California 
 
 egional 
 
 acility
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 AN ORATION 
 
 by 
 BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL HENRY H. BINGHAM 
 
 at the 
 
 UNVEILING OF 
 
 THE EQUESTRIAN STATUE 
 
 of 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT HANCOCK 
 
 on the 
 
 BATTLEFIELD OF GETTYSBURG 
 
 JUNE 5 1896 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 1899
 
 One Hundred Copies Privately Printed 
 No. 8.
 
 CD 
 
 lENRY H. BlNGHAM 
 
 i 9 fs with the smile of 
 
 1 >m the bright blue 
 
 2 d the rich coloring 
 fitful earth, we sol- 
 - m iy of the Potomac 
 
 O 
 
 ^ m a Republic conse- 
 
 'Q co H and equality under 
 
 5 f '- H ''er and benediction 
 
 O * 
 
 TJ watches over the 
 
 z > g upward and for- 
 
 ""- C7 ?N 
 
 i p iving. declare our 
 
 ^ J American citizen." 
 
 > m :n the distinctions 
 
 > > ny responsibilities 
 
 1* the wishes and 
 people to place in 
 ncock civil author- 
 impartial history 
 will do complete 
 ; full deserving. 
 
 550169
 
 One Hun
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 of 
 BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL HENRY H. BINGHAM 
 
 O-DAY, auspicious with the smile of 
 God reflected from the bright blue 
 cloudless sky and the rich coloring 
 of a teeming-, fruitful earth, we sol- 
 diers of the Army of the Potomac 
 and citizens here gathered, of a Republic conse- 
 crated to the freedom of man, and equality under 
 the law, bow our heads in prayer and benediction 
 to that Providence that ever watches over the 
 destiny of nations, and looking upward and for- 
 ward with joy and thanksgiving, declare our 
 cherished birthright, "I am an American citizen." 
 "Whatever may have been the distinctions 
 and honors enjoyed, the many responsibilities 
 accepted and well discharged, the wishes and 
 hopes of a great part of our people to place in 
 the hands of Winf ield Scott Hancock civil author- 
 ity and constitutional power, impartial history 
 and occasion other than this will do complete 
 justice* Time will not mar his full deserving* 
 
 550169
 
 Our thought to-day goes out to the superb 
 soldier, his work in battle, this memorable field 
 and its many lessons* 
 
 Pennsylvania, that gave to the cause of the 
 Union in the War of the Rebellion 3J5.0J7 white 
 soldiers, 86)2 black soldiers and (4,307 sailors 
 and marines, aggregating 337,936, by legislative 
 enactment places upon this historic field, to re- 
 main as long as a grateful people love liberty, 
 and a constitutional government obeyed by all, 
 monuments to the three distinguished soldiers of 
 our Commonwealth who fought, bled and died 
 upon the soil of their loved State* Words elo- 
 quent and true, though language is poor to ex- 
 press his great deservings, have this day dedicated 
 the bronze and iron and stone, that history, 
 through the sculptor's art, may exhibit the heroic, 
 a monument to Major-General George Gordon 
 Meade* May the love and veneration of the 
 people for this great soldier, be commensurate 
 with his mighty work upon this blood-stained 
 field, and their memory as lasting as the Union 
 which here he did so much to maintain and pre- 
 serve. 
 
 Winfield Scott Hancock was one of twin 
 brothers, born amid the hills of Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, on February J4, J824* 
 His father, Benjamin Franklin Hancock, and his
 
