The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1864-02-26
The Rrc.p,ion Of the Soldiers.


rs pleasant ~ could he desired, af
fortling the boys and their friends
pheasant time coming in and pleas
ant stay.
ADDRESS BY COZ. WALLER.
AT =. NJ. the soldiers and citizen,
were assembled in front of the Cour
House, VIII ere they were addressed b,
Col. M. b. Walker, of the 31st, wht
had been selected by the committee tc
welcome The heroes. An unanimou,
desire having been expressed by those
who heard the address, for its publica
tiOn, we present it entire:
FELLOW SOLDIERS: s:-Our friends al
home have embraced the ever memor.
able Anniversary OF the birth oil
Washington, rs the day on which they
give us public welcome to our
homes, and invite us TO banquet
prepared at public expense. They
commission me to tender YOU the As.
surance Of their gratitude foryour 10
bic and distinguished services to our
common country, in the day of its tri-
al. They will forgive me, IL my fee
BILE words fail to comprehend and ex
press their admiration of your sub
lime patriotism; love of country
which the tolls and dangers of thirty
months of hard service have well IL
lustrated. AS one of you, it scarcely
becomes me to Eight our battles DER
again; and yet | feel that it would be
injustice to You to omit your record
from the remarks | have to make
The historians of the present writing
have busy work before them. 1t
is not of Caesar, Alexander or Napo-
leon, nor yet of Washington they are
to write, but ofthe acts of hundreds Of
thousands brave rs they. These act
ors viii be known as masses, but not
rs individuals. Great names will
come out Of these masses: some bv
merit, some by craft, for "serpents as
well rs eagles reach the SUBMITS of
pyramids The common soldier or
the modest officer who writes his his
tory in his blood upon the battlefield.
may never read his fame in the pub
lie annals, nor he thanked by senates,
but be will be con1cious, living or dy-
ing, of having done his duty TO his
country, and this should be his proud
solace. One who has wearily toiled
through the pages Of Tacitus, Here
ditns, Roland, Gibbon an Hume, will
easily perceive, even before our histo
ry shall have been written, how far we
have eXcelled other nations in the art
OF war; and how we have alike excel
Ell in heroic patriotism. But the
crowning glory which will remain to
us wlrn we are contrasted with them
will be-that by war thay have en-.
slaveo millions, whilst we have set
them free. When Sumter fell the ''star
OF hope" to millions rose.
Tho trump of war was blown, ne.
cessity compelled the Government to
assert its sovereignty, and appeal to
its people to maintain it. You re.
sponded to that call; you stopped not
to count the cost or consider conse
qu nces. The Government of vourI
fathers was insulted and threatened;
with an unparalleled alacrity compa
nies, regiments, brigades, divisions
armies were formed; the foe was
mighty; the battle has been roughly
contested; blood has flown into streams
that have swollen into torrents, but
You have not taltered, your courage
has not failed; with cheerfulness YOU
have toiled upon the weary march
with an accomplishing patience: YOU
have endured hardships that would
have broken the spirit of the Old
Guard. At Shiloh, Belmont, Arkan-
sas Post, Vicksburg, Perryville, Stone
River, Chickamauga and Mission
Ridge, you have won laurels of which
Achilles had been proud; nor have
you stained your laurels by the blood
of Hector, dragged at your chariot
wheels. Your enemies subdued in
battle have been treated with almost
superhuman forbearance. Thurmop-
olyar, the Granchus, the Splugen. the
Glarus, and the Delaware, are words
renowned in history; Vicksburg, Get
tysburg, Stone River, and Chickamau-
ga, will challenge their title to para.
mount celebrity.
AS soldiers the GROWING glory of
your brilliant career is achieved bv
your enlistment, after all the tolls
and hardships through which YOU
have passed, the dangers you have un-
lalteringly met, the sickness and
wounds many Of you have suffered
You could give no more sublime at.
Of your devotion to vour
country. Few Of us thought when al
most three years ago, we laid aside
our peaceful avocations, sacrificing
interests, bidding adieu to
lome, and the loved ones there. eager
20 embrace our country's call in
arms, that we should be called on at
The present time-when so far in the
to seal our devotion by
ibis new sacrifice, to Shed the part
ng tear, and bid adieu to friends and
nome. But the past has but prepared
IS for the present. Our arms that
nave become as iron by wars rugged
our lips that are marble in
,hp heat of batt la mnst for n t;,,,o ,o,,o