Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-07-06


the soldiers of this Republic,
Men of Ohio, men of the Great Free North,
shall we fail? One might almost suppose
that on such a day, the Fathers of the Ma
tion were bending over. us, and, with trem-
bling voices, asking us the question. Can
YOU fail2 We endured a seTen.years war
We wintered at Valley Forge NC braved
/ all, suffered all, for the establishments of a
principle That principle established, we
entrusted il to yoG We entreat you, we
eoniure yOuto be faith full to your trust. An
/ fellow citizens, the souls of our slain heroes,
the sufferings of our wounded, the honor Of
the nation, the hope Of the country, the
cause of civilization and human progress
throughout the world, demand to know Of
US if we shall fail.
| The people can have but one answer to
this question. We say the people, because
| this Is peoples war. To go on, leads up
werd to glory and renOwn-tO hold back, or
seok to hold others back leads downward
to ignominy and disgrace. Whoever, in the
| quietude and security of home, hesitates or
| doubts, let him remember the soldiers at
the front, who never hesitate or doubt. We
may differ about measures, we NAV differ
about men, but God hide US from the day
when any respectable portion of the North
ern people shall differ about the value of
the country. Can you, can any one, fully
comprehend the depths of sorrow into
which the nation would be plunged, if
| we failed in this great work Who
| could paint picture so gloomy and dis
| astrous? Who could dare to look upon
it? What would the civilized world think
| of US? What would we think of ourselves,
if after having invested untold millions in
this war, and untold thousands of the best
/ blood of our country, we should allow our
| selves TO fail when success was within our
grasp? Who could dare approach the bat
tie grounds Of our country? Who could
meet a wounded soldier and look him in
the face? No one We have made heavy
advance ofmoney and of men. Wewould be
| poor national tinaneiers, not to manage in
some way to make up the last installment
and take the property.
Fellow Citizens 1t is doubtless true,
that the demand of the people grows
stronger every day for the final crushing
blows which may end forever this rebell-
ion. Sometimes, in the alterations of
hope and anxiety, there creeps in upon us,
unawares, feeling of dependency. And
| yet no mortal man who reflects upon the
material resources of the North or upon its
! immense numerical superiority, can really
doubt for single moment, the issue of this
struggle, if the people are as true to them
selves in the future, las they have been in the
past. AT the outset Of this war, taking the
census Of 1860, as a basis, the entire white
| population Of the revolted States capable Of
bearing arms, and between the ages of ff-
teen and fifty, and allowing for disabilities,
has been carefully estimated at nine
hundred thousand, The corresponding
military power of the Northern States
was thirty hundred thousand
in other words. about four times
I na usnnr Acc It,
b9en diminished by half million, it re-
duces the military force of the South to
four hundred thousand, while that of the
| North Is thirty-two hundred thou sand
now eight times as great-for you observe
that the proportion rapidly enlargcs with
| every equal decrease of numbers Here
then, is a numerical superiority at this dav
of eight to one. The South has its entire
force in the field. The North has reserve
| force of two millions and half. Who then
can doubt the power of the people to crush
out this rebellion?
| Again, the public debt of seventeen hun
| dred millions, if it were doubled to-day.
would be less than the public debt of Great
Britain, fifty years ago. And yet Great
! Britain, with less than half our population
| and resources has gone forward in wealth
and power, notwithstanding her burden.
with the strength of giant.
1t was i'll view of these statistics and 9TH
ers equally decisive, that leading Metro
| politan Journal lately asked the question,
(which viii give way first: the North or
| the Southl' 1t remains for the people of
| the countryside loyal people OF the North
true to their Saxon instinct of courage.
endurance and fdelity--to answer the
| question.
Men ofthe Seventh Ohio, what shall we
| say 10 yOu2 Welcomed at Cincinnati on
| your arrival there-welcomed on your arri-
1 val here, in eloquent words, by the Chief
Executive of the State, and by the legal re-
preventative of the City Government, the
| people felt that your extraordinary merit
/ demanded still another welcome, which
they tender you to-day. They felt that
however much they might multiply ova-
tions, they could not honor you as you
have honorcd them.
Soldiers Of the Seventh, your war-worn
faces, your broken ranks, your shattered
dag, are more eloquent than words. They
speak as men can never speak. They re-
mind us o1 the spring morning, when, three
years ago last April, you marched through
| our streets on your way to battle, eleven
hundred strong. More than eirht hundred
of the eleven are missing from your ranks
| to-day. And yet, when we read the rec
| Ords of your achievements, the wonder is,
not that so few, but that so many, have es-
capped the chances of battle and of sudden
death.
In the first year Of your service, in 1861,
your Regiment were engaged in skirmish9s,
at Cross Lanes, Sewells Mountain, and
Cotton Hill.
In the second year, in 1868, you partici-
pated in skirmshes at Strasburg, Edinburg
Mount Jackson, Harrisonburg, Front Roy
al, Bristow Station, Gainesville, and along
the Rappahannock, and in the battles OF
Winchester, Port Republic, Cedar Noun
tain, Antietam, BerTyville and Dumfries.
In 1868, in May, you were in the battles
of Chancellorsville, and in July in the battle
of Gettysburg Transferred to the West,
yov were in the battles of Lookout Noun
tain, Missionary Ridge and Ringgold,
where fell your gallant leaders, Creighton
and Crane. Since then you have fought at
Mil Creek at Resaca and at Dallas.
Eleven sl1irmishes and fourteen battles
your flag borne bravely through them all
Soldiers of the Seventh, we honor the
dead of your regiment. Their names shall
be sacred in our memories. We honor you,
living, and will cherish you in our hearts.
Soldiers of the Eighth Ohio, you have
stood side by side with the gallant Seventh
in many a battle, and you have fortunately
returned in time to stand side by side with
with them again on the celebration of this
day. Your presence adds interest and lus-
tire to the occasion. You, too, have been
welcomed in eloquent and fitting terms by
the Chief Magistrate of the city, and yet, ,as
we have said of your comrades-in- arms,
the long roll of your gallant dead is more
eloquent than words can be, of the fiery
conflicts the living have encountered. At
Romney, Winchester, STasburg, Front Roy
al, Berkley, South Mountain, Antietam,
Fredericksburg, Chaneellorsville, Gettys-
burg, Auburn, Bristow, Locust Grove, Mine
Run, and the surging tides of carnage at
the Wilderness, Spottsylvsnia, Cold Harbor
and the North Anna, and still later, across
the James and before Petersburg-in these
and minor engagements, your officers and
men have gone down in battle like leaves
i'm autumn. but the flag has gone down nev-