery has been constructed by Col. A. W. Wells. Also, by the 
 same officer, at Corinth, Mississippi, a charming spot was select- 
 ed, and our gallant dead of that rebellious region have been 
 gathered and carefully laid to rest within the sacred enclosure. 
 At Memphis, Tennessee, one containing twelve thousand has 
 been constructed under the superintendence of Lieut. Parker- 
 8on, of the army. At Fort Donelson, on the banks of the Cum- 
 berland, where the battle was fought and won by our army, is 
 the location of another beautiful National Cemetery. In a 
 word, all through the South, wherever our victorious army 
 marched, or gallant scouts fell, has been most carefully searched, 
 and the remains most tenderly coffined and laid in these enclos 
 ures, where a grateful nation will guard the sacred dust of its 
 brave defenders. This great National work will soon be com- 
 pleted. Massive stone walls, or iron fences where stone cannot 
 be secured, will enclose these burial-places, and small detach- 
 ments of United States soldiers placed to guard and keep them 
 in repair. Many of them are most tastefully laid out. The one 
 at Chattanooga is located on the most beautiful spot in Tennes- 
 see. I am told that while our gallant troops were charging up 
 Missionary Eidge, and while the battle was raging furiously 
 above the clouds, and men were falling by hundreds on every 
 part of the field, that Maj.-Gen. Geo. II. Thomas turned to his 
 
 fallant Chief of Staff and said : " That spot," pointing to a 
 eautiful hill, '' will make a grand place for a National Ceme- 
 tery," and on Christmas day, 1803, he issued an order directing 
 the work to be begun, and I am glad to say that to Gen. Geo. 
 H. Thomas, the immovable center at Stone River, the Gibraltar
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 477 
 
 of Chickamauga, and the hero of Nashville, belongs the immor- 
 tal honor of issuing the first order for the construction of a 
 National Cemetery, and that full information be furnished of 
 name, rank, age, marital state, date of enlistment, and addresa 
 of nearest relative, and whatever is worthy of record in each 
 case. I am gratified to state here that Chaplain Yan Horn had 
 the distinguished honor of obeying that interesting order. It is 
 also a great pleasure afforded me to-day, to say that while we 
 are showering these beautiful tokens of love and affection on the 
 graves of the heroes now sleeping under the shadow of their 
 own dear homes, all over the laud, in the large Cemeteries, far 
 in the " Sunny South," may be seen this day, loyal men and true 
 women, with weeping eyes and earnest hearts, paying a like 
 tribute to the deeds and memory of those far away. Those sa- 
 cred spots are the dearest places on earth to the tire-tried patri- 
 ots of the South, and it is to these places they go to swear afresh 
 their allegiance to the Country saved by the blood of the men 
 beneath its grassy mounds. Let no weeping widow, mother, 
 sister or friend, think that their loved ones are unhonored as 
 they are distant. I have, myself, several times witnessed the 
 paying of floral tributes to the Union dead in the South. And 
 as I am here to speak for the soldier, I would say that our hearts 
 are too full for utterance, when we attempt to make a return for 
 the love you so touchingJy express by thus honoring our dear 
 fallen comrades. 
 
 I can only say that the members of the Grand Army of the 
 Republic bless you, every man that wore the Blue will bless you, 
 and we will ever join in asking that the blessings of the God of 
 nations and the God of battles may be upon you. I may con- 
 gratulate my comrades in the assurance that if we be true to 
 our past record in standing by the principles for which we fought, 
 at the close of life we will be honored in our burial, and on the 
 return of the flower month of each year, the loyal people will 
 assemble to deck our graves with flowers. We express our un- 
 feigned admiration for our glorious Commander-in-Chief, Gen. 
 John A. Logan, whose noble and Union -loving heart prompted 
 him to promulgate the order that brings us together on this most 
 interesting occasion, especially that the ceremony is to be per- 
 petuated to the latest period of our National history. And your 
 kindness, ladies and gentlemen, in co-operating with ns to-day, 
 and the oft-assured willingness to join us from year to year on 
 similar occasions, makes it incumbent upon me to say that, we 
 stand by the country as before. We, of the Grand Army of 
 the Republic, have renewed our vows, on bended knees, pressing 
 the flag of our country to our hearts, and with unsheathed sword
 
 478 MEMOKIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 have sworn eternal hostility to secession and rebellion wherever 
 found, and stand ready at the call of the country to repeat our 
 sufferings in heat and cold, and storm, in wading swamps, ford- 
 ing rivers, traversing valleys and scaling mountains, and if need, 
 to the lofty heights of Lookout, and defeat our enemies (as 
 before) above the clouds. 
 
 Let us leave this sacred place remembering that our work 
 has been one of holy love, and that we form a part of the 
 mighty loyal host that have in this bright land of liberty to-day, 
 honored the deeds and memory of three hundred thousand 
 heroes. 
 
 After the Chaplain concluded, the National Band played an 
 appropriate and solemn air, when a most eloquent and touching 
 prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Kemper, pastor of the St. Clair 
 Street Presbyterian Church. Doxology was then sung to the 
 grand old air of " Old Hundred," in which thousands of voices 
 joined, and Benediction was pronounced by Rev. W. T. Bunk- 
 er, Pastor of the Wayne Street Baptist Church. This was the 
 signal for closing the ceremonies of the day ; and the thousands 
 who were in Woodland departed for their homes. 
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' HOME. 
 
 About ten o'clock in the morning, the procession was formed 
 at Head-Quarters. The Cadets of the Military Institute, with 
 reversed arms, the members of the Post of the Grand Army, 
 the officers of the Home, each with a bouquet upon his breast, 
 then the ladies, followed by citizens who had come out to join 
 in the solemn ceremonies. It was not a long procession, but 
 few like it was ever looked upon. Among the soldiers in the 
 line you saw those who bore themselves upon crutches. Rebel 
 bullets, fired in a cause thrice accursed, had mutilated their 
 manly forms. Many an empty sleeve, pinned upon the breast, 
 where the true heart was beating, furnished badges of honor to 
 the bearers. Away in the distance amid the green wood, the 
 solemn strains of music came forth as if from the grave itself. 
 The " dead march," how mournful ! Its sad notes float out like 
 a wail for the dead. The heart is subdued. Sadness fills the 
 soul, thus reminded, as it has been a thousand times before, that 
 death is in the world. With slow and solemn step, as if a corpse 
 were in charge, the procession moved through the field and 
 wood to the graves of the departed patriots. On a gentle slope 
 facing the East, amid the trees of the forest, lie the seventeen 
 dead soldiers side by side, as they stood upon the battle-field 
 confronting the foe. Flowers are growing upon the graves,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 479 
 
 and the spaces between are covered with the green grass. It 
 is a beautiful place where for the last time these brave men 
 have closed ranks never to be broken, perhaps, till the great 
 '"assembly" call on the resurrection morn. At the graves the 
 cadets march up and take position in double ranks on the 
 wcstside of the miniature cemetery. The veterans from the 
 Home march round, and at the sound of command halt on the 
 M-est side and face inward. The orator and officers' of the Home 
 occupy a position in the centre of the line. on the west, a large 
 American flag hangs from the trees in the rear. The visitors 
 and spectators all find places about that row of seventeen 
 graves, which enables them to see all that is done, and hear all 
 that is said. It is not a large company, but it is a very solemn 
 one. The order of exercises is then announced by Gen. Ingra- 
 ham. Chaplain Van Home implored the blessing of the Most 
 High as he devoutly acknoledged His merciful dealings with 
 the nation during her four years of war against armed and im- 
 placable treason. He remembers before God, with gratitude of 
 heart, that liberty had been preserved, rebellion subdued, and 
 the rights of humanity vindicated. He recognizes the chasten- 
 ing hand in the sufferings which had attended the nation during 
 its tiery baptism, and asked for Christ's sake, that comfort and 
 consolation may be vouchsafed to the bereaved and afflicted, 
 who, everywhere throughout the nation, mourn over the loved 
 ones that stood in the strife against treason and rebellion. He 
 asks for heavenly approval of the tribute of affection and of 
 honor, which is this day paid to the memory of those who sac- 
 rificed their lives to preserve the nation who died that the 
 nation might live. 
 
 Next comes the soldier's tribute of honor. The Cadets are 
 ordered to " load at will." It is done. Successive orders follow 
 till the butt of each musket presses a shoulder. Then comes the 
 order to fire, and the volley which succeeds is almost condensed 
 into a single report, so accurate had been their practice at the 
 Institute where they are studying war, and the peaceful sciences 
 as well. The orders are repeated, and two other volleys are 
 fired. The veterans have watched every movement of the boys 
 from the order to load till the order to fire, and turn to each 
 other and express their admiration of the firing. The " honors 
 of war " having been paid, the peaceful tribute, the homage of 
 woman to the memory of the brave, comes on. Flowers pre- 
 pared by fair hands are strewed upon the graves until they are 
 cohered with these floral treasures. The gray-headed veteran 
 joins the matron and the maiden in this beautiful token of af- 
 fection, which is sincerely bestowed. The heart has given of its
 
 480 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 tenderness, and the fresh buds and blossoms are the emblems of 
 its purity. Now we have a scene which awakens new emotions. 
 An officer who has seen much service, who though Southern 
 born and bred, has always been the devoted, unswerving de- 
 fender of the Union cause, stands forth to address the assembly. 
 He is no holiday soldier, no Fourth of July declaimer. He 
 speaks as one " having authority." He has passed the fearful 
 ordeal of battle on many bloody fields he bears honorable 
 scars.* 
 
 GEX. WOOD'S ADDRESS. 
 
 VETERAN COMRADES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : The rites of 
 sepulture, the consecrated grounds devoted to the remains of 
 the dead, and the preservation of the memory of the departed 
 have, in all periods and in all lands, obtained the special care 
 and regard of every race and people. The sentiment of loving 
 regard for the dead and of reverent conservation of the necropo- 
 lis, however variously manifested according to the diversities 
 and peculiarities of different races and nations, is co-extensive 
 with humanity. It is not limited by geographical boundaries, 
 by diversity of ethnological descent, by differences of religious 
 faith, nor by disparity of civilization. The beautiful cemeteries 
 which adorn every part of our adored land, to which loving 
 friends and relatives throng at each return of the vernal season, 
 to lay their tributes of love and affection on the tombs of the 
 beloved dead the monuments and immortelles ofPere le Chaise 
 the vast, silent cities of the dead spread out on the sloping 
 shores of the Golden Horn, hoary with age, and studded with 
 the tapering, graceful cypresses which form as impressive a fea- 
 ture in thaf gorgeous orient landscape, are alike the evidence as 
 well as the effect of the existence of the sentiment of loving re- 
 spect for the dead, and of reverent regard for the sacred grounds 
 in which they sleep their long sleep. All who have read the 
 touching story of the gradual, but relentless dispossession of the 
 aboriginal inhabitants of our magnificent domain, by the steady 
 aggression of a more powerful and fortunate race, must have 
 been deeply impressed with the constant recurrence of the 
 mournful lament that they had been driven away from the 
 graves of their fathers. Love for the dead and respect for their 
 final resting-places are so much a part of humanity, that the 
 history of every race gives evidence of their existence. 
 
 But when Worthily distinguishing circumstances have marked 
 the lives and careers of the departed, such as great personal 
 worth, the rendering of extraordinary and very useful services 
 
 Dayton Journal, June 1, 1868.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 481 
 
 to mankind by scientific discoveries and utilitarian inventions, 
 or the falling in the military service of the State, the general 
 sentiment of respect for the deceased is much heightened and 
 intensified indeed, often rises to a sublime enthusiasm, and is 
 displayed in striking and appropriate manifestations. As an 
 instance of the exaltation of this natural feeling into a national 
 sentiment, it may be mentioned that the Athenians, in the pure 
 and best days of the republic, brought home the remains of the 
 citizens who had fallen in foreign wars, and interred them in the 
 Ceramicus the national cemetery of Athens. Perhaps the 
 most touching, as well as the most striking recorded instance of 
 the* tender regard of the survivors for the worth and memory of 
 a dead comrade is furnished by the history of Tour a'Auvergne, 
 " The First Grenadier of Republican France." After his death, 
 which had occurred in battle, his heart was embalmed and pre- 
 served in a silver urn (which was borne by the oldest sergeant 
 of his company,) his name was continued on the compan} r roll, 
 and at each roll-call, to the name Tour a?Auvergne, the cus- 
 todian of the sacred heart responded : mart sur le champ cPJion- 
 neur. I envy no man who can read the story of such devotion 
 without the deepest emotion. Respect in our own well-beloved 
 country for the nation's dead children, elevated into a national 
 sentiment, has been displayed in the establishment, since the 
 termination of the late war, of numerous national cemeteries in 
 convenient and suitable positions, in which the remains of the 
 patriot soldiers who fell in the defence of the Government 
 against the hands of its parricidal assailants are to be reverently 
 interred, and placed under the protection of the gratitude and 
 loyalty of the nation. War-worn veterans, comrades-in-arms: 
 our assembling to-day is a manifestation of the national feeling 
 of respect for the dead exalted into a national sentiment. This 
 is, truly, a solemn and impressive occasion ! With no light 
 or trivial or irreverent feelings are we animated to day. The 
 duty which we are met to perform this day is the result of 
 the deep and sincere conviction that we, the survivors, owe a 
 profound and lasting debt of gratitude to those bjjave and true 
 men who fell in the military service of the country in the late 
 war ; and that a solemn obligation rests upon us to assemble 
 ourselves together at stated times, and, by appropriate observ- 
 ances and ceremonies, to make such oblations to the dead aa 
 will preserve, fresh and green, the memory of their great and 
 glorious services in the cause of the right and the truth, as well 
 as testify the largeness of our indebtedness to them. To-day, 
 the nation's reverent homage and gratitude to its patriot dead 
 are ascending in a grand and mighty diapason. From the busy 
 31
 
 482 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 shores of the Atlantic to the far off Occident, where the wavea 
 of the great peaceful oc^an wash the sands of the golden State 
 of California, or jut against the rock-bound coast of Oregon, as- 
 semblies, animated by the same sentiment as ourselves, have 
 met together this day. Throughout all this broad area, occu- 
 pied by more than twenty five millions of loyal, intelligent, law- 
 abiding, and liberty -loving people, vast concourses of beautiful 
 women and true men are this day voluntarily assembled to pay 
 deserved honor to the memory of the nation's heroic dead, and 
 to garland their last resting places, where they sleep so well after 
 " their duty done," with appropriate tributes. Human history 
 presents no loftier spectacle. Could there be a more satisfactory 
 proof of the influence of an ennobling and sublime sentiment? 
 A few moments, my friends and military comrades, may be in- 
 structively and improvingly devoted to inquiring why this grand 
 and noble display, why this voluntary national uprising? The 
 movement of vast masses of people, animated by a common 
 sentiment, is ever an instructive and instructing theme. And 
 what more appropriate place to make this inquiry than over the 
 graves of our former comrades-in-arms where we will be sur- 
 rounded by the most sacred and ennobling influences ? Quietly 
 and without ostentation, removed as much as possible from the 
 observation of the world, in silence and in sorrow, the^ mem- 
 bers of an individual family which has been bereaved by death 
 visit the graves of its dead, and make their affectionate offerings ; 
 and such conduct is appropriate and becoming. Why is a de- 
 parture from the ordinary and individual method of testifying 
 respect for the dead and evincing a reverent care for their 
 graves proper, and not only proper, but demanded on this oc- 
 casion? What extraordinary services illustrated the lives, what 
 memorable circumstances distinguished and rendered illustrious 
 the death, why is a profound and intense national interest at- 
 tached to the memory of those whom we meet this day to honor? 
 In the performance of the sacred and solemn services of this 
 occasion, surrounded by the exalting and inspiring influence of 
 the illustrious, example of these buried patriots, it is meet and 
 fit that, we their surviving comrades, who are enjoying the 
 fruits of their great. deeds, of their sufferings and their life- 
 sacrifice, should make these inquiries, and by the teaching of 
 their devoted and unselfish example purify and elevate our 
 patriotism. The simple answer to the foregoing inquiries is - 
 and it is replete with the most touching eloquence and pathos 
 from its truthful and beautiful simplicity they fell in the de- 
 fence of our common country, and for the preservation of our 
 constitutional government, and of our national unity. Let us,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 483 
 
 my comrades, review briefly a few of the leading features of the 
 great conflict between the loyal and djsloyal sections of the 
 Union, the occurrence of which rendered it necessary that our 
 deceased comrades should sacrifice their lives on the altar of 
 duty. In the winter of 1860 and early spring of 1861, an 
 oligarchy of a few prominent citizens in several of the South- 
 ern States, influenced by the most unholy and wicked desire to 
 control the political- power of the nation in their own selfish and 
 tyrannical interest, and for the extension of an institution ab- 
 horred by the bulk of the Christian world, and, as we reverently 
 believe, by Him who holds the destinies of nations as well as 
 of individuals, in his omnipotent hand, attempted the establish- 
 ment of a treasonable and revolutionary government. For the 
 accomplishment of this wicked and treasonable design an im- 
 mense military organization was silently but efficiently created. 
 While the government of the Union and the loyal people were 
 reposing in a delusive security and a treacherous peace, the con- 
 spirators were prepared to accomplish their fell purpose by an 
 appeal to the dire arbitrament of arms. They had equipped 
 Bellona's chariot for a war against their own brethren ! The 
 success of the attempted revolution would have been the utter 
 subversion of the government established by our Revolutionary 
 fathers ; and I have no hesitation in declaring my firm convic- 
 tion that, if the conspirators had been successful, the govern- 
 ment they would have established would have been more op- 
 pressive than the odious rule of the hated Ten of Yenice. 
 
 The first overt acts of treason, and rebellion, and hostility, 
 created among the loyal people an intense feeling compounded 
 of grief, horror, and indignation ; but, at the outset, they were 
 long-suffering, and disposed to hope that a returning sense of 
 moderation, of fraternal love, and of attachment to our common 
 country and our benign Government, would induce our erring 
 brethren to abandon their wicked designs and remain in the sa- 
 cred fold of the Union. But this cherished, fondly-indulged 
 hope, was destined to be sadly, bitterly disappointed ; and all 
 the forbearance of the loyal people was wasted on men already 
 committed fully to a criminal rebellion, and whose hearts were 
 steeped in treason. The long-suffering and forbearance of the 
 nation was attributed to weakness, and only served to still 
 further embolden the conspirators. Various treasonable and 
 openly hostile acts had been committed by the rebels antecedent 
 to the last culminating deed of aggression ; all these the nation 
 had seen with deep and painful regret, but had borne with pa- 
 tience. Finally, on the 12th day of April, 1861, a national fort, 
 garrisoned by a single company of federal troops, with the na-
 
 484 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 tional standard, the symbol of our majesty as a nation, flying 
 over its ramparts, was fired on by the rebels, bombarded for 
 twenty-four hours, and compelled by an overwhelming force to 
 capitulate. This was the outrage that at last broke the national 
 patience the drop that caused the cup of the nation's anger to 
 overflow. The intelligence of this last and intolerable insult to 
 our nationality, borne on lightning wings all over the land, set 
 the loyal people in a blaze of just and righteous indignation. 
 This last act of rebel outrage and atrocity showed that the for- 
 bearance of the loyal people could no longer be considered a 
 virtue, but must henceforth, if continued, be esteemed craven- 
 hearted weakness. With unparalleled alacrity and zeal and 
 etern resolve the people in the loyal States, of every pursuit 
 and vocation, laid aside the garb of peace and responded to the 
 call of the Executive to rally -under the national flag against 
 the armed hosts of treason, secession, and rebellion. It is not 
 necessary, iior would the limits of an address appropriate to this 
 occasion permit, that I should go into a minute detail of all 
 the nation's struggles and sacrifices from the beginning to the 
 end of the gigantic conflict. These are a theme that might 
 nobly employ a loftier muse than that of the grand, blind " old 
 poet of Scions rocky isle ; " and rightly, truly sung, would form 
 an epic sublimer far than the Iliad. But, without too much 
 taxing of your patience, I may refer to a few of the leading and 
 most remarkable incidents of the great struggle. Briefly, com- 
 rades and friends, I call your attention to the extraordinary 
 sacrifices made by the loyal people for the preservation of the 
 Government founded by our Revolutionary fathers, and for the 
 maintenance of our distinct nationality. I present for your 
 consideration the prompt, generous, and unfailing manner in 
 which the loyal people poured forth their treasures of property 
 and- money, and their yet dearer, more valuable treasure of 
 blood, during the four long and dark years of the direful con- 
 flict. How, in all this long and soul-trying term, they never 
 lost their faith in the ultimate triumph of the cause of truth, of 
 justice, and of the right, but continued to furnish with the most 
 generous profusion to the very end of the war, all the supplies 
 required for military operations. How, by promptly and cheer- 
 fully responding to all his calls for the sinews of war, they bore 
 up the hands and sustained the heart of the President ?A<s 
 martyred patriot, Abraham Lincoln. And, when the great goal 
 had been won by the suppression of armed resistance to the 
 Government, and when the rebel armies had surrendered, I de- 
 sire especially to invite your attention to the moderation dis- 
 played by the victors, to the ready, orderly, and facile manner
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 485 
 
 in which the great national armies, amounting to more than a 
 million of men, quitted, at the order of the Government, the 
 ranks of their military organizations, and became once more 
 merged in the general and undistinguished mass of citizens. 
 The moderation displayed by the conquerors at the close of the 
 war is rendered still more remarkable by the fact that he who 
 had been their Executive head during the conflict, who had, 
 during the long hours of darkness, of trial, and of sacrifice, been 
 to them "the pillar of a cloud by day, and the pillar of tire by 
 night," was, just as the glorious dawn of the triumphant close 
 wjis bursting on the sorely-tried land, stricken down by the hand 
 of an assassin. The great shock to the feelings of the nation 
 caused by the detestable death of the well-beloved President, 
 though it caused the country to thrill from end to end with hor- 
 ror, grief, and indignation, did not change the national modera- 
 tion. In this connection, I may appropriately give utterance 
 to a sentiment to which I feel well assured you, my veteran 
 comrades and friends, will most cordially and heartily respond. 
 Though, in the inscrutable dispensation of Providence, it was 
 not permitted to Mr. Lincoln to finish the great work in which 
 he had borne the chief, the most conspicuous part to see the 
 country pacified and the rebellious States restored on a secure 
 and peace-assured basis to their normal relations to the Gov- 
 ernment, with fraternal harmony smiling on and blessing the 
 land, it is, nevertheless, the source of the intensest satisfaction, 
 yea, more, the source of the profoundest, most reverent grati- 
 tude to the hearts of all patriots, that he was spared to see the 
 back of the military resistance to the Government broken, and 
 to behold the largest rebel army held captive by the national 
 troops. 1 maintain, my comrades and friends, that the few lead- 
 ing incidents out of the many of the grand struggle to which I 
 have succinctly called your attention, are without a parallel in 
 the history of any other people. From them, the most import- 
 ant and instructive lessons of patriotism, of loyalty to the true 
 and the right, of devotion to country and duty, and of subordi- 
 nation to law and order may be drawn as well for the present 
 as future generations. No better, no more potent defence, than 
 is furnished by these facts, could be made of republican institu- 
 tions ; no stronger, more compact, logical, unanswerable argu- 
 ment in favor of the capacity of an intelligent people, practiced 
 and educated in the art of political government, by actual par- 
 ticipation, to govern themselves, and to maintain under the 
 sorest trials such form of government, could be adduced. But 
 such a digression, involving necessarily a polemical, political 
 disquisition, would not be appropriate to this solemn occasion.
 
 486 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 We are not met to-day, my comrades and friends, for discussion, 
 but to pay solemn and reverent homage to the memory of our 
 departed comrades. 
 
 But the great struggle bore other fruits, not less important 
 and significant than those to which I have briefly adverted, 
 which should not be overlooked. It is not to be denied that the 
 public functionaries, as well as the largely preponderating ma- 
 jority of the loyal people, at the outset of the war, expected to 
 suppress the rebellion without materially altering any of the 
 then existing political or social institutions of the Government 
 or the country. But the history of the war shows that this ex- 
 pectation was not destined to be realized. The progress of the 
 contest convinced all observant and reflecting men that the 
 social and political institutions which had been the cause of the 
 rebellion must be swept away before the war could be brought 
 to a proper and successful close. The bulk of the loyal people 
 rose to the dignity of the great crisis in the sectional contest ; 
 and acknowledging the imperative necessity for the great move- 
 ment in national progress about being made, their hardly 
 wrought-out conviction found expression in the Executive Proc- 
 lamation of Emancipation. Thus were the loyal masses com- 
 mitted irrevocably to the extirpation of human slavery in the 
 United States of America, and to the maintenance throughout 
 all our territory of the sacredness of individual freedom. A 
 nation of thirty-five millions of people preserved from disin- 
 tegration and destruction ; the perpetual nature of our national 
 unity decreed by the triumphant and unquestionable decision 
 of the highest earthly tribunal the sword / the paramount 
 supremacy of law and order and the sacred obligation of con- 
 stitutional government asserted, maintained and established 
 against treason, secession and rebellion ; and four millions of 
 human beings released from the galling, depressing bondage 
 of personal slavery, and clothed with equal civil and political 
 rights and franchises with the rest of the citizens these are the 
 great, the inestimable results of our civil war. In these majes- 
 tic, triumphant, heaven-given achievements, are to be found the 
 reason why the natural feeling of respect for the dead has, in 
 regard to our departed comrades, been elevated into a national 
 sentiment has, in fact, been exalted to national enthusiasm. 
 Who accomplished these grand and enduring deeds ? The great 
 work, through much lab^r, suffering and sacrifice, was achieved 
 by the soldiers of the Republic. Therefore it is most becoming 
 and proper that the surviving comrades of the heroic dead, and 
 not the survivors only, but the whole loyal people of the land, 
 should assemble at stated times to acknowledge, by appropriate
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 487 
 
 ceremonies, their lasting obligation to tlie nation's dead, to 
 testify the national gratitude to them, and to do honor to their 
 sacred memories by worthy tributes of respect and affection. 
 For this purpose are we met, comrades and friends, on this occa- 
 sion. From the reverent and appreciative performance of this 
 sacred duty to our departed, comrades, we may derive renewed 
 inspiration to our patriotism, the highest of the civic virtnes. 
 The observance of this day, bringing most vividly before us the 
 lolty and self-sacrificing example of our dead brethren to the 
 calU of duty, will not only exalt, ennoble and purify our devo- 
 tion to national unity and constitutional government will not 
 only make us more firmly resolve that the nation which they 
 preserved shall not be destroyed by traitorous hands will not 
 only teach us to imitate and emulate their noble public deeds, 
 but will enlarge and strengthen our love for' universal truth, 
 justice and liberty, and shed a hallowing influence over the per- 
 formance of all the varied duties of life. Then with renewed 
 and elevated convictions of our duties as citizens of a most 
 heaven-blessed land, with a government giving liberty and pro- 
 tection to all who acknowledge and maintain its just authority 
 preserved to us by the exertions and sacrifices of our dead com- 
 rades, let us sacredly vow to each other, that we will, with the 
 annual recurrence of the season of flowers and of the natural 
 beauty of the land, make pious pilgrimages to the graves of our 
 heroic dead, and decorate them with appropriate offerings 
 thus shall we fittingly and faithfully acknowledge our obliga- 
 tions to our departed comrades; thus shall we vitalize and 
 render efficacious their noble examples, thus shall we preserve 
 perennially fresh and green, and transmit to the guardianship of 
 posterity, their sacred memories ; and thus shall we vindicate 
 to our contemporaries and to the rising generation, which must 
 in a few years take our places in the administration of active 
 affairs, the truth of the maxim, dulce et decorum est pro patina 
 mori. 
 
 At the conclusion of the address, Gen. Ingraham announced 
 that Geo. Zincke, a German, and an inmate of the Home who 
 did not speak English, would address a few words to his German 
 comrades, in their own language. He referred to the generous 
 regard for the interests of the soldier which characterized the 
 Government and people of the United States as contrasted with 
 the course of the monarchies of the old world. With much 
 feeling he spoke of the tributes of affection and reverence which 
 the scene before them presented, and closed with a few lines of 
 of verse of his own composition which may be freely translate^ 
 thus :
 
 488 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Yon who stand around the-e graves, 
 Where the preen grass gently grows, 
 See the end of mortal life 
 With its cares and scenes of strife. 
 Those who sleep so quiet there 
 Once like us could do aud dare. 
 "What they are now, we soon shall be, 
 Dwellers in Eternity. 
 
 Chaplain Earnshaw pronounced the benediction, tLc proces- 
 sion again formed and marched back to headquarters, and the 
 ceremonies of the day at the Soldier's Home were closed. 
 
 AT WEST FARMINGTON, OHIO. 
 
 The Post of the G. A. R. of this place (including citizens of 
 this and adjoining towns), celebrated May 30th, as recommend- 
 ed by the Grand Commander, in decorating the graves of their 
 fallen comrades, and other appropriate ceremonies. The choicest 
 Spring flowers, wild and cultivated, were twined in wreaths of 
 evergreen aud myrtle, and arranged in beautiful bouquets for 
 the occasion. The bands from Mesopotamia and Parkman were 
 in attendance, and in turn " discoursed sweet music." About 
 11 o'clock, A. M., the members of the Order, with a crape badge 
 upon the arm of each, preceded by the bands of music, and 
 loaded with wreaths and bouquets, took up their line of march 
 for the cemetery, a half mile east of their hall, followed by a 
 long procession of citizens and friends of the deceased soldiers. 
 On arriving at the Soldiers' Monument, erected by the people 
 of the township, near the centre of the cemetery, and which 
 had been previously decorated for the occasion, they formed in 
 a hollow square about the same, and, at a signal from the Com- 
 mander of the Post, each member knelt, while the officer of the 
 day read a beautiful sentiment of respect and honor to the mem- 
 ory of their fallen comrades. On rising, each member stepped 
 forward and deposited a wreath or bouquet at the base of the 
 monument. Prof. A. N. Craft, of the Western Reserve Semi- 
 nary at this place, then delivered an address full of historical 
 facts, and logical deductions therefrom, discussing in a very able 
 manner the proposition that a nation's destiny, and life even, 
 depends upon its adherence to the principles of morality and 
 justice ; giving a history of the rise and fall of the governments 
 of the Old World, and delineating with wonderful accuracy the 
 character and operations of the principal actors upon the stage, 
 during the transmigration of their governments from weakness 
 to strength and from prosperity to decay.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 489 
 
 AT KINSMAN, OHIO. 
 
 A number of the citizens of Kinsman met at the Academy, 
 and spent some time in making wreaths and bouquets from the 
 choicest Spring flowers, wild and cultivated. After partaking 
 of some refreshments kindly furnished by the ladies, the friends 
 and comrades of the deceased proceeded to the cemetery, to 
 strew flowers and decorate the graves of our honored comrades. 
 As they passed each grave, Mr. John T. Yeomans gave a short 
 history of the deceased. When the graves were all decorated, 
 the martial band escorted the citizens back to the Academy, 
 where they appointed a committee of five to have charge of the 
 next annual decoration of the soldiers' graves. After a few ap- 
 propriate remarks by Mr. John T. Yeomans and William A. 
 Levin, the company separated. 
 
 AT EATON, OHIO. 
 
 Under the marshalship of Col. Robert Williams, Jr., the 
 procession formed, at 2 o'cock, p. M., in front of the Court-House, 
 in the following order: 1. The Band. 2. The Chaplain and 
 Orator of the day. 3. Two color-bearers Rev. Hiram John- 
 son and John L. Bruce followed by thirty-five Misses in red, 
 white, and blue, who carried the wreaths and bouquets, and 
 who were followed immediately by thre.e of the old flags that 
 had seen service, carried by Captain Lanius, J. H. Bostwick, 
 and Tim Kelly. 4. Soldiers in the War of the Rebellion. 
 5. Citizens. On reaching the ground, a pleasant shade was 
 selected. " America " was sung by a choir, and a prayer was 
 offered by Rev. T. J. Harris. ]N ext followed the oration of Col. 
 A. L. Harris, as follows : 
 
 LADIES, GENTLEMEN, AND COMRADES : The 12th day of April, 
 1861, will long be remembered by us as a nation. It was on 
 that day that the first gun was fired upon Fort Sumter. The 
 South had long indulged in the threat that they would take up 
 arms to defend ther favorite institution Slavery. No one in the 
 Nortli^ thought for a moment that they would ever put that 
 threat into execution. The firing upon our flag created univer- 
 sal amazement and indignation. You remember your own feel- 
 ings, when the news of the insult to our national banner, of the 
 battle, and of the capture of Sumter by the rebels, were flashed 
 along the wires. Excitement, perhaps unparalleled in the his- 
 tory of the world, pervaded every city and hamlet, and almost 
 every heart. The farmer stopped his plow in the furrow, the 
 merchant dropped his yard-stick upon the counter, the black-
 
 490 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 smith his hammer upon the anvil, the carpenter his plane upon 
 the bench, and all, with one accord, listened in breathless silence 
 to catch every word of the startling news. For the first time in 
 our history the Stars and Stripes were trailed in the dust by 
 traitors by the very men that the flag had honored at home 
 and protected abroad. The indignation of a loyal people, at 
 that hour, cannot be described. Party lines, for the time being, 
 were blotted out ; party feuds were forgotten, and, with one 
 sentiment, the young men of all political parties rallied around 
 the flag, and pledged themselves to protect it from insult, and 
 place it again upon the walls of Sumter without a star upon its 
 beautiful shield being dimmed. 
 
 This was the beginning of the most gigantic rebellion that 
 history has ever recorded. Battle after battle was fought with 
 varied results, and month after month the cause of treason ap- 
 peared to gain strength. At times, the most patriotic men of 
 the nation felt that the life or death of the Republic hung on 
 the scale, nearly equally balanced. But the Goddess of Liberty 
 watched over the cause of the young Republic, and guided its 
 statesmen in council, and its generals in the field, to victory. 
 The last bloody battle has been fought ; the last armed foe has 
 surrendered. The earth no longer trembles with the tramp of 
 opposing armies as they rush to the charge. The air is no 
 longer filled with the shrieks of the wounded or the groans of 
 the dying. The smoke of battle is no longer ascending toward 
 heaven, indicating the terrible conflict on earth which was being 
 fought in defense of religious and political liberty. The mighty 
 engines of war are now silent in the arsenals of a victorious na- 
 tion. The volunteers who made up the legions of our Grand 
 Army are no longer pacing their lonely beats in the dead hours 
 of the night, or charging on to victory against living walls of 
 opposing forces, but have returned to the quiet pursuits of civil 
 life. 
 
 They have not all thus returned. Many of them lie buried 
 where they fell, flushed with victory or saddened by defeat, and 
 their last resting-place will never be known to man ; while thou- 
 sands of others have been gathered together and lie buried be- 
 neath the flag which waved over them when they fell, and are 
 to-day " sleeping the sleep that knows no waking," side by side 
 and shoulder to shoulder in the quiet embrace of death. The 
 remains of these warriors are beyond our reach. We would all 
 like to make a pilgrimage to their tombs, and pay to them the 
 same tribute of respect that we have met together to-day to pay 
 to our brave comrades whose mouldering forms lie buried with- 
 in this beautiful " city of the dead." While many who are
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 491 
 
 ..oar anu dear to us are beyond our reach to-day, we are con- 
 soled with the thought that some friend is paying to them the 
 same tribute of respect that we are paying to those that lie 
 buried here. If there is no relation near to perform this solemn 
 duty, we know that there is a race of fellow mortals there, who 
 were once slaves, but are now freemen ; who were once in 
 chains, but whose manacles have been snapped asunder by the 
 bayonets of our illustrious dead, that will perform it in'' our 
 stead. The child may forget its parent, the subject may deny 
 his allegiance to his Government, but this people will never for- 
 get their deliverance from bondage. As long as the American 
 patriot reveres the name of the immortal Washington, and loves 
 to visit his tomb arid kneel in reverence at his grave, these peo- 
 ple will make their frequent pilgrimage to the earthly tenements 
 of the dead patriots who lie buried far from the scenes of their 
 childhood, and amid tears of affection and love strew flowere 
 upon their graves. 
 
 Fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, widows, and orphans, 
 console yourselves with the thought, that while the absent, 
 though not forgotten, remains of your kindred are far away, 
 the Government, which they fought so nobly to maintain, will 
 ever guard their graves with sleepless vigilance. All that the 
 consecrated wealth and taste of this nation can do to add to 
 their tombs will be done, and they will sweetly sleep within 
 the sunny fields of the South, beneath the "starry flag" under 
 which they fell. One million of surviving comrades will see 
 that no wanton foot ever treads rudely on such hallowed 
 ground. No insult shall ever be given them. No vandalism 
 shall ever befall them. By our acts we will testify to coming 
 generations that we have not forgotten them, though they sleep 
 far from us. 
 
 The little hillocks that surround us here to-day we can keep 
 under o;ir immediate eye, and we will hold them sacred as long 
 as the light and warmth of life remains within us. These 
 graves are in no danger of desecration by a vandal hand. 
 Their remains sleep among their living friends. They are 
 watched over and wept over by near relations. They will 
 never again wake at the sound of the reveille. Their places 
 are vacant in our ranks, and around the hearth-stones of their 
 families. Their cheeks, so often flushed with victory, have 
 long ago been food for worms. Their tongues that cheered us 
 on in battle are now still in death, but their memories are as 
 bright in our minds as though they had fallen but yesterday, 
 The act alone of placing these beautiful bouquets and wreaths 
 upon their graves is but a small tribute within itself, and little
 
 492 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 do their remains heed it as they sleep at our feet ; but we do it 
 as a mark of the love and affection which we had for them in 
 life, and which has not been lessened by death. We love them 
 for the cause for which they fought and fell ! We honor them 
 for their patriotism in tearing themselves away from happy 
 homes and going forth to battle for our common country. 
 From our very infancy we have been taught to honor, love and 
 respect the names of our Revolutionary fathers, who, with 
 their united strength threw off the British yoke of oppression, 
 and handed down to us the liberties which we enjoy ; and while 
 they are entitled to all the honor and marks of affection that 
 has been bestowed upon them by a grateful nation, yet we 
 must claim, standing as we do in the very presence of our 
 honored dead, among the graves of our departed comrades, 
 that the cause for which they fought arid fell is no less sacred 
 to every patriot. Our fathers fought to establish American 
 independence ; our brothers fought to defend and perpetuate it. 
 Oar fathers offered up their lives upon the altar of freedom, 
 and succeeded in founding the great principle of self govern- 
 ment. Our brothers sacrificed their lives upon the same altar 
 in defense of the same great principle. Our fathers planted 
 the tree of liberty and watered it with their own blo<}d ; our 
 brothers found it dying with treason, and they gave their lives 
 that it might live. The parallel is so perfect, in fact, that when 
 the future historian shall write the history of the nation, past 
 and present, he will crown the heads of our fallen brothers with 
 the same wreath of laurels that a grateful people have placed 
 upon the brows of our fathers. If the latter are honored by all 
 who love our free institutions, for establishing them, the other 
 must be equally honored for defending them in the hour of 
 their greatest peril. If our brothers had not come forward 
 with their lives, we would have had the poor satisfaction of 
 handing down to the rising generation a broken and distracted 
 country ; while, now, we will hand it down united. Not a star 
 of the galaxy of States as they shine forth in the bright con- 
 stellation of our political heavens shall be dimmed or wanting. 
 We will hand it down better and stronger and freer than when 
 we received it. When it came into our hands, the clank of 
 four millions of human beings in slavery sounded upon our 
 ears. Now, not a slave can be found anywhere in the land. It 
 is truly " the land of the free and the home of the brave." We 
 have washed out many of the errors of our fathers with the 
 blood of this generation. We gave thousands of lives and mil- 
 lions of treasure to wipe out the sin of slavery, and to prove to 
 the world that republicanism is no longer on trial. And now,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 493 
 
 since peace and happiness once more smile upon onr land, we 
 arc thankful, even with this great sacrifice, that we have been 
 able to perfect the -freedom of our Government until it now is 
 in reality, what we have heretofore falsely claimed for it, a 
 " land of liberty, and an asylum for the oppressed of every 
 race." These are some of the fruits of the victory obtained by 
 the blood of our dead brothers whose graves we decorate to- 
 day. 
 
 Tell us not then that the fire of patriotism does not burn as 
 warmly in the hearts of the people of this generation as it did 
 in any generation that has gone before. Our people have the 
 same love, the same veneration for our flag that our fathers had, 
 and, if need be, they will undergo the same hardships, suffer the 
 same privations and surmount the same obstacles to protect it 
 whenever its safety is in danger. When, at any time in the 
 past, can you point to more heroic devotion and greater love for 
 our country, or to purer patriotism, than can be found on the 
 pages of history, that but faintly narrates the sufferings of our 
 prisoners at Anderson ville and Belle Isle ? In some of the very 
 graves that we are to strew with flowers to-day can be found 
 the victims of those prison pens. No man over passed through 
 
 freater trials, no man ever endured severer torture and suffering 
 >r any cause than did tiiese patriots for their country ! When 
 starved to the very verge of the grave, when reason was almost 
 dethroned, hour after hour and day after day, as long as they 
 had strength to speak, they would indignantly repel the insult 
 offered them by an unprincipled foe to abandon their flag and 
 enlist under the banner of treason and shame ! These brave 
 men chose rather to die, inch by inch, by starvation, and be 
 faithful to the cause of liberty, than to live and owe their lives 
 to turning against the flag and the cause. This is one of the 
 blackest and at the same time one of the brightest pages of our 
 history black, that any people claiming to be civilized would 
 inflict such cruelties upon their fellow-men, and bright, because 
 it brings to view the most unyielding patriotism that ever in- 
 spired the soul of man. You, my hearers, whose heads are 
 bowed down in sadness to-day, when the forms of your deceased 
 fathers, husbands, or sons are presented to your minds, and 
 whose many virtues fitted them to be gathered to the Spirit 
 Land, and there crowned with a crown of glory, you should not 
 weep, but rather, like the Spartan motliers of old, rejoice that it 
 has been your privilege to send forth a strong arm to stay the 
 onward flood of treason and its kindred crimes. Friends, why 
 should we mourn over the remains of our glorious dead ? We 
 should rather wish to be in their places, honored, respected, and
 
 494 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 glorified by a grateful and patriotic people, Far removed from 
 the cares of life they quietly sleep, and their names shall be 
 handed down to generations yet unborn as the patriots of 1861. 
 The hill on which we stand may be changed by the convulsions 
 of time, but the names of the patriots never. Their soldier lives 
 were the reveille of a race of human beings in chains, and their 
 death the tattoo of rebellion's tyranny in arms. It is not only 
 our right but our duty to visit the last resting-place of these 
 patriots in death, and weave garlands of flowers about their 
 graves. "If other eyes grow dull and other arms grow weak," 
 comrades of the Grand Army, our eyes must grow brighter and 
 our arms stronger in performing this solemn duty. We prom- 
 ised them upon a hundred battle-fields that if they fell in the 
 charge, their fail should not be in vain. "We rejoice to-day to 
 know that, by the blessing of Divine Providence, that promise 
 has been made good, and though they are dead, the cause for 
 which they died still lives, and will continue to live long after 
 we, who are alive to-day, " have shuffled off this mortal coil." 
 Year after year, while ages roll on, we will cherish with soften- 
 ed hearts and warm affection their honored remains. "We, of all 
 ages and of every sex will mingle our tears together over their 
 graves, and in the presence of a just God renew our allegiance 
 to justice and to freedom. 
 
 After a piece of music by the band, and a song " Brave Boys 
 were They," a large bouquet and wreath were presented to 
 Rev. F. Senour, in the name of the absent dead, the brave boys 
 who lie buried near where they fell, on nearly every field of the 
 Sonth, for whom he responded. The large assemblage then pro- 
 ceeded to surround each grave in succession, and to witness the 
 depositing of a bouquet in a can of water, previously sunk about 
 the centre of the grave, and surrounding this a beautiful wreath 
 of evergreen. At each grave the chaplain, Rev. T. J. Harris, 
 read the name of the soldier, the regiment and company to 
 which he belonged, as far as known, the time and manner of his 
 death, and at nearly all, expressed some sentiment regarding the 
 memory of those who slept beneath. 
 
 AT SALEM, OHIO. 
 
 At 2 o'clock, headed by the Salem Silver Cornet Band, they, 
 accompanied by hundreds of citizens on foot and in carriages, 
 marched from the Town Hall to the cemetery. Every soldier 
 had hung on his arm a beautiful evergreen wreath, and a fresh, 
 fragrant bouquet of flowers in his hand, each to mark the spot 
 where a " dead hero lay." Arriving on the ground, the soldiers
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 495 
 
 and citizens were addressed by Judge J. A. Ambler, who was 
 the selected orator of the day, in a speech of about forty-five 
 minutes' length, replete with the facts of recent history as re- 
 garded our country s great struggle in the Rebellion, and appro- 
 priate references to the dead in our burial-ground, who had lost 
 their lives, directly and indirectly, in the great struggle for the 
 Union. At the conclusion of his remarks, the band played a 
 stirring national air, after which, under direction of Major 
 Clemmer, Commander of the Post, the members of the Grand 
 Army marched in silent tread from one grave to another, 
 marked with the name and regiment of the soldier whose body 
 it contained, and performed the ceremony of decoration. As 
 the flowers and evergreens were strewn upon the grassy mound 
 in well- arranged profusion, the Commander of the Post, with a 
 clear, strong voice, said : 
 
 COMRADES : On the grave of our beloved comrade we plant 
 the dear old flag he so nobly defended. Like this wreath of 
 evergreen, our remembrance of him as a comrade in camp, on 
 the march, and in the field of battle, will be unbroken and ever 
 green. In commemoration of his noble deeds in defending our 
 national honor in the hour of trial its glorious banner, equal 
 and impartial justice and liberty for all we have gathered, and 
 now strew his grave with our choicest flowers. 
 
 At the conclusion of the interesting ceremony, the Grand 
 Army, preceded by the band, marched to the Baptist burying- 
 ground, and performed the same token of respect and remem- 
 brance to a soldier buried there, after which they were disband- 
 ed in regular order. 
 
 AT MEDINA, OHIO. 
 
 The procession formed upon the street, in front of the hall 
 used by the Post, in the following order : 1. Martial Band. 2. 
 Chaplain of the G. A. R. 3. Color-bearers. 4. Guard of 
 Honor, composed of twenty comrades of the G. A. R., fully 
 armed and equipped, under command of the Post officer of the 
 day. 5. Decorating Party, composed of young ladies, to whom 
 was assigned the duty of strewing with flowers the graves of 
 the fallen comrades. Two ladies were assigned to each grave, 
 and as many more of the friends as chose, could assist in the 
 decoration, 6. Comrades of the G. A. R., not under arms, but 
 wearing upon the left arm the appropriate badge ot mourning, 
 and upon the left lappel of the coat a sprig of evergreen. 7. 
 Citizens. T3ie procession moved in the above order to the ceme- 
 tery, the band playing the " Soldier's Farewell to Earth," and
 
 496 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 the guard carrying their pieces at a " reverse arras," arrived at 
 the cemetery ; the guard filed to each side of road inside the 
 gateway, nnd presented arms, the procession passing into the 
 cemetery between their lines. The procession was then halted, 
 and the decorating began. As each soldier's name was called, 
 the two ladies assigned to his grave stepped forward, and, being 
 informed of the whereabouts of said grave, proceeded to strew 
 it with flowers, wreaths, &c. When this ceremony was com- 
 pleted, the column marched to the centre of the cemetery, 
 where a large wooden cross, fifteen feet in length, was then 
 raised and firmly set in the ground by the Guard of Honor, as 
 a monument to those brave boys from the village who lost their 
 lives in the service, and whose remains were never brought 
 home. A frame, containing a piece of parchment, upon which 
 was written the soldier's name, regiment, place of death, where 
 buried, &c., &c., was then hung in the centre of the cross. 
 The Chaplain then proceeded to read the names of the soldiers 
 contained within this frame, and to give a short history of his 
 career as a soldier ; and as each name was read, a young lady 
 stepped forward and hung upon either arm of the cross a wreath 
 of evergreen, twined with red, white, and blue ribbons. The 
 Chaplain then made a very solemn and touching prayer. The 
 Guard pronounced the benediction, by filing the usual three 
 vollies. 
 
 AT WELLINGTON, OHIO. 
 
 The soldiers, under whose auspices the ceremony took place, 
 assembled at the Town Hall at half-past 2 o'clock, and moved 
 for the Western Cemetery at 3, the procession headed by the 
 Wellington Cornet Band, under the command of Maj. A. C. 
 Houghton, officer of the day. Arriving at the cemetery, the 
 graves of the five soldiers buried there whose names we give 
 below were visited, and covered with a profusion of sweet 
 flowers, after which the procession moved to the Hall. Being 
 joined here by hundreds of citizens, in carriages and on foot, 
 the procession resumed its march for the New Cemetery. The 
 exercises were opened with singing by a choir 'selected for the 
 occasion, followed by prayer by Rev. E. H. Bush, Chaplain ; 
 after which an address was delivered by Maj. A. C. Houghton, 
 in substance as follows : 
 
 COMRADES : We have come to-day as pilgrim soldiers, from 
 the strife and dust of action, to the quiet resting-place of our 
 fallen brothers, bearing fresh flowers to strew upon their graves, 
 in token of .our remembrance of their noble deeds and costly 
 sacrifice. We have come, not so much in obedience to any spe-
 
 AT THE SOLDIEKS' GRAVES. 497 
 
 cial order, as by the promptings of heart that bind ns in sacred 
 sympathy to those whose devotion and death we memorize in 
 our ceremonies. We do not come as new-made mourners go to 
 the graves of their lost, in the first deep poignancy of grief, sor- 
 rowing and not comforted ; but we tread among the graves of 
 our martyred dead as though we walked among the sainted ones, 
 only to do them homage. ^No eulogium that can be pronounced 
 in words over the remains of the men made immortal in their 
 deeds and death, can equal the silent eloquence of the emotions 
 that are felt in every heart awakened by the associations this 
 hour calls forth. It needs no argument to urge a claim of sym- 
 pathy and reverence upon us, which is already written in the 
 imperishable decrees of history. It needs no recital of the 
 struggle of years of when they first buckled on the armor 
 of the early days, dark and gloomy, that bore little of hope to 
 the patriot soldier, save in the truth of his cause and his trust 
 in the God of nations of the lonely, sleepless nights on guard 
 of the burning, thirsty fight of the fainting, bloody couch 
 upon the field at the battle s close of the mounds we heaped 
 when 
 
 " Slowly and sadly we laid them down, 
 From the field of their fame, fresh and gory " 
 
 or of the racking fever on the hospital cot or of the starving, 
 and torture, and death in the rebel prison-pens no delineation 
 of the fierce struggles through which they passed in those years. 
 We stand in silence by their graves, our hearts already too full 
 for the utterance of the emotions we feel, our words too short 
 to measure the depth of our respect and reverence for our heroic 
 dead. It is past our power to add to the glory that gathers 
 around their names and memories. But not alone to the dead 
 who lie entombed at our feet do we do reverence and homage 
 this day, but also to our dead who, lie upon the line where they 
 fell 
 
 " By the flow of the inland river. 
 
 Whence the fleets of iron have fled, 
 Where the blades of the grave-grass quiver, 
 
 Asleep are the ranks of our dead." 
 
 No marble slab or shaft of stone marks their last resting-place ; 
 no loving hand is there to strew to-day upon their graves the 
 tokens of a tender and reverent affection. But they are not 
 forgotten. Prouder and more enduring than any monument of 
 stone could be, is their cenotaph, erected amid the sorrowing 
 desolation of ten thousand homes in the gratitude of a loyal 
 people in the annals of a nation saved in the hearts of a race 
 32
 
 498 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 redeemed through their blood from bondage in the hearts of 
 the oppressed the world over. Their silent tents are pitched on 
 Fame's eternal camping-ground, and above them bright-winged 
 angels keep their loving watch. When we think of the places 
 where they lie, their graves beneath an unspeaking sod, their 
 bones bleaching upon the plain ; when we think of the sorrow 
 and anguish that have wrung the hearts of the disappointed 
 watchers for their return, we involuntarily ask, " Was it neces- 
 sary they should thus yield up their lives ? We are compelled 
 to answer that it was. All great achievements require great 
 sacrifices, great sins require great atonements, and the blood of 
 these martyred and innocent dead was needed for the salvation 
 of a nation that had greatly sinned. The nation was saved, and 
 the blood that bought its salvation has become sacred. Upon 
 the cross they bore have these martyred ones been raised, and 
 are drawing the hearts of all men unto them, in devotion to the 
 principles of truth to which they yielded up their last full meas- 
 ure of devotion. 
 
 This day and this occasion, while it commemorates the dead, 
 is not without its lesson to the living. Their work is ended, 
 their last battle fought, they are removed to the soldiers' home, 
 and where no longer they need the inspiration that nerved them 
 to the contest here. We are still left on the line, still at the 
 front. The action that, with them, closed with their life's last 
 act, still continues. And here, at the graves of those who yield- 
 ed on the altar of truth and liberty all that man could yield, 
 let us dedicate ourselves anew before the altar on which they 
 were sacrificed, seeking, from the source whence they found it, 
 inspiration for that deathless devotion that animated their lives 
 and made immortal their memories. 
 
 Rev. E. H. Bush followed, in a few remarks upon the appro- 
 priateness of dedicating a day to be set apart for commemorable 
 services over the graves of those who had so nobly sacrificed 
 their lives in the cause of universal freedom, and in overthrow- 
 ing treason. 
 
 The names of the dead were then read, as given in the list 
 below, and the order in which the ceremonies would be con- 
 ducted announced: 
 
 WESTERN CEMETERY. Gilbert Field, 23d Inf. (cenotaph), ex- 
 plosion of the Sultana, Mississippi River; Ensign Hill, Edgars- 
 ton's Battery, in hospital, Nashville, Tenn. ; Dwight Battle, Q. 
 M. Dept. at Beverly, Va. ; Orin Green, 23d Inf., hospital, Rolla, 
 Va. ; Mills, 43d Inf., sick-furlough, at home. 
 
 NEW CEMETEKY. Frank Gillett, 1st Art., hospital, Ky. ; 
 Henry W. Houghton, 176th Inf., hospital, Nashville, Tenn. ;
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 499 
 
 James Foote, 176th Inf., Nashville, Tenn. ; Garrison Marcy, 
 86th Inf., Camp Nelson, Ky. ; J. 0. Lang, Q. M. Dept., sick- 
 leave at home; Preston D. Smith, Q. M.IDept, hospital, Va. ; 
 George Whiton, 2d Ohio Cav., hospital, Mo. ; Frank H. Howk, 
 2d Ohio Cav., hospital, Mo. ; Henry West, 41st Inf., Pittsburgh 
 Landing, Miss. ; Silas Kingsley, 103d Inf., Camp Dennison, 
 Ohio ; James Chapman, 42d Inf., hospital, Va. 
 
 IN THE FIELD. Wm. Cliallacombe, 2d Cav., hospital, Fort 
 Scott, Kansas ; Samuel L. Drake, 2d Cav., hospital, Fort Scott, 
 Kansas ; Thomas Kuowles, 2d Cav., Buffington Island, Oliio ; 
 John H. Bowers, 103d Inf., Knoxville, Tenn. ; Joseph H. Rob- 
 inson, 103d Inf., Frankfort, Ky. ; Samuel Clifford, 23d Inf., 
 Cloyd's Mill, Va. ; Alonzo Clifford, Edgarston's Battery, Chat- 
 tanooga, Tenn. ; Francis Finch, 2d Ohio Cav., Diniddi C. H., 
 Va. ; Orlando Smith, 2d Ohio Cav., Andersonville Prison ; 
 Isaac Barker, 23d Inf., South Mountain, Md. ; Frederick Hook- 
 er, 23d Inf., South Mountain, Md. 
 
 The soldiers moved into two lines, one on each side of the 
 graves. Halting at a " Present " at each grave, the ladies bear- 
 ing flowers were also permitted to pass through the square and 
 deposit their offerings. Thus the grave of every soldier was 
 visited. The band, which had been stationed on an eminence 
 in the centre of the grounds, played a funeral march as the pro- 
 cession moved along. The last green mound receiving the sweet 
 tokens of love and reverence, the procession returned to the 
 Hall, and was dismissed. 
 
 AT TOLEDO, OHIO. 
 
 About 1 o'clock, the members of Post No. 40, G. A. R., be- 
 gan to assemble in front of their hall. Busy hands had been 
 employed during the morning in making wreaths, bouquets, 
 and other floral emblems of love and respect, to lay upon the 
 honored graves. These were carried in the procession, and their 
 presence gave a novel and pleasing appearance to the gathering. 
 At about 2 o'clock, the members of the Post fell into line, and 
 were told off info companies, and inarched to Madison street, 
 where the procession was to be formed. On each flank of each 
 company was borne an old warworn flag, w r hose tattered folds, 
 as they fluttered in the breeze, spoke eloquently of many a hard 
 fight and fearless charge. After allowing the stream of car- 
 riages that had assembled on the street to pass down to the left 
 of the line, the battalion countermarched in column of com- 
 panies, and the procession moved to Superior street, on its way 
 to the City Cemetery. The column marched to the centre of
 
 500 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 the cemetery, and closed on the first wing. The nature of the 
 ceremonies was briefly stated by the Post Commandant, General 
 Hill. A few speeches were made by the clergymen present, the 
 Rev. Messrs. Raffensperger, Camp, Bacon, and Williams, each 
 making brief but very appropriate remarks. The assemblage 4 
 then dispersed, and commenced the decoration of the graves 
 that were scattered through the cemetery, each marked by a 
 little flag that fluttered over it in the gentle breeze. Each of 
 these graves was visited, and not one was neglected. Every 
 body who passed by strewed some offering -of love and gratitude 
 on every mound marked as a soldier's grave. Some were espe- 
 cially decorated by the hands of friends, whose love for the 
 memory of their lost friends jor relatives prompted especial care 
 in the decoration of their last resting-place. Over the grave of 
 Col. E. H. Phelps, of the 30th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, the 
 banner of his regiment was planted, and its presence over the 
 earthly remains of that brave soldier seemed peculiarly appro- 
 priate and impressive. With equal appropriateness the flag of 
 the 67th was planted over the grave of Gen. L. C. Hunt, about 
 whose grave a large . number of the visitors were continually 
 gathered. 
 
 At the appointed bugle-call, the procession re-formed, and 
 marched by way of the Lagrange street road to the Catholic 
 Cemetery. It was a long distance, and, as the road was rough, 
 many of the carriages returned to the city from this point, but 
 a long procession still followed the members of the Grand Army 
 in their complete discharge of their duties toward their dead 
 brothers-in-arms. On arriving at the cemetery, a closed column 
 was formed, and two brief but very effective addresses were 
 made by Chaplains Beatty and Collier. The propriety of Chap- 
 lain Collier's short address deserves especial attention. He 
 spoke in fitting terms of the sei*vices of the dead men \yhose 
 memory the nation had assembled to honor, and said that, in 
 honoring their memory, we ought especially to remember those 
 whom these brave men had left behind them. The widows and 
 orphans of the nation's martyrs, and the national duty of pro- 
 viding for them, were his especial theme, and his remarks were 
 very effective and appropriate. It is to be desired that every 
 body could have heard and pondered his speech. After these 
 remarks were ended, the column was again dismissed, and scat- 
 tered throughout the cemetery on their errand of love. Espe- 
 cially noticeable in the Irish Catholic Cemetery was the grave 
 of Edward McMahon, of Battery H, 1st Regt. Ohio Volunteer 
 Artillery, over which a flag of that battery was waving. All 
 the other graves in the cemetery were visited and honored alike,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 501 
 
 each passer-by placing reverently thereon some token of love ; 
 honor, and respect. At the bugle-signal, the column was again 
 formed. The carriages of those detailed to visit other ceme- 
 teries, too far away from the line of inarch for the procession to 
 "reach, left the column here. The main column crossed over to 
 Cherry street, and marched in by Cherry and Madison streets, 
 reaching the original starting-point at about half-past 6, when it 
 was at once dismissed. 
 
 AT CHABDON, OHIO. 
 
 Eight guns were fired at daylight, eight as the procession was 
 moving from the Hall to the Cemetery, and eight at sunset, three 
 for each soldier buried in the place. The procession was formed 
 at about one o'clock, in front of the Town Hall, headed by a 
 Guard of Honor, followed by the Chardon Cornet Band, speakers, 
 Colors of the 41st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with a guard ; Offi- 
 cers of Munn Encampment ; soldiers of the late war, in two 
 ranks in open order, with ladies bearing flowers ; and, immedi- 
 ately after these, came a company of Zouaves, in uniform, com- 
 posed of boys of twelve years and under % The line of march 
 was taken up, to the music of the band, who played the entire 
 distance from the Hall to the Cemetery. On arriving at the 
 Cemetery, the ground was so wet that it became necessary to 
 change the programme somewhat, but not enough to mar the 
 harmony of the occasion. After the procession was halted and 
 properly " fronted," a prayer was offered by the Rev. C. T. 
 Kingsbury, immediately followed by the address of Tilden W. 
 Porter, Esq., speaker of the day. Then followed volunteer ad- 
 dresses by J. O. Converse and Hon. D.-W. Canfield. 
 
 ADDRESS OF T. W. POETEB. 
 
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, SOLDIERS AND COMRADES : It is with 
 a great degree of embarrassment that I attempt to perform a 
 pleasant duty, though a sad and mournful one ; pleasant, be- 
 cause it affords me great happiness to be able in the smallest 
 degree to pay my tribute of respect to the memory of our fallen 
 brave ; sad and mournful, because it is always so to contemplate 
 young manhood cut off' in its busiest hours of usefulness, and in 
 its flush of early hope and ambition. I know my utter inability 
 to say just those words that should convey what every man and 
 woman in our land feels, in love and reverence for those brave 
 two hundred and fifty thousand dead whose green graves dot 
 our land from the Lakes to the Gulf, and from one ocean to 
 another. This is an occasion in which soldiers and citizens all 
 take a like interest, but none but soldiers can realize, perhaps,
 
 502 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 the duty, the trials, the death, the firm and lasting friendship 
 of the soldier for comrades of field and battle. The soldier has, 
 or ought to have, a keener realization than others can have, of 
 the duty and importance of a day like this, set apart as a na- 
 tional day whereon we may meet and strew the graves of our 
 lamented dead with flowers, conscious that, in whatever part 
 of our land the fallen braves sleep, if there our common country 
 is loved, respected and honored, will their graves receive the 
 same beautiful tribute. But. alas ! they do not all rest in the 
 sleep of death among kind friends, devoted comrades, and loving 
 relatives. Yery many, by far too many, have found an unknown 
 and nameless grave, but not an unhoriored one. Some are buried 
 alone, or in groups, in wild and solitary mountain forests. For 
 such, perhaps, and let us hope it may be, nature puts forth her 
 bountiful hand, and strews their graves with the living flowers 
 of the forest. 
 
 Comrades, what time more fitting, or what occasion can more 
 vividly recall to our minds that part of our lives' history spent in 
 the service of our country, and saving from dishonor and shame 
 that beautiful emblem of our glorious and happy Republic which 
 to-day kisses the happy breeze in glorious pride and freedom ? 
 To-day, as if clothed with the poet's and artist's double power, 
 we can live over the most momentous era in our several histo- 
 ries. The fearful and startling war telegrams of 1861, which 
 set the patriotism of the whole North on fire ; the enlistment 
 into the service ; the farewell to friends ; the equipment, and the 
 first novel sensations on buckling on our knapsacks, girding us 
 about with cartridge-box, and shouldering, for the first time, our 
 faithful friend and companion, the rifle, or, for the fy-st time, 
 unsheathing from its scabbard the trusty sabre, or standing, for 
 the first time, beside a splendid death-dealing piece of artillery. 
 Then the march, and those early annoyances of the soldier in 
 his first attempts at pitching or striking tents, his earliest expe- 
 rience in the soldier's way of living, learning to take his coffee 
 without milk, his bread without butter, and to eat his bacon 
 raw. Then the picket post, his first thoughts as silently he 
 treads back and forth his lonely beat. Then, as we nearer ap- 
 proach the enemy, and have seen, for the first time, that traitor- 
 stained wretch in dirty homespun gray, and are advanced beyond 
 the picket line to .do vidette duty, how well can we recall the 
 silent though ever-watchful hours that, as they pass by, chal- 
 lenged every moving thing. Then, as nearer still the two armies 
 approach each other, can we behold, as if we were living it all 
 over again, the days spent in cautious marching and counter- 
 marching until the eve of battle arrives ; then the hushed and
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 503 
 
 rapid moving of columns into place and line; and, as the morn- 
 ing dawns upon the day whereon many of pur brave comrades 
 bit the dust, and just as the sun looks over some distant hill, 
 we hear the sharp crack of a solitary rifle, then another and 
 another, till along our picket line there is heard the constant 
 report of the rifles of those men to whose fidelity the army owes 
 its safety, and the country its salvation. It is the morn of battle ! 
 To-day the two armies are to be hurled against each other, to 
 spill each other's blood. To-day that glorious old flag is to be 
 torn, trampled and trailed in the dust, or to be borne aloft and 
 
 guarded, honored, and protected against the polluting touch of 
 lood-stained rebels. How well it was guarded, let these graves, 
 containing eight of our comrades,' as well as the results of the 
 four years of vigorous war between people of the same blood, 
 and owning the same nationality and government, bear witness. 
 How well and how faithfully that starry banner was shielded 
 during its terrible ordeal, may be attested by the fact that not a 
 single star has been torn from its constellation, but to-day it is 
 the same glorious old flag that it was when under it Washington 
 fought and Warren fell. Only this difference it has grown 
 larger and stronger. And here, in the presence of our dead, let 
 us pledge ourselves that so long as we may be permitted to oc- 
 cupy our earthly homes, we will bear the same fealty to our flag 
 and our country that we have ever done. And here, too, we 
 must pledge ourselves that the families of our fallen comrades 
 shall ever find in us true and firm friends. We must not tbrget 
 in our happiness at once again meeting friends and loved ones, 
 those who mourn for others who will never more return. Though 
 their grief may be bitter, and their mourning cease only when 
 death shall reunite them with these brave men, who, in life's 
 earliest manhood, were slain by the hands of cruel traitors, yet 
 they have this proud recollection, that they fell in a noble cause, 
 for their country, for the freedom of their countrymen. Aye, 
 more than that : their cause is the same as that of the struggling 
 and oppressed everywher^ upon the face of the earth. Com- 
 rades, had we failed, the toiling millions of earth would have 
 wept bitter tears, and tyrants and despots would have held high 
 carnival at the downfall of republics and our free institutions. 
 A just God would not permit that we should fail, but guided 
 our armies to a final and triumphant victory. Ladies, to you 
 our country owes much, her soldiers still more. How we are to 
 pay the debt is more than I can conjecture, unless we all strike 
 our colors and surrender without conditions. But, then, that 
 even might increase our obligations, rather than diminish our 
 debt. I fear we will have to go into bankruptcy, unless we can
 
 504 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 make a compromise, and only pay a percentage of our indebted- 
 ness. To you, ladies, the army owed much of its efficiency. To 
 your earnest and zealous efforts to relieve the suffering of sick 
 and wounded soldiers, and to your earnest and loving sympathy 
 for those who, in the field, faced and fought a relentless enemy, 
 the army owed much of its moral strength. And words cannot 
 express the pleasure of every true soldier, when we remember 
 that your willing hands, loving hearts, and exquisite tastes this 
 day weave garlands and wreaths of flowers for the graves of our 
 comrades. Citizens, to you we owe much, for, with money and 
 ballots, you maintained a reserve corps upon which we could 
 rely with perfect faith and confidence. Permit me to thank you 
 all, for meeting with us to-day, to join your efforts with ours, 
 your love and reverence with ours, for these brave men, in adorn- 
 ing and beautifying the graves wherein they rest, as the preser- 
 vers of a country that they loved, and we all love. 
 
 ADDKESS OF J. O. CONVERSE. 
 
 SOLDIERS AND FELLOW-CITIZEXS : At a time like this, when 
 language seems inadequate to express the thoughts that inspire 
 the mind, or the emotions that move the heart, silence is often 
 more expressive than the most eloquent speech, and one may 
 well hesitate to say anything, lest, by some injudicious or mean- 
 ingless word, he should mar the solemnity of the scene. Stand- 
 ing here,, to-day, in the midst of both the living and the dead, 
 and deeply conscious of the significance of this ceremonial, I 
 feel that the most fitting tribute that I, a mere civilian, could 
 pay to these, our departed soldiers, would be to bow the head 
 reverently, and keep silence ; and, were not something more 
 demanded to satisfy the living, I would offer no other. How 
 poor, at best, are the noblest of our offerings ! For the dead 
 we can do nothing. Whether distinguished or humble, whether 
 of glory or of shame, the brief span of their lives here is 
 measured ; their record is complete ; they have passed before 
 us into that unseen world whither we are all tending, where 
 they are beyond the reach of our praise or censure. No human 
 power, but only the power of Him who gave thorn being, can 
 reanimate their silent dust. But one duty we have to perform 
 one privilege to enjoy. It is ours to keep their memory green 
 among the living, that the influence of the good they have done 
 may not be lost, but perpetuated forever. More than this we 
 cannot do ; less than this, if we did not do, we would prove 
 ourselves incapable of every noble or honorable emotion. In 
 this view, the appointment of a day for the decoration 
 of the graves of the deceased soldiers of the Union,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 505 
 
 is peculiarly appropriate ; and the more general is its observance 
 the more signally will their surviving countrymen give evidence 
 that they have not died in vain. When we consider that this 
 place is but one of the many where the day is being observed, 
 and these but a few of the immense number of soldiers who 
 have died in the service of their country, we may partially, 
 though we can never fully, realize how much of sorrow and of 
 sacritice it has cost to save the Republic. And think of those 
 wln^e graves no hand of affection or kindness can strew with 
 flowers ; who sleep their last sleep in the far-off solitudes where 
 they fell beneath the Old Flag, with no eye but the eye of the 
 All-Seeing to note their exit, or watch over their ashes ! Thou-, 
 sands of the bravest and best of our country's noble defenders, 
 mown down in the fearful death harvest that has swept over that 
 long belt of desolation stretching from the Potomac to the Rio 
 Grande, now sleep in unmarked but honored graves, and will 
 come no more to gladden the hearts of those who knew and 
 loved them here, until the earth and the sea shall give up their 
 dead ! Thousands of others have fallen victims of the mortality 
 of the camp, more terrible even than the horrors of battle ; and 
 thousands of others still, maimed heroes of many a hard-fought 
 contest, are scattered here and there among us, telling by their 
 honorable wounds more plainly than words could tell, what it 
 is to suffer in the cause of one's country. But whether they 
 went down amid the thunders of battle, or wasted away and 
 died of disease in the hospital, or still linger to drag out a life 
 of misery for which only the memory of their gallant service 
 can compensate, they are martyrs, all, to whom should be as- 
 cribed imperishable honor. Let it ever be remembered that 
 these men were no mere soldiers, machines to execute the will 
 of their commanders, or impelled to do their duty by a false 
 ambition or unworthy love of strife ; but quiet citizens, like our- 
 selves, to whom the call of their country was as the voice of 
 God, and who bared their bosoms to the storm of war, and 
 offered up their lives, a willing sacrifice, from principle. And, 
 of their surviving comrades who do honor to their memory, be 
 it said that, animated by the same nobh* spirit, when the conflict 
 of arms was over they returned to their homes and their former 
 pursuits, to mingle once more with the mass of the people and 
 serve their country as faithfully in peace as they had served her 
 in war. History affords no parallel to this. Then strew the 
 graves of our departed soldiers with flowers ! The bright, beau- 
 tiful flowers of tne spring-time! Meet emblems of the purity 
 of their devotion and the glory of their sacrifice ! Would that, 
 unlike all else that is earthly, they might never fade, but bloom
 
 506 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 forever, and thus be emblems also of the immortality of their 
 fame ! One of the most gifted of poets has said that 
 
 " The paths of glory lead but to the grave." 
 
 But this is true only in the sense of our common mortality, for, 
 in a higher and nobler sense, they lead beyond it. Though we 
 deplore the loss of our heroes here, it is a grateful reflection 
 that no enemy can now disturb them, for they have been sum- 
 moned to join the army of that better country where the dread 
 alarms of war are never heard. 
 
 ADDEE83 OF D. W. OANFIELD. 
 
 Mr. Canfield made a brief but appropriate and earnest ad- 
 dress, in which he reminded the people of their duty to the 
 living as well as the dead soldiers of the Union, and paid a feel- 
 ing tribute to the Grand Army of the Republic, which, he said, 
 is not a political organization, but one whose aims are those of 
 patriotism and benevolence. We are unable to do justice to his 
 remarks, as they were entirely extemporaneous, and we have 
 received no report of them. 
 
 Next came the decoration of the graves of the following 
 soldiers : Riley W. Sanford, 177th O. V. I. ; Christopher 
 Sawin, 128th O. Y. I. ; Horton S. Smith, 41st O. V. I. The 
 body of this soldier was never brought here, but the friends of 
 the deceased have erected a tombstone for him. Capt. T. N. 
 Pulsipher, 131st 111. Y. I. ; Royal H. Munsell, 84th O. Y. I. ; 
 Lieut. Amos Wood, 21st O. Y. I. ; B. F. Cowles, 42d O. Y. I. ; 
 Lysander King, 29th 0. Y. I. In the decoration, the column 
 moved to each grave, placing a cross and a wreath of ever- 
 greens and flowers upon it. The name of the soldier and his 
 regiment was announced by Post Commandant P. M. Cowles, 
 and, as the column passed, each dropped a bouquet of flowers 
 on the grave. After all the graves had been thus decorated, 
 the column was again halted, and a salute was fired by the 
 guard, after which a prayer was offered by Elder O. Higgins, 
 when the procession returned in the same order as it came. In 
 addition to decorating the graves of those who were buried in 
 this cemetery, a wreath, cross and bouquet were prepared for 
 the following soldiers, who were buried elsewhere, and placed 
 in the Town Hall : Alexander Griswold, Battery G, 1st O. Y. 
 L. A., buried in the Protestant burying ground, in the north 
 part of the town ; Munroe Hazen, 7th O. Y. I., buried on the 
 battle-field, near Dallas, Ga. ; Charles McGowan, 196th O. Y. L, 
 buried in Mesopotamia, Trumbull County ; Wm. Finney, 124th
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 507 
 
 L>. V.I, uuried at Nashville, Tennessee ; James Melton, 7th O. 
 V. I., wounded and supposed to have been killed at Gettysburg, 
 Penn. ; Horace F. Granger, 2d O. V. I., buried on the James 
 River, in Virginia; Frank A. Lamb, 2d O. V. I., buried in 
 Luray Valley, Virginia; Orville Bushnell, 7th O. V. I., buried 
 at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. In addition to the decoration, as 
 related above, we noticed that the grave of Capt. Pulsipher re- 
 ceived especial attention. The grave was covered with a board, 
 with the name, " Capt. T. N. Pulsipher," beautifully arranged 
 in evergeens, upon it the work of Mrs. B. W. Cantield, who 
 was an old associate and firm friend of the deceased. 
 
 AT HAMBDEN, OHIO. 
 
 The ceremonies were observed by the members of Munn 
 Encampment residing at Hambden, assisted by the soldiers and 
 citizens generally. Services were held in the M. E. Church. 
 Rev. P. A. Beane occupied fifteen or twenty minutes in inter- 
 esting remarks, and was followed by C. W. Osborne, Esq., who 
 with eloquence seldom surpassed in a country town like this, 
 eulogized the departed heroes, and enchained the attention of 
 the large audience with vivid delineations of the sacrifice made 
 by the brave soldiers, and the benefits resulting therefrom. 
 Mr. Osborne also read the " Roll of Honor," containing a list 
 of all the soldiers who enlisted from this township, and lost their 
 lives in the service of their country during the war, together 
 witli statistics in regard to their deaths, flauibden has suffered 
 a loss of twenty brave men, nine of whom are buried in the 
 cemetery, to wit : Charles Young, Flavel Stebbins, John F. 
 Treat, Austin Cook, Orrin Whitney, Henry T. Brown, Wm. H. 
 Hale, Martin Searl and Philo Lewis. Mr. Osborne was followed 
 by Rev. S. L. Wilkinson, who made some interesting remarks, 
 the "exercises being interspersed with appropriate music by the 
 choir. A procession was then formed and marched to the 
 Cemetery, when the ceremonies of decoration were performed. 
 Nine soldiers, each carrying a floral wreath, with their ladies, 
 each with a bouquet, marched in front, and, on arriving at each 
 grave, the colors were planted thereon. Following the soldiers, 
 were citizens with flowers, who deposited their offerings as they 
 passed. 
 
 AT OXFORD, OHIO. 
 
 At the time appointed the members of the Grand Army, 
 with music and flags, left their hall, every comrade laden with 
 bouquets, wreaths and baskets of flowers, and marched to the
 
 508 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 cemetery. Passing the entrance gate to the grounds of the 
 "Western Female Seminary, the procession was joined by teach- 
 ers and pupils to the number of one hundred and sixty, all 
 bearing flowers, which, as the head of the line entered the gates 
 of the cemetery the people in large numbers were to 'be seen 
 conveying toward the coming multitude. The exercises at the 
 graves consisted in prayer by Rev. J. Crozier, addresses by 
 Comrade Edwin S. Scott, of Cincinnati, now attending Miami 
 University, and a member of the post here, Rev. J. P. E. 
 Kumler, and Colonel R. W. McFarland, Professor ^n the Uni- 
 versity, and a Grand Army man, and singing by the University 
 Glee Club and the young ladies from the Seminary. At its 
 conclusion the procession reformed and marched through the 
 grounds, casting floral tributes upon the grave of every soldier 
 and sailor, twenty in all, buried in this enclosure. The speeches 
 were appropriate and eloquent, and all the events of the day 
 made every one feel that it was indeed good to be there, and 
 that the Grand Army of the Republic had done a noble work in 
 inciting us to the inauguration of such an anniversary. The 
 appropriateness of the presence of the young ladies from the 
 Seminary may be seen when it is known that when at a meeting 
 of the scholars in their chapel, the lady principal called upon 
 all who had relatives or near friends in the army to rise, all but 
 two of the scholars rose to their feet ; and when a call for those 
 who had lost relatives or near friends in the army to rise was 
 made, nearly seven-eighths of the pupils again rose. Cincinnati 
 Gazette. 
 
 , AT CADIZ, OHIO. 
 
 - On the night of June 29, the ladies of Cadiz and vicinity 
 assembled, by request, at the Court House, taking with them an 
 abundance of flowers and evergreens, with which they formed 
 wreaths to be used in decorating the graves of our fallen heroes 
 on the following day. Every preparation being made, the mem- 
 bers of the Post No. 43 assembled at 1 o'clock, on the 30th ; 
 when the procession was formed as follows : Adjutant ; Cadiz 
 Brass Band ; officers of the Post ; members of the Post ; sol- 
 diers, not members of Post ; sixty little girls dressed in white ; 
 citizens. After having arrived at the Cemetery, an impressive 
 prayer was offered by Rev. Wm. Pittenger. Post Commander 
 J. M. Garven then delivered a short and appropriate address to 
 the members of the Post. The ceremony of decorating the 
 graves (13 in number) was then quietly performed. Comrade 
 G. W. Brown then addressed the assembled throng. An im- 
 promptu meeting was held that night, and speeches were made 
 by Revs. Meloy and Pittenger, and Cols. Lewton and Pearce.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 509 
 
 At Ashland, Ohio, the decoration was accomplished in a 
 very peculiar manner. When the procession reached the ceme- 
 tery, several young ladies took a position by the side of each 
 grave, and at the tap of the drum, wreaths, evergreens and 
 Sowers were showered upon the resting places of the departed. 
 The spectacle was most beautiful and interesting, every grave 
 being decorated at the same instant. A stirring address was 
 delivered by Judge Bushnell. The scene was enlivened by 
 spirited martial and vocal music. The exercises were for a time 
 interrupted by the accidental discharge of a pistol, wounding, 
 though not seriously, Miss Sadie Deshong. 
 
