Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1870-10-05

l'NlN' ''''o " "oo'ihluB an NAl1Ncuct ny loTct
Of arms, and the echoes Of Sumptcr's cannon
reverberatcd along the valleys and to the
mountain tops Of our Green Mountain State,
thogand sieiwert men on mounialnshrcl
Who know mll well Zoo time 0fneol
To aim their nsarght,
caught the inspiration, and like the Scottish
clausman at the sound Of his chieftain's horn
came down to the rescue, and offered them.
selves, if need be as a sacrifice to meet in
deadly strife and conflict on the field Of battle
the propagators and abettors Of treason.
They repaired to camp in this city, and on
the 20th day Of june, 1861, were organized
and mustered as the SECOND VERMONT REdI.
NESr, which was the first three years reg.
ment in the field from this State.
Comrades we the survivors Of that band,
have met here on this occasion, il being the
ninth anniversary Of the organization Of the
regiment, to commemorate that event. to re-
viyo the recollection of the scenes Of the four
years Of strife that followed, to renew our ac-
quainiance with one another, and to preserve
and perpctuate green and fresh the memory
Of our fallen companions, whose graves on
every battle field are strewn, from Bull Run
to Warwick, and on the banks Of the Chick
ahominy, the Bapahannock, on the fields Of
Antiotam, Gettysburgh, and in the Shenan-
doah Valley-and in fine, on every field
wherever the strife Of battle most furiously
ragged
But the purpose Of our annual reunions,
however, would be but lily accomplished, was
this their only object and aim, and did they
tend to no end beyond merely assembling for
a conviyial time, and refreshing ourselves in
the memory Of past events Of the field, the
march, and the camp, aud of one anotb6f
but, we have or should have another and
higher object and aim.
We should not ourselves, nor should we al.
low posterity by any neglect Of ours to lose
sight Of the occasions Of the war, aud the
-causes that led to it. For hold it to be
true that unless the fact is established that
the cause in which we were engaged was a just
one, and an absolute necessity for taking up
arms existed, we had better seek to forget,
than remember, that We were ever soldiers.
However much there may be to admire, or
applaud, in the brilliant charge, the pertna-
cious and desperate hand-to-hand conflict, and
the subtle and extraordinary maneuvering on
the field we should not lose sight Of the fact,
that killing even then, is in the abstract a
species Of unjustifabe homicide, and that
war at the best is deplorabe and barbarous,
aud justifabe only on grounds Of absolute
necessity, and that it should only be waged
in support Of some great principle vital to
the rights of man, and then only when all
other and pacific measures have been ex-
hausted to no purpose.
Then we may well inquire, was the last war
of this character, and justifable on our part
and will history accord US the character Of
patriots, acting in support Of great and vital
principles, and yindicating the right2 Or
will we be assigned by the Judgment Of future
generations, as we are by our adyersarie.
and their abettors, the position Of a relentless
and unprincipled set Of yandals having been
instigated by no higher aim than the subjuga'
ton Of an innocent and patriotic people, and
the dospoiling them of their dearest and mos
sacred rights2
do not propose to detain you by discuss
ing to any extent the many and remote causes
that have, from the foundation Of the govern
meut, tended to produce hostile feelings be-
tween the North and the South. There were
many things that to greater or less degree
tended to that result. But there Is no doubt
but that slavery was the principal cause
' the skeleton in the house"
Had the South however, instead of seek
ing to overthrow the Government, as they
did sought redress for their wrongs, real ol
imaginary, within the Government, no thought
would ever have entered the mind of thu
Northern people Of making war on them t.
abolish slavery in the States where 1t already
existed but after curtailing it from farther
extension, they would, as they always haC
done. have adhered to the 4" let alone" poll
cy trusting that time, and change of cir
cumstances, might obliterate it from among
us. And while we regarded it as a grea
moral wrong, and incompatible with the prin
ciples on which our free Government is based
we chose to let the States where it exste'
take the responsibility and adopt their owl
means for its ultimate abolition.
But comrades, and ladies and gentlemen
il was when the South had announced, by
word and deed, their intention to dissolv
this union, to destroy the Government, to Sc
up conlederacy within its limits, with slave
ry for its corner stone it was when they de
fed the power of the General Government t
exercise any control over them, and repudi
ated all connection with it it was when il
furtheranco of these determinations, the.
seized upon Government arsenals, and forts
and appropriated the ordnance and othe
property of the Government to their unlaw
ful and mad schemes, that tho beacon light
on the hill tops of Vermont were seen abaz
all along the horizon and her sons laid asid
with commendable alacrity the tools of quic
husbandry, and were seen streaming toward
the camp of rendezvous, and organising then
selves to meet the sad emergency. 1t wa
then that wives, mothers and daughter
sweethearts and sisters, with as self-sacrisln
spirit as was ever displayed by the Sparta
Mothers, FASTENED their moager preparation
and with swelling hearts and tear-bedmm'
eyes, bid their dear ones trembling FAR
well, and invoked the blessing Of Heaven