The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-03-24
Committee.
To this Major Fitzgibbon spoke nea
w as follows

~ dS lOllONS
Ny FRIENDS: There are times when the
heart, choked with feeling and emotion, is
incapable of finding utterance in tongue,
and the eyes alone indicate its throbbings.
You have, as you see and know, taken me
entirely by surprise, for Of your movements
and intentions l was, till now, wholly ig-
nOrant To respond to you in terms befit-
ting this scene and this Occasion-tO return
to YOU the thanks of my absent Colonel, my
officers and men, for this sincere and heart
felt expression of your thanlitulness, graft
tude and esteem is a task, to the discharge Of
which, | feel wholly incompetent. over
five months ago we came among you salu-
ted by the sneers and SCOTS of those who,
forgetting the history of their fathers, look
ed upon US as enemies and invaders. Civil
law was dead, friendship was spurned, the
socialities and amenities of life were exiled;
Christianity had lost its mellowing in
huence upon the passions; brothers met
and passed each other as enemies /; business
was stagnaut trade was paralyzed woe
and want and ruin Swallowed every door
step, and life and property were insecure
against the ravages Of marauding guerrillas
rowing vagabonds, murderOus bandits and
thieves. But we came among you with a
holy purpose. We did not herald ourselves
as Abolitionists or COpperheads, democrats
. or republicans; ace lC6re your cOuHtrgmen
asking nothing Of that we would not will
lingly yield to you. We labored to deliver
you from the helotsm into which bad men
had plunged you; we wished to disenthraI
rather than enslaye and degrade, that YOU
may live to glorify and defend the freedom
you thoughtlessly and accidentally essaved
to destroy. The task, as you say, was ar
duous and trying, and it will be the hap
piest reward Of our existence to feel as we
now do, that our efforts to save have been
successful, and that those who have been
ever true and unialtering to our country
unite to-day in testifying to the complete
ness of our victory.
Guerrillas and thieves are gone, civil law
is restored, tranquility and peace sit en-
throned at each tre5ide, comparative hap
piness and plenty smile upon you, heated
passions have been cooled, and those who
looked upon US yesterday as enemies, meet
and greet us to-day as friends. From nv
inner heart | will say that saddened feel
ing pervades this regiment, for we have
made friends and attachments we could not,
If we would, nor would not, if we could
| forget, and wherever we 90, whatever fate
betIde US, our fondest and hottest PRAYERS
viii be offered for the continuance Of such
feelings and the unity of this imperishable
/ Republic. In behalf of my Colonel, my
officers and men, thank you once again,
my friends, and may the adjust God of
Heaven grant us speedy aud honorable
peace, and return TO the principles of our
fathers.
No cheers or applause greeted this
speech, which was delivered in a voice
peculiarly forcible and pathetic. The
delegation and the citizens felt. too
intensely, and, incredible as it may APP
pear, tears of regret and sorrow fell
from the eyes of men long un-
used to weep. Among those who
expressed their regret for the de-
parture of this noble regiment, were
Hon j. Houston Thomas, law partner
and successor in Congress of President
Polk, Gen. Lucius J. Polk, brother of
1t Gen. Leonidas Polk, Jerome Pillow.
brother of Maj Gen. Gid J. Pillow. and
others.
The feeling of anxiety and grief pos
sesses all classes of the community. Ten
regiments of such men would 90 further
in restoringTennessee to the Union than
sixty thousand il-directed bayonets.