Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1866-09-26
THE CHRONICLE.
WARREN. o.
WEDNESDAY,. sEPrEMEER IS. 1856.
of Col. N. A. Barrett,
at the TrumbuII County Sol
dIers and Sailors Convention
Sept. 10, 1866,

COMRADES AND FELLOW SOLDIERS ol
! TRUNBULL Co 1T is indeed an honor Il
be called upon to address an assemblagt
like this. As l look around me, l set
many familiar faces, faces that have seer
/ grimed with the smoke of battle, mer
whose voices l have heard ringing in the
din of conflict, men with whom l am
proud to have been associated in the his
tory of the past nor this alone-there
are representatives here from Regiments,
Batteries and Ships or War, whose fame
will long live in the hearts of their coun-
tFymen, whose record is written on the
proudest page of their country's history.
Men who fought at Gettysburgh and
Charlottesville, in the tangled Wilder
ness and before the grim entrenchments
of Petersburg and Richmond. Men who
were at Donaldson and Franklin, at Shi-
loah and Stone River, above the clouds at
Lookout Mountain and on the plains of
Atlanta, and some are here whose swing
ing footstept kept time in Sherman's
triumphant march to the sea. But all
are not here. How many of those spir-
its who went out in the first flush of
patriotism in the summer of i6l-how
many of those who fastened to fill our
shattered ranks in the years of strife that
followed, will return no more. Would
that with an enchanter's wand l could
summon them from the sunny slopes, the
grassy plains, the tangled forest, yes, and
from the burial grounds of those foul
prison pens Of the south, once more to
to life and being. But such power is not
mine, they rise no more till the Resurrec-
tion morn.
''0n fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards with ceaseless round
That refuge of the dead"
Let us, their surviving comrades, be
true to the principles for which they
fought. Let US see to it, that we lose
not the great boon which they poured
put their lives to obtain.
We have met to-day under call urg-
ing US to give expression to our senti-
ments, sustaining our representatives in
Congress in carrying out the great princi-
pie that TRAITORS must be punished and |
treason made odious. Once such call |
would have been absurd. Once we should |
have looked upon it as we would now
ook upon q call to sustain the princi- |
pie that twice two makes four. -.
How was it when the echoes from the |
rebel cannon aimed at Fort Sumpter
vent booming through the north? Did |
Tou doubt then that treason should be |
made odious When you learned that |
Union men were hunted from the south |
and butchered like wild beasts; he
husband slain in the arms of his wife,
the grey haired father on his own hearth
5tone-their sole crime. their love for the
lag of their country, did you Doubt
Did you doubt for one moment that trai-
,ors must be punished? And when our
owed President fell beneath the last
stroke of overmastered treason
lad we hesitation or doubt in The least
Why then this call, and why the ne
'essity of our meeting to-dayi Simply
cowardly sneaks who all through
he war maintained unceasing fire on
'ur rear; the men who denounced us as
Lincoln dogs" and mercenary hirelings,
Who rejoiced in our reverses and grew
ad at our success who pronounced our
ause unjust and our war a failure men
ike these leagued with some from whom
Teshould expect better things, utwhose
oft hearts and softer heads cannot real
re the necessities of the hour-these
backed by corrupt and faithless execu-
i've, seek to place unrepentant rebels,
heir hands red with the blood of our
and their hearts black with
'erjury to the nation in power, over the
nen they failed to kill.
And for opposing this, our Representa-
ives are denounced as "an unconstitu-
ionsl body, hanging on the verge of
"a rump Congress" A
Iumpl Andy johnson will vet learn ,
hat that rssnlp contains the backbone of !
{ the nation, and neither he nor all the :
opperheads nor rebels this side the IN {
srnal pit will be able to break it or bend {
in the least. |
Our representatives in Congress have
roposed Constitutional amendment, '
nd Senator Doolittle, President John t
on's mouth-piece, pronounees the con- @
ltlons it imposes upon the south as hu- S
and says they would be un-
orthy OF their high lineage did they ac- I
opt them.
The first condition is ''that all persons
orn or naturalized in the United States.
nd subject to its jurisdiction are citizens
lereof." ,