 mother, Elizabeth Hoxworth, gave him the min- 
 gled blood of an English, Scotch and Welsh an- 
 cestry. At the age of \6 he entered West Point 
 as a cadet, and was graduated in 1844. His 
 very early service was frontier duty in the Indian 
 Territory, and in J847 and J848 we find him 
 active and courageous in many of the battles of 
 the Mexican war, receiving his brevet as first lieu- 
 tenant "for gallant and meritorious conduct in 
 the battles of Contreras and Churubusco." His 
 service was of a general character after the Mex- 
 ican war, usual to young officers of his rank* 
 He seemed, however, to have developed traits of 
 character, detail and method during the years 
 J850 to J86J, specially qualifying him for that 
 larger field of usefulness which at the commence- 
 ment of the War of the Rebellion he was imme- 
 diately called upon to enter as a commanding 
 officer. Whatever he did was done critically and 
 thoroughly. No amount of detail ever discour- 
 aged him; the regulations were his constant 
 guide. His years since the Mexican war were 
 full of observation, thoughtful reflection and 
 training; all in the direction of his profession 
 and developing his mental powers in a marked 
 degree. The year J86J found him a soldier of 
 mature years, devoted to his career, absolute in 
 his faith and fidelity to his government, and
 
 knowing no duty other than the upholding of 
 the honor and integrity of his country's flag. He 
 had been trained for war "mindful of the fact 
 that a mere multitude of brave men armed to the 
 teeth make neither a good army nor a national 
 defence." And when it came in all of the terrible 
 force of civil strife and secession, it found a soldier 
 capable of great deeds, great commands and great 
 victories. 
 
 Handsome in form, commanding in mien 
 and carriage, the soldier marking each feature of 
 his clear-cut face, earnest in his every word, obe- 
 dient to his superiors, exacting every obligation 
 of duty from those whom he commanded, im- 
 pressing all with whom he came in contact with 
 confidence, trust, ability, power, and, above all, 
 self-reliant courage. One felt safe when near 
 him. ** A combination and a form, indeed, where 
 every god did seem to set his seal to give the 
 world assurance of a man." He was appointed 
 Brigadier-General of Volunteers in September, 
 J86J. At Williamsburg, Va^ he gained a bril- 
 liant victory over a superior force, and a distin- 
 guished military historian thus writes: "In that 
 little battle were displayed on his part technical 
 skill and personal gallantry. By his generalship 
 and personal magnificence he won the title of 
 Hancock the Superb, and from that day through
 
 the war his career was one of hard work. 
 Through it may be seen his steady growth in the 
 higher knowledge belonging to his profession and 
 the acquirement of a reputation for promptitude, 
 gallantry and ability which finally made him, as 
 he was aptly termed by a distinguished Con- 
 federate general, 'a thunderbolt of the Army of 
 the Potomac.' " 
 
 Already he had won the confidence of his 
 superior officers, and as a brigade commander he 
 was conspicuous* After the battle of Antietam, 
 General Richardson having been mortally wound- 
 ed, he was assigned to the command of the First 
 Division, Second Army Corps, and thus became 
 allied to that body of intrepid soldiery that in 
 history will receive the admiration of the world* 
 When the sword of command fell from Richard- 
 son's dying hand, the historian tells us that he at 
 once became the leader of the division, confident 
 of his powers, a master of men* "That the staff 
 knew it, the troops felt it* Every officer in his 
 place, and every man in the ranks, was aware 
 before the sun went down that he belonged to 
 Hancock's division*" 
 
 Fredericfcsburg and Chancetiorsville, with 
 their slaughter and retreat, are history, but in 
 that history the division he commanded marked 
 only courage, skill, bravery and fame.
 
 General Couch having been transferred to 
 the Department of the Susquehanna, no soldier 
 stood to impede the advance of Hancock to the 
 command of his immortal Second Corps. Major- 
 General Nelson A Miles, now commanding the 
 Army of the United States, thos writes of this 
 great body of men: 
 
