Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-09-20
= GREAT wAR row-wOw IN car

and crushing out the rebellion on paper the
good and pious people of Chicago held war
meeting on the 9th inst, on which occasion they
were addressed By several distinguished chiefs.
To show the spirit Of the meeting, we subjoin a
number of the speeches as we fnd them reported
in the Chicago Times
1 REMARKS or GENERAL CURTIS.
It was not his purpose, in visiting Chicago, to
/ engage in any public speaking or public mani
feststion whatsoever. He came here by permis-
sion of the Secretary of War, to attend a rail-
rosd convention, and it had been his purpose 10
repOse few days after the fahguing duties of a
| long war campaign. Such an opportunity Of
/ speaking his appreciation of the merits of the
I citizens of Chicago could not, however, be lost
/ sight Of, although he could not make a speech
lie could truly say that he felt it to be his duty
I TO devote all he had, his hearts blood, if neces-
sary, in the cause in which he was engaged, and
I he expected soon to return to his comrades and
/ tell them Of many who were thronging to the
same banner. A distinguished man, one Of a
! thousand, once prOpOunded TO his people the
/ question "Watchman, what Of the nighti'' We
were engaged in a terrible revolution The his
| tory of the world hardly contained such war as
/ America was now engaged in.
! long series Of struggles had succeeded each
/ other, and 20 some the horizon was obscured
with clouds dark aud muTky, yet, amid the trials
and rsYerses Of the past he saw no ground for
despair, and he felt inclined to make as a re-
I spOnse to the query: All is well He did this
with conscientious belief that this great repub-
lie contains within itself the elements of success
I Our arms were still progressing successfully,
Notwithstanding our reverses. We should yet
succeed in securing to this nation government
free and independent, one in which the people
can make their own laws Previous TO this
struggle, for eight years past, the Southerners
had the whole army and navy under their con-
troll and they had nodded it to their will Eve
ryhing was prepared for a great and terrible re-
bellion We at the North were not prepared.
They had ali our resources in their own hands.
That is the way we went into that matter. The
North did not expect the whole power Of the
| South and North to be arrayed against her for
so dire purpose.
The enemy is now in the far South, and We
are holding him there till your new recruits
shall arrive to crush them from the earth They
are bound to be overcome Now, when is this
war to end It is certainly growing small BY
degrees and beautifully less. The rebels now
occupy a much smaller space than at first, and
we are garrisoning the whole country This is
q struggle between liberty and freedom, and
I you cannot draw back. You must 20 on and
conquer or be conquered. We have but one
/ thing to do, one duty 70 perform we must
stand by the glorious flag Of our country, and
sink or swim with the UniOn. We are IN
great struggle, and we must pursue that trial to
the bitter end. We have seen, in the history of
other nations, that the power which is strongest
must ultimately prevail.
I believe we are engaged in holy cause.
/ God knows I did all 1 could to avert this strug
/ gle but the South would not listen. They
/ would rebel; they forced the fight upon US,
and they must now stand the consequences.
/ This may be but the beginning Of the
worlds struggle. a fight between TepubG-
canism on the. one hand and kingly desp0iism
on the other. IF 50, let it come, for we need not
fear. 1t Is a contest of liberty against power,
/ freedom against despOtism, and when We win
the day the whole world viii rejoice at our sue
| cess. Our flag has never been traied IN the
( dust. They have no right to claim the battle Of
/ Bull Ran We kept the ground we have the
/ ground now All your soldiers are uDOR slave
territory and they will remain there till the re-
! bsllOn IS subdued. You have reason 70 be proud
/ of your soldiers Wherever they have been they
/ have always .besn foremost in the ranks and
have Dobly done their duty. LApplause
/ REMARKS or GENERAL 81 'CLERNAND.
General McClernand then rose and was vociE
/ eorOusly spplauded.
! He remarked that he thanked them for so
warm and hearty a reception, bus he was not so
| personally. He attributed it to the appreciation
/ felt by them Of the cause in which they were all
! engaged and in which all should be ready to lay
down their fortunes, to die, if necessary for its
/ maintenance He attributed the honor to his
| State, which he had not only represented in the
councils of the nation, but upon the battle field
] also He could say nothing of the character Of
| Illinois that could add to her perfection The
! first in peace, in agriculture, IN commerce, she
was also the first in war She had reached
4 point in the history Of this war which must
command the admiration, and challenge the
honor of her sister States. When the forlOrn
hope was called for, Iliinoisans rushed into that
] position Of peril and Of glory. When time had
! to be wasted in waiting for reinforeements, an
IlinOissn stood in the breach and faced the dan
| ger OF q superior opposing enemy without
| ainchng. The whole State had done its duty,
] and wherever others might be, the Illinois sol
/ diers were ever in their places, ever ready TO
strike, never ready to turn their backs to the foe
/ If when he had passed away from the stage Of
action this epitaph should be written upon his
/ TOMBSTONE Here lies a man whose greatest
ambition it was to add to the g.ory of his coun-
| try''-his naaHeS would be satisfied.
His exhortatiOn to the people of Illinois was
/ to adopt the old Roman motto" Victory Or
/ Death That was the spirit which animated
/ Illinoisans on the fields of Belmont DOnelson,
and Shiloh. Applause.
! His friend from New York, whom be had
known SO many years, had been pleased to refer
/ to his actions, and to the battles in which he
/ had taken part. He felt himself proud to
make an allUsion to those affairs, not tor the
/ sake Of lsuding himself, but to show what the
/ Illinois troops had done in the cause they had
been fighting for.
/ The general then rapidly sketched bis move
4 ments since the order came to move from Cairo,
tv~h. hfa stn Irr
! days rations, met them outside the foTtfcs-
! tons, drove them inside, and finally from their
/ tents ana destroyed them how, when another
force came up from the river and surrounded them,
/ every one would have thought that nothing was
! left but 10 surrender. But victory or death
was the watchword. He ordered the flag to be
carried forward, and they cut their way through
| the enemy's columns. Loud cheers Ii was
/ true, some men were killed, and others wounded,
but wars could not be prosecuted successfully
without bl0odShed Il was bone and muscle
that was enlisted in this cause, and it must be
put to a use. Courage and active fighting were
necessary to put down this rebellion 1t was
/ not enough to be behind fOrtiheatiOns and
trenches it was sometimes necessary to fight
and when that necessity existed the Illinois
/ soldiers were always ready to take the foremost
place as they did at DonelsOn Cheers These
men had marched TO victory without cartridges,
from the dead bodies that lay along their path
on both sides. But they heard shout Of CON
graduation at the victories gained from their
brethren at home and that removed to some ex-
tent the grief felt for the losses they had suffered.
So at Shiloh they received the tull charge Of the
enemy, and hundreds Of men persisted in the
conflict. In the two last engagements they de-
feated the enemy. He spoke gloriously, also, Of
the time when the 5sh Illinois regiment, under
that tattered flag changing near the speaker,
charged the enemy 5 guns and turned them upon
the retreaiing foe.
He then alluded to the victory achieved by his
friend Gen. Curtis, at Pea Ridge. He led west
ern troops too. He led two regiments Of llli-
noisians at that battle, and Drawer regiments
never stained the earth with their blood. AP-
plause. Those regiments had heard with pain
Of the surrender Of infantry At MurfreesboTo.
Some four hundred OF them repulsed two thOus-
and cavalry BE did not look 50 tsvOrably upon
49, .,,coeos Of the easteru forces. We had failed