 At Van Wert, Ohio, the members of the G. A. R. organiza- 
 tion met, and showed their respect to the memory of their 
 fallen comrades by strewing their graves with flowers. The 
 procession was formed at the Court House and marched to the 
 Cemetery, preceded by a band of music, where prayer was 
 offered by Rev. Mr. Elcox. Appropriate addresses were deliv- 
 ered by Colonel Alexander, Rev. Watring, and Mr. Sajtzgaber. 
 Then followed the " Star-spangled Banner " by the choir, and 
 prayer by Rev. Pitcher. After strewing the graves with flowers, 
 the citizens returned to the Court House. The exercises were 
 solemn and affecting throughout, impressing upon all present a 
 feeling of devotion for the fallen heroes, and increased respect 
 and care for their living friends. 
 
 At Canton, Ohio, the ceremonies were observed under the 
 direction of Post No. 12, G. A. R. 
 
 AT STEUBENVILLE, OHIO. 
 
 The observances of the day were initiated by the belching of 
 cannon at early sun- rise, followed by the busy notes of prepara- 
 tion at " Webster Encampment," which bears the name of the 
 gallant and lamented commander of the 98th Ohio, followed 
 with other evidences of the prevailing disposition to honor the 
 departed dead. Battle-flags of the 2d Ohi.o, (Col. Kells and 
 Col. A. G. McCook), the 98th Ohio (Col. Webster, Col. Shane, 
 and others), were displayed from the rooms of the Grand Army, 
 together with the flag of the 1st Virginia Cavalry. Flags hung 
 from public buildings, business houses and private dwellings, the 
 whole presenting a scene of patriotic grandeur. The procession 
 formed on Market street, and at 2 o'clock it moved in the fol- 
 lowing order : Marshal ; Aids ; Carriages with Orator, Readers 
 and Philharmonic Society; Band; School Children, 500 strong, 
 under charge of Superintendent Buchanan and the teachers ; 
 Reliance I ire Company, dressed in red shirts ; Phoenix Fire
 
 510 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Company, dressed in "blue shirts; Martial Music; Altar of the 
 Grand Array, borne by four men and covered with flowers; 
 Grand Army, in citizens' clothes, bearing in their midst the tat- 
 tered flags of the 1st, 2d and 98th Ohio Infantry, and 1st Vir- 
 ginia Cavalry ; carriages. On reaching the Cemetery, the vast 
 assembly, numbering some 3,000, gathered about a stand richly 
 decorated with flags, emblems and flowers, when Judge Martin, 
 Chief of Ceremonies, announced that the services of the day 
 would be opened by prayer, which was done accordingly, by 
 Rev. M. Southmayd, in an impressive prayer. The Philhar- 
 monic Society then sang, under the lead of Capt. Skull, when 
 Rev. Mr. M'Curdy, orator of the day, was introduced, and de- 
 livered the following 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : The transaction of this afternoon 
 is something new and strange in the history of our nation. It 
 is a new method by which to sympathize with bereaved hearts, 
 and to honor the lives and services of the heroic dead. Novel, 
 perhaps, because it is singular, and singular, perhaps, because of 
 the circumstances which suggest it ; but certainly appropriate, 
 honorable, just and sympathetic. 
 
 It is not an occasion for boisterous exuberance and selfish 
 joy. Not only the object which brought us hither, but the 
 plane also forbids it. We are standing on sacred and holy 
 ground. This forest city is populated by the buried dead. The 
 flowers which already bloom ever many graves seem to whisper, 
 " Tread lightly, for temples of the Holy Ghost lie buried here ; 
 and dust precious in the sight of God lies here in peace ; disturb 
 not itsquiet repose." Holy associations, precious recollections, 
 even the strength of never-dying affections cluster here. " Put 
 off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou stand- 
 est is holy ground." To relieve sadness, to keep alive affection, 
 to become familiar with the place where we all must lie. we 
 come here to weep. Here Abraham, the aged man, comes to 
 mourn the loss of Sarah. Here Rachel comes in the strength 
 of a mother's love, and refuses to be comforted for her children. 
 Here David mourns for Jonathan, and in the bitterness of his 
 soul cries out, " Oh Absalom ! my son ! my son ! " Here the 
 Sisters of Bethany cry from their sorrowful hearts, " Ah, Lord ! 
 if thou had'st but been here, our brother had not died." 
 
 " And hallowed in our memory remains this grassy spot, 
 
 . "Where kindred lie, not lost, still loved, and still forgotten not." 
 
 Exult as we may over the triumph of that just and righteous
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 511 
 
 cause for which these brave men fought, and others as brave as 
 they, whose graves we cannot visit to-day, still no rejoicings on 
 that account can obliterate the stern facts, that it was achieved 
 through blood, sufferings, privations, and death. Chasms in 
 many human hearts yet remain. The desolations of many 
 families are not yet. and never will be, repaired the picture of 
 sadness is yet seen on many countenances American soil is yet 
 red with the blood and white with the bones of the unreturning 
 brave ; and to-day as we stand by the graves of men, and think 
 ot those who were denied the civilization of decent burial, and 
 of those who were gathered *by their comrades and buried on the 
 field of battle, boisterous exuberance must give place to other 
 feelings, higher and nobler in their nature. 
 
 It is sad to think that a terrible necessity called these brave 
 men to sacrifice their lives to our country from a national death. 
 Without formality or affectation we say to-day, that we are sad, 
 when we remember that our Government nourished, maintained, 
 upheld/and protected men, who, at the first dawn of disappoint- 
 ed expectations madly endeavored to stab with treason's dagger, 
 the nation to the heart. We were looming up among other 
 nations of the earth with all the strength and majesty of a free 
 and a great people. We were taking other nations by the hand 
 and leading them up into the regions of a pure and enlightened 
 civilization. We were extending our arms and taking in the 
 houseless and homeless from off both oceans. We were admin- 
 istering peace and purity to all lands and nations, and to stop in 
 this great work of justice, of humanity, of civilization, and of 
 religion, to ward on the blows of household enemies, is a sad 
 blot on our national records and a sad experience to the Ameri- 
 can people. That such a necessity should ever have arisen, is 
 as painful to the individual heart as it is humiliating to our 
 national pride. That difficulties in a nation whose laws were 
 so perfect as to be almost self-adjusting, should be submitted 
 to the arbitrament of the sword ; that national life, rights, and 
 liberties should hang tremblingly on the point of the American 
 bayonet, are things so foreign to the spirit and purpose o*f 
 this Great Republic, that even now we half skeptically inquire,. 
 Could they have ~been ? War, from whatever cause, at whatever 
 sacrifice, for whatever object, is a thing of sadness. Desolation, 
 blood, and fiery winged death follow in its track, while ter- 
 rible suspense and anguish throb in the nation's heart. But 
 to-day we have the consciousness, as we always have had, that 
 the fearful struggle through which our nation has passed, and 
 in which our brave soldiers fell, was not one of our choice, 
 but one from imperious necessity ; one which required us to do
 
 512 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 or to die. But when we found that it must needs be, we were 
 not wanting in motives to stimulate the intelligent, the pious, 
 and the daring to step forward in the hour of our nations peril, 
 and to maintain intact our country's existence. Rather than 
 become a hissing and a by-word among the nations of the 
 earth, rather than let the problem of self-government fail to be 
 solved, rather than let the purchase of Revolutionary blood be 
 torn from the hands of legal heirs, rather than let our nation 
 forever stop in its onward march to liberty and glory, these 
 brave men chose to die, that by means of their death we might 
 live. They laid their honor, their patriotism, their integrity, 
 their fortunes, their lives, and their all, on their country's altar, 
 and sealed these gifts with their blood, and ratified them 
 with their death. In the event of their death, they saw the 
 desolateness of widowhood, the loneliness of orphanage, the 
 broken-heartedness of parents, but through the purchase of their 
 blood, they saw for the desolate, the lonely and the broken- 
 hearted, an inheritance immortal in its blessings and 'priceless 
 in its honor and glory. That inheritance is ours, the honor of 
 its purchase is in strumen tally theirs ; and we are here to-day to 
 recognise this fact to pay a tribute of respect to them for their 
 lives and sacred services ; and here also to sympathize with 
 those brave and noble hearts who sacrificed their husbands and 
 sons to save our country from dishonor and enslavement. Not 
 without many misgivings did you make this noble and priceless 
 sacrifice. Xot without counting the cost, but with a devotion 
 worthy the cause, and worthy the hearts of those who to-day 
 rank among the first in the nation on the roll of honor. To-day 
 we stand by the graves of some of your dead, and of some of 
 the nation's dead. Other graves there are God only knows 
 where. Although bound to them by nature's strongest tie, you 
 sent them forth to the gory field, and watched them with untold 
 solicitude, in the hope and with the prayer that they would re- 
 turn as they went. But an overruling Providence decided 
 
 otherwise. 
 
 
 " Never more shall they stand in the vanguard of fame, 
 
 Never lift the stain'd sword which they drew, 
 Never more shall they boast of a glorious name, 
 Never march with the leal and the true." 
 
 They were driven hither and thither by the surges of fierce 
 battle, as the ship in storm at sea, yet with their eyes on the 
 harbor, they gracefully as well as boldly " rounded to," dropped 
 their anchors, and are quietly resting in their last sleep. Your 
 bravest and best, where are they ?
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GEAVES. 513 
 
 " Ask not the lonely hearthstone tells 
 
 Too plain the mournful story ; 
 Gone in their beauty and their pride, 
 To swell the nation's glory. 
 
 Scarce any house that has not now 
 
 Some vacant, lonely chair: 
 Look forward to the battle line, 
 
 Your bravest deeds are, where f " 
 
 You have gathered some of them to the land of their fathers. 
 You have committed earth to earth and dust to dust. Here 
 they lie in sepulchres made according to your own direction. 
 These graves bring your affections and the nation's gratitude 
 into one common bond of sympathy and love. Your loss is the 
 nation's loss, your gain is the nation's gain. The nation belongs 
 to you, and you belong to the nation, and therefore mutual 
 sympathy binds us all into one bond of union. The nation, as 
 well as individual hearts, is in sorrowful remembrance to-day. 
 But as a voluntary expression of sympathy we walk with you 
 in these paths with the solemn tread of those who march to the 
 music of sorrowful hearts, and the solemn noise which accom- 
 panies the sad rites of burial. In doing so, we fully accord 
 with the dictates of our own natures, the laws of civilization 
 and the requirements of Christianity. The elements of our 
 social natures demand it, the laws of civilization require it, and 
 Christianity, with its bright galaxy of immortal truths, all 
 pointing to the Saviour and to the world to come, teaches this. 
 
 With you we strew their graves with flowers that they may 
 be as beautiful and glorious as the principles for which they so 
 successfully fought. With you we plant roses which will open 
 their petals to sip the dew of the morning, and then fill the air 
 with their fragrance. In this way nature will join with us in 
 paying a beautiful tribute to their noble lives and heroic deaths. 
 
 But we are sad to know that there are others for whom it is 
 impossible for us to perform this kind office. We have not 
 here those whose bodies were scattered to the four winds by 
 the angry elements of war, nor those who were wrapt in the 
 dear old flag, and shut up in the rough hewn wood, and buried 
 where no hands of human kindness, prompted by fond affection, 
 can throw a wreath of flowers over the sacred spot where they 
 lie. The wilderness, the ocean, the sunny plain, and the sandy 
 shore, are their resting place. Their graves are on those spots 
 where the} 7 last stood, and last shot in defense of their country. 
 No wife's fond arms caressed them, no tender mother pressed 
 them, no loving father stood beside them, and no brother or 
 sister or son wept over them. We cannot point you to their 
 33
 
 514 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 graves, bnt we ask you by all that is lonely in their dying, by 
 all that is sorrowful in the circumstances of those who wept 
 without their bodies and their graves, to cherish their memories. 
 I cannot point you to chaplets of flowers to be scattered over 
 their graves, but I ask you to remember their noble deeds of 
 daring and of valor, and standing here, let us say with respect 
 to them : 
 
 " Sleep ! soldier, sleep ! from sorrow free, 
 And sin and strife. 'Tis well with thee ? 
 'Tis well ; though in that far off land, not a single tear 
 Laments the brave, the baried volunteer." 
 
 As citizens we honor them, and cherish their memories. 
 
 "When civil war burst upon us " with the suddenness of the 
 meteor's glare," they rushed forward, bared their breasts to the 
 enemies' bullets and bayonets, raised their arms in defense of 
 that flag, and of all it symbolizes to us and the world, and stood 
 like a wall of fire between us and death. And God let the 
 brave soldier, living or dead, have all the honor in redeeming 
 for us an inheritance nobler in virtue, more immortal in dura- 
 tion, more just to humanity, purer in principle, and more ele- 
 vating to all classes and conditions who live and move under 
 that emblem of freedom, than is possible for all the allied 
 powers of Europe to bestow upon any of their subjects. 
 
 Let them be forever entitled to your honor for their heroism, 
 their endurance, their manly bearing, and above all, for that 
 brotherly spirit, that heartfelt sympathy and co-operation with 
 which they clasped hands and marched shoulder to shoulder in 
 hours of trial, danger and death. Approach the graves of the 
 dead with the feeling Here lie those who died for me. Grasp 
 the hand of the living soldier with the feeling You are one of 
 those who fought for me. 
 
 Soldiers of the G. A. R., visit the graves of your brothers 
 and comrades in arms with mingled feeling* of sadness and 
 thankfulness. Sad that so many fell by your side, sad that so 
 many are beyond the reach of this your tribute to their worth, 
 and thankful that you are permitted to lay to-day, in beautiful 
 simplicity, the corner-stone of a monument whicn will continue 
 in erection so long as a living soldier shall be permitted to visit 
 the grave of a dead comrade. You remember the battle day. 
 You remember ''how after the battle," witli muffled drums 
 and silent bugles, you gathered the mangled dead, and buried 
 them on the bloody field. You remember 
 
 " Where the wreck of your legions lay stranded and lorn, 
 They stole on your ranks in the midst of the morn :
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 515 
 
 Like the Giant of Gaza, their strength it was shorn 
 
 Ere the mist had rolled up to the sky. 
 From the flash of your steel a new daybreak seemed born, 
 . As you sprung up to conquer or die." 
 
 " The tumult is silenced, the death lots are cast, 
 And the heroes of battle are slumbering their last. 
 Do you dream of yon pale form that rode on the blast ? 
 
 Would ye free it once more, O ye brave ? 
 Yes, the broad road to honor is red where ye passed, 
 
 And of glory they asked but a grave." 
 
 They have got it. Honor it. Love it. Cherish it. Protect 
 it. Thus, friends, citizens and soldiers, go forth and honor the 
 dead. Honor them for their devotion, their loyalty and their 
 sacrifice. Join with a grateful nation in the token of love to 
 our martyred heroes. Wreathe their buried brows with nature's 
 choicest flowers, for 
 
 " Here sleep brave men who, in the deadly quarrel, 
 
 Fought for their country and their lite-blood poured, 
 Above whose dust she carves the deathless laurel, 
 Wreathing the victor's sword. 
 
 " Peace to the sleepers ! May the bud and blossom, 
 
 Spring's early bloom and Summer's sweet increase, 
 Fail not, while Nature on her tender bosom 
 Folds them, aud whispers, Peace." 
 
 
 
 The address was followed by a poem, read by Col. "W. R. 
 Lloyd, in a' clear voice and impressive manner. The poem is 
 the production of Mrs. Mary Bynon Reese. 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF OUR DEAD SOLDIERS. 
 
 We come from all life's busy scenes, 
 
 With tears, and song, and flowers, 
 To give a passing day to those 
 
 Who gave their lives for ours ; 
 From peaceful homes, whose peace to keep 
 
 With all their blessings parted 
 Friends, happiness, :iye, life itself, 
 
 The tried, the hero-hearted. 
 
 Ye come who, with the honored dead, 
 
 Went at your country's call ; 
 Who with them marched, and fought, and bled ; 
 
 Who saw these comrades fall, 
 Or, watched while want and fever drank 
 
 Rare lives that battle spared : 
 'Tis meet ye share these sad, sweet rites, 
 
 Who all their suffering shared. 
 
 But, oh! the dead who have no graves 
 Within this hallowed shade ;
 
 516 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 No monuments, save those which love 
 
 In aching heart* has made. 
 On many a distant field they sleep ; 
 
 In Southern swamp and fen ; 
 By singing streams in suntsy lands, 
 
 On mountain and in glen. 
 
 We may not wander where they rest, 
 
 No tears above them shed ; 
 Yet rarest shrines we gladly make 
 
 Our martyred hero dead ; 
 These oft with fadeless garlands twine, 
 
 Of bright immortelles wrought, 
 For memory in each loving heart 
 
 Finds sweet forget-me-not. 
 
 And by their sorrows by their graves 
 
 By all who fought and bled ; 
 Who stood between us and the foe. 
 
 The living and the dead ; 
 By all the stars they loved in life, 
 
 Which shrowded these in death, 
 We pledge to deep their memories bright 
 
 Till being's latest breath ; 
 And pray that o'er this blood freed land, 
 
 On near and distant grave, 
 The dear old Flag of Liberty 
 
 Forever more shall wave. 
 
 Prof. Scott rehearsed " Sheridan's Ride." The procession, 
 headed by the Grand Army, then proceeded to 'bedeck the 
 graves of the dead soldiers with garlands of flowers, whose 
 names and regiments to which they belong are as follows : 
 
 Jacob Summers, 2d Ohio; James B. Thompson, 2d Ohio; 
 John Grimshaw, 43d Ohio ; Capt. Wm. McMillan, 98tl* Ohio ; 
 ,Capt. Sanders, 98th Ohio ; Reuben Bartlett, 2d Ohio ; James 
 Winters, 2d Ohio; Edward Bynon, 195th Ohio; David H. 
 Laizure, 2d Ohio ; Robert Robertson, 98th Ohio ; Dr. Jno. 
 McCook, Volunteer Surgeon ; Lieut. James Donaldson, 52d 
 Ohio; John Brown,. 20th Ohio; James Oliver, 20th Ohio; B. 
 Harlan, 2d Ohio; Jno. Downs, 195th Ohio; James Dunn, 98th 
 Ohio; James Charlton, 8ith Ohio; Wm. Carter, 30th Ohio; 
 Col. George Webster, 98th Ohio ; L. Eulan, 2d Ohio ; H. Parks, 
 Ohio Militia ; Alexander McFarland, 1st Virginia Cavalry ; 
 Jno. J. Lopeman, 2d Ohio; Wm. Pringle, 1st Ohio; David 
 McCleish, 2d Ohio ; Walter Nichols, 2d Ohio ; - - Helms, 14th 
 Virginia ; George Standley, 2d Ohio ; Walter O'Donnell, 55th 
 
 Pennsylvania ; J. Cowan, 30th Ohio ; Cowan, 30th Ohio ; 
 
 Lieut. Lafayette Vanhorn, 2d Ohio ; to which may be added, 
 and probably some others, Sergeant J. Grafton, A. Odbert,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 517 
 
 Frank Smith, Wm. Gray, M. Plummer, J. Plummer, J. Eng- 
 land, A. Merideth, E. Huntsman and Hugh Cochran. 
 
 With brief closing ceremonies, ended the observance of the 
 day. 
 
 AT BEREA, OHIO. 
 
 The exercises were conducted under the auspices of Post' 
 No. 75, G. A. R. All soldiers and friends of Middleburg and 
 adjoining townships were invited to attend. The day was 
 ushered in by a salute from a cannon. The soldiers, by arrange- 
 ment, assembled at the hall of the G. A. R., and from thence 
 marched, accompanied by a martial band, to the 1 place arranged 
 for the preliminary exercises, where a large concourse of people 
 awaited their coming, entertained in the meantime by the Berea 
 Cornet Band. The following programme was followed : The 
 music being given by the Cornet Band; music; prayer; music; 
 address by Gen.- G. JVI. Barber, Esq.; music; address by Rev. 
 Mr. Hubbard, of Strongsville, late chaplain in the 103d O. V. 
 I. ; music. Lieut. N. A. Gray, being called upon for a few re- 
 marks, oifered in place an original poem. The production was 
 prefaced with a few appropriate words. After music, the pro- 
 cession was formed in the following order : 
 
 1. Committee on Decorations, bearing a triumphal arch 
 wreathed with evergreen, and tastefully decorated with flowers, 
 (the gilt of N. A. Gray, Esq., by whose personal labors it was 
 formed and brought from Olmstead Falls). 2. A war-worn flag, 
 borne by a one-armed solder. 3. Martial band. 4. G. A. R. 
 and soldiers. 5. Crippled soldiers, widows and orphans in con- 
 veyances. 6. Cornet Band with flag. 7. Citizens marching. 
 8. Citizens in conveyances. During the marching of the pro- 
 cession, the bands played alternately, and the cannon was tired 
 at intervals of two minutes. The Village and Catholic ceme- 
 teries, both of which contain soldiers' graves, had been appro- 
 priately decorated by the committee during the forenoon. At 
 each grave was erected a card encircled by a wreath of flowers 
 and evergreen, containing the name, Company and command of 
 the deceased. Near the gate of each cemetery was a spot 
 wreathed in the form of a grave, over which was erected a card 
 with these words : " Let us remember those who lie in Southern 
 graves." 
 
 The procession, turning to the left on entering the cemetery, 
 marched around, bringing the graves on the right hand, and 
 each person strewed his or her tribute of flowers upon each as 
 they passed. From 2 till 4 p. M., the stores and business houses 
 were closed in honor of the occasion.
 
 518 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 AT INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA. 
 
 The procession was formed under the command of Gen. R. 
 S. Foster, as Chief Marshal, with a number of aids, and moved 
 north on Illinois street to North street, in the following order: 
 Band ; Wagon containing the Orphans of Soldiers, appropriately 
 trimmed, bearing the inscription, " Remember our Fallen Com- 
 'rades and their Orphans "; Guard of Honor, under command 
 of Col. W. M. Wiles ; Martial Band ; a Detachment of the G. 
 A. R. ; the Arsenal Guard in full Uniform; Independent Order 
 of Odd Fellows; Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Ma- 
 sons, in their peculiar Regalia ; the Police Force of the city, 
 headed by Chief Thomas S Wilson ; Members of the G. A. R., 
 aiid other Soldiers, in carriages ; Ministers of the city in car- 
 riages ; the Governor, Officers of State, and Judges of United 
 States and other Courts, in carriages ; County and City Officers 
 and Common Council in carriages ; Citizens in carriages. 
 
 Arriving at North street, a halt for the street cars was order- 
 ed, and owing to the delay in the first train returning from the 
 cemetery, this rest was quite tedious, and the procession did not 
 reach Crown Hill until after 3 o'clock. As soon as the grounds 
 were reached, the line marched to the Soldiers' Cemetery, indi- 
 cated by the staif, from \vhich the National flag was flying at 
 half-mast. The exercises took place from the edge of the grove 
 on the north side of the Soldiers' Cemetery. Mr. Biedenmiester 
 sounded the assembly on the bugle, following which Maj. O. M. 
 Wilson, Adjutant General of the department, read the order of 
 Maj. -Gen. iLogan under which the ceremonies were undertaken 
 by the Grand Army of the Republic. Rev. C. M. Sims, pastor 
 of Wesley Chapel, oifered a most fervent prayer. Prof. Black's 
 class then sang the beautiful hymn, to the tune of " Scotland," 
 commencing : 
 
 " Thou art gone to the grave, but we will not deplore thee, 
 Though sorrow and darkness encompass the tomb, 
 The Saviour has passed through its portals befre thee, 
 And the lamp of His love is thy gui<Je through its gloom." 
 
 Gov. Baker then delivered the following address: 
 GOVEBNOB' BAKER'S ADDBESS. 
 
 The humanizing influence of our modern civilization is 
 marked by the increased interest taken by the living in the last 
 .. resting places of the departed. Moved by this influence, we 
 stand to-day in one of the beautiful, quiet cities of the dead, 
 and in a ward of that city which is consecrated as the burial- 
 place of brave and true men who died in the military service of 
 their and our Country.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 519 
 
 We come to these graves with Spring's first floral offerings 
 and with the wreaths of evergreen, not because we believe that 
 such tributes of grateful appreciation and pious affection can 
 benefit the honored dead who here sleep ; but because we would 
 keep alive in our own hearts, and in the hearts of those who 
 shall come after us, a proper love of their virtues and patriotism, 
 and the cause for which they died. It is befitting that the sur- 
 viving comrades of these departed braves, assisted by innocent 
 children and lovely women, should bring these floral and ever- 
 green tributes for the adornment of this place. These graves 
 signify not only the rr.ost exalted individual fidelity to the high- 
 est duties of citizenship, but also national unity, social virtue 
 and human progress. As we love these let us cultivate in our- 
 selves and in our children an affectionate remembrance of the 
 patriotic examples, and a pious veneration for the sepulchres of 
 those who performed, endured and suffered so much for us and 
 for those who shall ere long succeed us in the places which will 
 soon know us no more forever. If Washington could say at 
 tiie close of his public life to the men of that generation that 
 the unity-of government which constituted them one people was 
 then dear to them, in the presence of these graves, and in view 
 of all the precious lives which the preservation of that unity has 
 cost the nation, how doubly dear ought not the same national 
 unity to be to us? It has been saved through great tribulation, 
 and we, now standing in the last resting-place of hundreds of 
 the nii-ii who shared in the sacrifices necessary to effect this 
 great salvation, attest our appreciation of its value and their de- 
 votion. And in the performance of the labor of love and duty 
 of patriotism in which we are now engaged, let us not forget to 
 praise and thank the Benevolent Father of all that He has given 
 us a country productive of so many bright examples of un- 
 faltering devotion to the duties, trials and services of American 
 citizenship. May we not, standing by these graves, and while 
 engaged in bedecking them with flowers, repeat the beautiful 
 utterance of the beloved chief of our fallen ones, himself the 
 noblest of the slain, that ''the mystic cord of memory, stretch- 
 ing from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living 
 heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land will yet swell 
 the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely it will 
 be, by the better angels of our nature." May we not hope, too, 
 that the services in which we and others all over the land are 
 this day engaged, may be instrumentalities in the hands of those 
 better angels of our nature to touch this mystic cord which shall 
 ere long swell the chorus of a perpetuated and perfectly restored 
 Union. When the grand chorus shall again go forth, sustained
 
 520 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 by the voices of all the people, then will the cherished memories 
 of our fallen ones shine as the brightest gems in the crown of 
 our country's rejoicing, and no bad angels of our nature will be 
 permitted to mar, by a single note of discord, the hallelujahs of a 
 regenerated nation. And in concluding these brief remarks 
 catching the inspiration which swelled the same lofty and pa- 
 triotic soul on a subsequent occasion, may we not repeat that 
 other sublime utterance in which he said "With malice towards 
 none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives 
 us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in ; 
 to bind up the Nation's wounds, to care for him who has borne 
 the brunt of the battle, and for his widow and orphans, and to do 
 all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace 
 among ourselves and all nations." So teach us our duty, O Lord, 
 Amen. So let it be. 
 
 Granville M. Ballard read the following poem, prepared by 
 him for the occasion : 
 
 Not as we met by the camp- fire, 
 
 When raid or skirmish was done; 
 Not as we met at roll-call, 
 
 Before the battle was won ; 
 But with mourning npon our banners, 
 
 And with muffled drums we meet, 
 To deck the graves of comrades 
 
 That slumber at our feet. 
 These are oar sleeping heroes, 
 
 These are our Union dead, 
 Fearlessly, nobly, they followed 
 
 Wherever the old flag led. 
 They came from country and village, 
 
 From crowded city and plain ; 
 They marched in the sultry sunshine, 
 
 And pillowed their heads in rain ; 
 They heard the blast of the bugle, 
 That spread o'er the land a pall, 
 They fought in a score of battles, 
 
 And gave to our country their all. 
 
 Over many and many a household 
 
 There rests a shadow to-day, 
 
 Because of t'-e loved ones sleeping 
 
 From kindred far away ; 
 With many a maiden's musings 
 
 There mingles, the sad refrain, 
 He said when last he left me 
 
 He'd come to me soon a<rain ; 
 With many a mother's trinkets 
 
 Is treasured a lock of hair, 
 And her thoughts are about her absent boy 
 
 When she looks on the vacant chair.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. v 
 
 Some of these dropped by the wayside, 
 
 Some while on picket were shot ; 
 Some of them fell in the skirmish, 
 
 Some where the battle raged hot ; 
 Some of them died in the hospital, 
 
 Nor father nor mother were there 
 To lift up the fainting spirit 
 
 With blessing and with prayer. 
 But, alas 1 for the youthful soldier, 
 
 Alas ! for the veteran gray, 
 "Who languished in Southern prison, 
 
 Wearing his life away, 
 Dying in captivity, 
 
 Hoping, yet all in vain 
 Hoping to break his prison bars 
 
 And breath free air again ; 
 Yearning for wife and children, 
 
 Yearning to be caressed, 
 . Or longing with broken spirit, 
 
 Longing to be at rest. 
 
 Over these dead nine hundred 
 
 Let the flag of the Freemen wave^ 
 And the sentinel stars keep vigils 
 
 Through the night-time over each grave. 
 Violet pink and daisy, 
 
 Rosebud and myrtle leaf bring, 
 And our Union dead remember 
 
 With each returning spring. 
 
 This concluded the exercises preparatory to the decoration, 
 and the word was given to pass to the adjacent cemetery the 
 people forming about the four sides, with the orphan girls and 
 young ladies on the inside of the square. At a given signal, 
 Mr. T. L. Rhodes and the class sang the dirge, " Peace to the 
 Memory of the Brave," by William Vincent Wallace, as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Peace to the memory of the brave, 
 Tranquil may their slumbers be, 
 
 Who died a nation's life to save : 
 Soldier, peace to thee. 
 
 Here in the boi*om of the earth, 
 
 In quiet, soldier, shalt thou be. 
 
 Ever remembered. Heroes immortal 
 
 Now all who e'er breathed holy prayer, . 
 
 Or sank on bended knee, they pray, 
 
 They pray for thee ; brave heart, for thee. 
 
 While this was being sung, the girls, with flower-baskets, 
 passed through the cemetery, bedecking each grave, followed by 
 the young ladies, who hung upon each headstone an evergreen 
 wreath. When the last wreath had been hung, the artillery
 
 522 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 commenced a salute of thirteen guns, and the vocal class sang 
 with fine effect the national anthem " The Star-Spangled Ban- 
 ner, " Mr. Khodes taking the solo, the chorus rendered by all 
 the voices. To complete the ceremony, the Scottish Masons 
 filed down the center aisle of the graves, and under the lead of 
 Hon. John Caven they paid the honors of their peculiar rite, 
 end fug with the deposit of a bouquet upon each grave. The 
 exercises were closed with " Hail Columbia " by the band, and 
 the Benediction by Rev. H. A. Edson, Pastor of the Second 
 Presbyterian Church. 
 
 AT COLUMBUS, INDIANA. 
 
 The members of the G. A. R., assisted by the citizens of 
 Columbus, performed the ceremony on the 30th of May. The 
 graves in the City Cemetery, as well as those in the Catholic 
 Cemetery, were profusely decorated. At the latter cemetery, 
 Father Orem, of the Catholic Church, delivered the following 
 discourse : 
 
 FATHER OBEM'S ADDEESS. 
 
 It was a grand idea that prompted the veteran warriors of 
 the Republic to set apart one of the closing days of this beau- 
 tiful month " Spring's fairest child " for the sublime, thrilling, 
 soul- elevating ceremonies which we have met in one " cities of 
 the dead" to perform. A scene like this, inspired as it is by 
 motives of the purest patriotism, utterly void of partisan strife, 
 rancor, and bitterness, is one in which no good citizen can refuse 
 to participate, inasmuch as it is a scene consecrated by the 
 most hallowed instincts, and made sacred by the balmiest memo- 
 ries. An occasion like this, dedicated to valor and liberty, and 
 in honor of a cause made thrice holy by the life-blood of its 
 undaunted champions, is one which the white-robed inhabitants 
 above must view with admiration and delight, and upon which 
 we can, without irreverence, invoke our Heavenly Father's rich- 
 est blessing. 
 
 Just think of it ! a nation like ours, of almost boundless do- 
 main, Hushed with victory, pausing in her onward career, sus- 
 pending the all-engrossing affairs of her daily life, and marching 
 with jneasured tread, sorrowing heart, and tearful eye, to the 
 graves of those who died that she might live. Is there, can 
 there be anything more touching, more thrilling, more sublime ? 
 Where, in the annals of the oft-vaunted ages of chivalry, can 
 we find anything worthier of being sung by the muse, or im- 
 mortalized by the painter or the sculptor's art ? And what a 
 triumphant vindication of our character as a people I What
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 523 
 
 an irrefutable answer to the stale charges so often and so flip- 
 pantly brought against us, by cynical writers, that the only 
 progress we have made is of a purely materialistic order, and 
 that, in our pursuit after wealth, we have forgotten the softer 
 
 of our nature. To-day does Columbia 
 weep for her fallen sons, her darling braves, who sleep the sleep 
 
 T.hAr. k'lin\Vi Jin nrolnnM or,-.r^> ,^l* n _ /~i _ t_ ._ 1 1 . . *,, , f 
 
 attractive. They are gone, and with them has gone the sun- 
 shine oi many a household, the joy of many a heart. And why 
 did they die? Tell us, thou flag thou ark of our hopes, thou 
 emblem of glory, thou star of the oppressed, thou terror of ty- 
 ants, tell us to-day why these soldiers died? Listen to the an- 
 swer that is borne on the breeze from yon torn and tattered 
 folds, waving as it were in sorrow above us'' they died to save 
 me from pollution." They died for their country and for ours. 
 At her cry of distress did they rush to the rescue. They bade 
 farewell to the comforts of home ; they tore themselves away 
 from the embrace of affection, and hurried away to the front. 
 jm in arm did they go, from field to field, resolved to return 
 <; with their shields or on them." They stood where shot and 
 shell flew thick and fast, but these fearless heroes quailed not. 
 Like the knights of old "without fear and without reproach" 
 they laughed danger to scorn, their only care being for their 
 country's weal. They fell, nor lived to hear the loud huzzas 
 that rent the air and made the welkin ring, when the eagles of 
 victory perched upon the banners of the Union, and the clouds 
 of grim war passed away from the horizon, let us trust, forever. 
 The grandest spectacle it ever was my lot to witness, was the 
 triumphant procession of the armies of the Potomac and the 
 Cumberland, passing through the streets of the National Capi- 
 tal. It was a sight never to be forgotten by the fortunate wit- 
 nesses of it, that of this almost countless host of battle-scarred 
 veterans, the heroes of many a hard-fought field returning in the 
 noontide of triumph to receive the well-earned plaudits of the 
 country they had saved. The occasion was one giving rapture 
 to those who had stood by "the boys in blue" through every 
 phase of the war that for so long reddened our fields with blood, 
 and choked our rivers with slaughter. It was an occasion in- 
 vested with an interest in which pleasure and sadness struggled 
 for the mastery ; in which there was a mingling of joy and sor- 
 row, for with the transports awakened by the peans of victory, 
 there came the harrowing reflection that many had hoped to 
 swell the loud chorus, whose hearts were pulseless in death.
 
 524 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 14 The war is o'er, and but one thought 
 
 Brings alloy to our bliss, 
 It is that many for us fought 
 
 Whom broken hearts now miss." 
 
 Dear braves ! Their lot it was to go down in the red tide 
 of battle, without seeing the laurels bedecking the cause they 
 loved and for which they fought so well. They are dead no, 
 they are not dead for they are of "the few, the immortal few, 
 that were not born to die." Dead ! no, no, they are not dead. 
 They sleep the sleep of the martyrs, while their country keeps 
 loving vigils over their silent tombs. She grieves that they are 
 gone, she invites to mingle our tears with hers, and to show our 
 veneration for those valiant heroes, by covering their graves with 
 flowers so beautifully typical of the never-dying affection with 
 which generations unborn will cling to their names and memo- 
 ries. 
 
 AT PORTLAND, IND. 
 
 The Post met at 9 o'clock A. M., pursuant to the resolution 
 heretofore adopted, which is as follows : " Resolved, that this 
 Post will meet for the purpose of decorating the graves of de- 
 ceased comrades, on the 30th day of May, 1868, in accordance 
 with General Order No. , from Headquarters of the Army, 
 and that Commanding General John P. 0. Shanks be invited to 
 address the Comrades on that occasion." 
 
 At 9 o'clock the assembly was sounded, and a grand pro- 
 cession was formed on Main street, under the direction of the 
 Post Commander, in the following order : Band and colors ; Post 
 Commander and Chaplain ; Comrades of Post 58 ; Comrades of 
 other Posts. 
 
 The procession was then conducted to the cemetery at Liber, 
 where rest the remains of many of our brave comrades in arms. 
 
 The Comrades were bountifully supplied with flowers, etc., 
 by the ladies present, and on arrival at the Cemetery the column 
 moved slowly by the tomb of each of the brave ones, and liter- 
 ally covered them with the flowers furnished by the fair hands. 
 After each grave in turn had been visited,the procession was 
 conducted to the Chapel, and General Shanks came from the 
 ranks to the rostrum, and addressed the comrades as follows : 
 
 SPEECH OF GENERAL JOHN 0. P. SHANKS. 
 
 COMRADES : It is with much pleasure that I meet and extend 
 a warm greeting to you, who, with so much honor to yourselves, 
 in defense of our liberties, voluntarily entered that greatest of
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 525 
 
 human straggles, and passed through its fiery ordeals, to save 
 our common country and institutions of freedom from destruc- 
 tion at the hands of the combined oppressors of mankind a 
 
 war in which crowned heads of Europe were the prime movers 
 the slaveholders of America the tools, the perpetuation of sla- 
 very in America the excuse, and prejudice based upon the igno- 
 rance of the masses of the white people in the Slave States, the 
 rallying-ground, for forces to carry out the nefarious work of 
 destroying the only Government that opened the way to liberty 
 and equal rights an attempt to utterly overthrow 'the Govern- 
 ment of our fathers, and the liberties of the poor and laboring 
 classes. But the pleasure of this meeting is marred by that 
 feeling of deep sorrow that I see reflected from your faces, as, 
 gathered here on this occasion, you remember that we meet at 
 this spot sacred to the dead to pay a tribute of respect to the 
 memory of those who fell lighting with us for the great prize 
 of civil and religious liberty. 
 
 Comrades, at this place, made holy to us as the resting-place 
 of our late brothers-in-arms, let me ask that, while we look on 
 the graves of these our late companions, remembering them and 
 the cause in which they fell, that you forget not the crimes that 
 provoked the revolution, nor the criminals who prosecuted the 
 war in which they died. 
 
 We are taught, in God's Holy Word, to forgive our enemies ; 
 but it has been reserved for a future revelation if, indeed, it 
 can ever be given from so high authority that we should forget 
 either those who injured us, or the wrongs which they inflicted. 
 Indeed, to forget these our late friends, or those at whose hands 
 they died, would be to bury with the dead the memories of our 
 sacrifice and the wisdom of all experience. If the crimes by 
 which we were wronged so much should be forgotten, the past 
 sufferings of the living and the dead were worse than wasted, 
 and revolutions and war become but a contest between life and 
 death for the mastery, in which death comes off more than vic- 
 tor ; patriotism would be valueless, and the defenders of justice 
 die without reward. 
 
 If it was not for principles we fought, and if those principles, 
 and their friends and enemies, be not remembered, our struggle 
 has been useless, both as a defender of good and an exponent of 
 evil. How dismal and drear would be our thoughts, as we cast 
 these emblems of past memories on the graves of our friends, _if 
 they had died in an unjust cause, fighting against justice, lib- 
 erty, and law, with the unholy desire of fastening the chains of 
 slavery upon the unoffending limbs of millions of defenceless 
 human beings, and to know that their generations yet unborn
 
 526 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 would rise up to drink slavery's bitter draught to feel its iron 
 enter their souls to live and die, as their parents have done, 
 the wretched victims of the caprice, passions, and fortunes of a 
 profligate and irresponsible society, and to invoke the God of 
 justice to bring to naught the unholy mockery that seeks to 
 make sacred that which is vile. 
 
 Comrades, a cause, lost, as it must eventually be in such a 
 contest, would be hated of God and of all just men. But ours 
 is a higher and better cause, nobly fought for and grandly main- 
 tained, and more glorious results awaited it. Adhering to the 
 principles of justice, you were triumphant ; your free Govern- 
 ment was maintained, and Christian civilization vindicated and 
 extended. 
 
 Comrades, when first we met as soldiers, it was to go out to 
 battle against traitors, who had, with force and arms, assailed 
 our national inheritance, and demanded the nation's life. Be- 
 lieving that our first duty was to defend the country, and that, 
 when we had given our time, labor, and lives, if necessary, for 
 the maintenance of the national life and honor, we had only dis- 
 charged a duty that we owed to mankind, we could not return 
 from that defense until our national emblem was acknowledged, 
 or had been carried in triumph over all the public domain, and 
 the national security, with our continued independence, well 
 assured. 
 
 All this, at great sacrifice, and by the bravery of you and 
 these we mourn, was done ; and you who survived have wit- 
 nessed with honest pride the expanding genius and growing 
 honors of our great commonwealth of States, with the recog- 
 nized character of both our people and Government rising 
 higher and higher, since they emerged from the contaminations 
 of that oppression to which they had too long and tamely sub-, 
 mitted. And when purged of the stains of our past follies and 
 crimes, this nation, redeemed by you, will become fully recog- 
 nized throughout the civilized world as a political lighthouse, to 
 guide the oppressed of all lands to the harbor of peace and jus- 
 tice, in the establishment of republican governments every- 
 where, the march of civilization in what are now uncivilized 
 countries, and the triumph of equal justice among mankind. 
 And, my comrades, then, if not till then, these graves will be 
 decorated, not with these fading flowers and twigs that we now 
 strew here, but in the pages of that history which shall record 
 them as the resting-places of the real benefactors of mankind ; 
 and the world, in its better civilization, will bless the memory 
 of those who fell in so great and holy a cause. Comrades, that 
 history will be written of you also ; your graves, too, will be
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 527 
 
 green as these are, ere these things come to pass. Mankind are 
 yet asleep, and slow to wake ; the long conflict of ideas the 
 waste of property, the clash of the sabre, the rattle of 'mus- 
 ketry, the roar of artillery, and the wasted blood of their chil- 
 dren, has not fully aroused the people of America ; but, dis- 
 turbed in their lethargy and slumbers by the storms of revolu- 
 tion in this country, that of 1776, when freemen attacked and 
 fenght tyrants, and that of 1861, when tyrants attacked and 
 fought freemen, in both of which justice triumphed and liberty 
 prevailed. Civilization has gained on the darkness that sur- 
 rounded her. Right met wrong in open conflict, fought for the 
 mastery, and conquered. Retributive justice spoke with the 
 power of God, and man yielded to a will he could not deceive 
 or control. Our people nave seen the grand manifestation of 
 God's will, and His certain vindication of His laws of equal jus- 
 tice to all men, and may yet profit by it. Civilization lias 
 caught up the lesson, and now studies 'it well. Let us look to 
 our laurels. We may yet be distanced by the Old World in the 
 very protection and enjoyment of that liberty which we have 
 taught them to know and appreciate. Already the oppressive 
 governments of Europe and Asia tremble under the shock that 
 the triumph of free government in America has given them. 
 The laboring people are awakening slowly, but surely, to a 
 knowledge of the truths taught in our free institutions ; and in 
 the world's conflict, known to us by the more modest title of 
 " our recent Rebellion," you have maintained the triumph of 
 these truths, and supported the just claims of the millions of the 
 East, as well as at home, to the protection of their liberties 
 under the law ; and, ere long, crowns will fall like autumn 
 leaves at the bidding of the people, who, when aroused by a 
 sense of their wrongs and a knowledge of the remedy, are more 
 terrible to the wrong-doer than are the frosts or the storms of 
 winter to the forests. To-day, Spain is trembling to her centre 
 with her dependencies. Moving for a separate independence; 
 her ruling Queen, the last of the Bourbons, will soon be as 
 helpless as one of her subjects. The islands of ancient and glo- 
 rious old Greece are again moving for liberty from European 
 dictation and Turkish oppression ; Mexico has redeemed itself 
 from and executed its oppressor ; France has fallen back from 
 her aggressions on our sister Republic ; China and Japan are 
 convulsed from centre to circumference ; Italy is free from Aus- 
 trian oppression, and the temporal power of a spiritual ruler is 
 waning in Rome ; Prussia is triumphant in her march to a bet- 
 ter rule ; the Emperor of Russia saw the necessity of liberating 
 the serfs of his empire, and acted upon the teaching of the
 
 528 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 times, and with jealous eye now watches the waning power of 
 Turkey's last SuJtan. The Levant must soon become the garden 
 of the East, and the Mediterranean the lap of her commercial 
 wealth, as of old ; even England makes a feeble and fruitless 
 opposition to the payment of damages occasioned to our nation 
 and people during the Rebellion, from the aid and comfort given 
 the Confederates by that Government. 
 
 In. the light of these teachings, the people of this great Gov- 
 ernment will move on with renewed energies. Like the rock 
 detached from the mountain side, gathering strength and force 
 with our progress, we will, both by example and our good strong 
 arm, give light and life and protection to the East and West, 
 the North and the South. 
 
 Comrades, civilization hinged upon the American problem. 
 Tour bravery gave victory to the right, and justice triumphed 
 over oppression, and the land was made free indeed. But not 
 without cost great and terrible cost of treasure and of blood. 
 These were our atonements for a violated law a law of God, a 
 law that cannot be broken with impunity, and that remains in 
 force forever a law that has vindicated itself for the blood of 
 the helpless slave, in that of our fathers, brothers, and sons. 
 The Angel of Death has, in vindication of that law of justice, 
 visited our doors, and, their lintels not being well authenticated, 
 touched our houses with mourning. None throughout the land 
 have escaped this great sorrow ; for who of all our people were 
 not guilty of our great national crime of human slavery ? and 
 who has not answered for it ? Not one. In the blood of our 
 people we have answered for it. All, all have answered that 
 fearful summons and demand, and we here to-day mourn over 
 the fallen sons of the nation, victims to our support of this great 
 wrong. 
 
 In the conflict consequent upon the disobedience of the laws 
 of justice, many were doomed to fall. These our late comrades, 
 whose graves we this day decorate, who were no more guilty 
 than we were, died for their country died in maintenance of 
 the free institutions under which we live died to secure liberty 
 to us, and to transmit it unimpaired to those who are to follow 
 us died to insure that very liberty we now enjoy here, of mani- 
 festing our sorrow over their graves. For be assured, had we 
 not succeeded, through their valor and sacrifices, in upholding 
 the. liberties and power of the people and their Government, we 
 could not now meet and speak of our sorrows or triumphs, or 
 scatter emblems on the graves of these martyrs to liberty and 
 progress. 
 
 Tyranny, upheld by that criminality which alone sustains it,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 529 
 
 once secure in power, permits of no liberties of the people in- 
 consistent with its oppressions and maintenance. This truth 
 made this sacrifice necessary, and the triumphs of the sacrifice 
 valuable to mankind. 2,335,951 men voluntarily entered the 
 Union Army and Navy, and of these, 78,231 were killed in the 
 battle-fields, or died from wounds received there; while 216,185 
 died in hospital, and in highways and bj^ways of the South, vic- 
 tims of the hardships incident to camp and field. Our own 
 'noble State sent over 152,000 of her sons to do battle for man- 
 kind. Of these, over 9,000 were killed hi battle, or died of 
 wounds received there ; and over 16,000 died of disease in hos- 
 pital, and elsewhere, in the service. One out of every eight of 
 tho^e who were mustered into 'the service were never mustered 
 out again, only as their names were stricken from the rolls of 
 the living and entered on the lists of the armies of the dead. 
 Many have died since the war, the result of exposures in field 
 and camp ; many maimed ones bear evidence of the severity of 
 the struggle, and their valor in the conflicts. And while we, 
 their comrades and survivors, are symbolically marching about 
 and encamped around their last earthly resting-place, to do 
 honor to and perpetuate their memories here, let us indulge the 
 fond hope that their disembodied spirits have crossed the Jordan 
 of their sorrows, and, to tunes from heavenly choirs, are march- 
 ing and camping in that better clime, where the severe duties, 
 hardships, privations, and dangers of the soldier's service here 
 are felt and feared no more ; where storms and wars and want 
 are unknown ; where the battle-field has no dangers, and the 
 prison no terrors ; where the shattered limbs of the wounded, 
 or the gaunt, spectred forms of the starved and emaciated pris- 
 oners of war are not seen, nor their cries ever heard ; but where 
 God is, and where evil cannot come in that safe government 
 and abode, from whence the only traitor who dared insult Jus- 
 tice with his godless presence was by the strong arm of Michael s 
 power expelled, never to be pardoned or return ; where equal 
 and exact justice is done to all ; where Nature's fair plans are 
 not defeated by man's wicked designs ; where there is no proba- 
 tion or need of hope ; where inspections are not necessary, but 
 where their armor is always bright ; where all is mushed, per- 
 feet liffht. and life, and truth, and certainty. 
 
 And let us, who deem ourselves more fortunate than those 
 who have perished from this life, not forget the lessons that all 
 this teaches us that, though, we died not, yet we, too, must 
 fall ; though we escaped death in the hospital, prison and 
 tie-field-though we have passed through the multiplied dangers 
 of war, and have lived to aid, in time of peace, to rebuild and 
 34
 
 530 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 to guide the Government we helped to save in war, and have 
 outlived our comrades in this transitory existence, let us look 
 well to it that we, too, may die as honorably as they. He who 
 lives for mankind, does well ; but lie who dies in that cause, dies 
 nobly. We fought, but lived ; these died, that the people 
 should be free. Let us so live on through the brief period 
 allotted to us, that there may be no blemish on that proud 
 record of the army of freemen of America ; but let it be truth- 
 fully written of us, as it is of those whom we mourn: "They 4 
 died as tliey lived, having lived as they died, the faithful friends 
 and defenders of justice and equal rights among mankind." 
 
 This is a proud record. Let us emulate we cannot excel it. 
 While gathered around these graves, let us pray to the ever-liv- 
 ing God that He will direct the minds of the people in the 
 right way ; that He will teach them to not forget the wrong- 
 doer ; that He will teach them, though it is good to be merciful, 
 yet justice stands above mercy, and that mercy to bad men may 
 be injustice to true and worthy ones ; that this earthly life of 
 our race is wholly unlike the life to follow ; that here man. left 
 free to act, may wrong his fellow, and therefore justice to all 
 demands protection to each one ; while, in the future, God's 
 own presence controls them, evil cannot be done, and mercy for 
 past offences will work no*wrong to the present. But he who 
 in this life forgives the murderer of his people, may provoke 
 new murders. The history of our country since the close of the 
 Rebellion places this beyond doubt or cavil. By forgiving the 
 murderers of these our late comrades-in-arms, you may become 
 yourselves the murderers of other good people. It is virtuous 
 to be merciful to your enemies, but it is holy to love your 
 friends. It is patriotic to love your comrades, and it will be 
 base to forget them, or the cause in which or at whose hands 
 they fell. God has impressed on every heart a love of home 
 and country. He who has forgotten it, has forgotten Him who 
 impressed it, and has already passed the line between loyalty 
 and treason. No dishonest man was ever a true patriot. He 
 who is without honor in one thing, will be so in another when 
 it is his interest so to be. 
 
 Comrades, it is a great privilege to die in the line of duty, 
 battling for human rights. It is a greater privilege to live 
 through such a war, and to take part in protecting the liberties 
 in peace that your valor won in war ; but Nature- has deter- 
 mined that duties follow privileges with a quick and certain 
 step. Life itself is but a probation, and life honored by so 
 many dangers is doubly so ; but when hallowed by the faithful 
 discharge of our duties to God and men, it becomes incompar- 
 ably grand.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 531 
 
 Comrades, while we look upon these graves, and upon the 
 scars that traitors gave, we cannot forget the past, or fail to ap- 
 preciate its lessons for the future of our country and kind. 
 
 To theee citizens who are our neighbors and friends, many 
 of whom are the relatives of those for whom we mourn, and who 
 have, sorrowing, gathered with us around this sacred spot, let 
 me say that the ties which bind you to us, warmed and 
 strengthened as they are by time, acquaintance, and that noble 
 "friendship, which a free, brave people only can comprehend, are 
 close and lasting. Yet the ties that bind those who have served 
 and suffered together in the field, are stronger still, warmed, 
 welded, and strengthened in the fire and strife of battles where 
 we leaned on each other for life and success, it does not, cannot 
 yield, but grows green and fresh with time. The ties that 
 attract us to home and the friends of our youth are binding, and 
 grow into our nature as part of the structure ; but it is in the 
 field, in battle, when death rides victorious over the lives of men 
 who are struggling in a common cause, that true manhood 
 stands majestically above every misfortune and sacrifices all for 
 success, vieing with powers above in the grandeur of its bear- 
 ing, stamps a halo of glory on the soldier's brow, and marks him 
 with a titled honor among men, and more than brotherly affec- 
 tion for each other. You respect your neighbor, but a true 
 soldier loves his comrade. You will do a kindness for your 
 friend, but the soldier will die for his companion. Convenience 
 may stand as the condition of your favors, but time, distance, 
 danger, or death can make no condition to a true soldier's de- 
 fence of his country and friends. Then let us cherish these fond 
 memories now, that they may cluster around us in our declining 
 years and cheer us in the future as they sustained us in the past. 
 Comrades, the epitaphs of our dead cannot be truthfully written 
 until the people with one accord shall proclaim and practice 
 equal justice to all the sons and daughters of men. In that 
 great day let the emblems of a faithful remembrance be again 
 strewn upon the resting-places of the defenders of truth and 
 justice, while their departed spirits enjoy that full blessing 
 prepared for the faithful, at the right hand of the Most High 
 God. 
 
 AT WABSAW, MINNESOTA. 
 
 ADDRESS OF OAPT. MILES HOLLISTEB. 
 
 COMRADES : The unceasing tide of time is bearing us rapidly 
 on and on, farther and farther from the eventful scenes and 
 memories of the past, and in the change and succession of sea- 
 sons, when nature has laid aside her winter robes of white and
 
 532 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 spread again her carpet of green, variegated, beautified by 
 a thousand flowers, and attired herself in all the gaiety and 
 loveliness of spring, and a thousand songsters are warbling their 
 songs of praise to the great Creator, and everything is gay and 
 joyous, it is but proper that we should pause in the midst of all 
 this animation and life and enjoyment, to drop a "tear to the 
 memory of those heroic martyrs to freedom's cause, who died 
 that liberty might live, and perished upon the altar of their 
 country, that their country might live, those fallen soldiers of 
 the Republic, our former companions-in-arms, who are not borne 
 on our rolls to-day, but whose names have been transferred to 
 the rolls of honor, and who have been mustered into that 
 glorious army of martyrs to the cause of justice and humanity, 
 that so adorn the pages of the history of man in order that their 
 memories may not die out, so long as there is left a surviving 
 comrade, and by their memories to pledge ourselves anew to 
 the glorious cause for which they so nobly gave their lives. 
 
 Of the two million brave and loyal men that went forth in 
 defence of our common country, hundreds of thousands returned 
 not with us. A hundred thousand or more bravely met their 
 fate, while in mortal combat on the field of battle, nearly as 
 many more wasted away their lives in hospital, away from the 
 care and love of home, while tens of thousands suffered more 
 than a thousand deaths by exposure, cruelty and starvation in 
 some rebel prison pen, until the gaunt spectre of death was 
 welcomed as a relief from their untold suffering, while others, 
 though shattered and destroyed, were granted the sweet boon of 
 life until they returned, to die surrounded by their friends at 
 home. Glorious martyrs all, and worthy the everlasting grati- 
 tude of the nation. May the nation be blessed with abundant 
 prosperity so long as she holds their memories sacred, and 
 stands true to the rights of man ; when she proves false to the 
 one and is forgetful of the other she will not deserve to prosper. 
 It is proper at such a time as this, because the spring-time with 
 its growth and joy and gladness is a representation of the growth 
 and happiness and prosperity which our country, saved by their 
 valor, is just springing into after the winter of desolation she 
 has so lately passed through, though much of our growth and 
 prosperity has been chilled and retarded by a Tennessee frost, 
 though, thanks to the warm, sunshine of American patriotism 
 and love of liberty and the fidelity of the people's representa- 
 tives, it is not destroyed, but is constantly taking root through- 
 out the length and breadth of the land, from the'Atlantic to the 
 Pacific, from the great lakes to the gulf, amidst the hills of the 
 north, and all over the plains of the south, and when the pesti-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 533 
 
 lential breath that curses our land shall be swept away by the 
 ides of next November, it will burst forth into such a career of 
 prosperity and happiness as the world has never seen before in 
 the history of any nation under the sun. The spring-time is 
 also emblematical of that new life beyond the tomb which every 
 soldier in the warfare of this life who has done his duty well 
 here will enter upon when relieved 'from duty here by the'Great 
 Commander above. It is proper at such a time tor us, their 
 surviving comrades, to strew their graves with flowers, and drop 
 a tear to their memory ; but although we mourn the loss of this 
 vast army of patriotic and* heroic dead, words of sorrow are of 
 no avail to them ; they have passed beyond the reach of any 
 act of ours. And having performed the last sad and solemn 
 duty to them let us turn to the living. Our duty is to them. 
 There are fields for our efforts and labor all through our land. 
 The aged parent bereft of son, the stay and support of his de- 
 clining years ; the fond wife bereft of her husband, the light of 
 her life, and the helpless orphan robbed of the means of sup- 
 port and education ; these are subjects that claim our attention, 
 as well as the wounded and disabled of our comrades. To 
 speak words of hope and cheer to the disconsolate, and to ex- 
 tend a helping hand to our disabled comrades and the widows 
 and orphans of those that have fallen is our sacred duty, and 
 should be our greatest pleasure. It is a duty the nation owes to 
 care for them. It is the duty which we, who, under the protec- 
 tion of the Great Commander, were fortunate enough to return 
 with life and limb unimpaired to see that the nation, to see that 
 society does them justice. No acts within the pow r er of man 
 can ever repair the loss and ruin, the sorrow and grief conse- 
 quent upon the fall of such a vast army. Think of it !- Three 
 hundred thousand brave and strong men laid low. Their bones 
 lie mouldering in the cemetery of every town and hamlet in the 
 land, and all over the thousand battle-fields of the South, and 
 just so many places have been left vacant in the family circle at 
 home. 
 
 And why all this sacrifice of precious life, and why all this 
 desolation and mourning 2 We of the United States had boast- 
 ed that we had the best and most liberal government that had 
 ever existed, and no self-praise, no self-glorification, was too ex- 
 travagant for Fourth of July orations to tickle the vanity of the 
 American people. We had been taught to venerate the fathers 
 and founders of this Eepublic as something almost superhuman, 
 as having accomplished the grand and crowning achievement 
 for man as a nation to perform the establishment ol the prin- 
 ciple which had now become a fact that man was capable o
 
 534 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 self-government, as having established a " Government of the 
 
 Sjople, by the people,/"*?/* the people." The enunciations of the 
 eclaration of Independence were our national religion. That 
 instrument was our national bible, and the doctrine that "All 
 men are created free and equal ; that they are endowed by their 
 Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that among these are 
 life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," was a very beautiful 
 doctrine to preach, but alas ! in practice we came as far short 
 of it as men in general do of. the teachings of Christ. Our 
 fathers took a mighty stride forward in the march of progressive 
 civil government, but they stopped * at halfway and left their 
 work but half done. They threw off the oppressive tyranny of 
 Great Britain, but left a more galling yoke upon the necks of a 
 portion of our own people. They cured a cutaneous disease 
 upon the surface of the body politic, but left a canker gnawing 
 at the very vitals of the nation, which they did not remove. 
 And this is the cause of all our woe. In time, its baneful influ- 
 ence was felt in every fiber and tissue of the system, and the 
 whole body politic became a mass of rottenness and corruption, 
 and then came the struggle between freedom any tyranny anew. 
 A struggle for life or death of the nation. Loyal men through- 
 out the land were anxious observers of the momentous events 
 transpiring, awaiting the first blow from the hands of the trai- 
 tors. That blow was struck, Fort Sumter had fallen, and the 
 glorious emblem of American liberty was trailing in the dust. 
 At the first quick and feverish pulsation through the electric 
 nerves of the country, how the loyal masses sprang to arms ; the 
 President called them, and nobly did they respond to his call. 
 None stopped to weigh the chances of life or death ; none stop- 
 ped to count the cost. One thought, one wish, one motive ac- 
 tuated all loyal hearts to save the nation. It was easier by 
 far to get men than arms, for arms must be brought from Europe 
 or manufactured, but we had men, brave and patriotic, ready- 
 made, ready at the call. Then followed the long, dreary, weary, 
 anxious four years of the most gigantic war the world ever be- 
 held ; the long, toilsome and weary marches through rain and 
 mud, the dark nights of lonely watching and guarding, and the 
 tumult of battle, followed each other in such unceasing succes- 
 sion, that there was scarcely any rest for the weary soldier. 
 How fast he grew old ; how he wasted with sickness ; how that 
 grand army wasted away ; but with what alacrity was it replen- 
 ished. Scarcely had a fallen comrade's place become vacant 
 when it would be filled by a new recruit, and then they came 
 " six hundred thousand more," and still they came, " a grand 
 majestic throng " from every quarter of the loyal North, deter-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 535 
 
 mined to save their country or die in the noble attempt. 'Twas 
 well that we knew not who "of our "brave boys must fall;" 
 'twas well that we could not look into the then future and see 
 the army of our maimed and wounded comrades disabled for 
 life; 'twas well that we could not see the waste and desolation 
 of war in all its horrors ; 'twas well that we could not then com- 
 pute the load of national debt to be incurred, to save the na- 
 tion's life. We saw only our duty; and how well we performed 
 that duty, let the world, let posterity, judge. 
 
 Had the soldier and sailor been less brave and patriotic 
 where would have been the nation to-day ? Among the nations 
 of the past. The right of secession once established, and this 
 glorious fabric of free government would have been broken into 
 a hundred fragments, and anarchy and confusion, eternal war 
 and hate would have been the result. I cannot, I will not at- 
 tempt to picture what would have been had the citizen soldier 
 of the Republic disappointed the hopes of the nation. I gladly 
 turn from such thoughts to the contemplation of the results of 
 their achievements. A nation saved, a race emancipated and 
 enfranchised. The world moved forward a half a century in 
 the march of human progress, and inspired with a wholesome 
 awe of the young giant Republic of the western world, and 
 this lias been accomplished by the prowess of the soldiers and 
 sailors of the Republic. The brave and loyal men who have 
 fallen in this struggle are placed side by side with the heroes of 
 the revolution in the affections and memories of the American 
 people, and ure entitled to and will receive from posterity the 
 eame veneration and love. The memory of our fallen Lyon 
 and Baker and Sedgwick, Phil. Kearney and Wadsworth, 
 McPherson, Reynolds, Sumner, Mitchell and Lander is as sacred 
 in the hearts of the American people to-day, as the me- 
 mory of the fallen heroes of the Revolution. And just as 
 sacred and just as dear as those illustrious names I have men- 
 tinnpd is the memory of hundreds of thousands of others who 
 
 tioned is the memory of 
 
 did their duty just as well, though not called to nil so high and 
 responsible 'positions. And among that vast army are the 
 names of our own Wilkin, and Cook, and Mclvune, and Messick, 
 and Turner, and Pence, and Pierce, and Youells,and Tope and 
 Davis, Hagstrom, Schrouth, Reblee, Randall and Reed. May 
 the memory of the heroic dead inspire us anew with the spirit 
 of freedom and equal rights to all mankind Had they lived 
 and came not to the rescue, our country would have been lost ; 
 had they lived, liberty would have been dead ; had they lived 
 the tyranny of caste would have lorded it over the land But 
 they died, and our country is saved; they died, and liberty
 
 536 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 lives, yes, universal liberty for all within this vast domain of 
 ours ; they died and slavery is dead, and we can now say as 
 proudly as England can, that "slaves cannot breathe our air." 
 We have the proud satisfaction of knowing that this vast host 
 of onr comrades died not in vain. It was a great and heroic 
 sacrifice that they made, but great as it was, the grand results 
 accomplished will more than repay it all, if we, their survivors 
 and the generations which shall succeed us shall stand true to 
 the cause of liberty and the rights of man, for which they per- 
 ished. Should we or our posterity fail to do that, then all this 
 war, carnage and bloodshed will be repeated with redoubled 
 fury and will exceed in magnitude our last struggle as far as 
 that did the struggle of onr Revolutionary fathers, for the march 
 of the world is forward and not backward, and any obstruction 
 thrown in its way only retards, but does not stop its progress 
 arid the obstruction is sure to be crushed in time beneath its 
 steady tread. There are many good results that have been 
 brought about by the late war. To-day you and I can go into 
 any part of the South and express our sentiments freely and 
 safely, which was not the case before the war. We hear no 
 more the boast that one Southern man can whip five Yankees. 
 They learned to appreciate northern valor, and we learned to 
 appreciate their valor too. Their valor was worthy a better 
 cause, for they fought bravely and well, as the bloody fields of 
 Pittsburg Landing, of Chickamauga, of Gettysburg, of Antie- 
 tam, of Malvern Hill, of Spottsylvania and of the Wilderness, 
 and many others will amply testify. But our brave men " armed 
 with the holy cause of liberty, were invincible," and the victory 
 was ours. The country was saved and our enemies vanquished, 
 beaten and humbled. Throwing down their arms they only 
 expected to be allowed to live, willing to accept any terms the 
 government might see fit to impose, and with no expectation 
 of dictating terms of reconstruction. The victory of arms was 
 never more complete and thorough, and it is not the fault of 
 the army that there has been so much of a rebellious spirit 
 cropping out here and there. No nation under the sun ever 
 gave to the world such an example of forgiveness and magna- 
 nimity towards its conquered enemies. Instead of trying and 
 punishing these rebel traitors for the crimes of which they 
 stood confessedly guilty, we gave them their life, liberty and 
 property, all of which had been forfeited by the laws of the 
 land, and to nearly all their franchise ; in fact, the government 
 has been more generous than just towards them. The result of 
 all this is, that we see State governments springing into exis' 
 ence all through the South, and in the hands of loyal men ; a 1
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 537 
 
 in ten years I confidently hope and expect that there will be 
 greater sympathy and unity of feeling between the people of 
 tin- North and the people of the South than ever existed before 
 the war. Each having learned to respect the valor of the other, 
 we shall hear much less insulting language between the two 
 sections. Let all act upon the maxim enunciated by the im- 
 mortal Lincoln "with charity to all men and malice toward 
 none," then will a more kindly feeling prevail. But while the 
 citizen soldiers of the Republic would act generously and mag- 
 nanimously toward their fallen foes, and bid them live and 
 stand erect and be men and citizens again, they demand some 
 guarantee of security from like attacks upon the nation's life in 
 the future. The toil, fatigue, hardship and exposure, and the 
 fields of carnage, and their dead and dying comrades, are still 
 too fresh in their memory to wish that it may be repeated. It 
 was duty arid not pleasure that called them to the rescue. As 
 it is our duty to cherish the memories of our heroic dead, it is 
 no less our duty to do honor to the living heroes. And even 
 now the names of Grant and Sherman, and Thomas and Sheri- 
 dan, should be, and I believe are, in all loyal hearts as sacred 
 and as dear as the names of Washington and his compatriots. 
 And as the people called the great military chieftain of the 
 revolution to till the highest office within their gift, so the people 
 to-day call onr great chieftain to fill the same position once 
 adorned by the immortal Washington, and the sainted martyr, 
 Abraham Lincoln. Our chieftain, the great defender of his 
 country, like the father of his country, is "First in war, first in 
 pe.-ire/and first in the hearts of his countrymen." The country 
 will be safe in the hands of its defenders. I am proud to have 
 lived in the 19th century. I am now proud to be an American 
 citizen. 1 am glad to have lived to witness the struggle between 
 freedom and tyranny. I am proud of the grand army of citi- 
 zen soldiers who stood between their country and ruin. I am 
 1 .roiul to have borne some humble part in the achievement of 
 such jrrand results. And let me see the country placed in the 
 hands of its defenders, and peace, quiet and harmony, and 
 brotherly love and friendship, order and law prevailing through- 
 out the land, in all sections; then, when these results shall have 
 been fully accomplished, and the nation is in the full enjoyment 
 of the fruits thereof, and the great reveille is sounded tor me, 
 axvakino- me to the new life beyond, I will willingly go down to 
 my gi-Hve, though I may go down unwept, unhonored and un- 
 sung.
 
 538 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 AT OWATONNA, MINNESOTA. 
 
 Post No. 5, G. A. R., formed in line, front of Masonic Hall, 
 and inarched from thence to Forest Hill Cemetery, for the pur- 
 pose of strewing flowers over the graves of their fallen com- 
 rades. The procession was headed by a band of martial music, 
 followed by the members of the G. A. R. and a large concourse 
 of citizens on foot and in carriages. Arriving at the cemetery, 
 they proceeded to decorate the grave of John Wilcox, after 
 which they marched to the resting-places of Messrs Richardson, 
 Morford, and Lieut. Goodwin, upon whose grave a beautiful 
 bouquet was placed, presented by Mrs. M. A. Dailey. After 
 decoration, the company assembled under the " flag of the free," 
 when prayer was offered by Rev. L. S. Griggs, after which a 
 beautiful dirge was sung by the choir, entitled " There is rest in 
 the grave." Hon. M. H. Dunnell then delivered the following 
 oration : 
 
 MB. Di^srxELi/s ADDEESS. 
 
 COMRADES : In obedience to order, and in harmony with the 
 dictates of dearly cherished memories, we come, this beautiful 
 morning, to decorate the graves of our fallen, heroic dead. "We 
 bring vernal fh/wers, we decorate. Our deeds cannot affect the 
 dead, and yet the dead may justly claim these acts of remem- 
 brance from us. The country s weal pointed to them the grave ; 
 they entered it, and that weal demands of us to-day a recollec- 
 tion of their deeds, and nothing less than this can we do upon 
 this occasion. Life is noble, as it answers some noble end, and 
 that life is noble which is least unselfish, and which is given 
 away in accordance with some high demand. The country de- 
 manded the sacrifices which we this day recollect, and we come 
 here to honor those who fill these graves, and to honor the lives 
 of those who have thus been sacrificed. They were not sacri- 
 ficed in the pathway of gain or personal ambition, but in the 
 pathway of their country where it called them, they went and 
 fell. These mounds which we this day decorate, comrades, are 
 not indeed monuments of brass, or marble, or stone. They have 
 not been reared by wealth, and yet every particle of dust which 
 goes to make up these mounds, if we but rightly listen, are vo- 
 cal with the praise of those whose bodies lie mouldering within. 
 From what place can the fragrance of these vernal flowers more 
 appropriately ascend to Heaven than from the dust that covers 
 the fallen braves. If God gladly receives the fragrance of the 
 flowers, He will receive it as it comes from the grave of a fallen 
 comrade. This day will open up afresh many a heart, and while
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 539 
 
 we here to-day gathered around these mounds, and while mant 
 ot us perform mere acts of remembrance, there are fathers 
 mothers, sisters and brothers, to whom this act of ours will 
 
 a sad remembrance of those who have fallen in defense of their 
 beloved country. A mother will be left alone, a son a father 
 gone, gone ! A sister will remember the manly form of a loved 
 brother. A brother will remember to-day the body of him who 
 died for his country's defense. This scene will brino- back the 
 many scenes of the war. There are thousands and tens of thou- 
 sands^ of these mounds, these monuments to patriotism, to self- 
 sacrificing devotion, to-day far away where on this beautiful 
 day no friendly hand will strew with flowers. They rest to-day 
 in southern climes, where no friendly feet will tread, nor will 
 friendly hands scatter fragrant flowers in memory of their brave 
 deeds. May God hasten the day when not a grave shall hold 
 idier of the Union, but there shall be around the graves 
 in every community hearts so full of patriotism, so full of loy- 
 alty, that every grave from one end of the land to the other 
 shall on its annual occasion be strewn with those wild flowers, 
 emblems of the fresh remembrances. (Amen ) This is a day 
 for the exercise of sympathy. "We to-day mingle our tears with 
 those who indeed come here to weep, and the exercise of this 
 sympathy is calculated to ennoble us. We can exercise this 
 sympathy for those who stand around the graves of friends. As 
 we stand here by the graves of these soldier boys we have higher 
 conceptions of duty. We understand better the relations we 
 sustain to the Government. We cherish its institutions and we 
 love it all the more. And when we have performed this simple 
 act we will go away from this place better men and better wo- 
 men, loving our country more, and loving each other more, and 
 loving Heaven more. We are more patriotic as we approach 
 the.-e graves. We go away feeling that the country may yet de- 
 mand of us sacrifices, and when the sacrifice is made, as the of- 
 ferers of that sacrifice we are made the nobler and the better, 
 and here to-day, as though upon the altars of our country, we 
 renew our pledges of devotion to it. The soldiers, representing 
 those who in the camp and field, and amid the carnage of war 
 stood fast and firm and unflinchingly to the demands of their 
 country, and defended it against the combined assaults of the 
 enemy* come here to-day to garland the graves of their com- 
 rades. As we go away "from this place, we go feeling that our 
 hearts have been made better ; that the remembrances of noble, 
 daring deeds, which make us all the more willing in the future 
 to sacrifice in the country weal, and I hope the time may never 
 come when these graves, that are sublime records of our coun-
 
 540 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 try's patriotism, shall ever be forgotten ; that the approach to 
 them maybe made pleasant and inviting; that they shall be 
 annually visited, and upon them the tears of affection and pat- 
 riotism be dropped, and that in our own hearts may be nou- 
 rished and cherished, and be made to abound with earnest, un- 
 faltering patriotism upon which the nation relied in its late 
 struggle, and upon which it may rely in the future. Relying 
 upon 'this, what shall retard us? "With virtue, intelligence, and 
 patriotism to guide us, our nation will be as prosperous in the 
 future as it has been in the past, and we ourselves constantly 
 cherishing the remembrance of those who so bravely fought and 
 defended the country in its hour of peril and danger. And as 
 we separate, let us call to mind those who, with us, fought and 
 fell. Remembering their virtues, their sacrifices, may we sepa- 
 rate, and, with measured tread, and with hearts swelling with 
 emotion toward those who have thus fallen and have so worthily 
 honored themselves and the country, and so securely preserved 
 it for us ; and may we in turn preserve it and hand it down to 
 those who shall come after them. Peace to the noble dead. 
 We leave these graves, and as we leave them we promise to 
 keep in our minds their memories fresh and green, and as per- 
 fumed as these vernal flowers with which we have this day deco- 
 rated their graves. 
 
 At the conclusion of Mr. Dunnell's remarks the song "O, 
 wrap the flag around me, boys," was beautifully rendered, at the 
 close of which Mr. Russell pronounced the benediction, and the 
 assemblage took their homeward march, feeling that they had 
 done " honor to the brave." 
 
 AT FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY. 
 
 Ample preparations had been made to render the occasion 
 one of suitable character with the laudable purpose in view. 
 iThe ladies of the town and county prepared and supplied an 
 'abundance of flowers, with wreaths, festoons, evergreens, and 
 floral designs of exquisite grace and beauty. These were sent 
 to the Court House by 2 o'clock P. M., where the procession was 
 to assemble. And not only was this just interest manifested by 
 the friends of the dead soldiers in our immediate vicinity, but 
 other places claimed a share in the patriotic contributions. 
 From four Federal officers at Cynthiana, Ky. (Col. W. P. Roper, 
 of 6th Ky. Cav., Capts. R. F. Long, 4th Ky. Infy., W. C. Mus- 
 selman, 20th Ky. Inty., and Lieut. H. M. McGee, 7th Ky. Cav.), 
 an elaborate and handsome floral arch, decorated with ribbons 
 representing the national colors, was received, with the request 
 that it be placed over the graves of their dead comrades in
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 541 
 
 arras. From Paris and from Danville were contributions of 
 choice and fragrant flowers, donated by sympathizing hearts 
 illed with loving respect for the fallen brave. At 2 o'clock p M ' 
 the procession began assembling at the Court House. Arms' 
 and a uniform consisting of blouses of blue with caps, had been 
 provided for the late Federal soldiers, who organized under the 
 command of Col. Jno. Mason Brown. Dark-colored pants were 
 worn to o-ive uniformity to the array. Saxton's Brass Band, 
 from Lexington, headed the procession, which formed with its 
 right toward Wappipg street. The following order, agreed 
 upon by the Committee of Arrangements, was observed : 
 
 Saxton's Brass Band ; platoons of late Federal soldiers ; floral 
 arch from Cynthiana; platoons of late Federal soldiers ; tattered 
 regimental flags of Kentucky troops ; platoons of late Federal 
 soldiers ; wagon containing eight young ladies ; citizens. 
 
 The flags borne in the procession were those of the 22d In- 
 fantry, 45th Mounted Infantry, loth Infantry (orphan regiment), 
 and the 6th Ky. Cavalry. A beautiful flag, embleming in its ' 
 folds the stars and stripes, was borne in the wagon with the 
 young ladies. These young ladies, eight in number, represented 
 the States and localities whose dead reposed in the cemetery. 
 The representatives were as follows : 
 
 United States, represented by Miss Lottie Todd ; Kentucky, 
 Miss Annie McClure ; Indiana, Miss Mattie Settle; Ohio, Miss 
 Ada Mclvee; Illinois, Miss Laura Hatchitt ; Maryland, Miss 
 Jennie Todd ; Michigan, Miss Lou "Watson ; Capitol Guards, 
 Miss Annie Gray. 
 
 The Capital Guards were a battalion of troops stationed at 
 the Capital of the State. The entire procession was under the 
 charge of Dr. J. M. Mills as Chief Marshal. 
 
 On arriving at the Cemetery, the first step in the order of 
 arrangements was the successive decoration of the graves of 
 those who lay apart from the general circle of the federal dead, 
 interred in family plats. The column, moving to an appropriate 
 dirge along the winding road under the shadows of the pines 
 and evergreens, successfully halted as each separate grave was 
 reached, and while standing at a " present arms," a squad deco- 
 rated the graves with flowers. The lamented dead who thus 
 received the tribute of their comrades' honors are comprised in 
 the following list gallant spirits who gave their dearest, best 
 treasure, their lives, for their country, or have followed those 
 who have gone before : Cols. Kobt. H. King, James "W. Crad- 
 dock, Surgeon Jno. O. Keenon, Captains Albert Bacon, Dan. 
 Garrard, W. T. McClure, Lieutenants Dennis Haly, Frank 
 Todd, Joseph McClure, Sergeants .Richard Davenport, Lucien
 
 542 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 McKee, Fleming Meek, Wm. "Walls, Privates Burns, W. 
 
 Pifer, Jno. Henderson, Geo. Berry. Wm. Riter, Jno. Sullivan, 
 and Two Unknowns. 
 
