The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1873-08-06

in his last report as acknowledgement, states |
that there was ''total loss in all the va
rious forms of casualty" of thirteen thou
sand seven hundred and twenty -four men,
of whom over five thousand were CHILLED, |
and died of their wounds, and disease con-
tracted in service Eight years have since |
passed, and death has, all along, been a
busy reaper among the depleted ranks so
that with deaths rcsistless inroads and by
reason of removals from the state, scarcely
ten thousand of the officers and soldiers
who went forth from our midst during the
rebellion now remain to enjoy, in Vermont,
the rewards they so richly earned.
We are safe in saying that from one
third to one-quarter of our surviving vol
unteers will gather in glad reunion to-day.
Let it be, then, a gala day indeed. The
world has never before witnessed such
sight as will gladen Rutland this week.
The very nature of the governments of the
old world, and the methods employed forrais-
ing armies, would forbid all such assem-
blages, and even il they could be gathered
"
enjoyment thcreat The fact that our sol
dicis gratefully and voluntarily upheld
! their countrys standard exchanged. will
lingly. the garb of the citizen for the uni
form of the soldier, and made duty a free
will offering to patriotism is what made
them so irresistible upon the field Of bat
tie With the same alacrty and love of
country, when their work was accomplish
ed, they laid aside the panopy of war and
became. like the rest of lis. private citizens.
This cannot he so in any other country,
and we venture to say that the strong arm
of power would he stretched forth in n
gathering as we expect to-day, even if il
were possible to call them together. Meth
cr will such a reunion ever he witnessed in
our sister states The Green Mountain
state and its citizen soldiery inclfaceablc
from their country's history their numbers
were comparatively small, but their deeds
were heroic, and they and their fellow citi-
|
we can challenge comparison with other
states in every point except numbers, this
gives lis the advantage in an attempt TO call
together the surviving veterans. From
one-third TO onc-quartcr of all the Yer
mont volunteers, who survive the rebel
lion and still reside in Vermont will as
semble here to-day. Can any other state
expect to gather 50 large II proportionate
number of those who survive the conflict
This, too, will be another proud boast for
Ncrmonters As she was always the first
to respond to a call for volunteers always
kept her quota full furnished more sol
ders in proportion to her population than
any of her sister states, paid them more
and cared for them better than others So
now they will assemble in larger proper
tionate numbers than any other state could
call Etogether. Let us give item right
hearty welcome to our midst. and honoi
them as they deserve for the trials ant
hardships they have undergone in our he
half. We hope and trust that the old sol
diers will have week of real enjoyment
relaxation and pleasure. Let them, if they
please. throw restraint to the winds, ant
have all of the old time camp life of fur
and frolic. They come together to renew
!, old acquaintances recall old scenes, an(
I, recount old stories, let them, therefore, i
a they will, have downright jolly time.
The honor of the state and nation has one,
been committed to their keeping and they
, were true to the trust. We have no fcar
y that if, for three days, they unbend some
what from the approved customs and du
ties of routine professional or business life
p they will tarnlsh their own honor, the dig
I nifty of the state, the fair fame of our vol
p unteers, or the good name of Rutland.