Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1869-07-09
oamrades d IL EiaLfu-Seeond:.

COAtf00eS Cf me 1tgRsy1oecOltCs'
A leading American writer has truth
fully said: ''There is a fraternity in
arms. The community of dangers,
hardships, enjoyu1ents the participa-
ton in battles and victories; the COM
paniOnship in adventures at a time Of
life when mems feelings are most sus-
ceptible and ardent, all these bind the
members of regiment strongly to-
/ gethers"
In the bonds of this fellowship are
we met to-day, and next to the satis-
faction of having participated in the
war for the Union, may we prize the
| pleasure of renewing in this way the
| associations it created. The sympa-
| thies and purposes which united us
shoulder to shoulder in the presence Of
| the foe, now Join Us heart to heart
Time strengthens rather than impairs
their cohesive power, as the magnetism
OF the past grows more powerful with
the flight Of years. No matter where
we meet or when, there is an indisso-
luble bond OF sympathy between 11ss
and those who stood side by side in the
fury of battle, who were partners in
the march, the bivouac and the pickett
who in sickness or wounds received
each others m1n1strat1onS or shared
together the uneasy cOuches of the
hospital, who in hunger divided the
last biscuit, or in cold an only blanket
these are and ever will be brethren.
1t is no slight thing to belong TO this
knightly order of Union soldiers Of
all fraternities that ever existed, there
has been none more honorable than
this. 1t had its inception in the nOblest
of purposes, its history in the eOsthest
of sacrifices, its mission in world re-
nOWned achievements. Are other as
sociations benevolent? Ours can boast
of that sublime charity which has bro
ken the fetters of the bOndsman, re-
deemed race, and saved nation
Are others venerable for their antiq-
uity? Ours is illustrious for deeds
done in the living present, which have
uprOoted the nOXiOus wrong Of the
benehcent results through all the fTI-
ture Are others perpetual? Ours
will be living power as long as Truth
has battles to be fought, and mems
hearts are open to the inspiration of
noble deeds. Have others long ealen-
dars of great names2 Where is the
one that can surpass our herO-Iist? |
Out of our brotherhood,
"Four hundred thousand men,
The brave-the good-the true
In tangled wood, In mountaln-glen,
On battlefield, in prison-pen,"
have outlined by their graves the /
march of Freedom. These, though de- |
parted, are our kindred spirits, but not /
these alone. Those who fought and |
against oppression, belong to us. The |
dauntless souls who followed Wash /
ington, the fiery old patriots of Lex |
ington and Monmouth, the heroes of /
Bannockburn and Marathon, are of our |
fellowship. Our fraternity began with /
Freedoms first battle, and it embraces |
those of all times and elimes who have |
fought or perished for her cause.
Nearly four years have now elapsed |
since the work was finished which first |
called Us together. It was proud day /
when, in the consciousness of duty i
faithfully discharged, and in anticipa- |
ton of swift return to home and [
we brought back the old flag 1
triumphant, and hung it on
''The waiting arnory wall,
Where it might speak of the great past to
Yet it was not without regret that we
saw our romantic soldier life come to a
close, and the old regiment which had
been to many Of Us friends, home and
family, broken mp and dissolved. Civil
pursuits had grown strange and tame,
and familiarity with adventure had
alienated our minds from the Occupa-
tiOnS of peace. Others had succeeded
to our places in business, and society
had learned to get along without u.s.
The sudden change in life brought with i
it new struggles and strong tempta-
tions, yet believe I may say of my
COulId0OSs as OF Au6 OulOH
generally, that in nothing have they I
distinguished themselves more than in
the aptitude, industry and alacrity
with which, after laying aside the i'm
plements of war, they resumed the oc-
cupations of civil life.
OF Oliver Cromwell's soldiers, fifty /
thousand of whom were thus suddenly
and cast upon society, it is
stated by Maeaulay that,
''In few months there remained not
a trace indicating that the most for
midable army in the world had just
been absorbed into the mass of the COM
munity. The rOyalists themselves
confessed that in every department of
honest industry the discarded warriors
prospered beyond other men, that none.
was charged with any theft or robbery,
that none was heard to ask an aims,
and that if a baker, mason or wag-
oner attracted notice by his diligence
and sobriety, he was in all probability
one of divers old soldiers"
These words, spoken of Cromwell's
Ironstdess are equally true of Hook
er's Ironclads."
They are true of all our soldiers, and /
there is nothing in their history, not /
even excepting their great victories, |
which does them such immortal honor /
as the fact that an army a million /
strong melted away into the mass of
the people so rapidly that in a few 1
HOOAAS bA4O men WIZ DelLLGECu uOWu IL6 /
gates of Richmond and went stsmash-
ing things" with Sherman to the sea,
were not distinguishable from the gem
eral mass except by superior industry, /
intelligence and good citizenship.
The world had never witnessed such |
a spectacle, and may say with anoth-
er, that None but a Republican peo-
pie could have produced it; for only |
they would have been permitted. A /
monarchical nation, once armed and |
accoutred after the same fashion, !
could never again have laid aside their |
arms or cast of their accoutrements !;
never more could they have returned |
to the practices of peace"
From the time of Cesar to Napoleon |
there was nothing like it in history. |
The experience Of other nations had /
well nigh justified the declaration of
Festus, that
" Man is a military animal
Glories in gun powder, loves parade,
Prefers them to all things"
and that war is a normal state. It re-
manned for the soldiers of our Repub-
lie to show that a free people resort to
arms not from choice but from neces-
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