 These tributes having been rendered, the procession marched 
 to the circle of graves where lay the greater number of the 
 federal dead, decently interred by the United States authorities, 
 and formed in line on the east side of the many little mounds 
 under which repose the dust of those who once marched at the 
 call of their country, but never again returned to those who 
 watched and waited at home. The exercises were opened with 
 prayer by Rev. Wm. Todd Egbert, of the Episcopal Church. 
 This was followed by the address of Col. Jno. Mason Brown, 
 as follows : 
 
 MY COMRADES : If it were not for one consideration, I 
 should have felt in duty bound to have declined the honor of 
 addressing you at this time and place. That consideration is 
 that the reasons for this demonstration and the feelings that 
 prompt it, are plain to the appreciation of the plainest among us 
 and not liable to misinterpretation even in the most unprepared 
 remarks. It is impossible for the most elaborate preparation to 
 overdraw the grand suggestions that arise from such an occasion. 
 The most gifted orator might find in it a theme worthy of all 
 his powers, and might vainly attempt the portrayal of the sym- 
 pathies and associations springing from the scene and its sur- 
 roundings. He might advert most glowingly to the patriotic 
 self-sacrifice of those who sleep around us, to the glorious cause 
 for which they deliberately died, to the weight of gratitude and 
 reverence which the free people of a great nation will increas- 
 ingly feel for their memories and their deeds. And he might 
 carry you, in a noble enthusiasm, to the height whence might 
 be seen a long train of great events, pregnant with blessings to 
 mankind, multiplying in number and power from year to year, 
 and from generation to generation, springing, all of them, from 
 the germ of patriot principle; and nourished with the blood of 
 those true heroes who knew their duty and did it in despite of 
 death. But, for all the capabilities of such an occasion, and 
 the grandeur of its suggestions, it needs no philosopher to dis- 
 cover the motives of this demonstration, nor culture or learning, 
 to feel its causes and its sympathies. The thoughts of this hour 
 are plain and simple. They are clear to the understanding of 
 the plainest of us, and the most unpracticed among us can, in 
 some fashion, give form to the common feeling of us all. I feel 
 sure that I cannot far mis-state your sentiments, even though 
 not prepared as the occasion deseaves, and unequal to the full 
 measure of the duty, as I feel myself to be. We are here, Com-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 543 
 
 rades, to publicly demonstrate our veneration for the memories 
 of our fellow soldiers who have gone before us, and to bear 
 witness that the truths which they asserted even to the death are, 
 with us, fresh and vital and as fall of power as when we stood 
 shoulder to shoulder, in the leaden storm, with those whose 
 graves we this day decorate. The bloody years are past, God 
 grant forever, the days of battle and the nights of toilsome 
 inarching are^gone; the armed combatant is nowhere seen in 
 the land. We, who not many months since followed the drum 
 and bugle far from our homes, have resumed the peaceful pur- 
 suits of the civilian. We have returned, one to his farm, 
 another to his bench, another to his office, and another to his 
 shop. The trappings of war have been discarded save when 
 some commemorative day like this brings forth to the light the 
 worn uniforms and rusted blades of our soldier life. We live 
 peacefully and pursue in tranquility the honest avocations of 
 the citizen's life. Why is this, and why can we lay aside the 
 bayonet, and trust, with an unfailing confidence, in the civil power 
 of the land ? It is because the Cause, for which you fought, and 
 for which thase died, has triumphed. It is because that glorious 
 banner, rent though it be with bullet and shell, burned with the 
 flames of a hundred fights, and stained with the tempests of a 
 score of campaigns, yet floats, the unhumbled ensign of a Great 
 Nation, saved from the jaws of death by the unselfish valor of 
 her sons. It is because these braves and those like them, were 
 willing to die that the Nation might live. It is because the 
 blood of true men quenched the flames that wrapped the temple 
 of Freedom. It is because the stones of the fabric of our lib- 
 erties and our safety, have been cemented anew by the blood of 
 the dead of the Grand Army. Can we, fellow soldiers, forget 
 them \ Can their memory perish from the earth ? Will a great 
 people forget its defenders ? Will the lovers of liberty around 
 the globe let their fame cease who saved the citadel of Freedom 
 in the darkest hour ? No ! the glory of their fame is undying ! 
 The little mound of Marathon, where slumber the Greeks, who 
 saved the world from Asiatic barbarism, is a holier spot than 
 the site of City or pyramid or palace ; and while civilization 
 endures, the glory of "that little band will outshine the pomp of 
 kings and the pride of luxury and power. Time will come 
 when the common consent of humanity will number our dead 
 comrades among the heroes and benefactors of mankind ; when 
 the o;reen mounds above them will be known as true altars of 
 patrotism and liberty ; when patriots of all nations and climes 
 sh*ll gather new inspiration at their graves and recognize how 
 endunno- i s the fame of those who bravely die in the cause of
 
 544 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Right and Justice and their country. Time will destroy the 
 marble of our tombs. No chiseled epitaph can survive his at- 
 tack. The steel of our bayonets must perish. The names we 
 bear will be unknown to those who succeed us an hundred 
 years. But there is a shrine in the temple of the ages, where 
 lie forever embalmed the memories of such as have deserved 
 well of their country and their race. There will be treasured 
 alike the time glory of him who passed in the storm of battle 
 and the none less heroic martyr of the hospital. The patriots 
 of future generations may not identity the occupants of these 
 graves by name or private history. To them it may be un- 
 known, whether the dust be that of King, of dashing sabre and 
 sounding spur, or of Garrard, who, while yet a boy, died like a 
 man, at the head of the stormers, or of McClure, who with un- 
 faltering and Christian courage calmly faced the unpi tying and 
 slow advance of death, and died, the truest of heroes, at his post 
 of honor and of duty. The name for each of them in the after- 
 time will be that of " United States Soldier" That term will 
 epitomize the fire and storm of war, and the unselfish devotion 
 of those who sleep around us. It will picture to men's minds 
 the awful time when fratricidal conflict prevailed throughout our 
 borders ; when the best blood flowed freely for what men judged 
 the Right ; when these dead heroes surrendered their lives that 
 their country might live. Around us lie many whom we have 
 known and loved in former days. Companions of our marches, 
 sharers of our toils, comrades in battle and danger, brothers in 
 the service of our country, are this day the recipients of our 
 marks of affection and respect. 
 
 How many memories of the camp and the field this day crowd 
 upon us. How many regrets for the days gone by when our com- 
 rades were stalwart men-at-arms, prompt to their country's 
 help ! These, comrades, are but our advanced guard. Their 
 tour of duty done, their labors accomplished, they have passed 
 the dark river, to encamp forever on those green and happy 
 plains where is the eternal reward of those who know their duty 
 and do it. Daily is the number of us their survivors decreasing. 
 Another and another veteran marches to join those who have 
 gone before. Let us cherish their memories, let us honor their 
 graves. And, persistent in duty and right, let us endeavor to 
 look forward undismayed to the last and general reveille when 
 we and our comrades shall appear to await the solemn and final 
 inspection. 
 
 The graves of the dead soldiers were then decorated, after 
 which a salute of three rounds was fired over the graves, and 
 the benediction was pronounced by Rev. Mr. Egbert. There
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 545 
 
 were about one thousand persons present at these ceremonies 
 As the column moved from the grounds, it halted for a few 
 moments while the members of Saxton's band played a dime 
 over and decorated the grave of Dennis Haly, formerly a mem- 
 their organization. It then resumed its march to the 
 Court House, and on its arrival there dismissed. 
 A T 1 !? f - aVeS f^ orated v comprising every one, were those of 
 the following soldiers : J. N. Griffee, Co. H, 19 Kv. Yols Lt 
 DO. Moren Co^A 24 Ky. Vols., Sergt. Alfred Ramey, Co.-, 
 
 To J X ^ Vi K T 6 A y ' C - J > n K ^ s " E - & <W 
 Co A, 30 Ky. Yols., C. Gunn, Co. H, 10 Ky. Yols., G E 
 
 Kelly Co. D, 30 Ky. Yols., W. Hopkins, Co. C, 30 Kv Yols ' 
 H. a Hardin, Co J, 30 Ky. Yols, J. T. S. Hardy, Co. A, 30 
 
 v J on S> ' F'S I| 4 B S C - A ' 3 K ^ Yok ' W - Clifton, Co. 
 E, 30 Ky Yols., W P Bryant, Co. K, 7 Ky. Cav, J. Graham, 
 Co. 7 Ky. Cav., E. Luntsford, Co., 7 Ky. Cav, B. Armi- 
 tage, Co., 7 Ky. Cav, Alex. Wines, Co. F, 7 Ky. Cav, J 
 Kirkwood, Co. H, 45 M't'dlnft, Jos. Montgomery, Co. F 22 
 Ky. Yois, J. B. Farson, Co. F, 22 Ky. Yols, J. R. Stephens, 
 Co. B, 30 Ky. Yols, J. Edwards, Co. B, 30 Ky. Yols, J J 
 Powell, Co. A. 30 Ky. Yols, A. Schnaeffer, Co.E,30Kv. Yols. 
 G. Sleet, Co. B, 32 Ky. Yols, J. B. Marshall, Co. B/32 Kv. 
 Yols,E. Stewart, Co. B, 32 Ky. Yols, S. Osbom, Co. A, 32 
 Ky. Yols, W. Hubbard, Co. I, 7 Ky. Yols, 2 Ky. soldiers, 
 names unknown ; Joe Matthews, Co. H, 103 Ohio, H.'l. Os<>-ood> 
 Co. H, 103 Ohio, J. Colbers, Co. E, 103 Ohio, J. Hudson!" Co. 
 C, 103 Ohio, H. Martin, Co. K, 103 Ohio, J. King^ Co. G, 103 
 Ohio, J. Long, Co. G, 100 Ohio, L. Abbott, Co. F, 100 Ohio, 
 C. O. Black, Co. C, 100 Ohio, Jo. Keens, Co. C, 100 Ohio, A. 
 
 Morgan, Co. B, 100 Ohio, Jno. C , Co. F, 100 Ohio, E. 
 
 Hope, Co. H, 104 Ohio, T. W. Taylor, Co. F, 104 Ohio, J. 
 Minier, Co. B, 104 Ohio, L. M, Co., 44 Ohio, W. Black, Co. 
 B, 79 Ohio, J. Feinthal, Co., 106 Ohio, J. W. Sly, Co. A, 98 
 Ills, August Hoge, Co. C, 98 Ills, Jno. Cox, Co., 104 Ills, 
 J. McFarland, Co. E, 105 Ills, C. H. Rogers, Co. A, 102 Ills., 
 W. D, Co., 102 Ills, R. Watson, Co., 102 Ills, J. P. B. 
 Brown, Co. K, 120 Ills, J. C. P. Smith, Co., 72 Ind, C. 
 Moritz, Co. I, 75 Ind, J. R Wood, Co. I, 75 Ind, Wes. An- 
 drews, Co. H, 75 Ind, H. Hunter, Co. B, 55 Ind, J. W. Pul~ 
 lian, Co. A, 6 Ind. Cav, J. B. Welber, Co. 23 Mich, J. 
 Becker, Co. B, 23 Mich, G. W. Alger, Co. B, 23 Mich., D. 
 Thurston, Co. G, 23 Mich, H. H. Shurtliff, Co. H, 23 Mich, 
 Wm. P. Jones, Co. C, 2 Md. Vol., Capt. J. O. French, Co., 
 116 U. S. C. Infy, R. A. Simons, Co. A, Capital Guards, Geo. 
 Howell, Co. K, Capital Guards, L. C. Ramey, Co. G, Capital
 
 546 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Guards, R. B. Docking, Co. A, Capital Guards, L. "Wellman, 
 Co. E, Capital Guards, J. R. Warnock, Co. B, Capital Guards, 
 Harry Davis, Co. L, Capital Guards, Richard Glore, Co. , 
 Capital Guards, Robt. Prow, Co. B, Capital Guards, J. R. 
 AVilks, Co. D, Capital Guards, J. J. Kennady, Co. , Capital 
 Guards, J. Johnson, Co. G, Capital Guards, Herm Worth, tf. S. 
 
 Soldier, W. Houk, W. C. Cheyney, T. Curtis, Hardin ; 
 
 Eighteen U. S. Soldiers, names unknown. 
 
 AT LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY. 
 
 The procession formed at Odd Fellows' Hall soon after two 
 o'clock. On the right was the Newport United States band, 
 next a company of the Second United States Infantry under 
 Captain Falk and Lieutenant Danforth, and on the left an escort 
 of one hundred discharged Federal soldiers, under General H. 
 K. Milward. General S. W. Price, Colonel R. E. Johnston, 
 United States Army, in full uniform, Colonel P. B. Hunt, 
 Colonel Schofield and Colonel Scott, marshals of the day, start- 
 ed the procession for the ground shortly before three o'clock 
 Thirty-seven little girls, representing the States of the Union, 
 preceded the procession, drawn in omnibuses. On reaching the 
 grounds, the soldiers were formed near the stand, and Gen. 
 Price commanded silence, while the Rev. Dr. R. S. Hitchcock, 
 offered up an impressive prayer. The little girls dressed in 
 white, and wearing red, white, and blue sashes inscribed with 
 the names of the States, and bearing wreaths and bouquets, 
 then proceeded to decorate the thirty-seven reserved graves. 
 After music by the baud, the following poem, by Capt. R. C. 
 Marsh, of Lexington, Ky., was read by Col. Pollard : 
 
 THE UNION DEAD. 
 
 We've gather d comrades, true and brave, 
 
 In garlanded, bright May, 
 On many a fellow-soldier's grave 
 
 An offering fair to lay ; 
 And, with us are sparkling faces 
 
 And f'>rms of gentlest mold, 
 But we think of other places 
 
 And the forms these sods enfold. 
 
 While we scatter these tender May blooms, 
 
 Where peacefully they rest, 
 And catch the roseate perfumes, 
 
 Exhaled o'er each still breast, 
 We may think of camp-fires gleaming 
 
 Where, in their griefs and joys, 
 They oft were waked, by shouts from dreaming, 
 
 To arms! to arms ! again brave boys !
 
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 547 
 
 And " rally round the flag " would fly 
 
 The bristling lines alon<r, 
 Wliile with firm step and dauntless eye 
 
 The anthem they'd prolong ; 
 And still, as flew the shot and shell 
 
 In hissing flames around, 
 On ! pressing onward 'till the fall, 
 
 They plowed the bloody ground. 
 
 In dashing manhood's flush and pride, 
 
 Their noble heads were bowed 
 They fearless fought and bravely died 
 
 To gain an honored shroud. 
 And some died victory claiming 
 
 As their sad work was done, 
 And some recked not, in their maiming, 
 
 Of proud fields lost or won. 
 
 Brave comrades, while we are giving 
 
 Their graves these flowers rare, 
 We may think of them as living 
 
 In realms more sweetly fair, 
 "Where, in bloodless fields we'll meet them 
 
 Fields of eternal bloom, 
 Where, as brothers, we may greet them, 
 
 Nor know a cloud of gloom. 
 
 "When the reading of the poem was concluded, Prof. Bobert 
 Graham was introduced to the audience, and delivered the open- 
 ing oration : 
 
 LADIKS AND GENTLEMEN : When invited by your Committee 
 of Arrangements to take part in the touching ceremonies of this 
 day, I consented, on condition that I should not be required to 
 prepare a formal address. My tastes, my duties and my abilities 
 alike forbid that I should attempt anything of that kind ; but if 
 my small tribute shall add anything to the honor of the dead, or 
 the satisfaction of the living, then it is freely given, for were I 
 to refuse to say a few words to-day, methinks two hundred 
 thousand attenuated forms would rise from their lowly beds, and, 
 pointing their shadowy fingers at me, would cry " For shame ! " 
 Cold, indeed, must be the heart that is not moved by what we 
 have just witnessed. This solemn music, the fervent prayer, 
 the stirring poem, the festooned bowers, the young and beautiful 
 who adorn these quiet graves, this bright day; this lovely ceme- 
 tery, where art vies with nature to rob death of half its terrors, 
 and above all, the memories the sad, solemn memories that 
 cluster to our hearts while we think of the suffering, the agony, 
 and sacrifice through which, under God, the dreadful conflict 
 was brought to an end all, all conspire to move us to tender- 
 ness and tears. When the war that brought these brave men
 
 548 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 to their untimely end began, our country enjoyed unexampled 
 prosperity. A long peace, broken only by a few short, sharp 
 conflicts with the sons of the glade and the forest, and with the 
 half-civilized nation on our southern border, had fostered our 
 industry, extended our commerce, cultivated the arts, and made 
 our prosperity and our free institutions the wonder of the world. 
 In a fatal hour a spark was struck in Charleston harbor that set 
 our whole country in a blaze. The conflagration spread on 
 every side ; the inflammable material, collected during years of 
 political animosity, was drawn in by the great arms of the lam- 
 bent flame, and added fury to the devouring element. The 
 glare mounted up to heaven, and the cry. The great Republic, 
 the hope of Freedom's children in all lands, is on tire ! was heard 
 over the civilized globe. The woodsman who plied his vocation 
 in the forests of Maine, as he stood on the fallen pine, i.is ax 
 poised in air, paused as his ear caught again and ajrain the wild 
 alarm of war ; the ax lies at the root of the tree, the woodsman 
 is gone to join his comrades on the tented-field. The cry is 
 caught on the summit of Bunker Hill, and the plains of Con- 
 cord and Lexington are again swarming with armed men. The 
 marts of commerce, the emporiums of trade, sensible to the 
 least disturbance in social life, are now excited as never before. 
 The peaceable and busy artisan, the man of gain, the student at 
 his task, the judge in his ermine, and the bishop in his lawn, 
 men of all grades, classes and pursuits, stand amazed, and leave 
 their accustomed callings. The blast mounts to the summits of 
 the Alleghanies, and along the quiet rivers and over the prairies 
 of the West, swells the summons to arms. The pilot muses in 
 sadness as the solemn quiet of his midnight toil is broken by the 
 cry; the plow is left in the furrow, the unyoked oxen in the half- 
 plowed field. The ravines and gorges of the liocky Mountains 
 reverberate, and the snowy crests of the Sierra Nevada re-echo 
 the sound, as it passes on to the land where roll the Sacramento 
 and the turbid Oregon. Then, well do 1 remember with what 
 grief some of us went to our closets of prayer, and asked the 
 Merciful Father to let this cup pass from us; what fervor moved 
 our petitions that He, the God of peace and love, would speak 
 to the risen storm, and say, " Peace, be still." Oh ! my coun- 
 trymen, it is sad for a people to pass from the dominion of rea- 
 son to the dominion of force. The patriots of former years 
 prayed that they might not see the day when States should be 
 drenched in fraternal blood, and their desire was granted ; how 
 gladly would some of us have gone to lie down beside them rather 
 than see what we thought would be the ruin of our Country ! 
 How weak was our faith !
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 549 
 
 It is a remark of the Father of history, in his book inscribed 
 to Clio, that in peace children bury their parents ; but that in 
 war parents bury their children. The sentiment is not less just 
 than is the Greek pers icuous, in which Herodotus told it. It 
 is a wise provision of Divine Providence that we can, in pensive 
 sorrow, lay to rest onr aged parents crowned with years and 
 honors; the burst of anguish soon dies away into tender recol- 
 lection, but when age brings its treasures to the early tomb, then 
 the heart is inconsolable, it is " Rachel weeping for her children, 
 and refusing to be comforted, because they are not." Thank 
 God, our land, that was one vast camping-ground from ocean to 
 ocean, arid from the lakes to the Gulf, is once more at peace ; 
 and though we mourn over those graves, and grieve to think of 
 the price this sweet peace has cost us, let devout thankfulness 
 ascend with the aroma of these sweet flowers that exhales to 
 heaven, for the mournful pleasure we to-day enjoy. Such, I 
 trust, is the spirit in which we have to come to this sacred spot. 
 No tender token of regret, no sorrow we can cherish over the 
 remains of these martyred heroes will avail anything to them. 
 
 " Can storied nrn or animated bust 
 
 Ba<-k to its mansion call the fleeting breath? 
 Can Honor's \vice provoke the silent du?t, 
 
 Or flattery soothe the dull, cold ear of Death ? " 
 
 It is becoming to strew the beauties of the early summer on 
 these green graves, but we honor the dead to cherish the virtues 
 of the living. Th ?se flowers are fragile, and, separated from 
 their parent "stems, will soon fade, even as we shall soon fade 
 awsiy from earth : still, as they now bloom in freshness, they are 
 the emblems of onr affection ;" the evergreens among them shall 
 be the symbols of our undying faith in immortality. The genius 
 of Christianity would teach us, through these tender assiduities, 
 that there is a land beyond, where the soul shall live forever ; 
 where it shall know no decay of its powers, where no dread 
 alarms of war shall be heard, but. where all is peace and love. 
 Our minion, then, fellow-citizens, is to go forth from this place 
 in the spirit of kindness, free from hatred and all unchantable- 
 nes* but with the love of country and humanity invigorated, 
 resolving to do all in the fear of God for the best interests ot 
 the whole country as we conscientiously understand it. 1 mis 
 coin" forth, we shall diffuse around us, in word and action char 
 ity and <nx>d will. Nor does this imply a weak adherence to the 
 principles we avow. A calm and inflexible determination , to do 
 rio-ht, and to do it in love, is an evidence of real power rather 
 ;han of weakness. The babbling brook that ripples along, and
 
 550 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 frets against the pebbles iu its course, vapors out its unavailing 
 complaints to bird and flower that smile in cairn security on its 
 noisy marge, but who will say to the quiet and solemn flow of 
 the ocean that begirts the majestic earth, " Thus far, but no fur- 
 ther." Iu this spirit of resistless might and calm patriotism 
 went forth those now lying around us here. Many of them for 
 weary months pined away in pain and anguish of spirit in the 
 crowded hospital ; and many fell by a shorter and sharper agony 
 on the ensanguined field, in the din of battle, and the terrible 
 onsets of warlike men. They fell, they died, whether by the slow 
 consuming pestilence, the festering wound, or the murderous shot 
 or shell or ball, in the cause they loved, and for which they of- 
 fered their lives in sacrifice. Those who have crossed the fron- 
 tiers of this narrow life are removed far beyond our censure or 
 our praise. We that are following on, shall soon be as free as 
 they ; but as we would like to be remembered by those for whom 
 we have suffered, and whom our lives have blessed, so shall not 
 these be forgotten. Then weave your chaplets of flowers, scat- 
 ter year by year on their lowly beds the lily, the rose, and the 
 amaranth, and let coming generations know your faith in the 
 immortality of the good and true. 
 
 I cannot close these remarks without allusion to one who fell 
 early in this conflict. That noble spirit, the idol of all who 
 knew him, the soul of honor, the rich man's peer, the poor 
 man's friend, wearing a name that is linked to all that is praise- 
 worthy in the settlement of Lexington, and the growth of Ken- 
 tucky. How could I omit to mention the name of Dr. Ethelbert 
 L. Dudley. Was that not a prophecy of good that gave this 
 generous man his Christian name ? As if it were not enough to 
 wear one of the most honored names in Kentucky, some happy 
 inspiration called him Ethelbert the bright noble of our Anglo- 
 Saxon forefathers. Was ever mortal more truly named ? The 
 erudite scholar, the humane physician, the generous friend, the 
 dauntless leader of his men in the hour of danger, the prince of 
 his tribe, and object of deepest love in the large circle of his 
 relatives and friends, he lies here, and his grave is bedewed to- 
 day with tears of deepest sorrow. 
 
 Could he could the youthful and patriotic Gratz, lying not 
 far away could all these whose graves are redolent with the 
 perfume of flowers, speak from their narrow cells, would they 
 not approve what, in conclusion, I say to each, to all : Go forth 
 on errands of reconciliation, and, with the love of country and 
 of humanity on your hearts, address yourselves to the great 
 work of restoring the reign of peace and good will from one 
 end to the other of our once imperiled but now preserved and 
 beloved country.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 551 
 
 At the close of Professor Graham's oration, Col. John A. 
 Prall spoke. After Mr. Prall's speech, the benediction was pro- 
 nounced by the Rev. W. M. Pratt. Captain Falck's company 
 then inarched to the graves, and tired a salute of three rounds, 
 when it was announced that the ceremonies of the day were 
 concluded, and the thousands silently and slowly dispersed and 
 went to their homes. 
 
 Extensive preparations were made by the colored people to 
 decorate the graves of their soldiers. At 1 o'clock a martial 
 band struck up the national airs, and the blacks began to assem- 
 ble at Asbury church. The black men composing Post ISTo. 5, 
 Grand x\rmy of the Republic, marched out and took their place 
 at the head of the procession. Each man wore a scarf of red, 
 white, and blue, set with stars, and carried w r reaths of flowers. 
 Some of the officers were in full uniform of the United States, 
 and wore the straps of Captains. The Grand Army of the Re- 
 public, when drawn up, formed ten large platoons, each under 
 command of an officer wearing a sabre. Next in order, behind 
 the Army of the Republic, followed a body of discharged col- 
 ored soldiers, marching by twos, and singing the national airs. 
 All these men had served in the Federal army, and sixteen regi- 
 ments were represented, most of them having belonged to Gen- 
 eral Brisbin's old division. Behind the soldiers came a body of 
 colored women, carrying garlands of flowers, and joining in the 
 singing. In rear of these were a mass of people on horseback, 
 in carriages, and on foot. Carriages containing the speakers 
 and leading colored men of the place preceded the procession. 
 Soon after 1 o'clock the procession moved to the Presbyterian 
 burying-ground, and the ceremonies began. A two-horse wagon, 
 loaded with flowers, had been drawn into the ground, and after 
 a solemn prayer over the graves by the Chaplain of the Army 
 of the Republc, the women took the wreaths and bouquets from 
 the wagon, and handed them to the soldiers, who tiled among 
 the crraves, knelt, and deposited the flowers. Girls and women 
 next advanced with baskets and aprons of loose flowers, and 
 strewed them on the graves, singing : 
 
 " Soldier, rest in peace," &c. 
 
 At times the whole congregation joined in the singing, and we 
 saw many men and women weeping convulsively. As soon as 
 the flowers had all been strewed on the graves, the Kev. W. L. 
 Muir (colored) rose, and said : 
 
 BROTHERS AND SISTERS: I truly thank God for coming here 
 to-day, to do honor to our dead soldiers. I have come a good 
 long way ; and when I came, I did not expect to see such a
 
 552 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 great crowd of people ; but I am glad, by your presence, to see 
 you show an appreciation of the services rendered by these dead 
 soldiers of our people. These men fought for your freedom, 
 and not only you, but your children after you, should come here 
 to do them honor. We are now a free people, and should try 
 to advance ourselves, and show to the world that we are worthy 
 of the great boon that has been given us. Kindness of heart 
 and affection for the dead is a mark of refinement and civiliza- 
 tion, and your tears and flowers here to-day is another rebuke 
 to the barbarity of slavery. Thank God, we are all under our 
 own vine and tig-tree at last, free men, and free women, who can 
 worship God, no man daring to molest or make us afraid. I see 
 present with us our General ; God bless him, and prolong his 
 days ! He will speak to you presently, and you must now not 
 only pardon my disjointed remarks, but excuse me from saying 
 any tiling more. 
 
 After music by the band, a committee of the Grand Army 
 of the Republic escorted General Brisbin to the stand. 
 
 GENERAL BRISBIN'S SPEECH. 
 
 COMRADES AND COLORED CITIZENS OF KENTUCKY : I need not 
 tell you I am glad to be here to-day. You all know it is my 
 pleasure as well as my duty to assist you in all your good 
 works. No nobler or more worthy deed could engage your at- 
 tention than that which brings you together on this occasion. 
 If the dead are permitted to revisit the earth, these men are 
 here to-day in the air above us, and smiling their approval upon 
 us. When the pale, sheeted forms that now sleep in these 
 graves were alive and upon the earth, it was my good fortune 
 to command them in battle ; and, standing here by their graves, 
 I lift up my voice to say, before God and man, that no better, 
 no braver men ever lived. They died in the service of their 
 country, for the freedom of their people, and the Union of these 
 States. What a noble death to die ! God grant, when dead 
 and gone, we may be as worthy of remembrance as they. The 
 battle, for these men, is over ; they will answer to the bugle-call 
 no more ; but we of the living, who are still in the flesh, have a 
 solemn duty to perform, and I trust you are all ready to bear 
 your pail. We must preserve the Union and the freedom these 
 men laid down their lives to give us. We must show to the 
 world that they died not in vain, and that we are worthy to suc- 
 ceed them. With their dying breath they melted the chains of 
 slavery, that for two hundred years had been forging upon your 
 limbs, and you stood forth redeemed, regenerated, disenthralled 
 by the genius of emancipation. You owe these dead me
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 553 
 
 much ; and on each recurring anniversary of this, or some other 
 day, come here and strew flowers upon the graves of your he- 
 roes. And on other days of the year, bring your children to 
 this quiet graveyard; point them to these graves, and say 
 Here sleep the patriots who died for your freedom." Tell 
 them the story of the war ; how black men fought, and rebels 
 fell before them ; and as your children climb your knee, or lean 
 upon your bosom, teach them to love that dear old flag, to be 
 true to the Union of these States, and never to give up the free- 
 dom they now enjoy. Mothers, brothers, sisters, and wives, 
 weep not for the dead. Happy is he who dies for his race and 
 country. Look at this vast multitude who come to do them 
 honor. Could you wish they had stayed from the battle, and 
 lived on ? No ! no ! Dry your tears ; they died in a righteous 
 cause ; they are well dead ! Peace to their ashes. The day, 
 the scene, the occasion, all conspire to urge us here, in the pres- 
 ence of the dead, to renew our devotion to the immutable doc- 
 trines of truth, justice, religion, and right reason, and to declare 
 again that we will pause not, and tarry not, and rest not, until the 
 principles of equal and exact justice are known and acknowl- 
 edged by all men. 
 
 The next speaker was Rev. Dr. Miller (colored). He said 
 he had come all the way from old Virginia, and was right glad 
 to meet here in his native State, on an occasion like the present, 
 so many thousands of his people. He had been a colored sol- 
 dier, and knew what service in the army meant. They were 
 gathered together to honor the dead who died for union and 
 freedom ; and while it was well to meet in such great numbers 
 on an appointed day and strew flowers on their dead comrades' 
 graves, they should not forget to come to the graveyard with 
 their garlands on other days. The graves should be kept green, 
 and a spot warm in the hearts of the black people for their fallen 
 heroes. He praised God that they were all free, and that the 
 effect of education and refinement were already visible among 
 their people. He encouraged them to persevere, and to do all 
 in their power to secure the respect and aid of the white man. 
 Loud calls were made for Grandfather Perry ; and, in response, 
 a venerable colored man was brought forward and presented to 
 the people. He had a pleasant lace and commanding figure. 
 Waving his hands to the multitude to be quiet, he spoke to them 
 as his children, and gave them much good advice. After speak- 
 ing some minutes in a clear, forcible mariner, he seemed sudden- 
 ly to remember he was making a speech, and, excusing himself 
 in some handsomely turned sentences, sat down. 
 
 The next person introduced to the audience was a yellow
 
 554 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 man by the name of King. He spoke in an easy, fluent man- 
 ner, and, among other things, said : 
 
 I am one of those black men who belong to the Army of 
 the Republic, and whom the rebels call armed Radicals. "We 
 mean nobody any harm ; we are not armed, but we are loyal 
 will stand by the old flag, as our dead comrades stood by it 
 svliL'ii alive. We desire only to keep alive among our people 
 the feelings of patriotism, and preserve our old associations in 
 the field. We nave had enough of war, death on battle-fields, 
 suffering in hospitals, tears, groans, and widows and orphans 
 with broken and bereaved families. We want peace and justice, 
 and for this we choose to plead rather than fight ; yet we are not 
 cowards, and will not be spit upon. As our General says, we 
 will be men, if we are black. I call him our General ; for he 
 has not only led many of us in the field, but stood between us 
 and the enemy in the forum. Many of you remember the 
 bloody days of Saltville and Marion how he gathered up our 
 shattered battalions, and led them on in the charge of snatching 
 victory from the hands of the enemy. There are two names 
 that will live among our people in Kentucky to the latest poster- 
 ity James S. Brisbin and Stephen G. Burbridge. When we 
 come here to strew the choicest flowers of the land on the graves 
 of our fallen comrades, and when you and I are old men, and 
 we tell our children of the deeds of the black soldiers, let us not 
 forget to speak kindly and gratefully of their white leaders. In 
 the future, as in the past, while the spirit that moved our com- 
 rades animates us, with such brave commanders, the folds of 
 that dear old flag can never be trailed in the dust. 
 
 SPEECH OP COL. JOHN A. PRALL. 
 
 FELLOW-CITIZENS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : It is a high 
 mark of true civilization, when the living cherish, with fitting 
 reverence, the memory of the dead. And death ceases to be 
 terrible when the soft light of affection kindles over the path- 
 way to the tomb, and the gentle hand of love wreathes its por- 
 tals. But to the patriot soldier who yields up his life for a 
 grateful country, whether it be his lot to perish by the hand of 
 disease, or to fall amid the shock of battle and the clash of arms 
 upon the ensanguined field, the swift summons of the grim 
 messenger, the voice of death sounding in his ear, 
 
 " Comes like a prophet's word, 
 And in its hollow notes are heard 
 The thanks of millions yet to be." 
 
 To such, the silent sleep of death but precedes the resurrection 
 to an immortality of fame. Their fame is their country's its
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 555 
 
 most precious heritage ; and the record of their heroic deeds 
 mingles with its most glorious annals, and 
 
 " They read their history in a nation's eyes." 
 
 It is meet and appropriate that to the fair daughters of the 
 land, whose homes and hearthstones have been defended and 
 shielded from desolation, and who are alive to every noble im- 
 pulse and high inspiration, it should be committed to express, 
 by ceremonies and through the significance of emblems appro- 
 
 Eriate to their gentle natures, the gratitude of the nation to its 
 eroic defenders. And thus it is we have come to this beautiful 
 spot " the bivouac of the dead " and with these battle flags, 
 torn and beaten by the storms of war, waving here over the 
 slumbering' ashes of those who bore them in triumph upon the 
 red field of conflict we have come to join with their comrades 
 who survive them, in paying this tribute of our grateful hearts 
 to the memory of those who died that their country might live. 
 It was theirs to illustrate by their lives, and vindicate and seal 
 with their blood, the unity, the prosperity, and the glory of their 
 country. And while that national unity shall be maintained, 
 and the country shall remain bound together by indissoluble 
 link>, their memory shall live, imperishable and enduring, in 
 immortal freshness in every patriot's heart. And in each re- 
 turning year, when the rosy Spring-time comes, let our country- 
 women bring hither their floral offering, and from this sacred 
 altar of gratitude and patriotism, let its incense ascend to 
 heaven. Let flowers, strewn by the lovely and the beautiful, 
 over the spot where our heroes sleep, " deck the turf that wraps 
 their clay," and cast a fagrance over their tombs forever. And 
 thus their memories shall remain enshrined in unchanging fresh- 
 ness in our hearts ; and again and again, amid these sad memo- 
 rials of the loved and honored dead, we will renew our vows of 
 devotion to freedom and fidelity to our country. I will not, 
 fellow-citizens, longer protract, with any words of mine, the 
 patriotic ceremonies we have assembled to perform. 
 
 Two other colored men Henry Mam and Sergt. Geo. B. 
 Thomas made speeches ; after which the procession re-formeM 
 and marched back to the city, where it disbanded. 
 
 AT LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY. 
 
 The formation of the procession commenced about nine 
 o'clock The Grand Army of the Republic arriving first, at 
 intervale and different other bodies, and at last the old soldiers 
 with their tattered battle-flags, made the procession complete. 
 The following were the Marshals of the day:
 
 556 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Dr. J. J. Griffiths, Chief Marshal. Aids : General W. E. 
 Woodruff, Colonel M. C. Taylor, Captain E. W. Jhhnston, 
 General "W. C. Whittaker, Colonel Selby Harney, Colonel 
 Antone Kutzlieb, Captain C. C. Adams, Col. A. J. Alexander, 
 Governor T. E. Bramlette. 
 
 The procession was formed at the Court House at ten 
 o'clock, and as the bells of the city tolled a mournful requiem, 
 the imposing cavalcade took up its solemn line of march to- 
 ward the City of the Dead. The procession moved in the 
 following order : Goddess of Liberty in carriage ; Chariot 
 containing thirty-eight young ladies, presenting the different 
 States of the Union ; Louisville Silver Band ; General Thomas 
 and Staff; Turners' Association ; Soldiers' and Sailors' Union ; 
 Grand Army of the Republic ; Great Western Star Band ; 
 Governor Bramlette and Staff; Old Soldiers with flags; Dra- 
 goons in civil dress; Citizens in carriages, &c. Leading the 
 procession was the carriage of S. G. Henry, Esq., containing 
 Miss Ida Hewson, as the Goddess of Liberty, accompanied by 
 Masters Henry and Edward Hopkins, representing, respectively, 
 the Army and Navy. A chariot followed, containing thirty- 
 eight young ladies, representing the States of the whole Union. 
 The following are the names of the young ladies representing 
 the States : 
 
 Misses Flora Sam, California ; Hattie Woodward, South 
 Carolina ; Rebecca Hardy, North Carolina ; Cecib'a Peterson, 
 Arkansas ; Ella Tracy, Mississippi ; Emma Burkhardt. Nevada ; 
 Edmonia Post, Illinois ; Gertrude Hull, Vermont ; Delia Pool, 
 Connecticut: Jennie Moxly, Rhode Island; Josephine Pool, 
 Alabama; Ollie Tucker, New York ; Katie Dennis, Virginia ; 
 Ella Delph, Texas ; Florence Jerne, Florida ; Sarah Daniel, 
 Missouri ; -Caroline Bachlet, Wisconsin ; Amelia Hartman, 
 Louisiana; Annie Glazebrook, Ohio; Blanche Clemerne, Geor- 
 gia; Maude Taylor, Minnesota: Sallie Maurie, Delaware; 
 Helen Daniel, Maine; Ida Crawford. Indiana; Phebe W->- 
 mac, Oregon; Lilly Goddard, Massachusetts; Sallie Riley, 
 Michigan ; Mollie Woolfblk, Tennessee ; Ida Griffiths, Pennsyl- 
 vania ; Annie Kelley, Kansas ; Eugene Hull, Nebraska ; Jennie 
 Daniel, Kentucky ; Laura Reeves. New Jersey; Mildred Mat- 
 lack, New Hampshire; Clara Hull, Iowa; Florence Hull, 
 Maryland ; Mary Alexander, West Virginia. 
 
 Arriving at the Cemetery we found a vast concourse of 
 people already assembled with wreaths and flowers. The young 
 ladies alighted from the chariot, and proceeded on foot with the 
 procession to the vicinity of the graves. Here we found a large 
 stand beautifully decorated with mottoes and garlands. The
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 557 
 
 young ladies representing the States, together with the speakers 
 marshals and distinguished visitors, were seated on the stand' 
 among whom we noticed General McDowell, who fought the 
 first battle at Bull Run, General Geo. H. Thomas, General 
 backett, and Captain Custer, Aid to General McDowell ; Judges 
 IJallard, Pirtle and officers of the courts also occupied seats 
 on the stand. 
 
 A prayer was offered by the "Rev. Mr. Hayes, of the Pres- 
 byterian Church. The ladies proceeded to decorate the graves. 
 The ceremony was marked by an exceeding sublimity through- 
 out. Kind-hearted women knelt and strewed flowers over the 
 graves of those they knew not, but loved for their services and 
 heroic valor. 
 
 " Bring pole flowers o'er the bier to shed, 
 A crown tor the brow of the noble dead, 
 For tliis thro' its leaves has the white rose burst, 
 For this in the woods was the violet nursed ; 
 Though they smile in vain for what once was ours, 
 They are Love's last gift ; bring ye fiowers, pale flowers." 
 
 The following are the number of soldiers from each State 
 buried at Cave Hill : Pennsylvania. 159 ; Indiana, 493 ; Iowa, 
 55 ; Ohio, 120 ; Kansas, 9 ; Massachusetts, 21 ; Alabama, 3 ; 
 New Hampshire, 11 ; Michigan, 254 ; Illinois, 193 ; Wisconsin, 
 140. 
 
 "When the ladies had finished the decorations, the concourse 
 assembled around the speakers' stand, when Colonel Gill was 
 introduced. 
 
 SPEECH OF COLONEL CHARLES A. GILL. 
 
 COMRADES, LADIICS AND GENTLEMEN: I believe I speak a 
 sentiment common to all when I say that there is sometlmig 
 more than ordinarily solemn on the occasion of our assembling 
 here to-day. We meet not, my comrades, as we were wont to 
 do, clad in the panoply of the soldier, or amidst flashes of con-' 
 tending steel, the rattle of musketry, the roar of artillery, or 
 the stirring airs of martial music, but as survivors of the terrible 
 conflict through which we have recently passed, to pay the last 
 sad tribute of respect to our brothers, who fell in the cause of 
 risrht and truth. AVe have come to gather around their sacred 
 remains and garland the hallowed mounds above them with the 
 freshest and 'choicest flowers of spring-time, that their sweet 
 fragrance may ascend to heaven like incense from the altar of 
 libertv, to mingle with our prayers and the prayers of a grate- 
 ful nation, that" these heroic dead shall not have died in vain. 
 About three years ago the grand armies of the Republic were
 
 558 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 assembled together at the capital of the nation, and there had 
 their last review. The nation had just merged from the most 
 terrible rebellion the world had ever seen peace had come 
 again to bless us, and our armies had returned their banners 
 wreathed witli the laurels of victory to receive their iinal orders. 
 To-day the members of those great armies and the friends of 
 their gallant dead, all over the nation, are assembled around 
 their sacred tombs to shed the tear of sorrow over their remains, 
 and to renew their pledges to their country's God. They died 
 in the holiest cause in which men ever offered up their lives, 
 and though dead, they still live, and will forever live in the 
 grateful hearts of their countrymen. For a period of over 
 eighty years we had enjoyed a peace, a happiness and a pros- 
 perity such as no. people had ever before been blessed with. It 
 seemed as if the bird of liberty, after soaring over all the lati- 
 tudes of earth, searching in vain, had at last alighted to take 
 up a permanent home and an abiding resting-place among the 
 unwalled cities and the bright green forests of our own beloved 
 country. But at an evil hour the spirit of dissension and re- 
 bellion arose, and our peaceful, happy nation became engulfed 
 in a most terrible civil strife. For four long years the people 
 of the two sections of our country were engaged in fraternal 
 war, waged with such awful vigor and determination that it 
 seemed that the star of freedom was about to go down and set 
 forever even in our own liberty-blessed, liberty-loving land. 
 But at last, through the efforts of a loyal people and a loyal 
 soldiery, fear gave way to hope, defeat became victory, and on 
 the 9th day of April, 1865, at Appomatox Court House, when 
 Robert E. Lee yielded the laurel crown to General Ulysses S. 
 Grant, rebellion surrendered to government, treason to patriot- 
 ism ; the bright star of freedom, rising over that thrice glorious 
 field shone forth with renewed splendor and brilliancy, and 
 that great political problem became, and thanks be to God 
 remains, a fixed, living, glorious reality. The war for the 
 ' Union was not a failure. 
 
 Not only was it not a failure, but a victory, glorious, grand 
 and brilliant for the Union, liberty and equality. The Union 
 was restored, the shackles were broken from the hands, the 
 manacles removed from the feet, and the brand of the slave 
 obliterated from the brows of four million bondmen, and he 
 who yesterday answered the "roll call" of slaves, to day stands 
 in the sight of heaven and before God, a man and a freeman. 
 The principle was established that no flag alien to the sources 
 of the Mississippi river, should ever float permanently over its 
 mouth until its waters were crimsoned in human gore, and not
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 559 
 
 one inch of American soil should be wrenched from the juris- 
 diction of the Constitution of the United States until it had 
 been baptized in fire and blood. These, my friends, are some 
 of the fruits of the great victory in the achievement of which 
 these brave men so freely offered up their lives. And whilst 
 we must all grieve and mourn the loss of such noble spirits, and 
 moisten their graves with our tears, let us, as we live in liberty, 
 rejoice that they made their deaths glorious in its just defense. 
 They have passed from earth, ano! been mustered into the 
 service of their Lord and Master. Their duty is performed, 
 ours remains to be done. It remains for us to preserve in all 
 its purity and glory and majesty the Government for which 
 they died, and to which you and I owe the freedom of the very 
 air we breathe. Let us, then, ere we leave this sacred spot, 
 swear by these four thousand martyrs and their widows and 
 orphans, by all the hallowed memories of the past, by all the 
 glorious hopes of the future, by our maimed and crippled com- 
 rades, that the four hundred thousand heroes that lie buried on 
 every battle-field, in every village, hamlet and churchyard in 
 the land shall not have died in vain that Government for 
 which they died, the Government of the people, by the people, 
 for the people, shall not perish from the earth ; that their 
 widows and orphans shall not be forgotten, but shall be fostered 
 and cared for by us until they and we join them in a better and 
 happier world. " They diedfour hundred thousand for you. 
 Yes, 
 
 Four hundred thousand men 
 
 The brave, the good, the true 
 In tangled wood, in mountain glen, 
 
 Lie dead for me and you, 
 Four hundred thousand of the brave 
 Have made our ransomed soil their grave 
 For me and you, 
 Good friend, for me and you. 
 
 In many a fearful swamp, 
 By many a black bayou, 
 In many a cold and fearful camp 
 The weary sentinel ceased his tramp 
 
 And died for me and you. 
 From western plain to ocean tide 
 Are stretched the graves of those who died 
 For me and you 
 Good friend, for me and you. 
 
 On many a bloody plain 
 
 Their ready swords they drew, 
 And poured their blood like the rain, 
 A home, a heritage to gain
 
 560 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 To gain for me and you. 
 Our brothers mustered by onr side, 
 They marched and fought and bravely died, 
 
 For me and you, 
 
 Good friend, for me and you. 
 
 Up many a fortress wall 
 
 They charged those boys in bine ; 
 'Mid surging smoke and volleyed ball, 
 The bravest were the first to fall, 
 
 To fall for me and you. 
 These noble men the Nation's pride, 
 Four hundred thousand men have died, 
 For me and you 
 Good friend, for me and you. 
 
 In treason's prison-hold 
 
 Their martyr-spirits grew, 
 To stature like the saints of old, 
 While amid agonies untold, 
 
 They starved for me and you. 
 The good, the patient and the tried 
 Four hundred thousand men have died 
 For me and you 
 Good friend, for me and you. 
 
 A debt we ne'er can pay, 
 To them is justly due ; 
 And to the Nation's latest day 
 Our children's children still shall say 
 
 " They died for me and you." 
 Four hundred thousand of the brave 
 Made our ransomed soil their grave, 
 For me and you, 
 Good friend, for me and you. 
 
 Colonel W. E. Riley followed in a very eloquent address, 
 adverting to the many deeds of valor which crowned the Union 
 soldiers with glory. Mr. Gnstav Fernitz, editor of the Louis- 
 ville Volksblatt, then addressed the assemblage in German, 
 when the procession again formed, and returned to the city at 
 three o'clock. 
 
 AT CATLETTSBDKG, KENTUCKY. 
 
 Pursuant to an order and invitation issued from Catlettsburg 
 Post, Grand Army of the Kepublic, May 27th, 1868, by D. H. 
 McGhee, Post Commander, and E. C. Wise, Post Adjt. G. A. 
 R., this Post, composed of 150 members, headed by a band of 
 music, colors at half mast, and each member wearing crape, 
 followed by a large concourse of citizens and ladies of this 
 place and vicinity, marched to a dirge played by the -band, to 
 the Hampton City Cemetery. A national salute was fired
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 561 
 
 the meantime. Arrived at the cemetery and formed in appro- 
 priate square, after an affecting prayer by Eev T 1ST Leslie 
 of First Methodist E. Church, an eloquent address was de- 
 livered by Col. R. M. Thomas, late of U. S. A., after which, the 
 comrades, assisted by the ladies, strewed the graves of the fallen 
 comrades with flowers and neat bouquets, wreaths, etc. In 
 this cemetery lie the remains of the lamented Mai Ralph 
 Ormstead, late of the 5th West Virginia Volunteers, who was 
 illed whilst leading his regiment through the wilds of West 
 Virginia, by a notorious rebel guerrilla band, whilst little sus- 
 pecting his danger. A more gallant, kind-hearted and generous 
 officer never drew sword in defense of his country. Beside 
 Maj. Ormstead lies the patriotic Maj. Ben Burk,-of this place, 
 and near him the much-lamented Capt. Hollingsworth, and near 
 them lie 50 fallen braves, who fell in defense of the flag. Of- 
 ficial Report. 
 
 Ceremonies were also held at Tompkinsville, Ky., on the 
 Fourth of July, in which the surviving members of the Fifth 
 Cavalry of Kentucky were assisted by the citizens generally. 
 Rev. Mr. Childers made an impressive appeal to his hearers, 
 after which the graves of the soldiers were thickly strewn with 
 flowers. 
 
 AT NEWPORT, KY. 
 
 At Linden Grove Cemetery, about three thousand persons 
 assembled early in the afternoon, and this number was swelled 
 to fully seven thousand by the arrival of the procession and 
 those who accompanied it. A stand had been erected for the 
 speakers, directly south of the square where the soldier graves 
 are located, and it was tastefully decorated with flags and ever- 
 greens. Over the front was inscribed " Our Honored Dead" 
 in the centre of the burial-lot a large wooden monument had 
 been built. This, too, was decorated with taste. . A large 
 national flag floated at half-mast over the graves, from the centre 
 spire of the monument, beneath which was placed two large 
 pictures of Washington and Lincoln. The exercises commenced 
 at a quarter past 3 o'clock, by the performance of a dirge by 
 the band, after which Dr. E. P. Buckner offered up a fervent 
 prayer. The prayer having been concluded, Col. Oscar H. 
 Burbridge introduced Col. John P. Jackson, the orator of the 
 day, who spoke as follows : 
 
 ORATION OF OOL. JOHK P. JAOKSOJT. 
 
 COMRADES AND FELLOW-CITIZENS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : On 
 this bright Sabbath-day, with nature harmonizing in quiet beauty, 
 36
 
 562 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 we meet to honor the memory of our dead to testify our grati- 
 tude for their triumphs to tender our substantial sympathy to 
 their bereaved relatives, and to receive ourselves, from the com- 
 munion of this hour, fresh incentives to effort and to duty. 
 With no jealousies to indulge and no envy to gratify, we seek 
 to draw a lesson from the past that shall be to our future a 
 beacon and a guide. To the sleeping martyrs, whose graves 
 billow every battle-field from Gettysburg to New Orleans and 
 Carolina, it matters little what we may now do or say. Our 
 tender offerings of affection will be lost upon their mounds, 
 and the sweet aroma of our scented flowers be uselessly exhaled 
 to air, save as we revive our faith in the doctrines which they 
 defended, and our zeal in the cause for which they died. Our 
 tribute to the departed is to insure the continuing sympathy of 
 the living to confirm their hopes, strengthen their arms, and 
 energize their efforts. The hallowed mould that ridges the 
 ground about us was but yesterday the embodiment of an idea 
 whose successful realization gives us to-day a nation peaceful 
 and powerful, instead of provinces petty and belligerent. They 
 who bared their bosoms to the brunt of battle, and went out in 
 the " red and reeling fray," forgetting self or profit eschewing 
 ease and daring death were the representatives of that public 
 virtue which is the corner-stone and mainstay of our temporal 
 existence. It was this sentiment that Montesquieu called a sen- 
 sation, and not a mere consequence of acquired knowledge 
 common alike to the lowliest and loftiest member of the State. 
 It was the same sentiment that Leonidas felt when he fell at 
 Thermopylae which solaced Aristides when exiled from Greece 
 ivhich the soldier of the Revolution felt when he tracked 
 with his blood the snows of Valley Forge which Patrick 
 Henry illustrated when he invoked u liberty or death" which 
 actuated Adams when declaring that " sink or swim, live or 
 die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration," and which 
 these our soldiers felt when, leaving home and friends and com- 
 fort and safety, they invoked hunger and captivity, disease and 
 death. More speedy than argument and more powerful than 
 cannon, it bore our impulsive legions over fields so sanguinary 
 and through conflicts so vast, that the archangel of war there- 
 upon made new record of human prowess. The integrity of 
 the nation had been assailed, and from the fountain of love 
 of country came the inspiration for its defense. The sentiment 
 was not of party. It rebelled at the mention of a divided 
 land, and threw all of existence into the idea of unity. Not 
 so powerful was the flaming cross of Constantine or the 
 victorious eagle of Napoleon.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 563 
 
 When treason had raised its " horrid front," the underlying 
 sentiment of an eternal union evoked from our people, all m> 
 used to war, the grandest army of all time. Their enthusiasm 
 "itted the nation from the depths' of despondency to new and 
 serene heights of hope and duty. Strangers to war, they were 
 veterans by stern resolve ; and from the wreck of the world's 
 mightiest rebellion, they compelled peace, and order, and vic- 
 tory. We can never forget to commemorate the deeds of those 
 who perished to achieve this sublime result. Their memories 
 are sacred, and the holiest benedictions of their favored coun- 
 trymen will ever follow a mention of their virtues. For the 
 monument of Thermopylae, where fell the brave three hundred, 
 Leonidas wrote this epitaph : "Stranger, go and tell in Lacedas- 
 mon that we fell here in defence of her laws." With greater 
 cause for greater gratitude, let us tell to future time the story 
 of our comrades' deeds with a monument that shall say, " Pil- 
 grim or citizen, go and proclaim through the limits of the na- 
 tion, that we, soldiers of the Republic, fell in defence of its laws, 
 its liberties, and its life." As the statue of Themistocles, from 
 a promontory in Greece, long greeted the returning voyager, 
 and tired anew his love for Attica and Athens, so let our far- 
 reaching columns of storied marble and animated bronze bear 
 vitalizing testimony to the glory of our soldiery from the para- 
 pets of the Pacific to the green hills of New England. Make 
 of wood the arches of triumph which mark our fields of battle, 
 if it must be, that the memory of a civil strife may not be con- 
 tinued to another generation ; but for the soldier who knew no 
 sentiment but love for his whole country, and who gave his life 
 to duty in its defence, the eternal granite should bear to posterity 
 the hallowed record. And. as we engrave thereon the virtues of 
 the dead, let us add, in characters of bold relief, that universal 
 freedom to man came as the corollary of devotion to our land ; 
 they died that all men might be free. Of all the results of war, 
 no richer boon ever graced the trophies of the victor. 
 
 " Where freedom is, no man is poor ; 
 For nature's air is affluence to all. 1 ' 
 
 When our martyr President, in the fall-tide hour of our vic- 
 tory, ascended on high, " purpling the air with the glory of his 
 name," he bore to heaven the broken shackles of four millions 
 of slaves, and laid them at the foot of the throne, a peace offer- 
 ino- for the patriot blood shed in our unnatural strife. Would 
 it be profane to suppose that heaven's music grew sweeter, and 
 angels quickened their chorus, as the joyous chimes from earthly 
 tower and dome chanted the peans of a race redeemed, and our
 
 564 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 glorified dead mingled their voices in the choir above ? The 
 lesson of the hour conjures us to renewed effort. We must live 
 and not die. Leaders may be cut down, but the philosophy 
 they represent still survives. ' Men may die, but principles are 
 immortal. An army of earnest and- truthful exponents of our 
 cause has passed to death, but the Government they sustained is 
 for eternity. The recuperative powers of our laud will correct 
 all irregularities incident to our civil strife ; and in our experi- 
 ment of a self-governing people, we will not disappoint the high 
 hopes of humanity. That blood has been shed in defence of 
 our laws, is but a natural result of all thorough reforms. The 
 blood of Yirginius overthrew the triumvirs. The blood spilled 
 upon the altar-places destroyed the penates and idols of Rome ; 
 and the blood of martyrs became the seed of the Church, while 
 feeding the fires of heathenish persecution. As 
 
 we stand here, to-day, gratified at the grand advances to uni- 
 versal freedom made for our country by our lamented comrades, 
 we must feel our hearts nerved to an earnest resolve to carry 
 out their work to its legitimate conclusions. Let us here and 
 now determine that, come what may, we will never tire in urg- 
 ing forward the great measures of freedom for which they gave 
 their lives, until all our broad acres shall rejoice in answering to 
 the demands of freemen. Then may we in confidence challenge 
 the world to a race of prosperity ; then will we be enabled 
 properly to educe the illimitable resources of our land ; and then 
 will be our hour of rejoicing that, in spirit and truth as well as 
 in name, ours is the " land of the free and the home of the 
 brave." To do this, let there be no idlers in our ranks. The 
 aged must think for it ; the younger must strike and act for it ; 
 mothers and daughters must pray for it; and every heart, 
 whether of old or young, male or female, join in unanimous and 
 earnest resolve that the great national sin which was the primal 
 cause of all our public woe is thoroughly eradicated, and that the 
 Plutonian heresy of secession shall never again shadow our shrines. 
 It would be improper to suffer this occasion to pass without 
 bearing testimony to the fidelity of our ladies, who, to-day, are 
 here so fully represented. 
 
 " Warriors and statesmen have their raced of praise, 
 
 And what they do or suffer men record ; 
 But the long sacrifice of woman's days, 
 Passes without a thought, without a word." 
 
 The crowning glory of our Christian civilization is, that we 
 have unfolded the intellect of woman, and by elevating her to 
 her proper dignity, have purified social intercourse, and added 
 a new element to the motive power of our progress. To no
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 505 
 
 point can we turn' but her influence meets us. Our fleets and 
 armies swell the seas with martial spirit and successful enter- 
 prise, while a mother's blessing or a sister's prayer hallows the 
 project that prompted their embarking. Stately edifices beau- 
 tify our public highways, but a wife's discriminating taste pre- 
 scribes the adornments that give them character. Works of art 
 which have brought honor and credit to us as a people, and have 
 
 rfined our national taste, had first to be accepted by our dauo-h- 
 ters, who aree ndowed by nature with the inspiration of sestlTet- 
 
 ; and the undertaking, of whatever nature, that would bring 
 numbers _to its assistance, or earnestness to its work, must be 
 characterized and honored by the cooperation of our females. 
 Feeble would be the onset, and easily repulsed the attack, of 
 that Genera^ or those troops whose arms were palsied by the 
 curse of a wife or a mother upon the cause they fought in. ' Sad, 
 indeed, is the reflection that woman has much to do in the con' 
 tentions of armies and the clangor of war. And now, when 
 
 " The sons of those who, side by side, 
 Struck down the lion banner's pride, 
 Were arming for fraternal strife 
 For blow for blow, and life for life," 
 
 we have seen our women claiming as their prerogatives the du- 
 ties of benevolence and philanthropy. In the Christian hero- 
 ism that has characterized their visitations of mercy and of love 
 to the asylum, the hospital, and the prison-house, we see in re- 
 ality a quality of heaven. No groveling desire for distinction, 
 no selfish pride of place or power, no considerations of personal 
 convenience, nerve the arms or impress the hearts of our self- 
 denying and noble, daring ladies. There is certainly a spirit 
 akin to the celestial in the breast that finds a pleasant service 
 amid the vagaries of the delirious, the frenzies of the deranged, 
 or the piteous wail and dissonant groan of the hospital and the 
 prison-ship. The religion of the soul is set to holy music, when 
 it finds in the ailments of our soldiers its chosen sphere of duty. 
 When our army had retired from the conflict of war, and, 
 having successfully vindicated our national integrity, had assem- 
 bled to receive its well-earned reward of thanks and of gratitude, 
 the Admiral of the fleet and the knighted General of the land 
 had combined their victorious standards, and drawn around 
 them the epauletted staff, the paraphernalia of office, the en- 
 signs of rank, and brilliant mementoes of bravery, yet the group 
 \vas all incomplete, the crown without its richest jewels, until 
 there were present those embodiments of unaffected heroism, 
 noble, daring, heaven-inspired spirit grandeur, that have proven 
 our loyal women a nation of Florence Nightingales. The re-
 
 56G MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 turns are not of earth that can requite their services ; and not 
 till the Book of Life shall be opened, will it be fully known how 
 much of sacrifice and virtuous suffering have been endured by 
 the noble, loyal women of our land. The throbbing of the na- 
 tion's heart in gratitude will forever commemorate their well- 
 deing. And now, mothers, if you would maintain the para- 
 mount influence that in this land you enjoy if you would not 
 see banished from your fireside all that is lovely, and innocent, 
 and pure if you would preserve the seats of prayer, and the 
 altars of maternal affection, with the votive offerings placed 
 thereon by filial love if you would not hear the ravings of 
 anarchy through your halls and parlors, or the distracting cries 
 of helots at the church door, guard, forever guard, your children 
 against the doctrines of sectionalism. Fathers, who pride your- 
 selves upon the manliness of your sons who hope to have your 
 names perpetuated in honor through posterity and who love 
 the olive branches that cluster about your table, teach your 
 children that ours is a nation and not a confederacy, and that 
 in undivided national progress is the proper incentive for their 
 action. And, young men, as you love your parents and friends ; 
 as you are ambitious and hope for honorable preferment ; as 
 you would add a bright chapter to the brilliant chronicles of 
 your country's history ; as you would see that country the law- 
 
 fiver to the lands and the mistress of the sea ; as you would 
 ear her institutions to a point for all time hereafter to be 
 unapproachable by tempest and unharmed by the storm, swear 
 this day, by the spirits of our gallant dead, that the ark of our 
 covenant shall never be broken nor the bow of our promise 
 rent. So shall we fill the destiny that awaits us, and a hundred 
 million souls united as one man will soon use our valleys and 
 till the land with the accumulated results of a Christian civiliza- 
 tion. In that day, as we shall witness the success of emulating 
 followers, our highest pride and boast shall be that, by the 
 prowess of the loyal soldiery, our pennant of Union leads all 
 banners of war. 
 
 At the conclusion of Col. Jackson's eloquent oration, Dr. 
 Buckner pronounced the benediction, after which the members 
 of the Grand Army of the Republic, assisted by many ladies, 
 proceeded to decorate with flowers, evergreens, etc., the four 
 hundred and eighty graves of the martyred patriots. 
 
 AT DCBUQCE, IOWA. 
 
 Agreeably to previous aunoucement, the procession of sol- 
 diers and citizens formed on Public Square, at 2 o'clock, under 
 the direction of Maj. John McDeruiott and Assistants, while
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 567 
 
 the Germania Band occupied the platform in the Square. The 
 mounted men formed on Seventh Street, between Locust and 
 Bluff, the dismounted soldiers on Locust Street, in front of the 
 Public Square, with their right resting on Sixth Street, while 
 the citizens formed in the Square. The procession then took np 
 the line of march in the following order: Mounted Men, Field 
 Music, Germania Band, Officers of the Post, Soldiers and Sail- 
 ors, Citizens on Foot, Mounted Citizens and Citizens in Carriages. 
 On arriving at Lin wood Cemetery the procession marched through 
 the southwestern gate, and arranging themselves partly in a 
 square were brought to a halt, when General Win. Vandever 
 stepped forward and delivered the following speech : 
 
 COMRADES AND FRIENDS: The sad mementoes before us call 
 vividly to our minds the harrowing events and bloody sacrifices 
 of the late war for the suppression of a wicked rebellion. Stand- 
 ing to-day at the portal of the grave between the living and 
 the dead, we will renew our vows of devotion to the country and 
 the flag these have died to defend. While we drop a tear in 
 sorrow for the untimely fate of fallen comrades and friends, we 
 will cherish their memories in our hearts, emulate their heroism 
 and virtue, and dedicate ourselves afresh to perpetuate the 
 principles of liberty they have consecrated by the sacrifice of 
 their lives. 
 
 The list of deceased soldiers whose remains repose beneath 
 our feet constitute a " Roll of Honor " emblazoned by imperish- 
 able deeds of valor and devotion to country. Here and there a 
 grave is marked " unknown" we can only tell that its occupant 
 was a patriot who, wan and crippled from the field of strife, 
 struggling to regain his home, reached the confines of our State, 
 and, destined never again to behold the face of wife or child, 
 sank exhausted into the embrace of death ; stranger though he 
 was, the sympathizing tear and tender touch of woman was not 
 denied him at the last hour for there are those among us who 
 withheld not a mother's or a sisters part from the returning vet- 
 eran, but smoothed his pillow and caught his last, expiring breath. 
 Mav Heaven reward and bless them! The tenants of _ these 
 o-ra'ves whom we knew in Ifte, I need not name they live in 
 our affections with a freshness and verdure that knows no winter. 
 We meet to day to strew alike the grave of the known and un- 
 
 a tribute of admiration . 
 While engaged in this interesting ceremony our minds revert to 
 the thousands who went forth never to return, not even for se- 
 pulture The remorseless wave which deluged the land witb
 
 568 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 blood, cast a few mangled forms back at our feet, but the great 
 multitude it gave not up, but hid forever from our sight. They 
 lie for the most part where they fell, in undistinguishable groups 
 on every battlefield, shrouded only in the luihiliments of the 
 soldier. And some, alas, murdered by the slow tortures of such 
 infernal dens as Libby and Andersonville, yielded their emaci- 
 ated bodies a scanty repast to the revelling worm their terrible 
 fate adding the bitterest dreg to till the iniquitous cup of all 
 villainies. Oh, what a wail breaks from the heart of the nation 
 this day, as mournful groups gather in every city, village and 
 hamlet of the land to cast flowers upon the graves of departed 
 heroes, and mingle tears with the dust of the dead. Many 
 hearts revive their sorrow to-day; the nation weeps, but heaven 
 be praised for the future; there is a resurrection to renewed 
 national life in which traitors and tyrants can have no part, but 
 at which they may well call upon the rocks to hide them. 
 
 At the conclusion of this speech the Germania Band played 
 a solemn dirge, when a prayer was offered by the Rev. L. 
 Whitney. 
 
 At the conclusion of these interesting exercises the infantry 
 re-formed, and visiting each grave covered it with flowers, each 
 being marked by a miniature flag. The committee appointed 
 by Post J^o. 7, tr. A. E., to ascertain the number of soldiers 
 buried in the vicinity of Dubuque, found upon careful examina- 
 tion that no record was kept by any officers or persons from 
 which they could determine who or what number of soldiers 
 have been buried in the cemeteries in and adjoining the city. 
 Below will be found the list of soldiers reported by the commit- 
 tee to be buried in Linwood Cemetery, but it is known that sev- 
 eral others are buried whose graves it was impossible to find : 
 Adjt. Stillmau H. Smith, 14th Iowa Infantry; Maj. Carl Schaef- 
 fer, Bernstein, Curtis Horse ; Col. J. B. Dorr, 8th Iowa Cavalry ; 
 Capt. L. L. Newberry, 13th Regulars; Lieut. Y. J. Conyng- 
 ham, Regulars; Wm. Gunn, 1st Iowa Cavalry ; F. II. Duncan, 
 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry ; Capt. A. F. Duncan, 14th Pennsyl- 
 vania Cavalry; George King, 90th New York; George W. 
 Barnes, 42d Illinois Infantry; Henry Kroll, 46th Iowa; Adjt. 
 John L. Harvey, 46th Iowa ; Corp. W. McDermott. 1st Iowa 
 Cavalry ; Lieut. George W. Cumuiings, 37th Iowa Infantry ; L. 
 N. Converse ; 46th Iowa Infantry ; Ernst Amberg, 1st Iowa ; 
 W. L. Shankland, 5th Cavalry ; G-ilbert, unknown ; James Gra- 
 ham, 5th Iowa Cavalry ; Simon Lanicca, 8th and 16th Cavalry ; 
 John Bossier, 1st Iowa Inf. ; L. D. Cook, 46th Iowa Infantry ; 
 Steven Barton ; Stephen Burton, 21st Iowa Infantry ; two un- 
 known from hospital ; John Littrell, unknown ; two unknown,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 569 
 
 21st Iowa; Dan'l McCartney, 100th Col. Infantry ; John Lubty 
 unknown; N. McDaniel, unkown; Madarf, unknown; John 
 Garton, 14th Infantry; T. J. Knowlton, 8th Iowa Cavalry 
 Jacob Siegfried, 21st Infantry. Each of the above graves was 
 visited in the order we have named. When the last was reached 
 the exercises were concluded, and the procession took up its 
 homeward march. 
 
 Other Cemeteries. At 8 o'clock yesterday morning, mounted 
 men formed at the public square and visited the cemeteries of 
 Key West, Rockdale and Center Grove, where the same cere- 
 monies in regard to the decoration of soldiers' graves took place. 
 At Key West, Rev. J. W. Hanson, formerly chaplain of the 
 6th Massachusetts Cavalry, delivered a very effective prayer. 
 The force consisted of fifty soldiers, under command of S. M. 
 Pallock, who visited in turn each of the cemeteries. The most 
 of the flowers for the occasion were kindly furnished by Miss 
 .N agle. Below is the list of soldiers : Key West Cemetery. 
 George Carroll, unknown; Morris Nagle, 3d Iowa Battery ; A. 
 Cosgrove, 37th Infantry ; Win. Barnes. City Catholic Ceme- 
 tery. McManus, 3d Iowa Infantry. Center Grove Cemetery. 
 Lieut. I). G. Cook, 21st Iowa Infantry ; Thomas Lockey, 21st 
 Iowa Infantry. Rockdale Cemetery. John G. Skaife, 21st 
 Iowa Infantry ; Ralph Irant, Pennsylvania Regiment Mexican 
 Volunteers; William Landmire, 38th Iowa Infantry. Thus 
 ended the ceremonies in honor of the patriot dead. 
 
 AT TOLEDO, IOWA. 
 
 The exercises here were appropriate, and conducted with 
 proper solemnities well befitting the hour. The members of 
 the Post assembled at their Hall early in the day, formed in 
 procession, and marched to the M. E. Church, headed by mar- 
 tial music, all with badges of Red, White and Blue, carrying 
 the emblems of the highest type of respect, flowers, which they 
 strewed upon the graves of their dead comrades, bearing also 
 the starry emblem, the brave old flag, draped in mourning ; car- 
 rying also banners with eighty-four names of those from this 
 county who gave their lives in the defence of their country, in- 
 scribed thereon. Arriving at the church, the exercises were 
 opened by prayer by Rev. Mr. Wilkinson of this place, after 
 which Rev. Mr. Cordnor of Tama City, delivered a short, but 
 pointed, patriotic, able and eloquent address. He reviewed the 
 principles and measures established by these defenders of lib- 
 erty and the equality of man, in the late rebellion. He thought 
 it unnecessary to attempt an expression, in words, ot^ the hero- 
 ism of these gallant ones, the feelings and emotions ot the heart
 
 570 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 could find no genuine response in words, they would only be 
 mockery in comparison to the real pulsations of the heart. He, 
 however, referred briefly to a few incidents and battles of the 
 war, with all which every soldier is familiar, and at the mention 
 of which every loyal heart swells with proud emotions, and goes 
 out in gratitude. 
 
 The address being closed, toasts were read and responded to 
 with promptness, warmth, and feeling. The procession was 
 again formed, and marched to the grave-yard, where all the sol- 
 diers' graves were visited and the flowers strewn upon them; 
 this being done, the Rev. Mr. Edwards delivered the closing 
 remarks. He referred in touching terms to the gallant conduct 
 of the defenders of our nation on many a hotly-contested battle 
 field ; how they had fallen all covered with glory and weltering 
 in their own blood ; many of us who linger now about their 
 graves had seen them thus fall. The members of the Order 
 then formed in procession and marched to their Hall. 
 
 AT MOUNT PLEASANT, IOWA. 
 
 The surviving comrades, relatives, and friends of our gallant 
 dead, assembled at the public square to take part in the solemn 
 ceremonies. After music by the martial band, the crowd sang 
 the " Star-Spangled Banner," after which Rev. Mr. Dennett 
 offered up a touching and eloquent prayer. Another song, and 
 Judge Drayer was introduced, and made an appropriate speech 
 of fifteen minutes' length. At the close of Judge D.'s speech, 
 the procession was formed in the following order : Band ; Eight 
 Pall-bearers ; Hawkeye Zouave Company, in uniform ; Minis- 
 ters and Speakers ; Soldiers and Sailors ; Relatives of Deceased 
 Soldiers ; Citizens. The entire procession was under command 
 of Col. S. D. Swan, Marshal of the day. At the head of the 
 procession was carried a flag, draped, and two banners. Upon 
 one was, " In Memory of our Koble Dead ; " and the other, 
 " Honor to the Men wno Died in Defence of the Kation." 
 
 As the procession moved off, the band played the " Dead 
 March," and the sad sound of the muflled drain called up many 
 memories of the past to the soldiers present. The procession 
 marched direct to the old cemetery, and as they marched 
 through, each one in the procession dropped flowers upon the 
 graves of the soldiers, which had been previously marked in 
 order to designate them. This ceremony through with, the pro- 
 cession halted, and listened to a short address by Rev. J. W. 
 Pickett. The procession then moved to the new cemetery, and 
 went through the same ceremony, addresses being delivered by
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 571 
 
 Professor Burns and Rev. Mr. Gunn. The procession then re- 
 turned to the city, and dispersed. The following are the names 
 ot the heroic men who are buried in the cemeteries of our city 
 
 CITY CEMETERY. B. McMahon, Sr., Captain 1st Missouri 
 Cavalry ; E. Hemmenway, 1st Iowa Infantry; Capt. and A. A. 
 G. Sherman's staff; Alexander Lee, 1st Lieut. 25th Iowa In- 
 fantry ; Geo. J. Sharp, 2d Lieut. 4th Iowa Cavalry ; I. I. Stew- 
 art. Post Chaplain, Keokuk, Iowa ; Robert Carter, 37th Iowa 
 Infantry ; Jacob Sutton, 14th Iowa Infantry ; W. W. Kendall, 
 25th Iowa Infantry ; Joseph Potter, 1st Iowa Cavalry ; Alva 
 Grant ham, 1st Iowa Cavalry ; Win. H. Johnson, 1st Iowa Cav- 
 alry ; Dr. J. J. Ely, Surgeon ; Jerome Virden, 4th Iowa Cav- 
 alry ; James Real, llth Iowa Infantry ; Jonathan Ayers, 4th 
 Iowa Cavalry ; Robt. M. Sypherd, 1st Iowa Infantry ; Lewis 
 Lavenburg, 25th Iowa Infantry ; D. C. Strang, 1st 'Iowa In- 
 fantry ; George W. Brown, 25th Iowa Infantry ; Edward K. 
 White, 4th Iowa Cavalry ; Joseph F. Morrison, 4th Iowa In- 
 fantry ; J. A. Laird, 37th Iowa Infantry ; Gen. Samuel Brazel- 
 ton, soldier in war of 1812. 
 
 FOREST HOME CEMETERY. Samuel McFarland, Lieut.-Col. 
 19th Iowa Infantry ; H. H. Carter, Captain, llth Illinois In- 
 fantry ; Drummond White, Lieut. 56th IT. S. Colored Infantry ; 
 Matthew Ross, 4th Iowa Cavalry ; James H. White, 25th Iowa 
 Infantry ; J. L. Worthington, 45th Iowa Infantry ; J. W. Clark, 
 1st Iowa Infantry ; S. E. Bereman, 37th Iowa Infantry ; J. S. 
 Bereman, 25th Iowa Infantry ; Benjamin F. Taylor, 25th Iowa 
 Infantry ; David Cavanee, 4th Iowa Cavalry ; Chas. A. Viney, 
 1st Iowa Battery ; Benjamin Ullery, 4th Iowa Cavalry ; Charles 
 Davis, do. ; William Doyle, do. ; D. M. Savage, do. ; J. Laugh- 
 lin, do. ; E. II. Stubbs, do. ; D. Deardough, do ; G. W. Field- 
 ing, do. ; Sensil Watts, do. 
 
 AT PAOLA, KANSAS. 
 
 About 2 P. M., the assemblage convened at the Post of the 
 G. A. R. in this city, and formed in procession, headed by Paola 
 Silver Cornet Band. Then followed soldiers, bearing arms and 
 unarmed, with sprigs of evergreen and festoons of flowers. In 
 the rear followed a large concourse of ladies, with wreaths of 
 flowers and emblems of friendship, to strew upoft the little 
 mounds of the deceased. Upon arrival at the cemetery, the 
 procession was halted, and the exercises opened with prayer by 
 Chaplain Clayton, when the band performed a dirge. Ihen fol- 
 lowed the oration of Post Commander Stevens, after which the 
 band played " The Star-Spangled Banner." A detail was then 
 made, and a vollev fired over the graves. Flowers were then
 
 572 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 strewn, and the vine, the ivy, and the evergreen, planted on the 
 graves. The procession was re-formed, and marched Lack to 
 the Post and dismissed. Several spirited and patriotic speeches 
 were made, and patriotic songs sung by members of the G. A. R. 
 
 ADDRESS BY HIRAM STEVENS. 
 
 When that Spartan band of immortal heroes fell at the Ther- 
 mopylae in defence of the liberties of Greece, it was inscribed 
 upon their tombstones, that their country, the world, and pos- 
 terity, might read it in all coming time, " Go, stranger, and tell 
 at Lacedajmon that we died here in defence of her laws." Well 
 might we transcribe the sentiment upon the monuments of our 
 heroes who have fallen upon the many Thermopylaes from the 
 Potomac to the Rio Grande, " Go stranger and tell to the mil- 
 lions that shall come up after us, that we, too, died here in de- 
 fense of American Liberty, American Laws, and the American 
 Union." We have met here to commemorate the patriotism 
 and deeds of valor of those who are now sleeping the last sleep 
 beneath the green turf which we this moment press with san- 
 daled feet, and with that reverence which we, their surviving 
 comrades, owe to our fallen brothers and friends. It is meet 
 that we be here to-day to do honor to all that remains mortal of 
 our late comrades-in-arms. It is right, yea, it is an imperative 
 duty that we owe to our fallen comrades and friends, that we, 
 in this manner, renew our recollections of their patriotic ser- 
 vices. This day millions of our countrymen, from the pine-clad 
 hills of Maine to the golden shores of California, are with us, 
 heart and soul, doing honor to the remains of that mighty army 
 of two hundred thousand, who will no longer awake to the 
 sound of the long roll, the summons to strife, carnage, and 
 death. That army sleeps quietly, calmly, and serenely beneath 
 the sod of many a stricken and bloody field, 
 
 " With their face to the field, their feet to the foe, 
 Leaving in battle no blot on their name ; 
 Looking proudly to heaven from their death-bed of fame." 
 
 But many, very many of that vast army of the dead are, to-day, 
 sleeping coffinless and shroudless over the extended plains, upon 
 the hills, in the valleys, among the pine forests, in the cotton 
 fields, and in the rice swamps of the South. 
 
 " With no stone upon their turf, 
 
 No bones in their graves, 
 Yet they live in the verse 
 That immortally saves." 
 
