The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1871-05-26
ANNUAL ADDRESS
Before the Pennsylvania Reserve Association
at their meeting In philadelphia
on May 10th, 1871, by
GEN. WELLINGTON II. EN7

GEN. WELLINGTON II. ENT.
COMRADES OF THE RESERVES THE
friendships formed around the camp
and the James, find in this re uni,
full expression. Your presence, the
firm grip, the kindly greeting, are but
true reflections of that sympathy and
manly affection which was generated in
your breasts while together fighting the
battles of your country, and which,
while stimulating all the noble impul-
scs of the soldier, made you for the re-
mainder of your lives, friends. Earnest
discussions on topics religious, political,
or otherwise, may arise among you;
diverging opinions will exist respecting
most questions of public interest, but, in
the end, your disagreements are forgot
ten, and the relations of the past remain
unbroken. The soldier is emphatically
the friend Of the soldier. Companion
certainty, and especially is this so when
the time thus consumed is measured by
years, and is well marked by campaigns,
defeats, and victories. The positive con-
tact of personal acquaintance renders
indissoluble these ties. Companionship
in the tent and the JiUoudc, shoulder
to shoulder service in the struggle to
the death, established remembiances
that are not readily effaced.
1t is fitting reward forthe privations,
the hardships and sutferings of the years
spent in the field that thrill of pleasure
is enjoyed in the clasping of hands
with another who has had like expert.
cnce. And 1t matters not in what field
he served; for the men who fought in
| Virginia, the great southwest, ortalong
| m IN IN a
ac.unted by an honest purpose, were as
soldiers, equally meritorious, and are
to-day unitedly friends. Applause.
And paradoxical as it may at first APP
pear, it is this regard for men who have
faced the storm of battle which impels
us to extend the hand of fellowship to
the honest soldier who fought on the
other side This is why to-day ex.
confederate soldiers of every grade hold
by Federal appointment positions of
trust and power. 1t is why score of
them occupy seats in the Congress of
the United States; why an ex. .confeder-
ate general was taken into the cabinet
councils of the government, and why
one of the most lucrative positions in
the whole southern country was given
to the veteran confederate Longstreet,
by the veteran federal Grant. All honor
to thetwo great captains! To the former,
because he was among the first to accept
the situation resulting from the contest ;
to the latter, because in the hour of his
and the nations success, he dared to be
generous. Applause. Had there exist
ed spirit of malignity among the men
constituting the opposing armies, the
establishment of peace might for long
time have been hindered, and wal
of eXtermination been waging at the
present hour If the friendly feeling
which animates the breasts of the men
who cOntended with each other in dead
ly strife on the battle field shall pervadf
all classes, the nation will be as prosper
Gus and powerful as its domain is great
and its people chivalric. Great ap
plause.
And now, comrades, leaving for mo
ment, the contemplation of our owl
affairs and that condition of nationa
happiness which is daily being rendered
permanent by fast growing amity be
tween the peoples of the sections recent
ly estraDged, let US turn our attention
: abroad, and note few of the more i'm
portant events which are there transpir
ing. And, first, let US consider what wa
deemed proper cause for war II
Europe.
The Queen of Spain had become oh
noXious to the mass of her subjects, ant
was forced to abdicate the throne. II,
fill the vacancy thus occasioned withou
disturbing "the balance of power" il
Europe, became matter of great impor
to the other nations, and especially 81
: to France, whose position as a first elias
S power had already become insecure, an,
y the crown of whose monarch was restinj
none too securely upon his brow. Ii
fact, with the exception of Portugal
France was the nation to be most a.
;. fected by new Spanish alliances; an
when a candidate for the vacant throne
in the person of Hohenzolleran prince
was announced, she recognized the ac
as threatening to her security as one O
the leading nations of the continent
She remembered, that Prussia wa
- an ancient as we'll as present foe
ready to retalate for the indignitie
d heaped upon her by the old legions G
II France, and anxious to punish NapC
leon III for his interference afte
Sadowa, which precluded Prussia iron
d reaping all the fruits of that memorabl
= victory. Besides, had the sceptre G
; Spanish power passed into the hands of
. Hohenzolleran, France would have bee
- sandwiched between two nations, tn
one positively and the other substan
III u
Prussia. Both the government and tn
people of France determined not to b
thrust into this critical and threatenin
:, position, and the camor for arme
',e resistance was loud and general.
T. AT this juncture, however, the Wal
cloud was broken, and ray of hope 70
continued peace, relieved, to some eX
tent, the general gloom. Leopold
through his father, declined the vacan
throne, and Spain gave assurances tina
no indignity was intended, on her par
to France. Common prudence wOul
dictate that just here the whole suhjeC
should have been dropped for whe
the cause of alarm had been removed
and the assurance of Spain given that n
- alliance inimical to France was desiret
nothing real was left In the controversy
But the pride of an empire had bee
= wounded, and the wrath of its million
III was aroused. Guarantees against col
I'd ectural occurrences were petulantl
demanded, and petulantly refused.
.s was this petulancy elected into the col
er troversy at this unhappy hour whic
brought on the war. Petulancy alon,
RS not necessity, not real insult to nations
honor, injury to the citizen, or wanto
violation of international law.
But notwithstanding the unsubstanti
nature of the causes of this war, we, /
soldiers, must certainly commend Il
ae despatch with which the armies WEI
en- put into the field, and also the con
IS, Es pleteness with which they were armc
re. and equipped.
. At the outset Of our war of the rebe
& lion the President issued a call for Sc
enty.five thousand troops, to serve f
three months. Whether it was thougl
u,s possible by the Federal authorities
irighten Off the threatening danger
md this addition to the standing army,
'n' whether the patriotism of the peop
to. called upon to furnish the desired trool
A was suspected, has not, it is believe
yet transpired. Subsequent histor
however, shows; first, that the fore
-- ask ed for We're entirely inadequa
a., either to irighten off, or subdue the !
,ne ,ty' belion; and, secondly, that the nul
owe Der of men who We're then willing al
20. eager to defend the flag and the integ
sies ty of the Union, would have more tn
raw ten times filled that reuuisitiOn, q