Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-07-20


NEW YORK, July 19-The second triennal
reunion Of the army OF the James was largely
attended to-day. All the corps which formed
that army were represented. Gems. Deyens,
Hincks and Gorham were present. Gen. Porter
sent notice to the meeting that President Grant
and himself would be unable to be present, on
account of other engagements. Gen. Devens,
in his address of welcome, said:
Comrades congratulate you that we have
been permitted to assemble again at this our
second tliennial reunion, after the battle has
been fought and the victory won in the great
war for the Union. 1t has been objected that |
the legitimate tendency of such organizations
as our is to encourage continued enmity toward
those with whom we were lately at war, and
that they betray unwillingnesS TO allow the
angry passions to subside which were excited by
our late controversy. No charge could be more
unjust than this. There is no body of men
more anxious TO be at peace with all their fellow
countrymen than those who were soldiers of the
federal army.
There were no utterances more cordial than
those which proceed from every gather
ing of theirs in favor of oblivion and
torgetfulness to the individuals who
were in the ranks of the armies lately OPP
posed to them; but they cannot and ought not TO
forget the great principles for which SO many
have laid down their lives, and they have
right to expect that throughout the vast region
which they subdued and rescued from rebellion,
there shall be peace, not hollow but permanent,
and that the words, 4 am an American citizen
no matter how poor or humble the individual
who utters them, shall carry with them as
weighty a spell as did in the ancient world the |
almost magic words, Il am a Roman citizen. |
Idle is the suggestion that such associations |
encourage a war spirit and eXalt martial glory |
in the eyes of those who participate in them; |
they have no such tendency No man in the |
world knows better than we, who have fought |
through this, how terrible war is, and how
countless are the miseries which it brings in its |
train.
"When you hear this hippant, boastful talk,
which is so common, about new wars, my COM
rades, it is, in almost every instance from those
who have taken no part i'll that through which
we have passed. In all ages, of all the curses
which have afflicted man, and which have re-
tarded his progress which impoverished peoples
and degraded nations, war has been among the
worst 1t can only be justified on great and
solemn cause; that cause the American people
had when they resolved that the government of
our fathers should not be destroyed, and that
the liberty bequeathed by them should be pre-
served"
In the absence of Gen. Terry, Major General |
Duncan delivered the Grafton, which consisted
of a review OF the record of the army of the
ooihSS' AhC POCLHJ ClllltlcuJ hO EAuN"hSO
Guard was then read by Colonel John Hay, as
follows:
In the dream of the northern poets,
The brave who in battle die,
Fight on in shadowy phalanX,
In the field of the upper sky
And, as we read the sounding rhyme
The reverent fancy hears
The CHASTITY ring of the Yiewless swords
And the clash of the spectral spears.
We think with imrarious questionings
OF the brothers that we have lost,
And we strive to track in deaths mystery
The flight of eacn valiant ghost.
The northern myth comes back to us,
And we feel through our sorrows night
That the young souls are striving still
Somewhere for the truth and right.
1t was not their time for rest and sleep;
The hearts beat high and strong;
In their fresh veins the blood of youth
Was singing its hot sweetsOng.
The open heaven bent over them
Mid flowers their 1.-THE feet trod;
Their lives lay vivid in light, and best
BY the smiles of woman and God!
Again they come, again hear |
The tread of that goodly band
know the flash of ElswOrth's eye
And the grasp of his hard, warm hand. |
And Putnam and Shaw, of the lion heart,
And an eye like Boston girls;
And see the light of heaven which sh0ne
On Uric Dahlgren's curls.
There is no power in the gloom of hell
To quench those spirits fire.
There is no charm in the bliss of heav'n
To bid them not aspire.
But somewhere in the eternal plan,
That strength, that life survive,
And like the files on LoOkOut's crest,
Above deaths clouds they strive.
chosen corps, they are marching on,
In wider field than ours;
Those bright battalions still fulfil
The scheme of heavenly powers.
And high brave thoughts float down to u.s.
The echoes of that far off light,
Like the flash OF a distant pickets gun
Through the shades of the lowering night.
No fear for them in our lower field,
Let us to it, with arms sustained,
That at last we be worthy to stand with them
On the shining heights the've gained
We shall meet and greet 10 closing ranks
In times declining sun,
When the bugles of God shall sound recall
And the battle of life be won.
The army of the James society elected the fol- |
lowing officers: President, Gen. Joseph r. Haw- |
ley, Conn.,; Vice Presidents, Gems. Charles K. |
Graham, N. Y; Adelhert Ames, Miss; o. L. |
Mann, Ill., and William L. Rosenberg; Re- |
cording secretary, Maj. John H. Howell; Treas |
urer, Gen. Charles A. Carleton, N. Y. Chap |
lain, Rev. William H. Taylor; Orator for next |
meeting, Gen. Thomas c. Osborne, Ill.
The banquet was held at the ST. James hotel, |
lhis evening. About 200 members attended. |
Gen. Charles V. Graham presided. Among the |
prominent gentlemen at the head table were: |
Rev. VIM. H. Taylor Gems. Charles Devens Jr., |
Q. A. Gilmore, Samuel A. Duncan, Geo A. |
Custer Geo II. Sharpe, Henry L. Dawes and L. |
W. Hink3 and Col. John Hay. Letters of |
apology for absence were read from Gems. Nc |
Dowell, Hawley and Butler. Toasts were re-
sponded to: By Gen. Sharpe, for the president; |
Gen. Wedges, for the regular army; James |
Shaw, for the colored troops; Major John II. |
Howell, for the press; Gen. Devens, for the citi- |
zen soldiers. Gov. Hoffman was to reply 10 the |
toast TO the state of New York, but was unable |
to be present and sent letter of apology, as
did Mayor Hall. During the evening, a song, |
"The Army OF the James," composed for the |
occasion by Mortimer Thompson, was sung.
The festivities which were of a most cordial |
and lively character, were concluded at late
hour.