 And here we see before us, inscribed upon many of these 
 headboards, the melancholy line, " Unknown Union Soldier."
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 573 
 
 Oh ! what sad reflections rise in the mind" unknown Union 
 soldiers." No fond mother, no weeping sister, no loving and 
 heart-broken wife, this day to weep with us and drop a tear of 
 sorrow over their mortal remains. Strangers in a strange land ! 
 What must be the feelings of that mother, of that sister, and of 
 that wife, when we, this day, are strewing flowers over the 
 graves of these "unknown soldiers," their last resting-place is, 
 to them, clouded in mystery to remain such, perhaps, until the 
 judgment-day, when the Judge of all the earth shall summon 
 the human race to appear before the eternal throne. When the 
 sea and the grave shall give up the dead, then the mystery shall 
 disappear, and these " unknown Union soldiers " shall greet 
 their joyous friends with the shout of triumph " Victory over 
 Death." Then, with the millions that have fallen with them, 
 in defence of law and liberty, upon the gates of Paradise, upon 
 the parapets of heaven, they will wave the flag of a redeemed 
 and ransomed race. Yes, these " Union soldiers " are known 
 known to us, known to posterity, and, we trust, known to the 
 Judge of all the earth. A grateful people, this day, know and 
 do them honor. They sleep, by day, beneath these flowers of 
 red, white, and blue ; and, by night, beneath the blue dome of 
 heaven and galaxy of stars, emblematic of that flag which they 
 bore aloft, unsullied and untarnished, in the dread carnage of 
 battle. I know of no motive more honorable, no purpose more 
 devoted, than the motive and purpose that sever the domestic 
 ties that bind a father to his little ones, a husband to his fond 
 wife, and which induce them to forego the pleasure and endear- 
 ments of home and friends, and to go forth to battle for one's 
 country, her liberty, and her laws. Patriotism, in all ages of 
 the world, and in all countries of die earth, has ever been, and, 
 I tru.-t. will ever continue to be, regarded as the most laudable 
 sentiment of man. That self-sacrificing spirit, that undying 
 and unfaltering devotion to country and her institutions, bind 
 men and people together under one form of government with 
 bands stronger than adamant. And hence the sentiment of 
 nationality. Without this sentiment, instead of compact socie- 
 ties and a common government for the millions, all would be 
 confusion, chaos, and anarchy. Rapine, violence, and blood- 
 shed would be the motive-power and vocation of the unhappy 
 victims of this wild anarchy. Like the barbarians of ancient 
 Germany the Goths and Vandals who with savage fierceness 
 and wild fury struck down the conquering eagles of Eome, laid 
 waste her territory, and finally plundered, sacked, and reduced 
 to ashes the city of the Seven Hills, at whose base rolled the 
 waters of the Tiber. After these barbarians had extinguished
 
 574 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Roman civilization from that empire, that extended from the 
 wall of Antoninus in Caledonia to the river Tigress, from the 
 columns of Hercules to Mount Atlas, they turned with savage 
 fierceness and unrelenting fury, and waged against each other a 
 war of extermination. But we Americans have picked up the 
 broken fragments of that empire, crystallized the principles that 
 once underlied the Republic of Rome, under the Scipios and 
 Caesars, purified them through fire and blood, and have laid 
 them deep as the comer-stone of our political tabernacle. We 
 had demonstrated to mankind that law and liberty were not in- 
 compatible. But in an evil hour, when the free choice and vol- 
 untary suffrage of a great and free people had chosen the im- 
 mortal Lincoln to preside over the destinies of that people for 
 the brief period of four years, wicked and ambitious men 
 sought, through the force of arms, to subvert that Government. 
 They dared us to the wager of battle. We, the loyal millions, 
 accepted the challenge, and the world knows the result. It 
 would be a useless task now, and on this occasion, to detail the 
 causes of that struggle from which we have just emerged a 
 struggle for national life that has taxed this people to their ut- 
 most capacity in endurance, in treasure, and finally in the blood 
 of the victims, whom we this day honor. The parricides of the 
 Republic sought to extend the clanking chains of slavery over 
 every inch of our common heritage. It was their boast that 
 they would call the roll of their slaves under the shadow of 
 Bunker Hill Monument. In a word, that they would convert 
 Columbia's fair land into a vast empire of slavery, and a slave 
 market in which auction blocks were to be erected over the 
 land, from which men, women, and children, made in the 
 image of God, were to be sold into a lifelong servitude and 
 chains. We of the North sought, through peaceful means, to 
 prevent the spread of this great crime into the Territories. 
 And before our verdict was recorded, the South rebelled against 
 that verdict, and seized upon the forts and other public property 
 of the Republic, thereby compelling us to accept of the chal- 
 lenge to strife, or to tamely submit to a dissolution of the Union. 
 We did not hesitate as to our duty. When the news reached 
 the North that our flag had been lowered at Foil Sumter, and 
 its little brave garrison had surrendered to armed treason, this 
 people was moved as was no people on earth before. The noise 
 and hum of industry in every city, town, and hamlet through- 
 out the land was at once silenced. Men, in the streets, in their 
 counting-rooms, in their workshops, and in their fields, with 
 compressed lips, with unyielding purpose, resolved, upon their 
 knees, and with their hands extending toward heaven, that their
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 575 
 
 country should not be dismembered, Ajid when that -ood 
 great and immortal Lincoln, as the chosen chief of the nation 
 appealed to the men of that nation to defend its integrity a 
 feeling of relief was telt in the rescue to arms. For nearly two 
 year, the strife raged with unparalleled fury-success "more 
 often crowning the armies of treason than those of loyalty and 
 union, the result sometimes hanging fearfully in the balance. 
 Ine loyal army and people began to grow faint, and demanded 
 that the war should be prosecuted by more determined generals 
 and upon a different basis. Instead of using that army for the 
 return of slaves to their rebel masters, it was resolved to use our 
 natural allies the enslaved race. Then came that famous 
 I reclamation that spoke freedom to an oppressed people. The 
 enunciation of that Proclamation rang out like the voice of God 
 from Mount Sinai, as He gave the law upon a tablet of stone to 
 his chosen people. The people were joyous, and the army was 
 jubilant. They went Ibrth to battle wi'th new hope and life ; 
 and He who holds in His hands the destiny of nations, ^ave us 
 the victory. We met the enemies of the JRepublic witlf " Lib- 
 erty and Union " streaming upon onr banners, in the swamps 
 that surround Yicksburg, upon the plains of Gettysburg, upon 
 the rocky fastness and above the clouds of Lookout Mountain, 
 and in front of the gates of Atlanta, and the armies of treason 
 and rebellion gave way before the invincible armies of Grant 
 and Sherman. The army of Johnson was scattered in the 
 swamps of Mississippi, giving us control of the Father of 
 "Waters. The army of Lee retreated hastily into Virginia, and 
 the army of Hood was dispei-sed over the pine hills of central 
 Georgia. Then commenced those memorable marches, without 
 a parallel in history save those of Alexander the Great, and 
 Napoleon's march into Russia, but with a far different result. 
 It was announced by the Lieutenant-General that the Con- 
 federacy was but a shell. And while your brave and indomitable 
 Blunt was scattering the rebel hordes through Missouri into 
 Arkansas, like chaff before the storm, Sherman and his invin- 
 cible hosts were sweeping the sandy pine-forests of central and 
 southern Georgia, knocking at and opening the gates of Savan- 
 nah, and linking his army to the fleet upon the sea. And while 
 these scenes were transpiring, the intrepid and generous Grant 
 was hu^eing the rebel army in Richmond with an iron grasp 
 that betokened more than human love. 
 
 And again in January, 1865, Sherman, with his eighty 
 thousand veterans, that never retreated or flinched before an 
 enemy, started from the Savannah river, scattered death, desola- 
 tion, and terror through the rebel hosts of South Carolina ; re-
 
 576 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 duced Columbia wb^ere secession hatched the first egg of 
 treason to a smouldering ruin, and destroying cotton, railroads, 
 and other sinews of war as he swept through the swamps of the 
 Carolinas. And after a march of sixty-six days in the swamps 
 and wilderness, and the victory of Bentonville, without supplies, 
 cut off from all communication with the loyal millions, lie at last 
 encamped his hungry, ragged, and barefooted, but undismayed 
 army, at Goldsboro. After ten days' rest, starting to move upon 
 Raleigh, defended by Johnson, the lightning flashed the news 
 from Grant to Sherman that Richmond the rebel citadel had 
 fallen, and lay prostrate at the feet of Grant. Two days later, 
 on the 12th of April, while the army was encamped at Smith- 
 field, another dispatch from Grant was received at Sherman's 
 headquarters, that Lee, with his entire army, had surrendered to 
 the loyal cause. Pressing upon Raleigh, that opened her gates to 
 Sherman, he, a few days later, received the capitulation of John- 
 son and his army. Once more the flag of the Union waved its 
 ample folds over the soil of the entire and united republic, with 
 DO slaves or clanking chains beneath those folds. Marching 
 that army through Richmond, on the 19th day of May, A. D. 
 1865, Sherman encamped his army with that of Grant's on the 
 Potomac. Then came the review of two hundred thousand 
 veterans, with the streets of Washington strewn with flowers. 
 A heartfelt welcome to the saviours of the country rang from 
 every street, and from the dome of the Capitol, and reverberated 
 through the land. But amid this joyous scene, one melancholy 
 reflection threw a cloud of gloom over the army and people. 
 The chosen chief, he who for four long years had, by his council 
 and command, directed the operations of that army, and encour- 
 aged the drooping spirits of the nation, was no more. Abraham 
 Lincoln, the good, the just, and the true, had fallen from an as- 
 sassin's bullet. A triumphant nation in mourning over the loss 
 of its chief, and that army of the dead two hundred thousand 
 strong. " How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the 
 battle ! " Such was the language of lamentation of David over 
 Saul and Jonathan. We, too, this day repeat the exclamation 
 " How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle ! " 
 We call up in our recollection to-day, many of our fallen com- 
 rades. In imagination we speak to them, as of yore, in the din 
 battle. But no response from their pallid lips. No hearty 
 cheer and wild shout to brave us on to the assault of the ene- 
 mies works. The roll is called. The response is " dead upon 
 the field of honor." No more these fallen comrades will grasp us 
 by the hand and pledge anew their devotion to their country. No 
 more will their eyes behold that flag which they pressed to their
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 577 
 
 oids t n d f atk No teara w 
 
 its folds. But that gallant army of dead two 
 
 beneath the 
 
 Two hundred thousand rank and file are they 
 
 Under the Captains of fulfilled renown 
 Led to immortal triumph, since the day ' 
 
 On which they won the heroes perfect crown. 
 
 They march in silent lines compact and strong, 
 Enfranchised from all human doubt and dread 
 
 JNo mortal tremors through faint pulses throng, 
 Jn the unshrinking armies of the dead. 
 
 No straggler slinks away in pallid fear, 
 
 No sick list swells before the battle day 
 No mixed and broken columns throng the rear, 
 
 When on the front war's booming engines play. 
 
 They are invincible in hand and heart, 
 
 Before the fi^ht their victory is sure ; 
 From elbow touching comrade none shall part, 
 
 None shall the after-thirst of wounds endure. 
 
 No cry for help from front ranks pressed and sore, 
 
 Rises above the storm of fire and hail ; 
 They hold each forward post forever more, 
 
 And no supports are needed lest they fail. 
 
 The fortresses they guard shall never yield 
 To gnawing famine or to bursting shell; 
 No widening breach shall ever be revealed, 
 No pallid flag its tale of shame shall tell. 
 
 They ask no furlough till the next campaign, 
 _ Through the dark winter hours of storm and frost ; 
 
 Fixed as the earth's foundation they remain, 
 The whole two hundred thousand at their post. 
 
 Their term of service with no time expires; 
 
 The hidden future need shall see them stand 
 With changeless front to guard the altar fires, 
 
 Set up to freedom on a ransomed land. 
 
 Oh, armies of the dead, in tears and pain, 
 
 They were enlisted for the eternal years, 
 To keep humanity's fair name from stain, 
 
 To lay forever all its rising fears. 
 
 AT NEW YOKK CITY. 
 
 The principal cemetery near New York City is that of Cy- 
 
 press, Hill, on Long Isla,nd, a few miles from Brooklyn, where 
 
 there are about three thousand five hundred graves. During 
 
 the war, several large general hospitals were located in and near 
 
 37
 
 578 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 New York, among which were the Central Park, Lexington 
 avenue, David's Island, Fort Schuyler, and Willett's Point, be- 
 sides several smaller ones at the Battery, New England Rooms, 
 and New York State Home. All the deceased who were not 
 removed by their friends were placed in this cemetery. Arrange- 
 ments were made by the Posts of Brooklyn and Williamsburg, 
 participated in by Posts from New York, for the observance of 
 the day. At the hall in the Post Office building, the donations 
 of flowers were brought by children on foot, and ladies and gen- 
 tlemen in carriages, and at an early hour a rich supply of floral 
 decorations was heaped upon the reception-tables. Committees 
 were sent to the cemeteries of the Evergreens, Holy Cross, 
 Greenwood, and the Naval Hospital during the forenoon, and 
 at noon the main body of the comrades prepared for the cere- 
 monies at Cypress Hill, under the direction of Dr. J. L. Farley, 
 A. A. G. of New York, and Comrades McLeer, Mosscrop, Fox, 
 Spoon er, and Gillen. 
 
 Having reached the cemetery and formed in a square, the 
 services were opened by Chaplain Bass, who read the service of 
 the order, and led in prayer. Comrade Wm. Hemstreet, Com- 
 mander of Post No. 10, then delivered the following address: 
 
 COMRADES AND FRIENDS : Notwithstanding the quiet and un- 
 ostentation with which this day's great event has been inaugu- 
 rated, no day in American history is its equal as an attestation 
 of the ever-living sentiment of American patriotism. To-day 
 this mighty nation turns aside for a moment, in the pursuit of 
 its material prosperity, to come to the quiet graves of its mar- 
 tyred saviors and to freshen their memory before the world. To 
 woman is committed the immediate office of strewing their 
 graves with those ever-touching floral emblems of her own 
 faithful heart and her nature, with which she lias, in all ages, 
 fittingly garlanded the brow of the hero living, and which 
 she has always planted upon that little mound which should 
 cover the soldier s breast when dead. There is something more 
 romantic in that simple little old-fashioned mound than in clois- 
 tered or cavernous vaults for the soldier. 
 
 "Bury him in the clover ; 
 
 He loved the fields and they should he his cover : 
 Make his grave with hers 
 Who called him once her lover, 
 Where the winds may sigh upon it, 
 And the sun may shine upon it, 
 Where the rain may rain upon it, 
 Aud the bee may dine upon it." 
 
 Three years have rolled on since the last shot was fired by
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 579 
 
 "State Rights" against the power of the Union a shot which 
 made the last, greatest, and best martyr to our nationality he 
 who was the great friend of soldiers, of soldiers' widows and or- 
 phans, and of soldiers' graves ; three years have rolled on, and 
 111 the turmoil and dust of those commonplaces which surround 
 and cover up the poetry of the noblest things in the present, the 
 nation seemed for a time to have forgotten its immense debt. 
 But time is perhaps now beginning to lift our people to an alti- 
 tude whence the proportions of the crisis through which we 
 have passed, and the grand 'services of each humble actor in the 
 front line of events can be measured. Comrades, this day is 
 a substantial omen to the living. This day is a significant sign 
 of the ineradicable love in our people's hearts as a nationality ; 
 for though these ceremonies were begun by comrades, it has 
 been taken up and sympathized in by the people. We, com- 
 rades, are of the people, and from us the people at large will 
 catch the spirit and perpetuate it. This act will engender pat- 
 riotism in the young and renew the old fires in all others. As 
 those truths which are draped in song and poesy live longest, so 
 will these poetic offerings to the dead shine in our history with 
 a lustre unequalled by that of those more immediately substan- 
 tial acts of charity to the living. All over this broad land, at 
 this hour, as we stand here, .within hearing of the surge under 
 which sleep some of our comrades, the loyal church-bells of 
 every hamlet and village are chiming, the citizens have turned 
 aside from their vocations, and loyal hearts are now bending 
 over those graves, whether they be in the piney woods along 
 the Atlantic's coast or the dark forests of Tennessee ; whether 
 they be on the glorious fields of Virginia and Pennsylvania, 
 where their sleeping occupants fell amid glory, or on the shores 
 of the great north lakes where the wild song of breakers is mur- 
 muring a fit symphony of the roar of battle as it were a lul- 
 laby to the soldier's rest ; whether those graves dot the flower- 
 covered prairies of the West or the pure hillsides of New Eng- 
 land they are sought out, and are at this moment odorous with 
 the incense of flowers bedewed to immortal freshness with a 
 nation's tears, and the " dear old flag," which they upheld so 
 well, always like a thing of life, now'waves its sheltering folds 
 over thenTin cadence to the requiems being sung around them. 
 Our republic in its free-will union had commanded the respect 
 and admiration of the world for its prosperity and power as a 
 body politic, and for the individual happiness and prosperity of 
 its citizens ; but had it not been for those men whose bones now 
 lie at our feet, and their three hundred thousand comrades 
 Bleeping upon the thousand battle-fields, and beneath the wave,
 
 580 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 this " majestic temple of Freedom " would to-day be in ruins 
 about us, the scoff of all monarchists. And with that universal 
 destruction of our political fabric would have sunk all social se- 
 curity. When the mind reflects upon the contrast between 
 what we behold around about us to-day, and what might have 
 been but for the noble spirits that once animated this moulder- 
 ing clay here beneath us, it staggers at the magnitude of that 
 contrast and is unwillingly led to its belief. It is a pity that, 
 notwithstanding this mighty revolution, which seems like the 
 Almighty's own, making the American people merely his 
 agents for the behoof of this world and posterity, the justness 
 of the cause for which these men gave their Jives should even 
 yet be questioned. And this is one of the strongest reasons 
 why appeals should be made to every human sentiment to 
 keep alive the attachment to what was the Federal Union, but 
 what is now, by God's own Hat, a nation, leaving that centrali- 
 zation so dreaded by the enemies of law and order to follow, as 
 the intelligence, the Christianity, the sociality, and the facilities 
 of intercommunication may lead. But whatever political clouds 
 may portend, here, comrades, by the graves of our fallen bro- 
 thers, let us swear once more eternal fealty to that flag and to 
 our own priceless records. The bones of our dead comrades 
 shall never rattle in their coffins at our recreancy. " Priceless 
 records," it was said. Because no wealth can buy such records, 
 no attainments can buy them, not even courage nor" patriotism 
 can now buy them. They are rewards for nothing that you 
 merit abovo your fellow-citizens, except in the ppssession of that 
 one element of simple, spontaneous patriotism that called you 
 to the front at the first roll of the drum that element only 
 which has ever saved nations. 
 
 Let this day be commemorated over the land, and become a 
 national anniversary, not second even to the signing of the De- 
 claration of Independence. We have an anniversary of the na- 
 tion born ; let there be an anniversary of the nation saved. It 
 need never be a day of mourning, but of joy and triumph. As 
 in the solemn burial of a soldier we proceed to the place of in- 
 terment with slow march and muffled drums, and then march 
 away to lively and inspiriting music, so after this duty each year 
 we can celebrate the rest of the day with demonstrations of joy. 
 The national observance of this respect to the memory of the 
 dead Union soldier will be of practical utility in accustoming 
 the popular heart to the idea, so that that respect will, to some 
 degree, attach to the living ; and in a few recurrences of this an- 
 niversary we may see no more the spectacle of the beggar in 
 blue blouse nor of the empty sleeve or the crutch seeking in 
 vain from shop to office for honest employment.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 531 
 
 But there is another thought which, hefore we leave mnst 
 have expression What are these other graves, from the Com 
 ot winch ascends no perfume of flowers as a national offering 
 
 fs ^t e h 3 th e p ? r T t0 W ^ the ? reSt in P eace ' their raista ^e 
 s with their God. We cannot, by apotheosis of them or their 
 
 cause, encourage their living; jet, let the offerings of kindred 
 
 and domestic love be twined about them, and let them not be 
 
 desecrated bj vindictive touch, for they fell as our own fell 
 
 oldiers, Americans. But in taking our leave, let us by these 
 
 raves swear that we shall always stand ready to make more of 
 
 ^S^^ 118 ollce more re P eat our sh rt and simple creed 
 "ETERNAL FIDELITY TO NATIONAL UNITY." That 
 alone was the issue that made us comrades at first, that was the 
 wsue for which these men were killed, and ly that issue are we 
 bound together; while as a Irotherhood we leave att other issues 
 to other people. But, comrades, little more need be said. Our 
 duty is well done to-day, as it has been in the past ; and the 
 spirits of the departed may now look down upon this scene, as 
 well, too, the living beholders, and say: " Dulce et decorum est 
 pro patria mori " Sweet and becoming it is for one's country 
 to die. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Everitt and Rev. Matthew Hale Smith made brief 
 but eloquent and effective addresses. The services were closed 
 with prayer by Rev. W. H. Boole, and benediction. The graves 
 were then visited, and the flowers distributed, the large assembly 
 being detained till a late hour before they separated to their 
 homes. In the evening, memorial services were held at Elm 
 Place Church, Rev. Wm. A. Bartlett, Pastor. Rev. Mr. Gal- 
 lagher, of the First Baptist Church, offered prayer, and Mr. 
 Bartlett read the service and delivered an address. The hymn 
 written for the occasion by Mr. Bourne was sung, and Mr. Gal- 
 lagher and others made addresses. At the close, the ode written 
 by Edward P. Nowell was sung, and the whole congregation 
 was dismissed with the benediction. Some of the Posts, whose 
 members could not leave their accustomed duties on Saturday, 
 appointed Sunday, May 31st, in which several Posts of New 
 York and Williamsburg took part in very impressive ceremo- 
 nies. The storm of Saturday had ceased, the sky was clear, 
 and the sacredness of the Sabbath hour made this visit to the 
 " city of the dead " one of serious and holy associations. Post 
 Phil. Kearny No. 8, and Post I. I. Stevens, No. 36, had ap- 
 pointed memorial services at the hall of Post No. 8, and^at three 
 o'clock a crowded audience was assembled. The exercises were 
 opened by singing the following hymn :
 
 582 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 HYMX. 
 Written for the Memorial Service* to the Fallen Heroet of the TFar, May 
 
 SOth, 1868. 
 TCXE " Pleyel's Hymn. 1 ' 
 
 Love immort-il for the dead, 
 
 Lying here in gloried sleep, 
 Where the angels softly tread, 
 
 While their holy watch they keep. 
 
 Wreaths we bring that ne'er shall fade, 
 
 Greener with the passing years, 
 Brighter lor our sorrow's shade, 
 
 Jewelled with our failing tears. 
 
 Here they died t!:at truth might live, 
 
 Here they fell in freedom's name, 
 Giving all that man can give 
 
 Life for glory's deathless fame. 
 
 Bend in love, O azure sky ! 
 
 Shine, O stars, at evening time ! 
 Watch where heroes calmly lie, 
 
 In their faith and hope sublime. 
 
 God of nations, bless the land 
 
 Thou hast saved to make us free ; 
 Guide us with thy mighty hand, 
 
 Till all lands shall come to THEE ! 
 
 WM. OLAXD BOURNE. 
 
 A portion of the Scriptures was read, and prayer offered by 
 the Chaplain of Post. Xo. 8, after which Commander Morgan 
 made a few remarks, and called upon Comrade J. W. Marshall, 
 Commander of Post !No. 36, to preside. Colonel "Wm. Hem- 
 street, of Brooklyn, made an address, followed by Comrade 
 Marshall, and after an appropriate chant by the choir, the 
 Chaplain of Post. ~&Q. 8, Wm. Oland Bourne, made the closing 
 address. The comrades present laid their offerings upon an em- 
 blematic altar prepared for the occasion, and the following 
 hymn, by E. P. Is owell, was sung : 
 
 With Nature's fairest gifts we come 
 
 To deck these silent, solemn mounds, 
 And though the flowers' lips be dumb, 
 
 Yet speak they love that hath no bounds! 
 
 They show that those who bravely stood, 
 
 In truth's defence, in loyal mi, r ht, 
 Though for this cause they've shed their blood, 
 
 They live in hearts that love the right. 
 
 The flag on battle fields they bore 
 The flag that o'er their dear dust waves; 
 
 O hallowed flag ! may history's lore 
 
 Ne'er tell thou'rt gone from o'er their graves.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 583 
 
 O sacred dust of those who fell 
 
 In gory strife's appalling hour ; 
 Remembrance of their deeds shall well 
 
 "Within our souls with searching power. 
 
 Our Father, aid us well to love 
 
 Our land ;md its defenders true ; 
 Teach all in faith to look above 
 
 And give us strength the right to do ! 
 
 The services were closed with an invocation, and the com- 
 rades took their flowers, and proceeded in marching order to the 
 graveyard of Trinity Church, where the hero of undyino- fame 
 alter whom the Post was named General PHILIP KEAENT 
 quietly sleeps. On the invitation of Comrade Marshall, Kev. 
 Dr. Ogilby, the officiating clergyman of Trinity, conducted the 
 services. It was by a happy coincidence that the school-mate 
 of the hero should thus have been called upon to pay his tribute 
 on so interesting an occasion to the memory of his friend. With 
 much feeling the reverend speaker said : I should not be acting 
 fairly where I not to state that this scene deeply affects me, for 
 it is too often the case that when persons have done some par- 
 ticular good to their fellow-men, they are allowed to pass entirely 
 out of remembrance. Unlike this too common course, we hear 
 from all parts of this great land that comrades have borne in 
 remembrance those who have fallen ; and you have come here 
 to show that you bear yours in memory ; that you remember 
 him who has helped to serve and bless the country in the hour 
 of her need ; who died, like the martyrs of old, for the good 
 and blessing of his race. It has been my happy and pleasing 
 lot to have known the deceased from his boyhood, for we were 
 playmates, and, as boys, were constant companions. It was, 
 therefore, a fortunate thing for me that, as I was about to leave 
 the sacred edifice, this pleasing yet sad ceremony should have 
 taken place ; and I feel thankful that it has fallen to my lot to 
 be thus made a participator therein. As boys we have played 
 together, and I noted his course as a man. When he went forth 
 to Mexico, my mind followed him ; when he discharged his duty 
 in Europe, I felt interested in his movements ; and when lie led 
 his brave followers through the dangers and trials of our domes- 
 tic troubles, it was with an intense interest that I watched the 
 accounts of his gallant deeds. You have this day come to strew 
 his grave with flowers, those emblems both of our mortality and 
 of our immortality those beautiful works of nature which 
 were blessed by the Saviour when he pointed to them and said : 
 " Behold the lilies of the Held how they grow ; they toil not, 
 neither do they spin ; yet Solomon in all his glory was not
 
 584 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 arrayed like one of these." The Rev. Doctor then offered up 
 prayer for the divine blessing to rest on the efforts then being 
 made to perpetuate the memories of the dead, and dismissed the 
 audience with the benediction. 
 
 On Sunday evening, Post Sumner, No. 24, and Post Win- 
 throp, No. 28, held services in their hall, corner of Hudson and 
 Christopher streets. The opening exercises were conducted by 
 Rev. D. K. Lee, of the M. E. Church in Jane street. Floral 
 offerings were deposited upon the emblematic and flag-covered 
 coffin, a dirge was finely sung by the choir, and a very eloquent 
 eulogy upon the American soldier pronounced by Colonel A. J 
 PL .Duganne. After singing by the choir, and remarks by 
 Major C. W. Coutan, Hon. N. B. Stratton made a brief address, 
 followed by William Oland Bourne, editor of the Soldier's 
 Friend. The audience then joined in singing the hymn written 
 for the day : 
 
 " Love immortal for the dead," 
 
 and were dismissed with prayer and benediction. 
 
 Post Sedgwick, No. 11, held its services at the hall, on Fri- 
 day evening. May 29th. The opening by the the Chaplain, 
 Rev. J. B. Willis, followed by reading the General Order No. 
 11 ; General Rush C. Hawkins delivered an address, in which 
 he reviewed the sufferings of Southern prisons ; an extract from 
 a letter of President Lincoln was read ; Col. F. A. Conkling 
 made an address ; emblematic floral offerings were made, and 
 the services were closed with the Doxology, and benediction by 
 Chaplain Willis. 
 
 AT GREENWOOD CEMETEKT, NEW YORK. 
 
 Comrade E. B. Spooner Jr., having stated the object of the 
 gathering, read the ritual for the dead and an appropriate pas- 
 sage from the Bible, Mr. Spooner then introduced Captain R. 
 H. Chittenden, who spoke as follows : 
 
 COMRADES AND FRIENDS : There are those who believe that 
 the spirits of the departed revisit the scenes once familiar to 
 them, and love to linger near the friends they leave behind. 
 Whether it be so I know not, but to-day I will cherish the 
 thought that our brethren whose mortal remains are crumbling 
 back to dust where they fell, either on the battle-field, in the 
 trenches at Andersonville and Salisbury, or in our own beauti- 
 ful Greenwood, where loving hands have laid them, are with us 
 to-day, to respond to the sacred sentiments which have called 
 us together, and with spirit-hands to touch the chords of our 
 hearts, causing them to vibrate in unison with those celestial 
 songs in which they celebrate " Glory to God, and good will to
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 585 
 
 men !' There are occasions, my comrades, and we have known 
 many of them since that fatal shot upon Sumter called us from 
 the hold, the work-shop, or the office, to follow that sacred em- 
 blem of our national integrity and liberty, through alternate 
 defeat and victory, when our hearts were too full for utterance 
 when the most eloquent words fell tamely upon the ear, and 
 the heavy sigh and the manly tear were more expressive to them 
 than the most eloquent tongue. Such an occasion we have to- 
 day, and if you ask me for an orator adequate thereto, I will 
 point you to that boy in blue who to-day placed a hunch of 
 violets upon the grave of his comrade who marched with him to 
 the battle one sunny morning, but who never again answered to 
 the roll call ! A bunch of violets "Think of me, I remember 
 you." Emblem of memory that springs up anew with each re- 
 turning year. But I forgot we did have an orator who was 
 adequate to this task. You remember that tall, ungraceful 
 form who stood up before the assembled multitude at Gettys- 
 burg, whose name stands first in the roll of our honored dead 
 our late Commander-in-Chief, Abraham Lincoln? Would that 
 God had seen fit to spare him ! Words shall live in the memo- 
 ries of every lover of freedom when the classic oratory of 
 Thucydides over the heroes of Marathon shall have been for- 
 gotten. Let us recall them to-day. Let them inspire our souls 
 with something of the divine charity which filled the great 
 heart of Lincoln ! We have associated ourselves to do the 
 work which he enjoined upon us ; to " care for him who has 
 borne the battle, for his widow and his orphans, with malice 
 towards none." Let us say to our late foes we have buried all 
 animosity in the grave. Renew your vows of allegiance to 
 the Union, the Constitution, and the old flag ; do justice to all 
 men white or black, and then resume the exercise of the privi- 
 leges you have forfeited, return to our embrace, join our proces- 
 sion, and together we will strew flowers upon the graves of the 
 blue and the grey. Comrades, I do not mean to say that I am 
 ready to admit into our order those who fought against that flag ! 
 They will never ask it. Ours is a sacred brotherhood banded for 
 eacred purposes ; to keep alive the flame of patriotism in our 
 hearts, to encourage loyalty to our constitution, to care for the 
 soldier's widow and orphans. However ungrateful the Republic 
 may seem, let us not be forgetful. Let this day be celebrated 
 until the last soldier of thV Grand Army of the Republic shall 
 have been borne to his tomb. Comrades, neither you nor I will 
 live to see that day, but there is one of our number, perchance 
 some drummer boy of the Grand Army, who shall live to bear 
 the unique honor 'of being the last of the G. A.R1- the last
 
 586 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 soldier of the Grand Army of the Eepublic. Let me, on this 
 our first memorial day, cast the horoscope of our future. Three 
 quarters of a century have passed away ; a hundred States and a 
 hundred millions are embraced within our Federal Union ; busy 
 cities have sprung up in the track of the Great Pacific Railroad, 
 over which the East pours her treasures into the lap of New 
 York, the metropolis of the world. Methiuks I see that last 
 comrade, an old man, bowing under the weight of ninety years, 
 his hoary locks trembling in the breeze, as with tottering steps 
 he approaches, to place upon your tomb or mine, his last tribute 
 of fiuwers. Throngs of reverent citizens attend him on his 
 sacred way, and bear him in triumph to his home. When that 
 day shall come, may his dimmed eyes behold the old flag of 
 his fathers, then as now the symbol of liberty and equality, then 
 as now floating over an inspired people, made free and happy 
 by the death of those we mourn, and the sacrifices of those who 
 still survive. 
 
 Thou dear old flag, dearer than erst by far, 
 
 No stripe erased, a State for every star, 
 Of banners all most beautiful and best, 
 
 The dread of tyrants, hope of the oppressed, 
 From polar snows to Mexico's dark wave 
 
 Shall float o'er freemen, never more o'er slave I 
 
 At the close of the address, a prayer was offered by Com. 
 Spooner, when the delegation proceeded to strew the graves of 
 their comrades with flowers. Details visited the graves of Col- 
 onel Edgar Perry, who fell while leading his regiment in the 
 charge at Coal Harbor, Virginia, June 3d, 1864 ; of Colonel A. 
 Vosburgh, the loved Commander of the New York Seventy- 
 first, M'ho died in the service from exposure, in leading his regi- 
 ment from Annapolis to Washington, in April, 1861, and many 
 others. 
 
 AT YONKERS, NEW YORK. 
 
 The procession, headed by the band of the 55th Regiment, was 
 formed in Getty Square, Captain James Stewart, Grand Marshal, 
 and marched to St. John's Cemetery. 
 
 The flowers provided, in the shape of wreaths, crosses bou- 
 quets, &c., were abundant and beautiful. A portion of the 
 flowers were taken by a Committee to the Roman Cemetery, where 
 eleven graves of soldiers were decorated. The names of the 
 eleven were as follows : Patrick Burns, Michael Lee, Patrick 
 Doile, Dennis Cliney, Thomas Garry, Win. McGafferty, Win. 
 
 Douled, James Montague, James Brogil, Murphy, 
 
 Morrissey.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 587 
 
 Tn St. John's Cemetery, the procession having halted near the 
 family vault, a fervent prayer was offered by Rev. Dr 
 ,ra\vt..r.l, ,t the Methodist Church. The procession then visit- 
 ed and decorated with flowers the graves of the following dead 
 soldiers: Col. Howard Carroll, Lieut. Dwight, Lieut. De Witt 
 A1) 
 
 . , . , ep ns- 
 
 worth, James Granger, Charles Tyler, Benj. Nodine. Charles 
 .tester, James Walton and Charles E. Lawrence. 
 
 At the last grave visited, an eloquent address was delivered 
 by Col. Geo. W. Farnham ; and an impressive prayer was made 
 by Rev. Dr. Cole of the Reformed Church. The ceremonies of 
 the cemeteries concluded, the procession proceeded to the First 
 Presbyterian Church, where was assembled a large congregation. 
 The- st-mces were opened with prayer by the Rev. Mr. Mudge, 
 of the Westminster Church. Capt. Edward W. Jenkins then 
 delivered an address which was listened to with great interest, 
 and called forth from all who heard it expressions of admiration 
 for its eloquence and appropriateness. 
 
 He spoke beautifully in the commencement of the honors 
 paid in ancient times to the dead heroes and warriors, and of 
 the custom of decorating their tombs with flowers. He spoke 
 in strong terms of the wickedness of the rebellion, but said with 
 feeling, that while we could not decorate the last abode of the 
 rebellious dead with floral wreaths, "we could afford, as brave 
 men towards brave men, bid them rest in peace, as we drop a 
 tear of pity on their tomb, and breath a mournful sigh for so 
 much more than wasted manhood." He spoke of the lesson 
 which the graves of the soldier teaches us that the battle is 
 not yet over that treason, conquered in the field, is striving by 
 treachery to accomplish that which open valor failed to achieve. 
 He spoke of the unparalleled character of the war, whether we 
 look at the nature of the struggle, the causes which led to it, the 
 number and materiel of the troops engaged on either side, and 
 the issues involved. After giving a brief review of the history 
 of the war, and alluding beautifully to Abraham Lincoln, he 
 spoke of the roll of honor of our dead heroes, and said: 
 
 " On that roll of honor, Yonkers is but too well represented. 
 Nineteen of our village heroes sleep in yonder cemetery, and 
 eleven in the other thirty in all an honorable percentage of 
 her patriot sons. Would that I could linger over their brief but 
 gallant history. Familiar names every one: Lawrence and 
 Mason ; Nodine, Beasley and Morgan ; Lieuts. Dwight and 
 Kniffin, behind the shelter of whose guns I have slumbered
 
 588 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 peacefully even on the battle-field ; Thompson and Granger; Col- 
 onel Howard Carroll, and the brave young George S. Rockwell, 
 son of our esteemed fellow-citizen ; E. Atwood Rainous and 
 Hamilton, martyrs to Southern ' chivalry ' as exemplified in their 
 treatment as prisoners of war ; Ainsworth, Sickley, Foster, and 
 the rest a goodly .company. These, in their honored tombs, are 
 silent witnesses that Yonkers in the hour of trial was not un- 
 mindful of her duty." 
 
 Capt. Jenkins next spoke of the organization of the Grand 
 Army of the Republic, under whose auspices the ceremonies of 
 the day were inaugurated, and which ceremonies " it was the 
 fixed purpose of the organization, with God's help, to renew 
 from year to year, while a survivor of the war remains to honor 
 the memory of his departed comrades." In this connection, 
 Capt. Jenkins said that the organization had been abused and 
 treated by certain parties as a political organization. He said : 
 " Our regulations tell us that it is for the purpose, among other 
 things, of strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which 
 have bound together those who wanted to suppress the late re- 
 bellion. If this is political if this is partisanship we must 
 admit that there is something pure in party, and that a better 
 era has dawned upon American politics than we are aware of. 
 If to love country better than life if to unite to keep that dear 
 old blood-stained flag ever floating in unsullied purity and un- 
 disturbed freedom from the Atlantic to the Pacific if again 
 and again to renew solemn vows that our bodies will be her bul- 
 warks, and that no polluting touch of traitorous hand shall ever 
 again lower it from its lofty height if to tenderly cherish the 
 memory of our departed brothers, and to uphold the rights and 
 to care for the wants of the maimed, the widow and the orphan 
 if to hold and maintain at all hazards that the Union is, now 
 and forever, one and inseparable if this be politics, if this be 
 partisanship, then are we politicians, then are we partisans 
 indeed." 
 
 At the conclusion of Capt. Jenkin's address, the Rev. A. J. 
 Behrends offered a prayer and pronounced the benediction. 
 
 AT MIDDLE-TOWN, NEW YORK. 
 
 The comrades and their friends who assisted in the services 
 at this place first marched to the Catholic Cemetery, where the 
 ladies proceeded to strew the graves with flowers. Maj. Van 
 Houton acted as Master of Ceremonies, and introduced Gen. 
 Van Wyck, who made a brief and touching address, in sub- 
 stance as follows : 
 
 I regret, my friends, that Father O'Reilly is not present on
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 589 
 
 this interesting occasion to offer a few remarks, and thus add ad- 
 ditional interest to these solemn ceremonies. This is no idle or un- 
 meaning ceremony. Everywhere throughout the length and 
 breadth of our widely extended land, from the lakes to the Gulf, 
 from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the ladies of our country, in com- 
 mon with our fellow-citizens, to-day meet around the graves of the 
 dead heroes of our Republic, to decorate them with flowers, and 
 water them with tears ; and this beautiful ceremony which we 
 inaugurate here to-day, is not to be an evanescent one, but is 
 designed to be, and shall be, as lasting as the Eepublic itself; 
 aye, so long as human hearts shall anywhere pant for a free gov- 
 ernment and constitutional liberty, so long shall humanity cherish 
 the memory of these our dead heroes. We who meet around 
 their graves to-day with floral offerings and grateful hearts, little 
 know the sufferings they underwent, the dangers and sacrifices 
 they endured, and the heroic daring they exhibited these noble 
 men, who, with their lives in their hands, went out from our 
 midst to battle for us and for a free government regulated by 
 law. But history to their eternal honor will record that by their 
 valor they saved the Republic, and by their own right arms they 
 preserved for all time and for all nations, this, the last refuge of 
 constitutional liberty. 
 
 The ceremonies here being ended, the procession took its way 
 from thence to the Middletown Cemetery, on Academy Avenue. 
 The only soldiers buried here are James Cranston, and another 
 named Webb. The graves were appropriately decorated, not 
 forgetting to place a beautiful wreath of choicest flowers over 
 the monument erected to the memory of Nathaniel D. Tinney, 
 formerly of Ridge bury, who went down with the Cumberland, 
 being killed heroically fighting his guns in that ever memorable 
 contest with the Merrimac. The procession then took up its 
 line of march for u Hillside Cemetery," where graves were vis- 
 ited in the following order : 
 
 Henry Armstrong, who was in Gen. Sherman's army; Wil- 
 liam II. Terry, whose regiment we did not get ; Corporal Daniel 
 E Webb, wounded at Chancellorsville, and died at Alexandria, 
 Va., August 24, 1863 ; Winfield W. Parsons, Sergt. Co. K, 
 124th Regiment, died in hospital at Washington, D. 0., , July 3, 
 1863 in his twenty-first year, from wounds received in the battle 
 of the Wilderness, on the 5th of May, 1863 ; Samuel Bond, of 
 the 56th Regiment ; Robert A. Couch, Regiment not known ; 
 John James Scott, killed in battle at Spottsylvama Court House, 
 Ya., May 12, 1864; Lieut, I. B. Roosa, of the 56th Regiment, 
 Aid-de-camp to Gen. Negley, died at Newbern, K C., January 
 19, 1863 ; Jacob Bookstaver, Regiment unknown to us.
 
 590 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 The ladies and the comrades of the deceased proceeded tc 
 strew flowers and decorate the several graves. The assemblage 
 having gathered about the mound containing the grave of Lieut. 
 Roosa. Chaplain Van Wyck made an appropriate and most elo- 
 quent prayer, after which, the thanks of the surviving soldiers 
 were returned to the ladies of Middletown for their efforts in 
 adorning the graves of their comrades. Rev. Dr. Seward then 
 addressed the assemblage. He said: 
 
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : Though I am among you a minis- 
 ter of religion, I yet am quite tenacious of my citizenship, striv- 
 ing in my humble way to meet its solemn responsibilities, and 
 alway jealous of its invaluable prerogatives. Among these 
 latter is the welcome privilege of joining with you this day in 
 paying homage to the memory of your departed heroes. They 
 were representative men ; they represented us on the field of 
 peril, to which we sent them forth with prayerful benedictions ; 
 they were representatives of those institutions under which, pre- 
 served by their sacrifice and the valor of their comrades, we still 
 live while they are gone ; and of those principles which, lying 
 as the basis of our institutions, are worth even more than the 
 Republic with all her sons. I do not forget that I am among 
 you a minister of religion. Rather do I come here in this capa- 
 city also ; and, by all the sanctity of my holy office, remind 
 both myself and yon how religion proclaims patriotism a virtue, 
 as too it teaches gratitude towards them who have wrought 
 worthy deeds. But I am warned by this coming shower to de- 
 tain you with only a single word. That word is this : During 
 that dark day in which so much of sorrow and of joy were both 
 commingled and concentrated, none in all our community drew 
 more largely upon my sympathies than they whose loved ones 
 went out but came back no more not even wrapped in the 
 starry flag under which they had fallen. I beg you, therefore, 
 in connection with these whose graves you have bedecked, to 
 remember tenderly at this hour the unrecovered dead. The 
 names of all our heroes, like the vernal flowers, will bloom 
 afresh ever and anon. But, though their names should perish, 
 as even the marble must ultimately crumble ; though their 
 deeds should be forgotten, as seen only dimly through the dis- 
 tant past ; though, as the swelling tide of history bears forward 
 rising actors and new achievements to occupy the attention of 
 the future, their names and their heroic deeds should be meas- 
 ureably forgotten, yet the principles for which they so nobly 
 bled and died shall still endure endure while time itself shall 
 last, and even so long as the God of Truth and Justice sits upon 
 His throne.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 591 
 
 REMARKS OF GEX. VAN WYOK. 
 
 Gen. Yan "Wyck followed in the following remarks : 
 He alluded to the redeeming qualities of humanity, that in 
 every heart was a cord which heat responsive to the deeds of 
 the brave and the memories of departed heroes; that amono-the 
 rewards tor the sacrifices of the patriot and incentive to the 
 future was a return of gratitude for his achievements on the 
 held; that to-day the loyal men of the Eepublic, gather- 
 ed by the graves of its departed, and while breathing prayers of 
 thankfulness could realize the extent of the sacrifice* and the 
 vastness of the great victory and results which had been secured 
 by _their blood. That life at best was short. No matter wheth- 
 er in the discharge of duty, we were called away on the bloody 
 field or in the quiet walks of peace, whether in the morning of 
 life, at its meridian, or when down in the valley we wrapped 
 the drapery of our couch about us. He then referred to the 
 services of the dead whose graves had been wreathed and the 
 places \vhere they fell. That one was buried from the sight of 
 men, and perished beneath the waves in one of the most gallant 
 achievements in any age of the world. Yet you have placed a 
 wreath on the marble which commends all his deeds. He was 
 one of the heroic band on the Cumberland in her death struggle 
 with the Merrimac, w r ho stood by her guns firing as the vessel 
 was sinking, and as they fired, the last broadside and the water 
 reached the guns, gave loud cheers to the old flag flying at the 
 masthead, and all was still where the vessel and heroes went 
 down. We strew flowers on their graves to-morrow's sun will 
 wither, their beauty and their fragrance is gone, yet the memory 
 of the sleepers and the fragrance of good deeds will live on 
 while tVee institutions are cherished and liberty preserved among 
 the children of men. That these memorial scenes were beauti- 
 ful as indicating a great people remindful of the struggles of the 
 past, and bending over the tombs of its heroes. That Nature 
 this day was in unison with the grand occasion ; sunshine had 
 added brilliancy to the tints of the flower, while now grandly to 
 conclude the act, bright gleams of lightning, salvos of Heaven's 
 artillery, were saluting the nation's tribute. How nobly life's 
 mission they fulfilled. May the spot made sacred by their dust 
 ever be hallowed by men. 
 
 AT SYRACUSE, NEW YORK. 
 
 At an early hour in the forenoon quantities of flowers, 
 formed in various shapes, such as bouquets, wreaths, crosses, 
 etc., began to be brought to the City Hall, which had been 
 designated as the depot of reception. At one o'clock minute
 
 592 MEMOltlAL CEREMONIES 
 
 bells began to strike, and by two o'clock the procession was 
 formed, the right resting at the junction of Genesee and Wash- 
 ington streets. After forming, the procession moved up Genesee 
 street in the following order : 
 
 Syracuse City Band ; Standard bearer, with American flag 
 surmounted by a handsome wreath, the work of Mrs. Geo. 
 Goodrich ; Marshal Col. E. L. Walrath, and Assistant Mar- 
 shals Maj. James H. Hinman, Col. Peter McLennan, Lieut.- 
 Col. Moses Summers, Maj. Peter Ohneth, Major W. R. Cham- 
 berliu, Capt. James Randall, Lieut. William Duncan; Mayor An- 
 drews and Members of the Common Council, followed by a long 
 delegation of veterans, soldiers and citizens, marching in twos. 
 A conveyance waa provided by Mr. John Ryan and William 
 Richardson, for the disabled soldiers, which proved very accep- 
 table and was freely used. Each person in the procession was 
 provided with a bouquet. The procession proceeded up Genesee 
 to Salina street, down Salina to Ridgeway street, through Ridge- 
 way street to Oakwood, where the band halted, and opening 
 ranks, the entire procession passed through and into the Cemetery. 
 Under the guidance of Mr. George Gardener, Sexton of Oak- 
 wood, the line of march was taken up and the grave of John 
 Lewis first visited. Here the procession opened ranks, and 
 passing on each side of the grave, each person threw one or 
 more flowers from their bouquets upon the grave. Many passed 
 the grave with uncovered heads, thus paying additional respect 
 to the buried dead. The same order was observed at each of the 
 graves of the following persons, which comprise all the soldiers 
 buried in Oakwood Cemetery : Charles Y. Felton, William C. 
 Lilly, James Mills, EL G. L. Hall, R. Miles, William Drew, 
 Charles Highgate, George Smith, E. A. Orvis, James R. Luw- 
 rence, jr., Edmund Curtis, Thomas W. Moore, J. L. Graham, 
 Edwin V. Sumner, James E. Doran, Charles George, G. S. 
 Jenkins, Edwin D. Breed, William J. Webb, M. C. Worden, 
 A. W. Dwight, A. J. Root, W. L. Barnum, John White, Thom- 
 as Annis, George McMillen, Harrison H. Hoyt, Kirby Smith, 
 Kirby Smith, jr., William J. Hunt, Walter Johnson, William 
 H. Tyler, J. M. Brower, D. D. Hills and Henry L. Kingsley. 
 During the progress of the procession from grave to grave the 
 band discoursed appropriate music, which tended largely to 
 solemnize the proceedings. 
 
 At the conclusion of the ceremonies the line of march was 
 taken up from Oakwood to St. Mary's Cemetery, when the fol- 
 lowing graves were likewise honored : Michael Duflfy, Michael 
 
 Colahan, Patrick Kelly > W T , James Murray, Cooley, 
 
 Edward Muldoon, Daniel Strong.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 
 
 593 
 
 Hair, Sidney Morse, Adam Listman, D.' J. Lindsay Jacob 
 
 Kurtz il^sS^ri 10 *SWP" D " BenS -' S* 
 Thom'v H r T'T Ha coc ' k ' J - M - Doran, William Tisdell, 
 
 nouiaa H. Gay Henry Knobel, Scherz, Henry Speezer 
 
 Jacob Wetzer. From Rose HillCemetery the march wl con- 
 tinued to St. Joseph's (German Catholic) Cemetery ^ Pond 
 
 of' ft f ? 6re tie Same hc T rS W6re ^ aid to the ^aves of each 
 of the following persons : Inglebert Lyons, Louis Becker, Phil- 
 lip Kholes, Frederick Thoma, Mathew Fiselbrant, George Zim- 
 merman - - Schotiffer and John Schwartz. A deputation 
 was sent to the "Round Top" Cemetery, where the graves of 
 Robert Ealdon and Jerry McCarthy were decorated, and another 
 deputation performed like honors to the grave of Moses Roths- 
 cnild, in the Jewish Cemetery. At the conclusion of the 
 ceremonies at St. Joseph's Cemetery, the band performed the 
 beautiful and appropriate andante entitled "Home Desire" 
 after which the Marshal of the day, Colonel Walrath, after 
 thanking all in behalf of the friends of the dead for their kind 
 remembrance of the sacrifices made by the fallen, dismissed the 
 procession. 
 
 AT WATERLOO, NEW YORK. 
 
 The ladies assembled at Towsley Hall in the afternoon, and 
 soon, with evergreens and the most beautiful flowers, manufac- 
 tured a large number of crosses, wreaths and bouquets all 
 arranged with the taste and skill which might be expected from 
 fair hands guided by inspirations of the highest patriotism and 
 love. At five o'clock a procession was formed of ladies, veteran 
 soldiers and citizens generally, who bore the floral offerings and 
 evergreen crosses, and preceded by the Waterloo Cornet Band, 
 under the marshalship of Gen. John B. Murray, took up the line 
 of march for the cemeteries. The procession came to a halt in 
 the old burial ground, when Rev. Dr. Grid ley made a few ap- 
 propriate and eloquent remarks, after which the graves of the 
 soldiers here interred were visited in rotation, and suitable dec- 
 orations placed upon each. The procession then reformed and 
 proceeded to the new cemetery, where the same ceremonies 
 were performed. The following is a list of the soldiers buried 
 
 in the cemeteries : Gen. Chapin, Capt. Robert Brett, Lieut. 
 
 Win. Coffin, Patrick Moran, Patrick Moran, Jr., Patrick Mc- 
 Intyre, Isaac M. Lampherej Richard Huff, O. Staley, Win. G.
 
 594 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Cook. Stranghn, Wm. H. Day, James Stevenson, 
 
 Steitz, Isaac Van Honten, Geo. A. Langdon, Wintield S. Dey, 
 Truman Wooledge, Hudson Henion, Barnard Greuse, James 
 
 Smith, John Brown, Simmons, Irving T. Smith, Andrew 
 
 Schott, Chas. Shirley, Thos. Fitzgerald, John Bridgman, Joseph 
 Wielder, Isaac Conkey, Jr., Russell Disbro, Albert H. Pierson, 
 Geo. H. Stringham, Wm. Moran, De Lanoy Draper, Coleman 
 Byron, Newton Van Tuyl, James P. Smith. 
 
 At Nyack, New York, Post Waldron, Grand Army of the 
 Republic, under Lieut. James H. Christie, turned out in force, 
 and together with a large number of our citizens, met at the 
 Hall, where an address appropriate to the occasion was deliv- 
 ered by Rev. L. D. Manstield ; after which a procession was 
 formed and marched to the Cemetery. Arriving there, the 
 ceremony of decorating the graves was gone through with, the 
 flowers donated for the purpose being very handsome, and made 
 into beautiful wreaths. The following is a list of those who 
 
 were buried in the Cemetery : Col. Edward Pye, Oblenis, 
 
 Major Rnggles, Corporal W. F. Wood, John N. Wood, Towt J. 
 
 Waldron, Geo. W. Tremper, Fletcher, Lever, Ezra 
 
 F. Bodine, Jeremiah Springsteel. The burial ground at South 
 Nyack was then visired,and the grave of Joseph Hoifman strewed 
 with flowers. Having ascertained that two of the graves in the 
 Cemetery had been overlooked on Saturday, the members of 
 the Post visited the place and decorated the- graves of Ezra F. 
 Bodine and John N. Wood. 
 
 At Peekskill, New York, the stores and offices were all 
 closed at 8 o'clock a. m., the Union Veterans of Cortlandt, con- 
 sisting of companies A and B. under command of Major E. R. 
 Travis, headed by a drum corps, marched to the Hudson River 
 railroad depot, and there awaited the arrival of the New York 
 morning express. When that train arrived, it brought Com- 
 pany F, Hawkins Zouaves of New York, composed of 80 men, 
 and commanded by Capt. Henry C. Perley, headed by O'Brien's 
 8th regiment band. Under command of Grand Marshal Husted 
 the line was formed, joined in by the firemen and citizens of 
 the place, and inarched to the Cortlandt Cemetery. The pre- 
 liminary services took place at a wooden church in the centre of 
 the Cemetery, over a hundred years old. The Grand Marshal 
 introduced the Rev. Mr. Baldwin, pastor of the Second Presby- 
 terian Church of Peekskill, and after a fervent prayer the Rev. 
 Mr. Terry of St. Paul's M. E. Church of Peekskill, read a 
 hymn, which was written by Wm. Uland Bourne. Hon. Chaun- 
 cey M. Depew then delivered an eloquent oration. After the 
 oration, the Rev. Mr. Rhodman, pastor of the Second South
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 595 
 
 Street M. E. Church, pronounced the benediction. The soldiers 
 and firemen, accompanied by the bands, then visited the forty- 
 five graves of the dead Union soldiers, each of which was marked 
 by a small American flag. Eacli gave was profusely decorated 
 with the floral offerings. On the return of the procession, 
 Grand Marshal Husted made a few happy remarks, thanking 
 all who had participated in the interesting ceremonies, when the 
 column was dismissed. 
 
 At Earlville, JSfew York, a procession was formed m front of 
 the M. E. Church, and marched into the beautiful cemetery 
 where repose the remains of seven soldiers. After singing, 
 prayer was offered by Rev. A. C. Smith. The decorating com- 
 mittee, with a large quantity of flowers most beautifully arranged, 
 then passed to each grave and distributed their memorial tokens, 
 accompanied with beautiful and appropriate singing. When all 
 had visited each grave, they assembled in the centre of the yard 
 and listened to the reading of a poem prepared for the occasion 
 by Rev. D. D. Brown, and an address by Rev. A. C. Smith. All 
 seemed interested in the exercises, and returned home feeling 
 they had a pleasant time in performing a sacred duty. 
 
 At Delhi, New York, the members of the Post there met and 
 arranged a nearly rarpromptu programme, and proceeding in a 
 body to the cemetery, sought out and decorated the scattered 
 graves of their late comrades, attended by a large concourse of 
 Fadies and citizens. After completing the work at the grave of 
 Col. England, Post Commander Cormack read the order under 
 which they had acted, after which followed impressive services 
 by the chaplain, Rev. Mr. Ackerly, and a brief and pertinent 
 address to his comrades of the Post, by Win. M. Murray, Esq. 
 
 At Port Jervis, Laurel Grove Cemetery was very properly 
 decorated by the ladies of that place. " A morning walk to the 
 cemetery on the day following the decoration," says the editor 
 of the fjnion, "gave proof to our eyes, that just as the noble 
 women of our country loved to serve the soldiers when living, 
 so they were faithful to their memories when dead. In that 
 quarter of the cemetery grounds known as the 'soldier's re- 
 serve,' yet covered with the morning dew, we found a number 
 of wreaths and evergreen -crosses interwoven with flowers beau- 
 tifully arranged so many that they literally covered the graves. 
 The credit of this act belongs more especially to the ladies of 
 our village ; to those who" generously gave evergreens and 
 flowers for the purpose, and others who gave time and taste 
 in so beautifully arranging them. Dr. Conkling, who has in 
 charge the records of the buried in Laurel Grove Cemetery, 
 kindly furnished names and numbers of the lots, and rendered
 
 590 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 other assistance, as also did his family. We do not know that 
 any committee was formally appointed to perform this labor of 
 love it was more likely the voluntary offering of many noble 
 women of our place. Among the names we heard mentioned 
 as very active, were those of Mrs. Little, Mrs. Strader, Mrs. 
 Thomas, and the Misses Rose Van Dyne, and others." 
 
 The soldiers' graves in the cemeteries in and about Goshen, 
 N. Y., were appropriately decorated on Saturday, under the 
 auspices of their comrades of Poet No. 37, District of Orange, 
 Department of N. Y., Grand Annv of the Republic. 
 
 The ceremonies at Newburg, 1$. Y., were of the most im- 
 pressive character. In order to give all the returned soldiers a 
 better opportunity to take part in the exercises, the ceremonies 
 took place on Sunday, May 31. Over five thousand persons 
 were present. The returned veterans belonging to the Grand 
 Army of the Republic, some four hundred strong, marched to 
 St. George's, St. Patrick's, Big Rock, and Old Town Ceme- 
 teries, preceded by the J^ewburg Band. Carriages were laden 
 with flowers, and almost every one bore some floral offering to 
 strew upon the graves of the heroes who sleep the death of the 
 brave. Col. Connelly and Col. Dickey made eloquent and 
 touching addresses. At Trumansburg, 2s. Y., the ceremonies 
 were as follows : The account is given by Mr. D. Elmore, in 
 a letter to the editor: "On examination of our cemetery, 
 it was found that the battle-fields of Tennessee, Georgia, 
 Virginia, Maryland and Florida were represented by the graves 
 of our slain veterans. To cherish and honor their memory, on 
 Saturday, by previous notice and invitation, at the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church bell-call, the people, well provided with flow- 
 ers, gathered and formed a procession, and led by our national 
 colors and martial music, marched to our loved ones' last resting- 
 place. A hollow square was formed on the Cemetery grounds 
 under the shade of the grove. Prayer was offered and two ad- 
 dresses delivered by our village pastors, one of whom had been 
 a soldier, and from his own experience described its trials, 
 anxieties and suffering. The other had given a son, and that 
 son his life on the altar of God and our country. AVell might 
 such men, on such a subject, speak with tongues of flre from 
 melting and overflowing hearts. Much interest and feeling was 
 apparent in all that were present. 
 
 " At the close of the addresses, the line of march was re-formed, 
 and we were divided into as many platoons as there were graves 
 to be visited. Each platoon was led by a returned soldier, 
 whose special charge it was to see that each soldier s grave was 
 well strewn with these mementoes of love. All being in readi-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 
 
 ness, our column took up its circuitous route right and left 
 Tp.arch partially representing the indescribable former marches 
 of these now silent heroes. Every grave was visited and marked 
 with these tokens of honor. Our work being done, at the gate- 
 way we disbanded, to return to our homes made more dear to 
 us by these services, and the remembrance of the price paid for 
 the liberty we enjoy." 
 
 At Baldwinsville, the same ceremonies were observed : At 
 Fredonia, on the morning of the 30th of May, a large number 
 of ladies met at the office of the "Forest Hill Cemetery Asso- 
 ciation" and prepared wreaths, bouquets, &c. ; and in the after- 
 noon, assisted by a large committee of gentlemen, previously 
 appointed at a meeting of citizens, proceeded to decorate the 
 graves of soldiers, of which about forty were buried there. Each 
 grave was decorated with a profusion of flowers, wreaths, &c., 
 and a small flag. Large flags were suspended in different parts 
 of the ground, the gate way arched and decorated with ever- 
 greens and flowers, &c. The next day, Sunday the 31st, the 
 gates were opened at 1 P. M., and the grounds visited by a mul- 
 titude. The utmost decorum and propriety was observed, but 
 no speeches or other exercises were had. 
 
 IN NEW JERSEY. 
 
 Bayard Encampment, Post No 8, G. A. R.,Trenton, N. J. 
 In accordance with G. (). No. 11, dated Head Quarters 
 Grand Army of the Republic, A. G. O., Washington, D. C., 
 May 5th, 1868, designating Saturday, May 30th, 1868, for the 
 purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the 
 Craves of comrades (soldiers and sailors) who died in defence of 
 their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now 
 lie in almost every city, village and hamlet church-yard in the 
 
 Although the above order designated Saturday the 30th, as 
 the day for its observance it was unanimously agreed, that in 
 consideration of the circumstances of a majority of the members 
 of the Post to prevent loss (financially) to them as well as to in- 
 sure a more general turnout, not only of the members but the 
 public generally, thatthe provisions of the said G. O., JSo; 11, 
 be carried out on Sunday afternoon, May 31st, 1868. At the 
 stated muster of the Post prior to the time thus set_ apart, ar- 
 rano-ements were entered into for a successful carrying out ot 
 theprovisions of the order, committees were appointed to ascer- 
 tain the places of interment of those brave comrades whom we 
 were to honor with our floral offerings, to carry the same into
 
 598 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 effect worthy of the cause for which these heroic spirits battled 
 when living, and dying made sacred b}" their life blood. 
 
 In accordance with the arrangements the members of the 
 Post, numbering about tifty, as well as quite a number of sol- 
 diers not members, and also a delegation from ' Keamy " En- 
 campment Post, No. 10, of Bordentown, N. J., met at the room 
 of Post No. 8, Green Street, next above City Hall, Sunday 
 afternoon, at 1, P. M. Line of procession was formed about 
 2, P. M., as follows : 
 
 Section of Police, Coates' National Band of Trenton, Repre- 
 sentatives of the Press in this City, and the City Government. A 
 large American flag containing flowers, wreaths, and bouquets, 
 furnished by friends, carried by ten comrades. Post No. 8, 
 Grand Army of the Republic, with discharged soldiers and 
 visitors generally, the whole under the command of Comrade 
 Ira W. Cory two large flags (silk), one a National color, the 
 other a State of New Jersey color were carried in the line of 
 procession. The members of the Post, generally, carried a bou- 
 quet or wreath. The line of procession was taken up about 2^, 
 P. M., proceeding first to Mercer Cemetery. At the starting 
 point a large crowd had collected, while at the cemetery a still 
 larger crowd were found in waiting. Upon arriving at the cem- 
 etery and within the enclosure a hollow square was formed. 
 Here was placed a table and a chair said to have been once oc- 
 cupied by General George Washington, and the flag which was 
 first raised on the south side of the Potomac by the three months' 
 men of New Jersey. Our venerable fellow citizen, Charles C. 
 Haven, occupied the chair. A very interesting feature at this 
 moment was the arrival of the children from the Soldiers' Chil- 
 dren's Home (they participating by invitation of the Post) ac- 
 companied by the teachers, i. e., Miss Corson, Miss Tate, Miss 
 Johnston, and other ladies and gentlemen connected with the 
 management of the institution. The children numbered one 
 hundred and twenty-six, boys and girls about equally divided ; 
 the boys were dressed alike in neat grey suits and light felt hats, 
 the girls were dressed as near alike as possible. As they enter- 
 ed the cemetery the Post stood at open order and allowed them 
 to puss through, the band playing a funeral dirge. Arriving at 
 the centre of the cemetery the comrades closed in and around 
 the children. 
 
 The ceremonies were opened by the children singing a hymn 
 suited to the occasion. Prayer was then read by Comrade Lewis 
 II. Cresse, Post Chaplain, after which the Post all joined in 
 singing " America." 
 
 Comrade Gen. James F. Rusling then delivered the follow- 
 ing oration :
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 599 
 
 COMRADES A*D FELLOW-CITIZEN : In pursuance of orders 
 from headquarters of the Grand Army of the Republic we a 
 assembled here to-day to decorate with flowers these graves of 
 our departed countrymen, and to do honor to their Memory 
 to i, no new thing that we are doing here to-day-to honor 
 the ga hint and heroic dead ; but if it were, it is something 
 my judgment, that should commend itself to the consideration 
 and approval ot every loyal and patriotic heart. In all a-es, 
 indeed, and in every land, those who have fought and died for 
 then; country and their country's liberties, hav? ever been held 
 in kindly regard and affectionate remembrance. The memory 
 ot these, the world's patriots and heroes, mankind everywhere 
 empire and republic alike have ever agreed to honor and 
 commemorate. _ For these, old Egypt, unknown centuries ago 
 built her pyramids and left them as a wonder for all after op- 
 erations, ior these, democratic Athens founded her Cerami- 
 cus, and crosvded its sacred groves witli altars and temples, 
 monuments and mausoleums, fountains and flowers. For these 
 republican Borne consecrated her Campus Martius, where, by 
 solemn vote of the Senate and people of Rome, her most dis- 
 tinguished soldiers were adjudged worthy to repose. For these, 
 England has her St. Paul's and her Westminster Abbey, for her 
 Wellingtons,^ Kelsons, and her Napiers. And for these, by 
 solemn act of Congress, we have recently established great Na- 
 tional Cemeteries, at Gettysburg and Antietam, at Arlington 
 and in the Wilderness, at Stone River and Nashville, at Vicks 
 burg and Chattanooga, and elsewhere through the land. Here, 
 into these, we have reverently and tenderly brought together 
 the scattered remains of our fellow-comrades at the South ; and 
 here, now, at last, our late brave defenders, not only our great 
 commanders merely, but all, of whatever rank or color, as befits 
 a Republic, shall hereafter repose in peace and dignity beneath 
 the protecting aegis of the Union while time endures. 
 
 Now I, for one, think this right and fitting, eminently so, 
 and in all respects, for the nation as well as its heroic dead. 
 For who were these half a million of men nearly, that fought 
 and fell for the Union ? Not hireling mercenaries, bought with 
 a price ; not alien adventurers, striving for gain ; not foreign 
 Hessians, battling for a tyrant. No ! they were our own fellow- 
 countrymen ; many of them are our own sons and brothers, who 
 loved home, and friends, and fireside joys and comfort, not less 
 than the best of us ; yet, at the call of patriotism, they cheer- 
 fully forsook all, and marched southward, to fight and die, as 
 God so willed unnaurmuringly, that the nation might live. 
 How grand and how glorious is our own roll of honor ! There
 
 600 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 shines the name of Kearny, that knight "without fear and 
 without reproach," and Bayard, and Jane way, and Ilyerson,/md 
 Abbott, and Woolsey, and Lalor, and Wilks, and the countless 
 heroes of the ranks, unknown perhaps to fame, bat who each 
 did his part well, and, falling, died none the less gloriously be- 
 cause carrying a musket or swinging a sabre, instead of com- 
 manding a division or leading a brigade. These men, my 
 friend?, fought to put down treason and to punish traitors. 
 These men fought to vindicate the right of the nation to live. 
 These men fought to maintain and perpetuate the rights of hu- 
 man nature, "these men fought, not for themselves alone they 
 struck the chains from the limbs of four millions of bondmen. 
 They believed in the rights of all men, as men, and died to up- 
 hold" all rights for all. Their beloved cause was the shining 
 cause of truth, and right, and justice. Their Hag was the old 
 and sacred flag of Liberty ; their music was ever a drum-beat 
 for humanity ; their every roll-call was a roll-call of the nations. 
 Every shot they fired was a solid shot for mankind ; every blow 
 they struck, and every victory they won, was equally a blow 
 and a victory for Kossuth in Hungary, Garibaldi in Italy, Glad- 
 stone and glorious John Bright in 'England, and for the great 
 and good in all lands, who strive to make their fellow- men 
 nobler and better, freer and happier. In that faith and for that 
 cause they laid down their lives a willing sacrifice, when their 
 hour had come ; and to-day, thank Heaven, that good cause tri- 
 umphs here, all over onr broad land, and, in the end. is des- 
 tined to triumph everywhere, the wide world over, because it is 
 the ever-advancing and invincible cause of humanity and God. 
 Surely, then, if, alter death, men are to be judged and honored 
 by their fellow-men, according to the deeds they have done and 
 the results they have achieved, surely, then, I say, we should 
 take the memories of these brave men home to our hearts and 
 lives, and embalm them in the nation's gratitude and remem- 
 brance forever and forever. 
 
 "We have here in our midst many graves of our departed he- 
 roes, who came home sick or wounded, to die, or whose remains 
 were afterwards brought home for burial from where they fell, 
 " face to the foe," on the field of honor. We are met here to- 
 day to commemorate their heroic deeds, and to decorate their 
 honored graves with our floral offerings. We gather about 
 these graves as sorrowing comrades, yet rejoicing that our dead 
 died not in vain, and that, by their death, they helped to save 
 the noblest of human causes. We crown these mounds with 
 wreaths, and strew them with flow-ers, as outward and visible 
 signs of our inward reverence and gratitude. We plant above
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 601 
 
 f " at 
 
 
 assiSSSSSH 
 
 t< ) s \vOiir pfprii n I firl*:i1if-Trt-/-inii . i j i 
 
 or i] , y to a11 a soldier loves or a soldier honors 
 
 tf the noblest of our old English poets write, ' 
 
 "How sleep the brave who sink to rest 
 
 By all their country's wishes blest : 
 
 When Spring with dewy fingers cold 
 
 Returns to deck their hallowed mould- 
 
 She thfn shall dress a sweeter sod 
 
 Than fancy's feet have ever trod : 
 
 By fairy hands their knell is rung, 
 
 By forms unseen their dirge is sung; 
 
 Here honor conies a pilgrim gay, 
 
 To bless the turf that wraps their clay; 
 
 And Freedom shall awhile repair, 
 . And dwell a weeping hermit there." 
 
 But better and more appropriate, my friends, than any thing 
 1 can say, *m an occasion like this, are the words of Abraham 
 Lincoln at Gettysburg, when, standing over the graves of our 
 comrades who fell in the great battle there, he said, so beauti- 
 fully and tersely : " Four-score and seven years ago, our fa- 
 thers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived 
 in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition, 'All men are 
 created equal.' Now we are engaged in a great war, testing 
 whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedi- 
 cated, can long endure. VVe are met on a great battle-field of 
 that war. We are met to dedicate a portion of it as the final 
 resting-place of those who here gave their lives that the nation 
 might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should 
 do this. 
 
 ' But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot conse- 
 crate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living 
 and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our 
 power to add or detract. It is for us, the living, rather to be 
 dedicated here to the unfinished work that they have thus far
 
 602 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 nobly earned on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the 
 great task remaining before us ; that, from these honored dead, 
 we take increased devotion to the cause for which they here 
 gave the last full measure of devotion ; that we here highly re- 
 solve that the dead shall not have died in vain that the nation 
 shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom and that the 
 government of the people, by the people, and for the people, 
 shall not perish from the earth." 
 
 Grand words are these, and glorious. How eloquent of 
 great deeds and high endeavor ; how reverent, how self-devoted ; 
 how worthy of Abraham Lincoln, the great martyr of the war ! 
 Let every one of them, be garnered up in the nation's memory, 
 and handed down to posterity in letters of gold ; dulce et deco- 
 rum estpro patria mori. 
 
 With this I conclude. And now, O soldiers sleeping here, 
 old companions of the camp-fire and the march, comrades of 
 the bivouac and the battle-field, good friends, brave hearts, gen- 
 erous souls, hail and farewell : 
 
 " Tender, and loving, and hot tears flow 
 For the loyal and kindly heart laid low ; 
 But ever calm and sweet is the sleep 
 Of him whom God and the angels keep." 
 
 At the conclusion of the address, the ceremony was com- 
 menced of crowning with floral offerings the graves of those 
 who sacrificed their lives nobly in defence of their country. 
 The procession marched around from grave to grave in the order 
 above named, the band meanwhile playing airs, solemn and ap- 
 propriate to the occasion. A quantity of flowers weie placed at 
 the head of each sleeper's grave, and a little flag of the Stars 
 and Stripes placed to wave from a staff over each grave. Many 
 of the friends of the deceased were present, and mingled their 
 tears with the modest memorials of affection thus placed upon 
 the last resting-place of their former companions. The cere- 
 mony of distribution was performed by Comrade A. Frank 
 Carll. At each burial-place in the city the same ceremony was 
 performed. The sacred observance was terminated by the sing- 
 ing of the Doxology by the Post. 
 
 At Mercer Cemetery, twenty-eight graves were adorned. 
 At First Baptist churchyard, two graves were adorned. At 
 Riverview Cemetery, thirty-eight graves were adorned (thirteen 
 unknown were adorned in one group). At Union street M. E. 
 churchyard, one grave was adorned. At Union street Presby- 
 terian churchyard, four graves were adorned. Total, seventy- 
 three. Official Report.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 603 
 
 AT BOKDENTOWN, NEW JERSEY. 
 The comrades of Prmt "NYi m p A r> j 
 
 . 
 
 Henry Olive, (history unknown) Dr William Tnnt Q ' 
 
 93rl K T VrJo TU n i V' ** vvniiam i_,ook, burgeon, 
 
 ' ^ ei ), Charles Eartey 
 
 Patrick McDonald, Co. C, 9th N. J. Vols., Pr. Chas. Platt, Co! 
 
 A, 4th B . J. Vo IB., the tret Bordentown soldier, dec., (3 months 
 
 -- - Eobinson (history unknown), Wesley Robinson, 
 (Instorynnkno) John Puce, Co. A, 4th K J. Vols., (3 months 
 men), Charles Smith, Co. E, 43d N. Y. Vols., Pr. Johnson 
 Spragiie , Co. B, 23d N. J. Vols., Charles Stout, (history un- 
 known), Maj. Alfred Thompson, 23d K J. Vols., Pr Edward 
 rhomaa. Co. B, 12th N. J. Vols., Corp. Chas. H. Venable, Co 
 
 B, 23d X. J. Vols., Segt. Lewis Vandegrift, Co. D, 1st N J 
 Cavalry Vols., Pr. Ellis W. Vandegrift, Co. B, 23d A T J Vols " 
 Asst. Engineer Joseph Waters, U. S. N. 
 
 There was quite a large assemblage of the citizens gathered 
 at the cemetery, and when the escort reached the ground it was 
 formed with inverted open ranks, when Lieut. Lemuel C. 
 Keeves, the Adjutant of the Post, made the following remarks: 
 
 COMRADES : You are all well aware for what purpose we are 
 here assembled amid these lonely habitations of the citizens of 
 .the "' silent republic of the dead." You know why we are here 
 amid these green earthy mounds, surrounded by a concourse of 
 our fellow-citizens. But there may be those here to-day who 
 will ask, " What meant that mournful music by the road-side \ " 
 " What means the solemn tread of veteran feet in these piping 
 times of peace V " Why laden with the flowers of spring do 
 they wend the'ir way in loving sorrow to the village grave-yard, 
 with standard and with arms reversed, to the mournful tappings
 
 604 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 of the funeral drum ? " "With our words, and by our acts, we 
 answer: "We come to strew with fragrant flowers of spring- 
 time, in sweet memorimn, these hallowed mounds, 'neath which 
 in death repose a few of the heroes of our nation. We come 
 to decorate their final resting-places with these memorials of our 
 love, and in tenderness and patriotic adoration to plant above 
 and rear aloft their hallowed graves our gorgeous banner, the 
 dear old 'stars and stripes,' following which they marched, 
 fought, and bled, and 'neath whose sacred folds so many of 
 them freely gave their lives whilst battling in its defence." We 
 did expect that the several clergymen residing among us would 
 have been here, as per invitation, and led our exercises by in- 
 voking on us and all here assembled the blessing of our God, 
 within whose bright realms of happiness (we trust), our comrades 
 even now are chanting hallelujahs to the Lamb. But a mis- 
 taken zeal, a false modesty, a sickly sentimentalism, coupled 
 with &fear of loss of caste in this community which, during the 
 struggle of our country for its existence, bore reputation for such 
 doubtful loyalty, have kept the sleek and oily wearers of minis- 
 terial robes from giving their attendance here. Comrades, all 
 of the clergy of this city were personally invited to assist us, 
 upon the receipt of which invitation, they " met and resolved 
 not to participate ! " And this, too, in the face of the fact that 
 to-day (out of respect for them) instead of to-morrow, which is 
 the Samafff) was at great inconvenience designated as the day 
 for these memorial ceremonies. Yes, comrades, the clergy have 
 refused us their presence and their prayers whilst we are en- 
 
 faged in this sacred work ; and it, perhaps, is well that it is so, 
 >r it serves to remind us of the sickly camp, the weary march, 
 and the bloody field of tight, from which we so often carried our 
 brave comrades forth and in rude cases, without the benefit of 
 clergy, and with neither psalm nor prayer, laid them in their 
 lonely graves ; and this but reminds us, too, that when we were 
 battling for our country, the neglect with which the soldier was 
 BO often dealt, causelessly caused so many comrades' lives, and 
 this neglect now following us as we come to cast our roses on 
 our comrades' graves should bind us closer to each other, 
 and in chords of love and friendship ; as men who have so often 
 braved danger in a thousand forms, unite us in a bond of bro- 
 therhood, ending as ends a soldier's patriotism, in death itself. 
 I cannot trust myself to continue my remarks any further, the 
 indignation (at this unexpected insult to our fallen heroes) now 
 controlling me, will, I fear, (if I proceed), cause my feelings to 
 o'er-top my judgment. In conclusion let me say, that we have 
 come, pursuant to orders from head-quarters of the Grand Army
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 605 
 
 of the Republic, to decorate our fallen comrades' graves. Let 
 us do so. Let us prove our devotion to their memory, and as 
 thus by our outward signs we show our respect for the valiant 
 dead, let us once more swear fealty to those they have left be- 
 hind, and resolve to be more active in the work for which our 
 organization was instituted, and defend and provide for the 
 soldier's widow, and protect, support, and educate their orphan 
 children. Official report. 
 
 AT JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY. 
 
 About 1 : 30, p. M., the procession commenced to fall into 
 line, and formed in the following order: 
 
 Detachment of Police, thirteen in number, under command 
 of Aid Mann; Reinhard's Band ; State Rifle Corps Battalion, 
 commanded by Maj. Bookstaver, consisting of the Hooker 
 Rifles, Capt. Me Laughlin, Kearny Rifles, Capt. Randolph, 
 and Capt. Keenan's Company from Hudson City ; the Turner 
 Rifles, with drum corps ; Phil. Kearny Post, Grand Army of 
 the Republic, commanded by Lieutenant Murphy. Bergen 
 Post, Grand Army of the Republic, commanded by Maj. 
 Gaines; Hearse, containing choice flowers; Express Wagon, 
 covered with flags and tilled with flowers; Carriages, contain- 
 ing the Mayor and Aldermen of Bergen, and representatives 
 of the press ; Burr's Mammoth Omnibus, containing the Lie- 
 dertafel Singing Society ; a large Omnibus, decorated with flags ; 
 Carriages containing citizens ; and Citizens on foot. 
 
 On their arrival at New York Bay Cemetery they were met 
 by the Concordia Club, of Greenville, who were first upon the 
 ground. Then filing into the east gate, they proceeded to the 
 ground where stands the monument, the inscription on which 
 reads thus : 
 
 " A TRIBUTE OF JERSEY CITY TO HER PATRIOT DEAD. 
 
 lie sleeps his last sleep, 
 
 He has fougbt his last battle." 
 
