, 1874-03-13

Whom the Senate Of the United Btates first mot
aftor tho Inst Presidential election Charlos Sum-
nor laid boforo It tho following resolution:
WlEnEAs, National unity aud goodwill among fol.
iow-clzcs can bo assured only through tho oblivion
Of past differences, mid II Ia contrary 10 tho uouvo of
civilized nnlion1 to porpctlnto tho memory of civil
war therefore,
Le enacted, 4to That tho 1,nnes Of battles with
fcow-citlzona aha no. o continued in tho Army 1ra
ialor placed the tegimonta coors OF tho Uuttod
Htates.
Then thoro was row. Senator gumuor vas
accused Of disloyalty md select assortment Of
othor crimes. The Average party organ it,
formed ita roadors that tho Senator waa crafttty
plotting to destroy tho 1ags Of alt tho volunteer
regiments Of tho country. THOR colors wero to
bo torn down from public hall aud stato-Houee
and dofacod, lost tho fcoliugs Of "noto1a" i"
should be hurt. Tho Army Register was to DO
"mutilatod." So tho complaints ran, Tie
Massachusetts Legislature, yieldiug weakly to
mistaken olatnor, disgracod itself by trying to
disgrace thoir groRtost man. 1t eolemnly re-
Holvcd that tho passage Of Buoh a resolution
would bc ian insult to the loyal aoldlery OF tho
nation" and TINT legislation OF tho sort contem-
plated by Alr. Sumner "meotH with tho uuaua]l-
lied diaapproval OF tho pooplo Of tho Conmon.
wealth." This WAS stub at tho Senator in the
house OF his friends. It doubtless wounded Lis
aonsitivo nature deeply, though hc was too
proud to confess tho hurt. Some OF his friends
have thought that this blow from Massachusetts
was not less painful In It's ef1ccts upon him than
tho blow from Preston Brooks which frat shat
tored his constitution. Do this ~ it may, 1t is
we'll to know that tho great Senator lived long
enough to sec Massachusetts apologize for her
hasty and ill-judged wrath.
Aud nowlet uB 500 whatall tho fuss was about
Did Mr. Sumner really intend to deface tho
battlo-ilags that had swept through every South
ern State? Not at al. In tho first place. his
resolution, II adopted, would hnvo made no
changes whatever in tho colors Of tho yoluu-
teera. In the second, 1t would havo made no
ohanges whatever in the oxisting colo1s Of tho
regular army. It simply provided that the
namca OF lattlcs fought during tho Civil War
should not be thoroafsor placed on tho
colo1B, or, in othor words, that new flags
Issued to tako the place of won-out ones
should not bo inscribed, and, furthermore,
that tho Army Register. which is Government
publication containing, among other things,
lists Of the officers Of the regular army, should
coaso to publish undor the namo Of ench rcgi-
mont list OF tho battlea 1t fought during the
War. How absurd tho present practice il, can
I'm mn 1tY -S,1a IT, n..,7
194 Of tho Register for 1878, tho schedule OF the
Twenty-arat Regiment Of Infautry,-an average
specimen. -Four lines OF PRINT at the top of tho
page shows that tho nuclous Of this regiment
WAS tho second battalion Of tho Twelfth Infan-
try, Which was organized In 1861, waa changed
into tho Twenty-arHt Regiment by not Of July
49, 1866, and had the Thirsy-sccoud added to It
by tho act OF March 8. 1869. Next comos tho
following list Of battles:
aainca Mill, Va, 9th Juno, 1862 Malvern ui1l
Va, lHt July, 1869; cednr Mountain, w., 9th Aug
uss, 1862: Bull Run w., 80th August, 1862: AutIc-
lam, Ill.,, 17th September, 1861 8nickor'a Gap w.
Cd aud 4th November, 1909; fredericksburg, Va.
l3th December. 1862; ohancellordyilc, w., lat, a.
ID, and atn May, 1eoa' oetyahuran. pa "a aud ID
Ill., Va ah and 18th May, 1864 spostsylyanla
court-nouae, Va, 14th May, 1864: North Anna
River, Va, 24h May 1904 Bethesda Church. Va, lst
md Sd June 1854 Petersburg, Va., 18th and 21st
June, anu S0lh July, 1894 Weldon Railroad, Va, 10Th
aud 2ist August, 1864 Chnpe House, w., 1ss octo-
Der, 1864.
Tho present Twenty first Regiment, as such,
mover Participated in ono Of these battles. They
were all betweon june 27, 1862, and Oct. l, 1864,
and the regiment waa not born till after July 49,
1866 Nor did the great majority Of tho mon
now in tho regiment figure in any Of these
fights. Their nameB revive no memories In
them. Thoy may have an esprit de corps that
binds them to their regiment, but what do thoy
caro- for tho "second battalion Of the Twelfth
Infantry" which fought the battles which the
Twenty-Rrst Regiment now insoribos on it's flags
An approximate indication Of tile changes in tho
file Of the regiment ia givon by the changes in
Ehe officers. Thoro arc thirty-three Of tho lattor
pwenty-three Of them got their first commission
from ono to eight years utter the last battle In
Ehe 1iat was fought, and some Of them bud not |
oven entered West Point when tho War ended. |
Five others, tue Colonel. Lieutenant Colonel,
AAA WV S"Hso'Ao3 Aos1A uoAVu6GA W +ua
'riginal stock Of thoreglmont. tho second bat
talon Of tho Twelfth Infantry,-and we're trans
[orred to tho Twenty-hrat in GO and 10. The |
remaining five belonged to the original battalion
Tie panes Of battles On the Army Register and |
Oh tile army flags, then, do not, as rule, repro
tent combats III which mon marching under
:hem were engaged. There is something huo,
40 doubt, in keeping tho record Of rogiments |
achievements through long years, though its |
change continually. But when, as
n this caso, tho regiment did not exiat when tho |
battles inscribed on its banners were fought, |
'uch inscriptions aro ludicrous mockery. II |
t ia not needful that military organization |
hould be at a fight in order to place the name Of |
he battle upon ita flag. what is to hinder a
militia company with big-enough banner from
'asting upon it all tho battles fought In America
rom Washington DOWN. Now that the great
nun Ia dead arc not The little men who Bhrfeked