 "It inscribed a greater number of engage- 
 ments upon its banner than did any other corps 
 of the army, or, I think, more than any other 
 army corps in the history of the world. The 
 graves of its fallen are to be found on every 
 battlefield of the Army of the Potomac from the 
 date of its organization to Appomattox. Its 
 capture of battle flags outnumbered its engage- 
 ments* As the war for the Union was unprece- 
 dented in the history of the world, so the history 
 of the Second Corps was unexcelled in that war. 
 Its aggregate wounded and killed in battle sur- 
 passed that of any other corps. The greatest 
 aggregate of killed and wounded in any division 
 of the army was in the First Division of that corps, 
 and the highest aggregate of killed and wounded 
 in any one regiment of the whole army was in a 
 regiment belonging to the Second Corps. The 
 largest percentage of killed and wounded in a 
 single engagement in any one regiment was in a 
 regiment belonging to the Second Corps. The
 
 second highest percentage of regimental loss 
 by death and wounds was also in a regiment of 
 that corps* As to the success and achievements 
 of that famous corps, it captured in a single day 
 as many battle flags* cannon and prisoners of the 
 enemy as it lost in the entire four years of war." 
 
 In Fox's history we find : 
 
 "The Second Corps was prominent by reason 
 of its longer and continuous service* larger organ- 
 ization* hardest fighting and greatest number of 
 casualties. Within its ranks was the regiment 
 which sustained the largest percentage of loss in 
 any one action; also the regiment which sustained 
 the greatest numerical loss in any one action; 
 also the regiment which sustained the greatest 
 numerical loss during its term of service; while 
 of the JOO regiments in the Union army which 
 lost the most men in battle* 35 of them belonged 
 to the Second Corps," 
 
 Under date of August. J864. Major-General 
 Hancock writes Lieutenant-General Grant: 
 
 "It is perhaps known to you that this corps 
 had never lost a color or a gun previous to this 
 campaign* though oftener and more desperately 
 engaged than any other corps in this army. or. 
 perhaps, in any other in the country. I have not 
 the means of knowing exactly the number of 
 guns and colors captured, but I saw myself nine
 
 in the hands of one division at Antietam, and the 
 official reports show that 34 fell into the hands 
 of that corps at Gettysburg. Before the opening 
 of this campaign it had at least captured over 
 half a hundred colors, though at cost of over 
 25,000 casualties* During this campaign you 
 can judge how well the corps performed its 
 part* It has captured more guns and colors than 
 all the rest of the army combined* Its reverses 
 have not been many, and they began only when 
 the corps was dwindled to a remnant of its former 
 strength* after it had lost 25 brigade commanders* 
 and over f 25 regimental commanders, and over 
 20,000 men." 
 
 General Grant in his memoirs says: "Han- 
 cock stands the most conspicuous figure of all the 
 general officers who did not exercise a separate 
 command* He commanded a corps longer than 
 any other one man, and his name was never 
 mentioned as having committed in battle a blun- 
 der. No matter how hard the fight, the Second 
 Corps always felt that their commander was 
 looking after them." 
 
 The command of the Army of the Potomac 
 was transferred from Hooker to Meade, and the 
 loyal North and the troops, officers and men, 
 had confidence in his leadership, and that confi- 
 dence was not only merited, but never misplaced* 
 
 10
 
 Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania was to estab- 
 lish a foothold upon free soil demand a tribute 
 from the great cities and recognition from foreign 
 Powers. It is needless for me upon this occasion to 
 describe the battle. The death of the brave Rey- 
 nolds on July \ on these hills having been reported 
 to General Meade, Hancock was directed to " im- 
 mediately proceed without delay to the scene of 
 the conflict." A wise confidence, indeed, given 
 Hancock by Meade, in the order that placed three 
 army corps under his command over two Major- 
 Generals his seniors in rank, and directing him 
 "to make an examination of the ground in the 
 neighborhood of Gettysburg, its facilities, advan- 
 tages and disadvantages for receiving battle," 
 fully illustrates the rapid development of Han- 
 cock's soldierly abilities and capacities, as well as 
 the confidence and esteem in which he was held 
 by his commanding officer. His arrival upon 
 the field of battle was most opportune. Wreck, 
 disaster, disorder, almost the panic that precedes 
 disorganization, defeat and retreat, were every- 
 where* He assumed command ; soldiers retreat- 
 ing stopped, skulkers appeared from under their 
 cover, lines were reformed; in the language of 
 the writer : " And as the sun showing through a 
 rift in the clouds may change a scene of gloom to 
 one of beauty, so the coming of this prince of 
 11
 
 soldiers brings life and courage to all. The show 
 of force everywhere, with lines reformed, caused 
 Lee to hesitate to give the order to attack 
 positions naturally strong. ~ That delay saved 
 the field of Gettysburg to the Union army." 
 