 Here the following was the order of ceremonies : Episcopal 
 service, by Rev. Thomas K. Coleman ; Singing by the Liederta- 
 fel ; Mr. B. Van Riper, Aid to the Marshal, made the following 
 remarks : 
 
 FRIENDS SOLDIERS : We have assembled to-day to perform 
 a holy and sacred mission of love and gratitude. Standingly 
 this monument, erected as a " Tribute to the Patriot Dead 
 surrounded by the graves of the nation's martyred heroes we 
 have come to" plant on their graves these tender offerings of af- 
 fection. , 
 
 Soldiers : Memory carries us into the past ; the long marcl
 
 606 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 and bivouacs ; the picket and skirmish line ; the advance and 
 the roar of battle ; the sick, wounded, dying, and the graves of 
 your dead comrades. 
 
 Friend : Tread lightly around these graves. Let no tear or 
 sigh escape fearful that they would overpower thee in thy labor 
 of love ; let the swelling chest and throbbing heart be alone the 
 indication of your sorrow; place ancl strew o'er their graves 
 those wayside apostles of beauty and innocence, and as you 
 kneel at their graves tell your little ones that three hundred 
 thousand heroes immolated their lives upon the altar of their 
 country that liberty might be preserved. Go forth on your 
 Christian duty, and God will bless you for He knows no day 
 in these ennobling acts mercy, pity, charity, and Christian love. 
 
 An anthem was sung by the Concordia Glee Club, of Green- 
 ville. A dirge was played by the band. Flowers, which ap- 
 peared in abundance, were then solemnly strewn upon the mon- 
 ument and graves. Then breaking into squads, the following 
 graves were decorated with flowers in pots and loose by the G. 
 A. R. : Benjamin A. Yerrinder, died December 3u, 1861 ; 
 Lieut. A. G. Chazotte, died June 25, 1862 ; Capt. James H. 
 Hughes, died October 13, 1862 ; William Gamble, died Decem- 
 ber 29, 1S62 ; George W. Jones, died March 6, 1863 ; Capt. 
 John Gamble, died May 6, 1863; Lieut. John Howeth, died 
 May 15, 1863; Charles P. Platt, died July 28, 1863; William 
 Paynton. died July 28, 1863; Capt. Alpheus "Witherell, died 
 August 21, 1863; Dr. L. E. Ohlenschlager, died August 21, 
 1863; Thomas Roberts, died December 1st; Sergt. John W. 
 Hoey ; Capt. James B. Turner ; Edwin Clark ; James F. Cooper; 
 William Cooper ; William Beliield ; Col. Casselman ; Arthur O. 
 Olcott. 
 
 From this point, the procession wended its way to the Dutch 
 Reformed Church, in Bergen, where a prayer was made by Rev. 
 Thomas K. Coleman, followed by singing by the Liedertafel, 
 and the usual flowering was done. On the conclusion of pro- 
 ceedings here, the procession divided, one-half going to the 
 Catholic, and the other to the Jersey City cemetery, at the foot 
 of the hill, at each of which places the usual ceremonies were 
 held. 
 
 AT BRIDGE-TON, NEW JERSEY. 
 
 Shortly after three o'clock, the procession formed in line in 
 front of Sheppard's Hall, under the command of Jr. Vice Com- 
 mander, Capt. F. M. Riley. Adjutant, Capt. T. Fletcher Jacobs, 
 and Quarter Master Chas. W. Preston, marched two deep, each 
 soldier bearing wreaths and bouquets. In the middle of the
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 
 
 procession the flag and eagle of the "Cumberland Grays," 
 draped in mourning and festooned with flowers, was a conspicu- 
 ous object of interest. In the morning the great flag was 
 stretched across the street, bordered with crape, and bearing the 
 appropriate inscription, " Our Fallen Comrades are not For- 
 gotten/' 
 
 The procession first took its way to the Old Presbyterian 
 Bury ing-ground, when the first floral' offerings were made to the 
 memory of the following soldiers whose graves are there found : 
 1. Alex. L. Eobeson, 1st Lieut. Co. H, 24th 1ST. J. Vols., was 
 among the number reported " missing" after the battle of Fred- 
 ericksburg, Dec. 13th, 1862. The following record is made of 
 him in the sketch of the 24th Regiment, in " New Jersey and 
 the Rebellion : " " Having the charge of his company in the 
 Captain's absence, he bravely led them forward, never to re- 
 turn. Though a faithful and oft-repeated search was made for 
 him, as long as such search could be allowed, no tidings were 
 received, nor has any positive intelligence since been obtained 
 concerning him. The members of his company loved him as a 
 brother, and his men were equally dear to him. He looked 
 faithfully after all their wants and sympathized with them un- 
 failingly in all their sufferings. He was especially endeared to 
 his fellow oiticers, who esteemed him for his intelligence and 
 excellent judgment, and loved him for his virtues and exemplary 
 Christian character." 2. Thomas Barnett, Co. K, 10th N. J. 
 Yols., was taken sick in the early part of his term of service 
 and never recovered, and died shortly after being discharged. 
 3. Henry Bolton, Capt., Co. K, 34th K J. Vols., 4. David 
 Yarrick, 'Corporal, Co. F, 3d N. J. Yols., wounded in action at 
 Spottsyivania, May 8th, died in the Hospital at Fredericksburg. 
 5. Benjamin H. Bitters, private, Co. D, 10th K. J. Yols., was 
 taken sick in the field and died in hospital in Washington, 
 June 1st, 1862. 6. James Bright, private, Co. F, 3d K. J. 
 Yols., enlisted in the army and afterwards transferred to navy. 
 Beside the first grave the procession halted, when the following 
 address was made by Sergeant Charles Padgett : 
 
 COMRADES AND FELLOW CITIZENS : Let us draw near to these 
 passionless mounds with reverential hands and swelling hearts, 
 where sleep the brave and true men whose blood was the mag- 
 nificent oblation of the Eepublic in her crucial hour. Let us 
 make these consecrated grounds a temple, where, with music and 
 glad hearts, the incense of a people's gratitude and remembrance 
 shall arise We hope that the beautiful ceremonies of to-day 
 but foreshadow the state and solemnities of the future observance 
 of this sad but glorious anniversary. Let this morning maugu-
 
 608 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 rate a new Mayday for our land, grander in its traditions, nobler 
 in its teachings, and more lasting in its impressions than the one 
 whose prettv floral celebration we inherit from childhood and 
 England. \V r e may not know them all, but none the less should 
 we do them honor in our memory and our hearts. If the ques- 
 tion should arise what mean ye by these things ? In reply 
 I would ask, does the tather forget the son who left him in 
 the Juil vigor of manhood, and who was brought back to him a 
 mangled corpse, given as a sacrifice on the altar of his country? 
 Does the mother forget her noble boy who gave promise of an 
 unusually bright and happy future, and yet who gave all up for 
 his country's good? Neither do we forget the comrades who 
 fought with us on the bloody fields whose names are inscribed 
 on yonder flag ; and it is to do them honor that we thus engage 
 in these forms and ceremonies. And we hope that the names 
 of those who fought with us for the dear old flag shall ever be 
 fresh in onr memory and yours, and that these observances may 
 be kept up from year to year while a survivor of the war re- 
 mains to honor the memory of his departed comrades. 
 
 On reaching the monument to Lieutenant Robeson, a few 
 remarks were made by Rev. C. R. Gregory, after which Lieut. 
 James J. Reeves said : 
 
 FELLOW SOLDIEKS : We have come to-day to sprinkle our 
 tears and our flowers over the green graves of our fallen com- 
 rades. For months oltimes for long and weary years we 
 trod with them the thorny path of army life, mingling our joys 
 and our sorrows, our cares and our labors with theirs, until an 
 all-wise Providence, whose ways are past finding out, but who 
 doeth all things well, selected them from our numbers to lay 
 down their lives upon our country's altar. Why were they 
 taken and we left ? " Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in 
 Thy sight.'' Grateful are our emotions, and yet how r full of 
 sadness, as we tread these hallowed grounds and pay this simple 
 tribute of affection to the memory of our loved companions. We 
 rejoice that we can say of many of them and Oh, how emi- 
 nently true of our dear brother whose form lies sleeping beneath 
 the sacred sod of Fredericksburg, but whose stately cenotaph 
 before us points upwards to his home in glory, 
 
 None knew tbee but to love thee, 
 None named thee but to praise. 
 
 Fellow soldiers in the battle of life ! The duties of the 
 passing hour remind me to be brief. Permit me then to add a 
 word in season for the present. We have been spared to return 
 to our homes for a high and noble purpose. Our gallant com- 
 rades whose memory we are perpetuating, have fought their
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 609 
 
 -eus s H leir rr- Man ^ a hard batt1 ' of life is 
 
 1. Smith Dalrymple, private Co F R^l AT T Tr i 
 discharged, and award's eSedin^e'aea Pa^nddled 
 of disease contracted in the service 
 
 'T 1 ' - K ' lst Del are, a native 
 
 fi , e 1<e , Urn l ome ' but never f llv recovered, 
 
 finally died from the effect of his treatment in the prison 
 
 3 Christopher Mead, corporal, Co. H, 12th N. / Vols 
 was killed at Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864. 
 
 4. Barren de Kalb Harris, corporal, Co. K, 10th K J. Vols., 
 died of disease at Relay House. 
 
 5. Edmund Gilman, private, Co. H, 24th K J. Vols., died 
 ot disease contracted in the service at the Chain Bridge. 
 
 At the Commerce street grave-yard addresses were made 
 by Kev. Mr. Apgar, Methodist Protestant Church, and Kev. 
 Mr. Stuart, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, as follows : 
 
 MR. APGAB'S ADDRESS. 
 
 If there is one virtue that honors a man's character above 
 another it is the love of country ; and that man who, uninflu- 
 enced by political or any other motives, save pure, holy patriot- 
 ism, dares to take his life in hie hand, and goes forth to fight 
 for his country's weal on the field of battle deserves to be> 
 honored by generations yet unborn. While we are here to-day 
 to strew with flowers the graves of some whose forms lie here 
 beneath the green sod, I would refer particularly to one soldier 
 boy whose heart was moved by pure patriotic feelings, and who 
 was led to take his life in his hand, in defiance to the opposition 
 that was raised against him by his friends, and went forth to 
 battle in defence of his country ; and when he returned, I am 
 told, his own friends .turned him away from their door, simply 
 39
 
 610 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 because he dared to love his country, to make some sacrifice 
 to preserve this Government the noblest the world ever saw. 
 And being turned away from the door of those who should have 
 cared for him, lie was taken in by some kind friends and cared 
 for by fellow-soldiers until they closed his eyes in death, and 
 then took his remains away to the silent tomb. Tell me, fellow- 
 citizens and soldiers, tell me not that there beats not in the 
 heart of the soldier of pure heart, tell me not that there is no 
 sympathy there, for I have seen it manifested, not only in the 
 field, not only while engaged in the war, but to-day in the feel- 
 ing manifested on the part of these comrade soldiers in strewing 
 thesegraves with flowers. And I ask no higher honor than 
 when I am laid in the grave to have some kind hand of a fellow 
 soldier to strew my grave with flowers. It is enough, and I ask 
 no more. Fellow-comrades, continue to practice this pleasing 
 memorial ; and I hope it may be kept up from year to year 
 down to the latest generation, and that you and I, loving God 
 and our country with pure hearts, and doing justly and loving 
 mercy, and dealing with our fellows as we should have them 
 deal with us, may at last go to God's right hand, where we 
 shall wear unfading laurels while the ages of eternity roll on. 
 
 ME. STUABT'S ADDRESS. 
 
 This is not an occasion when our feelings need to be excited 
 or raised up to a certain height, but one of those occasions 
 when the best and dearest expressions of feeling are those which 
 are in the heart, awakened silently in the memory, or intima- 
 ting their existence by such acts of beauty and affection as 
 those in which you are now engaged. For if you but look 
 around this cemetery upon the graves that are here in such 
 great number, and ask what would the friends of those who are 
 sleeping here, whether carried to their rest long ago or but 
 lately, what would the friends of those who are sleeping here 
 choose as the best demonstration of respect for their memory, 
 what would be the answer ? Would they have loud harangues, 
 great oratory, loud displays over their graves ? No, they would 
 say these things may be intended to honor those who are gone, 
 but they do not express that affection, that memory which 
 dwells within our breast, and we would see these friends coming 
 here, just as you are doing this afternoon, in this beautiful 
 spring time, silently, in all affection, to lay upon the graves of 
 their departed these symbols of a new and beautiful life. You 
 do not need to be raised up to a certain height of feeling, but 
 to come with the feeling of comrades, with the feeling of friends 
 and brothers, with the feeling of relationship, of relationship
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 611 
 
 cemented in blood, and here to lay silently upon their graves 
 the token of that which is beautiful, of that which is pure and 
 which outlasts decay and death. These flowers that you intend 
 to lay upon your comrades' graves are often used as emblems 
 of immortality and life from the dead. They have sprung up 
 with this new spring-tide as indications that God is renewing 
 the face of the earth. And these flowers and this season shall 
 pass away and decay, but the memory of those brave men 
 whose blood has paid the price of victory shall outlast the 
 spring-time as it comes and goes ; shall outlast the withering 
 flowers which in themselves are so beautiful ; but the influence 
 of their noble deeds and their sacrificed lives this, God grant, 
 shall remain in these United States, in this land which their 
 blood has redeemed and bought, this shall remain as long as 
 God's word remains, as long as men are freemen, and have 
 souls and hearts, and value liberty and the sacrifices of the 
 good. This is what you can do to testify your appreciation of 
 their great work ; but their work shall live and its influences 
 shall extend with or without our appreciation ; and let our 
 effort be not merely to commemorate their deeds, but to enter 
 info them and to prove that the liberty which they have bought 
 for us, by our use of it in our lives, has not been purchased in 
 vain. The memory of these men shall live as long as the mem- 
 ory of the good and brave shall live, and may their memory be 
 embalmed in every heart. 
 
 The following are the names of the soldiers interred in Com- 
 merce Street graveyard, with such particulars as can be hastily 
 procured : 
 
 1. Joseph M. El well, Corporal, Co. A, 24th N. J. Yols., died 
 of Typhoid Fever at Wind Mill Point Hospital, January 25th, 
 1S63 2. Samuel Fogg, Private, Co. F, 3d K". J. Yols., died in 
 Hospital, at Philadelphia of Typhoid Fever. 3. Burton Penton, 
 Private, Co. B, 77th Pa., enlisted for three years and re-enlisted 
 as a veteran. Served through the campaign with Sherman and 
 died about three weeks after his discharge. 4. Richard Rettig, 
 Private Co H 24th N. J. Yols., wounded at Fredencksburg, 
 and died in Hospital at Washington. 5. Wm Hider, Fnrfto. 
 Co D 9th K J. Yols., died at Greensboro of disease. 6. Dan i 
 Sharp Co. F,37thK J. Yols. 7. Robert Glaspey, Private, Co. 
 F, 3d N. J. Yols., served the full term and died m Bridge ton of 
 disease contracted in the service. 8. Aaron Fithian, Co. K, 1; >th 
 N. J. Yols., served three years, re-enlisted as v ete ran 1 but die d of 
 disease before his term expired. 9. James Husted, Co. D 10th 
 N J vols., died of disease contracted in the service 
 B.' Smith, Sergeant, Co. H, 24th N. J. Yols, served full term and
 
 612 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 died shortly after his discharge of disease contracted in the 
 service. 11. George Burch, Private, Co. H, 24th N. J. Vols., 
 died of disease in Hospital at Baltimore. 12. George Moore, 
 
 Private, Co. , 10th N. J. Vols., died of fever at home in 
 
 Bridgeton. 
 
 AT CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY. 
 
 Post No. 6, G. A. R., assembled on Sunday, May 31st, at 12 
 o'clock,M., at their Hall, corner of Fourth and Federal Streets, 
 dressed in dark suits and white gloves. At 1 o'clock the proces- 
 sion formed into line. It was composed of the members of the 
 G. A. R. and Soldiers and Sailors, Mayor and Common Council 
 of Camden and citizens generally. The Northern Liberty En- 
 gine Company's ambulance of Philadelphia, drawn by two 
 splendid horses, was decorated with flags, flowers, and evergreens, 
 and filled with little girls dressed in white, with red sacks, each 
 carrying a bouquet of flowers. Next was a carriage gorgeously 
 trimmed with flags and flowers. This contained the floral tokens 
 of affection prepared by the ladies of Camden, which were to 
 be used for decking the graves. This carriage was drawn by 
 Mr. Roberts' four beautiful black horses, led by four colored 
 men ; it was guarded by a " Guard of Honor," consisting of 
 six members of the Post, followed by the members, soldiers and 
 sailors. Then came the citizens of Camden, commanded by 
 Capt. Hufty. The whole procession was under the command of 
 Capt. Stone, and headed by the Union Brass Baud which played 
 Bolemn funeral dirges. 
 
 Arriving at the cemetery a halt was made near the Chapel, 
 and the Rev. Mr. Whitecar made an impressive prayer. Col. 
 Harbert of the Post, then delivered an address, full of feeling 
 and tender affection for those of his comrades who fell for Free- 
 dom and Right, and whose memories are sacredly embalmed in 
 the hearts of the loyal living millions. He was followed by the 
 Rev. Mr. Davies, pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, who 
 spoke as follows: 
 
 GENTLEMEN AND SOLDIERS OF THE GRAND ARMY OF THE RE- 
 PUBLIC : We have met here to-day in this sequestered spot, un- 
 der the broad open canopy of the heavens, to strew these floral 
 offerings on these little mounds, which mark the quiet resting- 
 places of the sacred dust of those brave soldiers who fell in the 
 service of their country while battling for its rights. In doing 
 this we are rendering " honor to whom honor is due." The 
 world has not always been particular and discriminating in the 
 selection of its favorites, whom it has made the objects of its 
 love, and the idols of its pride, but it has frequently bestowed
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 613 
 
 its emoluments , conferred its honors, and pronounced its eulo- 
 gies op the worthless and the undeserving; but such evidently 
 is not the case with us to-day, for those whom we honor bv this 
 iolemn and impressive ceremony rendered the most valuable 
 ,mce to their country in the hour of its trial, and proved them- 
 selves by their heroic deeds to be truly worthy of the nation's 
 protoundest homage. Those brave heroes, around whose cold 
 silent graves we are gathered to-day, were true and noble 
 patriots. They loved their country, they loved this soil its 
 mountains and valleys, its hills and dales, its broad lakes and 
 majestic rivers, its cultivated farms and its extensive prairies 
 They loved its noble institutes, its laws, principles, and Consti- 
 tution. They loved its history, its enterprise, its glory, and its 
 flag. ^ They loved their country in all its aspects, interests, and 
 relations. And what a country was and is ours to-day. It sur- 
 passes all the other countries of the world in the extent of its 
 territories, in the abundance and variety of its resources, in the 
 mildness and equity of its laws, in the essential rectitude of its 
 governmental principles which recognize the natural rights and 
 equality of all men, and their inalienable right to self-govern- 
 nient. This glorious country, though as yet a new world, has 
 its grand historical epochs. Christopher Columbus discovered 
 territorial America, the " Pilgrim Fathers " discovered protec- 
 tive America, where the down-trodden and oppressed of all 
 nations of the earth might find a refuge from the heartless 
 despotism of cruel tyrants. George Washington discovered inde- 
 pendent America, severed from all the embarrassing trammels of 
 foreign rulers ; Abraham Lincoln discovered free America, with 
 the curse of slavery forever abolished, and it is to be hoped that 
 the next president of the United States will discover a reunited 
 and a gloriously reconstructed America, with all its difficulties 
 settled, its internal discord suppressed, and its peace fully re- 
 stored. "We, as a nation, are indebted to our soldiers for the 
 glorious triumph of our cause ; thej T are the saviors of their 
 country, which they loved dearer than life, for they displayed 
 their patriotism not in sentimental sighs and empty profession, 
 but by the most self-sacrificing deeds : for when our noble gov- 
 ernment was ruthlessly assailed by rebellious foes, and our proud 
 banner was insulted and trampled in the dust, our brave sol- 
 diers left their trades, avocations, merchandise, homes, and dear 
 ones, and rushed to arms and to fight to the death in behalf of 
 the country that gave them birth. They voluntarily endured 
 the deprivations of the camp, the fatigue of tedious marches, 
 the awful perils of the battle-field, the agonies of reeking 
 hospitals, and unutterable cruelty of military imprisonment,
 
 614 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 and all from the purest love for their country. They were suc- 
 cessful in defeating their foes, sustaining the government, and 
 vindicating the Hag. Though thousands upon thousands of them 
 fell in many a well-fought battle-field, the Great Republic lives, 
 it?- interests are advancing and its banners are proudly floating 
 over every state of the Union. Our heroes also live in the pros- 
 perity of our country, in the annals of history, and in the hearts 
 of a grateful people, and this great gathering and these solemn 
 ceremonies are significant evidences of the fact that our brave 
 soldiers have not been forgotten. Let none presume to speak 
 disparagingly of the valorous deeds or of the scenes of their 
 heroic struggles. The battle grounds of Antietara, Gettysburg, 
 Seven Pines, the Wilderness, Fredericksburg, and Richmond, 
 are dear to thousands, for there, husbands, fathers, brothers, and 
 sons poured out their life-blood for their country's glory. Peace 
 be to their dust, strew flowers on their graves, honor their deeds, 
 forget not their widows and orphans, and may the blessing of 
 God be upon our country. 
 
 While the ceremony of strewing the graves with flowers was 
 being performed, the choir sang some very touching tunes. The 
 procession then re-formed and moved to the old Newtown Ceme- 
 tery, where prayer was made by the Rev. Mr. Davis. He was 
 succeeded by the Rev. Mr. Whitecar, who delivered an eloquent 
 address. This over the choir sung while flowers were being 
 strewn over the graves of the departed, whose names, fifty-eight 
 in all, we have been unable to obtain. We could not help re- 
 calling the poet's language : 
 
 " 'Tis sweet to mnse, as o'er the gladdened sea 
 The orient sun his youthful ntdiance flings, 
 On those fair scenes Hope to Fancy brings, 
 
 And drenra of joys and pleasures yet to be ; 
 
 But, oh ! 'tis sweeter far for memory 
 At dewy eve when lingering eye looks back 
 O'er the bright spots of that familiar track, 
 
 Which first we trod with careless step and free ; 
 There the fond heart o'er ancient visions strays, 
 
 And friends once deeply loved and long since gone, 
 Meet us again, and scenes of other days, 
 
 Float o'er the mind, like music's dying tone, 
 Leaving a peace that's less of earth than heaven, 
 A holy calm like that to sainted spirits given." 
 
 The procession was again formed, and was addressed by 
 Capt. J. H. Stone in a few pertinent remarks, after which it re- 
 turned to the hall and was dismissed.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 615 
 
 AT PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 The several Posts assembled at the designated hour, and 
 proceeded to Exchange Place, where the line was formed. The 
 procession was then formed in the following order : 
 
 Platoon of police ; Major-General Ambrose E. Burnside, 
 Grand Commander; Win. Ames, Senior Yice Commander; 
 Harvey Allen, Assistant Adjutant-General ; H. W. King, As- 
 sistant Surgeon-General ; Aides de Camp Major J. E. Bradford 
 and Lieutenant C. H. Williams ; Post No. 20, G. A. E., 40 men 
 mounted. Col. Henry Allen, Commander ; Z. C. Eennie, Se- 
 nior Yice Commander ; Capt. Geo. H. Pierce, Junior Command- 
 er; Staff Lieut. Henry E,. Barker, Adjutant; Lieut. J. L. 
 Sherman, Quartermaster ; Comrade Charles Wildman, Sergeant- 
 Major ; platoon of police ; American Brass Band, 25 pieces, 
 D. W. Eeeves, leader; Post No. 1, G. A. II., about 300 men, 
 as seven companies; Col. E. C. Ehodes, Commander; Sergt. 
 Chas. E. Morgan, Senior Yice Commander; Capt. Thomas 
 Simpson, Junior Yice Commander; Staff Capt. Wm. Frank- 
 land, Adjutant ; Capt. Allen Baker, Quartermaster ; Dr. George 
 Carr, Surgeon ; Brevet Brig. -Gen. Horatio Eogers, Jr., A. D. 
 C. ; Major E. C. Poineroy, A. D. C. ; Major William B. Ehodes, 
 
 A. D. C. ; Officers of Companies Capt. A. G. Thomas, Lieut, 
 Chas. C. Grey, k Capt. S. Thurber, Capt. Wm. Stone, Capt. H. 
 
 B. Cady, Capt. 'William E. Taber. Post No. 1 have the battle- 
 flag of 'the 1st E. L D. M. borne by Charles Beeherer, who was 
 the standard-bearer during the term of active service. Carriage 
 containing His Honor, Mayor Doyle; Col, E. Metcalf, Orator; 
 Samuel W. Field, Chaplain'; Eev. Daniel Leach, Superintendent 
 of Schools ; carriage containing wreaths and bouquets ; drum 
 cores; Post No. 13, G. A. E. (colored), 50 men, Ord. Sergt. 
 Moses F. Brown, Commander; Ord. Sergt. Eobert F. Nicoh, 
 Senior Yice Commander; Q. M. Sergt. Charles C. Johnson, 
 Junior Yice Commander; Staff Sergt.-Major G. H. Black, 
 Adjutant; Sergt.-Major Z. Howland, Quartermaster; bergt. 
 James L. Franklin, Sergt.-Major; Corp. John B. Lane, Q. M 
 Sergt.; Sergt. L. G. Pheuix, officer of the day. They carried 
 theflag bo?ue by the Uth E. I. H. A. during the war Post 
 No 12 G A. E, (mounted), about 25 men; Gen. . J.-Lippitt, 
 Commander; Senior Yice-Commander, J. T. Pitman; Junior 
 Commander, Charles L. Stafford ; Adjutant Charles M. Smith ; 
 Quartermaster, Amos M. Bowen ; Surgeon, Dr. Geo. E. Ma on 
 Chaplain, Eev! Arthur May Knapp. ^he men were all mount- 
 ed. On the left of the line was a barouche filled with flowers 
 Mowry & Goff 's School, two companies, one with muskets
 
 616 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 one with carbines, Capt. "William A. Mowry commanding. 
 There were about twenty-five lads in each company. 
 
 The procession moved by the designated route to the Dexter 
 Training Ground, and formed around a stand which had been 
 erected at the flagstaff, near the north end. Here were also 
 arranged the children of the public schools, numbering from 
 2,500 to 3,000, all bearing a floral offering as their tribute to 
 those who were about to be honored. 
 
 The exercises opened with " America," sung hy the pupils 
 of the High School under the direction of Mr. Carter, accom- 
 panied by the American Brass Baud. Prayer was then offered 
 by Rev. Samuel W. Field, chaplain of the day. Col. Edwin 
 Metealf was then introduced and delivered the 
 
 OBATION. 
 
 MR. COMMANDER AND COMRADES : "We come here to-day, not 
 for the sake of the living, but of the dead to pay them the 
 tribute of our affection and our gratitude. We are here to 
 honor them and keep green their graves and fresh and bright 
 their memory. And not alone have we, their comrades, gath- 
 ered here to give this simple proof of our unchanging regard 
 for those who have fallen in our ranks. With us have come these 
 fitting representatives of the whole people the fairest flowers 
 of our State. They bring with them, may we $not rightly be- 
 lieve yes, comrades, we have the common heartfelt spontaneous 
 tribute of the people of Rhode Island, her men and women alike 
 with her children, to the gallantry, the patriotism, the worth of 
 all who went out from among us to fill a soldier's grave. It is 
 good for us to be here. This, I am sure, is the sentiment per- 
 vading all hearts and animating the whole country. Its peace, 
 its safety, and all of prosperity or enduring greatness, or prom- 
 ise for the future, our country owes to the sacrifice of these lives, 
 and the spirit with which the sacrifice was made. And the 
 nation has responded as with one voice to the caH which has 
 brought us together. And we, comrades, may well congratulate- 
 ourselves and the great body of the soldiers and sailors of the 
 Republic which we here represent, upon the happily conceived 
 order that has led to this gathering. Well is it for us who still 
 keep up the semblance of military authority among ourselves ; 
 well is it for our nation that the general and hero who is at our 
 head has no purpose to be obtained through the efforts of those 
 who were the defenders of our country in her day of need 
 nothing but the peaceful and joyful, for I cannot call it the sor- 
 rowful duty, we are here to discharge. Forgetting almost all 
 the strifes, the blood and the tears that embittered it, let us for-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 617 
 
 get to-day, comrades, the cause of the strife and the hostility 
 that forced us to fight and to conquer those we would fain have 
 treated as friends and brothers. Here, and now, we would re- 
 member that to the fallen heroes of the war belong the first 
 honors, the fairest tribute from us and from all men. Here let 
 us join hearts as we join hands in carrying out faithfully, earn- 
 estly, and as cheerfully as may be, the spirit of the order under 
 wh it-It we have assembled. Be it alike with pleasure as with pride 
 that we strew with beautiful flowers the honored graves of our 
 departed brothers in arms. Beautiful flowers ! from these fair, 
 and gentle, and loving hands ; blessed by the good wishes these 
 children with their youth and freshness diffuse around them, are 
 they not fit emblems of the love and faith and all the kindly 
 sentiments we would indulge over the graves of our patriot 
 heroes. Such be their language to us, and to all who take part 
 with us in this consecrated work. Tender and fragrant and 
 grateful to every sense that earth's fairest ornaments can appeal 
 to, may we bear them to the sacred spots we are to visit to-day, 
 with hearts attuned to the gentle influences, the joyous, voiceless 
 harmonies of this floral tribute. To these flower-laden children 
 their labor of love will bring its own reward. Too young to 
 know what war has been to their friends and their country, yet 
 they can realize somewhat of our feelings as they visit with us 
 the graves of the fallen. We who are to teach and guide them, 
 to load them in the way of life, and of the world, must see to it 
 that we do not find anything to dread, anything to regret, any- 
 thing that they shall not resolve themselves gladly to encounter 
 if the call shall come to them as it did come to us. If there be 
 need of educating youth in the love of country, and in the faith 
 that the hardships of war, and even death on the battle-field are 
 better far than submission to wrong and insult ; if they are to 
 be taught that to uphold the right and to protect the national 
 honor is the highest of man's duties, and the noblest of his 
 triumphs, then may this gathering this day, the tribute to our 
 dead, be not without its lesson for the young as for the old ; and 
 in after years, as this holiday recurs, may it bring to these young 
 people, to those who come after them, such kind and strong 
 heart that shall find in these simple observances the best incen- 
 tives to a noble and patriotic career. To those associated with 
 us in the services of this day, and in paying their tribute to the 
 country's dead, who cannot forget their private griefs the irre- 
 parable loss of father, husband, son, or brother may the mflu- 
 erces of the occasion not be powerless to soothe and cheer, 
 the world, if man's philosophy, if religion have any consolation 
 for those who mourn, surely in the spirit which actuated our
 
 618 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 departed brothers, the devotion they exhibited, and their faith- 
 fulness even unto the end, our honored dead have left behind 
 them all these consolations. Go then to their graves, and while 
 rejoicing that they have lived, rejoice also that they were willing 
 to die, aye, and d'ie nobly in the sacred cause of their country. 
 
 Comrades, our tribute to-day to our fallen cannot be fitly 
 paid by the hands alone, or by words. These gifts of nature so 
 rich and beautiful, are but emblems : the most impressive speech 
 is but an echo of what should fill our hearts as we visit their 
 graves. Out of the turmoil and strife of our daily life, closing 
 the work-shop, the counting room and the office, we have under- 
 taken this sacred pilgrimage. Are we carrying with it the gen- 
 erous sentiment, the noble magnanimity, the faith in right, 
 which makes those graves monuments, not to the martyrs of lib- 
 erty, but to her defenders and conquering heroes ? 
 
 Among all the national traits this war has brought promi- 
 nently to notice, and more especially those which have called 
 forth the most touching and eloquent eulogies of the dead, none 
 so remarkable or so deserving of notice as the generous temper, 
 the freedom from vindictiveness, the truly, manly character of 
 those who, living or dead, we most admire and love. God be 
 thanked that it was not from hatred, malice or any uncharitable- 
 ness that the battle was fought and the victory won. 
 
 How striking a contrast in this respect does the story of our 
 late contest present to that of our revolution. The Tory of that 
 day was regarded with a bitterness of feeling, and treated with 
 a severity of punishment wholly inconceivable to the modern 
 student of history. Hardly in a single instance has literature 
 even yet done justice to his motive or conduct. He sought, 
 after all, a good government, if not always a wise one. The 
 Rebel of our day would destroy the best system under which a 
 man ever lived. The Tory was banished and outlawed. The 
 Rebel has been dealt with tenderly, as man deals with an err- 
 ing brother whom, he loves better than himself. Not to punish, 
 but to protect and reclaim, did we contend through weary years 
 of struggle ; and when the nation resolved to strike the final 
 blow, that blow was struck at no men or class of men, but 
 at a system, which must be destroyed lest the country perish. 
 If to some of us this treatment of our enemies seemed too mag- 
 nanimous in time of war, none can now be too thankful that 
 such was the temper and spirit in which the nation chose to de- 
 fend itself. I know of no more acceptable tribute that we can 
 offer to the memory of our patriotic soldiers and sailors than by 
 emulating the glorious spirit which animated them in the con- 
 flict. Those who survived it, yet shared with them its duties
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 619 
 
 and dangers, will do well to follow their upright example. And 
 well has it been followed. More than three years have gone by 
 since the close of the war. The citizen soldier and sailor have 
 returned to the pursuits of peace, waiting patiently for the fruits 
 ot their long warfare, and waiting at last not 'in vain. The 
 feeling has coine, at times, to many of us, I fear, that our coun- 
 try s treasure, her heroes blood have only gained victories not 
 crowned them with blessing. Not a rebel has been punished 
 because he was a rebel. Only one man in all our land is even 
 called a traitor, and he, the bitterest of all his foes are readiest 
 to pardon. The fruits of a righteous war, the rewards of a 
 whole people's unexampled devotion and self-sacrifice, no man 
 can yet see. 
 
 _ Through all these days of darkness and discouragement, 
 this vast disbanded host of sailors and soldiers has stood quietly 
 by, confiding in their cause, in the people, and above all, in 
 themselves. None has cried out for the avenger. Peace and 
 pardon have been the Patriot's watchwords. Submission to the 
 establishment of civil authority throughout our broad domain, 
 and the overturn of military rule, are the only conditions he 
 would set, and most surely, comrades, this faith shall be reward- 
 ed. This spirit shall yet bring back peace and brotherhood to 
 our beloved country, North and South, East and "West. 
 
 May we not, then, humbly yet joyfully lay this offering on 
 the graves of our departed comrades. "Whoever else has pur- 
 sued selfish ends, or an unholy ambition, the citizen sailors and 
 soldiers have been true to the Republic in the battle-field 
 and during the war. Those same lessons that these graves are 
 teaching, one country, equal rights for all men, respect for law. 
 To secure these, how many of our bravest and best have lain 
 down their lives, and shall it be in vain ? No ! God be praised, 
 comrades, not in vain have they lived and died. Their fidelity 
 to principle, their devotion even unto death, has not been lost. 
 The crowning tribute we bear them to-day is the determination 
 to finish the work they left undone, and to carry into the pur- 
 suits of peace the self-sacrificing spirit that made them heroic. 
 
 The solemn, yet grateful duty is soon ended. In a few brief 
 hours, we shall have done all that was proper on such an occa- 
 sion to show our admiration and regard for our departed com- 
 rades. May this gathering with all the youth and freshness 
 and beauty that make it so pleasant to the eye, so cheering to 
 the heart, be a good omen. May it help us to look on their 
 graves with a more cheerful feeling, and a higher faith that the 
 shedding of blood may yet be atoned for, not by new violence 
 of strife,' but by fresh and lasting blessings of peace.
 
 620 
 
 I have not felt as if this were the time or the place for studied 
 eulogy. Happily, Rhode Island's dead have not wanted for such 
 fitting tributes as tongue and pen can offer. On far-off battle- 
 fields, on ocean and river, in camp and hospital, they have gone 
 to their rest. Ours, ours be the duty and privilege to keep green 
 their graves, and to cherish their memories with that warmth of 
 affection which time shall not abate. 
 
 At the close of the oration, the American Brass Band played 
 a dirge, after which Gen. Lippitt most effectively read the fine 
 poem of Bishop Burgess 
 
 "THE OLD BLUE COAT.'' 
 1864. 
 
 You asked me, little one, why I bowed, 
 
 Though never I passed the man before ? 
 Because my heart was full and proud 
 When I saw the old blue coat he wore ; 
 The blue great-coat, the sky blue coat, 
 The old blue coat the soldier wore. 
 
 I know not, I, what weapon he chose, 
 
 "What chief he followed, what badge he bore ; 
 Enough that in the front of foes 
 His country's blue great-coat he wore; 
 
 The blue great-coat, the sky blue coat, 
 The old blue coat the soldier wore. 
 
 Perhaps he was born in a forest hut, 
 
 Perhaps he had danced on a palace floor, 
 To want or wealth my eyes were shut, 
 I only marked the coat he wore : 
 
 The blue great coat, the sky blue coat, 
 The old blue coat the soldier wore. 
 
 It mattered not much if he drew his line, 
 
 From Shem or Ham in the days of yore : 
 For surely he was a brother of mine, 
 Who for my sake the war coat wore ; 
 
 The blue great coat, the sky blue coat, 
 The old blue coat the soldier wore. 
 
 He might have no skill to read or write, 
 
 Or he might be rich in learned lore ; 
 But I know he could make his mark in fight, 
 And nobler gown no scholar wore. 
 
 Than the blue great-coat, the sky blue coat, 
 The old blue coat the soldier wore. 
 
 It may be he could plunder and prowl, 
 
 And perhaps in his mood he scoffed and swore, 
 Bnt I would not guess a spot so foul 
 On the honored coat he bravely wore ; 
 The blue great-coat, the sky blue coat, 
 The old blue coat the soldier wore.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 621 
 
 He had worn it long, and borne it far ; 
 
 And perhaps on the red Virginian shore, 
 From midnight chill till the morning star, 
 That warm great-coat, the sentry wore. 
 The hlue great-coat, the sky blue coat, 
 The old blue coat the soldier wore. 
 
 When hardy Butler reined his steed 
 
 Through the streets of proud, proud Baltimore, 
 Perhaps behind him at his need, 
 
 Marched he who yonder blue coat wore ; 
 The blue great-coat, the sky blue coat, 
 The old blue coat the soldier wore. 
 
 Perhaps it was seen in Burnside's ranks 
 
 "When Rappahannock ran dark with gore ; 
 Perhaps on the mountain-side with Banks, 
 In the morning sun, no more he wore 
 
 The blue great-coat, the sky blue coat, 
 The old blue coat the soldier wore. 
 
 Perhaps in the swamps 'twas a bed for his form, 
 
 From the seven days' battling and marching sore, 
 Or with Kearny and Pope, 'mid the steely storm 
 As the night closed in that coat he wore ; 
 The blue great-coat, the sky blue coat, 
 The old blue coat the soldier wore. 
 
 Or when right over him Jackson dashed, 
 
 That collar or cape some bullet tore ; 
 Or when far ahead Antietam flashed ; 
 
 He flung to the ground the coat that he wore; 
 The blue great-coat, the sky blue coat. 
 The old blue coat the soldier wore. 
 
 Or stood at Gettysburg, where the graves 
 
 Bang deep to Howard's cannon roar ; 
 Or saw with Grant the unchained waves 
 "Where conquering hosts the blue coat wore ; 
 The blue great-coat, the sky blue coat, 
 The old blue coat the soldier wore. 
 
 That garb of honor tells enough, 
 
 Though I its story guess no more ; 
 The heart it covers is made of such stuff, 
 That the coat is mail which that soldier wore. 
 The blue great-coat, the sky blue coat, 
 The old blue coat the soldier wore. 
 
 He may hang it up when the peace shall come, 
 And the moths may find it behind the door; 
 But his children will point, when they hear a drum, 
 To the proud old coat the soldier wore. 
 The blue great-coat, the sky blue coat, 
 The old blue coat the soldier wore.
 
 622 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 And so, my child, will yon and I, 
 
 For whose fair home their blood they pour, 
 Still bow the head, as one goes by 
 Who wears the coat that soldier wore ; 
 The blue great-coat, the sky blue coat, 
 The old blue coat the soldier wore. 
 
 The exercises closed with the Doxology. The several Posts 
 of the G. A. R. then moved in the order as before, and pro- 
 ceeded to the several Cemeteries to perform the pleasant yet sad 
 duty of strewing upon the graves of their comrades, the floral 
 tributes, sweet mementos of love, honor and gratitude. They 
 visited Grace Church Cemetery, Elm wood, Swan Point, and 
 that at the North End. 
 
 AT NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 At the appointed hour the procession formed on Touro Park, 
 and was constituted as follows : The Commander of Post No. 2, 
 G. A. R., and Stan"; Officers and Members of Post No. 2, G. 
 A. R., 28 members; Ex-officers, Soldiers, and Sailors of the 
 United States, in all 30 ; Band 3d U. S. Artillery, 22 pieces ; 
 Bvt. Brig. Gen. Horatio G. Gibson, Major, 3d U. S. Artillery, 
 commanding all the troops, and staff; Battalion 3d U. S. Artil- 
 lery, embracing Co. B., 60 officers and men, Co. D., 66 officers 
 and men, Co. H., 71 officers and men ; Aquidneck Drum Corps, 
 18 pieces; "Newport Artillery," 34 officers and men ; "Aquid- 
 neck Rifles," 48 officers and men ; " Burnside Guards," 39 offi- 
 cers and men ; " Newport Light Infantry," 46 officers and men ; 
 Officers and crew of U. S. revenue cutter, " Crawford," 39 offi- 
 cers and men ; Carriages conveying Clergy and Speakers and 
 children of deceased soldiers, carrving flowers and wreaths; 
 Members of the City Government ; tFnited States Civil Officers ; 
 Children of the Public Schools, about 350 in number. These, 
 with citizens of all classes, proceeded down South Touro street 
 to Bowery, down Bowery to Thames, and up Thames to the 
 Cemetery. 
 
 On arriving at the Cemetery, the soldiers were formed in a 
 circle around the platform which had been erected for the occa- 
 sion, and members of the Post proceeded to the work of 
 decorating the graves. This work done, the company, with the 
 numerous crowds of people who had gathered in different 
 localities, repaired to the stand to listen to the addresses. Gen. 
 Tew introduced Rev. I. P. White, Rector of Trinity Church, 
 who, after a few remarks, read a selection of Scripture and of- 
 fered prayer. Gen. Tew then read the names of the comrades 
 whose graves had been visited. After a dirge by the band, Gen. 
 Tew spoke as follows :
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 623 
 
 COMRADES AND FRIENDS : "We have assembled upon this spot 
 at this time in accordance with orders from Maj. Gen. Logan, 
 Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, to per- 
 form a duty that must be sacred and dear to us all. It is proper 
 and fitting that 'we should remember and cherish the memory 
 of those who were dear to us while on earth ; especially those 
 wlip have mingled and shared with us the toils and privations 
 and dangers of army life. The memory of such should be held 
 in grateful remembrance, and the spot where their remains rest 
 be often visited, and upon the mound raised to mark their rest- 
 ing-place, tears of affection shed, and recollections of our inter- 
 course with them brought to mind. To-daj a duty devolves 
 upon this Post of the Grand Army of the Republic that is 
 doubly sacred to the heart of every soldier and sailor who served 
 in our Army and Navy during the great struggle for national 
 existence. 
 
 It is to place the flowers of Spring, and the evergreen, upon 
 these mounds that cover the ashes of our fallen comrades, whose 
 hearts once beat quick with ours in patriotism, and love for the 
 nation that is so dear to all us. Among these names (this Roll 
 of Honor that has just been called) how many familiar names 
 strike our ear, and as we approached these mounds that cover 
 the dust of those who sacrificed their lives on the altar ^of their 
 country, how many recollections of the past brought vividly to 
 our minds scenes of the camp, the bivouac, the march, and the 
 battle. They answered to the roll call with us wben treason 
 threatened the existence of our nation : we were spared to re- 
 turn to our Island home ; they fill those honored graves where 
 we have laid the evergreen and tire early flowers, and left the 
 flag they loved so well to waye over them. This is indeed a 
 sacred hour to us, standing as we do in the shadow of the monu- 
 ment that covers the dust of the immortal Stevens who fell, 
 with the Highlanders' flag in his dying grasp, and in sight oi 
 the spot where rest the ashes of our beloved Tanner, who, in 
 like manner fell while waving this flag (this weather-beaten, 
 blood-stained flag, under whose shadow we now stand) within a 
 few feet of the enemy. Shall the graves that contain those and 
 other precious treasures ever be forgotten by us ? no, not so long 
 as n comrade survives : their records are written in that proud 
 portion of our history which their own hands have recorded, 
 Tut more deeply and Lduringly still in the f^^rem^ 
 brauce of those who have served and suffered with them i 
 war And children, I wish to say to you (as you have assisted 
 us in performing these sacred duties), that the small band of sur_ 
 vivinc, soldiers and sailors will soon have passed away, and
 
 624 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 charge you not to forget these graves, where rest the remains 
 of those whom to-day we come to honor, and who gave their 
 lives a sacrifice on the altar of freedom. 
 
 At the conclusion of General Tew's address, after the band 
 had played a piece, Col. T. W. Higginson was introduced to the 
 audience, and, surrounded with the battered and service-worn 
 emblems of our national glory, among which was the flag of the 
 1st South Carolina Colored Regiment, of which he was the able 
 commander, made an appropriate and very happily conceived 
 address. He began by saying that this honored roll of the dead 
 (the list read by General Tew) reminded him of the honors de- 
 creed by Napolepn Bonaparte to that great soldier, La Tour 
 d'Auvergne. The hero of many battles, but remaining, by his 
 own choice, in the ranks, he received from the Emperor a mili- 
 tary sword, and the official title, " First among the Grenadiers 
 of France." When he was killed, at last, the Emperor ordered 
 that his heart should be entrusted to the keeping of his regi- 
 ment ; that his name should always be called upon its roll ; 
 that, at every roll-call, some comrade should answer for him, 
 " Dead upon the field of honor." In our memories, said the 
 speaker, there stand the names of many heroes, not of one only. 
 We bear all their names on our roll-call, treasure all their hearts 
 in this consecrated ground, and, as the name of each is called 
 to-day, we answer in flowers, " Dead upon the field of honor." 
 They fought side by side upon a hundred battle-fields, without 
 distinction of nationality, of race, of religion ; they gave their 
 lives that we might remain still a nation. Without distinction 
 of nationality, of race, of religion, we decorate their graves to- 
 day. From this stand are visible, in many directions, the flags 
 we have placed at each headstone, and each seems to wave re- 
 sponse to the tattered standards that float above this platform. 
 Each answers through the gathering sea-mist for him who sleeps 
 beneath, " Dead upon the field of honor." The little distinction 
 of rank that separated men in the service, are nothing now. 
 Death has given the same brevet to all. The color-corporal, 
 who died with yonder colors in his hands, and over whose grave 
 they were just now unfurled with the flowers, ranks with us the 
 same as the General, the same with the humblest soldier or 
 sailor whose grave is here among strangers. Nature has been 
 equally tender to them all ; even where man has neglected, she 
 has bade some moss creep, some grasses twine over every grave, 
 and the butterfly, emblem of immortality, waves his little wings 
 above every mound. Nature cares for them all, and we would 
 commemorate them also. And, again, it makes no difference 
 what were their personal qualities, how large their respective
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 625 
 
 there is no such merging of all duties in one. We mus 
 serve our country by this annual tribute of gratitude, bv 
 or our surviving comrades, by aiding to protect the e so?d er 
 children who have helped us bear these flowers, and by awai - 
 ing some future ca 1 to service, should any arise. Hav'L done 
 this, we also shall deserve that these flags should wave abJve 
 
 field" hon'or"? f " alS U Can be reSrded > " Dead upon tS. 
 
 low eV ' F ' aC m ten Came f rVVard > and S P ke as fo1 ' 
 
 This day, America, her cheeks wet with tears, and clad in 
 the vestments of mourning, visits the graves of all her fallen 
 heroes and strews them with fair and fragrant blossoms, sym- 
 bols of the love and honor she bears the memory of their names 
 is proper that, by these august ceremonials, the nation should 
 express the homage it renders those brave men who, upon fields 
 battle, sacrificed their lives for the safety and glory of our 
 Kepublic. As we now look about us, here in this" city of the 
 dead, we see the green mounds beneath which silently sleep 
 those who once contended with the clang of aims for the peace 
 and security we now enjoy. All honor to their names. Let us 
 cherish them to the latest hour of our lives with pious remem- 
 brance. Let us keep the sacred trust of unity and liberty they 
 have preserved, that we may transmit it unimpaired to future 
 generations. 
 
 How touching and solemn are the scenes of this hour ! The 
 air tremulous with strains of martial music, not of exultation 
 now, but of dirge and threnody ; this vast concourse of soldiers 
 and of citizens ; the booming of minute-guns from yonder fort ;. 
 these flags, stained and tattered, as borne over many fields of 
 strife and carnage, and these gorgeous silken banners, as yet un- 
 sullied by the smoke of battle ; these officers, whose courage 
 and skill helped to bring victory to our arms, and these veteran 
 soldiers of the Grand Army of the Republic, who stood side by 
 side with their comrades, now fallen, in the fierce struggle; 
 these children, in the innocence and fairness of early life, already 
 bereaved, standing here beneath these uplifted standards, the 
 objects of peculiar care to the God of the fatherless, and be- 
 queathed to us for care and guardianship ; these graves, all 
 about us in the several burial-grounds, now decked with flowers 
 40
 
 626 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 and wreaths, where our departed heroes are resting these 
 scenes all fill our minds with sorrow for the dead, with sympa- 
 thy for the bereaved, with honor for the brave men who saved 
 our country's Union, and established its glory, and with grati- 
 tude to God for the blessings of liberty we this day possess. 
 Let all of us, therefore, see to it that in our own lives we emu- 
 late the virtues of those whom to-day we honor. Let their 
 heroism and patriotism be ours also. Let us be mindful of the 
 widow and the fatherless. Soldiers upon the field, and sailors 
 upon the deep, have died in defence of the dear old flag ; and 
 now, here in the presence of the Stars and Stripes, and in the 
 presence of these orphaned children, and in the presence of God 
 who looks down from the canopy above us, let us take heed that 
 this hour becomes the occasion not only of reverence and honor 
 to the brave dead, but also of duty, and justice, and love to all 
 the living. So may God keep and defend us by His holy care. 
 And may our nation, delivered from foreign foes, and from in- 
 ternal feud and dismemberment, grow more and more in true 
 prosperity and righteousness, until it shall fill the earth with its 
 blessings ! 
 
 Comrade David Fales was next introduced, and spoke briefly 
 and eloquently of the importance and sacredness of the hour. 
 He thought we should fail to learn the full meaning of tlrese 
 ceremonies, if we forget the wants of those whom they have 
 left behind them. Let us, then, in the solemn presence of these 
 passionless mounds, renew those sacred vows made in the pres- 
 ence of High Heaven, by which we pledged ourselves, as com- 
 rades of these departed heroes, to aid and assist those whom 
 they have left among us as a sacred charge upon a nation's 
 gratitude the widow and orphan of the soldiers and sailors. 
 To-day, four hundred thousand of our comrades gather round 
 the sacred remains of two hundred and twenty-seven thousand 
 heroes, and strew their graves with the flowers of Spring. The 
 ties and charms of life were as strong and as sweet to those 
 brave souls as to us who survived them, and they are not lost 
 or forgotten. They are on the roll of glory, 
 
 " On Fame's eternal camping-ground 
 
 Their silent tents are spread, 
 And memory walks with solemn round 
 The bivouac of the dead." 
 
 The service was then closed with prayer and the benediction 
 by Rev. C. H. Malcom, when the procession re-formed and re- 
 turned to the city.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 627 
 
 AT WOONSOCKET, RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 The ceremonies were observed under the auspices of Post 
 No. 9, Gen. L. C. Tourtellot commanding. At 8 o'clock the 
 members rendezvoused at Armory Hall, and formed a proces- 
 sion in the subjoined order : 
 
 (.'apt. Willis C. Capron, of the First Rhode Island Cavalry, 
 as guide, carrying the guidon of the Third Rhode Island Volun- 
 teers ; Woonsocket Cornet Band, B. "W. Nichols leader ; Com- 
 mander L. C. Tourtellot, and Staff; Capt. George W. Greene 
 and Lieut. John Hackett, carrying the tattered flag of their 
 regiment, the Third Rhode Island Heavy Artillery ; Post No. 
 9, Grand Army of the Repubic, under command of Capt. A. E. 
 Green, in uniforms worn during the Rebellion, and each mem- 
 ber carrying a beautiful floral offering ; Flag of the Fourth 
 Rhode Island Volunteers, carried by two members of the origi- 
 nal color-guard, Comrades Jilson and Chace ; Disabled Soldiers, 
 in carriages; Ministers of the Gospel, in carriages; The Church 
 Choirs, under the leadership of Angelo Howland, in carriages ; 
 A carriage bearing the floral decorations ; Citizens, in carriages 
 and on foot. 
 
 The procession first moved to St. James' Cemetery, on the 
 Smithtield side of the river. Here are deposited the remains of 
 Henry Davis, of the First Rhode Island Volunteers, who was 
 the first Rhode Island soldier who died in the service ; Lieut. 
 "William Jones, of the Eighth New Hampshire Volunteers, who 
 died by wounds received at Port Hudson ; Richard O. Strat- 
 ford, of the First Connecticut Cavalry, who died a prisoner at 
 Florence. The religious services commenced with prayer by 
 Rev. S. L. Holman. The members of the Grand Army then 
 bestrewed the graves with flowers, the choir meanwhile singing 
 a hymn. Addresses were then made by Rev. Robert Murray, 
 Jr., and Latimer W. Ballon, Esq. The benediction was pro- 
 nounced by Rev. E. Douglas, and the procession then took up 
 its line of march to the Baptist Cemetery. The Grand Army 
 Post carried the battle- worn flag of the Rhode Island Heavy 
 Artillery, that flaunted two years before Fort Sumter and 
 Charleston. It was borne by Capt. G. W. Greene and Lieut. 
 John Hackett, of that regiment. Also the flag of the Fourth 
 Rhode Island Regiment, which saw its first battle on the glori- 
 ous field of Newbern. It was borne by the same men who car- 
 ried it iii service-Sergts. C. A. Chace, Jr. and A. N. Jillson. 
 The only soldier who sleeps in the Baptist Cemetery is Daniel 
 W Burnham, a volunteer in the Regular Army, and son ot ex- 
 Postmaster Burnham. He died of wounds and disease contract-
 
 628 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 ed in the service. Prayer was offered by Rev. J. Boyden. The 
 grave was then decorated, and excellent addresses were made by 
 Revs. S. L. Ilolman and E. Donglas. Benediction by Rev E. 
 H. Hattield. 
 
 Oak Hill Cemetery was next visited, where repose the re- 
 mains of Lieut. Henry R. Pierce, of the Fifth Rhode Island 
 Volunteers, killed at Newbern ; Albert. Ball, of the Second R. 
 I. Regiment, who died of wounds received at Bull Run ; Isaac 
 Greenup, of the Fifth R. I. Regiment ; Joel F. Crocker, who 
 died from hardships in the service ; and Nehemiah R. Sheldon, 
 of Battery F, Rhode Island Light Artillery. The services com- 
 menced at the grave of Lieutenant Pierce. Prayer was made 
 by Rev. E. H. Hatfield, while the soldiers decorated the monu- 
 ment and grave. Remarks of a stirring and pathetic character 
 were made by Rev. Messrs. Ilattield and Boyden. An original 
 Dirge, by F. C. Birtles, was here sung by the choir with fine 
 effect. Air. Holman pronounced the benediction. The other 
 graves then received the floral emblems. The procession then 
 proceeded to the Catholic Cemetery, where lie the bodies of 
 privates Patrick J. Callahan, of the Fifth Rhode Island Regi- 
 ment, and Partick Mnllaly and Win. J. Phipps. The graves 
 were profusely bedecked. Rev. B. O'Reilly, of St. Charles' 
 church, ^ho was chaplain of the famous New York Sixty-ninth 
 Regiment, and wounded at Bull Run, made an impassioned and 
 eloquent address. The solemn train then left the departed he- 
 roes to sleep peacefully in their " rests " until the resurrection 
 reveille shall raise them to the final roll-cal. On the return to 
 the village, the Grand Army and citizens were addressed by 
 Rev. John Boyden, in the Universalist church. 
 
 AT PAWTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 At this place a salute was fired at noon by the Tower Light 
 Battery, and the bells of the several churches were rung. Soon 
 after noon there was a gathering at Armory Hall, including the 
 Tower Light Battery, which proceeded to Central Falls to join 
 Post No. 3, Grand Army of the Republic, of that village, where 
 a procession was formed under the command of Col. Lysander 
 Flagg, headed by the Pawtucket Cornet Band. Post No. 3, 
 with a Pawtucket delegation from Post No. 1 of Providence, 
 appeared in uniform, and carried several war-worn battle-flags. 
 The procession was joined by others, including children, and 
 nearly all in it carried boquets for the graves which they were 
 to visit. The Light Battery and a considerable number of car- 
 riages formed the rear of the procession. There were in it a
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 629 
 
 
 
 carriage loaded with flowers furnished by Major Jacob Dnnnell, 
 and two other vehicles similarly laden. On the arrival at. North 
 Bend Cemetery appropriate exercises were held in the presence 
 of a large number of persons. Prayer was offered by the Rev. 
 Mr. Miner of Central Falls, and the hymn "America" was sung 
 by the children of several of the public schools. Addresses were 
 also made by Rev. Dr. Blodgett, Rev. Mr. Lyon of Central 
 Falls, and Rev. Mr. Goodrich. The flowers were then strewn 
 upon the graves of the deceased soldiers by the children and 
 near relatives. Flowers were left inscribed to the memory of 
 soldiers whose names were not known. The procession was then 
 reformed, and proceeded to the Mineral Spring Cemetery, were 
 the ceremonies were repeated. Prayer \vas offered by Rev. Dr. 
 Blodgett, and remarks were made by Rev. Mr. Hyatt, Rev. Mr. 
 Randall and Rev. Mr. Spalding. St. Mary's (Catholic) Ceme- 
 tery was afterwards visited, where Rev. Mr. Delany made ap- 
 propriate remarks and a prayer. While the flowers were being 
 deposited upon the graves, minute guns were fired by the Bat- 
 terv, and a dirge was played by the Band. 
 
 The following are the names of the soldiers whose graves 
 were decorated at the several cemeteries : NORTH BEND CKMETE- 
 BY : Captains Joseph Baxter, Mass. Vols., Charles H. Johnson, 
 58th Mass. Vols. ; First Lieutenant Albert E. Adams, R. I. L. A. 
 Sergeants Joseph P. Farnsworth, 9th R. I. V., George Perry, 
 1st II. I. L. A. ; Corporal John McKelvey, 2d R. I. C. ; Privates 
 William Davis, Co. B, 3d R. I. A., Alonzo F. Salisbury, 12th 
 R. I. V., Thomas Fiske, 2d R. I. V., William II. Baxter, 1st R. 
 I/L. A., Vincent Gardner, 29th Mass. Vols., Hazel Matthewson, 
 Albert Fuller, Co. D, 3d R. I. A., Eugene Haswell, N. H. Vols., 
 Adin B. Hopkins, 4th R. I. V, E. Warren Goff, U. S. N., H. 
 Augustus Binford, 3d R. I. C., Nelson Cook, 19 Mass. Vols., 
 MINERAL SPRING CEMETERY: Captain Pardon Mason, 3d R. I. 
 A ' First Lieutenants John E. Moles, 10th U. S. C. T., Albert 
 A. Bolles, 7th R. I. V. ; Lieutenant Samuel McElroy, 7th R. I, 
 V. : First Sergeant Augustus Hanna, R. I. L. A. ; Sergeant 
 Elisha Slocum, 1st R. I. L. A. ; Corporal Charles Weeden, 3d R. 
 I A. ; Musician Frank Bliss, llth R. I. V.; Privates Renselear 
 Horten, llth R. I. V., Jabez E. Jenks, 12th R. I.V., Charles 
 Fessenden, Iowa Vols., H. B. Cotton 1st Mass. Cav., Henry 
 Bowen, R. I. V., Ballou, R. I. V, Edward D. Taylor, 3d 
 
 It. I 1 C 
 
 ' John C. Tower has two grandchildren entombed in the ceme- 
 tery, and flowers were placed in front of the tomb in honor c 
 the memory of his son, Capt. Levi Tower who belonged to 
 the Second Rhode Island Regiment, and who fell at the first
 
 630 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 
 
 battle of Bull Run, and whose remains are entombed in Provi- 
 dence. 
 
 The grave of John George Curren, a French Captain, who 
 came to this country with Lafayette during; the Revolutionary 
 war, was beautifully decorated with a floral tribute. 
 
 ST. MARY'S CKMKTKUV : Si-recants John McNulty, 2d R. I. 
 V., Patrick II. Gilligan, 3d R. I. V. ; Private Peter McGrath, 
 R. I. V. Bodies of the following named were buried on the 
 field where they fell : Captain Kimball Tilton, 6th N. II. V. ; 
 Sergeant Augustus Mo wry, 3d R. I. C. ; Privates John Nicker- 
 son, 3d R. I. A., Fred. S. Moies, 1st R. I. L. A., Charles Crocker, 
 2d R. I. V. 
 
 AT NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA. 
 
 The Republican, of May 31, published the following account 
 of proceedings at Monument Cemetery : Yesterday was devoted 
 to the pious duty of decorating the graves of our patriotic dead 
 with flower?, and commemorating their deeds and glorious death 
 in suitable speeches and other ceremonies. Two steamers were 
 kindly placed at the disposal of the public the revenue cutter 
 Wilderness by Collector W. P. Kellogg, and the Ella Morse by 
 Col. R. N. Batchelder. Both boats started with passengers, 
 leaving first at 12 o'clock, noon, and returning immediately for 
 another load. The last boat left the foot of Canal street about 
 half pa^t two, well crowded with people. A large number of 
 ladies went down each trip. The number of visitors during the 
 day was very large. On arriving at the cemeteries the people 
 laid their offerings at the head of the tombs, and afterward in- 
 spected the grounds with feelings of deep and mournful interest. 
 They stood within a small city of the dead ; around them were 
 the remains of twelve thousand true men who had braved the 
 perils of the battle-field, and exposed themselves to the many 
 dangers of a soldier's life. They now sleep in peace after hav- 
 ing so nobly performed the highest duty they owed to their 
 country. Of the number buried in the cemetery only about six 
 thousand five hundred are known byname. The rest have never 
 been identified. When the task of sti%wing the graves with 
 flowers was completed, the people assembled upon and around a 
 canvas-covered platform, to listen to the speeches. Capt. W. 
 B. Armstrong was chosen chairman. He stated the objects 
 for which they had been called together in a brief and forcible 
 speech, after which he introduced Rev. N. L. Brakeman, who 
 addressed a prayer to the Throne of Grace, and then read Gen- 
 eral Orders No. 11 of Gen. Logan, and commented upon it in 
 appropriate terms The chairman then introduced Gen. L. A.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 631 
 
 Sheldon, who was to speak on behalf of the Army and 
 Union. The General spoke as follows : 
 
 SPEECH OF GEN. L. A. SHELDOX. 
 
 FELLOW-CITIZENS AND FRIENDS: The profoundest sorrow is 
 said often to be manifested by muteness. Therefore, or Tthis oc- 
 casion it is perhaps not becoming to indulge in any elaborat, 
 speech. It will be of little use to"us and ofno service to To e 
 who are here interred. 1 cannot help remarking the appropri- 
 ateness of establishing a national cemetery up?n this historic 
 field It has been the custom of all civilized nations to respect 
 the dead; m ore often it arises from relationship, personal ac- 
 quaintance, or other ties. From the earliest times, nations have 
 been in the habit of perpetuating the memories of their heroes 
 m history and m song. Many who sleep here are nameless 
 .But their virtues, and the cause in which they fought entitle 
 them to go down to posterity by the side of the most honored in 
 history. We all remember well the feelings with which we 
 were impressed at the time of our enlistment, when we took the 
 contract of death. When we swore fealty to our government 
 wu but recognized that principle which was instilled into the 
 minds of the Spartan youths when they went out to war, to re- 
 turn only with or upon their shields. "Those of us who survive 
 returned icith our shields, while those who are buried here re- 
 turned upon their shields to mother earth. They were actuated 
 by the same spirit that moved Regulus to choose imprisonment, 
 torture and death rather than advise his country to a disadvan- 
 tageous peace. There was in them the same self-abnegation that 
 characterized the Decii, when they devoted themselves for the 
 
 food of" Rome. The same love of country which actuated 
 asper in risking and losing his life, to prevent the flag of his 
 country from remaining in the hands of its enemies. The same 
 absence of all venality that actuated the bosom of Col. Morris 
 of the Revolution, who, when offered power and possessions to 
 turn against his country, replied, that he was not worth pur- 
 chasing, but such as he was King George had not money enough 
 to buy him. The same pertinacious courage which characterized 
 the dying Lawrence when he said, "Don't give up the ship!" 
 The same spirit which actuated that brave Philadelphia general 
 whose name I cannot now recollect, who, when dying of wounds, 
 said to his physician, " Doctor, turn me over that I may die 
 with my face to the foe." The same spirit was manifested by 
 an officer of my command, who, when pierced through the body 
 with a rebel bullet, said to his men by him, " Boys, fight on to 
 the last. I have lost one life for my country, I wish I had an-
 
 632 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 other to lose." The same spirit that actuated a young soldier 
 whom I had, on the k 27th day of April, 1863, made a sergeant 
 for gallantry, and who, on the 1st day of May following, fell 
 mortal ly wounded, and when being earned past me desired to 
 speak with me. Seeing the pallor of death upon his counte- 
 nance, I asked: "Gray, are you wounded?' He replied: 
 "Yes, badly, and I cannot survive." Said 1, "Don't despair; 
 men sometimes die for want of the will to live." He replied, 
 " I cannot live, but 1 want to ask one question. Colonel, have 
 I been a good soldier?" To which I replied: "Yes, you have 
 been a good soldier, Gray." He then said, "That is all I desire 
 to know. Boys, carry me on ! "' The same spirit that charac- 
 terized another soldier of my command, who, after receiving a 
 fatal wound in battle, said : " It is as I expected when I enlisted 
 to die ; but I have lived the life of a Christian. Tell my 
 grandfather that I have tried to do my duty as a soldier." 
 
 It is too affecting to continue a recital of these occurrences. 
 They may be carried so far as to become tedious. These illus- 
 trate the general feeling that pervaded all minds : and when I 
 think of the death and suffering which have fallen under my 
 observation, it so harrows up my soul that I could almost wish 
 that treason and all its supporters had shared the fate of Satan 
 when he was cast from the battlements of heaven. But it does 
 Dot become us, victors in the late war, to indulge in feelings of 
 nnkindness. It will not restore the dead to us, nor will it heal 
 the wounds that have been made. We should now labor for the 
 peace, happiness, and welfare of our common country. We 
 should manifest a spirit of charity, and cultivate the kindest 
 relationships possible. Every soldier remembers the delight 
 with which he was filled when the flag of our country was borne 
 on to victory. We remembered that it was the flag which Jas- 
 per lost his life in attempting to save; that it floated over Por- 
 ter on the "Essex," and over Grant at Vicksburg, Chattanooga, 
 the Wilderness, and Spottsylvania. Two millions of men bore 
 that flag to victory, and among them were our fellow-comrades 
 here. "They fought not alone for union, not alone for nationality, 
 but like tne patriot fathers of the Revolution, they contended 
 for the rights of human nature. White men, remember that 
 you stand here to-day in the enjoyment of the great constitu- 
 tional principle of free speech undisturbed, that you are now re- 
 lieved from the fear of a grasping and intolerant aristocracy. 
 Black men, you are redeemed and disenthralled, not alone by 
 the irresistible genius of universal emancipation. You stand here 
 with the hopes and privileges of men, because the soil of the 
 country has been bounteously saturated with the blood of patri-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 633 
 
 ots, and because their bones whiten upon ?ix hundred battle- 
 fields. Let us now and here resolve that we will stand by our 
 country in war and in peace, and that we are the certain and 
 eternal enemies of treason under all circumstances. We were 
 permitted to survive to aid in achieving- the victories of peace 
 Let us now, in the presence of these graves of our dead com- 
 rades, resolve that we will conduct ourselves in all future time, 
 both in war and peace, in such manner as shall leave these 
 sheeted regiments no occasion to rise up and rebuke us. 
 
 Captain Armstrong then reminded the audience that they 
 had often heard of a man who had one foot in the grave, taken 
 in a figurative sense, but he had the honor of introducing one 
 who had literally buried one leg in his country's cause, Henry 
 C. Dibble,. Esq., who would speak on behalf of the Grand Army 
 of the Republic. Mr. Dibble then delivered the following ad- 
 dress : 
 
 COMRADES AND FRIKNDS : It is made my duty to address you 
 on behalf of the Grand Army of the Kepublic, under whose 
 auspices this day was " designated for the purpose of strewing 
 with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who 
 died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and 
 whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet 
 churchyard in the land." It seems eminently proper that the 
 day should be designated, and the ceremonies conducted by the 
 organization to which we belong. The dead were our comrades 
 ana friends. We cherish the same principles for which they 
 died. We are united by recollections the most sacred and last- 
 ing. We are gathered together by a common impulse to cherish 
 the' memory of the dead, to cultivate those ties of friendship 
 amono- ourselves which were formed in the bivouac, in the camp, 
 or upon the battle-field, and to care for the widows and orphans 
 of those who lie around us to-day. But there is in our organi- 
 zation something more than these elements of strength and 
 unity We are bound together for the purpose, and sworn to 
 " see that no harm come to the State," as the Korean Senate de- 
 creed to their consuls in the hour of sedition and danger. And 
 so it has been said that we are a political organization. In the 
 sense of party preference for men, it is not true. But the war 
 for the Union was a struggle for the ascendency of political 
 deas Our armies were Raised, our battles were fought, ou 
 comrades died, and our victory was won that the nation might 
 1^ tha 'liberty mMit prevail, and that the vestiges of slavery 
 mi'ht dtapp S iom tl face of the land These were the 
 poH ical ideas for which our comrades fought and suffered and 
 d fed Here they lie buried around us now. Do you expect that
 
 634 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 the Grand Army will prove recreant to those principles, politi- 
 cal though they may be called ? No, comrades, our organiza- 
 tion is looked upon by the nation with that confidence and hope 
 which our people cherished toward their soldiers in the days of 
 war. We will deserve that confidence, and warrant that hope, 
 for we swerve not one step from that line of duty in which 
 
 Four hundred thousand men, 
 
 The brave, the good, the true ; 
 On battle-field, in s\vamp, and glen, 
 
 Have died for me and you. 
 
 This later May day is about the only time in the year when 
 all over our broad land the flowers are in full bloom. Upon 
 the far borders of the North the chill of winter has but just 
 passed away, and 
 
 The verdure of the meadow lands 
 
 Is creeping to the hills ; 
 The sweet blue-bosomed violets 
 
 Are blooming by the rills. 
 
 An earlier day would not have found the flowers there for 
 the graves. Here in the South the spring flowers are fast pass- 
 ing away, and a later day might find a stint of these emblems 
 of affection which we bring with us. 
 
 Comrades and friends, pause one moment and think that 
 today, aye! at this hour, in the ten thousand burial-grounds 
 throughout the land, more than a million men and women are 
 strewing flowers upon the graves of fallen heroes. Fathers, 
 brothers, and sons ; mothers, widows, and daughters ; friends 
 severed ; lovers heart-broken, have met, bearing sweet tokens of 
 remembrance to the graves of those but for whose death our 
 country would not have lived. How when we dwell upon the 
 thought it expands ; the recollections of individuals parting, and 
 suffering and death ; the story of a thousand battle-fields ; the 
 history of a nation's struggle ; the ransom of a race from bond- 
 age. 
 
 If we could only hear the story of each one of these graves 
 we would know nearly all that is good in human nature. How 
 the old man left his grandchildren and came away with his sou. 
 to lie down here in a grave marked " Unknown." How the 
 young man whose quickened mind was all aglow with thought, 
 and whose heart was throbbing with virtuous ambition, left his 
 wife of a month, she who dared not bid him stay for his honor's 
 sake, to meet death with less of sorrow than hope, and with no 
 feelings of disappointed ambition, buC rather the sense of glory 
 achieved. How the middle-aged man gave up the pursuits of
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 635 
 
 business, severed himself from an affectionate family, and con- 
 
 Wbich he could spare in such a cause without a sigh. When 
 among the dead we usually experience a sense of gloomy sorrow ; 
 but somehow it seems to me to-day, when I remember how 
 these heroes fell died that a victory might be won for the right 
 -that, this is not the most gloomy place on earth, for I only 
 think that each grave is surrounded by a halo of glory not to be 
 likened to gloom. It is the purpose of the Commander-in-chief" 
 to inaugurate this observance with the hope that it will be kept 
 up from year to year while a survivor of the war remains to 
 honor the memory of his departed comrades. And so we have 
 come to-day to perform this sacred duty for the first time, but 
 let us hope not for the last time. We meet here under circum- 
 stances differing from those which surround our friends in the 
 distant North who are decorating the graves of those comrades 
 who lie in the churchyards of their native villages. There 
 every heart is alive with sympathy and there are many attend- 
 ants at every tomb ; here we are but a small band comparatively 
 in one of the nation's burial-places, and the graves far outnum- 
 ber the hands that strew the flowers. Ah, comrades, we recollect 
 to-day how we came away from our Northern homes, many of us 
 marching side by side with those who lie beneath these garlands. 
 Does it not almost seem that it is our duty to remain here in the 
 South, if for no other purpose than to watch over this sacred 
 spot, and come to it and bring tokens of remembrance from 
 fear to year ? In conclusion, comrades and friends, let us learn 
 the lesson of the hour. It has been said that we come to honor 
 the nation's dead. In one sense of the term that were impossible. 
 Their honor and glory are transcendent. We come rather to 
 be reminded that we must live for the cause for which 
 they died. They gave up their lives that the Union might not 
 perish Let us see that they died not in vain, and in passing 
 awny ourselves let us leave as a dying wish the charge to our 
 children These fallen heroes fought the good battle against 
 slavery, whose policy was to teach that ignorance is the mother 
 ot virtue and bondage the basis of strength It we forget to 
 etrn^le on and perfect the work which they began, we are 
 SZSnt to the cause in whose behalf they fell. We are here 
 met in the midst of the scenes of the conflict-in the heart of 
 the South-which was saved to the Union and regen erate d by 
 the sacrifice of these lives. Our people are knee ing to-day 
 a on the northern lakes, upon the shores of the Atlantic, and
 
 636 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES , 
 
 far inland at the graves of those comrades who are buried there. 
 Let us, in unison with them, dedicate our lives anew to our 
 country and to the work of Christian civilization. 
 
 Gen. Hobart, of Wisconsin, a member of the Ann}- of the 
 Gulf in 1862, responded to the call of the chairman in a short 
 and effective speech. At the request of the chairman, Mayor 
 Heath then read the following description of the cemetery : 
 Monument National Cemetery is situated at Chalmette, in the 
 parish of St. Bernard, Louisiana ; is six miles below the city of 
 New Orleans, and one mile below the United States (Jackson) 
 barracks. It contains thirteen and a third acres, was purchased 
 by the city of New Orleans from its original owner, Mr. Charles 
 Resner, in 1861, and has since been ceded by the city to the 
 United States. It was commenced by Captain N. Constable, 
 Assistant Quartermaster, in May, 1864, and will probably be 
 completed by the latter end of the present summer. It has a 
 frontage of 250 feet on the Mississippi river, and a depth of 2317 
 feet. Young cedar, arbor vitse, and other trees and shrubbery 
 have been obtained with some difficulty, and planted about half 
 way on each side of the main avenue. The government made 
 no appropriation for the purchase of shrubbery, and the only 
 means of obtaining it was by procuring shrubs and trees from 
 the woods, and by donation. The first plan has been carried 
 out until the supply is about exhausted, and a large quantity is 
 still required to beautify and decorate the cemetery. If the 
 loyal citizens of Louisiana who are known to have at heart the 
 beautifying and decorating of this cemetery, where so many 
 brave defenders of the Union from almost, every State and terri- 
 tory therein are interred, would take into consideration the 
 great want of shrubbery for this purpose, and furnish as much 
 as possible, it would be one of the most acceptable offerings in 
 the way of decoration, and it would besides be a lasting memo- 
 rial of their generosity, and would permanently beautify and 
 decorate the cemetery. About 12,000 bodies of deceased Union 
 soldiers are now interred in this cemetery, of which number 
 about 6500 are " known, " and the remainder " unknown." 
 About 1000 more bodies scattered over the Teche country are 
 yet to be removed and interred herein. Fifteen thousand eight 
 hundred and eighty graves is the entire capacity of this ceme- 
 tery. There were formerly about 7,000 bodies of colored civil- 
 ians interred in it, but they have all been removed to the 
 Freedmen's cemetery adjoining. The ground on which we 
 now stand, on which this national cemetery is located, will ever 
 be memorable in the annals of the country, it being the scene of 
 General Jackson's greatest triumph,' recorded in the history of
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 537 
 
 the United States as the " Battle of New Orlea is S!v i 
 
 ci ii j_ ctKciiiiam lay mortallv wonnrioH rli ' < 
 
 
 face and patriotism ; the receptacle of the dust of two genera 
 6 Dd eVei e 
 
 orthv een ffiaeto er t 
 
 01 thy ot the holy purpose to which it has been consecrated 
 
 Captain Sheridan, one of the participators in the struggle 
 the Union, was then called, and responded as follows: 
 
 SPEECH OP CAPTAIN 8HEEIDAN. 
 
