New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-07-15
ARMY AND NAVY OF THE GULF
Gathering of Officers ut Newport.
From tba Naw yorL Herald

L
the scene of an unusual and interestin!
gathering, one which has brought togethe
large number of the country's brave de
tenders, and one which will pass into histOr,
as the most pleasing reunion and social fes
tlval of any in the brief history of th'
Society of the Army and Navy of the Cult
The visitors found Newport in its most in
viting garb, and with an unexceptionabl'
and cloudless day and in the midst of a hos
pitable and patriotic community, their whole
series of festive exercises have been mos
eminently pleasing and successful.
1t was the third successive gathering O.
an organization of many of the Surviving
land and water warriors who served in the
Department of the Gulf, and nearly hun
dred OF the veterans came here to partlcl
pate. Little Phil Sheridan, who was made
president of the association, in the place o1
the lamented Farragut, was among the
most renowned chieftains present, and al
the day and evening he was the lion of the
lions among the aristocracy and recreation
brigade now quartered in Newport for the
season. Others of less renOwn also had
their admirers, for wherever such men as
Generals Burnside, Mcdowell and For
sythe promenaded there was a buzz
ing and huttering which they could
not possibly have been unconscious OF
The naval heroes who attracted attention
and admiration there were Admiral Jenkins,
Admiral Thatcher, Admiral Bailey, and a
score or more of commodores, captains and
lieutenants; but all forgetting, for the time
being, any distinction in rank, and entering
heartily and unreservedly into the festive
| elements which the social occasion so
abundantly afforded. The spacious Ocean
House was selected for the headquarters,
and it was here that the ''feast of reason
and flow of soul' exercises were gone
through with, and the Academy of Music,
in an obscure lane of Bellevue avenue, was
honOred with the heavy literary entertain
ment and business convention. The latter
was held during the forenoon, at which the
only business of public interest transacted
was the election of General Sheridan for
president of the society, and the selection
| of New York city and October 19 as the
| time and place for the reunion in 1872 The
| balance of the day until evening was spent
| by the visitors in viewing and participating
in the numerous delights for which New
| port is so renowned. Some went riding; a
| few enjoyed the novelty of bathing in the
| surt, and all indulged, more or less in the
human weakness of watering place tiirta-
| tiOns, much to the delight OF the visiting
! damsels who promenaded and rode up and
| down the avenue. s...
The afternoon having been thus miscel-
| laneously occupied, the warriors came to-
| gether again at seven O'Clock TO participate
| in the literary exercises which had been
arranged for. The audience was not large
| at the beginning, but as twilight and dark
ness came the visiting elite of Newport
| filled the Academy of Music in every part
| General Sheridan, when he entered, was re-
| ceived with cheers, and the band from Fort
! Adams played Hail to the Chief" Order
| having been restored, Rev. DR.. Montgom-
cry offered fervent prayer, and then
| Major Atkinson, in behalf of the city of
speech more remarkable for feeling than
eloquence. An inspiring strain or two from
the band was worked in here, after which
General Sheridan introduced as the orator
of the evening the brilliant and dapper
little Colonel Granville Hawes, Of New
port.
Colonel Hawes, i'll the beginning of his
grafton, alluded to Schiller's poem on the
Feast of Victory" notwithstanding the
beautiful imagery of which the author be-
lieved there was an inexpressible sadness
underlying. The army and navy of the
gulf, he said, had accomplished its mission.
1t was outshone in blazing bv the armies of
the Potomac and the West, but Baton
Rouge, Port Hudson, Pleasant Hill, and the
valley of the Lafourche bore most noble
testimony to their valor. But fighting was
not their enemy; 1t was the pestilence of
the Southern swamps which depleted their
the navy, he said that TO relate its almost
marvellous successes would be telling tale
that every schoOlbOy in the land is IA
miliar with. During four years of our war
it won more victories than the English
navy has in a full century. Pausing here
to pay an eloquent and touching tribute to
the memory of the unlaureled dead, Colonel
Hawes came down at once to the theme of
his Grafton, which was the relations of war
to modern civilization, and its necessity and
its character. He claimed that war in its
ultimate effects, was beneficial to nations and
individuals, as the world is constituted, and
that there are inevitable conditions in the
life of a nation that need gunpowder as
surely as the sky needs lightning. He ad-
mitted that war was very terrible, but
wrong was more terrible. From the earliest
times war has been the source of poetry,
elOquence, music and all refinement.
Strange as it may seem, from seeming evil
good is always coming. In spite, then, of
our bOasted civilization, our churches, our
free government, our high commissions our
ed ucatiOn or our wealth, war, we fear, will
still prevail. Sad that it is so, SAID the
orator, or rather that there be such terrible
necessity for it. Would that we might
think our own prosperous country would
prove an exception and be saved. But do
you, on consideration, believe it! Is there
one of you who, in heart does not antici-
pate its coming eVents-quick coming
Since the foundation of this government in
l776 there have been eighteen wears of !
war, exclusive of frontier and Indian-war |
one year i'll six on the average. and war of |
the most sanguine type. What think YOU
will be the future!
Do you hope to escape it, De Won suppose |
for one moment that in the future there will |
be less than one year OF war to six of |
peace! Can there be less danger think |
you, as population inCreases-as labor |
threatens capital and capital encroaches
upon labor-as religions, the ever fruitful
source Of strife, come nearer and nearer to-
gether, and even now jOstle one another
dangerously-as the rich grow richer and
the poor peorer-as the large cities increase
IN size and their governments fall into the
hands OF an Ollgarchy, who are supported
in power by mob of unpunished Grim
lnals-as corporations gradually obtain con-
trol OF governments, as they have in at
least four of the States of the Union. threat
enlng in their grasping power to absorb
the individual and all his rights-when the |
moral tone of the community is such that a
railroad thief makes us forget his crimes
as sectional diverses increase and the re-
atlons OF each to the general government
become more and more sensitive-as these
5hings are to be taken into account-to say
lothlng OF foreign encrOachment, sensitive,
arrogant and pretentiOus as we have be-
,ome through wealth and tried military
uccess-as all these things, 1 say, are to be
AIKEN into accounts there a person
Who does not know in his heart
hat the ratio of war to peace will
,e hereafter increased in this country
ather than diminished War will
be the lot of this, as of every
ountry. But we may be asked if this is co
ontinue forever-will slaughter and burn
ne and murder forever be our lot We