 Waterloo and Gettysburg are marked as the 
 two great battles of the age. The Union army 
 numbered 82,000 men and 300 guns; the Con- 
 federate numbered 70,000 men and 250 guns. 
 The battle lasted three days and the casualties 
 upon the Union side were 23,003, and upon the 
 Confederate 27,525 men. In detail the Union 
 cause lost 3063 killed and \ 4,492 wounded and 
 5435 missing or captured. Many of the wounded 
 and many of the captured died. No authentic 
 details are available for the Confederate side. 
 Pennsylvania's bravery upon this field embraces 
 26,628 men ; in detail, 68 regiments of infantry, 
 8 regiments of cavalry and 5 batteries of artillery. 
 The killed and mortally wounded are 67 officers 
 and 964 men; total, J03J. The general casual- 
 ties number 5907. 
 
 Hancock's old First Division of his corps 
 suffered great loss during the second day's fight, 
 but exhibited its usual bravery. The enemy's 
 assault on the third day fell directly upon Han- 
 cock's front. His troops maintained their record 
 for unyielding courage and bravery unexampled. 
 
 12
 
 Wounded severely in the midst of the fight, he 
 remained upon the field to see his troops capture 
 "prisoners by the thousands and battle flags in 
 sheaves," and to dictate a dispatch to General 
 Meade that "the enemy had been repulsed," the 
 victory of victories won* 
 
 Returning to the army after months of suf- 
 fering and painful distress, the battle flags of his 
 matchless corps blazoned with victories, he again 
 commanded his corps at the Wilderness, Spotsyl- 
 vania, North Anna, Totopotomoy, Cold Harbor, 
 the battles before Petersburg, Deep Bottom, and 
 upon many other fields. In recognition of his 
 magnificent services he was made Brigadier- 
 General, U. S. A., August J2, J864; Brevet 
 Major-General, U. S. A., March J3, J865 ; Major- 
 General, U. S. A., July 26, J866, and received the 
 thanks of Congress May 30, J866, "for his gal- 
 lant, meritorious and conspicuous share in the 
 great and decisive victory." 
 
 He died February 9, J886, at Governor's 
 Island, New York, aged 62 years. 
 
 (Addressing the Statue.) 
 
 And you, great soldier, commissioned a gen- 
 eration ago to carry triumphant the flag of your 
 country on this field of battle the greatest of 
 the century well done! 
 
 13
 
 Pennsylvania, your native State, commissions 
 you as sentinel over this hallowed ground. The 
 army is all around you; the lines of battle are 
 marked in stone* and you of bronze and iron, 
 will ever watch and ward* 
 
 Great deeds and heroism unexampled saved 
 the day in 1863. Great memories and obliga- 
 tions, never to be forgotten, will companion you 
 through the years to come* 
 
 Meade, Hancock and Reynolds keep guard 
 eternal. "God reigns and the government at 
 "Washington still lives!" 
 
 What are the lessons of this field of blood, 
 valor and death? Do they teach us much or 
 little? 
 
 "A brave man knows no malice, but at once 
 forgets in peace the injuries of war, and gives his 
 direst foe a friend's embrace." 
 
