Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-05-08
Army of the Polomae Reunion.
ApbnEss ot orN. woopronp.

The society of the army of the Potomac as
sembled at Cleveland, Ohio, yesterday, for its
annual reunion. General Stewart L. Woodtord
delivered an address, in which he sketched briefly
the history of the artny and the characteristics
of Its successive commanders. lie paid hand
some tribute 10 the soldierly qualities of Nc
Dowell, acquitting him Of blame for the defeat
at Bull Run. OF that disaster he said;
"A nation, without conference OF action and
without that trust in tested men which necessity
alone can give, but with sublime unity Of ulti-
mate purpose; an administration, without fixed
method, without that faith in its great head
which came at the last so slowly but so surely,
but with royal resolution TO save the land; an
armv without unity of organization or method
of discipline, without knowledge Of its cOmpO
nent parts, without reliance on its leaders, with
out a conception of the necessity of such rel-
aLce, but filled and fred with sincere patriotism
such were the conditions under which the first
advance was ordered, and the guns Of Bull Run
opened. Had Mcdowell refused the responsibility
of that movement and command, the army, the
administration and the nation would alike have
misunderstood and msiudged him. He was
compelled, both in fidelity to the cause of free
government, then so strangely at stake, to ac-
eept all the possibility, 10 run all the risk, and
that too, without practical power of command.
He proved his soldiership by the wisdom of
those first plans so generously suggested, so
fatally ignored; he proved his Self-discipline by
the sacrifice of his own will to the needs of an
unreguated patriotic impulse; he tested and
confirmed his manhood forever by the sublime
silence in which he accepted the almost inevita-
bile result. To the end OF the war he did faith.
fully whatever military authority directed, aud
never uttered one word in sef-eXculpation or
selEpraise"
Other commanders and other chapters in the
history of this army were mentioned more
briefly, until the orator came to the closing
. tI,n Lott
of the GRAFTON was as follows:
How many gallant comrades sleep all along
the bloody WAYS you went so brayely, so I'M.
complaiungly. They are sleeping before York
town, up through the dark forests of the PENN
sua to where Malvern hill still stands sad and
crimson. They are sleeping, where they tell, on
the fields of the second Manassas and up the
pixies on the mountain sides of Maryland and
at Antietam of glorious memory. They are
sleeping, where they fell, on the slopes of Freder-
icksburg aud Mary's Heights Their ashes hal
low disastrous Charlottesville The early flow
ers of the spring-time bloom on the graves at
Gettysburg, where God gave us great victory in
answer to & nations prayer of agony They
are sleeping at Mine Run. Through the tan
gled thicketS of the Wilderness, forward to
Spotsylvania, down by Deep Bottom and Cold
Harbor, around Petersburg and far across the
Weldon Road and at Five Forks they lie. And
there, thanks be to God most humbly and heart
lily, came victory at last.
Sound out the bugles! Fling out the tattered
flags and forward at the doube-quck, brave
men! Lee has fought his last battle. The
doomed army of northern Virginia shall meet
you in equal conflict no more forever Phil
Sheridan has beaten your foe in the last struggle
of the war; and already his foot is in the stirrup
again. Already his troopers are charging, and
they who now retreat so sullenly shall soon
scatter like the autumn leaves. and victory to
you be mercy and blessing to them and peace 10
all our broad, free land.
Short were Sheridan's words to Grant:
81 wish you were here. If things are pressed
| think Lee will surrender"
Very short was the reply:
"Mgjor General p. II. Sheridan, Commanding:
"Press things.
'U. S. GRANT"
All night your advance pressed on, still swing
inc out by that fatal flank.
The Sabbath sun rose. AS it kinded, in one
Run, your assaultng columns swept over the
rebel outerworks, and by noon had reached the
inner lines.
From Lee to Davis, whom the orderly found
in church, came the tidings that the end was at
hand, and Richmond, so long and bravcly held,
must be abandoned. That night Lee Withdrew.
BY daylight he was sixteen miles away at Ches-
terrified.
From April to the record is but one. Lee
srove as best he could, turning at bay like the
stricken lion, and in defeat as in victory, com
peling our involuntary admiration of his sol
dierly genius and resoute will. But still your
left pressed on, and still you scourged the rebel
tanks and rear with remorselesS shifting, until
at last the word came back that your cavalry
had reached Lees front and checked his retreat.
