The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1865-08-17

lcuutIb.
.Youare all entitled 10 cqUal honor
aud renOwn, you of the 18th and Of
the 43rd, you of the 4Gth and tln
58th, you of The 9GCh and the 10th,
you of the 6lst and 18th Regulars,
you Of the 69th and the 1l4th.you of
the lstand the 17St6, you of q Light
and heavy Artillery, and you Vi the
Cavalry, all, no matter to what com
pany, Regiment, Division, or Corps
you belonged, are entitled tothe CRATE
iul plaudits of your countrymen.
And when | speak of the splendid
condition, and fine military discipline,
the bold and brilliant daring OF the
army of the Tennessee, it is insepara-
BILE from the renown of the arm es of
the Potomac, the Cumberland, and
Mississippi.
What would t@ great army of the
Tennessee, even under its great and
chosen leader, have accomplished with
ont the cooperation of Grant, and
Thomas, and Granger, and Canby?-
Grant held Lee as in vice before
Richmond, and at tho auspicious mo-
mcnt, having his army well in hand,
the great hero of the Cumberland de-
feated the hosts under Hood, and left
General Sherman master of the coun-
try from the interior to the sea.
And in that great march it was re-
served for him and you, mon of the
Tennessee, to show the hollowness of
the Confederate States, and how utter
ly incapable they were of contcnding
with men whose hearts are filed with
love and vcneration for the Union.
And have you, men of Fairfield, con-
sdered what that extraordinary cam
paign accomplished? Have you taken
thought Of the genius to.direct, the da-
ring and valor to accomplish, success
fully, by great army, march for
hundreds of miles through the heart
ofan enomy's country, cut loose from
its base of supplies, and surrounded
and menaced, almost every step, by
armed men in their front, on their
HaHhS, anu III JuclT Tedri
Perhaps the military history of the
world can furnish no parallel. BY the
burning light of n devoted city tho
great Captain Of Europe, gloomy and
in despair attended only. by few
faithful followers, sought the Capitol
of France, his army wasted, and the
soil of tho nation he went to conquer
watsrcd by the blood, and whitened
BY the bones of the brave men who, in
tho land of tho stranger, made their
graves remote from tho homes and
friends they had but few months be-
fore, left.
The Army Of the Tennessee, undor
the genius which controlled it, more
fortunate than the legions of the great
Corsican, travciscd almost the entire
length of the States in revolt, passed
over what were regarded as insupera-
bic barriers, scattered the armies of
treason, reduced States to submission,
and, by the bold and skillful strategy
of its great commander, forced the
evacuation of Savannah and tho aban q.
donment of Charleston, compelled Leo
to loose his hold on Richmond, which
resulted in his discontinue by great,
|y distinguished son Of your State
General Sheridan, the peer in militia
ry renown of the great men the war
has produced, decided the fato Of the
C0hlodoracy, and sent forth tho arch.
traitor, Jeff Davis, and his Cabinet,
fugilives upon tho earth, fleeing the
wrath OF wronged and injured peo-
plo.
For this great and noblo work, for
this glorious and wonderful consuma-
ton, for the redccming of three mil.
lions oil men and women, and little
children from bonds, for the rcStora.
ton of the rightful authority Of those
in power, for the preservation OF the
Union of our Fathers, and for the
hope and promise it has given us that
il will be perpetual to you, OH men OF
tho Army Of the Tennessee arc We in.
dcbted and not to you only, but also
TO your comrades in arms of tho 9TH
or armies Of tho Republic, who, on
fields of blood and carnage, over the
whole land, testified their devotion to
the Union of those States,
The old flag, though rent and torn
by fratricidal hands, now floats over a
restored Union, How much we are
indebted to you for all this, history
will mako record
You have redeemed u nation, and
restored the honor and renown of the
country Of your birth and adoption
You havo broken up and destroyed
tho power Of men in the light OF
whose vices the crimes and treason
of Uatalinc, and Coulhon, and Danton
shine out us noblo virtues, For in the
black catalogue OF crime can bo found
no offence cQuNlling in turpitudo
bascncss, and atrocity, the perfdy and
wickodness OF those who raised their
parricIdal hands against this most pa,
rental Government, and played 30 &C.
tive u part in this dark drama of guilt
and treason.
And what has it all cost? What the
price of all this2 The blood of your
brethern living and dead, the bruised
hearts, and broken hopes, and crushed
affections of ten thousand thousand, all
over tho land, Il land, in part, wasted
and made desolate, boroaved wives
and parents childless, little ones rob
bed of their natural protectors, ant
left bcggars upon tho charity Of the
world these are the bitter fruits o
the causeless, wicked and unholy ro
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