 While as a citizen and a soldier, recalling 
 what was done at Gettysburg for the preservation 
 of the Union, I may venture to hope that the 
 time is coming, if it has not already arrived, 
 when we shall celebrate this field as a festival of 
 peace rather than a festival of war* The issues 
 which developed and governed our people during 
 the war are no more. They rest under the sod 
 which so tenderly shelters the blue and the gray. 
 There was a time when the fall of the Bastile 
 
 1-1
 
 sent France into contending: factions. But is there 
 a Frenchman who would reconstruct the Bastile ? 
 There was a time when worthy American 
 citizens, whose descendants live respected among 
 us, walked past Carpenters' Hall and Independ- 
 ence Hall with averted eyes, because of the treason 
 propounded there against their gracious sover- 
 eign. But is there an American who would tol- 
 erate the standard of St. George in the place of 
 the " Star-Spangled Banner ? n So with the ques- 
 tions that have sought the determination of the 
 sword. I doubt if there be a dozen intelligent 
 men among those who followed Lee from those 
 Cashtown Hills, or charged with Pickett over 
 these clover blossoming fields, who, with the 
 knowledge open to whoever will read and think, 
 and our recent experiences in self-government, 
 would revive the Lost Cause, with all therein 
 implied* It was a delusion, foolish, frenzied, im- 
 possible. The cannon shot alone could bring the 
 true awakening. And none in our citizenship 
 breathe more freely than those who passed 
 through the dreadful delusion. 
 
 The peace thus attained, and as attained, 
 was good for the North as well as the South. A 
 soldier who in a humble way was a part of that 
 struggle, I should feel that even victory was 
 barren which did not bring with it reconciliation. 
 
 15
 
 "We bore from this field the olive branch as the 
 unfading- emblem of fraternity, rather than the 
 laurel, with the suggestions of strife* We bear 
 the olive branch to-day, and in its proffer, as well 
 as in a loyal acceptance of that proffer by our 
 southern friends, we have, I am proud to believe, 
 the consummation of an undying and invincible 
 Union. 
 
 We should remember, also, that this was a 
 war of the people; that the soldiers who came 
 upon this field were but an armed expression of 
 the loyalty which remained at home* It is not 
 alone those within the enemies' musket range 
 who do the battle. Gruel indeed, cruel and un- 
 availing, would be the war which was not sus- 
 tained by the efforts and prayers of the people* 
 Therefore, it is true that those who by their exer- 
 tions, sacrifices and prayers, made possible an 
 honorable war, should be remembered and es- 
 teemed for their patriotism* Without that sup- 
 port, without a nation's resources and credit to 
 command, no civilized country could conduct a 
 just war. Our soldiers would be adventurers and 
 marauders, like those who followed Attila and 
 Tamerlane, mere robbers who made desolation 
 and called it peace ; before whose fury no living 
 thing could endure, whose trophies were mounds 
 of skulls, who revelled in destruction, for the joy 
 
 16
 
 of rapine, and under whose sway was neither 
 clemency, magnanimity nor justice. It was not 
 so with those who fought on these Pennsylvania 
 plains. It was not glory, nor preferment, nor 
 booty, nor slaking the thirst for blood victory 
 brought no exultation over a beaten foe, nor joy 
 in his misfortune ; war was justice, cold, uncom- 
 promising, immutable* War was chastisement, 
 not conquest. No gun was fired in anger. No, 
 my friends ; not in anger ; but with a determina- 
 tion that right should endure. That assured, and 
 peace alone remained. On this and in the highest 
 attribute of charity, patience and mercy, the seces- 
 sion war stands unique among campaigns* There 
 was no ravaging of the Palatinate ; no storming 
 of Saragossa ; no blowing of prisoners from can- 
 nons, as in India; no refusal of quarter, as at 
 Plevna; t^ burning of libraries and places of 
 sanctuary, neither confiscation nor banishment, 
 nor capital punishment, not even disfranchise- 
 ment attended the victories of the North. It was 
 because by war alone peace could come, and with 
 peace every war-engendered passion vanished 
 into oblivion. 
 
