The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1863-07-02
Gen. SpInOla's Address.
HEAD QUARTERS 'KEysToNE BRIGADE" /
WASHINGTON, n. c. MAY %, 1868.

L avail mySelf or tnlS opportunity OF
saying to the officers and men of the
Keystone Brigade that the time has
arrived for me to take my leave of you !;
and, as your term of service will soon
expire, many of you, l presume, will
abandon the scenes and excitement of the
battlefield again to assume your usual
pursuits of industry. In parting allow
me to assure you that | entertain an
exalted opinion of you, both as officers
and soldiers and, in my official character,
[ thank you for the prompt and cheerful
manner in which you have ever performed
your arduous and dangerous duties,
[ shall always look back upon my associ-
alton with you as among the pleasantest
hours of my life. You were put under
my command at a time when you were
fresh from your native State, and, with a
few exceptions, entirely unacquainted
with the tolls and dangers of war: you
were placed in no "school of instruction"
but marched directly to the front, where
you have remained performing your duty
In manner rejecting great credit on your
self and great honor upon your State.
Your march from Suffolk, Va, to New
bern, N. c., has no equal since the war
began except In General Banks retreat
yours in this important particular-yours
was torard the enemy, his was from them ::
Your conduct at Mill Creek and White
Oak River was equal to that of veteran
troops: Your march to Poliocksville,
for the purpose Of encompassing the ene-
my at the second battle of Newbern,
developed your powers Of endurance, and,
at once, gave you prominent place
among the best troops in the service.
While aboard Of the transports in front
of the Rebel batteries on the Pamplico
River you were 10th willing and anxious
to incur any risk, or to encounter any
danger necessary 70 relieve the beleaguered
city of Washington, n. c., and no troops
in the army could have manifested greater
willingness to make any necessary sacrifice
to reinforce the garrison and to relieve it
from the perils which surrounded it: but
authority higher than either you or me
checked your patriotic desires.
Your conduct at Blount's Greek fully
developed your impetuous desires to
encounter the enemy, and no soldier ever
retired from the battlefield with greater
reluctance, after it had been demonstrated
that the column could not advance owing
to the destruction of the bridges which
crossed the stream.
Your reconnaissance to "New Hope
School house" was all that could have
been asked of any troops it was success
in every particular.
Your march to, and occupancy of Swift
,.I
sharp skirmishing, as you approached the
place and drove the Rebels from i. in
precipitate flight, at the dead hour of
night, were worthy of the "Old Guard
of Napoleon.
Your conduct throughout has been of
character that has placed the Brigade in
an enviable position: intemperance aad
immoral practices, as we'll as vice in its
various forms, have been strangers to the
Officers and Soldiers of the Keystone
Brigade. Instead of participating and
indulging in the practices which are so
prevalent and demoralizing g among soldiers,
you have invariably been found on the
Sabbath day joining with each other in
prayer and uniting your voices in singing
praises to the Great Ruler of all.
No cause can fail my Countrymen,
when supported by such men as constitute
the Keystone Brigade You have done
your whole duty to your Country, to your
State, and to your families, in a manner
that no man among you need be ashamed
to acknowledge that he is one of the
keystone Brigade, de,-while the authorities
of your State can, with pride, point to you
as an emulation for others who are to
follow you to the field?
We are called upon to make some
sacrifices in times like the present, but
the American, who would not obey the
call of his Country in her hour of peril,
is unworthy Of enjoying the benefits and
blessings of a free government, which cost
many lives and much treasure to establish.
No army ever suffered like that of Wash
ington No men ever bore their suffer
ings with less murmuring than the brave
patriots who pledged their lives, their
fortunes and their sacred honors, that you
and L might enjoy civil and religious
liberty! You need 60 no further than
your own home to find the spot that
gave shelter to the Father of his Country,
together with eleven thousand furnishing
patriots who wintered at Valley Forge,
to which place they were traced by
the blood which oozed from their uushod
feet
At the expiration of your term of ser
vice it is fair to presume that many of
you, from age and other causes, will not
again enter it: but, in the name of Liberty
and a bleeding Country, l not only appeal