Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1862-07-08

az lhe p.st Ave days, you could almosi shed
te.,a az blood. Said noble and gallant soldier
whesa visaee vas wan, whose voice was tremu.
Ions with inexpressible emotion, whose beard
va matted with hla own precious blood
The, orimson drops were trickling from hls
wound even then" Oh! my friend, IL Is horri-
Bile! horrbel to sec this proud army 90 wretch
edly pressed upon every side, destruction threat
eniuR wherever We turn; scarce q hope OF ex
tricailon save that which is born Of despair. II
ia horrble'-spd the devoted soldier who had
faced the foe all day and far Into the night
which had passed, turned into the forest GO hide
bis manly grief. Had you seen his worn and
hagRard waIriors plunged wearlly On the coil
around him. begrlmmed with smoke ana some
of them stained with blood, and had you known
that an hour later those brave men, already ex-
hausted aud stiffened with long fighting and
weary marching, would be summoned again to
deadiy combat, you, too, would have echoed my
noble friend With all his wearintss aud all
his deep distress Of mind. bis sword wac flashing
de e6auoe again at the breast Of the foo before
tae sun rode highest 10 the empyrean.
Oh, the gloomy countenances and anxious
hearts of those dark days! Would to God such
days were passed away forever Oh, my coun.
tr1meu, you cannot comprehend the tolls aud
trials of your devoted soldiers during those
days Of murderously unequal oom6at-e0ntlc
not simply with superior masses OF disciplined
soldiery-.but contention against insdious LhiIs',
era wing appetite, enfeebliDg heat, overpo TerinY
fa,ieue-and after fighting and marching, and
invitations by day, and suffering by night, and
lighting by days succeeding nights OF fighting
and barrsasing vigils against fresh forces hurl-
ed upon them 10 overpowerlng masses, till ex-
beusted nature almost aunk beneath suon fear.
full yisi.ations, to be pressed to the imminent
verge of despair, was almost too much Tor hu
man nature TO endure. Oh, what q glorious
spirit Of devotion to country. that inspires men
to copuuer such distress! tell you, people,
the soldiers Of your army have won title 20 I'M
mortality. Whatever fsse beides them, teeir
children's children may proudly boast, "oai
Fathers were OF the Army oi the Potomac.
The soil Of Virginia 10 now sacred ~ is
bathed with the reddest blood OF THIS o'oao
land. Every rood of it, from Upper Chicka'
bomipy TO the base of Malvern Hill, is crimson
ed wi,h Ihe blood Of your brave brethren. The
dark forests ting canopy for such woful sao
ri6ce-echo with the Wails Of wounded and dy-
ing men. There is 9 bloody corpse In every
copse and mangled soldiers In every thicket oI
that epsaupuired field. Side by EIDE they lie
and die-Iyiendly With the mieguided foe whom
thew SO lately fought. God only knows no"
many OF the weary ones, plunged hesdiong isto
the shade Of those gloomy pines for brie'
respite from the pressure OF wars iron heel,
who lie there now TO sleep the sleep that kncwe
NO waking. But Rhile write these lines the
foe presses hard. Our soldiers tui p their breasts
to the steel. Their backs are upon the nVer.
Oh. God, shall they not stand where they nos
fght sternly and 60 well?
There 10 record of sorrow-it Ia sotteneo'
too, by great pride,-to be msde how your
brethren watched and pressed the enemy ior
rnonths and how their leader begged-and was
not relieved-for power to conquer; how day
after day they fought and bled-can you forget
Fair o iks aud the petks OF watching and fight
ing in view of the spires oil Richmcndf-how
they fought and conquered on Wednesday last
how they fought aud won on Thursday; how
they resisted aud beat back the great surgibg
tide of the foe on Friday, but at last, after deeds
of beroism, they were compelled to yied to
overwhelming power; and how on Saturday,
and Sunday, and Monday and Tuesday they
! marched, aud suffered, aud fought, as if every
soldier had the toul of hero 10 his frame, until
at last when natures energies, almost exhausted
counseled with their fsars, they still stood stag
geriJg but uncoEqaerable, and met the summon
! 90 6gnt az If IL were privilege to be enjoyed
| These we're scenes 10 move the strongest heart
| But oh how cruel, friends, that such brave souls
should be pFeased almost to the very brink o.
ruin. They stood no Rtll, With want pressing
them, with fatigue crushing them, and at every
eummons to the field they followed the Old q e
with cheers, like the songs Of Code. There Vat
moral heroisD displayed by those WON men
that will make our hia.ory's pages shine with
splendid luhte.