 Here, likewise, we learned what manhood 
 could do in war. Gettysburg was the people's 
 battle. The skill of the schoolman and the train- 
 ing consequent upon military experience were not 
 
 17
 
 without their effect* But taken all in all, it was 
 the American man fighting the American man* 
 Virginia at tierce and point with Pennsylvania, 
 man to man* and a stern issue between them, 
 with no arbitrament but arms* If we fought our 
 brothers we made a fraternal peace. The world 
 in marvel has seen conquered and conqueror 
 rising from the dust of strife* and yet ready to 
 march under one flag and seek a common enemy* 
 This is what we understand when we regard 
 Gettysburg as a people's battle not the battle 
 of the hireling and the adventurer. There was 
 reason in the provocation to war* reason and 
 wisdom in peace. We were one at the beginning; 
 we are one at the end. and with underlying, inter- 
 vening bonds of sympathy, which not even battle 
 could sever* but which grew in strength and grace 
 every day. No American can regard Gettysburg 
 with sorrow or shame. The Frenchman looks at 
 Waterloo with a humiliation which generations 
 cannot efface. No German cares to evoke the 
 memories of Jena ; nor do Englishmen find other 
 than a soldier's consolation in Saratoga, New 
 Orleans or the Brandywine. But no American, 
 be he from this land of snow or yonder land of 
 the sun, can ride over Seminary Ridge, or past 
 the fastnesses of the Round Tops, with any sen- 
 timent but regret for those who fought here, 
 
 18
 
 whether blue or gray, and no dearer hope than 
 that when he and his children should be again 
 summoned to arms it will be shoulder to shoulder, 
 not face to face, and that the valor which fought 
 and won and lost at Gettysburg may still endure. 
 
 Gettysburg is what Byron might have called 
 a "king-making victory" the agency by which 
 an all-seeing, inscrutable Providence was to sway 
 the destiny of a nation. It is to misunderstand, 
 to belittle the philosophy, we might even venture 
 to say the piety, of such an event to see in it 
 nothing but the chivalry and pomp of war. Not 
 in our day will we understand what was done 
 here its historical fulness and fruition. That 
 will be made clear in far-off seasons that we may 
 not see. As our generation recedes, as we drift 
 from the current living tides of the hour into the 
 placid sea of history, Gettysburg looms before 
 and above us, covering the horizon ; thus looming, 
 we see something of its magnitude and splendor. 
 It is as the peak to the wayfarer, under whose 
 shadow he seems to rest, but which Etna-like, 
 pierces the immeasurable heavens miles and miles 
 away. 
 
 Thus it is that Gettysburg may be said to 
 tower over the eventful teeming century now 
 drawing to a close. This nineteenth century has 
 been rich in warlike renown. It has seen 
 
 19
 
 Marengo, where a young captain scaled the Alps 
 to descend upon a conquered Italy and ascend an 
 imperial throne. It has seen Austerlitz, the battle 
 of the three Emperors, where the Kings of Europe 
 were brought to the feet of a ruler whose sceptre 
 was his sword. It heard the roar of Waterloo, 
 the world's earthquake, in which was engulfed 
 the greatest soldier since Caesar which taught 
 even a Napoleon that "tempted fate, would 
 leave the loftiest star." It has seen Navarino, 
 where the European power of Islam was broken ; 
 where beautiful, renowned and harried Greece 
 was rescued from the scimeter of the Caliphs and 
 restored to her venerable and illustrious place 
 among nations. It has seen Cerre Gordo, where 
 the genius and valor of a handful of men 
 Meade, McQellan, Lee and Longstreet, fighting 
 side by side gave us our El Dorado empire. It 
 has seen Sebastopol, which checked the advance 
 of the Cossack upon the Bosphorus; Solferino, 
 which assured Italy freedom and autonomy ; Sa- 
 dowa, which gave Prussia the primacy among 
 German powers; Plevna, which made possible 
 the Russian road to Constantinople, and Sedan, 
 the complement of Waterloo, which overthrew 
 the Napoleonic legend and realized the hopes of 
 Barrosa. 
 
