Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1864-06-30


base, such ignoble acts. In the performanc
OF your more active military duties. YOU bav
without confusion, without anv lawless v;r
lence, made many a fatiguing march in sur
mer's heat and winters cold. in dust in mud
IN sunshine and storm without the least fa
terlng or murmuring. Such was your disci
pine that you promptly executed every or
der, whatever it might be-
Yours not to make reply.
Yours not to reason why,
Yours but to do or die''
this was the sentiment, the esprit du corn
of your regiment. By your admirable con
duct on the battle field YOU have elevated
the character of the American solder through
out the world Participating in many sharr
skirmishes and perilOus reconnoisanees you
never failed to meet every just expectation
Fearlessly and firmly have you faced danger:
and difficulties of the most appalling charac,
ter But on no field, IN no place, in no emer.
gency however terrible have you quailed be-
fore danger or failed to do all that human
arms could do to sustain the National cause
and vindicate the National authority. Manv
an insolent traitor has, by your blows, been
made to bite the dust. Everywhere have Won
essentially contributed by your valor to avert
disaster from the Army of the Potomac and
materially aided it in winning the substantial
fruits of victory. Amid the frightful slaugb-
ter, the horrors of blood and gloom which
have made the battle fields Of Bull Run.
Gainesville, South Mountain, Antietam. Fred.
ercksburg, Charlottesville, Gettysburg and
the Wilderness ever memorable, YOU bore
yourselves nobly and well Your regiment was
always in its proper position in that brigade,
whose glory or fortune it was ever to be,
On the perilous edge
OF battle when it ragged in all assaults
when death strokes fell the fastest, obstin-
ately contesting every inch of ground with
the enemy-now by an impetuous charge
falling upon his bewildered lines like thun-
derbolt and hurting his masses before it
then by well directed musketry fire thin
nlng his ranks-now repulsing some desper-
ate charge of cavalry-then unmasking and
taking some battery dangerously posted
now recovering some ground that had been
lost-and then with con5ummate skill and in
the most perfect order covering the retreat;
such has been the position, the work of that
Brigade which has won for itself the title it
so well desery9s-a title at once suggestive
gifts magnificent courage, its unconquerable
will, its invincible spirit and resolution. Need
add that that title is The Iron Brigade y
that it is now known and is forever to be
distinguished by that name, so molly won
so proudly won? And it is called "The
Iron Brigade because on many bloody
field has the fact been established that it was
composed of men who, like the Old Guard of
Napoleon, die in their places facing the foe,
but they never fly, they never surrender. 1t
was with that Brigade, soldiers of the Second,
that you were associated Such were your ri
val iD IN,
And you all achieved for yourselves imper-
ishable renown. Whatever fortune may be-
tide that Brigade in the future-upon what
ever fields it may win new honors or lose its
already hard-earned laurels, the past at least
secure. When your connection with it
terminated, its name was respondent with
glory. And when the Muse of History comes
to conslgn to her immortal records the deeds
OF valor and devotion performed by our sol
diers and sailors in this war, she will find no
page upon which she can dwell with more de-
light than the one which tells the story of
the brilliant career of "The Iron Brigade
while you were associated with it.
But this is not the occasion to recount your
exploits, so marvellous and wonderful. [ will
add that know of nothing in your career
that would alter or change were it in nay pow
err to do it. There is nothing in your con-
duct as regiment, from its first baptism in
fire and smoke at Bull Run on the 21st of
July, 1861, down to the recent period, when
in triumph and with garments purple with
blood its men emerged from that Armaged-
don, the Wilderness, that your fellow citi-
zens would have otherwise than it is Quite
true it is that you were not always victorious
that the fortune of war sometimes inclined
to the side OF the enemy. True it is that our
hearts were at times terribly depressed, al.
most crushed at the result of some conflicts
in which you had been engaged. We believ-
ed on the first dispatches that no blame for
these sad failures attached to you, either as
Individuals or a regiment In this good opin-
ion of you we found ourselves always con
firmed by the full accounts of the battle No,
whatever others did or failed to do, the
Second Wisconsin always did its assigned
work, thoroughly, seasonably and well In
these remarks make no exception, because
in Justice none should be made Not even in
the first battle in which you were engaged.
disastrous as it was in its result, did you
disappoint any hope or forfeit any conf
dence we had reposed in you. 1ou as did
our rank and file generally, acquitted your
selves well on that bloody field. Undisci-
plined troops, as you all were, just from the
farm, the shop, the counting room, the col
lege and the lawyers office, unacquainted
with war, ignorant of the country, you were
sent-after fatiguing MARKEDLY regiments,
without concert, into the brush and woods
over hills and through obscure roads
to hunt mp the enemy wherever YOU
could find him and fight him in his
fortified admirably chosen positions
Under these disadvantages even, by your des-
perate yaior, you succeeded IN whipping him.
But after your strength was exhausted, sud-
denly, late in the day, you found yourselves
confronted by fresh troops. Your supports
were at distance, and not brought into ac-
ton at ALL while another force that should
have co-operated with you in the engagement
whose men were burning with impatience
to do so-was, ,aeder the command of its general
rapidly retiring from, instead of advancing
upon the enemy. That you were finally driv-
en- back, defeated, under these circumstances,
was no matter of surprise, no wonder. But
rs | have said, not alone your REGIMENT but
our rank and file generally, conducted them
selves well on that day. The first battle of
Bull hun, then, has its bright features and
great compensatlons. For, while we can but
admit that the battle was illustrated by no
consummate generalship, no high military
genus planning the movements and directing
the undlsciplined valor of our troops. vet the
discriminating observer will not fail to mark
numerous examples of the greatest bravery
displayed by regiments and individuals there
ensaged-deeds of heroism which illumine
the gloom OF that dark days business with a
terrible beauty like the lightning playing on
the edge OF the cloud | have dwelt for an
instant on the incidents of that battle, be-
cause it is the only debateable ground in the
entire military career of the Second Wiscon-
sin regiment upon which an envious mind
could fasten, to limit its praise. For MYSELF
l am fully satisfied with its conduct that dav