The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-01-19
sherman's Tribute to the Lamented Gene

At meeting OF the Nathaniel Lyon Monu- |
ment Association, held at Jefferson City, Mis- |
souri,. on Monday last, General W. T. sher-
man made the following speech =
Mr.. President, Ladies and Gentlemen;-After |
the full and most excellent address of your Sena-
tor it would be in bad taste for me TO consume
much of your tlme but as a fellow-solder and
companion Of the dead hero, can but simply
offer the soldiers commentator, and assure you
that many loving heart and many brave far
away will bound with new pleasure when they
read that your Senator has come from his seat in
Washing ton that your Governor has presided at
this meeting and that the assembled representa-
hves OF the State OF Missouri have laid aside
their daily labor to do honor to one who shed
his blood that you and and those who come
alter us may enjoy a government of law, of
know well the subject that has brought us toge-
ther to-night-Nathanie Lyon; he came to West
Point in 1887, when was there. He was fair.
haired, blue-eyed boy, little looking like the
bold, courageous leader he afterwards turned
out to be- But any one observant of human
nature could in his quick eye observe determi-
nation even in his boyhood days. 10 grasp firmly
whatever he undertook. Again in Florida amid
the everglades l met him. when manhood
had Given strength and form to his body and
mind, and then his courage and his vindicated
earnestness led many of us TO say that he out
stripped his discretion.
Again in California. / happened there also
when he came, after he had been crowned with
success at Contreras, leading gallant charge.
/ saw him in California, also when was COM
mitted to him the charge, with two small COM
panies, to cover an exposed frontier, and MANY
who are living now remember how he toiled
over the mountains carrying boats on wagons
where boats had never been seen, to the rich
Indian hldlDg-p aces, amid the lakes of Clear
Lake valley. Nor Did he tarry there, but on
through mountain passes to the old Red river
country. 1t may be there are some old Calf
fornians here who Will remember the ch aracJer
OF that country. He struck blow to those In
dams that they remember to this dav. Nor did
he cease then, but with characteristic energy
which MARKS his Ole lite, he moved on to
Sacramento to avenge the death of one we all
loved, though you may not remember him
Captain Warner-who was killed by those In
dians. Those Of us who we're familiar with
those incidents in his career will ever remember
Lyon. Thus, long, long before you had heard
OF him, this man. so famous with you, had been
schooled in school which simply brought forth
TIE natural characteristics OF his mind and
body; and when he came to Kansas and alter.
wards TO Missouri he was qualified and capable
OF seeing deeper and further into the purposes
of men than many who make it their study.
] met him for the last time, as friend and COM
panion, at the arsenal-at that time l a citizen,
he soldier, still captain-captain OF the I'd
Regiment OF Infantry. | saw at a glance, by his
movement and manner, putting little redoubt
here and posting a gun, not uttering a word,
erecting a scafoldng in one place, and punching
hole through a stone wall in another place,
that the men plotting to destroy this Govern
ment ana seize that arsenal would meet more
than they bargained for If they attempted 1t.
Then, for the nrst time, when arsenal after
arsenal had fallen, and fort after fort yielded on
the mere demand of mob OF men, they met
their match then, and they came no further; nor
| did Lyon, as stated nor could he, brook delay.
He did not wait till the meshes and trammels
! which we're being plotted Tor him were
! perfected. Probably in this very town
OF Jefferson CiJy he took the initiatiye. The
first man in this country that seized the whole
! question, and took ithe initiative and de-
termined to strike blow, and not wait for the
! blow to be struck. remember him well during
| that time, and his argumentationS and reason
ing we're close and pointed. No LAWYER could
have argued a case, or statesman broached with
broader and better views. Hesdid strike, and
! you know he took Camp jackson, and followed
! it up to this point, thence to Boonville, and so
on to Springfield. Op to that point 40 one can
question either the wisdom or energy with which
| he conducted his post. Some, it Is said, eau
toned him to delay, others to wlthdraw-simply
because he could not obtain force adequate to
the end in view-to meet the concentrated forces
OF Price and McCulloch. But Lyon was right.
He struck the blow, and had he lived YOU meier
again in Missouri would have had foe to con-
tend with, and peace would have reigned here
from that time. (Applause.)
/. But man proposes and God disposes. We can
not add a mite to his fame or his station; we
cannot change the fact, and must accept it as
one of the mysterious dispensations of Provi-
dence. But to-day which OF you would not
rather be the dead Lyon in his quiet grave in
Connecticut, than to be his opponent now in q
1aI-of land, and the outcast (applause), or that
other opponent of his, who, in yonder city, sim
ply tarries for few brief years, till the grave
will take him up, unknown and unsung Better
Tar better, for Lyon as ne is, and none would
exchange with the other parties. (Applause.)
Now, my friends, you are here alter great
battle; the war and the smoke has cleared away
No longer confusion troubles you. No enemy
harasses you; and the duty devolves on you
to see TO it that those men who have shed their
blood and who lie in remote graves are sought for
and that their memories are treasured up where
they belong in history. And yet you owe it tx
your State and the children who are to com'
after you, to make sufficient recognition of thei
services. The lite OF q man is nothing. 1t comes
to-day and goes tomorrow It's span is the spar
OF hand; still it is the most precious thing tha
we possess. All men struggle TO maintain the
lives and when such man as Lyon gives vi
his lite unhesitatingly and untalteringly, ht
simply consigns himself to your care and tn,
care OF those Tor whom he gave up his lite. You
therefore, in honoring him, in honorlng hi
memory, in reVivng and reviewing his virtues
simply do that which does honor to yourself, Il
your State, and to those who are to follow you
| say, therefore, erect your obellsk, and inscrb
upon 1T the name and virtues OF this man, ant
let your children point TO it that they may SCI
the course which leads to the appreciation O
men, and the honor OF his fellow-men. Yol
may, of course, do him no good now, but you
may do yourselves and children good by com
memorating his virtues, and erecting this table
TO his name.
! have therefore, simply appeared before you
tonight TO be one of the advocates OF this under
taking care not myself In what form you may
choose to honor his memory, but the State o
, Missouri, in recognizing the services OF Genera
Lyon, recognizes what the world knows to be so
= that ne gave his Ilte to his whole country, bu
more especially that you should be no longer
' harassed by the dread calamitles of invasion
, That he did not succeed was not owing to hi
, own personal exertions, but other causes whicl