The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1866-10-18
COME ON, BOYS, TRY THEM ONCE MORE!
Military Speech of james u. Murdoch, the
Fragedi an at the Pittsburg convention.

|
Military Speech of James T.. Murdoch, the
| Hragedi an at the Pittsburg convention
| FELLOW CITIZENS: have few words to
| say on this to us important occasion. ! have
not, fellowcitizens, yet learned to arrange my
1 thoughts and select my words while speaking.
| The habits acquired in my profession render
| strictly eXtemporaneous efforts more difficult
! and bewildering to me than to others. | must,
| therefore, claim the privilege threading the re-
suits Of my thinking, poor and rambling as
they may be. claim for myself only the mer-
| it of being in earnest. My presence here is
prompted by deep conviction of the necessi =
! ty for vigorous action, the part of every loyal
man in the country in this great crisis which
| has come upon us. Five years ago, on arriv
ing in this city ofPittsburg to fulfil an engage
ment in the theatre, found awaiting me a
letter from my son, Thomas Forrest Murdoch
whom left mere lad, filling the place of .
clerk in Cincinnati, only few weeks before
| At the call of the President for three months
men he had joined the regiment of Cincinnati
| Zouaves, and the letter informed me that he
| would pass through the city of Pittsburg on
| his way to Washington, and wanted my con-
sent and blessing We missed each other
When l arrived the boy had gone forward to
the seat of war. This city ebbed and flowed
in mighty tide of enthusiasm. Troops were
coming and departing. Men, women and
children thronged the streets. Shouts and
cheers mingled with the martial music which
filled the air What could 1 do? The boy Of
II was marching TO CONFRONT Jne feDel zoe; the
father acting the mimic hero on the stage, and
in the city where the woman passed the day in
cheering brave men on their way to battle, the
nights in tears over their desolate homes, and
in prayers for the preservation of their dear
ones and their dearer country. | did not choose!
l found myself in the ranks. Cheers
At Lancaster met my boy and his compan-
ions standing under arms. They wanted a
speech, and found myself telling them how
the place where they stood was the old cam
paign ground of men who fought and starved
with Washington, where the snow had been
marked with blood drawn from their shoeless
feet. l told them that there the flag of their
country had trailed in the dust of the very
ground they stood on; not as in Charleston,
scorned and insulted, but because sickness and
famine had weakened the sinewey arms, but
not the courage of the men who bore it; that
they were to prove themselves worthy of the
parentage of their hero ancestors at Valley
Forge; that they We're able and willing to
teach the world that neither foreign or domes-
tic hands should be laid in insult on the en-
blem of their birthrigllt-on the flag of Wash
ington. [Cheers. That speech made the
speaker loyal. To protect the flag, to cherish
the principle it represents, to devote whatever
energy l possessed to sustain the men who
went out to fight under it, was the solemn
vow there made, and which | am here to-day
to answer. Renewed cheers.
The boy died, shouting to his men, stagger
ing under the murderous fire, come on, boys,
try them once more" The man stands here to,
reiterate that cry of dying soldiers Come on
boys try them once more!' [Great enthusiasm
AS long as American nationality has foe, as
long as a single arm is raised against the ban
ner. of Father Abraham, applause against
the right of the majority to goVern-against
the cause of equal rights and equal justice, the
cause baptised in the blood OF Bunker Hill
against the creed written on the white head
boards of the graves Of 250,000 brave men-I
say while a single voice or arm dare oppose
bn XUh
cred associations, my motto shall be now and
always, "Come on, let us try them once more"
Cheers While disappointed statesmen and
political tools, led by man deaf to the
promptings of faith and national Justice, COM
bine with impoverished and desperate agents
fthe rebel cause to overthrow the Govern
ment, every true man should hold himself q
minute man for the cOuntry's call. How can
people, willing to be directed by the pillar
and cloud of righteous Providence, fail to see
a new duty in the shaping Of public affairs
The soldiers on the battlefield, the sailor on
his deck, the people at their houses, have tried
the rebel cause, and the universal verdict is,
Guilty, and recommended to mercy"
[Cheers.
We say: 'sConform to the circumstances Of
your defeat Give us, by your choice of rep
resentatives, some guarantee of your DISPOSE
ton to keep the peace IN future, and we will
regard you no longer as enemies, but as friends
restored and received into the national family.
We do not care to walk arm lin arm with you
|into the reconstruction. Go hand and heart
with us, or not at all. [Cheers.] Politeness
and ceremony may suit you've want truthful
fellowship in our political alliance, if we fail
to secure it in social life" Renewed APP
plause. In short, if Southern rebels and
Northern sympathizers will not adopt the
protfers of of peace made by the legitimate
majority, against whom the one made open
and the other a secret and most despicable
warfare; if terms conceived in spirit of justice
and rendered in good faith are not acceptable;
if factious resistance to the acts of Congress is
| still persisted in, then must the loyal States
assert their rights once more, filling their ban
| ner to the breeze, and rallying to the citidel,
stand ready to repel the foe in whatever form
he may come, however he may be supported.
May God in his infinite mercy avert from this
people the horrors of a renewed was; fore
warned is forearmed." applause p Our
country's flag has been set as a signal Of hope
| to the world, promising freedom, equality and
equal justice to the oppressed who seek the
protection of its sheltering folds. Those to
whom it is promise only must be confirmed
| to their love and confidence. For the perfect
| cd result we must labor in the spirit of the
| men of '76, the men of 1912 and 1914, and of the
brave boys in blue who have made the last and
/ greatest sacrifice during the war of the rebel
| lion. To this common cause of freedom and
humanity let us pledge our lives, our fortunes
and our sacred honors. Great cheers.