 So much has been said here to-day, and so well said, in 
 praise of the silent battalions of the Union, whose green graves 
 spread out here before us, that to add anything of interest I feel 
 almost a hopeless task. I hold, in common with all here, and 
 with the loyal millions of the North, the memory of our dead 
 sacred, and the ground where they slumber hallowed. And 
 here, as elsewhere, my tongue refuses to keep silence when a 
 word is asked of me in remembrance of comrades whose blood 
 flowed freely that the flag we loved might not go down in disas- 
 ter and defeat, that the nation our fathers founded, purified of 
 its great wrong against humanity, might endure for all ages to 
 come, and prove by its power and stability the falsity of all who 
 sa^v man is incapable of self-government. I believe that Ameri- 
 ca is the battle-ground designed by God for the overthrow of all 
 forms of wrong and oppression. A land where the broadest 
 liberty shall exist, the only test of a man's right to citizenship, 
 loyalty to the government, a devotion to his principles which 
 impels him when they are assailed to stand boldly forward, and 
 if need be, give up his life as freely as the quiet sleepers around 
 us yielded up theirs. Standing to-day in the presence of our 
 dead, memory is busy, and the scenes of the few years past 
 crowd thick upon us. We live over again the stormy days of 
 the war. By doing this we more fully realize the deep-seated 
 love of country, the strong conviction of duty, and the lofty 
 courage that animated the soldiers of the Union when summon- 
 ed from their quiet homes by the thunder of hostile guns they
 
 63S MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 took np their line of march, and never paused before the flag of 
 rebellion went down before their advancing columns. And who 
 to-day will say humanity did not breathe freer when the smoke 
 of the might}' conflict passed away, and their straining eyes 
 caught sight of freedom's flag waving over every foot of Ameri- 
 ca ? Thank God, we all in some capacity or other helped on 
 the grand struggle. Thank God so many of us are permitted to 
 come here to-day, and pay tribute to the memory of our depart- 
 ed ones. I come not sadly here to-day, but rather with a feeling 
 of joy and pride. I am proud of the valor which won for us to 
 speak and act as men wherever the flag of the republic floats ; 
 proud that under this Southern sky, within the shadow of yonder 
 mighty city which our dead heroes helped to win, we can come 
 and crown their graves with flowers ; proud to feel that Ameri- 
 ica, through the efforts of the quiet sleepers here, stands the 
 mightiest republic in the world ; proud to look upoii these graves 
 and say they are the mute but eloquent index of how well our 
 armies fought, and how lavishly they poured out their blood 
 when called upon to stand by their G*od and nation. There is 
 no soldier here to-day who cannot recall some glorious recollec- 
 tions of the war. And as the picture flashes into view how the 
 heart thrills. Proudly, yet with moist eye and trembling lip, 
 we recall the forms of those who fell by our side on some battle- 
 field of the rebellion. We hear again the stern commands, 
 " Close up," " Steady on the right," " G uide centre," " Forward, 
 march." "Charge bayonets ! falls on our ear with the olden 
 power. We see the glistening steel come down, guns grasped 
 in strong hands, teeth shut close, eyes of flame, every chest 
 heaving as the mighty line sweeps forward over ditch and para- 
 pets, up to the very muzzle of the thundering guns, the solid 
 earth reeling beneath our tread, the air throbbing with the 
 mighty shout that bursts from our victorious ranks when, high 
 over the stronghold our valor Avon, the banner we bore flashed 
 out its stars of glory ! The picture fades only to give place to 
 others, in each and all of which the fallen ones stand out bold 
 and clear. There are friendships beautiful and lasting in almost 
 every walk of lite. But there are none more sincere than those 
 formed upon the weary march, and knit close in the shock of 
 battle. When we clasp hands with one who stood side by side 
 with us on many a field, we feel toward him as we feel toward 
 none other. And when we look upon the graves of comrades 
 there steals over the heart a thousand recollections that make 
 their memory dearer than that of others, and invests the spot 
 where they sleep with an interest no other in the world can 
 have. That we come here to-day is but one evidence of how
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 639 
 
 fondly we love the memory of our dead. Lying here upon the 
 nks of the mighty river their strong arms wrested from a race 
 of warrior^ are the representatives of nearly every State in the 
 Union. Many graves are nameless. We only know that some 
 one lies there who fell for America, and we crown his grave 
 with our tribute of respect. Many a mother's darling lies in an 
 unknown grave ; all she knows is that somewhere her boy lies 
 buried. When to-morrow the news flashes over the country 
 that we have here decorated the graves of loyal soldiers, many a 
 heart will throb with joy to think that others have done for 
 their dead what they themselves have longed to do. Many a 
 soul will be stronger for the knowledge that we have visited the 
 nation's dead, struck palms across their green graves, and 
 pledged anew our fidelity to the country they laid down their 
 lives to maintain. But not alone to our army is all the praise 
 due. Brave men are sleeping here who maintained the honor 
 of our flag upon the seas. Some, perhaps, who sailed through 
 storm of shot and shell with grand old Farragut to the conquest 
 of the empire city of the South. The army spares not in praise 
 when the deeds of our sailors are mentioned. We remember 
 proudly the wondrous circle of fire in which our navy sailed at 
 .rort Koyal, we bless the hardy tars who manned the Monitor, 
 our hearts swell with exultation when the Cumberland is men- 
 tioned, and we thank God that America had sons to stand by the 
 ship, and tight her till she sunk beneath the waves of the Chesa- 
 peake, thundering her own requiem. We glory in Winslow, 
 who near the sunny coast of France taught all Europe to respect 
 our navy, and in presence of the Continent covered our flag with 
 glory. We remember the bay of Mobile, where, lashed to the 
 ma-t, America's great admiral led his fleet to victory, and added 
 new laurels to our navy. A thousand other recollections cluster 
 around it, dear to the hearts of the army. The glory of the war 
 belongs alike to each. The war is over, the old drum stands 
 silent^ the bugle has sounded its last charge and pealed its last 
 recall. The sword hangs idly in its scabbard, the musket leans 
 unused by the tire-side, the banners- that gleamed so proudly in 
 the front of battle have folded their riven stars, and now stand 
 mementoes of glories passed. Our armies have taken their 
 tents and silently gone ; the fields where they struggled gleam 
 with the glory of peace, and another than death gathers the rich 
 harvest that springs from their fruitful bosom. We are often 
 asked, now that the war is over, why not let the dead rest in the 
 graves their valor won ? I would not crush one flower that 
 grows on the graves of the Southern dead. I only ask that the 
 graves of our "dead be sacred free from censure and unmanly
 
 640 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 reproach. The duties we owe the living must not blind us to 
 the duties we owe to the dead. Let us yearly crown their 
 graves with flowers. Thus shall we show the world we never 
 let the memory of valor perish. Thus shall we perform a duty, 
 and feel that when we are gone we shall have a right to claim a 
 wreath of flowers from companions left behind us. 
 
 SPEECH OF CAPTAIN JORDAN B. NOBLE. 
 
 Captain Noble having been introduced as the " Drummer 
 Boy of Clialmette," said : 
 
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND BROTHER SOLDIERS : Though 
 last, I hope I am not the least to address you on this memorial 
 occasion. So much has been said by the gentlemen who have 
 preceded me, it is unnecessary for me to say anything concern- 
 ing the great war and rebellion that was concluded by the 
 surrender of General Lee to General Grant. I hope it will not 
 be out of place to make a few remarks respecting this sacred 
 ground. On this spot and not far from here, fifty -three years 
 ago, 1 had the honor to be present under our great commander, 
 Major-General Andrew Jackson. There stands the old house 
 where he made his headquarters, and where I often served him 
 as orderly during the encampment of American troops. Here 
 we met and beat back one of the proudest and most daring 
 enemies that ever invaded this continent. 
 
 Here Captain Noble gave his hearers a vivid and interesting 
 description of the battle of the 8th of January, 1815, and pro- 
 ceeded : 
 
 Governor Claiborne then came to the camp in person, and 
 was with the General almost every .day until the enemy retired. 
 Thus you see, that over half a century ago the poor drummer 
 boy who this day stands before you in this honored place, sur- 
 rounded by the honored dead, now stands the only living being 
 that can be found of his regiment. There are many of the old 
 veterans still here that belonged to the different battalions too 
 old and feeble to be present on this occasion, among whom I 
 will name the honored Anthony Fernandez, and a number of 
 the colored battalion, too numerous to mention at present. The 
 roll of the Seventh regiment was called on the eighth of Jan- 
 uary, 1867 and 1868, and there were none to answer to their 
 names except the poor drummer boy of the regiment. I would 
 here remark that I hope you will not attribute to personal vanity 
 the mention of my services to my country. Enlisted in 1813 in 
 the Seventh regiment as drummer during the war, discharged 
 on the eighth of May, 1816, re-enlisted the same day for five 
 years, and honorably discharged at Baton Rouge ; again re-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 641 
 
 enlisted in the First United States infantry, and served as a sub- 
 :itute four years four months and fourteen days. I was then 
 honorably discharged from the United States army in 1825 I 
 came to Aew Orleans and made this my home till 1836. In 
 that year at the time Major Dade was massacred with his 
 troops m Florida, the call was made by General Gaines for vol- 
 unteers to go there. I then volunteered for that service, under 
 command of General Persifer F. Smith, and was present at the 
 burial of the murdered men of Major Dade. Major-General 
 Buchanan, the present commander of this department, was then 
 adjutant of the Fourth infantry, commanded by Major Twiggs. 
 To him was assigned the duty of collecting the dead bodies and 
 reporting their numbers. He did this by counting the skulls of 
 the dead soldiers. I returned to New Orleans after three 
 months' service in Florida, and was placed under the command 
 of Colonel Cross in the recruiting service, where I served two 
 years, and was honorably discharged. 
 
 BEMARKS OF COLONEL CASE. 
 
 The chairman then introduced Col. Charles Case, remarking 
 that he would read an original poem, written for the occasion, 
 and precede it by a few remarks. 
 
 Colonel Case said that in consideration of the many things 
 which had been said, and well said, he should not detain them 
 long, but confine his remarks to a single point : whether the im- 
 mense sacrifices in valuable lives and millions of treasure we had 
 S'ven for the Union our country did not outweigh its real value. 
 e had considered the matter seriously, and had no hesitation 
 in declaring that the honor, integrity and glory of our beloved 
 country were beyond price, and more than worth all the sacri- 
 fices the nation had made for it. In regard to the poem he was 
 about to read, he would only remark that it had been written 
 since twelve o'clock, and must not be considered a thoughtful 
 production. He then read the poem, as follows : 
 
 All honor to the patriot dead, 
 
 Who fell that freedom's cause might live ; 
 
 "We strew above each grassy bed 
 
 The sweetest flowers our hands can give. 
 
 And thus beside each hallowed grave 
 
 "We tell how recollection still 
 Warms with those memories of the bravs 
 
 Which lapsing years shall never chill. 
 
 And here above their sleeping dust 
 We call their shades from spirit land, 
 
 To seal our pledges that the trust 
 
 for which they died for aye shall ataud. 
 41
 
 042 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Dearer than anght on earth beside, 
 
 Sacred as all our hopes of heaven- 
 That for the flag, wlmte'er betide 
 
 Our lives are pledged, and shall be given. 
 
 So on the field where long ago 
 
 Brave warriors stayed invasion s tread, 
 
 We swear afresh, cmne weal or woe, 
 We will be faithful to the dead. 
 
 A few remarks from the chairman, and a prayer by Eev. 
 Mr. Plumb, closed the interesting ceremonies. 
 
 AT ST. JOSEPH'S, MISSOURI. 
 
 At an early hour in the morning, the comrades of the Grand 
 Army in this city assembled at their hall, on Edmond street, 
 and at nine o'clock the line of the procession was taken up in 
 the following order: First, band of music ; 2d, officers of the 
 post, G. A. ft. ; 3d, members of the post; 4th, members of the 
 press ; 5th, soldiers of the army not connected with the G. A. R. ; 
 6th, members of the Turner Society ; 7th, citizens on foot ; 8th, 
 hulies and gentlemen in carriages. Under the charge of Major 
 Drumhiller, as Chief Marshal, with Col. John Finger, Major I. 
 B. Halsey and Captain Frank Hopkins as assistants, the route 
 of the march was taken up. "When the procession entered the 
 cemetery, the band played the dead march, the men in line 
 passing the portals with uncovered heads. 
 
 Owing to the fact that the graves of the fallen soldiers were 
 scattered throughout the cemetery, it was determined to hold 
 the ceremonial services around the grave of Captain Arthur 
 J. Devlin, one of the bravest of the " unreturning brave." 
 The services commenced with a most feeling and appropriate 
 appeal to the throne of grace by the Chaplain of the Post, Rev. 
 Mr. Flowers. A most suitable song, " O'er graves of the loved 
 ones plant beautiful flowers," was chanted by a choir of ladies 
 and gentlemen, under the leadership of Professor James. 
 During this song the graves of the soldiers were decked with 
 flowers. Gathered around the sacred remains, they covered 
 the passionless moulds above them with the choicest flowers of 
 spring time, and raised above them the dear old flag they saved 
 from dishonor. An address was then delivered by the orator 
 selected by the Post Colonel Green. 
 
 ADDRESS BY COLOXBL T. A. GREEN. 
 
 FKI.LOW-CITIZKNS: We have met here this quiet, holy 
 morning, in this beautiful "city of the dead," for the purpose
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 643 
 
 of decorating the graves, and honoring the memories of the 
 departed Union soldiers, who are here, and who gave up their 
 lives that our country and our liberties might endure. During 
 the long and sanguinary struggle hetween Slavery and Free- 
 dom, through which our unhappy country has just passed, many 
 of our brave Union soldiers fell on distant fields, in the enemy's 
 country, far from home and friends, and often, after battles, our 
 dead and dying fell into the hands of the enemy, and were 
 wholly denied the last, sad rites of burial, and their bones were 
 left to bleach on the fields where they fell. Many others, like 
 Sir John. Moore, were buried " hastily at dead of night," or 
 under emergencies which compelled their cdmrades to give 
 them but & partial burial, without having time to make their 
 graves ; and they now sleep their last long sleep in unmarked 
 and unknown beds of honor, where no friends or grateful coun- 
 trymen can decorate their tombs with flowers, or shed over 
 them the grateful tears of gratitude ; but the blessed, unseen 
 spirit, of liberty will ever linger near and guard their sacred 
 resting-places. Those were more fortunate who were gathered 
 into this beautiful cemetery, and around whose graves we have 
 assembled this lovely spring morning, to pay a becoming tribute 
 to their memories. It has been said, however, that the most 
 fitting place for a soldier's grave is the field of glory on which 
 he fails. You will pardon me for indulging in an old, patriotic 
 Latin sentiment of a nation that is past Dulce et decorum est 
 pro patria mori " It is sweet, and glorious to die for one's coun- 
 try. In all ages of the world, and amongst all noble nations 
 of the earth, love of one's country has been, and still is, re- 
 garded as a great virtue ; nor has it only been held to be a 
 great virtue, but a man's duty to his country has been regarded 
 as next to his duty to his God. On the other hand, treason to 
 a good government has always been held to be the basest and 
 most infamous of all crimes. It has been generally thought 
 that it is a man's sacred duty to stand by his Government, no 
 matter whether it be right or wrong ; but believing, as I do, in 
 the higher law doctrine of the paramount obligations of the 
 eternal and immutable principles of right and justice, I am not 
 willing to recognize the principle, that it is the duty of a subject 
 to support his government in perpetuating an act that is clearly 
 wrong, as, for instance, selling a little child from its mother, 
 like a brute, for paltry gold, which was often the case under 
 the institution of slavery as it existed in this country. Under- 
 stand me. I simply say it was not a man's duty to support his 
 government in that particular wrongful act ; but because our 
 Government tolerates such a wrongful act, did not absolve its
 
 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 fn.m supporting it in all other respects ; but every sub- 
 had tin- riirht to earnestly protest against " the deep dam- 
 n" f such a levelling crime! When a government is 
 l.ere.litarv, and its ends are subverted to oppression and wrong, 
 and tin-re" is no other manner of righting the wrong, revolution 
 N justifiable, and even a right inherent in the people as in tlie 
 case of our revolutionary fathers ; but in our Republic, where 
 all power is in the people, and is only delegated for a short 
 time to our rulers, and all reverts back to the people, rebellion 
 or revolution is a crime. When a government is in the right, 
 and is attacked by its enemies, and, in self-defence, is engaged 
 in a struggle for its life, or is engaged in a righteous struggle 
 for human freedom, then I endorse the principle that next to a 
 man's duty to his God, is his duty to support his country, and 
 if need be, sacrifice his life for.it. Then indeed is the old Latin 
 maxim true that it is sweet and glorious to die tor one's 
 country and then, too, it is true that it is base and infamous 
 to desert or betray one's country. Such was the case in our 
 late war for the Union. Our revolutionary fathers had strug- 
 gled hard through seven long years of privations, hardships, 
 toil, suffering and bloodshed to establish this mighty, free Re- 
 publican Empire upon this western continent, and in a short 
 time we had grown to be a great, prosperous and happy nation. 
 Heaven seemed to bless us above all other nations and peo- 
 ples of the earth ; but, alas ! our fathers in laying the founda- 
 tions, barely tolerated the institution of Slavery, believing that 
 it would iii a short time pass away, which it did in many 
 of the States, but was retained at the South, and grew to be a 
 formidable institution ; and, as it was soon ascertained that there 
 \\;is an irrepressible conflict between freedom and slavery, and 
 that it was impossible for the two to exist in the Government 
 together, the slave power attempted the entire overthrow of the 
 Government of our fathers, and the establishment in its stead, 
 and upon its ruins, of a great Slave Empire ; and had it not 
 been for the Union soldiers now living and dead, our Govern- 
 ment would have been blotted out from amongst the nations of 
 the earth ; and the sun in the heavens to day would be looking 
 down on the melancholy ruins of a once mighty nation. Had 
 the slave power succeeded in the destruction of the Govern- 
 ment, the human mind cannot conceive of, nor can the imagina- 
 tion picture the horrors that would have befallen us. Some may 
 think that the Union might have been divided into two govern- 
 ments one slave, the other free and so remained and flourished 
 fide by side, but this is a fatal delusion. Had this Union once 
 been severed, disintegration thus begun, would have continued,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 645 
 
 until, instead of two, there would soon have been as many miser- 
 able, wrangling little republics as there are now States; and this 
 would have been equivalent to a declaration of eternal warfare; 
 and they would have preyed upon and desolated each other, un- 
 til the people would have been compelled to have sought peace 
 in despotism. Thus, our political sun, which, in the morning 
 3f the Republic, rose in such cloudless splendor, and shone so 
 brightly tor so many years, would have gone down in anarchy 
 and blood, and finally set forever in a long, gloomy, dreary 
 night of absolute despotism. Webster, in his great speech on 
 the importance of the Union, said : " I have not allowed my- 
 self, sir, to look beyond the Union to see what might lie hidden 
 in theadark recess behind. I have not coolly weighed the chances 
 of preserving liberty, when the bonds that unite us shall be bro- 
 ken asunder. I have not accustomed myself to hang over the 
 precipice of disunion, to see whether, with my short sight, I can 
 fathom the abyss below. !N r or have I considered how tolerable 
 might be the condition of the people, when the Union shall be 
 broken up and destroyed. While the Union lasts, we have high, 
 exciting, gratifying prospects spread out before us, for ourselves 
 and our children. Beyond that I seek not to penetrate the vail. 
 God grant that in my day, at least, that curtain may not rise. 
 God grant that on my vision may never be opened what lies be- 
 hind. 
 
 " When ray eyes shall be turned to behold, for the last time, 
 the sun in the heavens, may I not see him shining on the bro- 
 ken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union on a 
 land rent with civil feuds, and drenched in fraternal blood. 
 
 " But rather let their last feeble and lingering glance behold 
 the gorgeous ensign of the Republic, now known and honored 
 throughout the earth, still full high advanced, its arms and tro- 
 phies streaming in their original lustre, not a stripe erased or 
 polluted, nor a star obscured, bearing for its motto no such mis- 
 erable interrogatory as, What is all this worth ? nor those other 
 words of delusion and folly, Liberty tirst, and union afterward ; 
 but everywhere spread all over with characters of living light, 
 blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea, and over 
 the land, and on every wind, and under the whole heavans, that 
 other sentiment, dear to every American heart, ' Liberty and 
 union, now and forever, one and inseparable.' " 
 
 If the Union was important and glorious in Webster's day, 
 how much more important and glorious is it to-day \ Then, its 
 glory was obscured by the deep, dark, and damning shame of 
 slavery, and .the clanking of chains mingled with all our songs 
 of freedom. Now, thank God I there is not a slave upon all
 
 046 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 our shores; and our songs of freedom ascend to heaven un- 
 ininirK''! with the sighs and groans of the oppressed. Then, the 
 canker-worm of Slavery was gnawing at its heart, and the doc- 
 trine of State Rights threatening its destruction. ^ Now, the 
 canker has been extracted, and the suicidal doctrine of State 
 K'i-hts forever crushed. Then a large portion of the Union was 
 founded on the quicksands of oppression and wrong; and when 
 the rains and fhe floods and the storms came and beat upon it, 
 it fell, and terrible, indeed, was the fall thereof. Now, that part 
 is liciiii; reconstructed and founded on the eternal and immov- 
 alile rock of justice, and will stand firmly as the everlasting 
 hills. Like Mount Athos, "When storms and tempests beat 
 upon its brow, and the ocean laves its billows at its feet, it stands 
 unmoved and glories in its strength/' In Webster's day it was 
 tin- a-ylum of the persecuted of some races and some nations. 
 To-day it is the asylum of the down-trodden and oppressed of 
 all people and nations of the earth, no matter of what color or 
 tongue or race. Here, every human being, no matter if he bo 
 from the uttermost parts of the earth, if he have the upright 
 form of man and the image of God in his soul, may now find a 
 sure refuge from oppression and wrong. It is now truly 
 
 u The land of the free and the home of the brave." 
 
 All the crushed and famishing millions of earth can now 
 find freedom, homes, and plenty upon our happy shores. There 
 are bright, exciting and glorious prospects spread out before us 
 in the future. No imagination can paint the coming greatness 
 and glory of our now redeemed and regenerated country. 
 
 " Great Go<] ! we thank Thee for this home, 
 
 This bounteous birthland of the free, 
 Where wanderers from afar may c-me, 
 
 And breathe the air of liberty ; 
 Still inny her flowers untrampled spring, 
 
 Her harvests wave, her cities rise, 
 And yet, till time shall fold her wing, 
 
 Remain earth's loveliest paradise." 
 
 Who can estimate the importance of the Union to day, freight- 
 ed as it is with the hopes, the happiness and liberty of millions 
 of our fellow beings not only of present millions, but of mil- 
 lions yet to be. For all that our country now is, and all that it 
 is destined to be in the future, we are indebted to the Union Sol- 
 diers. Although I believe that God, in the beginning, reared 
 s mighty continent from the waters, that Freedom might 
 jomewhere on earth find an eternal home; and that the same 
 "\\i-r sustained our fathers in their revolutionary struggle and
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 647 
 
 our Union Soldiers in their struggle with the gigantic rebellion; 
 jet notwithstanding I believe there is a Providence who rules 
 over the destinies of the nations of the earth, yet these destinies 
 are worked out by human agencies; and a vast amount of hu- 
 man suffering, and human sacrifices were necessary in the tear- 
 ful struggle through which we have just passed, to preserve and 
 perpetuate the liberties which our fathers purchased with their 
 blood. Weary marches in the burning sun, and pelting storm; 
 beds on the cold ground, hunger, thirst, privations, suffering, toil, 
 hardships, sickness, danger and death these for four long years 
 were a part of the price which was paid by the Union Soldiers for 
 the inestimable blessings of liberty which we now enjoy. If 
 there ever was a country and a cause for which it was noble to 
 suffer and to die, it was the cause for which our brave Union Sol- 
 diers suffered and died. Reverence for the dead is one of the 
 noblest sentiments of the human heart, and especially should all 
 true Americans cultivate this sentiment for the memories of our 
 brave Union Soldiers who toiled and suffered for us and who 
 have now gone to their final account. They have worked out 
 an imperishable immortality and of earthly glory that will only 
 grow brighter and brighter with time. Their memories can 
 never perish so long as the love of liberty shall continue to glow 
 in a human heart in any part of the earth. 
 
 They have the gratitude of all the present generation who 
 love liberty, their country, and all that is heroic, noble, sublime, 
 and redeeming in human action and in the human soul; and un- 
 born millions will bless them! The grave of every brave 
 Union Soldier, in our whole land, is a shrine of liberty ; and 
 there are over three hundred thousand of them dotted all over 
 our country. Let him whose patriotism is growing cold, go to 
 the graves of Union Soldiers, and there inhale afresh the sacred 
 inspiration of Freedom. He will there find, in the silent in- 
 spirations of these graves, a power far surpassing any eloquence 
 of the human tongue. And let us all, this beautiful, quiet, holy 
 Sabbath morning, listen to the silent eloquence of these graves 
 around which we have assembled, and ourselves breathe in anew, 
 from these sacred shrines, the holy inspirations of Freedom! 
 
 " Give me the death of those 
 
 Who for tlieir country die ; 
 And oh, be mine like their repose, 
 
 As cold and low they lie. 
 Their loveliest mother earth 
 
 Enshrines the fallen brave ; 
 In her sweet lap who gave them birth, 
 
 They find a tranquil grave.
 
 048 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 After a dirge by the band, the benediction was said and the 
 large crowd assembled, slowly and quietly returned to their 
 homes. 
 
 AT ST. Louis, MISSOURI. 
 
 In St. Louis the weather was gloriously propitious, an ac- 
 ceptable breeze aiding to cool the temperature of a fine sunny 
 dav. The national flags floated at half-mast from our public 
 buildings, and as 2 o'clock approached, the hour appointed for 
 leaving the Iron Mountain Railway station, crowds of men, wo- 
 men and children were seen with floral burdens wending their 
 way to the train. Twelve large cars were filled with interested 
 parties, and no accident prevented their safe arrival at the Na- 
 tional Cemetery of Jefferson Barracks, where eleven thousand 
 one hundred and fifty-three fallen soldiers already repose in their 
 last earthly resting-places, and were visited on Saturday by about 
 two thousand loving devotees. Here were surviving officers of 
 every grade, to do honor to the men with whom they had stood 
 side by side in the conflict of battle. Here were companions in 
 arms who toiled and struggled with the fallen in the weary inarch 
 and in the deadlystrnggle of musket and sabre. Here were 
 parents whose hearts were desolated, lovers whose light of life 
 had been put out, and brother's and sisters who cherish the memory 
 of the lost in swelling pride for their deeds of self-sacrifice. 
 Here, too, were the patient nurses of the Hospitals, who had 
 watched over the wounded and the sick in many an hour of 
 sad foreboding, only to close their eyes at last and follow their 
 remains to the home of all the living. All had gathered upon 
 the same touching errand, to leave fragrant blossoms upon their 
 tombs, as memorials of reverential love. The cemetery is de- 
 lightfully situated upon the banks of the Mississippi, from which 
 it rises to .an elevation of about two hundred feet, and spreads 
 put in undulating variety with forest trees interspersed at sparse 
 intervals, or clustering in beautiful groves. Towards the west- 
 ern centre boundary, two ponds of water lend variety and fresh- 
 ness to the spot. The grounds are in form of a parallelogram, 
 731 by 1200 feet, and contain 20 acres. About 1 acres was 
 originally the cemetery tor the barracks, and several handsome 
 monuments and headstones mark the resting-place of officers 
 and soldiers of the army of old times, with members of their 
 families. Mr. Geo. W. Long is the present Superintendent, work- 
 ing under the general direction of Col. C. W. Thomas. Much 
 progress has been made in beautifying and adorning the locality, 
 walks and driveways are laid out, and partially macadamized, 
 and a strong force is at work to complete it. The view is fine
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 
 
 from the summit, and the place one of great natural attractive- 
 ness. Besides the white soldiers interred upon the grounds, 
 there are sections devoted to colored soldiers who fell in the ser- 
 vice of the country, rebel soldiers who died as prisoners of war, 
 and the children of refugees. All are carefully entered on suit- 
 able records, and the graves so marked and numbered that any 
 remains may be easily and certainly indentified. On the arrival 
 <>f the train at the cemetery, the visitors were received by Col. 
 P. C. Hains, the commander of Jefferson Barracks, and by 
 < '|>any E of the Engineer Battalion, officered by Captain Jas. 
 W. Cuyler and Lieutenants E. A. Woodruff and Jos. B. Quinn, 
 all in full dress uniform. The company of about fifty rank and 
 file was drawn up in line, and on the procession being formed, 
 with the ladies in front, the military escorted the visitors up the 
 hill to the speaker's stand, a band playing appropriate dirge 
 music. The platform was erected from portions of a pontoon 
 bridge that had seen service, and located upon the highest point 
 of the ground, in a shady place, overlooking the river. As the 
 audience gathered about it, Colonel Ledergerber called the as- 
 sembly to order, and announced that James E. Yeatman, Esq., 
 had been selected to preside on the occasion. Mr. Yeatman im- 
 mediately took the chair, and thanking the visitors for the honor 
 done him, introduced Rev. Dr. \V. G. Eliot as the first speak- 
 er. Dr. Eliot spoke as follows: 
 
 Fi i.Low-CrnzENs : We are here to-day to perform a duty of 
 patriotism, of gratitude, and of love. There have been some 
 to a>k, li What use is in it? what good will it do the dead?" As 
 well might you ask, what is the use of loving each other at all ? 
 When love ceases to pay let our friends be forgotten. When 
 our children are dead bury them and forget them. As well 
 might you ask, what is the use of gratitude ? If you cannot 
 pay for a service forget it, blot it out, and forget the benefactor. 
 .Measure everything by profit and loss. Let your hearts be as 
 cold as stone, and never have any emotion upon any subject 
 however sacred, however personal, until you know how much it 
 is worth at the market price ! We answer no such questions. 
 We are here because our hearts led us here. The heartfelt 
 gratitude to those who died for their country and for us is the 
 least tribute we can pay, and, if it does them no good, it will do 
 good to our own souls. It will quicken our own patriotism, and 
 perhaps strengthen us, if need be, for the faithful performance 
 of our own duties at the country's call. But why this expense ? 
 Why was not this money given to the poor? Why not show 
 our gratitude to the dead by our care of the living? So in the 
 Sacred Book we read that when Mary, whose brother had been
 
 650 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 raised from the dead to live, came into the house where Jesus 
 was, with an alabaster box of precious ointment, and anointed 
 his head. One of those who sat with him said : " Why was this 
 waste 2 Whv was not this ointment sold and given to the poor ?" 
 But who was'it that asked that question ? Was it the husband 
 John? Was it the warm-hearted Peter? Was it James, the 
 brother of the Lord ? No ; but it was Judas Iscariot. He was 
 the disinterested, careful man, so fearful lest the money should 
 be wasted. The history may teach us something. And it may 
 be now that those who did not rejoice at the victory are most 
 ready to forget the martyred dead, by whose sacrifice the vic- 
 tory was won. They who hated the cause have no tears for 
 those who died in its defence. And how did Jesus answer the 
 complaint? "Inasmuch as she hath done it for me, she hath 
 done it for my burial." And in like manner we would bring 
 our humble offerings to lay upon the graves of our dead, and 
 our hearts are full of thanksgiving, for their sakes, while we 
 strew their lowly beds with flowers. The widow and the orphan 
 yes, we would take care of them, and we acknowledge the 
 sacred obligation to do so, as long as we have a crust of bread 
 to eat or a cup of cold water to share with them. But to whom 
 would we appeal for the means to do this effectually? To the cold- 
 hearted and calculating men ? or to you whose hearts are warm 
 with gratitude ? I venture to say that more money may be ob- 
 tained from those who engage with us in this day's commemora- 
 tion, from one end of the country to the other, than from the 
 united wealth of all who find fault with ns for so doing. The 
 feature that interests me the most on this occasion is that we 
 have come to commemorate not the great and distinguished, 
 but the common soldiers of the great war ; the nameless dead, 
 who are by a thoughtless world so apt to be forgotten. The 
 leaders of a cause are sure to be remembered. To them the 
 monuments rise. To them the nation's thanks are sure to be 
 given. Great and glorious names they are ! Reynolds, and 
 Schofield, and Sheridan, and Thomas, and Hancock, and Sher- 
 man and Grant, and the time would fail me to name them all. 
 But let me not forget him, the first not the least General 
 Nathaniel Lyon. Great and glorious names they are ! Living 
 may they always be honored, and dying may the inheritance of 
 their virtues be to us and our children. But this day is espe- 
 cially sacred to the memory of those who in lowlier places died 
 an equally honorable death. By hundreds and thousands they 
 came from their peaceful homes from the plow-handles, from 
 the work-bench, from colleges and schools poor men who had 
 nothing but themselves to give. And they came cheerily, as
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 651 
 
 one going to a banquet, to offer health and strength, and life 
 itself, lor their country's salvation. Of that glorious martyr 
 band eleven thousand are here around us asleep. "We thank 
 God that they lived to do their work so well, and we honor our- 
 selves by honoring them. 
 
 An offering at the shrine of power, 
 
 It is not ours to bring; 
 A garland on the car of pomp, 
 
 Our hands shall never fling ; 
 Applauding in tlie conqueror's path, 
 
 Our voices ne'er shall be; 
 But wo have hearts to honor those ' 
 
 Who made our country free. 
 
 .Praise to the men, the lowly, great, 
 
 Who made us w hat we nre ; 
 Who lit the flame which yet shall glow 
 
 With radiance brighter far. 
 Glory to them in coining time, 
 
 And through Eternity, 
 Who burst the captive's galling chains, 
 
 And made our country free. 
 
 Here let me tell you an incident in the early history of the 
 war, closely connected with this day's commemoration. Soon 
 after the battle near Springfield, Mo., a soldier from Illinois, 
 wounded there, was brought to St. Louis, where he died in hos- 
 pital, and was buried. Ilis friends from the country from his 
 country home came down to disinter his remains, and carry 
 them hack to be buried among his kindred. They found that 
 he had been placed in a city hospital coffin, buried at public 
 charge among paupers and criminals, without name or record, 
 so that they were unable to identify his body, and they returned 
 home indignant, and sadly disappointed. From that painful 
 incident came all the arrangements subsequently carried out for 
 the burial of our dead. For when the facts became known one 
 of our own citizens, whose presence prevents me from naming 
 him here the President of the Western Sanitary Commission* 
 carried the facts to Major-Gen. Fremont, and an order was im- 
 mediately obtained, under which suitable burial-grounds were 
 set apart, and proper arrangements made for a decent burial of 
 every one who died in our hospitals or camps, with a careful 
 registry of name and date, so that every grave is distinctly 
 marked, and the remains of the dead can be certainly identified. 
 And let it be remembered here, that this was the first order 
 issued in the whole country to the like effect. Congress had as 
 yet taken no action on the subject, and no array regulation 
 
 *Mr. Jam 06 E. Ycatman.
 
 652 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 fully met the case. .And one word more let me say, for I love 
 to speak well of those who have been unjustly censured, whether 
 present or absent. Among all the commanding Generals in 
 Missouri, and in the West, there was never one who paid so 
 much attention to the private soldier or did so much for the 
 sick in hospital, or to provide for the comfort of the wounded 
 on the battle-field as- John C. Fremont. If that is praise it 
 belongs to him, and no small part of it belongs to her Jessie 
 Bentoii Fremont who gave her personal attention to the suffer- 
 ing soldiers, visiting them in hospital, and protecting them from 
 neglect. I care nothing about what politicians say, nor for the 
 strifes of parties and party men, but I speak of what I know ; 
 and I believe that however high a man may be he is made 
 higher by works of loyalty and love. Look now over this field 
 of death. It is God's vineyard. How sad a record of suffering 
 and pain preceded that obscure burial ! Through the five years 
 of fearful strife it was rny duty to spend many hours of every 
 day among the sick and dying in the hospitals, and among them 
 all scarce a murmur of complaint was ever heard ; no word of 
 regret that they had enlisted was ever spoken. Some men will 
 tell you they fought for pay or the love of strife. I tell you, 
 No I They fought for freedom, for their country, for the Union, 
 for the maintenance of law and order ; for the nation's safety 
 and for God. Let them be freshly remembered. Scatter flowers 
 over their graves, and say, God bless them ! And not only 
 those who lie here, but all over the land many of them in un- 
 known graves, numbered only among the dead and missing 
 the nameless martyrs, wherever they may be. On the battle- 
 fields of Virginia or Missouri, buried in the changing sand-bars 
 of the Western rivers, or in the burial-grounds of the accursed 
 prison, may they rest in peace. 
 
 Flung to the heedless winds, 
 
 Or on the waters cast, 
 Their ashes shall be watched, 
 
 And gathered up at last; 
 And from that scattered dust, 
 
 Around us and abroad, 
 Shall spring a plenteous seed 
 
 For freedom and for God. 
 To save the nation's life, 
 
 They gave their latest breath ; 
 Vdn was the rebel boast 
 
 Of victory in their death. 
 Still, still, though dead they speak, 
 
 And trumpet-tongued proclaim, 
 From North to South, from East to West, 
 
 Freedom, in God's great name.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 653 
 
 Upon the close of Dr. Eliot's remarks, Gen. Carl Scburz was 
 introduced, and spoke as follows ; 
 
 MY FRTEXDS : We stand here among eleven thousand sol- 
 diers' graves soldiers who received their wounds on the rough 
 edge of battle, soldiers who sunk down under the burden of 
 fatigue and toil, or who inhaled the fatal breath of disease from 
 the deadly vapors raised by the Southern sun, or amidst the in- 
 human torments of captivity. To say that they died a glorious 
 death would be saying little, for the same is said of those who, 
 following -the lead of vain and greedy conquerors, found their 
 graves among enslaved nations, slaves themselves to the selfish 
 and despotic will that ruled them. For our dead we have a 
 higher praise. It was not forced obedience to the command of 
 a tyrant that dragged them from their homes ; not the lust of 
 conquest, nor the scarcely nobler thirst for glory. "When the life 
 of the nation was attempted, when the cause of liberty and hu- 
 man rights called for their aid, they rushed forth to rally under 
 the banner they loved, with grand singleness of purpose and he- 
 roic devotion, leaving house and home, wife and child, father 
 and mother leaving all behind them, to meet toil and danger, 
 hunger, sickness, wounds and death, for nothing but the sublime 
 satisfaction of doing their duty to their country and to mankind. 
 Other soldiers have fought as well as ours ; but proudly may we 
 say, that no soldier ever battled with more unselfish zeal for a 
 nobler cause than the American volunteer. That is his un- 
 matched glory. 
 
 Honor to those who returned home from the field safe and 
 victorious! Honor to them ! But they have already received 
 a high reward. The names of many are inscribed upon the 
 rolls of renown, and all are left to rejoice over the great results 
 of their struggles. Theirs is the happiness to read the praise of 
 their sufferings and deeds in the beaming eyes of their children. 
 But those upon whose graves we stand here, and many thou- 
 sands like them, have gone down lonesome and nameless; the 
 hands of strangers have closed their eyelids, and most of them 
 now rest forever, far away from those to whom they were most 
 dear. Therefore, you have come here to-day, patriotic men and 
 women, to adorn these mounds with the offerings of your affec- 
 tion, of gratitude, and to prove that the great American heart 
 forgets not one who has laid down his life that the republic 
 might live, and that the eternal rights of human nature might 
 be safe. 
 
 These flowers are beautiful, but their beauty fades over 
 night. To-morrow's sun will wither it. What would this offer- 
 ing be worth if the spirit which brings it here proved as perish-
 
 654 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 able as these flowers? If we could forget that we owe a higher 
 duty to our dead than the mere ornament we strew upon their 
 graves? Would not this be a most wanton mockery, if our 
 hearts were not full of the sacred resolution to devote our lives to 
 that tor which they have died ? We shall disgrace their mem- 
 ories if ever we prove faithless to their example. 
 
 Then, in the awful presence of these eleven thousand graves, 
 let us pronounce this vow: By every drop of blood that has 
 been shed in the great struggle ; by every moan and sigh of the 
 wounded and dying; by every tear that has moistened the pale 
 cheek of mother, widow and orphan ; by the terrors of death 
 that swept over our battle-fields and haunted the beds of agony 
 in our hospitals here we record the sacred promise that these 
 men shall not have died in vain ; that no prejudice shall move 
 us from our purpose ; that no obstacle, ever so formidable, shall 
 make us falter in our resolve; that we will not rest until we 
 can crown their graves with the monument of the final victory 
 of the right, until the great American .Republic, one and indi- 
 visible, is firmly grounded upon impartial justice and the equal 
 rights of all. 
 
 Their bodies lie mouldering in the grave, 
 Their souls are marching on! 
 
 Yes, marching on with the van of the grand army of liberty, 
 hovering over our banners as they advance for new struggles, 
 quickening our resolution with their inspiring presence, striking 
 confusion into the hearts of our enemies, and overwhelming 
 those who have proved faithless with the deep damnation of 
 their treachery. So we will march on together on and on, 
 united, fearless, irresistible, until the grand consummation is 
 reached, so that when we lay down our heads mankind may 
 bless us, as we now bless those who have preceded us. 
 
 This is the offering the loyal people bring to the soldiers' 
 graves." 
 
 The Chairman introduced Mr. Stanegel, who spoke for about 
 ten minutes in German, to the great acceptance of his fellow- 
 countrymen. Dr. Eliot then pronounced the final prayer and 
 benediction : 
 
 " O, most merciful God, our Father, here in Thine own tem- 
 ple, not made with hands, we lift up our hearts to Thee. In 
 the midst of life we are in death. To whom then shall we seek 
 for succor but from Thee ? O, most merciful God, we thank 
 Thee for all the faithfulness of those whom we here remember 
 with BO much gratitude and love, who gave themselves for our 
 country and for us. And wilt Thou grant that the sacrifice
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 655 
 
 may not have been in vain. May the United States be bound 
 together henceforth and forever more and more closely. From 
 North to South, from East to West, may we all come together 
 as a band of brothers, knowing that we have but one interest, 
 one country, one God. And let Thy blessings rest upon us all 
 now, and upon these loving hearts who here express their sym- 
 pathy and gratitude for the departed ; and to Thy great name 
 we render thanks and praise forever through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of 
 God, and the communion of his Spirit be with us forevermore. 
 Amen." 
 
 A deputation of colored people were in attendance to pay 
 their tribute to the dead of their own race. Flowers were pro- 
 vided for them, and the following lines were handed to Col. 
 Ledergerber on the platform, to be read in their behalf, but the 
 Chairman had announced the benediction before the paper 
 could be passed to him. We append them, as appropriately be- 
 longing to the occasion : 
 
 " And yon, 
 
 "Whom this song cannot reach with its transient breath 
 Deaf ears that are stopped with the brown dust of death, 
 Blind eyes that are dark to your own deathless glory, 
 Silenced hearts that are heedless to praise murmured o'er ye 
 Sleep deep! sleep in peace ! sleep in memory ever I 
 Wrapt each eoul in the deeds of its deathless endeavor, 
 Till that great final Peace shall be struck through the world 
 Till the tars be recalled and the firmament furled 
 In the dawn of a daylight undying until 
 The signal of Zion be seen on the hill 
 Of the Lord when the /lay of the battle is done, 
 And the conflict of Time by Eternity won ! " 
 
 AT WAUKESHA, WISCONSIN. 
 
 During the day occasional guns were fired, and flags waved 
 from business houses and private dwellings'. A procession was 
 formed at the Baptist Church, at 1 o'clock, p. M., under the di- 
 rection of Capt. Farnham and Lieut. Putney, as Marshals of 
 the day. The procession moved through the principal streets of 
 the village out to the beautiful cemetery. Here Capt. E. Enos, 
 President of the day, addressed the gathered people as follows : 
 
 " FELLOW-CITIZENS : We are assembled in this city of the dead 
 for the purpose of doing honor to the memory of those who 
 sacrificed their lives in the service of our country. We come, 
 bringing with us evergreens and the flowers of Spring, to de- 
 corate their graves. It is fit and proper that, by public assem- 
 bly of loyal people, and solemn observance, by song and eulogy,
 
 656 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 we commemorate their services as benefactors of mankind, 
 extol their virtues, and render thanksgiving and praise to God 
 that they died not in -vain, if we remain true to the cause for which 
 they poured out their life-blood. We are here to bear our part 
 in these manifestations of respect and gratitude which to-day 
 go universally prevail over our land. 
 
 .hist on the eve of the battle of Bunker Hill; the youthful 
 Warren told his friends that he had determined to take part in 
 the coming action as a soldier in the ranks. Though entitled, 
 by his rank, to command, he had resolved that, in the first great 
 battle of the Revolution, he would carry and use a musket. 
 His friends remonstrated. One said to him, u As surely as you 
 go there, and fight in the ranks, you will be slain." Warren 
 replied, with enthusiasm, " dulce et decorum est pro patria 
 mori" These principles were sealed with his blood. He fell 
 on that bloody field, the first great martyr of the Revolution. 
 
 In yonder grave lie the remains of one * who, eight years 
 ago, in the full flush of youth, I heard address a public assem- 
 bly on the issues then before the people. He discussed those 
 issues in a strain of unanswerable logic and striking eloquence. 
 One passage of that oration made a lasting impression upon my 
 mind, and memory always brings it form whenever I think of 
 him. It was substantially in these words : " But comes to us 
 upon ever}' Southern breeze the threat that, if Abraham Lincoln 
 be elected President, they of the South will destroy this Gov- 
 ernment ; and with that threat comes the insulting taunt, that 
 we of the North are pusillanimous cowards that one Southern 
 man in battle is more than a match for three Northern men 
 that there is not, among the people'of the North, patriotism and 
 bravery enough to prevent them from carrying into execution 
 their threats. If, after Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated Presi- 
 dent, they attempt to make good' their threat, a million of men 
 will respond to their taunts of cowardice and want of patriot- 
 ism, by springing to arms, and inscribing upon their banner the 
 words of the immortal Warren, ' dulce et decorum est pro patria 
 inori.' 1 ' He, too, sealed these principles with his youthful blood. 
 His prophetic words were more than fulfilled; and those to 
 whose memory we are this day paying the homage of grateful 
 hearts, did go forth to battle for their country with these senti- 
 ments in their hearts ; and were I to write his and their epitaph, 
 I would inscribe upon their tombstones, " dulce ct decorum eat 
 pro patria mori." 
 
 At the close of his remarks, he introduced to the assem- 
 
 * Col. S. A. Bean, Fourth Wisconsin Infantry.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 657 
 
 blage Rev. Mr. Barnard, who offered a very beautiful prayer. 
 A touching song was then sung by the " Young Vocalists," after 
 which an address by the Rev. Dr. Rowe was delivered : 
 
 SPEECH OF REV. DR. ROWE. 
 
 FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE ARMIES OF THE UNION : We are met 
 here to-day at the graves of our departed heroes, with thirty 
 millions of our fellow-countrymen all over the empire, on a 
 great national occasion. The object that assembles and unites 
 us is dear to the hearts of all true patriots. We are here to do 
 honor to the names and memories of our heroic dead. We 
 come to adorn their graves ; we come to keep green in our 
 memories the history of their noble deeds ; we come to recall 
 their brave defence, even unto death, of this beloved and imperiled 
 Union to express our sense of gratitude and indebtedness to 
 them for the peace and unbroken nationality we now enjoy, and 
 to assure, in the presence of their sleeping ashes, their weeping 
 widows, orphans, and bereaved families, that their deeds, dar- 
 ing, sacrifices, and sufferings in this noble cause will be held by 
 us in everlasting remembrance, embalmed in our love, our sym- 
 pathies, and our tears. 
 
 I can hardly imagine why my townsmen have put this honor 
 upon me to-day, unless it is because they know I am the sol- 
 dier's friend, having been in the army of the Union myself, and 
 having given two sons, a nephew, and brother, to this cause 
 unless it be that they know 1 can well sympathize with the 
 deeds and the sufferings of those who have bared their breasts 
 to the steel and the bullets of the foe, as I have stood in the 
 line of battle with my men, have seen them in the hospital, 
 have tended them when wounded, have been a prisoner with 
 them in the hands of the enemy, and have buried our dead in 
 the far-off, inhospitable cemeteries of the South ; vindicating the 
 cause in which they willingly laid down their lives, in the teeth 
 and under the frowns of their indignant adversaries. 
 
 Yes, fellow-citizens, you know that there is scarcely one field 
 of conflict, of success or revers'e, where the regiments of Wis- 
 consin or Illinois have proved their manhood and purchased 
 their laurels with their hearts' blood, on which I have not stood 
 and marked the scenes of their struggles know well every spot 
 where our heroic dead fell, their faces to the foe. At Antietam, 
 where Hinton fell, I looked on as a prisoner paroled, almost dis- 
 tracted that eight thousand of us, wickedly sold, were unable to 
 lift a sword or discharge a gun fro aid in that terrible conflict. 
 At Donelson and Shiloh I passed over the blood- drenched 
 fields where our raw recruits, fresh from their quiet homes^ per- 
 42
 
 658 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 formed deeds of incredible valor and endurance. In fact, from 
 Hrlmont to Vick>lnirir and Port Hudson, where the gallant 
 Colonel Bean laid down his lite; from Memphis to Corinth, 
 Nashville, Franklin, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Lookout Moun- 
 tain, and Missionary Ridge, every scene and spot is familiar to 
 me, down to Mohile, Gaines, Morgan, Spanish, and Blakely, 
 which closed the conflict. I have passed over the whole of the 
 W.-.-t.-rn, and maiiy of the Potomac and Southern fields, and 
 can assure you, from the mouths of rebel commanders, as well as 
 rank and file, that our Western troops have left a high character 
 engraved in the scars and the consciousness of their bravest and 
 most worthy foes. Perhaps it is because I know our brave. I 
 know our brave boys what they did, what they endured, what 
 they suffered in their horrid prison-pens, where died the noble, 
 pious, honored boy of my Rev. brother Foote that I am placed 
 m this honorable position. Perhaps it is because, not content 
 with meeting our foes in the field, I went, in 1863, to Great 
 Britain, and there lectured in defence of the North and the War 
 in several of the large towns and cities to my old friends and 
 countrymen, thus contributing my quota to hinder the sailing 
 of the two vessels fitted out at Liverpool and Glasgow to prey 
 upon our commerce, and thus materially aided to stop the war 
 on the verge of breaking out between us and England. If this 
 interest in the country, the Union, and the armies that defended 
 and delivered it in the hour of its peril, be a passport to this 
 honor, then the place is honestly mine to-day, and I accept it 
 with thanks, and enter upon its duties heartily. And now let 
 me say, we come together, not like heathen, to gloat over the 
 havoc our brave boys made of their foes, the injury they inflict- 
 ed on them, their country, and their families in the late awful 
 struggle ; nor are we here at their graves to vow eternal re- 
 venge and enmity to the cruel authors of their deaths and our 
 own bereavements and sorrows ; but as Christians, in sorrow to 
 be sure, but with forgiving hearts, in pity for the misguided fel- 
 low-citizens who made this fearful attempt to destroy our L T nion 
 and break up our nation. We are here to adorn their graves 
 not to perpetuate or further to embitter the hostile sections and 
 their enmities, but to bless and heal to express our readiness 
 to welcome back to our hearts, homes, and franchises, every re- 
 stored foe. We come to excite each other to devout gratitude 
 to the God of our fathers for the victories He enabled their sons 
 to achieve, by which our honor and our country were saved ; 
 gratitude to God that, in the 'darkest hour of the conflict, He 
 gave us such leaders as Sheridan, Sherman, arid Grant, to con- 
 duct our valorous hosts to triumph ; gratitude to God, who gave
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 659 
 
 to our people such indomitable courage in battle, and such a 
 placable, merciful spirit in the hour of victory, to forgive their 
 cruel foes and brave opponents, and welcome them back to 
 peace and Union. And, now that the God of battles has de- 
 cided forever the great questions which agitated and alienated 
 North and South so long, we may become stronger, a more 
 united and prosperous nation, than if it had never occurred. 
 Our mettle as well as our principles have been tried and proved 
 by this terrible war. We have learned mutual respect ; and the 
 white heat of this furnace will fuse us together more indissolubly 
 than before. We ought especially to laud and magnify our God 
 to-day, that the struggle, in which these our townsmen fell, has 
 settled for all time the great question, whether entertained on 
 this continent or in Europe, of the integrity of this Union. All 
 on-lookers, as well as participants in our conflict, are and must 
 be fully assured that so genuine has been our patriotism, so vast 
 our sacrifices, so superhuman our efforts to maintain our national 
 Union, that all efforts to destroy it will be, in the future, abor- 
 tive. Our expenditure of blood and treasure are well repaid by 
 the peaceful, secure, and proud position our nation holds to-day 
 amid the first-rate powers of earth. Once more we have cause 
 for a mournful joy in this resting-place of our lamented sons, 
 brothers, and friends, that their blood, so freely shed, has washed 
 out from our national flag and escutcheon the foul stain of 
 American slavery, the last great cause of internal division, 
 weakness, and external reproach. Justice will now be meted out 
 to the down-trodden and oppressed ; freedom is national ; our 
 hands are washed ; our constitution and character are redeemed. 
 And now be it ours to maintain with unsullied integrity the 
 honorable position gained at such costly sacrifices. Young 
 America, self-asserting and somewhat boastful, has now become 
 a man. He has gone through an awful process to attain the 
 position now freely accorded to him ; let him keep it with the 
 sober dignity of a veteran returning from the well-fought field. 
 We know, by costly experience, the expense of war ; let us be 
 cautious to avoid all that produces it. If we wish others to re- 
 spect us and our rights, let us be careful to respect them, and 
 thus give no excuse to those noisy talkers who try to stir up ill- 
 blood between peaceable nations, and then, like vultures, fatten 
 on the spoil, and enrich themselves by the tears and woes of 
 their victims. We can now live in peace with all the world ; 
 let us cultivate the arts of peace ; let us develop the vast re- 
 sources of our country, make it a pleasant, cultivated, religious 
 home for the needy, s'uifering, liberty-loving of all lands. Let 
 us honor God, and keep His Sabbaths holy ; let our word be as
 
 660 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 reliable as our bond ; and let truth and integrity in business 
 prt-vail wherever an American merchant or citizen is found. 
 
 On the conclusion of Dr. Rowe's remarks, the decoration of 
 the LMM\ v- took place, after which the company again assembled, 
 whu;i Rev. Mr. Foote, who lost a son in the army, was called 
 out. and made the following touching address : 
 
 It tails to my lot to offer those who have made these beauti- 
 ful <>(}'< Tinirs the thanks of those whose loved ones here lie bu- 
 ried. Eighteen graves of the noble dead in this cemetery you 
 have honored by strewing upon them the flowers of affection. 
 They are touching mementoes to the departed, and they are re- 
 ceived by many stricken hearts here to-day with peculiar grati- 
 tude. The moistening eyes of many before me testify to this, 
 and are more eloquent than any language I can utter. When a 
 beautiful wreath was this day laid upon our own table, as a 
 tribute to our dear boy- who died for his country, and lies buried 
 in an unknown grave, the tears of the home-circle gave expres- 
 sion to the emotions of the heart, and we blessed the hand that 
 brought such an offering to our " loved and lost." So these 
 parents, and wives, and children feel, as they view your offer- 
 ings this day. No act of yours could so affect our hearts. We 
 would not dwell upon our loss, or their sacrifices. They have 
 not been made in vain. Again from our heart of hearts we 
 thank you for the precious mementoes you this day offer to the 
 memory of our departed ones. 
 
 The " Young Vocalists " again favored us with another 
 patriotic song, after which the benediction, patriotic and elo- 
 quent, was pronounced by the Rev. George Fellows. 
 
 Ax BERLIN, WISCONSIN. 
 
 The announcement that the members of the Grand Army 
 of the Republic would strew flowers on the graves of such of 
 their comrades as lie in Oakwood Cemetery, drew a large num- 
 ber of people from the country, while hundreds of citizens wit- 
 nessed the impressive ceremony. The burial of Comrade Wil- 
 liam ^ Gardner which took place at the same time, under the 
 auspices of the Post, added solemnity to the occasion. The 
 funeral services were conducted by Rev. Ira D. Clark, at. the F. 
 B. Church, commencing at half-past 12 o'clock. The procession 
 trum the church to the grave was large, the body being pre- 
 ceded by the brass and martial bands, and followed' by themera- 
 bere of the Post, each with a profusion of flowers, and a long 
 concourse of people, in carriages, and on foot. In one wagon 
 we noticed a banner inscribed, " Our Fallen Heroes."
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 661 
 
 After depositing the remains of 'their comrade in their last 
 resting-place, the members, in procession, visited the grave of 
 each fallen comrade lying in the cemetery, and each member 
 deposited a portion of his memento on each grave Mr. Vedder 
 announcing the name and rank of the comrade, whom they thus 
 remembered. The ceremony being over, the crowd gathered in 
 a central spot, and were addressed successively by Colonels 
 Bugh and Carleton, Rev. Messrs. Clark and Bennett, and Rev. 
 Capt. Zickerick. All the addresses were appropriate and full 
 of interest, that of Rev. Mr. Bennett, P. E., being especially full 
 of interest. Air. Vedder was called out, and, after a few perti- 
 nent remarks, announced that one year from that day, and on 
 each succeeding anniversary, the surviving members of this 
 Post would meet here for this purpose, and the sympathizing 
 .public were invited to be present. 
 
 AT BEAVER DAM, WISCONSIN. 
 
 At 8 o'clock, A. M., the soldiers assembled at their Hall on 
 Front street. Every one was furnished with an appropriate 
 badge and a beautiful bouquet or other floral device, and at 
 half-past 8 they formed a procession, under command of Col. 
 A. J. McCoy, P. C., and Leiut. J. H. Douglas, Post-Adjt., pre- 
 ceded -by the Cornet Band, which had kindly volunteered to 
 take part in the observance. The national flag was borne at 
 halt-mast, draped in mourning, and the officers of the Post bore 
 tiieir side-arms. The procession moved, with the band playing 
 sacred music, and accompanied by a large concourse of citizens, 
 on foot and in vehicles. On arriving at the cemetery, the col- 
 umn of soldiers formed in open order. The Chaplain of the 
 .day offered an appropriate prayer, the band playing a funeral 
 dirge, and the column, preserving its line, then moved from 
 grave to grave, until each one had received its memorial of floral 
 offerings, interspersed with appropriate remarks when any thing 
 noteworthy was known of the occupant's military record. 
 
 U8T OP GRAVES. 
 
 Lieut. "Wm. II. Lander, Adjt. 14th Wis. Inf. ; was aj 
 Judge Advocate, Dept. of Ky. and Tenn., and died at Nashville, 
 of dysentery, in 1865. Robt. McLaughlin, Co. , 17th Wis. 
 Inf. ; was burned in barracks at Camp Randall, Madison, be- 
 fore the regiment was mustered into the U. S. service; was 
 brought home, and died in a few days, in 1862. Capt. James 
 Ordway, Co. D, 5th Wis. Inf. ; killed in action at Rappahan- 
 nock Station, Ya., Nov. 7, 1863, while bravely leading his men
 
 662 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 over the enemy's breastworks. Lieut. Kichard Scovill, Co. D, 
 5tli Wis. Inf. ; died in 1865, of chronic diarrhoea, contracted in 
 a forced march to the battle of Gettysburg. Henry Douglas, 
 Go. D. 5th Wis. Inf. ; died in 1862, in hospital at Philadelphia, 
 of typhoid fever. Benjamin Faringer, Co. D, oth Wis. Inf. ; 
 served throughout the war, was five times wounded in battle, 
 and came-home well and hearty ; he was instantly killed by the 
 accidental discharge of a gun while out hunting, in 1866. Lieut. 
 Thomas R. Stafford, Co. D, 5th Wis. Inf. ; died of consumption, 
 in 1865. Wilkes Crocker, Co. C, 1st Wis. Cav. ; died of dis- 
 ease, in 1866. Eobinson Bailey, Co. C, 1st Wis. Cav. ; died of 
 chronic dfarrhoea, in 1864. Capt. H. D. Patch, Co. C, 16th 
 Wi>. Inf. ; was wounded, and contracted diarrhoea, at the battle 
 of Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing), in 1862, and died in a few weeks 
 after the battle. Jesse Hollingswofth, Co. H, 29th Wis. Inf. ; 
 died of chronic diarrhoea, at Memphis, in 1864. E. Reed, Co. 
 Iv. 1st Wis. Inf. ; was killed in battle at Atlanta, Ga., in 1864, 
 and his remains lie on the battle-field ; his name and record are 
 inscribed on a cenotaph over the grave of his wife. Robt. Long- 
 s-talf, Co. B, 1st Wis. Cav. ; died in 1866, of inflammation of 
 the lungs. Win. Blackman, Co. , 17th Wis. Inf. : contracted 
 chronic diarrhoea in the battle of Shiloh, in 1862 ; came home, 
 and died in a few days. Lieut. Charles A. Searles, Co. G, 1st 
 Wis Inf. ; killed in the battle of Chickamauga, Sept. 19, 1863. 
 Lieut. Abel Howard, Co. C, 1st N. Y. Engineers; died of 
 chronic diarrhoea, in 1865. Korman Evarts, Co. A, 98th X. Y. 
 Inf. ; died of consumption, in 1867. D. S. Thurston, Co. L, 1st 
 Wis. Cav. ; died of typhoid pneumonia, in 1863. 
 
 AT RACINE, WISCONSIN. 
 
 A large number of the citizens repaired to Mound Cemetery 
 the ladies having previously prepared bouquets, wreaths, and 
 garlands of flowers to decorate the graves of those noble men 
 who laid down their lives that the nation might live. The ob- 
 ject of the mustering of our citizens at that time was stated by 
 Colonel Bartlett in a few appropriate remarks, after which Rev. 
 W. S. Alexander made an exceedingly touching and eloquent 
 prayer. Rev. A. C. Barry followed in a short address, full of 
 patriotism, interspersed with some of the painful incidents of 
 the late war. Very appropriate remarks were also made by Col. 
 J. G. McMynn and Mr. H. G. Winslow. During the interval, 
 the Racine Glee Club came in with their sweetly-sung odes and 
 songs, adding intensity to the feelings which seemed to pervade 
 the audience.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 663 
 
 When nil the graves had been duly visited, the column again 
 formed in open order, at a * parade rest" position, and Colonel 
 McCoy addressed them as follows : 
 
 COMRADES : We have now performed the sad but pleasing 
 
 flag 
 
 which to-day we drape in mourning, in grateful acknowledg- 
 ment of the price they paid, that it might forever wave over the 
 entire length and breadth of our land. The lives of these com- 
 rades were freely laid upon their country's altar. What more 
 could they bestow ? While we deck the last resting-places of 
 tln.se win) lie here, let us not forget those noble comrades who 
 fell on the battle-field in the distant South, where no friend will 
 come to-day to sprinkle the early flowers of Spring over their 
 heads. Let them quietly sleep in their soldiers' graves, where 
 they bravely fell. Let them not be forgotten by us, or a nation 
 they nobly loved. I now have the pleasure of introducing to 
 you the orator of the day, Comrade Reid. 
 
 MR. H. A. REID'S ADDRESS. 
 
 COMRADES OF THE GRAND AKMY OF THE REPUBLIC, AND LA- 
 
 PIKS AND (iKMu MI:X : We are assembled here on this beautiful 
 Spring morning to inaugurate the annual ceremony of decorat- 
 ing with flowers, and memorials of fraternal and affectionate 
 regard, the graves of those who served in the National army 
 during the war of the great Rebellion. And though no relative 
 or friend be present, and though even the name be not known, 
 the grave is known as a soldier's grave, and will be marked as 
 such, and reverently strewn with flowers on each annual return 
 of this Memorial Day. Thousands of our comrades lie moulder- 
 ing in the wildernesses and waste places of the war-ravaged 
 South, and thousands of them, where no friendly hand will ever 
 strew floral offerings upon their uncoffined remains, and no 
 friendly eye ever come to drop the tear of sympathy and hal- 
 lowed remembrance. Yet, my comrades, while we sprinkle 
 these few graves here in our midst with this fresh and living 
 baptism of memorial gratitude, we do likewise, in our hearts, 
 hallow the grave of every man, wherever he fought and wher- 
 ever he fell, of whom it is recorded in the great white registry 
 of immortal deeds, that he periled his life to save our country 
 to save those free institutions of civil and religious liberty which 
 are proclaimed in our national Declaration of Independence, and 
 of which our national banner, the glorious Stars and Stripes, is 
 the perpetual and triumphant symbol.
 
 664 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 The Apostle says, " Charity hideth a multitude of sins." 
 So also let patriotism cover, as with a radiant mantle of light, 
 all human frailties. And on this sad yet proud memorial day, 
 let the one noble record of these silent sleepers that they served 
 our country in her hour of need blot out from our human re- 
 membrance all the faults and foibles of their lifetime, leaving 
 only emblazoned over each sleeper's untimely tomb, and there 
 written in sweet Spring flowers, the alphabet of the angels, this 
 thrilling and eloquent epitaph, " He was a Soldier of the Re- 
 public. War is no part of our business, nor of the nation's ; 
 yet it is wise to keep alive and vigorous the spirit of patriotism. 
 " Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty ; " and it is not im- 
 possible that, in the future as in the past, the fair goddess of 
 freedom may be stricken down, and her starry banner trailed in 
 the dust. But we point out to posterity, through this memorial 
 service, the bloodmarks of the foulest rebellion that blackens 
 the pages of a thousand years. And we give, year by year, a 
 fresh reminder that, when the slave-power raised its hideous 
 black hand and brandished its bloody knife, threatening the life 
 of the nation, a million of freemen, sturdy sons of toil and in- 
 dustry, left their peaceful avocations, and leaped into bristling 
 ranks of armed soldiery ; and every sword and bayonet was the 
 centering point of high resolve to save the nation, and hand 
 down her free institutions to all future time, or die at the post 
 of duty in the mighty conflict. Let the rising generation be 
 thrilled and inspired with the living sentiment of this great 
 lesson of the age, and be imbued with its spirit, and hand it 
 down, renewing and renewed, from generation to generation ; 
 and we, who still survive, can join our comrades in the silent 
 tomb, with a restful trust in Almighty God, by whose gracious 
 Providence we and our nation exist that our labors and sacri- 
 fices, our marches, our battles, and our victories, shall not have 
 been in. vain. 
 
 AT KENOSHA, WISCONSIN. 
 
 A little after 3 o'clock, a procession was formed on Main 
 street, headed with martial music, and under the supervision of 
 Col. Lovell. Capt. Frantz commanded the armed Union sol- 
 diers ; Capt. Timme took charge of the unarmed soldiers and 
 citizens ; Capt. Capron, Marshal of the Day. In the meantime 
 cannon were being fired at intervals on the Park. The pro- 
 cession having reached the Cemetery, and being formed in 
 order, Rev. W. T. Smithett delivered 'a brief and eloquent ora- 
 tion, highly appropriate to the occasion closing this part of the 
 exercises with an impressive prayer ; after which a volley was
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 665 
 
 fin>(l over each soldier's grave in the Cemetery, in succession, 
 and a profusion of fragrant flowers were strewn upon the green 
 sod beneath which sleep the remains of the dead. 
 
 MR. 8MIT1IKTT 6 REMARKS. 
 
 After the celebrated battle of Marathon, by which was 
 secured the liberties of ancient Greece, and in which was struck 
 tiie first blow, by the Republic, successfully, in arresting the 
 progress of Persian tyranny and power precursor of its utter 
 overthrow Miltiades, the victorious Athenian commander there 
 was rewarded by being represented in the front of a picture sur- 
 rounded by his generals and animating his troops by look and 
 gesture to fight with courage and intrepidity. This was the 
 only honor paid to the hero for his splendid achievement the 
 only public recognition of his valuable services to the State. 
 To other statesmen and patriots of that day the Senate of 
 Athens had decreed the highest honors, and columns of marble 
 were raised to immortalize their virtues, to proclaim their cour- 
 age and devotion, and to recognize and commemorate their 
 public services to the grateful commonwealth. But with the 
 jealousy and caprice characteristic of the ancient Republics, 
 these enduring memorials were destined soon to perish at the 
 end of a single generation they were cast down and destroyed 
 us the wave of political feeling rolled back and the tide of popu- 
 larity turned as the hero and patriot became the victim of 
 public ingratitude and scorn, and ostracized by enemies, were 
 driven into exile or condemned to a traitor's death. The monu- 
 mental memorial by legal statute was overthrown, and every 
 mark of honor religiously obliterated. Not so in Athens with 
 the memory of Miltiades. The simple picture remained there 
 from age to age. and its beautiful story of lofty patriotism was 
 handed down from generation to generation, telling of its hero's 
 worth and prowess, even when he was groaning in a dungeon, 
 as the victim of popular fury, and under condemnation of death. 
 So, by parity of reasoning, with our work to-day, and what this 
 record of tlie patriotic past serves to illustrate. These monu- 
 mental tablets by which we are surrounded will fall to ruin and 
 crumble into dust, but this simple tribute of affection we now 
 otter in memoriam to the honored dead, with its priceless lesson 
 for God and country graven deep in the hearts of a grateful 
 people, will live on from generation to generation, in imperish- 
 able freshness and unimpaired vigor. When the red hand of 
 treason was raised to strike the flag, and the demon of rebellion 
 wafl loosed o'er the land, the spirits of these noble dead around 
 us were roused to do and die for the sacred cause. They went
 
 606 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 forth as the tocsin of war sounded from hill to vale, and echoed 
 hack airain from sea to sea. There, beneath the green sod, 
 mouldc'rimr in the dust, is the fruit of their devotion and there 
 in v.'nder^banner proudly floating over us, " with not a stripe 
 filaced," and every star undimmed, is the price of their blood 
 the reward of their labors. To their memory we owe this 
 <h-!>r of gratitude, this simple recognition of their services, the 
 offering of patriotic hearts to the memory of the patriot brave. 
 And we coine to-day, not only to garnish their sepulchres, but 
 to remember and celebrate their deeds, to proclaim their disin- 
 terested virtue, their sacrificing devotion to the world. And 
 what are the lessons of the hour the teachings of this sad and 
 solemn, and yet beautifully touching occasion f i To sympathize 
 with the bereaved ones, to make the widow and orphan, the 
 children of the Republic, the honored charge of a common 
 country to stand by, succor and protect them, as their lost 
 ones bravely rallied around our imperilled nationality, and in 
 life and in death defended the nation's symbol from desecration 
 the glorious old flag, and so secured to us and our children, an 
 inheritance of peace to the latest generation. And that other 
 lesson the precious boon they have so secured how ought we 
 to value and treasure, how ought we to love and preserve it ! 
 Redeemed from shame by the blood of so many thousands, how 
 pure and stainless ought we to maintain its honor among the 
 nations, and make our land a praise, a joy and an excellency in 
 the world. With a God -given destiny, for who dares dispute or 
 question the recognition of the hand of heaven in all the past, 
 let us live, as a people, for the elevation of the race, for the 
 happiness of a common humanit} 7 , and for the enfranchisement 
 of the nations of the earth. Never, with such an experience in 
 the past, and such glorious hopes in the future never let it be 
 recorded in the hand-writing of God upon the page of our his- 
 tory Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin "Weighed in the balance 
 and found wanting." We come here then, to-day, as we honor 
 the memory of these martyred dead, to renew our patriotic 
 vows to plight our strength and faith in the mission and 
 permanency of the Republic, and to resolve, God helping us, 
 that it shall be a Union, indissoluble and forever. In one of 
 Cicero's celebrated orations against the traitor Catiline, the fol- 
 lowing sentiment occurs : " If to Romulus was decreed divine 
 honor* because he founded the city, what honor shall ^e decreed 
 to him who saved and preserved the city ? " As then we shower 
 these peerless beauties of nature around the graves of the de- 
 parted, who have bled and died to preserve our institutions and 
 save us a country, let this be our sentiment this our high
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 667 
 
 resolve, that to them, under God, we accord the highest honors, 
 the richest meed of praise. But this is not all. The fathers 
 have founded the Republic, and have committed to us the trust 
 to preserve and keep, if necessary, to save, the Republic. This 
 is our work, our mission. In the hour of the perilous past these 
 have done their duty, have fulfilled their obligations. In the 
 oncoming future, when need arises, American fellow-citizen, 
 Go, and do thou likewise." 
 
 AT DETROIT, MICHIGAN. 
 
 In Detroit little was done until Wednesday, May 27. An 
 energetic committee then set to work and perfected some hur- 
 ried arrangements. On Saturday afternoon the ceremonies took 
 place. The morning dawned cold and threatening, but in the 
 afternoon the prospect brightened and the weather was delightful. 
 It then seemed as though the drenching rains of the preceding day 
 had washed oft' the adieus of flowery May and revealed the de- 
 licious greetings of the laughing month of June. Elmwood, 
 ever picturesquely beautiful in spring-time, was resplendent with 
 luxuriant verdure. 
 
 Over the entrance to the Cemetery an arch of evergreens 
 had been erected, from the centre of which was suspended a 
 wreath, composed of evergreens, white lilies, chromotella, and 
 lamarque roses. To the left of the gateway, inside the ceme- 
 tery, several tiers of seats had been erected for the accommoda- 
 tion of the band from Fort Wayne. Directly opposite the en- 
 trance the speaker's stand was erected. Several national flags, 
 surmounted by a stuffed eagle, formed the background, while in 
 front of the rostrum was tastefully arranged a number of rare 
 and costly plants, among which were two large specimens of the 
 cactus, the California pine, century plant, lilies of different 
 varieties, etc. Several seats for ladies were placed opposite 
 those of the band. 
 
 By 2 o'clock a large concourse of people had assembled, and, 
 half an hour later, as the orator of the occasion, the Hon. Theo. 
 Romeyn, entered the grounds, the band struck up a solemn, in- 
 strumental piece, after which they played the national anthem 
 " America," which was immediately afterward sung by a choir 
 composed of the Philharmonic Society. Col. Phelps, the chair- 
 man, then rose, and said : 
 
 COMRADES, FELLOW-CITIZENS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: It is 
 meet, right, and our proper duty at all times to confess our de- 
 pendence upon the Almighty God. We will now be led in our 
 intercessions at a Throne of Grace by the Rev. Chaplain Seage.
 
 668 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Allow me to say that Chaplain Seage bears marks of honorable - 
 service. I can bear testimony to the zeal and faithfulness of the 
 chaplains of our army. Among the faithful I have the pleasure 
 of introducing to you, and who will lead us in our devotions, 
 the Ilev. Chaplain Seage. 
 
 After a fervent prayer by Mr. Seage, who was chaplain of the 
 Fourth Michigan, Col. Phelps again rose and said : That it was 
 due to the speaker, and to the committee, to state that the cere- 
 monies had been inaugurated since Wednesday last, therefore 
 they had had little time to prepare. A little incident which 
 occurred on Friday afternoon had thrilled his heart. A little 
 girl had brought a bouquet to comrade Sheley, and presenting 
 it, said : " Mrs. Sheley, my mother, has sent this. It is all she 
 has got." The gallant colonel closed, by saying : " Allow me to 
 introduce to you the orator of the occasion, the soldiers' friend 
 the Hon. Theodore Romeyn." 
 
 Mr. Romeyn then rose and spoke as follows : 
 " Less than one-third of the average life of a single genera- 
 tion has passed since we were called to arms to defend the 
 nation's honor and life. History will tell how Michigan re- 
 sponded to that call. She sent to the conflict more than 90,000 
 of her sons. They went forth with unbroken ranks, in the full- 
 ness of strength and hope. Of these, more than 13,000 died on 
 the battle-field, or from wounds and sickness. Many lie in un- 
 traceable localities. The resting-place of others are marked and 
 known. It is proposed that, on this day, these graves be visited 
 and decorated by those who loved their tenants in life and who 
 honor them in death. For this purpose we are met in this place 
 of quiet beauty, consecrated to most of us by thoughts of the 
 kindred and friends that lie in its bosom. Our arrangements 
 for this city could not embrace more than this locality. But it 
 is not to be forgotten that it is proposed everywhere through 
 the length and breadth of the land, that patriotic men and 
 women will, on this day, visit the graves of our soldiers, and 
 " deck the turf that wraps their clay." In the flush of the per- 
 fect beauty of full spring-time, while the verdure of tree and 
 grass is unstained, and the bloom or' flowers is nnfacled, we have 
 gathered some of these to place upon the graves of our heroes as 
 tokens of our remembrance of them. The offering is simple, 
 but it is appropriate. God has given us flowers to gratify our 
 sense of beauty. They grow in the wilderness and on the wide 
 prairie, as well as in the garden and on the lawn. Their fra- 
 grance, their bright hues, their graceful forms, waken and reiine 
 our tastes. Jewels of nature, they are sweet adornments on all 
 occasions at the feast and the funeral, at the bridal and the
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 669 
 
 burial. They fade and pass away, as do all earthly things, for 
 time sweeps the column from the tomb as certainly and resist- 
 lessly as it does the flower from its stem or the leaf from the 
 tree. But their bestowal betokens kindly regard and tender 
 recollection. And in this spirit we have come this day on 
 this occasion. Our dead fell for their country. They died for 
 her and for us. The cause which led them to leave friends and 
 home and give their lives, was to save the very life of the nation. 
 Not in vain did they live ; not in vain have they died. Though 
 dead, they speak. They will ever live in history not as indi- 
 viduals, but as the patriot soldiers and sailors, who, without dis- 
 tinction of party, enlisted and fought together in the common 
 cause of the assailed and. perilled Constitution and integrity of 
 their country, constituting, in truth, the ' Grand Army of the 
 Republic.' 
 
 The monument at the Pass of Thermopylae bore the inscrip- 
 tion, ' Go, stranger, and tell at Lacedsemon that we died for 
 our country, and in obedience to her laws." The memory of 
 the heroic deeds and of the heroic men lives in immortal green- 
 ness, though the names have not been recorded. And so will it 
 be with our heroes, though they have passed from our sight. 
 
 ' The muffled drum's sad roll has beat 
 
 The soldier's last tattoo; 
 No more on life's parade shall meet 
 The brave, but fallen, few. 
 
 On Fame's eternal camping ground 
 
 Their .silent tents nre spread, 
 And Glory guards with solemn round 
 
 The bivouac of the dead! ' 
 
 Friends, let us remember that for every added burial-stone 
 there is a vacant chair at the hearthstone; and that, pleasing 
 and grateful as our attention to the memory of their dead may 
 be to the bereaved, there is a higher duty to visit the fatherless 
 and the widows in their affliction, and by our aid, if that be 
 needed by our sympathy in all cases to sustain and cheer 
 them. Let them remember that there is consolation in the 
 respect and gratitude that attach to the memory of the fallen 
 brave ; and that a better heritage than lands or money will be 
 the pride of being connected by ties of kindred with the 
 men who fought and won the great battle for the preservation 
 of the Union^ Let all of us show that we appreciate the im- 
 portance of the principles involved in the conflict, and the value 
 of the triumph ; and let us strive as brethren differing as to 
 means, when we do differ, honestly and with kindly feeling to
 
 670 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 secure the substantial results of the objects for which our heroes 
 fought and fell a vindicated Constitution, a purified and con-- 
 firmed Union, and the restoration of fraternal feeling through 
 all the extent of the truly United States." 
 
 On the conclusion of the address the band played a dirge, 
 and meantime the citizens visited the graves to bestrew the 
 flowers. The chief point of interest was the plot where seventy 
 or more soldiers are buried. The graves were linked together 
 with evergreens, and bedecked with lilies and other flowers. 
 Only two ladies assisted the committee in the delicate oflice of 
 decoration. While the citizens were surrounding the hallowed 
 spot, the sun broke forth and smiled upon the scene. Until late 
 in the afternoon the visitors lingered in the sacred precincts, and 
 it was nightfall before the cemetery had resumed its wonted 
 quietude. 
 
 AT MARSHALL, MICHIGAN. 
 
 The procession formed at the Court House, at half-past ten 
 A. M., in the order as announced. The Marshall Cornet Band 
 led the way, discoursing appropriate music. A delegation of 
 Marshall Commandery of Knights Templar (Masonic), mounted, 
 acted as escort. Deluge and Liberty fire companies, and a dele- 
 gation of Masons, were prominent in the procession. Following 
 the civic societies, a long parade of carriages occupied the place 
 assigned to citizens. Nearly one hundred vehicles were in the 
 procession. 
 
 Upon entering the cemetery, the band played the beautiful 
 air, " Come, ye Disconsolate" and the procession filed in and 
 assembled around the stand. The exercises were as follows : 
 
 1. Music. 2. Prayer by the chaplain, Rev. H. A. Read. 
 3. Music. 4. Address by the orator, J. C. Patterson. 
 
 ADDRES8 OF ME. PATTERSON. 
 
 ME. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : We have met, in 
 this consecrated spot, to honor our country's dead. Many yre 
 mouldering far from home a few lie here with their kindred ; 
 and while we scatter garlands over these, may patriot hands 
 decorate those distant graves. It is befitting on this, the anni- 
 versary of the great decisive battle of the rebellion, to offer 
 some tribute to the martyrs of our Union, and to estimate the 
 importance of their achievements. 
 