In kindling eye and flushing cheek | read how
you recall those closing hours.
All night you had marched, with little delay
for rest. All day you had pressed on with little
delay for food. Worn out you were sinking to
the ground as sunset came. The little fires be-
gan to flicker, and the clatter of tin cups and
odor of coffee were very sweet to tired and hun
CRY men, But down the road some troopers
dashed, and, without word, in the instinct of
the moment, their message was heard, and, be-
fore the CHATTER of their hoofs had died toward
the rear, you were falling into line and pressing
to the front. All night again you pressed along,
hunger forgotten, WEAKNESS gone The end
was coming, as each man felt and knew. Be-
hind were the long four years, so sad, so proud,
so resolute, so full of graves, so radiant with
deathleSs glory. Before were victory and home;
before were the loved ones and hard-earned
rest Oh, how you marched that night How
the stars guided you, unwearied shining above
unwearied steps! How the old pines rang with
the chorus, ave are coming, Father Abrahamp
The morning crept slowly on-first into gray
dawn, then into rosy flush. Still onl still on!
The mists crept upward and into line you
wheeled, and on your muskets lay down, each
n,
in the exhaustion OF those thirty-Six hours of
terrible marching, you neither sought nor
needed. You were squarely across Lees 'front.'
and had closed forever his last line of retreat.
The rebels, reaching your cavalry advance
saw the serried line of Union troopers. Gordon
gathered and massed his men for their last
charge. Tattered and hungry, worn by cease
less marching and fighting, with no hope of
victory, with little possibility OF escape, they
closed their lines with a fidelity of discipline
and soderly resolution, to which words can
do little justice-but which each soldiers heart
must recognize and honor. As the old guard
closed around their emperor at Waterloo, SO
these men closed around the flags of their lost
cause, My heart abhofs their treason. But il
warns beyond restraint to their manhood SO
grandy brave, even in dslOyalty. Slowly they
advanced to their Jast attack. No battle veil,
no crack of the skirmisher's rifle broke the
strange stiffness Of that Sabbath morn. Steadi-
", silently they came, when Sheridan drew back
his horsemen, as parts some mighty curtain and
there stood the close-formed battalions of your
infantry, the cannon cleaning in the openings,
quietly awaiting the coming Of Gordon's men.
lnstinctiyely your enemy halted. Meanwhile
Lee had turned back to meet Grant and surren-
der his command. Sheridan swung his cavalry
around upon Gordon'S left, and was about to
charge, when Custar reached l.ongstreet. Assur-
ance oil surrender was given, and the end had
come.
AZ ! Hdlc spOhtllJ cdcH Heaft has recalled that
pleasant Sabbath morn among those far Vir-
glnian hills Surely, never were skies so blue.
never the sun 50 golden; never did hillside and
valley look so fair before Strong men bowed in
silence, and leaning on your muskcts, Won went
in the sacredness Of your joy. No loud buzzas
rent the air; no pealing strains Of martial music
told your triumph. The error Of your foe was
forgiven IN your victory. He was still your
brother, and you could not breath unmanIy
Boosting over his defeat. But better far than
any pride OF arms, our land and flag, and ali
that land and Tag mean to patriotic and irue
men, were saved, and you were supremely and
rcverentially happy. And up the long pixies.
over the blue hills, your thoughts went silently
to the dear ones far away, and in each breast
your hcart-throbs were beating 10 the music of
Home sweet, sweet hOmep'
That Sabbath day, with tears and I'm sorrow
southern men folded the banners of the 'Iost
Cause" and their bravest and best songbt
honorably TO bury them from sight forever,
How sad it is that poor ambitions, ealousics
Of race, the wretched greed Of pcf and place
and the miserable hates Of social riyalrics
should so often disturb the hearty reconciliation
Of that surrender and for time revive the MT
terness which you then sought TO bury in com
mon grave,
This hour is no time for politics. Mine not
the lips, | trust, to introduce them here. But
when think Of that heroic past, which your
faces and presence so wildly recall, and then
how trading, tricketer politicians forgetiu of