Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1872-09-27

which contributed so largely to final success,
VINO can consign to oblivion the chivalro,s
daring and unrivalled achievement IS ~
glorious old regiment, always ready with stall.
wart arms and deadly avenging sabres. to
follow the call of its bugles where the fight
rageu hottest ana hercest, ever willing, as the
gallant Fitzpatrick once said, and ''readv IN
charge straight into He'll, if it was ordered to ?"
who can forget the intrepid gallantry of com.
rades who are assembled here to. night. and
VINO, an who, can ever cease to remember the
noble ones who fell in the dreadful conflict. on
the bloody field amid the shock of battle: or
those not less worthy of remembrance who.
worn and weary with the strife, breathed
away their lives in the wards of the hospital
LOT their country sake or those others, mar
tyrs OF blessed memory, who died with a
prayer on their lips for the Union and the
Ola nag, IN the accursed prison pens of
the south, whose horrors and whose damuing
DEEDS cry aloud forever to high heaven for
vengeance; comrades and brothers all
bound to us by the strongest of earthly ties.
allied to us by sympathy and a common inter-
est; endeared to US by sharing with us alike our
joys and sorrows, our success and Jsannoint.
ment, our fortunes and privations. our v;cto.
ries and defeats; true as the steel thew WELD
ed so valiautly; generous and high minded
Jealous and subordinate I; fearless and untiino-
ing, is there a heart among us which ia not
filled, Overlooking, aye, sometimes almost
bursting with emotion, as visions of those sad.
glorious years come trooping by in solemn,
proud procession? Never more shall the start
ling notes of the reyille arouse them to the
duties and dangers of the day. Never more
shall they ride with us the midnight raid
never more share with the companionship
and cheer of the bivouac and camp fire; new
er more join in our shouts of victory, in the
merry and reslstless charge; never more with
us scale with impetuous assault the works ofthe
panic stricken foe; never more shall we behold
them in the forefront of the battle, come
ly of form, of manly and resolute bearing,
burning with chivalric valor, with flashing eyes
and cleaning sabres, with strong arms nerved
by duty to ilustrious deeds. Never more
shall the stirring call of the bugles beckon
them to glory and the victor's wreath. One
by one they went down in the terrible strug-
gle; one by one their voices were hushed in
death; one by one their eyes grew DIM never
again to glow with the light of battle; one by
one those sabres fell from nerveless
grasp, and the arms which had welded them
grew powerless forever. Month by month
our ranks diminished, week by week our
comrades dropped from our side, day by day
ebbed away our life blood and multiplied the
little mounds that told of heroic hearts there
stlled forevermore.
The mufiled drums sad roll has beat
Inc SoIuler'S last tattoo.
No mere on LIES parade shall meet
The brave and fallen true;
On Fames eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread
And glory guards, with solemn round.
The bivouac of the dead"
As we the living meet here tonight to re-
new old associations, l seem to see before
me also, that other band of the immortal;
radiant with heavenly joy, their forms trans
figured with the glory of the celestial city,
their ewes beaminU w it'll the divine liOht thar
voices attuned to seraphic harmony, and our
ranks are once more full and stretch out altar
and afar, until they fade away and vanish into
dream and shadow.
What companionship is there like the high
companionshipot arms! What friendship like
that cemented by the experiences of camp life,
the hardships of campaigning? What fellow
ship like that engendered and strengthened
by identity of purpose and common cause?
What manly virtues are developed and quick
ened by the vicissitudes of war, by fraterni-
ty OF interest In the active, stirring life of the
soldier? Unhinching forttude which endures
without a murmur, cold, hunger and fatigue,
privations and wounds; patient resignation,
which suffers in silence, defeat and criticism,
detraction and obloquy; dauntless courage,
which marches cheertully, proudly forth, life
in hand, to face the tiercest storms of battle
and to grapple with deadly foes in the dark
some Jungles and untrodden thickets of the
wilderness where the CLEAN of the rifle is the
signal of death; generous self sacrifice new
er counting cost in its holy, high endeavor,
offering Its own person as shield to the life
OF Its friend; forbearance. under the provoca-
ton Of insult and injury; even handed jus-
tlce, which cannot be blinded by passion or
prejudice, but visits retribution and bestows
rewards with unerring Judgment and impartial
nuellty; lndomltable perseverance against al
most lnsurmOuntable obstacles or factous
opposition; tender sympathy, with heart like
that OF mother; with gentle touch like that
OF woman; with loving words and cheering
presence like ray of sunlight from heaven,
IN the darkness of sorrow and bereavement.
undisciplined courage, glowing zeal, des-
perate, headlong impctuosity will often ac-
complish great results, will sometimes, even
wrest victory from superior numbers; but in
the long run, other qualities being equal, pat
riotic impulse, natural excitement, pride and
passion, amid all the changes and vicissitudes
OF war, an army Is strong, IS successful, is
victorious, in proportion to its self control,
Its spirit of subordination, its rigid, infiexible
discipline. And it is in precisely this partic-
ular that claim the precedence for our reg
iment. In this essential, this indispensable
element we md the potent energiZing princi-
pie, the quickening power which gave that
regiment its undisputed pre- eminence and its
chefest glory. Discipline Stern, severe,
memorable discipline This was the earliest
formula instilled into our minds the first
military precept engrafted on our memories
the initial lesson of our youthful experience
in the new and unwonted avocation of arms,
and to this careful tuition, this thorough train
ing in the elementary details of our profess
sion, l attribute, in very great degree, the
efficiency and brilliant success of the First
Maine Cavalry as regiment, and its fame and
glory at home and abroad, in camp and in the
field. Strict, prompt, absolute obedience
was primary article of its faith and creed,
implanted in every heart at the commence
ment of its service, and our men learned at
the outset that lesson of good soldiers, that
it was
Theirs not to reason why
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs butte do and die"
Self control and patient endurance were
early developed as browning virtues, and kept
our men at all times under proper restraint
and within due bounds. No villages in ashes;
no pillaged cities; no devastated homes or
desolate firesides reproach them from their