 Yes; the nineteenth century may well be
 
 called the century of world-changing events 
 of triumph and catastrophe, of a people trodden 
 under the heels of the invader of a people rising 
 in their majesty and establishing freedom upon 
 the ruins of thrones. A century of invention, 
 progress, humanity, industry, and civilization, 
 it has likewise been a century of war* Among 
 the achievements thus recited, their glory encirc- 
 ling, as though it were a zone, the proudest of 
 nations, none surpasses the glory of Gettysburg. 
 This we may well say, whether we consider what 
 was done here, or the political and moral conse- 
 quence of what must ever be chronicled as among 
 the noblest of victories. In the largest sense, it was 
 the triumph of freedom over slavery; the con- 
 firmation of our fathers' pledges in behalf of 
 "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ;" the 
 victory of order over chaos ; the consolidation of 
 the Union into a firm, unquestioned government ; 
 the assurance of mankind that the Republic was 
 builded upon a rock, and not upon crumbling, 
 shifting sands builded to endure until time was 
 no more. It was the victory of the ballot over 
 the bayonet ; the asseveration of the people that 
 their will expressed through the franchise had 
 the majesty of law. It was the triumph of the 
 republican over other systems of government, re- 
 membering, as we should never forget, that no 
 
 21
 
 Confederate gun would have been fired at Get- 
 tysburg but for the aid and inspiration of un- 
 friendly Powers to whom democracy was 
 abhorrent, and not to be endured. Gettysburg 
 was the victory of knowledge over ignorance, of 
 humanity over tyranny, of wisdom as against 
 folly, of the schoolhouse superseding and sup- 
 pressing the auction-block and the shackles of 
 the slave, of patriotism conquering rebellion, of 
 truth opposed to falsehood. It was Lincoln tak- 
 ing hands with Washington to save the Republic 
 which our first President had founded. Upon 
 this field caste fell, freedom arose never to fall 
 again, and American valor found its warrant to 
 be respected over the world. 
 
 There is a quaint German legend, some- 
 where, embodied in verse, telling how at times 
 the great Emperor, on his breast a blazing star, 
 comes from his jasper tomb under the gilded 
 dome, and surrounded by a phantom staff of the 
 heroes whose genius gave him sovereignty and 
 fame, holds his sombre, silent midnight review. 
 Before him pass the ghostly columns of the sol- 
 diers who once bore his eagles to the Danube 
 and the Elbe, to Wagram and Friedland, and the 
 Beresino, into almost every European capital. 
 There, blood-stained, you see Murat as eager as 
 when his plumes waved armies to the battery 
 
 22
 
 and the breach* There is Ney, the bravest of the 
 brave. At the Emperor's side note the tender, 
 chivalrous Desaix, who gave his life that his 
 friend and commander might win a crown. 
 Lannes, no longer writhing upon the battlefield, 
 but as triumphant as when he fought at Auster- 
 litz. The virtuous and knightly Macdonald, 
 wearing the sabre which marked his master's 
 esteem. Berthier, Junot, Duroc, Bertrand, Keller- 
 man, Soult, sit in mute homage to the Imperial 
 spectre who wears the shining star. The Penn- 
 sylvanian who looks over this memorable field, 
 now teeming with the wealth of valley and mea- 
 dow, and radiant with summer beauty, may, in 
 the spirit of this German legend, summon another 
 review. He may likewise see in the shadows 
 another mighty host of soldiers and great cap- 
 tains, who come once more to visit this field of 
 their devotion and their fame. Under the bene- 
 diction of the star-lit heavens he may with rever- 
 ence recall their deeds their triumphs, perhaps, 
 that supreme consecration which gave them death 
 under their flag a blessed death indeed. In 
 grateful remembrance and worship he may see 
 the silent host pass on. Meade rides in the ad- 
 vance the Bayard of Pennsylvania's heroes; 
 calm, fearless, confident, in whose wise judgment 
 largely rested the destiny of a great people. 
 