 The destiny of Athens was determined on the plain of Mara- 
 thon. Miltiades, with his few Athenians, checked the invading 
 Persians, turned their advance into a retreat, and not only 
 Athens, but the independence of all Greece was secure. At the 
 battle of Waterloo, the destiny of Europe was in the scale.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 671 
 
 ( Waterloo is the hinge of the nineteenth century.' The disap- 
 pearance of Xapoleon was necessary for the advent of the great 
 century and the peace of the continent. His dictatorship was 
 ended," his conquests ceased, the cause of liberty triumphed, and 
 a new era dawned upon Europe. At the battle of Gettysburg^ 
 the destiny of America, the success of the Republican form of 
 government, were in the balance. Three long days our gallant 
 soldiers, champions of freedom, fought the desperate foe ; three 
 anxious days the momentous issues oscillated in the balance ; 
 but, at the close of the third day just five years ago to-day 
 our destiny was sealed, the Confederates were driven back in 
 dismay, the backbone of the rebellion was broken, its destruction 
 decreed, Philadelphia and Washington were safe, the Union was 
 secured, and liberty triumphant ! 
 
 The destinies of nations and ages are often decided in a day. 
 Who can estimate the results of decisive battles between con- 
 flicting armies and opposing ideas? In the Punic wars, had 
 Carthage been successful, instead of her rival, Rome, the im- 
 perial city would have been razed to its foundations, the theatre 
 of civilization would have been shifted from Europe to Africa, 
 and the history of the whole world would have been changed. 
 Had the Persians been victorious at Marathon, Athens would 
 have fallen, and the world would never have known the classic 
 glory of Greece. Had Napoleon triumphed at Waterloo, the 
 thrones of Europe would have been shaken, and the balance of 
 power lost. And had the Confederates been victorious at Get- 
 tysburg, and the rebellion triumphant, "the Government of the 
 people, by the people, and for the people," would have perished 
 from the earth, our nation would have been blotted out, liberty 
 would have died, and the history of all succeeding ages been re- 
 volutionized ! Such were the calamities averted by the gallant 
 men whom we have met to honor. It becomes us, as de-voted 
 citizens, on this historic day, to repair to the silent city of the 
 dead, and strew the graves of our fallen soldiers with choicest 
 flowers ; and, chanting grateful peans, shed the tears of patriotic 
 remembrance, and thank God for such noble men, martyrs for 
 freedom, who sutfered that posterity might rejoice, who blcd^ 
 that liberty might be perpetual, who died, that our country 
 might live ! It would be base ingratitude, dastardly meanness, 
 to pass them by unnoticed, and consign their deeds and their 
 memories to the cold waters of oblivion. 
 
 AVhen the fearful prelude of civil war was sounded, and the 
 guns upon Sumter announced to the world that the old flag 
 had been insulted, these valiant men, loving their country, ana 
 kindred or comrade, alone, entered the chilly flood ! Some
 
 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 appreciating the worth of 
 
 ' 
 
 geneations and 
 ident ised 
 
 let and home m response to the 1 
 
 finished; the divine H^Bitog to the stars, 
 
 his sublime researches, hw tele ^P e c P atl fit the anguish 
 and hastened to the conflict What pen * * & i} bade 
 of these brave hearts, as th ough ^ hen g d the j r little 
 their dear ones a ^W ^od-bye^whU ^> ^ tiiro hout 
 
 ones, as if they would take a look toat wot that could 
 
 eternity ! What tongue can de ^ciibe the . p ^ the ^ 
 
 nerve the heart to sunder ^** and / will go !" 
 old flag, and exclaimed . ^ ' count i j , A d cho re . 
 How often was the parting ^SSforS-timel The regi- 
 
 peated! ^^^-S^^S^Kj by u 
 
 mental colors have le orneo, i firgt rondly 
 
 battles, borne^ by a ,few of ^ b ^ve bojs ^ ^ ^ 
 
 carried them into the tie Id Lj^SSS- from foul malaria 
 
 return! .Some diec in the gloomj ^o JP d unatte nded 
 
 "nd W dtfin tlfe^e prison-pen, iVom neglect and
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 673 
 
 .starvation; taunted by their captors, and demented by their 
 sufferings ! Some fell on the " dead line," seeking a breath of 
 pure air, or a ray of God's sunlight! Some fell on the field of 
 battle, facing the foe, while the clashing of arms, the groans of 
 the wounded, the terrific moan of the dying War-horse, the 
 whistling ball and the cannon's roar, sounded the requiem to 
 their departing spirits. Oh ! the sacrifices made ! Oh ! the 
 sufferings experienced ! Oh ! the agonies endured for country 
 and humanity ! 
 
 Never did a soldier fight for a nobler end, bleed for a 
 grander idea, or die for a better cause. On the field of Gettys- 
 burg no new issue was contested. It was the same old conflict 
 that has been waged in all nations and in all ages. " History 
 repeats itself." The same spirit of oppressive oligarchy has 
 often deluged the nations in blood. It was the irrepressible 
 conflict of antagonistic principles. It was the mad effort of 
 the minority to rule or ruin the majority. It was the marshal- 
 ing of treason against loyalty, of aristocracy against democracy, 
 of slavery against freedom. The rebels received the sympathy 
 of the world's despots ; the Union cause, the sympathy and 
 prayers of every lover of liberty. Tyranny desired to crush, 
 humanity to sustain our Government. The Confederates sought 
 to destroy theTJnion, and to raze this grand temple of liberty 
 the refuge of the oppressed, to its foundation. But their cause 
 was tried before the Infinite, and their FAILURK DECREED. 
 Under the blessing of God, our soldiers have demonstrated to 
 the world that our Union is not a rope of sand, that the Repub- 
 lican form of Government is not a failure ; that our Govern- 
 ment has strength to put down mighty rebellions, and that the 
 people are capable of governing themselves. All honor, then, 
 to our soldiers, who fought, with more than Spartan bravery, 
 the wicked forces of disunion, who saved the Republic and lib- 
 erated a race ! 
 
 On the third day of July, 1776, ninety-two years ago to-day, 
 the Continental Congress at Philadelphia was perfecting the 
 Declaration of Independence, the great Magna Charta of our 
 liberties, which was proclaimed to the world on the day follow- 
 ing. Five years ago to-day, at Gettysburg, the sons of those 
 revolutionary fathers, amid metallic hail of shot and shell, at the 
 point of the bayonet maintained the very principles of justice 
 and liberty that the pen of Jefferson had announced nearly a 
 century before, and again proclaimed them to the world. These 
 principles were tried in the fiery crucible of rebellion, and they 
 came forth with a renewed lustre, and never before were we so 
 free a people as to-day. 
 43
 
 674 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 The Declaration of Independence again triumphed. The 
 bitter cost of that triumph is attested by countless graves, scat- 
 tered all over our land, and by the bleeding hearts of unnum- 
 bered kindred. And while we weave the chaplet of flowers and 
 strew the graves before us, let us not forget those who are slum- 
 bering beneath the orange groves and the magnolia trees of the 
 South, nor those who were denied Christian burial, and whose 
 bones are bleaching beneath the Southern sky. Heroes all! 
 OUR COUNTRY'S GALLANT DEAD ! Let us cherish their memories 
 and treasure up their deeds ! Let us gather their ashes into the 
 urn of immortality, and write every name on the national roll 
 of honor ! Our country's soil gives them all sepulture. They 
 sleep beneath the stripes and stars, revered by a race freed from 
 bondage, and the liberty-loving masses of the whole world. 
 
 "Each soldier's name 
 
 Shall shine untarnished on the roll of Fame, 
 And stand the example of each distant age, 
 And add new lustre to the historic page." 
 
 The weary march, the lonely watch, the gloomy hospital, the 
 bloody field, and the horrible prison, all prove the devoted pat- 
 riotism and heroism of our soldiers. On many a missive sent 
 to friends, on many a musket was it engraved as the soldier's 
 motto, ^ Dulce estpro patria mori" and how many brave boys, 
 in the embrace of death, repeated that sentiment, " It is sweet 
 to die for our country ! " It is said the swan, when dying, utters 
 its sweetest notes. Thus, the Union soldier in his expiring 
 breath, utters the purest, noblest sentiment of exalted patriotism. 
 
 Ancient history regards the retreat of the ten thousand 
 Greeks under Xenophon as a great military success, but how 
 much greater was the advance of Sherman from Atlanta to the 
 Bea ! Ancient times can boast of many wonderful cavalry con- 
 flicts, but how much grander was the dashing exploit of Sheri- 
 dan in the Shenandoah, when he sent the enemy whirling 
 through the Valley! Ancient history looks upon the battje of 
 Salamis as a sublime naval achievement ; but when Farragut, 
 lashed to the topmast of his flagship, passed the guns of the 
 enemy, how much sublimer the achievement ! In ancient bat- 
 tles, no Minie rifle sent the missile of death, no rifled cannon 
 hurled the irresistible shot, no mortars, volcano-like, belched 
 forth the destructive shell, and no monster iron-clad lit up the 
 waters with its fiery breath. The great rebellion, the conflict in 
 which our heroes fell, was the sublimest contest the world ever 
 witnessed. The world never before saw such engines of war, 
 and, what is grander still, the world never saw so much iutelli-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 675 
 
 gence, so much culture, and so much refinement marshalled 
 together on the field of battle. The Union army contained 
 America's choicest spirits and noblest sons. 
 
 " Go, strangers, and tell at Lacedaemou that we died for oiir 
 country, and in obedience to her laws," was inscribed on the 
 rocks at Thermopylae, to commemorate the deeds of Leonidas 
 and his three hundred Spartans, who fell so bravely at that fatal 
 JM-S. Though the deeds of our three hundred thousand fallen 
 heroes may not be engraved on granite, yet they have reared 
 monuments to their memories more enduring than brass. They 
 have stamped their impress on the tablets of progress, and their 
 influence on the civilization of the nineteenth century. 
 
 The heroism of Leonidas was often surpassed by these brave 
 men. When a regiment of Michigan Cavalry was near Pitts- 
 burg Landing, in an ambuscade of rebels, a young lad was taken 
 prisoner. Said they to him, "Now, we have you ; if you shout 
 or raise any alarm, we will shoot you. Silence, till they come 
 here, and we will capture them." " Silence ! " said he, scorn- 
 fully, and, turning toward his unsuspecting comrades, he shouted 
 at the top of his voice, " BOYS, THE REBELS ARE HERE ! " and 
 quick as lightning a score of rebel bullets were buried in his 
 heart. " Better die than betray," was his motto. The alarm 
 was given, and his regiment was saved. He died! and a nobler, 
 braver patriot never jell. This is but one of the countless inci- 
 dents of lofty courage exercised, and self-sacrifice made by our 
 patriot dead. Words are incompetent to describe their heroic 
 virtues. Numbers are inadequate to estimate the value of their 
 gallant services, and the importance of their victories. How 
 weak and how insipid are our most expressive tributes to their 
 memory ! 
 
 As tempests and tornadoes in the physical world remove 
 malaria and purity the air, so, in the political world, does agita- 
 tion ventilate wrongs and lead to reform. Our country has 
 passed through the whirlwind of rebellion, her strength has been 
 tried, her patriotism tested, the cankering curse of slavery re- 
 moved, and she has made a half century's progress in the last 
 decade. " Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," union, and 
 country. To-day, as we assemble with the stripes and stars 
 floating over every inch of American soil, the republic safe, the 
 Union preserved, the nation free; let us remember the cost of 
 these blessings. The lives of three hundred thousand of Ame- 
 rica's noblest sons, and the limbs of as many more, paid the 
 price. Our country owes them a debt of gratitude that can 
 never be paid, and this is the only national debt that she can 
 not pay.
 
 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 In former times to be a 
 highest honor. But, now, 
 of Christian civilizati 
 greater honor. k 'The 
 clean age of Greece ; 
 
 
 
 s a 
 
 ' tlie Peri ' 
 A 
 
 for America 
 
 ready to 
 
 
 
 e the birds will 
 
 the homes made desolate , am maj ; bli the Union and 
 
 an kle Thegr^ idea of liberty 
 W as desperate. The nat.on's tet 
 sympathy did all in its power to rel .e%e i 
 andfchriitian Comm.ss.ons alienated nntold 
 women did their part nobly. 1 Ley t ted, 
 fered, that humanity, in.ghtrejmce. Wher 
 were bringing their j 
 
 
 
 American 
 ^^ 
 
 Eome 
 d f the 
 
 two sons A the
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. G77 
 
 of patriotism, as her own hands filled the knapsack and from her 
 heart gushed the earnest God-speed. Cheerfully did phe send 
 her sons forth, following them through the dangers and tempta- 
 tions of the camp, the battle-field and prison, with a mother's 
 agonizing prayer. In view of such patriotism, and such sacri- 
 iices, can we doubt that our flag shall forever wave in triumph ? 
 To-day, though the march is ended, the camp has di.vippeared, the 
 hospital is closed, the din of battle is hushed, and the prison pen 
 is empty, the same Christian mother brings her offering to 
 the altar of country, honoring the fallen soldier with her tears 
 of remembrance, and with woman's devotion, strewing his 
 grave with choicest flowers. And as each spring-time comes and 
 goes, as the flowers are fresh and fragrant in vernal beauty ; so 
 forever fresh and vernal be the memory of the brave boys, 
 who, in the hour of death, thought of mother and country, and, 
 from cold and dying lips, sent back the message " Tell my 
 mother, I die happy ! " " It is sweet, to die for country ! " 
 
 There is, in every human heart, a natural desire to be re- 
 membered. At the bloody battle of Jena, Napoleon saw a 
 faithful plume go down in his body-guard. He hurried to the 
 wounded soldier and asked him how he could minister to his 
 wants. The veteran of many battles, while his heart's blood 
 oozed from a mortal wound, requested in his expiring breath, 
 that his name might never be stricken from the muster-roll of 
 t!ie old body-guard, but at roll-call a sergeant might respond to 
 his name. " u He fell at Jena!" The soldier's request was 
 granted, and ever after when the muster-roll of the body-guard 
 was called, a sergeant responded, " He fell at Jena." 
 
 Thus, fellow-citizens, let not the names of our gallant dead be 
 stricken from the muster-roll of the Nation's body-guard, but a" 
 every roll-call let the grateful sergeant of memory, with un- 
 covered head, salute the flag and respond, They fell in ili'fjrea^ 
 conflict ! They fell at their post ! Martyrs to Freedo < / t > 
 whom all posterity and all ages shall be indebted! 
 
 * "All honor to the fallen brave! 
 
 "With lofty paeans greet ttie dead! 
 Let garlands wreathe each lowly grave 1 
 
 Let laurel crown each honored head! 
 'Mid slmt, and shell, and sabre stroke, 
 
 They bore our colors through the strife, 
 'Till stricken, 'add the battle smoke, 
 
 They died to save our country" 1 * life ! 
 
 Though nngry skies in blackness bent, 
 And shook the shrinking world in wrath ; 
 
 * Written for the occasion, by Mrs. J. C. PATTERSON.
 
 678 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Though lurid lightnings madly spent , 
 
 Their unchained fury in their path, 
 Through wilderness of woven pine, 
 
 Through slimy pool, and tangled hriar, 
 They marched in brave, unbroken line, 
 
 Or sunk beneath the clogging mire 1 
 
 O'er scorching rocks that cut their feet, 
 
 In hospital and prison-pen, 
 Some sank with hunger, thirst, and heat, 
 
 But died, no less like Patriot-men. 
 Though spices may not wrap our dead, 
 
 Nor lofty pyramid arise, 
 Where justice triumphed while they bled, 
 
 Their names breathe incense to the skies I 
 
 Dust may return to dust," but deep 
 
 Within the hearts of Freedom's sons, 
 Embalmed forever, Love shall keep 
 
 The memory of these faithful ones ! 
 And coining time shall swell our lays, 
 
 And weave new laurels for each head; 
 While grateful freemen shout the praise, . 
 
 And glory of COLUMBIA'S DEAD." 
 
 "With the conclusion of the address the procession re-formed 
 and marched to the Catholic Cemetery, where is buried Dennis 
 Cronin, a member of the 20th Infantry, whose grave was strewn 
 with flowers. The Chaplain then pronounced a benediction, and 
 the procession then returned to the city and disbanded. 
 
 AT COLDWATER, MICHIGAN. 
 
 A procession of over a mile in length formed at the Court 
 House Square at the appointed time, and, headed by the Cold- 
 water Brass Band, proceeded to the Cemetery, where the order 
 of exercises were: First, a dirge by the band, followed by a 
 touching prayer by Rev. Mr. Porter, after which the Quartette 
 Club, consisting of Misses Mason and Andrews, Messrs. Conkling 
 and Huffstadder, sang a beautiful and appropriate piece of 
 music. Then came the eloquent and instructive address by J. 
 H. McGrowan, which was followed with sweet and solemn an- 
 dante by the band. The next in order was the solemn exercise 
 of strewing the graves with flowers, Dr. Beech giving a brief 
 sketch of all whose history he could learn, and closing with some 
 eloquent remarks on the bravery and fidelity of all. After a 
 few remarks from Rev. J. W. Ray, the Quartette Club sang 
 that excellent piece of music entitled, " Wrap the Flag around 
 me, Boys," the exercises closing with a benediction by Rev. E. 
 Curtis.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 679 
 
 BEMAEK8 OF DE. J. H. BEECH. 
 
 FELLOW-SOLDIERS AND CITIZENS: It is not simply convenient 
 that we commence our mournful jet honorable and pleasant 
 duties here, but it is a fitting tribute to the first independent 
 military organization in the State which offered itself to the 
 " General Government " to redeem the stars and stripes from 
 the insolence of treason. 
 
 1. Capt. G. W. Yanpelt, Co. A, 1st Mich. Artillery, who 
 was killed whilst commanding his battery at the battle of 
 Chickamanga. This brave, cheerful, and zealous officer having 
 won, in an unusual degree, the affections of all who knew him, 
 and golden honors in every position which he was called upon 
 to fill, fell a costly offering for the perpetuity of the Union. 2. 
 Peter Budawa, also 1st Michigan Artillery. He shared dangers 
 with the gallant Captain Vanpelt, let him share in our feeble 
 tribute of respect. 3. Luther S. Millard, 1st Mich. Infantry, 
 killed in, that memorable struggle against greatly superior force, 
 at Gaines Mills, Ya., July 22J 1862. 4. Here lies Captain B. 
 F. Knappen, Co. B, 44th 111. Vol. Infantry, and commanding 
 officer of that regiment. This brave young officer, mortally 
 stricken at the inhospitable Kenosaw Mountain, was a most 
 honorable member of the community and a true patriot. He 
 expired on the 4th day of July a fitting day of glory for a sol- 
 dier's spirit to be set at liberty. Himself and his brother, Albert 
 
 5. Knappen, Co. C, llth Mich. Infantry, who died at Louisville, 
 Ky., and whose remains lie by his side, to share in our evidences 
 of esteem, were sons whom a parent may feel proud to embalm 
 in our country's history. 5. Captain J. L. Hackstaff, llth Mich. 
 Infantry. How well might this gifted member of a most pat- 
 riotic profession have claimed that the pen and the press were 
 the weapons of his warfare. But his was a practical patriotism ; 
 seeing that the rebellion could not be quelled by reasoning, his 
 " good right arm " seized the sword for the wager offeree. Let 
 the sweet incense of flowers and of praise arise to his memory. 
 
 6. As we approach the resting-place of the earthly remains of 
 Colonel Henry C. Gilbert, of the 19th Michigan Volunteers, I 
 am more than ever impressed with the feeling that my words 
 cannot do justice to the sentiments of our hearts. Endowed 
 with energy and industry by far too exhausting for any human 
 organism, he had before the irruption of the rebellion so im- 
 paired his health that he conside'red himself unfit for military 
 duties. When, however, it became apparent that the whole 
 patriotic force of the country might be required to subdue our 
 malignant foe, he could no longer yield to the claims of aged
 
 C80 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 and enfeebled parents, nor his own cherished household, but left 
 all, to be numbered with that "300,000 more." His quick per- 
 ceptions enabled him hastily to transform the star of the forum 
 to a leader of battles; but before time and experience had ripen- 
 ed the enthusiasm of his nature, he was immolated upon the altar 
 of Liberty. "Whilst leading his regiment in a desperate charge 
 upon a rebel stronghold atResaca, in the State of Georgia, May 
 15, 1864, he received the fatal wound of which he died at Chat- 
 tanooga, Tenn., May 24, 1864, exhibiting at the last characteris- 
 tic mental vigor and activity. As a friend he was devoted and 
 firm, but never flattered ; as a citizen his influence was always 
 on the side of order and enlightened liberality. 
 
 In domestic relations his kindness of heart smoothed away 
 what might have seemed asperities in his ardent nature. Let 
 bright flowers shine upon his resting-place, and vesper-stirred 
 evergreens murmur his praise. 7. Clark W. Criter, Co. D, 1st 
 Mich Artillery. 8. Edwin F. Moore, Battery G, 1st Mich. Ar- 
 tillery. War works its unrelenting mischief by privations, ex- 
 haustion and disease, with no less certainty than by its mangled 
 limbs and carnage. The worthy boy w r hose remains lie beneath 
 this stone performed the duties assigned to him at the battle of 
 Rogersville, Ky., on the 29th of August, 1862, with bravery 
 and alacrity beyond his endurance ; came home soon after by 
 the advice and assistance of an officer who knew him well j but 
 feeling that he could rot remain there whilst his comrades were 
 facing dangers, started for the army against the remonstrances 
 of his friends, still suffering unmistakable symptoms of inflam- 
 mation of the brain. He was soon returned, a sad evidence of 
 the fatal tendencies of a disease which he had striven to conceal 
 and determined to disregard. Let sweet flowers cover the body 
 which briefly outlived the noble mind that once inspired it. 9. 
 Charles H. Robinson, llth Mich. Cavalry, died at Lexington, 
 Ky. I will here mention the name of a comrade of this soldier 
 whose mortal remains are buried at Lexington, Ky., but whose 
 grave we are assured by letter will to-day be decorated with 
 floral wreaths woven by the hands of strangers I refer to Smith 
 Tibbits,also of the llth Mich. Cavalry. 10 and 12. J. S. Conk- 
 ling, 44th 111. ; Fred. Cutler, llth Mich. Volunteers, whose 
 homes were but a few rods from here, have answered their last 
 " roll-call," and their memories should be precious to every citi- 
 zen and soldier. 11. Jeremiah Yan Kleek Cudner, Battery A, 
 1st Mich. Artillery. A native of Duchess County, New York. 
 He was a noble boy, brave and generous to a fault. 13. Solo- 
 mon Holbeu, Battery D, 1st Mich. Artillery, died at Murfrees- 
 boro, Teen. Flowers distributed by his sister. 14. David R.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 681 
 
 Leonard, Co. I, 49th Ohio Veteran Volunteers. 15. Charles 
 Conrad, 9th Mich. Volunteers. Captain Mansfield scatters 
 flowers upon his grave. 16. Westlev Preston, Co. M. llth 
 Mich. Cavalry. 17. George Myers. A veteran of the German 
 army, was prompt to join the army of his adopted country, al- 
 though 50 years old. 18. Byron E.' Bates, Co. C, 8th New York 
 Heavy Artillery, died in Salisbury* Prison, N. C., January 7, 
 1865, a victim of one of the most horrid peculiarities of this 
 unprecedented outbreak of treason. 19. Lieut.-Col. J. S. 
 Hodges, 44th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, whose brave heart 
 encountered the dangers of nine different battles. How feeble 
 will be our best attempts to do him honor. By his side lie the 
 remains of his brother, George H. Hodges, Co. B, 20th 111. 
 Infantry, who, as the representative of a most noble regiment, 
 deserves additional honors. 20. Captain Ebenezer Butterworth, 
 Co. C, 1st Mich. Infantry, mortally wounded at the first battle 
 of Bull Run, Va., July 21st, 1861. This gifted officer died at 
 Charlottesville, Va. One of the brightest stars in the galaxy of 
 heroes. Possessing remarkable versatility and vivacity, the 
 noble Captain inspired his sprightly zouaves with patriotic devo- 
 tion, and led them with the foremost to the " field of honor." 
 Our tribute to his manly virtues and heroism may be bestowed 
 upon this tablet to his memory, while his dust sanctifies the soil 
 which he would restore to loyalty, and his spirit abides with the 
 assembly whom the God of battles has called to Himself. 21. 
 Lieut. J. Billingsly, Co. I, 17th Mich. Infantry, a joung lawyer 
 of excellent and amiable qualities, proved himself no less meri- 
 torious as a soldier, and sealed his devotion to his country with 
 his blood, upon the bloody field of Knoxville, Tenn. 22. John 
 E. Kenyon, 9th Mich. Infantry. Cut down by disease in hos- 
 pital, before he had opportunity to demonstrate his sterling 
 qualities. 
 
 23. Colonel Baldwin J. Cross wait, 44th Indiana Volunteer 
 Infantry with bitter knowledge of the trials of a soldier's life, 
 having served in our war with Mexico he was among the 
 first, to again number himself with the vindicators of our 
 National honor, and among the earliest victims of rapacious 
 disease, or, as has been believed, of murderous poisoning by a 
 rebel cook. Entering the service as a Captain he was soon 
 promoted to Lieutenant-Colonelcy, and to Colonel his last 
 commission reaching hisf-iniily at'rer his death, which occurred 
 in February, 1862. Flowers ; trewn by one of his soldiers. 
 24. Captain Silas Parker, Sergeant Chester Craft, Edwin H. 
 Benton, Lucius L. Clark, Julius Hubbard, Joseph Newman, 
 Luther A. Russel Officers and soldiers of the 44th 111. Infantry,
 
 682 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 killed at the battle of Stone River, in the eventful autumn 
 of 1863. If Branch County had no other names than these in- 
 scribed on the "roll of fame," she would deserve honorable 
 place in our country's history. The brave Captain Parker and 
 six such noble boys in one battle ! Oh my country ! ! what a 
 costly boon ! ! ! Oh war ! Thou relentless Demon, to wring at 
 a single grip the very heart* centre from seven families in one 
 poor county. Well might the hand of affection come " like the 
 Marys, to the sepulchre early in the morning," to pay the tribute 
 of love. Let there be no stint to our peaceful offering. 25. 
 Spencer Mitchel Cannot give his regiment, but knew him to 
 be a worthy young man and must have been a brave and good 
 soldier. 26. John Sterling, 24th Mich. Volunteers, who died 
 at Culpepper Court House, Ya., buried in Girard. Richard 
 Chamberlain, George Aiken, Charles Wainer, Thomas Jefferson 
 
 Nichols, Joseph Newton, Tuttle, Burleson, Ball, 
 
 whose graves we have not been able to find, deserve honorable 
 mention, for though their bodies may moulder like common 
 earth, their names are sacred at all times. We strew flowers on 
 both sides of the main alley in honor of their names. What 
 chaplet shall crown, and whose hand shall weave a garland to 
 decorate the grave of those who, far from all that they held 
 dear upon earth, not amid the dangers of the battle-field, but in 
 the midst of the ten-fold greater horrors of the hospital or prison 
 or, crushed in spirit by the ennui of an inactive camp, 
 opened the long-wished-for letter to read of almost shoeless 
 children an almost breadless house an almost heartless 
 neighborhood an almost soulless landlord and an almost 
 comfortless wife or parent then let the missive fall from the 
 nerveless hand, the eye shrink in its fleshless socket, and the 
 wearied soul depart from the famished body seeming to perish 
 a useless and unprofitable sacrifice, wounded far away in the 
 house of their friends, buried in a hasty and solitary grave, never 
 to be recovered or recognized from an enemy. I have seen 
 death hailed with joy and high appreciation of glory on the 
 bloody field, where blue "Minie" and "Enfield" sang a thou- 
 sand requiems, and each screaming bomb announced the de- 
 parture of scores of glorified souls, but these had no sadness 
 compared with the death of the fever-blanched or homesick 
 soldier. The climax of agony cannot be reached by ghastly 
 wounds, but doubly culminates in heart-stricken woe. For such 
 we should drop tears of sj'inpathy which the Almighty may 
 weave in a bow of bitter beauty to span the heavens and encir- 
 cle them all.
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 683 
 
 AT ADRIAN, MICHIGAN. 
 
 Arrived at the cemetery, the procession halted near the 
 grave of Captain Rodgers. Captain J. H. Feo, Commandant 
 of the Post, then briefly stated the duty which had called his 
 comrades together, and announced as tirst in the order of exer- 
 cises the singing by the choir of the tune, " America," request- 
 ing all to join. The grand old tune was beautifully rendered 
 by Mc-srs. Bliss, Moses Rice and Russell, and Mrs. Turner, 
 Miss Mattie Graves and Mrs. A. L. Bliss. This was followed 
 by a brief and impressive prayer by Captain Hadley, after 
 which followed a quartette, " Let me die with my face to the 
 foe," sung by Messrs. Russell, Rice and Bliss, and Mrs. Turner. 
 It was composed by James G. Clark, was a most appropriate 
 selection, and was sung with good taste and feeling. Following 
 this was 
 
 THE ORATION. 
 
 Captain C. R. Miller had been selected as the orator. He 
 spoke as follows : 
 
 COM UA in-:* AND FRIENDS '. We meet to-day beneath the 
 shadows of this still home of the dead for no formal parade, to 
 go through with no set forms of address or ceremony, but to 
 pay a loving tribute to the memory of men whom we learned 
 to know on fields not smiling with flowers or grain, but where, 
 instead of the song of birds, was heard the thunder of hostile 
 cannon and the groans of stricken men; where, instead of the 
 harvester with his sheaves of grain, the reaper was Death, and 
 his sheaves the dead bodies of men. These were onr comrades 
 in the march, in bivouac, in camp, in hospital, in battle. These 
 went forth with us in the day of our country's peril, to meet 
 the common foe, but with us they came not back. Victors over 
 treason and their country's enemies vanquished only by death. 
 We learned to know them better in the brief months of com- 
 mon (hinger and common suffering, than we know men in peace- 
 ful days at home in scores of uneventful years. The ties of 
 blood are strong among kindred, but the tie among comrades, 
 whose blood has been shed in the same great cause, is as strong, 
 and a much nobler bond. In tender memory and in reverential 
 honor of our dead comrades do we now stand by their graves. 
 I can here mention but few of the long roll of brave men who 
 went forth from this community to battle, and came not back, 
 or came with hands crossed over pulseless hearts : 
 
 WOODBTJKY Dead on the field of honor. Dead where the 
 hosts of Lee were at last, after seven dreadful days, shattered 
 repulsed on the bloody field of Malvern. SMITH .Dead on
 
 684 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 the field of honor. Dead amid the valleys and the mountains 
 of Tennessee. COMSTOCK Dead on the field of honor. Dead 
 within the walls of beleaguered Knoxville. HOYT Dead, 
 doing his duty skilfully and well within the walls of the crowded 
 hospital. LADD Dead on the field of honor, where Sherman 
 marched down to the sea VRKELAND Dead on the field of 
 honor. Dead in the Wilderness. And the heroes of that un- 
 titled host, whose names emblazon no historic page, who wore 
 no insignia of rank, those who carried the musket, where are 
 they ? KAMSDKLL Dead. Maimed and torn by rebel shot, 
 dead at last in his father's house, and in the arms of his mother 
 who bore him. HORTON, BAKER, MOORE Dead. In the bed of 
 the mighty Father of Waters they sleep. WHEELKR Dead ; dead 
 of starvation and disease in the rebel prison at Cahawba. I can- 
 not further call the roll (though their names come to my lips in 
 companies) of the rank and file of this Grand Army, who, for no 
 gain, no hope of renown, met hunger, cold, sickness, wounds, cap- 
 tivity and deatk. In nameless graves, wrapped in their torn and 
 bloody blankets, on hill-sides, in ravines, in trenches, Vy the road- 
 side, scattered from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, sleep those 
 who, on the day of its deadly peril, saved this nation, and all you 
 love and hope for, from ruin and desolation. You, oh men of 
 Lenawee, bade these men go forth to battle and to death. They 
 went in your stead. They went to war that, you might stay at 
 home in peace. No more truly died Jesus of Nazareth for man 
 than these died for you and yours. Have you paid the debt you 
 owe them f For their wounds, their homes made desolate, their 
 lives you cannot pay ; these are lying on their country's altar, 
 priceless sacrifices to freedom and to God. But one thing you 
 might have done a little, little thing, to show that you remem- 
 ber the sacrifices these men made for you. You might have 
 raised some stone, somewhere, to show that you at least do not 
 wish to forget the names of your dead soldiers. Have you done 
 tin's ? Tell me where stands the lofty shaft, adorned with statues 
 and graven deep with the names of these dead heroes. Tell me 
 where stands the simplest slab to keep their names from 
 oblivion. There is none. It is a bitter shame, a disgrace that 
 knows no equivalent in the vocabulary of shameful things, that 
 this should be so. You intend to build a monument, say you ? 
 Three years have come and gone since the falling banners of 
 the rebellion trailed in the dust and we came home, but the 
 monument to our dead brothers in arms, where is it? There is 
 not yet dug the trench to lay the first foundation-stone of the 
 monument for the dead soldiers of Lenawee county. 
 
 We have charity to believe this is the fault not so much of
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 685 
 
 your hearts as of your memories, but even then we feel that for- 
 getfulness of these, our dead, is black ingratitude. In the name 
 of the living members of that Grand Army, I demand that its 
 dead be not forgotten. We ask of the people of this commu- 
 nity that the remains of our noble men be not treated like dead 
 dogs, only covered in earth from the sight of men, and the spot 
 where they lie and their names alike forgotten. We ask that 
 the people of this county shall somewhere rear a fitting memo- 
 rial, graven with the names of our dead comrades and conse- 
 crated to their memories. We should not forget their names, 
 but we wish that, after us, our children and our children's chil- 
 dren may look on this monument, and there read the names and 
 learn to reverence the memories of the men who fell by their 
 fathers' sides in the great war for the preservation of the Union. 
 We have hoped that our neighbors and friends would willingly, 
 nay, eagerly, rear this monument, but if it shall prove that in 
 this we are mistaken, then we, the living soldiers, will see to it 
 that there is as fair a memorial reared to our dead comrades as 
 our slender purses and thinned ranks can raise. Not in anger, 
 not in reproach, do I say these things, but in sorrow, grief, and 
 shame. Most justly is the memory of our Revolutionary fathers 
 held sacred by us all. Are these, our brothers, less worthy of 
 remembrance ? If braving death in the storm of battle for a 
 just cause is a criterion, then are these men more worthy than 
 they. For, sum every battle of the Revolution into one despe- 
 rate fight, and I will name you a score of battles of this rebel- 
 lion, to which the concentrated Revolutionary fight would be 
 as the shower of spring is to the hurricane. The true measure 
 of men's patriotic self-sacrifice is found, not so much in the dan- 
 ger they brave, as in what they leave and lose at home when 
 they go to battle. The Russian serf, when he is driven from his 
 miserable hut to do battle in the armies of the Czar, loses not 
 much, but gains rather in the way of shelter, comfort and care. 
 The negro slave, who fought under the national standard in this 
 rebellion, left chains, stripes, serfdom on the old plantation, and 
 found freedom, hope, enlightenment for himself and his family 
 beneath the starry flag. It was no sacrifice for him to leave his 
 hell of servitude and degradation, but it was a boon, longed for, 
 hoped for, praved for all his days this chance to win his man- 
 hood by the cfieap peril of his miserable life. But it was a dif- 
 ferent task for the volunteer who went to the nation's rescue 
 from this community. He left sacrifices at home more than serf 
 or slave ever dreamed of in their captivity. He left a home filled 
 with beauty, ease, comfort, intelligence, freedom and friends. His 
 future was full of all that peace, love, and plenty could bring.
 
 686 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Judging from this stand-point, no class of men were ever ani- 
 mated by a higher and more patriotic devotion than the volun- 
 teers from this beautiful city, and from this, the garden county 
 of Michigan. Let their memory be honored accordingly. 
 
 The simple fact that our volunteers left such homes and 
 hopes as these, to fight, suffer, die, for the country's honor and 
 preservation is, in itself a eulogy npon our national institutions, 
 surpassing all that can be said by politicians or statesmen to the 
 end of time. The man who spends his breath talking lor his 
 country's welfare and honor does well, but he that spends his 
 heart's blood fighting for it, when there is sore need, does better. 
 As blood is more precious than words, as life is more costly than 
 sweat, so much dearer to this nation than the sounding praise 
 of the orator should be the voiceless eulogy upon her institutions 
 that comes from the silent graves of our dead volunteers. And 
 if the genius of American liberty wished to prove to all the 
 world that the American government is not only the best, but 
 the best loved on earth, she has but to point in silence to the 
 graves of 300,000 volunteers who died that the nation might 
 five. History makes some men : these men made history. They 
 have done more. They have made a future of progress and of 
 glory possible, nay sure, for this great Eepublic. In doing this 
 they have done the crowning work of all time, for they have 
 proved the strength of a people's government and the progress 
 of righteousness, of freedom, forevermore. Comrades of the 
 Grand Army! We have met here to-day with our friends to 
 decorate with flowers the graves of our brothers, who, having 
 met soldiers' deaths as soldiers should, now answer to the roll- 
 call above. Many of them sleep in their unknown graves, caved 
 for by no loving friends, but over these, kind nature and the 
 sweet influences of spring, have caused the grass to grow with 
 deeper verdure, and the nowers to bloom in richer colors and 
 more generous profusion. In strewing flowers on these graves 
 we but follow humbly in the path already marked by nature's 
 own hand. Then strew your flowers on the resting-places of the 
 heroic dead, and with each flower dropped on a soldier's grave, 
 send up a blessing for his deeds, and a prayer to the soldier's 
 God for his hereafter. 
 
 Then followed the singing by Messrs. Bliss and Turner and 
 Miss Graves and Mrs. Turner of a quartette " The Death Knell 
 is Tolling." The decoration of the graves was conducted as fol- 
 lows : The members .of the Grand Army, forming, as near as 
 possible, a circle round the grave to be decorated, at an order 
 from the Commandant uncovered. Major Graves then an- 
 nounced the name of the comrade sleeping below. The color
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 687 
 
 bearer, attended by comrades bearing wreaths and bouquets, 
 advanced to the grave, the floral ornaments were deposited, 
 colors dipped, the order was given " Cover," and the procession 
 moved on. 
 
 AT MONROE, MICHIGAN. 
 
 The decoration was carried into effect by a procession of ex- 
 soldiers and civilians, headed by a band and attended by a large 
 concourse of ladies at Woodland Cemetery. After religious 
 exercises by the various clergymen of the city, Judse I. P. 
 Christia:ify delivered an excellent oration, which was followed 
 by vocal and instrumental music, while the ladies were decorat- 
 ing the graves of the heroic dead. 
 
 At Hillsdale the soldiers and citizens united in the ceremony 
 of visiting the cemeteries. The procession was formed at the 
 Court House at 9 A. M., and led by the colors and the " Silver 
 Band," proceeded to the College, where they were joined by the 
 faculty, students, and citizens, and marched to Oak Grove 
 Cemetery. The graves of the soldiers were all visited, and 
 flowers strewn in profusion upon them. The procession then 
 formed a hollow square around the burial-grounds of the de- 
 <"."i -i-d soldiers, and joined in singing "America." Prayer was 
 offered by Prof. W hippie, and the band then played " The 
 Star Sp uigled Banner," in which all joined. The " Old Cerne- 
 was also visited. 
 
 At llomeo a procession was formed at the liberty pole (on 
 which was displayed the national flag at half-mast) under the 
 command of Col. Wm. Wilkinson, who was assisted by Capt. 
 Thompson and Lieut. Selfridge. The procession, headed by the 
 bi-a-s band, marched to the cemetery, at the entrance to which 
 was an arch of evergreens, with a suitable inscription. At the 
 head of each of the graves of these fallen heroes was a cross of 
 evergreens tastefully decorated, on which was inscribed the 
 name of the soldier whose ashes reposed beneath, and last was 
 the finely-decorated but empty tomb erected in commemoration 
 of those fallen heroes who were buried upon the battle-field. 
 The long procession filed past each of these tombs, depositing 
 upon them their offerings of flowers as tliey passed. This com- 
 pleted, an appropriate prayer was offered by Rev. P. R. Hurd, 
 and brief, solemn, and impressive addresses were made by Col. 
 Wilkinson, and Rev. Messrs. Hurd, Bigelow, Deering, and 
 Wooden, when the ceremonies were closed with the benediction. 
 
 AT NASHVILLE, TENN. 
 
 Decorations were made at the National Cemetery, on the Gal- 
 latin Pike, six miles from Nashville, by the citizens of that place,
 
 688 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 assisted by delegations from Gallatin and the vicinity. Prayer 
 was said by Rev. "W. Bennett, a poem, by Mrs. Judge Mills, was 
 pronounced by one of the young ladies who were present to 
 strew flowers upon the graves of the soldiers, and the following 
 oration was delivered by Colonel W. A. Prosser : 
 
 He said, we are assembled this day for the purpose of strew- 
 ing with flowers, or otherwise decorating, the graves of our com- 
 rades those who made their breasts a barricade between the coun- 
 try and its foes. Their soldier-lives were the reveille of freedom 
 to a race in chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellion's ty- 
 ranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigi- 
 lance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation 
 can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute 
 to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton feet tread 
 rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the 
 coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let 
 no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to 
 the present or to coming generations that we have forgotten, as 
 a people, the cost of a free and undivided republic. If other 
 eyes grow dull, and other hands slack, and other hearts grow 
 cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the 
 light and warmth of life remain to us. Let us, then, at the time 
 appointed, gather around their sacred remains and garland the 
 passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of 
 spring-time ; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved 
 from dishonor; let us, in their solemn presence, renew our pledges 
 to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred 
 charge upon a nation's gratitude the soldiers' and sailors' widow 
 and orphan. 
 
 It is not only right and proper, but it is peculiarly n'tting 
 and appropriate, that we should weave a chaplet of roses for the 
 last resting-place of those who went forth with us but a few years 
 ago in all the pride and glow of manhood; but who laid down 
 youth and hope and life itself, and whose gentle souls went out 
 in the smoke of battle, that the principles of freedom and good 
 government might be extended and perpetuated. The garlands 
 we strew upon the graces of the dead soldiers of this cemetery 
 are not only a tribute of respect to them, but to all those who 
 gave up their lives in the defence of their country, whether they 
 sleep in the Xorth, the South, the East, or the \Vest. AVe con- 
 secrate this day and these ceremonies not only to the memory of 
 the sixteen thousand warriors who rest within the limits of this 
 burying-ground, but also to the memory of the seventy -five thou- 
 sand soldiers who were born under the glittering stars of the 
 frosty North, but who now sleep their last sleep within the lira-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 689 
 
 its of the State of Tennessee. We consecrate this day and these 
 ceremonies not only to these, but to the three hundred thousand 
 men of every race, color, and condition in life, who loved not 
 their lives unto the death, but freely gave them up that their 
 country might live. We consecrate this day and these ceremo- 
 nies to the memory of Wadsworth and Kearney, of Reno and of 
 Lytle and Harker, of Siel, the McCooks, and the gentle McPher- 
 son, of each and all of that ga_jnt host, to whom life wa^> once 
 as sweet and its hopes and enjoyments as precious as to ourselves, 
 but who are now filling a soldier's grave. Their names are im- 
 mortal, and their deeds are written with a pen of iron and the 
 point of a diamond in the nation's history, while the grace and 
 beauty of their lives and characters, and the sublimity of their 
 deaths, will be an honor to humanity in all succeeding ages of 
 the world. We this day pay the tribute of our esteem and ad- 
 miration to the silver-tongued Baker, whose eloquence has 
 charmed multitudes upon multitudes from the Atlantic to the 
 far-off shores of the Pacific, whose voice and heart and hands 
 were at all times devoted to the highest and best interests of hu- 
 manity, and who at last laid down his life foi the preservation 
 of the country he loved so well. We cannot forget, if we would, 
 the youthful heroism of Dahlgren. or the untiring energy of 
 Lyon, of the West, or the brave and modest Gaische, of our own 
 Army of the Cumberland, with hosts of others whose names are 
 inscribed high upon the roll of honor, but whose highest ambi- 
 tion it was to discharge honestly and faithfully the duties they 
 owed to their country. 
 
 More than all, we this day crown with a wreath of immortal 
 freshness and fragrance the kingly sepulchre which contains all 
 that could die of him who was the last and greatest sacrifice his 
 country could offer on the altar of patriotism, and who made 
 the name of Abraham Lincoln a precious jewel in the casket of 
 treasures bequeathed to a feeble and frail mortality. We call 
 up to our remembrance the sad lace of the man whose great 
 heart was able and willing to comprehend all of the deepest 
 distresses of his country, and whose sacrifices and sufferings in 
 the cause of humanity were second only to those of the Son of 
 God himself. We look in vain through all human story for a 
 parallel for that marvel of faith and patience, and we recognize 
 the hand of Providence in furnishing us with a leader who could, 
 " with charity for all and malice toward none," guide and direct 
 a nation successfully through the labyrinth of difficulties and 
 dangers attendant upon a civil war, of unexpected and unex- 
 ampled magnitude. But, as we turn aside from the busy scenes 
 and pursuits of life, to perform these reverential ceremonies, we 
 44
 
 690 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 not only pay the tribute of our respect and admiration to the 
 memory of the fallen brave who were once our comrades, but 
 we also honor the memory of all those who, in any age of the 
 world, have devoted themselves to the cause of republicanism, 
 to human liberty, progress, or justice. 
 
 We this day honor the names and deeds of the Fathers of 
 the Republic, who laid the foundations of the temple of free- 
 dom in the wilds of America. The war of the rebellion but 
 concluded the work which they commenced, and the principles 
 of liberty and equal rights to all men have been made the 
 ruling and cardinal principles of government throughout the 
 entire territory over which floats the stars and stripes. We ofier 
 up the incense of our Admiration at the shrine of Hampden and 
 Sidney, of England; of William Tell, of Switzerland ; of Kosci- 
 usko, of Poland of all the heroes and champions of liberty, 
 whether known or unknown, throughout the world. Their cause 
 is our cause ; we participate with them in their shouts of victory, 
 and we share with them the disasters of defeat. The cause for 
 which they labored is that for which our comrades drew the 
 sword, and for which they thought it happiness to die. The 
 Spartan mother who received her son upon his shield ; Leonidas, 
 with his three hundred men, and all the long line of the friends 
 of liberty, from their day to our own, were animated by the same 
 spirit and drank their inspiration from the same fountain of un- 
 dying patriotism. These are the men who have been fighting 
 the battles of human freedom and constitutional liberty, from 
 their earliest inception down to the present time. Three hun- 
 dred years ago, when the civilized world lay at the feet of roy- 
 alty, and no rights were recognized but the despotic rights of 
 kings, the burghers of Holland took up the cause afresh, and, 
 conscious of its justice and strong in their sense of right, they 
 organized resistance to the oppressive tyranny which then held 
 in complete subjection the most enlightened nations of the earth. 
 Under the blighting influences of the dark ages civil and reli- 
 gious liberty had alike disappeared, until these men undertook 
 to restore both the one and the other. Respectfully asking for 
 a redress of their grievances in an humble petition, they were 
 spurned in contempt from the presence of arbitrary power with 
 the scornful words, " What do these beggars want ? What would 
 they have ?" They were the wealthy merchants and citizens of 
 Amsterdam, whose industry and genius were known and recog- 
 nized throughout the world, whose commerce had enriched their 
 own as well as other countries of Europe, and whose opinions 
 and requests should have commanded the respect of the most 
 powerful monarch that ever existed. Knowing their rights and
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS GRAVES. 
 
 daring to mainthin them, they were not the men tamely to submit 
 to the insults of royalty or the exercise of despotic authority. De- 
 nounced as beggars, they were proud of the epithet, and inscribed 
 upon their banners, as their choicest legend, the words, " Long 
 live the beggars ! ! ' For seventy-five years they waged the un- 
 equal contest, without the aid of the ordinary elements of power 
 or the assistance of kings; but relying upon the justice of their 
 cause and the support of that Power which ever protects and as- 
 sists the cause of right and truth, they pressed forward to the ac- 
 complishment of their noble purposes, and through victoiy and 
 defeat, in sunshine and in storm, on the land and on the sea, above 
 the roar of cannon and the rattle of musketry, the cry still went 
 up of " Long live the beggars !" Above the smoking ruins of 
 two thousand towns and cities, amidst the shouts of the victors 
 or the groans of the vanquished, amid the heat and dust of 
 battle, the cry of " Long live the beggars !*' went up to heaven, 
 until the Lord of Hosts gave the victory to their persevering arms, 
 and the foundations of constitutional liberty and of equal rights 
 to all men were laid, broad and deep, by the labors, toils and 
 sacrifices of more than three generations of freemen. From that 
 hour until the present, that cause has been growing and prosper- 
 ing, marching forward from one triumphant contest to another, 
 until the entire civilized world recognizes the principles for which 
 those early pioneers of liberty devoted years of sorrow, and for 
 which they were willing to die. The principles of free thought, 
 free speech, free labor, and a free press are everywhere known 
 and acknowledged as the avenues to the greatest good of the 
 greatest number of the human family. The genius of free labor 
 enters the hovel of poverty and says to its inmates, "Come up 
 higher." The genius of tree labor nerved the heart and strength- 
 ened the arm of Abraham Lincoln, smd four millions of people 
 were lifted out of the darkness and oppression of slavery into 
 the sunlight of freedom, progress and intelligence, and were in- 
 vested with all the rights and privileges of American citizen- 
 ship. 
 
 The genius of free labor is the soul of all the triumphs of In- 
 dustry and art, of the sciences, of invention, of literature, philos- 
 ophy, poetry, and song, which have made the nineteenth cen- 
 tury illustrious among the ages. The genius of free labor has 
 filled our towns and cities with an industrious and enterprising 
 population ; it has dotted the earth with schools and churches, 
 cob webbed the sea and air with the telegraph ; it has spanned 
 the earth with railroads, and bridged the ocean with ships. The 
 genius of free labor first planted the Tree of Liberty, watched 
 over the slowness of its early growth, nourished it into life and
 
 692 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 vigor, beauty and strength, with the blood of unnumbered brave 
 and gallant men, including my comrades, until to-day millions 
 upon millions delight in the shadow of its branches and the 
 richness of its fruit. The genius of free labor is the soul of all 
 the battles which have been fought in modern times. The war 
 of the Revolution gave to the principles and the children of free 
 labor a home on the shores, and amongst the mountains and the 
 prairies of the New World ; and millions of freemen find room 
 for their energies, and a reward for their enterprise and industry, 
 in the* beautiful landscapes that stretch from the Atlantic to the 
 Pacific Ocean, where but a short time ago were only the wild 
 beasts of the forest, or shapes in human form more savage still. 
 The war of 1812 gave the ocean to freemen, and the white sails 
 of commerce were wafted into every sea on the habitable globe, 
 bearing to the breeze the motto of free trade and sailors 1 rights 
 The Mexican war added millions of square miles to the area of free 
 labor, and California sprang into existence an empire of herself, 
 complete and perfect in all her appointments, like Pallas when 
 she sprang from the brain of Jove, and more beautiful than 
 Venus when she rose from the sea, the most glorious illustration of 
 the power and genuis of free labor to be found under the sun. 
 There men of every race and nation, color and complexion, en- 
 joy the equal protection and benefit of the law. The State has 
 grown rich and prosperous because her government is just, and 
 the commerce of the world has been enriched by the hidden 
 wealth of her territory, developed by the agency of free labor. 
 The war of the rebellion was begun in the interest of slavery, 
 but it terminated in the interest of freedom ; and all of that vast 
 territory extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from 
 the lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, has been consecrated to the use 
 and service of freedom forever more. If we were placed upon 
 one of the highest of our mountain tops, and were to see passing 
 before us in one grand, solemn and awful procession, all the 
 great, the wise, and the good of every age and clime, their kings 
 and priests, their poets and philosophers, their heroes, warriors, 
 and statesmen, all those whose names are distinguished in the 
 arts of peace or the stategy of war, in genius, literature, or 
 statesmanship, and we were to ask them one by one, as they 
 passed us in this grand procession, what is the greatest boon 
 which could be conferred on mankind, they would tell us with 
 one unanimous heart and voice and soul, in tones as clear as the 
 echoes of an Alpine horn, that constitutional liberty and free 
 labor were the greatest benefits which could be conferred upon the 
 human family. They would tell us that the right to worship 
 God according to the" dictates of our own conscience, the right
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 693 
 
 to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the right of every 
 man to enjoy the fruits of his own labor, to reap the rewards due 
 to his own energy, were the greatest blessings that could be con- 
 ferred upon the human race. These are the principles for 
 which our comrades labored, fought, and suffered, and for which 
 they left the comforts and pleasures of home, endured all the 
 hardships aud privations incident to a soldier's career, and for 
 which they were willing to sleep in bloody garments until the 
 morning of the resurrection, that it might be made an everlast- 
 ing success. Our memories to-day are full of the scenes of 1861,. 
 when a nation which had grown rich and great in all the pros- 
 perous arts and blessings of peace, clothed itself in the stern 
 panoply of dreadful war, that the principles of free government 
 might be madeperpetual, and might be preserved to all future 
 generations. We remember the hundreds of thousands of men 
 who went forth to battle full of manly vigor, health, and energy, 
 not for military glory or renown, nor for the gratification of any 
 feelings of malice or revenge, but that the last experiment of 
 freedom might be made an assured success. Before us pass in 
 solemn procession three hundred thousand disembodied spirits, 
 whose silence is more eloquent than all the words that were ever 
 uttered by the lips of the most gifted of mortals. Not one of all 
 that army who sleeps in the most sequestered spot of the sunny 
 South, who was not once the pride of a household, and whose 
 vacant chair is still a perpetual reminder of the sacrifices made 
 by the nation to secure its existence. No one of that grand 
 army of fallen soldiers, buried though he be in the most lonely 
 valley or unknown spot of the country he died to save, but there 
 are fairy hands to ring his knell, and fairy forms to sing his 
 dirge in every sighing breeze, that lingers in sad sweetness over 
 the mortal remains ol one who died, not for the glittering bau- 
 ble of earthly glory, but, dying for his country, won an immor- 
 tality of fame. His grave may be amongst those who, seeking 
 his destruction and rejoicing in his death, were unable to com- 
 prehend the purity of his patriotism, but though 
 
 " Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone, 
 
 And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him, 
 But little he'll reck, if they let him sleep on, 
 In the grave where his comrades have laid him." 
 
 Such were the men who were once our brothers in arms, and 
 our comrades in the field. But their task is done, their work is 
 accomplished. We can add nothing to the brightness of their 
 glory or the perfection of their fame. We may emulate their 
 virtues, and be proud of their deeds, but their fame is as wide as
 
 694 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 creation, and will endure as long as there are those who can 
 breathe a sigh of sympathy for human distresses, or labor for 
 the cause of human advancement. No narrow boundaries of 
 sea or land confines their glory, and time will only add to the 
 brilliancy and permanence of its lustre. The friends of freedom 
 aud progress, of civilzation and Christianity, in .every land, are 
 mourners this day at the shrine of their patriotic devotion. The 
 Btory of that devotion is not confined to the race or color, com- 
 plexion or language of any special latitude, but is the heritage 
 of the whole brotherhood of man. The love of liberty is a vir- 
 tue implanted in the human soul by God himself. It is a char- 
 acteristic of the Laplander, in the frozen zones of the north, of 
 the English, French, German, Italian, Swiss, and all other na- 
 tions of the more temperate climes, and the indolent people of 
 tropical regions delight to live in the enjoyment of its multiplied 
 blessings. 
 
 Without liberty there can be no progress or improvement ; 
 and without human freedom Christianity itself would be useless 
 and unavailing. In defending and maintaining the unity and 
 nationality of the American people, our comrades rendered the 
 highest service it was possible for them to do for the human 
 race. In so doing they demonstrated the fact that the people 
 are the true source of all power and authority in human govern- 
 ment. They furnished the world with an illustration of the fact 
 that a government of the people, and by the people, was the 
 most powerful of all human organizations, and that resistance 
 to its will was resistance to God himself. The achievements of 
 our comrades, and the Grand Army of the Republic, in which 
 they served, which secured America to Freedom, and Freedom 
 to America, have lifted up the souls of the friends of liberty in 
 every part of the world, and the tide of Republicanism, rising 
 higher and higher with each returning year, promises soon to 
 sweep away every element of opposition to the right of every 
 man, however poor or humble, or of whatever race or color, to 
 life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The nations of the 
 old world take heart, and are inspired with fresh courage in the 
 struggle, when they learn or remember what has been accom- 
 plished in America. The German to-day is proud of a united 
 Fatherland ; the Italian, \vherever he may be, takes delight in 
 the unity and the nationality of a regenerated Italy, and the 
 sons of Green Erin gather fresh hope in America for the inde- 
 pendence of the Gem of the Sea. The banner of beauty and 
 glory under which our comrades fought and fell is looked upon 
 with pride and pleasure by every nation under the sun, because 
 it is the emblem of all that is precious in human hope for the
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 695 
 
 progress and advancement of the human race. It excites the 
 admiration and the enthusiasm of the remotest corners of the 
 earth, not only for the blood which has consecrated its folds, bnt 
 because of the principles of justice and of equal rights to all men 
 which it represent*. No other banner that floats oh the moun- 
 tain or the plain, or that is unfurled to the winds over the briny 
 dee|>. is v.orshipped with such sublime devotion, simply because 
 it is the emblem of those principles of truth and right which the 
 Great Father of us all has implanted in the breasts of II is, chil- 
 dren. Once the kings of the earth were those who controlled 
 the lives and property of whole nations, and whose possessions 
 were the diamonds of Brazil and the wealth of the Indies ; but 
 now the kings of the earth are those whose labors and achieve- 
 ments in the fields of genius, invention, science, literature, 
 poetry, and song, have contributed in the highest degree to the 
 advancement of human happiness. Under the starry flag that 
 waves over us to-day as well as America, every citizen is a king, 
 and there is no avenue to wealth and fame, position and power, 
 that is not open to every child of the Republic. In securing 
 the preservation and the permanence of republican institutions 
 in America, our comrades made those institutions possible and 
 practicable in all the length and breadth of their unnumbered 
 benefits to the remaining nationalities of the civilized world. 
 The lovers of freedom everywhere are proud of the achieve- 
 ments of our comrades; they participate with us in the tri- 
 umphal procession in which we honor their memories and their 
 deeds, and they shed with us a tear of regret this day that a 
 cause so noble should have required such noble sacrifices to se- 
 cure its success. Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust ; we tenderly 
 commit to their last resting-place, as to the bosom of God, the 
 mortal remains of our fallen comrades, resting confident in the 
 assurance that a cause will grow and prosper beyond measure 
 which has been watered by so much of the precious blood of the 
 country. They are with us no longer, but they have left us, as 
 a priceless legacy, the principles for which they fought, and the 
 wives and children which they loved. We bring forth this day 
 the shattered and war-worn banners, upon which are inscribed 
 Shiloh, and Murfreesboro, and Gettysburg, and Franklin, and 
 Richmond, and ^Nashville, and a hundred other fields of strife 
 illustrious in the nation's story, and we resolve this day to labor 
 for the success of the principles for which they died as long as 
 life shall endure. While we strew upon their graves the flowers 
 of spring, let us resolve that their wives and children, as long as 
 we are blessed with returning seasons, shall "be a charge upon a 
 nation's gratitude and the wards of a nation's trust.
 
 696 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Ah, yes ! their work is done, and they rest from their labors. 
 For them there are no more weary marches to be made nnder 
 the scorching rays of the sun, or the silent stars of the night, to 
 do battle in the cause of human rights and human progress. 
 Treason has done his worst, and they no more tread the lonely 
 beat to guard the white tents of the gleaming camp, while they 
 wistfully turned their thoughts to the distant n' resides which 
 they were to see no more forever. No coming conflicts can be 
 to them a source of anxious solicitude, because they are beyond 
 the reach of cannon and musketry, and are unmoved by the 
 shouts of victory or the distress of defeat. They poured out 
 their life-blood upon the field of battle like the rain, the most 
 precious treasure they could offer upon the altar of duty and 
 patriotism, while their immortal spirits were carried down the 
 long aisles of Heaven, and hid beneath the mercy seat until 
 the evil days are passed, and the angel standing upon the sea and 
 upon the land proclaims that " time shall be no longer," and the 
 strifes of mortality shall disappear in the sunlight of everlasting 
 peace. Comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, it is for 
 us to see that the fallen brave who were once our comrades 
 shall not have died in vain. It is for us to determine that the 
 principles which they so gallantly defended shall be preserved 
 in their purity, and perpetuated in their strength. Let us renew 
 our .allegiance to those principles, and go forward in our work 
 with an unfaltering determination that we will, through evil 
 report as well as good report, honestly and faithfully discharge 
 the duties we owe to our country, resolved that in all its length 
 and breadth it shall be consecrated to the principles upon which 
 it was founded in 1776, and that those principles shall rule and 
 govern it in righteousness, until the sinking earth shall open its 
 soldered seams, and sweep the world of humanity out of exist- 
 ence. Whilst we bind up the scars, and the wounds, and the 
 broken hearts that were left us by the rebellion, it is for us to 
 see that free thought, and free speech, a free press and free labor 
 are the corner-stones of a regenerated republic. Our cause is 
 the cause of right and truth and justice, and in laboring for its 
 success we have the approval of our own consciences, and the 
 support and blessing of Him who has richly prospered it hitherto, 
 and who holds the nations of the earth in the hollow of His 
 hand. The soldiers who marched under our banners, wear upon 
 their brows the perpetual garlands of victory, and each return- 
 ing season of spring-time and harvest, summer and winter, 
 brings to them the ever green laurels of triumphant success. 
 "We survive the contest in which our comrades fell, but sooner 
 or later all those who have labored, toiled and suffered in behalf
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 697 
 
 of a fallen humanity shall be gathered home to that land where 
 the flowers bloom in immortal beauty arid fragrance ; where no 
 eye is ever filled with tears or heart with sorrow, and where the 
 only airs that are breathed are the breezes that blow from the 
 k% Isles of the Blessed." For us there still remains the toil and 
 strife of life's unceasing warfare, until we, too, shall be sum- 
 moned to appear before the Commander-in-Chief of the armies 
 of the universe, there to receive, if we do our duty, the reward 
 due to good and faithful soldiers. If we must all die, let us enter 
 the portals' of immortality with the consciousness that the starry 
 flag under which we lived and fought was never stained or dis- 
 honored by our misconduct, and that all our duties and obliga- 
 tions as soldiers and citizens were sacredly met and performed. 
 If we live in deeds and not years, and we till the measure of our 
 usefulness according to our opportunities, when other genera- 
 tions shall come, in future years, to pass their judgment upon 
 us, it may occasion us no regret to remember that 
 
 "None but the actions of the just 
 Smell sweet and blossom in the dust." 
 
 AT MEMPIIIS, TENNESSEE. 
 
 Upwards of five thousand persons visited the Mississippi 
 River National Cemetery to participate in the Dedication ex- 
 ercises, and to strew sweet flowers on the graves of those who 
 fell lighting in defence of their flag, their hearthstones and their 
 country. 
 
 A large number of persons arrived at the Cemetery about 
 eleven o'clock, among whom were many fair ladies, who had 
 charge of decorating the graves. These ladies performed the 
 pleasing and melancholy task which devolved upon them most 
 admirably. Beautiful crosses clothed in evergreens, and studded 
 with flowers, were planted throughout the grounds, while on 
 many a grave were to be seen bouquets of most beautiful flowers, 
 which had been laid there by the tender hand of woman, who 
 doubtless dropped a silent tear to the memory of the brave boy 
 who slept beneath the green sod, far, far, from the home where 
 he first saw the light of day, and where he had passed the 
 joyous days of boyhood. 
 
 Shortly before twelve o'clock the troops in garrison at post 
 marched into the Cemetery, headed by the fife and drum corps, 
 and under command of Capt. Estes. The soldiers marched up 
 the avenue with a steady martial tread, and formed in lin close 
 to the spot where the soldiers of the regular army lie buried, and 
 planted the " Stripes and Stars" amid the graves.
 
 698 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 After the troops came a large detachment of the Metropolitan 
 police force, under command of Captain Symons, and presented 
 a fine appearance. Next came the United Sons of Ham, the 
 Social Benevolent Society, the Mutual Relief Society, and the 
 United Sous of Zion, all clothed in nice regalia, each Society 
 being headed by a fife and drum corps. Between 12 and 1 
 o'clock, a dense crowd of between three and four thousand per- 
 sons had assembled in front of the speaker's stand, and about 
 1 o'clock the exercises commenced. 
 
 The President of the day, Hon. J. O. Pearce, * called the 
 assemblage to order, and said : The time has now arrived to 
 commence the mourtiful ceremonies of the day. Before the exer- 
 cises, however, I will ask the Vice-Presidents, and other officers 
 of the day, to their places on the stand. The following gentlemen 
 responded to the call : Hon. J. T. Swayne, Col. J. L. Chandler, 
 Win. R. Moore, Esq., Col. Reuel Hough, Capt. II. S. Lee, Col. 
 Joseph Lenow, Dr. W. H. White, Col. W. B. Holbrook, Rev. T. 
 E. Bliss, Maj. J. Hart Purdy, Col. A. P. Curry, Capt. M. Camp- 
 bell, Capt. L. Horrigan, Dr. S. J. Qninby, Rev. A. L. Rankin, 
 Hon. J. M. Tomeny, Capt. Channing Richards, Col. S. B. Beau- 
 mont, Capt. D. C. Pool, J. R. Stebbine, Esq., Prof. J. H. 
 Barnum. Major Davies, Commandant of the Post ; Dr. W. S. 
 Tremaine, Post Surgeon; Colonel Palmer and Major Fredericks 
 of the 45th U. S. Infantry, also occupied seats on the platform. 
 
 The exercises of the day commenced with the City Band 
 playing the beautiful anthem, " Man should not be Proud." 
 
 The President then introduced Rev. T. E. Bliss, Chairman 
 of the General Committee of Arrangements, who delivered the 
 following Dedicatory Address : 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : The occasion 
 which has brought us together, is one of no ordinary interest. 
 A great army is sleeping around us, no more to engage in the 
 conflict of battle, no more to be roused by the morning drum, 
 but only to respond when the Archangel's trump shall awaken 
 them on the great and final day. The Government of the 
 United States, with a thoughtful care of her children, has pro- 
 vided, at great expense; in various places, for the interment of 
 those who have fallen, or may do so hereafter, in her defence. 
 We meet to-day to consecrate with appropriate religious rites, 
 this National Cemetery ; to plant the cross, that symbol of our 
 faith, in which is all our hope, to deck with evergreens and 
 flowers these grounds and graves ; thereby expressing our affec- 
 tionate interest in our friends and comrades and brothers who 
 are lying so thickly around us, and pledging here before God 
 and the nation, that their names and noble deeds shall ever live
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 699 
 
 fresh and green in our memories and in the memories of our 
 children who shall come after us. In no spirit of rivalry or 
 emulation of party, or of sectionalism do we come, but with 
 kind and fraternal hand would extend out over these graves the 
 olive branch of peace even to that cluster of graves so recently 
 dedicated at Elmwood. Laying aside the implements of war 
 and burying the asperities of strife, we would catch the spirit, 
 and attune our heart to the sweet harmonies of the song of the 
 angels, as .they sang in full chorus to the Shepherds of Bethle- 
 hem, " Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace and 
 good will towards men" 
 
 Of the noble deeds of patriotism and fame of those who now 
 peacefully sleep around us, of their virtues and sacrifices for the 
 cause of liberty, and a united country, of their aspirations, and 
 hopes for a prosperous and happy people, of their longings and 
 previsions of a great and glorious Republic, which should be 
 free from every stain, and become the light and joy of all 
 nations of these, other and more eloquent lips than mine will 
 speak to you on this occasion. The inspirations of the hour, the 
 thronging memories of the past, the scenes recalled of other 
 fields, wherein so many of these brave men laid down their 
 lives, amid the roar of battle and the surging tide of war, can- 
 not fail to thrill the whole soul of the orator anew as he recounts 
 the high resolve and heroic action of so many of those who 
 fought under the same command. But while we cheerfully 
 accord the preeminence on this occasion to their late comrades 
 in arms, as eminently befitting and proper, we yet would re- 
 member that the name and fame of these noble dead are com- 
 mitted by the nation to no one class, but are henceforth and 
 forever to be the rightful heritage of a whole, grateful and united 
 people. Neither party names, nor sectional lines, nor artificial 
 distinctions no, nor even the bloody and painful conflict which 
 laid them here shall ever -alienate the right in this great and 
 precious inheritance, either for ourselves or for the generations 
 yet to come. Therefore it is that we are all here present to-day 
 to unite in these services to recognize first and reverently our 
 dependence, as a people, upon the God of nations and the God 
 of battles to dedicate in accordance with appropriate usage, 
 from time immemorial, these grounds by religious services, to 
 the sacred purpose for which they are designed to hear of the 
 mighty deeds performed in our behalf to cement anew and in 
 stronger bonds, the political, social and friendly union of this 
 great people, and to have the altar-fires of a common and mutual 
 patriotism for our whole country, lighted up with purer rays and 
 with a warmer glow even to a welding and suffusing heat.
 
 700 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 We would bring our votive offerings in a reverent and loving 
 spirit, imploring the God and Father of us all for His divine 
 benediction upon this occasion. We would not keep back our 
 tears when we *hink of the hearts which still bleed in secret for 
 the loved whose forms are sleeping here. 
 
 O well may we weep for the good and the brave, 
 
 AY hose forms are lying before us; 
 O well may we bow with tears over the grave 
 
 Of the soldier who died to restore us. 
 
 The Union so dear, the life of the Nation, 
 
 Tinged with the blood of our fathers, 
 Must never be sunder'd in any relation, 
 
 Though tears again flow like the waters. 
 
 On the patriot's shrine, in love's sacred name, 
 
 We will lay our sweetest token, 
 And we'll bind him a wreath of immortal fame 
 
 On the cross where the Savior hath spoken. 
 
 It is in this spirit, I trust, that we have all met on this glad 
 but solemn occasion, with humble and devout thanksgivings to 
 Almighty God, fo.r His great mercies towards us as a people 
 for the preservation of our national unity, and for permitting us 
 here to meet in fraternal accord on this joyous day we come 
 to dedicate this sacred enclosure. We should be especially glad 
 and grateful that He has inclined our hearts so generally to lay 
 aside the asperities of the past, and disposed us to extend so 
 many mutual kindnesses and courtesies, whereof these beautiful 
 flowers and evergreens are a token. With united hearts we 
 would reverently engage in these services, and implore the spirit 
 of divine mercy and grace to rest upon all here present, and 
 upon all who shall rest in this hallowed enclosure. In the name 
 of the God and Father of us all the God of the nation, who 
 hath done great things for us the sovereign and only potentate 
 the King of kings and the Lord of lords we would solemnly 
 dedicate these grounds to the sacred purposes for which they are 
 designed. We pray that His benignant smile may ever rest 
 upon this spot that His favor may here ever abide, and that in 
 other years we and our children may come as pilgrims to this 
 shrine, and reverently bring our votive offerings, and along these 
 walks and beneath these groves, and among these graves of the 
 brave defenders of ournation, may we be inspired with a higher 
 and purer patriotism be strengthened in our devotion to the 
 Union of these States, and may the silken cord of love and so- 
 cial kindness bind the hearts more and more closely together of 
 this whole people and nation, and may the God of our fathers 
 the God of the dead and of the living, hear our vows thus taken,
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 701 
 
 and bestow upon all our country His favor and His continued 
 blessings. 
 
 At the conclusion of Mr. Bliss's remarks, Rev. F. A. Mason 
 
 5 renounced a prayer, after which a dedicatory poem by Judge 
 . O. Pierce was read by Channing Richards, Esq. This was 
 followed by remarks by Capt. Lee. He spoke as follows : 
 
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : I regret exceedingly that, by an 
 unforseen accident, Gen. Hurl but is unable to be present. The 
 committee received a telegraph dispatch from the General that, 
 owing to the sickness of his wife, he would be unable to be with 
 us to-day. I feel certain that if Gen. Hurl but had been present, 
 he would have delivered an address which all would have listen- 
 ed to with the greatest pleasure. I regret that I am called to 
 take the place of that gentleman, and I wish it to be understood 
 that the citizens of Jilemphis who will speak on this occasion 
 will do so extemporaneously and without preparation. It is the 
 habit of the Mohammedans to make an annual pilgrimage to the 
 shrine of the prophet, and to-day, those who had come to the 
 cemetery had come to discharge a patriotic duty, and actuated 
 by the same devotion. Fortunately, however, they were not 
 compelled to go far from their homes on such an occasion, as 
 their altars were here, where repose the remains of our former 
 comrades, our brethren -in-arms who died while engaged in the 
 grand work of preserving the government which Washington 
 and the other fathers had handed down to us. These brave men 
 who lie in the graves around us fell by our sides while saving 
 from destruction and preserving to us and those who are to come 
 after us the most precious legacy on earth, the best, purest and 
 highest form of government that has ever been conceived by the 
 ingenuity and wisdom of man. (Applause.) A few short years 
 ago the tocsin of alarm was sounded throughout the breadth of 
 this land that the government was in danger, and that it was 
 about to be destroyed by armed violence and anarchy at the 
 South. But a call was made by the government, and these pat- 
 riots, who now lie here, answered the call and sprang to arms. 
 They came from every valley, village, city and town in the coun- 
 try. They left their hearthstones and came forth, at the call ot 
 their country, for its protection and preservation. Sires, sons 
 nr>d fathers all sprang to arms, and they poured out their blood 
 in defence of liberty and of a free government. They fell brave- 
 ly, and to-day, for the gallantry they displayed, are held in rev- 
 erence by all the nations of the earth, but more especially by 
 those of our own nation, for they met their death in the shock 
 of battle all too soon, but they fell while bravely fighting for a 
 cause which they at least deemed most just and righteous. (Ap-
 
 702 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 planse.) No one would, therefore, be so ruthless as to pluck 
 from their brows one solitary laurel to which they are entitled. 
 "We have here those graves as monuments of the devotion of the 
 American people to the permanency of our government and in- 
 stitutions. We have in our midst the many brave and noble 
 comrades. stranded upon the bloody waves of the great surging 
 tide of battle as gallant barques as ever floated upon the sea of 
 life thrown upon the shores of horrid strife, shapeless, shattered 
 vessels of humanity ! with their pale faces looking up through 
 the sea-drift of suffering, beaming with a calm, patient hope and 
 resignation that no more of agony could ripple or disturb. And 
 I say it reverentially, approaching nearer to the inspiration and 
 self-sacrificing, holy devotion of that death which was " to save 
 sinners." These brave heroes deserve our greatest care, while 
 those who sleep here appeal to us and to all around here, re- 
 gardless of the position they held in the late conflict. Those 
 dead heroes died owing their devotion to the institutions of 
 the best and purest government on the face of the earth, and 
 therefore we are here to-day to do reverence to the glorious dead, 
 and we are here to commemorate the death of these fallen braves 
 by decorating their graves with flowers sweet flowers, the fresh- 
 est jewels in the crown of the earth. We are here to strew these 
 flowers on the graves of heroes, while those to whom they were 
 dear, and in distant States, can realize our appreciation of the 
 devotion they showed for their country and the sacred cause in 
 which they were engaged when they fell. "While we do this in 
 the presence of the illustrious dead, let all dissensions, all bitter- 
 ness, all strife pass away, and let us thank God that we can all 
 meet together as citizens of one common country and under one 
 flag. (Applause.) The cause for which these men fell is a most 
 precious legacy, and was secured to us through their toil and 
 through the sacrifices of their lives, and given to us and to our 
 posterity. It is a great and noble legacy (applause) the Union 
 of the United States of America. 
 
 And in receiving at their hands such a legacy from these 
 dead patriots, it is our bounden duty to preserve and perpetuate 
 this government which they have bequeathed to us. 
 
 It seems to me that language is too feeble and inadequate to 
 express fully all that we owe to these brave men, who left their 
 homes, their friends, and sacrificed their lives in order that we 
 might enjoy freedom. We all know the spirit in which they 
 went forth, and the noble object for which they fought the 
 glorious institutions of the country. When we think of this, 
 language seems poor, weak and feeble to express all we owe to 
 these patriots. With these thoughts in our minds, let us ever
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 703 
 
 remember the sacrifices these gallant and patriotic men made 
 for us, and let us make to this city of the dead an annual pil- 
 grimage, and strew flowers upon their graves, and, when we are 
 taken away by death, let us bequeath the pleasing task to our 
 children, and thus testify our gratitude to these patriots, and 
 our remembrance of the cause in which they fell. 
 
 The President of the day then introduced J. M. Tomeny, 
 who said : 1 am about to read a poem, written by Mary T. 
 Boltou, and first published in February, 1861. It was composed 
 at the time the secession of South Carolina sent a thrill through 
 this broad land. It is one of those noble emanations of genius 
 in-j tired by genuine love of country, which are called forth only 
 at great eras of the world's history. It embodies in beautiful 
 language the imaginary dream of an old soldier of the Revolu- 
 tion, who had lived more than a century and had seen generations 
 pass away. Its noble pathos and glowing patriotism inspired 
 thousands of the brave men whose mortal remains rest around 
 us, and whose immortal souls, we hope, have taken their flight 
 to realms of eternal bliss. 
 
 In the midst of his children's children, by the home fire's cheerful blaze, 
 
 An old man sat in his easy chair, dreaming of bygone day^; 
 
 Dreaming of wearisome inarches, by flood, inornss and wold, 
 
 "Where m.-my a brave heart tainted with hunirer and thirst and cold; 
 
 Dreaming of midnight watches in the dreary, drizzling rain, 
 
 And the hum of his comrades' voices, that he never shall hear again ; 
 
 Of the smouldering fires of the bivouac, the sentinel's measured tread, 
 
 The smoke and roar of the battle, and the faces of the- dead 
 
 Of the fair voting son of his neighbor, who fought and fell by his side, 
 
 Ami the snored message he gave him to his girl-love wh?n he died. 
 
 lie saw the face of the maiden grow as cold as death and as pale, 
 
 As he sat by her father's hearthstone and told her the cruel tale. 
 
 " Ay, ay," in his sleep he murmured, " she was fair and he was brave, 
 
 But she faded away like a blossom, and we made him a soldier's grave. 
 
 But we routed the British legions, and sent them over the sea, 
 
 For the God of battles helped us, and our native land was free. 
 
 My son, I have been dreaming a dream that gives me pain ; 
 
 I thought I was young, and a soldier, fighting for freedom again ; 
 
 I saw the tents and the banners, and the shining ranks of the foe, 
 
 And the crimson tracks of onr poor recruits left on the frozen snow. 
 
 But is it true, this rumor, or only an idle tale 
 
 Do they talk of dissolving the Union ? Ah ! well may your cheek grow pale, 
 
 And well may an old man tremble, and his heart beat faint and low, 
 
 When he thinks of the price it cost us some fourscore years ago ! 
 
 I have watched its growing greatness through a life of many years, 
 
 But I never forgot its blessings were purchased with blood and tears. 
 
 I never forgot the privations of fourscore years ago, 
 
 "When the naked feet of our poor recruits left crimson tracks in the snow. 
 
 I never forgot their faces, and I seem to see them still, 
 
 Who looked straight into the face of death at the battle of Bunker Hill. 
 
 And so the home of Marion is the first to break the band
 
 701 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 That bound the beautiful sisterhood of our beloved land; 
 
 The children of the heroes around whose memory clings 
 
 The glory of King's Mountain, Cowpens and Eutaw Springs I 
 
 I saw our blessed banner, with its white and crimson bars, 
 
 When fair South Carolina was one of the thirteen stars ; 
 
 And if ever that constellation is marred or rent in twain, 
 
 It would blast the sight of these poor old eyes to see its folds again. 
 
