The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1864-04-13

of Brown, was the first the very first, in all the
South, to send succor to Massachusetts in the
time of her direst necessity !! In one of the
most beautiful spots in that beautiful county,
within rife shot. of my residence, at the base
of q hill, where q glorious spring leaps out in
to the sunlight from beneath the gnarled roots
ola thunder-riven oak, there assembled on the
10th of-July, I775, the very, first band of
Southern men who marched to the aid of
Massachusetts. They met there then, and
their rallying cry was, "a bee line for 8oston. ,
That peaceful valley-the svalley.of the Shen.
aDdoah'-had never been polluted by the foot
steps of a foe /; for even the Indians them
selves had, according of tradition, kept it free
from the incursiops to their enemies. 1t was
the hunting range and neutral grounds of the
aboringines. The homes of those who lived
there then were far beyond the reach of dan
ger. But Boston, was beleaguered. The
hearths of your fathers were threatened with
pollution, and the fathers of those whom I
represent rallied to their protection.
"They left the plowshare in the mould,
Their Aocks and herds without a fold,
The sickle in the unshorn. grain,
Their corn half garnered on the plain,
And mustered in their simple dress,
For wrongs of Yours TO redress"
"Thus they mustered round the spring l
speak of, and from thence they made their
bee line for Boston Before they marched,
they made a pledge that all who survived
would assemble there fifty years afterthat day.
It is my pride and pleasure to remember that
I. though but a child then, was present at
the spring when'the fifty years rolled round.
Three aged, feeble, lettering men-the survi
vors of that glorious band Of one hundred and
twenty-were all vino were left to keep the
rtryst, and be faithful to the pledge made fifty
wears before to their companions the bones
of most of them had been left bleaching on
YOUR Northern hills. Sir, 1 have often heard
from the last survivor of that band Of patriots
the incidents of their first meeting and their
march ; how they made some six hundred
miles in thirty days-twenty miles a day ard
how, as they neared the point of their desti-
nation, Washington, who happened to be max
ing a reconnaissance in the neighborhood, saw
them approaching, and, recognizing the lin
;sey-woolsey hunting shirts of Virginia gall
loped up to meet ane greet them to the camp !;
how, when he saw their captain, his old COM
panion in arms, Stephenson, who had stood
By his side at the Great Medows, Un Brad
docks fatal field and in the Indian campaign
who reported himself to his commander as
from the right bank of the Potomac'-he
sprang from his horse and clasped his old
friend and commander in arms with both
hands. He spoke no word of welcome, but
the elequence of silence told what his tongue
could not articulate. He moved along the
ranks, shaking the hands of each, from man
to man, and all the while, as my informer told
me, the big tears were seen rolling down his
cheeks
DAY, sir. Washington wept! And why
did the glorious soul of Washington swell with
emotion !? Sir, they were tears of joy! and
he wept because he saw that the cause of Mas
sets was practically the cause of Virginia ; be-
cause he saw that her citizens recognized the
great principles involved in the contest. These
Virginia volunteers had come spontaneously.
They had come in response to the words of
her Henry, that were leaping like live thunder
through the land, telling the people they must
fight, and fight for Massachusetts,. They had
come torally with Washington to defend your
fathers frcsidcs, to protect their friends from
harm. Vel, the vist has been returned.
John Brown selected the very county whose
citizens went so promptly to the aid of the
North when the North needed aid, as the
most appropriate place in. the South to carry
out the doctrines of the 'irrepressible conflict
and as was mentioned in the Senate yesterday,
the rock where Leeman fell was the rock over
which Morgan and his men marched a few
hours after Stephenson's command had crossed
the river some ten miles further up. May
this historical Renaissance .rekindle the em-
bers of patriotism in our hearts +! Why should
this nation of ours be rent in pieces by this
'irrepressible conflict Is it 'irrepressible p
The battle will not be fought out on this floor.
For when the dark day comes-as CONG it may
when the question that now divides and ag-
itate the hearts Of the people, shall be thrust
by the bloody arbitramens of the sword, it will
be the saddest day for US end all mankind that
the sun of heaven has ever shone upon"
Mrs. S~IGogRNEY's PcEM.-On reading |
the above thrilling sketch, Mrs. Sigourney sub
mitted the following lines to Mr.. Botelcr,
which, it will be seen by the note appended,
she subsequently permitted him to republish.
They appeared in the Washington NATIONAL
LnteAfgencer:
HARTFORD, Feb. 10th, 1860.
My DEAR FRIEND L thank you earnest
ly for the letter of the last survivor of that
patriotic band who nobly marched from the
Ancient Dominion to the aid of Massachusetts,, |
in Its. It is indeed very kind of you to
send a precious gift which shall be preserved
with my most treasured autographs. 1 recol-
lcct no incident in our revolutionary history
more graphic in its character than that with
which you have so cloquently closed your
speech of the 18th ultimo.
The poem mentioned in your note is entire
ly at your disposal, aud / am
Yours with great respect,
J.. FL. SIGOURNEY.
Hon. Alexander b. Boteler, of Virginia,
House of Representatives.
An Incident of I775.
a gathering in Virginia's valcs, mid summers
velvet green,
Where fair Potomac sparkling flows, its firing
ed banks between;
Far echoes from New England's hills, of s%trife]
and danger came.
And Henry's eloquence had stirred mems
souls like living fame. /,
Then from the throng, with patriot zeal, stood
forth a noble hand,
Twice sixty dauntless volunteers enlisted
heart and hand,
Theirs was no prompting thirst for fame-of
glittering geld no greed,
sFor Massachuseas' was the cry, "Foy Bos- |,
tos," in their need. i