 23
 
 Reynolds, of Lancaster, is near him, glowing 
 with impatient valor which was to win for him 
 the felicity of dying for Pennsylvania on his 
 State's dear soil. There you note Humphreys 
 among our modest heroes, his fame to be partly 
 forgotten in the blare of events, but coming to 
 due and lasting recognition, Geary, his face 
 worn with service in other wars, the founding of 
 our Pacific empire and of the free Commonwealth 
 of Kansas higher honors awaiting him from 
 his native State silently passes at the head of 
 his brave command. Alexander Hays, rugged, 
 emphatic, the Scotch-Irish lines in his face so 
 soon to go down to the death of his dearest 
 choice in Virginia trenches leads his men. 
 Kane, of the Bucktails, the brilliant, impetuous 
 possessor of a famous name, is still eager for the 
 strife* Our own Birney, championing on the 
 field the love of freedom which came with his 
 blood. Hector Tyndale, with his stern faith in 
 what he deemed the truth. The brave and gentle 
 Crawford, to whom the severest duty was a joy. 
 McCandless, always a partisan, but ever a patriot. 
 Many other captains sacred to us because of what 
 they did, who have been transferred from the 
 roster of time to the muster-roll of eternity. And 
 so the long and shadowy line of heroes passes 
 on in this sombre, silent midnight review.
 
 There as on that most memorable day the 
 culminating- glory of his undying fame, proud, 
 defiant, triumphant, exhilaration in the cannon- 
 shot victory in his mien, enthusiasm in his 
 example, even as amid the crash and war of his 
 cannonade, the illumination of battle upon his 
 handsome, martial face, he rode the Union line, 
 his words a summons to the field from which he 
 was soon to be borne, stricken with heavy 
 wounds, the mighty shade of our comrade in 
 arms, "of stainless name, of unblotted record, of 
 immortal memory," our Hancock passes in re- 
 view* This illustrious commander of a chival- 
 rous army fitly represents the chivalry of the wan 
 This is the man whom to-day we came to honor* 
 And thus he passes in solemn midnight review* 
 
 No great captain, wearing the shining star, 
 with memories of tyranny and rapine, to darken 
 those of imperial renown, holds this stately cere- 
 mony. The shades of Gettysburg march in re- 
 view before even a mightier shade than that of 
 Napoleon. This sublime presence, before whom 
 the shadows pass, this, their beloved, immortal 
 Lincoln, who returns their salute with a most 
 gracious, sad smile, likewise shed his blood, and 
 from his heart and brain came the inspiration 
 which impelled them to victory* Lincoln was 
 with them in sorrow and pain ; he is with them 
 
 25
 
 now, even in this midnight review, sharing with 
 them the joy of silence and peace, bequeathing 
 the lesson of his life and his death* Even as the 
 poet, while chanting "Morituri Salutamus," 
 would have us take courage from the examples 
 of the dead, so do we, as this silent pageant is 
 suffused into impartial, enfolding night, pray 
 that should the hour come to the present as it 
 came to the past generation, our people may 
 emulate the self-sacrifice and devotion to which 
 this field bears everlasting tribute* Let them 
 remember as they invoke this august presence, 
 "To take increased devotion to that cause for 
 which " their fathers and brothers "gave the last 
 full measure of devotion," and never forget the 
 message which fell from his lips, as the sacred 
 lesson of Gettysburg, that the "government of 
 the people, by the people, for the people, shall not 
 perish from the earth." 
 
 The clang and din of battle here gives place 
 to the soothing voices of the night. The furrows 
 once torn with suffering and death, now yield to 
 the ripening grain. The reapers sing a song of 
 peace. The fear of imminent doom no longer 
 darkens the fireside. Even as war loses its hor- 
 rors, and the fancy of the orator and poet clothes 
 its most terrible deeds as with roses and ivy, so 
 this battlefield will rest under the halo of magna- 
 
 26
 
 nimity. fellowship and romance* The Gettys- 
 burg of the Secession war, fast melting into 
 history, will become the Marathon of a new 
 generation. Those of us remaining, who with 
 firm set lips and strained eyes listened to its 
 roar, realize that its achievements stripped of 
 their struggles and sorrows, are becoming a part 
 of an insensible, almost a traditional, past. It is 
 no longer a memory of those and to those who 
 fought through the summer days, but a section 
 of history to be studied while the years go on. 
 with Agincourt. Blenheim and Saratoga. The 
 silent host passes on to be lost in the shadows 
 and the gloom.
 
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