 If God has forsuken our country, the only boon I crave 
 
 Is, that He will delay its ruin till I have gone down to the grave; 
 
 For I could not breathe with foemen, nor turn my face to the sun, 
 
 Nor dwell in the land of the living, when the States are no longer one. 
 
 Judge J. T. Swajne then spoke as follows : 
 
 He said he came before them to-day with some embarrass- 
 ment, having been called upon to make an impromptu speech. 
 
 He intended by his presence here to-day to pay a tribute to 
 the restoration of peace. He did not expect to make a speech, 
 as he had no information on the subject on which he was 
 called to speak, and he was not aware that it was contempla- 
 ted he should make a speech on the occasion until he reached 
 the grounds. He saw here the spirit of conciliation and har- 
 mony, and he called on his countrymen of the sunny South 
 to witness tjie spirit of conciliation and harmony which he 
 observed, and the sentiments expressed on that happy occasion, 
 He asked, if this was not a fitting occasion and a fitting place, 
 there in that silent, solemn city of the dead, for the cultivation of 
 these sentiments. They were in the presence of patriot sons, 
 dead, but whose memories are enshrined in their hearts and their 
 affections. He observed above him the godlike portrait of Daniel 
 Webster, and his own great political patron, Henry Clay, and 
 there was the portrait of one higher than any man living, or 
 any man who had ever lived, except the Saviour of mankind. It 
 was that of the " father of his country," George Washington. 
 (Applause.) In such a presence it was meet that there should be 
 harmony and conciliation. He was glad to see this spirit exist- 
 ing at the present time. He was also glad to see so many 
 of his own Southern countrymen present, and among them many 
 officers who had served in the Confederate army. They can 
 testify to the bearing of these men who slept in the graves around 
 them, as they had met them many a time on the battle-field. 
 They could speak of their gallantry, and it had been well said 
 that both sections of the country produced the bravest of the 
 brave, and it was a proud satisfaction to him that day to witness 
 the spirit of conciliation and harmony which prevailed on this 
 occasion. 
 
 The band then played the very appropriate air, " Auld Lang 
 Syne."
 
 A.T THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 705 
 
 
 
 REMARKS OF COL. HAN8ACKBR. 
 
 Col. Hansacker, late of Gen. Griffin's staff, was then intro- 
 duced. He said he did not expect to be called on to address the 
 assembly on that occasion, but he was glad to be with them that 
 day, while they were paying a tribute to the patriot dead. He 
 hoped they would permit him to retire on such a solemn occa- 
 sion, for he assured them that his heart was too full to give ex- 
 pression to his thoughts. 
 
 " AMERICA." . 
 
 The entire assemblage then joined in singing the grand old 
 tune " America." 
 
 " My country, 'tis of thee, 
 Sweet land of liberty, 
 Of thee I sing." 
 
 The exercises then terminated with the Rev. A. L. Rankin, 
 chaplain of the Memphis Post of the G. A. R., pronouncing the 
 benediction. 
 
 AT KENDUSKEAG, MAINE. 
 
 The citizens of Kenduskeag gathered at the Town Hall, at 
 8 o'clock A. M. to pay their tribute to the eleven graves all 
 the bodies recovered out of the twenty-eight from this little 
 town, who lost their lives in the great struggle for freedom. A 
 lanje procession was formed, notwithstanding the unfavorable 
 weather, led by the Post, W. H. H. Stackpole, Commander, fol- 
 lowed by Tranquil Lodge of G. T. in regalia and citizens gen- 
 erally; and, to the solemn taps of the drum marched to the 
 grave-yard. In silence and with many tears the graves were all 
 visited. Monuments and headstones were tastefully twined 
 with evergreens. Beautiful wreaths and bouquets of the first 
 flowers of spring, and a cross of evergreens were placed upon 
 each grave. The procession then formed in a square, and the 
 Choir sang 
 
 " Brothers, ye have gone to rest." 
 
 Eloquent and very feeling remarks were made by E. F. 
 Crane, Esq., causing the deepest emotion, he having a son 
 buried here. Also, appropriate and impressive remarks were 
 made by T. W. Hodsdon, and Rev. T. JB. Robinson. Prayer 
 was offered by Mr. Robinson, and the Choir sang the beautiful 
 piece 
 
 " We will not forget them," 
 
 by Geo. F. Root. 
 
 45
 
 706 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 AT BKEWER, MAINE. 
 
 The arrangements were under the charge of a detachment 
 from Post No. 12, G. A. R., under the command of Col. Jasper 
 Hutch ings as chief marshal, assisted by Sewall H. Downs and 
 Manly Hardy as aids. The members of the G. A. R. visited the 
 Cemetery in the morning and placed crosses of arbor vitse at the 
 heads of those graves which had no stone placed at the head. 
 At nine o'clock the citizens and public schools met at the Town 
 House, and formed a procession in the following order : Bangor 
 Cornet Band ; Detachment from Post No. 12, G. A. R. ; Thirty- 
 seven young ladies, representing each State of the Union, wear- 
 ing the national tri-co!or; Citizens of Brewer; Scholars of the 
 public schools. The procession was very long, all the scholars 
 of the village schools, and a large number of the citizens taking 
 part. The procession marched to the Cemetery, and, having 
 been massed, prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Fuller, following 
 which the audience sang the National Hymn, the Band accom- 
 panying. The comracles of the G. A. R. were then formed in 
 two platoons, and one beginning at each end of the Cemetery, 
 strewed with flowers the graves of their fallen comrades, placing 
 a wreath and a bouquet of flowers on each, the Band meanwhile 
 playing a dirge. After they had done this, the scholars of the 
 schools and others came forward and added their tribute to those 
 already offered. The procession was again formed, and after 
 marching back to the place where the line was formed, were 
 dismissed, just as it began to rain. 
 
 AT BANGOK, MAINE. 
 
 Saturday, the day set apart all over our country, to do honor 
 to the gallant dead who fell in defence of our flag, our Consti- 
 tution and the principles of universal freedom, was observed in 
 this city in accordance with the arrangements previously an- 
 nounced in our paper. The day opened with a raw east wind 
 and a heavy fog, which during the forenoon turned to rain, 
 and at noon the rain came down in torrents, which made 
 it seem almost impossible that any services could be held at 
 Mount Hope. But the Post of the Grand Army of the Re- 
 public, who for four years had marched and fought side by side 
 with their fallen comrades, through rain and storm, were not to 
 be kept from doing honor to their late compatriots by any such 
 little thing as rain, and consequently they decided to attend to 
 the duty they had undertaken, even if no others should unite 
 with them. But the fates were propitious, and at one o'clock
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 707 
 
 the rain was over, though the sky was still overcast, and looked 
 as likely to rain again as at any time during the day. The 
 various bodies met at their different places of meeting at half- 
 past one o'clock, and at two o'clock the bodies .formed in line on 
 Main street, in the following order: 
 
 Bangor Cornet Band A. D. Barlow, leader. Co. B, State 
 Guards Capt. J. S. Ricker; Co. A, State Guards Lieut. Mar- 
 shall Dyer ; Post No. 12, G. A. R. under the command of 
 Sen. Vice Commander, Gen. Chas. Hamlin, Junior Yice Com. 
 A. C. Hamlin, and Lieut. B. H. Beale, Officer of the Day. Of- 
 ficers of the Regular Army. Post No. 19, G. A. R., Kendus- 
 keag, with the following officers : Post Commander "W. H. 
 Stackpole; Senior Yice Com., John H. Everett; Jun. Yice 
 Com. J. H. Dolliver ; Post Q. M., F. A. H. Stackpole ; Officer 
 of the Day, G. A. Hatchings. 
 
 City Government of Bangor : Ex-Mayors of the city ; soldiers 
 of the war of 1812 ; Soldiers' Monument Association ; clergy- 
 men of the city ; Heath's Martial Band ; Eagle Engine Company 
 No. 3, George H. Chick, foreman ; Union Hose Company No. 
 1, A. Morse, foreman. The procession made a fine appearance 
 Co.'s A, and B. State Guards, each about forty strong, in uni- 
 form. Post No. 12, G. A. R., about eighty, and Post No. 19, 
 about twenty strong, each wearing a rosette of the national 
 tri-colors draped with crape, and bearing aloft the blood-stained 
 and tattered flags with which they marched to battle, and in 
 defense of which their comrades fell. The regular army was 
 represented by Lieut. Col. James H. Carleton (Major-General 
 of Volunteers), and Capt. Win. H. Mills, Jr., both of our city, 
 and who are at present on leave of absence. The soldiers of 
 1812 were represented by five of our venerable citizens, and 
 would have been much more largely represented had any notice 
 been given in season, as it was only announced in the paper of 
 Saturday morning that they would take part. Eagle Engine 
 Company numbered fifty-one strong, and* they wore their well- 
 known and tasty uniform. Union Hose Company, twenty-five 
 strong, made their first appearance in their handsome and showy 
 uniform. It consists of scarlet pants, blue jacket with buff fac- 
 ing, and scarlet cap with blue band. They made a fine appear- 
 ance. At 2.20 the procession marched directly to the cars, 
 through Main, Union and Front streets. Arriving at Mount 
 Hope the procession re-formed and marched through and around 
 the grounds, the band playing " The Grave of Washington" and 
 other dirges. After making the circuit of the grounds the pro- 
 cession formed on three sides of a hollow square, facing the 
 soldiers' monument, when the exercises of the day commenced.
 
 708 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 The decorating committee had attended to their duty in the 
 forenoon, and the grave of every soldier was profusely covered 
 with wreaths and bouquets. This was done not only at Mount 
 Hope, but also at all the other cemeteries in the city, viz. : Mount 
 Pleasant (Catholic), Pine Grove, Maple Grove and Levant Road 
 Cemeteries. At Mount Hope the principal decoration was of 
 the soldiers' monument, erected to perpetuate the memory of all 
 our brave boys, whether interred here or their bones lie bleach- 
 ing on the Southern soil. A proper description of the beautiful 
 manner in which this was decorated is beyond our power. Each 
 corner of the shaft was covered with a garland of evergreen, and 
 on each face of the shaft, midway to the top, was a wreath of 
 evergreen enclosing a beautiful bouquet. Each corner of the 
 base had a bouquet, while all around were festoons, wreaths and 
 flowers in great profusion. The base of the monument bore on 
 each face in letters of green the following mottoes : 
 
 South side " Heroes never Die." 
 
 East " Dulce est pro patria mori." 
 
 West " Non sifo sed Patrice" 
 
 North" Honor the Dead." 
 
 The graves within the monument enclosure were adorned 
 with wreaths, crosses and bouquets. 
 
 The curbstone surrounding the enclosure, was covered with 
 wreaths and festoons. of evergreen and immortelles, and at the 
 entrance were flowers in the most lavish profusion. At each 
 corner was placed a flag, attended by a guard of honor, while 
 all around outside of the enclosure, bouquets and wreaths were 
 scattered upon the grass. 
 
 THE CEREMONIES AT MOUNT HOPE, MAINE. 
 
 The square being formed, Gen. Daniel White, Commander 
 of Post No. 12, which had the charge of the arrangements, 
 entered the enclosure accompanied by the speakers of the day, 
 Monument Association, City Government and invited guests. 
 
 Advancing to the front General White said: 
 
 " COMRADES We have assembled here to-day to perpetuate 
 and keep bright the memories of our departed companions-in 
 arms, a sacred trust and duty, and a peculiar privilege. To- 
 day our comrades of the order throughout the Nation, are en- 
 gaged in decorating with floral tributes, the resting places of 
 our fallen. It is befitting that men strong and brave in the 
 hour of danger, should show their regard for those who fell 
 whose worth we learned to know and appreciate." 
 
 He then announced that the exercises of the day would com-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 709 
 
 raence with a prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. B. A. Chase. Mr. 
 Chase then offered a prayer. Gen. White then requested the 
 audience to unite in singing " America," led by the music of 
 the band, and called upon the officers of the Post to come for- 
 ward during the singing and decorate the graves of their com- 
 rades. The officers then came forward and taking the bouquets 
 they had brought with them, scattered the flowers around the 
 monument and upon the graves of the soldiers. It was one of 
 the most beautiful and impressive sights we ever witnessed. 
 
 Gen. White next announced that comrade Rev. J. B. Gould 
 would deliver the address. Mr. Gould spoke as follows : 
 
 COMRADES OF THE GRAND AKMY OF THE REPUBLIC: In con- 
 formity witli your request I perform the sad yet pleasant duty 
 of speaking briefly on this occasion. But you will first listen to 
 the roll call of the heroic dead. The great Napoleon ordered 
 when one of his gallant marshals was slain, that his name should 
 be called each morning with the names of the living, and a 
 soldier stepping to the front responded " died, covered with 
 glory, on the field of battle." 
 
 ROLL OF THE HONORED DEAD. 
 
 Gen. Chas. D. Jameson, Gen. Cyrus Hamlin, Col. Daniel 
 Chaplin, Major Stephen D. Carpenter, Major Wm. L. Pitcher, 
 Surgeon Alden Palmer, Surgeon Wm. H. Allen, Chap. Henry 
 C. Henries, Capt. John Ayer, Capt. Scollay D. Baker, Capt. 
 Samuel W. Daggett, Capt. Frank W. Sabine, Capt. S. F. 
 Thompson, Capt. Henry Warren, Capt. Rindaldo B. Wiggin, 
 Capt. Chas. A. Thatcher, Lieut. Edward R. Flowers, Lieut. 
 George F. Bourne, Lieut. Thomas Drummond, Lieut. Luther 
 C Fairfield, Lieut. Walter S. Goodale, Lieut. John M. Sher- 
 wood, Lieut. George H. Benson, Lieut. Thos. L. Gates, Sergeant 
 Wm. J. Deane, Robert L. Atkins, Eben E. Andrews, Amaziah 
 Billings, Wm. Bartlett, Charles E. Bicknell, Warren Boynton, 
 Benj. C. Benson, Isaac Berry, John Billings, Jeremiah Corcoran, 
 Rufus H. Cole, Peter Cannon, Edward R. Chamberlain, Hiram 
 G. Claridge, Sergt. Charles B. Cobb, Charles H. Cleaves, 
 Sergeant Robert Carlisle, Benjamin Chase, Wm. A. Gates, John 
 F. Drew, Adrian R. Drew, Henry O. Dunbar, Corp. Chas. H. 
 Daggett, Willard G. Delano, Lysander B. Dunbar, Chas. Y. 
 Dudley, Ozra W. Davis, John A. Dealing, Seth E. Drinkwater, 
 Samuel M. Emerson, Solomon G. Emery,- Frederick W. Five, 
 John A. Farnham, Albert W. Forbes, Edward A. Goodale, 
 Nathan D. Hanson, Edward W. Hanson, Nathan A. Hopkins, 
 Sergt, W. H. H. Hasey, Joseph E. Hat ton, Sergt. W. P. Hold en, 
 John W. Hurd, Albert M. Jackson, Wm. Jordon, Stephen H.
 
 710 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 Leighton, Sewell B. Lambard, Otis E. Luf kin, John J. Marston, 
 Andrew McFadden, Lewis L. Marsh, Geo. C. Martin, Corp. Gus- 
 tavus Nason, Edward F. Orff, Bryden L. Osborne, Frank Powers, 
 Charles Parkhurst, Win. T. Pierce, George L. Palmer, Corp. 
 Chas. W. Pierce, Henry N. Pollard, James Qnimby, Sergeant 
 James L. Rowe, Frederick H. Rogers, Amos H. Richardson, 
 James Robinson, Harvey H. Reed, Frank L. Robinson, Benja- 
 min F. Scribner, Isaiah B. Scribner, James Stone, Alfred M. 
 Sprague, Charles W. Smith, Henry O. Smiley, Amos N Smiley, 
 Sergt. Shepherd L. Thomas, Corp. Sumner Tibbetts, George 
 A. Tibbetts, Ranson Warton, Henry O. Wilson, Oscar Wyer, 
 Peter Welch, Asa Wilson, Richard H. Webster, Daniel West, 
 Albert M. Wheeler, Frederick E. Webster, Chas. H. Whittier, 
 Sergt. Thos. D. Witherly, Franklin W. Whittier, David 0. 
 Pollard, John S. Libby, Patrick Carlton, Herinon K. Day, 
 Micheal Mehan, George A. Clark, Fred Jenkins, Chas. Forbes, 
 Albert A. Abbott. 
 
 Listen ! If your ear is quick enough to catch the sound, 
 in response to every one of these names comes the answer 
 "Ifcref" or some one in their stead, advancing to the front of 
 the immortal host, replies, " Died, covered with glory, on the 
 field cf battle." 
 
 Immortal Men ! 
 
 " On fame's eternal camping ground 
 Their silent tents are spread, 
 
 And glory guards with ^lemn round 
 The bivouac of the dead.'' . 
 
 I am by no means the orator of this occasion. This endur- 
 ing shaft, these patriot graves, these evergreens and flowers, and 
 this gathered throng are the orators, eloquent and impressive, 
 before which our lips may well be dumb. On the one side this 
 monument and these graves tell us, and will continue to tell, at 
 what cost liberty and national glory are won and preserved : 
 on the other side these wreaths and flowers, and this gathering 
 of the citizens of every class and calling, show the appreciation 
 of the services, sufferings and successes of the heroic dead. 
 
 This scene brings back afresh the dark and sorrowful days 
 when stalwart men and frail youth were gathering from city and 
 country to march to the field of strife, when the fife and drum 
 were heard from morning till evening, and sad adieus were 
 littered. We shall never forget these short but startling tele- 
 grams which announced that terrible battles were raging, and 
 that our boys were in the thickest of the fight. How we trem- 
 bled at the ringing of the door bell, and at the arrival of each
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 71-1 
 
 mail, lest the tidings had come that " the lips we loved to press " 
 were cold in death. Then came to one, and another, and an- 
 other, that it was even so. This scene also reminds us of the 
 davs when loving wives, and mothers and sisters, were so busily 
 employed for the comfort of th.e sick and wounded soldiers, and 
 it is appropriate that the same loving hands should cull ever- 
 i;s and flowers, and bedeck these graves. For all the future, 
 he earliest and sweetest blossoms of the spring time be 
 showered here to keep ever fresh our love and remembrance of 
 tiio-e who sleep in glory. They gained victory and honored 
 graves ; \ve gained freedom and the perpetuity of our institutions 
 >!ig as the stars shall shine. These men went out at ymir 
 side, and were brought back to sleep among their kindred ; but 
 how many came back no more ! They lie in an unknown and 
 unmarked grave. In the Wilderness, on the Peninsula, by the 
 road sides, in swamp, and field, and forest. 
 
 ' They sleep their last sleep, having fought their last battle, 
 No sound shall awake them to glory again." 
 
 But heroes never die. I shall not soon forget my emotions, 
 as I walked by starlight among the sixteen hundred graves at 
 Yorktown, upon the very field where Lord Cornwallis surren- 
 dered to George Washington and concluded the Revolutionary 
 War. Nor shall I forget that long line of graves at Williams- 
 burg, skirting the woods for two miles, where Hooker fought 
 so nobly. A.nd so around every battlefield the dead were buried 
 in multitudes. It is a most commendable arrangement of our 
 Government, to gather the fallen heroes into National Cemete- 
 ries, where their names shall be ever cherished, and their graves 
 be honored and adorned. It was also most appropriate that 
 each community should erect its monument and dedicate a spot 
 to such sacred memories. These will be our Meccas, whither 
 we and our children will make our pilgrimages in the years to 
 come, and when the tooth of time shall obliterate the names 
 chiseled on this granite shaft, doubtless some Old Mortality will 
 rise to carve them still deeper in the stone. 
 
 With intense in;erest do we sometimes stand by a single 
 grave of the heroes who fell in our Revolutionary struggle. If 
 they had been gathered in one burial place, with what emotion 
 should we visit that hallowed ground, and read the names that 
 never perish. 
 
 These graves not only speak to us of loved ones slain, but 
 they also speak of the great principles which they maintained, 
 and it is our solemn duty, ever and anon, beside these mounds 
 to renew our vows, and swear with vote, and voice, and sword
 
 712 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 if need be, we will defend the principles for which they died, 
 and " bate no jot of heart or hope." A united nation, four 
 millions of freedmen and exalted honor -among the peoples of the 
 earth, are the memorials they built, and each of them may 
 truthfully say to after generations, in the language of the Venu- 
 tian bard, " Exegi inonumentum acre perennius" Who helps 
 to free a people " makes his statue's place in time's Valhalla 
 sure." Our brave soldiers slain ! I have marched with them, 
 slept with them, suffered with them, prayed with them, and 
 buried them, and ever shall my pleasantest recollections of duty 
 be associated with those noble men. 
 
 " Whereso the choicest of the well beloved 
 Are bid to memory's feast, they shall be there." 
 
 These patriot graves form the local attachments which 
 make us more patriotic, and the genii locorum are whispering to 
 us of the land we love, as we gather above their ashes. We are, 
 perhaps more than any other nation, contented to pitch our tents 
 on the banks of any river, and with the rising sun move on to 
 other scenes. We have not had the old world mausoluems and 
 the time honored cathedrals which make a land sacred But 
 these attachments are multiplying, and the places where our 
 loved ones fell, and the places where they sleep, will bind us 
 more closely to our native soil. The morning reveille is no 
 longer heard, the clash of arms has ceased, and the terrible sus- 
 pense of days of battle is felt no more. God grant that such 
 days never come again. Peace now reigns. "The battle's 
 fought, the victory's won," and let us praise God who ruled the 
 storm, and keep in everlasting honor the names of those for 
 whom we wreath our laurels. When the reveille of the last 
 morning shall summon us to the roll-call of immortals, may it 
 be as true of us as of these "they died at their post." Till 
 that morning dawns, 
 
 " Green be the prass above you, 
 
 Men of our darker days, 
 We knew you but to love you, 
 We name you but to praise." 
 
 The words of the address are given above, but to be appre- 
 ciated, it should have been heard. It was one of the most 
 eloquent and touching discourses we have ever listened to, and 
 was delivered in a most impressive and masterly manner, and 
 was listened to with breathless attention. The Band then 
 played a choice selection, after which Hon. John A. Peters was 
 introduced as the closing speaker. Mr. Peters spoke as fol- 
 lows :
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 713 
 
 REMARKS OF IIOX. JOHN A. PETERS. 
 
 FELLOW CITIZKXS : The occasion demands but the fewest 
 words to close this solemn ceremony of paying our tributes of 
 honor to the memory of the loyal dead. Speech can add nothing 
 to the thick clustering memories which fill our minds amid 
 scenes like these. The war with all its incidents, its great bat- 
 tles, its noble officers and heroic men, are vividly within the 
 recollection of all of us, and neither we nor our children nor 
 our children's children will ever forget them. To perpetuate 
 the memory of the heroic dead who in the late war pledged their 
 lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor, for the immutable 
 principles of justice and truth, the Grand Army of the Republic, 
 who survived the fate of comrades, have this day caused us to 
 be assembled together. The friendships of the march, the bat- 
 tle grounds and the camp fires, as well as a desire to minister to 
 the wants of suffering brother soldiers and to relieve soldiers' 
 widows and orphans m distress, has been the main-spring of that 
 great organization. God speed your brotherhood, and may the 
 blessings of Heaven and the applause of a grateful people ever 
 attend you. 
 
 Fellow Citizens : It is an inspiring reflection that this 
 ceremony is a common one all over the land. This same cere- 
 ir.onial, at this hour, is being observed from Maine to the most 
 distaii* portion of our country, where loyalty can yet lift her 
 beneficent hand. Wherever has been the bloody track of war, 
 there has the nation erected and supports its Kational Cemetery. 
 The sun of each day flashes upon tens of thousands of snow- 
 white head-boards about our national Capital. As far almost as 
 th;j eye can survey they may be seen at Arlington in the so- 
 called sacred soil of Virginia. Thousands of them bear the 
 simple inscription of "Unknown." What a tale it tells. It is 
 only known that the occupant of the little earthly tenement fell 
 upon a field of carnage in our country's uniform. Many an 
 hour have I wandered among these graves of heroes, looking 
 out the names of the officers and men who conferred so much 
 honor upon Maine, God bless cur State of Maine ! Her sons 
 have given her an enviable name. She contributed seventy 
 thousand men to the war ; thousands of them never returned. 
 Our heroic dead help fill the graves of every battle-field. There 
 are names upon this monument as imperishable as the results 
 of the war itself; they will till a space in history after all of us 
 have passed away and the monument itself shall have wasted 
 into dust, for the t deeds they did are immortal. And when the 
 call came no part of our State sprang to arms with more alac- 
 rity than the freemen of the valley of the Penobscot. Who does
 
 714 MEMORIAL CEREMONIES 
 
 not recollect the emotions which filled his breast when first of 
 all others the gallant Second Maine started from Bangor for the 
 conflicts of the field ? Who will ever forget the partings we 
 had with the fellows of the noble Sixth and Eighteenth, who 
 with our other glorious regiments, were added to the " three 
 hundred thousand more," who went out to defend the power 
 and majesty of this great Eepublic ? I have been proud always, 
 away from home, to hear the praises accorded by all who knew 
 them to our Maine troops ; and no more honorable mention has 
 come to us than has been readily and eloquently bestowed by 
 the greatest among all living military chieftains Sheridan, 
 Sherman and Grant. Howard, among the living, and Berry 
 and Jameson among the dead, are known through all the States. 
 
 Inseparably connected with the associations of to-day, is the 
 name of the second father of his country, the martyred LINCOLN. 
 What an immense sacrifice the nation furnished upon the altar 
 of freedom, with the loss of a beloved President and three hun- 
 dred thousand men. But, fellow citizens, we can mingle on 
 this occasion some joy with our sorrows. Though we lost our 
 sons, thank God we won our cause ; and in spite of foes at 
 home' and abroad, we saved our country and Constitution, and 
 four millions of enslaved human beings have been set free ! 
 We have fought the good fight once, and we have fought it for- 
 ever. Nothing but our own supineness and folly can ever take 
 from us the glorious results of the war. Let this occasion, and 
 these scenes, and these emblems over the ashes of these defend- 
 ers of the Republic, ever remind us to be vigilant and active 
 and brave. Let our mottoes be Truth, Justice, and Equality, 
 and the heroes who died for us will never have been dis- 
 graced. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Grand Army, for your great interest and 
 service, in keeping bright the escutcheon of our country, in be- 
 half of this great assemblage, I again bid you God speed. 
 
 At the conclusion of Mr. Peters' remarks, a- benediction was 
 pronounced by the Chaplain, after which the services were 
 closed by the " National Hymn " by the Band. 
 
 The procession then marched again through the grounds, 
 and after a brief rest took up the line of march for the city, in- 
 stead of returning by rail as they went. 
 
 This gave a better opportunity for those who had gone up to 
 witness the ceremonies to return in the cars, which made three 
 trips before all were brought who wished to come by that 
 method of conveyance. It is estimated that about three thou- 
 sand persons were present, but had it been a pleasant day, more 
 than two or three times that number would have availed them-
 
 AT THE SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 715 
 
 selves of the opportunit}' of doing honor to the brave boys who 
 gave their lives for their country. 
 
 After the procession reached the city it inarched through 
 State, Essex, Somerset, Broadway, Hammond, High, Union, 
 and Main Streets, when it was dismissed. 
 
 The procession was under the direction of Gen. Daniel 
 "White, as Chief Marshal, assisted by Gen. Geo. Varney, Col. A. 
 B. Farnham, Captain Herman Bartlett, Lieut. D. C. Morrill 
 and Surgeon E. F. Sanger. 
 
 Thus closed the first celebration of the custom which will 
 become an annual one, of keeping in remembrance our heroic 
 dead, by visiting their resting-places in the season of flowers, 
 and decorating them with our floral tributes. Bancjor Courier.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ADRIAN, MICH 683-687 
 
 ALTON, ILL 415 
 
 AMHERST, MASS 227-229 
 
 ANDOVER, MASS 230 
 
 ARLINGTON, VA. 9-31 
 
 AURORA, ILL. 362-378 
 
 BALDWINSVILLE, N. Y 597 
 
 BALTIMORE, MD 66-75 
 
 BANGOR, ME 706-708 
 
 BEAVER DAM, Wis 661-662 
 
 BEREA, OHIO 517 
 
 BERLIN, Wis 660-661 
 
 BORDENTOWN, N. J. 603-605 
 
 BOSTON, MASS 110 
 
 BREWER, ME. * 706 
 
 BRIDGETON, K J 606-612 
 
 BRIGHTON, MASS 140-146 
 
 BRIMFIELD, OHIO, 456-460 
 
 BROOKLINE, MASS 127-130 
 
 BUNKER HILL, ILL 378-385 
 
 CADIZ, OHIO, 508-509 
 
 CAMBRIDGE, MASS 123-127 
 
 CAMDEN, N. J 612-614 
 
 CANTON, ILL 422-423 
 
 CARLISLE, PA. 283 
 
 CARROLL COUNTY, ILL 360-361 
 
 CATLETTSBURG. KY 560-561 
 
 CATTARAUGUS, PA : . . 335-336 
 
 CENTRALIA, ILL 419-422 
 
 CHARDON, OHIO, 501-507 
 
 CHARLESTON, S. C 101-1 10 
 
 ClIARLESTOWN, MASS 135-136 
 
 CHELSEA, MASS 130-135 
 
 CHESHIRE COUNTY, N. H 41 
 
 CHILLICOTHE, OHIO, 464-470 
 
 CINCINNATI, OHIO, 423-43 1 
 
 CLAREMONT, N. H 49-56 
 
 CLEVELAND, OHIO, 461-464 
 
 COLDWATER, MlCH 678-682
 
 718 INDEX. 
 
 COLUMBUS, IND. 522-524 
 
 CONNEAUTVILLE, PA 354 
 
 COREY, PA 327-330 
 
 CRESSONA, PA 345 
 
 CULPEPPEK, VA 31-34 
 
 DAYTOX, OHIO, 472-488 
 
 DECATUR, ILL 361-362 
 
 DEDHAM, MASS 248-253 
 
 DELHI, X. Y 595 
 
 DETROIT, MICH 667-670 
 
 DORCHESTER, MASS. 116-117 
 
 DUBUQUE, IOAVA, 566-569 
 
 EARLVILLE, X. Y ; 595 
 
 EATON, OHIO, '. 489-494 
 
 ELGIN, ILL 385-389 
 
 ERIE, PA 340-345 
 
 FALL RITER, MASS 198-212 
 
 FITCHBUKG, MASS 230 
 
 FRANKFORT, KY 540-546 
 
 FREDERICK, MD 75-79 
 
 FREMONT, OHIO, 438-446 
 
 GETTYSBURG, PA 324-327 
 
 GLOUCESTER MASS 222-227 
 
 GOSHEN, X. Y ,. 596 
 
 GROTON JUNCTION, MASS , 230-231 
 
 HAMPDEN, OHIO, 1 507 
 
 HARTFORD, CONN 96-98 
 
 HINGHAM, MASS 212-219 
 
 HUNTINGDON, PA 293-297 
 
 INDIANAPOLIS, IND 518-522 
 
 JERSEY CITJ, X. J 605-606 
 
 JERSEY SHORE, PA 283-293 
 
 JOLIET, ILL 395-402 
 
 KEENE, X. II 42-49 
 
 KENDUSKEAG, ME 705 
 
 KENOSHA, Wis 664-667 
 
 KENT, OHIO, 456-460 
 
 KINSMAN, OHIO, 489 
 
 LANCASTER, PA 281-282 
 
 LEXINGTON, KY 546-555 
 
 LOUISVILLE, KY 555-560 
 
 LOWELL, MASS .' 171-184 
 
 LYNN, MASS 151-162 
 
 MANSFIELD, OHIO, 470-472 
 
 MARE ISLAND, CAL 62-66 
 
 MARLBORO', MASS 246-247 
 
 MARLBORO', X. H 42 
 
 MARSHALL, 'Mice 670-678 
 
 MEDINA, OHIO, 495-496
 
 INDEX. 719 
 
 MEMPHIS, TENN 697-705 
 
 METAMORA, ILL. f 416-419 
 
 MIDDLEBUBG, PA 347-348 
 
 MIDDLE-TOWN, N. Y 588-591 
 
 MINERSVILLE, PA 322-324 
 
 MONROE, MICH 687-697 
 
 MOKRISVILLE, VT 79-88 
 
 MOUNT HOPE, ME 708-715 
 
 MOUNT HOPE CEMETERY, MASS 117-123 
 
 MOUNT PLEASANT, IOWA, 570-571 
 
 NAHANT, MASS 162 
 
 NANTUCKET, MASS 236-246 
 
 NATICK, MASS 149-151 
 
 NEW BEDFORD, MASS 188-198 
 
 NEW BERLIN, PA 348-349 
 
 .NEWBERN, N. C 271-277 
 
 NEW BUFFALO, PA 333-335 
 
 NEWBURG, N. Y 596-597 
 
 NEWBURYPORT, MASS 168 
 
 NEWCASTLE, PA 336-340 
 
 N i:w HAVEN, CONN 83-96 
 
 NEW ORLEANS, LA 630-642 
 
 NEWPORT, KY 561-566 
 
 NEWPORT, R. I 622-626 
 
 NEWTON, MASS 146-149 
 
 NEW YORK CITY, 577-586 
 
 NORWALK, CONN 98-100 
 
 NYACK, N. Y 594 
 
 OWATONNA, MINN 538-540 
 
 OXFORD, OHIO, 507-508 
 
 PALATINE, ILL. 422 
 
 PAOLA, KANSAS, 571-577 
 
 PARIS, ILL 402-415 
 
 PAWTUCKET, R. 1 628-630 
 
 PEEKSKILL, N. Y 594-595 
 
 PEORIA, ILL , 390-39 i 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, PA 277-281 
 
 PORT JERVIS, N. Y 595-596 
 
 PORTLAND, IND 524-531 
 
 POTTSTOWN, PA 331-333 
 
 POTTSVILLE, PA Sll-322 
 
 PROVIDENCE, R. I 615-622 
 
 QUINCY, ILL 394-395 
 
 RACINE, Wis 662-664 
 
 ^RALEIGH, N. C '.260-271 
 
 READING,' PA 303-311 
 
 ROXBURY, MASS 111-116 
 
 ROXBURY, N. H 42 
 
 ST. CLAIR, PA 331
 
 720 INDEX. 
 
 ST. JOSEPH, Mo 642-648 
 
 ST. Louis, Mo 648-655 
 
 SALEM, MASS t 162-168 
 
 SALEM, OHIO, 494-495 
 
 SANDUSKY, OHIO, 460-461 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO, CAL 58-62 
 
 SCHUYLKILL HAVEN, PA , 330 
 
 SHIPPENSBURG, PA 302-303 
 
 SOMERVILLE, MASS 136-140 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILL 354-359 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, 431-438 
 
 STEUBENVILLE, OHIO, 509-517 
 
 STOUGHTON, MASS 253-255 
 
 SlTRRY, N. H 42 
 
 SWANSEA CENTRE, N. H. 42 
 
 SYRACUSE, N. Y 591-593 
 
 TAUNTOK, MASS 184-188 
 
 TOLEDO, IOWA, 569-570 
 
 TOLEDO, OHIO, 499-501 
 
 TOWANDA, PA 349-354 
 
 TREMONT, PA 345-346 
 
 TRENTON, N. J 597-602 
 
 UXBRIDGE, MASS. 229 
 
 VALLEJO, CAL 62-66 
 
 WALTHAM, MASS 231-236 
 
 WARREN, OHIO, 446-456 
 
 WARSAW, MINN 531-538 
 
 WASHINGTON, PA. 297-302 
 
 WATERLOO, ILL 389-390 
 
 WATERLOO, N. Y. 593-594 
 
 WAUKESHA, Wis 655-660 
 
 WAYNESBURG, PA 333 
 
 WEATHERSFIELD, VT 56-58 
 
 WELLINGTON, OHIO 496-499 
 
 WEST CHESTER, PA 346-347 
 
 WEST FARMINGTON, OHIO, 488 
 
 WESTFIELD, ILL 416 
 
 WEST SWANSEA, N. H 42 
 
 WEYMOUTH, MASS 219-222 
 
 WHEELING, WEST VA 34-41 
 
 MINGTON, N". C 255-260 
 
 WOBURN, MASS 247-248 
 
 WOONSOCKET. R. 1 627-628 
 
 WORCESTER, MASS 236 
 
 YONKERS, N. Y 586-588 
 
 YORKTOWN, VA. *. . . 34
 
 NATIONAL ENCAMPMENT 
 GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, 
 
 THE YEAR, 18O8. 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN Commander-in-Chief Carbondale, Illinois. 
 
 JOSHUA T. OWEN S. V. Commander-in-Chief.. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Jos. R. HAWLEY J. V. Commander-in-Chief.. Hartford, Connecticut. 
 
 N. P. CHIFMAN Adjutant General Washington, Dist. Columbia. 
 
 ED. JARDINE Inspector General Jersey City, New Jersey. 
 
 T. C. CAMPBELL Quartermaster General Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 
 JOHN BELL Surgeon General Davenport, Iowa. 
 
 A. H. QUIXT. Chaplain New Bedford, Massachusetts. 
 
 WM. T. COLLINS Ass't Adjutant General Washington, Dist. Columbia. 
 
 J. W. SHAFFER Aid-de-Camp Freeport, Illinois. 
 
 CHARLES G. GOULD do Washington, Dist. Columbia. 
 
 ALLEN A. GRANT do Washington, Dist. Columbia. 
 
 JOHN F. WENTWORTH do Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 HARRY H. DAVIS do St. Glair, Pennsylvania. 
 
 W. F. WENTWORTH Council of Administration. ..Kittery, Maine, 
 
 D. J. VAUGIIAN clo Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 
 
 A. S. CUSHMAN do New Bedford, Massachusetts. 
 
 JAMES SHAW, Jr do Providence, Rhode Island. 
 
 E. W. WHITAKER do Hartford, Connecticut. 
 
 G. W. GUMMING do Newark, New Jersey. 
 
 T. B. GATES do Kingston, New York. 
 
 J. T. HAKTRANFT do Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 
 
 A. W. DEXIPON do Baltimore, Maryland. 
 
 N. P. CHIPMAN do Washington, Dist. Columbia. 
 
 H. B. BANNING do Mount Vernon, Ohio. 
 
 CHARLES CRAFT do Terre Haute, Indiana. 
 
 JULIUS WHITE do Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 WILLIAM PHELPS do Detroit, Michigan. 
 
 T. J. SAUNDERS do Davenport, Iowa. 
 
 J. ARTHUR EGE do Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
 
 721
 
 722 OFFICERS AND DELEGATES 
 
 JOHN A. MARTIN Council of Administration. .Atchison, Kansas. 
 
 T. C. FLETCHEE do Jefferson City, Missouri. 
 
 H. D. GRANT do Nashville, Tennessee. 
 
 H. C. WARMOCTH do New Orleans, Louisiana. 
 
 J. K. PROUDFIT do Madison, Wisconsin. 
 
 Locis WAGNER Ass't Inspector General Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
 WM. W. DOUGLASS do Providence, Rhode Island. 
 
 THOMAS W. BENNETT do Liberty, Indiana. 
 
 A. S. CUSHMAN do New Bedford, Massachusetts. 
 
 A. RUTHERFORD do Wilmington, North Carolina. 
 
 B. F. POTTS do Carrollton, Ohio. 
 
 H. A. SHOREY do Bath, Maine. 
 
 RICHARD MIDDLETOK do , Washington, Dist. Columbia. 
 
 H. L. TAYLOR do Olantha, Kansas. 
 
 F. G. WENTWORTH do Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 
 
 T. McKiNLEY do Gallatin, Tennessee. 
 
 DANIEL GRASS do St. Francisville, Illinois. 
 
 JAMES B. McKEAN do Saratoga Springs, New York. 
 
 HARRISON ADREON do Baltimore, Maryland. 
 
 DANIEL S. KENT do Wilmington, Delaware. 
 
 E. A. MONTOOTH do Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 
 
 B. F. MORGAK do New York, N. Y. 
 
 FENTON ROCKWELL do Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
 
 B. P. LARNED do Norwich, Connecticut. 
 
 THOMAS J. BLAKENY do Sacramento, California. 
 
 J. W. STANTON do Central City, Colorado. 
 
 E. W. EVERSON do Charleston, South Carolina. 
 
 JOHN H. STOUT do Santa F6, New Mexico. 
 
 H. K. MILLWARD do Lexington, Kentucky. 
 
 WILLARD WARNER do Montgomery, Alabama. 
 
 EVAN R. JONES do Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 
 
 TIMOTHY LCBEY do Washington, Dist. Columbia. 
 
 W. J. HANDY do Detroit, Michigan. 
 
 CHAS. MERRITT do New Orleans, Louisiana. 
 
 GEORGE P. FOSTER do Wolcott, Vermont. 
 
 O. L. SPAULDING do St. Johns, Michigan. 
 
 GEORGE L. BEAL Delegate Department of Maine. 
 
 A. B. FARNHAM , do Department of Maine. 
 
 T. W. HYDE do Department of Maine. 
 
 A. P. HARRIS do Department of Maine. 
 
 EDWARD MOORE do Department of Maine. 
 
 W. F. WENTWORTH do Department of Maine. 
 
 EDWARD HARLAND do Department of Connecticut. 
 
 W. H. MALLORY do Department of Connecticut. 
 
 It. N. MIDDLEBROOK do Department of Connecticut. 
 
 W. H. NOBLE do Department of Connecticut. 
 
 W. E. SIMONS do Department of Connecticut.
 
 GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC. 723 
 
 C. L. UPHAM Delegate Department of Connecticut. 
 
 A. W. ANGELL do Department of New Jersey. 
 
 GEORGE B. HALSTED do Department of New Jersey. 
 
 ED. JARDINE do Department of New Jersey. 
 
 A. SEARS do Department of New Jersey. 
 
 W. S. STRYKER do Department of New Jersey. 
 
 M. T. BELTON do Department of N. Hampshire. 
 
 J. H. KENT do Department of N. Hampshire. 
 
 F. G. WENTWORTH do Department of N. Hampshire. 
 
 A. S. CUSHMAN do Department of Massachusetts. 
 
 A. A. GOODELL do Department of Massachusetts. 
 
 W. B. MELDON do Department of Massachusetts. 
 
 L. E. STUABT do Department of Massachusetts. 
 
 N. W. DOUGLASS do Department of Ehode Island. 
 
 T. W. HIGGINSON do Department of Rhode Island. 
 
 JAMES SHAW, Jr do Department of Rhode Island. 
 
 WILLIAM: SPRAGUE ,do Department of Rhode Island. 
 
 C. H. TOMPKINS do Department of Rhode Island. 
 
 N. G. AXTELL do Department of New York. 
 
 H. A. BARNUM do Department of New York. 
 
 M. B. ELDRIDGE do Department of New York. 
 
 M. L. FILKINS do Department of New York. 
 
 J. M. GEER do Department of New York. 
 
 FERRIS JACOBS do Department of New York, 
 
 JAMES B. McKEAN do Department of New York. 
 
 B. T. MORGAN do Department of New York. 
 
 GEORGE W. PALMER.... do Department of New York. 
 
 D. F. RICHIE do Department of New York 
 
 L. H. ROBERTS do Department of New York. 
 
 DANIEL E. SICKLES do Department of New York. 
 
 C. B. WINSLOW do Department of New York. 
 
 T. B. GATES do Department of New York. 
 
 J. T. HARTRANFT do ..Department of Pennsylvania. 
 
 J. T. OWENS do Department of Pennsylvania. 
 
 A. L. PIERSON do Department of Pennsylvania. 
 
 C. McMicHAEL ..do Department of Pennsylvania. 
 
 E. A. MONTOOTH do Department of Pennsylvania. 
 
 J. F. MEREDITH do Department of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Louis WAGNER do Department of Pennsylvania. 
 
 W. M. WORRELL do Department of Pennsylvania. 
 
 A.W. DESISON do Department of Maryland. 
 
 W. 0. BIGELOW do Department of Maryland. 
 
 W. P. PARASINE do Department of Maryland. 
 
 F. W. SIMDEN dp Department of Maryland. 
 
 A. H. GRIMSHAW do Department of Delaware. 
 
 THOMAS G. BLACK do Department of Delaware. 
 
 JAMES LEWIS do Department of Delaware.
 
 724 OFFICERS AND DELEGATES 
 
 J. S. VALENTINE Delegate Department of Delaware. 
 
 N. P. CHIPMAN do Department of Potomac. 
 
 RICHARD MIBDLETON do Department of Potomac. 
 
 TIMOTHY LUBEY do Department of Potomac. 
 
 H. S. MERRILL do Department of Virginia. 
 
 M. H. FITCH do Department of Wisconsin. 
 
 T. REYNOLDS do Department of Wisconsin. 
 
 H. A. STARR do..... Department of Wisconsin. 
 
 F. C. WINCKLER do Department of Wisconsin. 
 
 THEO. AUTENREITH do Department of Ohio. 
 
 JAMES BARNETT do Department of Ohio. 
 
 T. C. CAMPBELL do Department of Ohio. 
 
 B. W. FEREE do Department of Ohio. 
 
 M. P. GADDIS do Department of Ohio. 
 
 J. R. HURD do Department of Ohio. 
 
 H. B. JONES do Department of Ohio. 
 
 D. W. C. LOUDON do Department of Ohio. 
 
 B. F. MILLER do Department of Ohio. 
 
 G. W. RAMAGE do Department of Ohio. 
 
 J. W. SANDERSON do Department of Ohio. 
 
 W. M. AMPT do Department of Ohio. 
 
 G. M. BARNES do Department of Ohio. 
 
 E. T. DUNN do Department of Ohio. 
 
 A. S. FRAZIER do Department of Ohio. 
 
 B. F. HAWKES do Department of Ohio. 
 
 J. HUNT do Department of Ohio. 
 
 J. F. LONGSWORTH do Department of Ohio. 
 
 T. J. LAWTON do Department of Ohio. 
 
 J. C. MOON do Department of Ohio. 
 
 J. A. SHANNON do Department of Ohio. 
 
 W. R. WARNOCE do Department of Ohio. 
 
 H. B. BANNING do Department of Ohio. 
 
 GEORGE L. CHILDS do Department of Ohio. 
 
 C. W. EARNSHAW do Department of Ohio. 
 
 F. H. GOODMAN do Department of Ohio. 
 
 JOSIAH GIVEN do Department of Ohio. 
 
 H. E. JONES do Department of Ohio. 
 
 J. W. LINDSLEY do Department of Ohio. 
 
 F. MILLER do Department of Ohio. 
 
 A. S. MC.CLURE do Department of Ohio. 
 
 CHARLES STEADMAN do Department of Ohio. 
 
 L. T. SCOFIELD do Department of Ohio. 
 
 COATES KINNEY do Department of Ohio. 
 
 C. M. ALLEN, Jr do Department of Indiana. 
 
 JOHN COBURN do Department of Indiana. 
 
 M. C. HUNTER do Department of Indiana. 
 
 G. W. LAMBERT do Department of Indiana.
 
 GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC. 725 
 
 J. P. C. SHANKES Delegate Department of Indiana. 
 
 QEOEtiE C. liAKER do Department of Indiana. 
 
 T. W. McCoy do Department of Indiana. 
 
 J. *'. BENNETT do Department of Indiana. 
 
 AMI: F.I: LAIN do Department of Indiana. 
 
 >~ATU. KIMBALL do Department of Indiana. 
 
 R. N. LA MI: do Department of Indiana. 
 
 H. D. WASHBURN do Department of Indiana. 
 
 THOMAS W. BENNETT do Department of Indiana. 
 
 J. BOLLINGER do .Department of Indiana. 
 
 Mir.o HASCALL do Department of Indiana. 
 
 R. H. LITSEN do Department of Indiana. 
 
 JAMES B. MULKEV do Department of Indiana. 
 
 H. L. ROYCE do Department of Indiana. 
 
 T. M. BROWN do Department of Indiana. 
 
 0. M. WILSON do Department of Indiana. 
 
 W. C. WILSON do Department of Indiana. 
 
 BENJAMIN SPOONER do Department of Indiana. 
 
 J. M. BEARDSLEY do Department of Illinois. 
 
 JOHN COOK do Department of Illinois. 
 
 A. ENO.LEMAN do Department of Illinois. 
 
 J. F. FARNSXVORTH do Department of Illinois. 
 
 G. L. FOOT do Department of Illinois. 
 
 A. C. HARDING do Department of Illinois. 
 
 R. M. HOUGH do Department of Illinois. 
 
 J. M. HAYNIE do Department of Illinois. 
 
 C. E. LIPPENCOTT do Department of Illinois. 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN do Department of Illinois. 
 
 T. S. MATHER do Department of Illinois. 
 
 J. rf. MARTIN do Department of Illinois. 
 
 T. 0. OSBORN do Department of Illinois. 
 
 J. M. PALMER do Department of Illinois. 
 
 E. KITCHELL do Department of Illinois. 
 
 R. ROWETT do Department of Illinois. 
 
 Louis SCHAFFNER do Department of Illinois. 
 
 ROBERT W. SMITH do Department of Illinois. 
 
 JOHN (J. SMITH do Department of Illinois. 
 
 GEORGE P. SMITH do Department of Illinois. 
 
 J. W. SHAFFER do Department of Illinois. 
 
 M. J. SHERIDAN do Department of Illinois. 
 
 T. M. THOMPSON do Department of Illinois. 
 
 W. M. TAYLOR do ..Department of Illinois. 
 
 JULIUS WHITE do Department of Illinois. 
 
 J. SMITH do Department of Illinois. 
 
 J. SCULL do ...Department of Illinois. 
 
 L. G. INGERSOLL do Department of Illinois. 
 
 J. M. TRUE do Department of Illinois.
 
 726 OFFICERS AND DELEGATES. 
 
 M. SHEPHERD ...Delegate Department of Illinois. 
 
 ("i. B. RAMM do Department of Illinois. 
 
 ' JIARLES ODELL do Department of Illinois. 
 
 L. W. SHEPHERD do Department of Illinois. 
 
 JONATHAN MORRIS do Department of Illinois. 
 
 HAY : do Department of Illinois. 
 
 JOHN M. SNYDER.. do Department of Illinois. 
 
 W. J. HANDY do Department of Michigan. 
 
 WILLIAM PHELPS do Department of Michigan. 
 
 X. B. BAKER do Department of Michigan. 
 
 luiix BELL do Department of Iowa. 
 
 C. L. MATTHIAS do Department of Iowa. 
 
 THOMAS J. SAUNDERS do Department of Iowa. 
 
 'WILLIAM VANDEVEER do Department of Iowa. 
 
 J. A. WILLIAMSON do .Department of Iowa. 
 
 WILLIAM T. COLLINS do Department of Minnesota. 
 
 J. E. DOUGHTY do Department of Minnesota. 
 
 J. A. EGE do Department of Minnesota. 
 
 YL. F. KELLY do Department of Minnesota. 
 
 JAMES G. BLOUNT do Department of Kansas. 
 
 W. F. MOOREHOUSE do ..Department of Kansas. 
 
 C. B. FISKE do Department of Missouri. 
 
 J. J. GRAVELLY do Department of Missouri. 
 
 J. H. HAMMOND do Department of Missouri. 
 
 JOHN McNEiL do Department of Missouri. 
 
 P. H. MURPHY do Department of Missouri. 
 
 WILLIAM A. PILE do Department of Missouri. 
 
 F. ROBERSON . do Department of Missouri. 
 
 D. W. GLASSES do Department of Tennessee. 
 
 H. D. GRANT do Department of Tennessee. 
 
 F. W. SPARLING do Department of Tennessee. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MAINE, 1868. 
 
 GEORGE L. BEAL Grand Commander Norway, Maine. 
 
 THOMAS W. HYDE S. V. Grand Commander.... Bath, Maine. 
 
 A. B. FARNHAM J. V. Grand Commander.... Bangor, Maine. 
 
 CHARLES P. MATTOCKS. Assistant Adjutant General.Portland, Maine. 
 
 J. C. CALDWELL Ass't Inspector General Ellsworth, Maine. 
 
 II. A. SHOREY. Ass't Q. M. General Bath, Maine. 
 
 E. F. SANGER Ass't Surgeon General Bangor, Maine. 
 
 S. H. MERRILL Chaplain Portland, Maine, 
 
 M. F. WENTWORTH Council of Admimstration..Kittery, Maine. 
 
 GUSTAVUS MOORE do Gardiner, Maine. 
 
 J. S. FAUNCE do Lewiston, Maine. 
 
 E. F. SANGER do Bangor, Maine. 
 
 J. C. CALDWELL do Ellsworth, Maine.
 
 GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC. 727 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1868. 
 
 WILLIAM R. PATTEN.. .Grand Commander Manchester, New Hampshire. 
 
 D. J. VAUGHAN S. V. Grand Commander.. ..Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 
 
 W. P. MOSES J. V. Grand Commander.... Great Falls, New Hampshire. 
 
 SAMUEL F. MURRAY. ..Ass't Adjutant General Manchester, New Hampshire. 
 
 LUTHER E. WALLACE... Ass't Q,. M. General Manchester, New Hampshire. 
 
 A. H. BIXBY Ass't Inspector General Francistown, N. Hampshire. 
 
 THOMAS SANBORN Ass't Surgeon General Newport, New Hampshire. 
 
 JAMES F. LOVERIXG.... Chaplain Concord, New Hampshire. 
 
 JAMES E. LARKIN Council of Administration... Concord, New Hampshire. 
 
 HENRY B. WHEELER do Pennington, New Hampshire. 
 
 SOLON A. CARTER do Keene, New Hampshire. 
 
 H. B. ATHERTON do Nashua, New Hampshire. 
 
 CHARLES SCOTT do Peterboro, New Hampshire. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VERMONT, 1868. 
 
 GEORGE P. FOSTER Grand Commander Wolcott, Vermont. 
 
 WILLIAM W. HENRY.. .8. V. Grand Commander.... Waterbury, Vermont. 
 
 L. H. BIRBEE J. V. Grand Commander.... Newport, Vermont. 
 
 C. J. LEWIS Ass't Adjutant General Morrisville, Vermont. 
 
 F. E. SMITH Ass't Q. M. General Montpelier, Vermont. 
 
 HENRY JAMES Ass't Surgeon General Waterbury, Vermont. 
 
 II. W. FLOYD Ass't Inspector General Springfield, Vermont. 
 
 H. WEBSTER Chaplain Cambridge, Vermont. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS, 1868. 
 
 A. B. R. SPRAGUE Grand Commander Worcester, Massachusetts. 
 
 GEORGE H. PIERSON....S. V. Grand Commander.. ..Salem, Massachusetts. 
 
 MASON W. BURT J. V. Grand Commander.... Taunton, Massachusetts. 
 
 THOMAS SHERWIN, Jr.. .Ass't Adjutant General Boston, Massachusetts. 
 
 H. J. HALLGP.EEN Ass't Q. M. General Boston, Massachusetts. 
 
 E. P. HALSTEAD Asa't Inspector General Worcester, Massachusetts. 
 
 J. MARCUS RICE Ass't Surgeon General Worcester, Massachusetts. 
 
 N. M. GAYLORD Chaplain Boston, Massachusetts. 
 
 W. G. SCANDLIN Councilof Administration.. .Grafton, Massachusetts. 
 
 H. C. LEE do Springfield, Massachusetts. 
 
 F. A. OSBORN do Boston, Massachusetts. 
 
 WILLIAM S. COBB do New Bedford, Massachusetts. 
 
 H. R. SIBLEY do Charlestown, Massachusetts. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF RHODE ISLAND, 1868. 
 
 A. E. BURNSIDE Grand Commander Providence, Rhode Island. 
 
 WILLIAM AMES S. V. Grand Commander.... Providence, Rhode Island.
 
 728 DEPARTMENT OFFICERS 
 
 THOMAS Fox J. V. Grand Commander.... East Greenwich, R. Island. 
 
 HENRY ALLEN Ass't Adjutant General Providence, Rhode Island. 
 
 WM. H. REYNOLDS Ass't Q. M. General Providence, Rhode Island. 
 
 HOWARD W. KING Ass't Surgeon General Providence, Rhode Island. 
 
 L. D. JENCKES Ass't Inspector General Woonsooket, Rhode Island. 
 
 CHARLES MORGAN Council of Admmistration...Providence, Rhode Island. 
 
 T. W. HIGGINSON do Newport, Rhode Island. 
 
 JOHN M. BARKER do Providence, Rhode Island. 
 
 J. L. SHERMAN do Providence, Rhode Island. 
 
 JOHN AIGAN do Central Falls, Rhode Island. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CONNECTICUT, 1868. 
 
 THEO. G. ELLIS Grand Commander Hartford, Connecticut. 
 
 CHARLES L. UPAAM S. V. Grand Commander.. ..Meriden, Connecticut. 
 
 WM. H. MALLORY J. V. Grand Commander.... Bridgeport, Connecticut. 
 
 ROBERT H. KELLOGG. ..Ass't Adjutant General Hartford, Connecticut. 
 
 L. A. DICKERSON Ass't Q. M. General Hartford, Connecticut. 
 
 O. W. PECK Ass't Surgeon General New Haven, Connecticut. 
 
 B. P. LARNED Asa't Inspector General New London, Connecticut. 
 
 H. CLAY TRUMBULL.... Chaplain Hartford, Connecticut. 
 
 NATH. MAYER Council of Administration...Hartford, Connecticut. 
 
 J. J. WOOLLEY do Meriden, Connecticut. 
 
 JOHN E. WARD do Norwich, Connecticut. 
 
 L. X. MIDDLEBROOK do Bridgeport, Connecticut. 
 
 J. G. PERKINS do Hartford, Connecticut. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NEW YORK, 1868. 
 
 DANIEL E. SICKLES Grand Commander.-. New York, New York. 
 
 JAMES M. GEER S. V. Grand Commander.... Belle Isle, New York. 
 
 BRADLEY WINSLOW J. V. Grand Commander.... Watertown, New York. 
 
 JAMES L. FARLEY Ass't Adjutant General Brooklyn, New York. 
 
 E. E. KENDRICK, Jr.. ..Ass't Inspector General New York, New York. 
 
 GEORGE F. HOPPER Ass't Q. M. General New York, New York. 
 
 E. HUTCHINSON Ass't Surgeon General Utica, New York. 
 
 H. E. TREMAINE... Ass't Judge Adv. General... New York, New York. 
 
 WM. OLAND BOURNE... Chaplain New York, New York. 
 
 WILLIAM DELAOY Council of Administration.. .Brooklyn, New York. 
 
 GEORGE W. WARREN do Albany, New York. 
 
 JOHN W. MAXWELL do New York, New York. 
 
 JOHN B.WEBER do 
 
 JOHN P. SHORT do 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NEW JERSEY, 1868. 
 
 ED. JARDINE Grand Commander Jersey City,, New Jersey. 
 
 S. V. Grand Commander.... , New Jersey.
 
 GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC. 729 
 
 WM. S. STRYKER J. V. Grand Commander.... Trenton, New Jersey. 
 
 HENRY G. SHAW Ass't Adjutant General 
 
 F. T. FARRIER Ass't Q. M. General Jersey City, New Jersey. 
 
 R. H. LEE Council of Administration New Jersey. 
 
 F. SHALLENBERGER do New Jersey. 
 
 L. T. BEAST do New Jersey. 
 
 H. M. FAGIN do New Jersey. 
 
 M. T. DWYER do New Jersey. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA, 1868. 
 
 A. L. PIERSON Grand Commander Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 
 
 JAMES SELFRIDGE S. V. Grand Commander.... Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. 
 
 W. M. WORRELL J. V. Grand Commander.... Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
 W. B. COOK Ass't Adjutant General Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 
 
 0. M. K. STORRIE Ass't Inspector General Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
 
 WM. J. MACKEY Ass't Q. M. General Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
 JAMES MOOREHEAD Chaplain Pennsylvania. 
 
 S.B.WYLIE MITCHELL.. Ass't Surgeon General Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
 J. R. OXLEY Council of Administration Pennsylvania. 
 
 E. A. MONTOOTH do Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 
 
 A:. PATTERSON do Pennsylvania. 
 
 F. DUKE do Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
 GEORGEF. SMITH do West Chester, Pennsylvania. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DELAWARE, 1868. 
 
 A. H. GRIMSHAW Provisional Commander Wilmington, Delaware. 
 
 W. H. CLEWARD Ass't Adjutant General Wilmington, Delaware. 
 
 C. B BONEY Ass't Q. M. General Wilmington, Delaware. 
 
 WILLIAM GREENE Aid-de-Camp Wilmington, Delaware. 
 
 JOHN DUNN do Wilmington, Delaware. 
 
 WILLIAM BOWEN do Wilmington, Delaware. 
 
 J. P. WALES do Wilmington, Delaware. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MARYLAND, 1868. 
 
 A. W. DENISON Grand Commander Baltimore, Maryland. 
 
 E. Y. GOLDSBOROUGH...S. V. Grand Commander Frederick, Maryland. 
 
 W. 0. BIGP:LOW J. V. Grand Commander Annapolis, Maryland. 
 
 CHAS. H. RICHARDSON.. .Ass't Adjutant General Baltimore, Maryland. 
 
 S. E. B. WOLFE Ass't Q. M. General Baltimore, Maryland. 
 
 M. W. OFFLEY Aid-de-Camp Baltimore, Maryland. 
 
 C. F. HOWES Council of Administration.. .Annapolis, Maryland. 
 
 H. RIZER do Cumberland, Maryland. 
 
 ISADORE OLIVER do Baltimore, Maryland. 
 
 E. F. M. FAEHTZ do Baltimore, Maryland. 
 
 H. F. MEYER do Baltimore, Maryland.
 
 730 DEPARTMENT OFFICERS 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VIRGINIA, 1868. 
 
 GEORGE T. EGBERT Provisional Commander Richmond, Virginia. 
 
 C. DEYBER Ass't Adjutant General Richmond, Virginia. 
 
 H. P. CLINTON Ass't Q. M. General Richmond, Virginia. 
 
 H. S. MERRILL Ass't Inspector General Richmond, Virginia. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NORTH CAROLINA, 1868. 
 
 J. "W. SCHENCK, Jr Provisional Commander Wilmington, North Carolina. 
 
 J. C. MANN Ass't Adjutant General Wilmington, North Carolina. 
 
 S. H. MANNING Ass't Q. M. General Wilmington, North Carolina. 
 
 BENJAMIN DURFEE Aid-de-Camp Wilmington, North Carolina. 
 
 W. L. VANDERWATER do Wilmington, North Carolina. 
 
 H. H.WALTON do Wilmington, North Carolina. 
 
 OFFICER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1868. 
 
 E. W. EVERSON ,. Provisional Commander Columbia, South Carolina. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF GEORGIA, 1868. 
 
 J. E. BRYANT Provisional Commander Augusta, Georgia. 
 
 J.W.BARNEY Ass't Adjutant General Atlanta, Georgia. 
 
 OFFICER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FLORIDA, 1868. 
 
 CHARLES MUNDEE Provisional Commander Tallahassee, Florida. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ALABAMA, 1868. 
 
 C. CABLE, Jr Provisional Commander Selma, Alabama. 
 
 GEO. H. PATRICK..; Asa't Adjutant General Montgomery, Alabama. 
 
 H.C.ARTHUR Ass't Q. M. General Montgomery, Alabama. 
 
 GEO. A. HARMONT Aid-de-Camp Montgomery, Alabama. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LOUISIANA, 1868. 
 
 H. C. WARMOUTH Grand Commander New Orleans, Louisiana. 
 
 F. E.DUMAS S. V. C-and Commander.... New Orleans, Louisiana. 
 
 L. A. SUAER J. V. Grand Commander.... New Orleans, Louisiana. 
 
 GEO. E. YARRINGTON... Ass't Adjutant General New Orleans, Louisiana. 
 
 OTTO JOHNSON Ass't Q. M. General New Orleans, Louisiana. 
 
 P. B. S. PINCHBAEK Council of Administration.. .New Orleans, Louisiana. 
 
 CYRUS HAMLIN do New Orleans, Louisiana. 
 
 N. BACHUS do New Orleans, Louisiana. 
 
 ED. TINCHAKT do New Orleans, Louisiana. 
 
 OSWALD REID do New Orleans, Louisiana.
 
 GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC. 731 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF TEXAS, 1868. 
 
 E. J. DAVIS Provisional Commander Austin, Texas. 
 
 A. J. BENNETT ......Ass't Adjutant General Austin, Texas. 
 
 H.C. HUNT Ass't Inspector General Austin, Texas. 
 
 W. D. PRICE Ass't Q. M. General Austin, Texas. 
 
 HAE Chaplain Austin, Texas. 
 
 L. G. BROWN Council of Administration.. .Austin, Texas. 
 
 A. II. LOXGLEY do Austin, Texas. 
 
 F. A. YAUGHAX do Austin, Texas. 
 
 OFFICER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ARKANSAS, 1868. 
 M. L. STEPHEXSOX Provisional Commander Fort Smith, Arkansas. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI, 1868. 
 
 ROBERT J. ROMBAUER.. Grand Commander St. Louis, Missouri. 
 
 J.W. McC.uiY S. V. Grand Commander Linn Creek, Missouri. 
 
 WILLIAM A. PILE J. V. Grand Commander St. Louis, Missouri. 
 
 CHARLES V. SODEN Ass't Adjutant General St. Louis, Missouri. 
 
 A. ALBERT Ass't Inspector General St. Louis, Missouri. 
 
 PHILIP Mi'Ei-ur Ass't Q. M. General St. Louis, Missouri. 
 
 Jos. SPIEGELUALTER... Ass't Surgeon General St. Louis, Missouri. 
 
 FRANCIS ROMER Chaplain St. Louis, Missouri. 
 
 JOHN S. CAVEXI>EK Council of Administration...St. Louis, Missouri. 
 
 JOHN McFALL do St. Louis, Missouri. 
 
 G. FIXKLEXBURG do St. Louis, Missouri. 
 
 E. L. Kixo do Jefferson City, Missouri. 
 
 D. P. DYER do Louisiana, Missouri. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF IOWA, 1868. 
 
 W. T. SHAW Grand Commander Anamosa, Iowa. 
 
 JOHX Biii'CE S. V. Grand Commander Keokuk, Iowa. 
 
 JOSEPH LYMAX J. V. Grand Commander Council Blufls, Iowa. 
 
 A. H. BROOKS Ass't Adjutant General Davenport, Iowa. 
 
 A. F. ANDREWS Ass't Q. M. General Davenport, Iowa. 
 
 E. P. TEN BRECK Council of Administration.. .Clinton, Iowa. 
 
 C. V. GARDNER do Marengo, Iowa. 
 
 WILLIAM HOMER do Burlington, Iowa. 
 
 A. M. HEDKICK do Ottumwa, Iowa. 
 
 S. II. M. BYEIIS do Oskaloosa, Iowa. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ILLINOIS, 1868. 
 
 Jonx M. PALMER Grand Commander Springfield, Illinois. 
 
 THOMAS 0. OSBORXE...S. V. Grand Commander Chicago, Illinois.
 
 732 DEPARTMENT OFFICERS 
 
 A. INGLEMAIT J. V. Grand Commander Belleview, Illinois. 
 
 S. D. SCHOLES Ass't Adjutant General Springfield, Illinois. 
 
 DANIEL GEASS Ass't Inspector General St. Francisville, Illinois. 
 
 P. W. HARTS Ass't Q,. M. General Springfield, Illinois. 
 
 JOHN M. TRUE Council of Administration.. .Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 LEWIS SCHAFFNER do Freeport, Illinois. 
 
 J.W. SHAFFER, do Quincy, Illinois. 
 
 JOHN TILLSON do Shawneetown, Illinois. 
 
 FRANK RHOADES do Illinois. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF INDIANA, 1868. 
 
 R. S. FOSTER Grand Commander Indianapolis, Indiana. 
 
 CHARLES CRAFT S. V. Grand Commander Terra Haute, Indiana. 
 
 GEORGE HUMPHREY.... J. V. Grand Commander Fort Wayne, Indiana. 
 
 THOMAS W. BENNETT.. .Ass't Inspector General Liberty, Indiana. 
 
 S.MERRILL Ass't Q. M. General Indianapolis, Indiana. 
 
 0. M. WILSON Ass't Adjutant General Indianapolis, Indiana. 
 
 L. D. WATERMAN Ass't Surgeon General Indianapolis, Indiana. 
 
 L. H. JAMERSON Chaplain Indianapolis, Indiana. 
 
 NATHAN KIMBALL Council of Administration.. .Indianapolis, Indiana. 
 
 WALTER Q. G-RAHAM do New Albany, Indiana. 
 
 GEORGE W. LAMBERT do Terra Haute, Indiana. 
 
 JOHN R. CRAVENS do Madison, Indiana. 
 
 THOMAS M. BROWNE do Winchester, Indiana. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF OHIO, 1868. 
 
 J. WARREN KEIFER.... Grand Commander Springfield, Ohio. 
 
 GUSTAVE TAFEL S. V. Grand Commander Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 
 JOHN S. JONES J. V. Grand Commander Delaware, Ohio. 
 
 WILLIAM J. WINTER.. ..Ass't Adjutant General Springfield, Ohio. 
 
 G. W. COLLIER Ass't Inspector General Toledo, Ohio. 
 
 A. C. DUEL Ass't Q. M. General Urbana, Ohio. 
 
 T. D. WEBB Ass't Surgeon General Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 
 H. K. McCoNNELL Chaplain Yellow Springs, Ohio. 
 
 FREDERICK MILLER. ...Council of Administration. ..Marietta, Ohio. 
 
 JAJIES S. MCCORNMON do Chillicothe, Ohio 
 
 ASHLEY BROWN do Dayton, Ohio. 
 
 T. C. CAMPBELL do Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 
 JOSIAH GIVENS do Wooster, Ohio. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE, 1868. 
 
 F. W. SPARLING Provisional Commander Nashville, Tennessee. 
 
 WILLIAM GRAY Ass't Adjutant General Nashville, Tennessee. 
 
 A. E. ALDEN Ass't Inspector General Nashville, Tennessee.
 
 GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC. 733 
 
 A. S. CIIABBURNE Ass't Q. M. General Nashville, Tennessee. 
 
 J. A. FUSON As't Surgeon General Nashville, Tennessee. 
 
 D. W. GASSIE AiJ-de-Camp Nashville, Tennessee. 
 
 DANIEL BOYNTON do Nashville, Tennessee. 
 
 JOHN ,S. MI-LUNS do Tennessee. 
 
 J. UAMPBRIGDON Chaplain Tennessee. 
 
 WILLIAM P. INNIS Council of Administration Tennessee. 
 
 MICHAEL WALSH do Tennessee. 
 
 B. J. SHERIDAN do Tennessee. 
 
 MARCUS GRANT do Tennessee. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF KENTUCKY, 1868. 
 
 H. K. MILLWAED Provisional Commander Lexington, Kentucky. 
 
 G. CLAY GOODLOE Ass't Adjutant General Lexington, Kentucky. 
 
 WILLIAM BRIGHT Ass't Q. M. General Lexington, Kentucky. 
 
 J. E. SAYRES Council of Administration. ..Covington, Kentucky. 
 
 J. D. EATON Council of Administration. .Covington, Kentucky. 
 
 W. W. CULBERTSON do Buena Vista Furnace, Ky. 
 
 J. F. LAWRENCE do Catlettsburg, Kentucky. 
 
 WILLIAM BODEN do Newport, Kentucky. 
 
 CHARLES A GILL Akl-de-Carnp Louisville, Kentucky. 
 
 W. J. ALEXANDER do Covington, Kentucky. 
 
 GEORGE A. KNIGHT do Catlettsburg, Kentucky. 
 
 J. W. H. SEARLES do Covington, Kentucky. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MINNESOTA, 1868. 
 
 H. G. HICKS Grand Commander Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
 
 WILLIAM T. COLLINS. ..S. V. Grand Commander St. Cloud, Minnesota. 
 
 A. B. WEBBER J. V. Grand Commander Owatonna, Minnesota. 
 
 0. L. DUDLEY Assistant Adjutant General. Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
 
 J. C. HAMILTON Assistant Q. M. General Owatonna, Minnesota. 
 
 J. B. McGAUGiiEY Assistant Surgeon General. .Winona, Minnesota. 
 
 F. A. CONWELL Chaplain Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
 
 FRANK E. DAGGETT... .Council of Administration. .Wabasha, Minnesota. 
 
 G. W. SHERMAN do Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
 
 FRANK J. MEAD do Shakopee, Minnesota. 
 
 J. A. McDouGALL do Wabasha, Minnesota. 
 
 WILLIAM LOCHRAN do St. Anthony, Minnesota. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF WISCONSIN, 1868. 
 
 THOMAS S. ALLEN Grand Commander Madison, Wisconsin. 
 
 EDWARD FERGUSON S. V. Grand Commander.... Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 
 
 N. 0. ADAMS J. V. Grand Commander.... Sheboygan, Wisconsin. 
 
 JAMES M. BULL Assistant Adjutant General.Madison, Wisconsin.
 
 734 DEPARTMENT OFFICERS. 
 
 CHARLES G. MAYERS... Assistant Q. M. General Madison, Wisconsin. 
 
 A. J. McCoy Ass't Inspector General Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. 
 
 J. B. G. BAXTER Assistant Surgeon GeneraLSheboygan Falls, Wisconsin. 
 
 D. A. PECK Chaplain Waupaca, Wisconsin. 
 
 M. H. SESSIONS Council of Administration.. Waupaca, Wisconsin. 
 
 J. 0. BARTLETT do Eacine, Wisconsin. 
 
 W. J. HERSHAW do Friendship, Wisconsin. 
 
 H. B. HENSHAW do Oshkosh, Wisconsin. 
 
 J. A. WATROUS do Black River Falls, Wisconsin. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MICHIGAN, 1868. 
 
 W. A. THROOP Grand Commander Detroit, Michigan. 
 
 0. B. CURTIS S. V. Grand Commander Sturgis, Michigan. 
 
 0. P. LARKIN J. V. Grand Commander Battle Creek, Michigan. 
 
 A. B. MORRIS Ass't Inspector General lonid, Michigan. 
 
 W. J. HANDY Assistant Adjutant General. Detroit, Michigan. 
 
 G. L. WALTZ Assistant Q. M. General Detroit, Michigan. 
 
 A. NASH Assistant Surgeon General.. Lapeer, Michigan. 
 
 W. H. BROCKWAY Chaplain Albion, Michigan. 
 
 DWIGHT MAY Council of Administration.. Kalamazoo, Michigan. 
 
 B. McCuTCHEN do Manistee, Michigan. 
 
 W. SICKLES do St. Johns, Michigan. 
 
 J. D. HOUSCOM do Romeo, Michigan. 
 
 G. P. SANDPORD do Lansing, Michigan. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NEBRASKA, 1868. 
 
 S. A. STRICKLAND Provisional Commander Omaha, Nebraska. 
 
 JOHN C. COWAN Assistant Adjutant General.Omaha, Nebraska. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NEW MEXICO, 1868. 
 
 H. H. HEATH Provisional Commander Santa Fe", New Mexico. 
 
 WILLIAM BREEDEN Assistant Adjutant General.Santa Fe, New Mexico. 
 
 S. B/WHEELOCK Assistant Q. M. General Santa Fe\ New Mexico. 
 
 H. M. DAVIS Aid-de-Camp Santa Fe, New Mexico. 
 
 H. R. WHITING Aid-de-Camp Santa F6, New Mexico. 
 
 E. A. WHEELER Council of Administration. ..Santa Fe, New Mexico. 
 
 J. L. BARBEY do Santa Fe\ New Mexico. 
 
 DAVID CATNAEH do Santa F6, New Mexico. 
 
 THOMAS S. TUCKER do Santa F6, New Mexico. 
 
 M. A. BREEDEN do Santa Fe", New Mexico. 
 
 OFFICERS OT THE DEPARTMENT OF COLORADO, 1868. 
 
 F. J. BANCROFT Provisional Commander Denver, Colorado. 
 
 Louis DUGALL Ass't Adjutant General Denver, Colorado. 
 
 A. K. TILTON Ass't Q. M. General Denver, Colorado.
 
 GRAND ARMY OP THE REPUBLIC. 735 
 
 J. H. McMuRDET Aes't Inspector General Georgetown, Colorado. 
 
 W. S. PEABODY Council of Administration. ..Denver, Colorado. 
 
 R. W. WOODBUHT do Denver, Colorado. 
 
 JOHN L. DAILEY do Denver, Colorado. 
 
 J. C. ANDERSON do Denver, Colorado. 
 
 STEPHEN DECATURE do Georgetown, Colorado. 
 
 HIRAM LATHAM Aid-de-Camp Cheyenne City, Washington T. 
 
 THOMAS HELEN* do Central City, Colorado. 
 
 JAMES GUNN do v Georgetown, Colorado. 
 
 J. E. WHARTON do Boulder. Colorado. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CALIFORNIA, 1868. 
 
 JAMES COEY Grand Commander San Francisco, California. 
 
 GEORGE S. EVANS S. V. Grand Commander.... Sacramento, California. 
 
 JAMES S. CURTIS J. V. Grand Commander.... Los Angeles, California. 
 
 FRANK MILLER Ass't Adjutant General Sacramento, California. 
 
 JOHN HANNA, Jr Ass't Q. M. General San Francisco, California. 
 
 S. F. ELLIOTT Assistant Surgeon General. .San Francisco, California. 
 
 A. L. STONE Chaplain San Francisco, California. 
 
 0. C. MILLER Council of Administration. ..San Francisco, California. 
 
 ED. INGHAM do San Francisco, California. 
 
 JAMES N. OLNEY do Oakland, California. 
 
 WILLIAM G. MORRIS do Napa, California. 
 
 JOHN F. SHEEHAN do Sacramento, California. 
 
 Z. B. ADAMS Aid-de-Camp San Francisco, California. 
 
 G. W. BOWIE do Sacramento, California. 
 
 THOMAS E. KETCHAM do Stockton, California. 
 
 THEO. A. COULT do Marysville, California. 
 
 HENRY HANCOCK do Los Angeles, California. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA, 1868. 
 
 B. F.KELLY Grand Commander Wheeling, West Virginia. 
 
 GEORGE W. TAGGART...S. V. Grand Commander West Virginia. 
 
 R. W. BLUE J. V. Grand Commander.... West Virginia. 
 
 B. B. DOVENER ....Ass't Adjutant General Wheeling, West Virginia. 
 
 F. A. WAP.THEN Ass't Inspector General Raccoon, West Virginia. 
 
 J. L. MORRISON Ass't Q. M. General Parkersburg, West Virginia. 
 
 R. G. DOVENER Assistant Surgeon General.. Wheeling, West Virginia. 
 
 THOMAS A. MONROE.. ..Chaplain West Virginia. 
 
 J. M. RAY Aid-de-Camp West Virginia. 
 
 GEO. K. BALENTINE do West Virginia. 
 
 OFFJCERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MONTANA, 1868. 
 
 JAMES H. MILLS Provisional Commander Helena City, Montana. 
 
 W. F. SAOSDERS Ass't Adjutant General Helena City, Montana.
 
 736 DEPARTMENT OFFICERS. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE POTOMAC, 1868. 
 
 JAME? T. SMITH Provisional Commander Washington, Dist. Columbia. 
 
 C. W. TAYLOR Ass't Adjutant General Washington, Dist. Columbia. 
 
 WILLIAM B. BROWNE.. . Ass't Q M. General Washington, Dist. Columbia. 
 
 WILLIAM H. BROWNE.. Ass't Inspector General Washington, Dist. Columbia. 
 
 CHARLES J. FISHER Aid-de-Camp Washington, Dist. Columbia. 
 
 0. C. ROTCE do Washington, Dist. Columbia. 
 
 E. D. TOWH do Washington, Dist. Columbia. 
 
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