Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1875-06-02
NO. 100.


between US. so that the swords we have learned to
use so well, if ever drawn again, may strike at
common enemy. May not the victors honor the
vanquishedl Let judgment be reserved for Him
tives as well as actions. The old batflefelds are
covered with vertlure. The old armies, those vast
hosts whose tramp was as the travail of the earth
quake, have vanished and melted away into the
currents Of mutifarious commerce. The broad
highway our legions made is green now with the
springing grain. If traverscd to-day, there would
be seen only bursting buds and blossoming flowers
where the campfres once glowed brightly. There
would be heard only the sweet carols of birds
where once echoed the booming of cannon and
the crash Of musketry. There would be found
only the freshness and beauty of summer where
once lay mangled forms, torn by shot and shell,
white faces upturned in voiceless agony to the
tranquil sky So nature strives to hide all ghastly
sights, to heal her gaping wounds, to bring forth
peace and beauty from deformity and unsightli.
ness. And shall not we follow her example ard
bury our old animosities forever, letting grow in
their places only the olive of peace and the myrtle
malice towards none, with charity for all, !" may
we not drop silent tear Of sympathy, few scat
tering flowers, even, on the quiet graves of those
who, however misguided the cause in which they
fought, could yet deal such sturdy blows and fur
nish such examples Of persistent endurance and
dauntless courage?
Thank God! comrades, to-day no cannon boom
ing on the heights awake us with their echo;ng
reveilles; no rolling drum-beat summons us to
arms, no stirring trumpet call sends the hot blood
leaping through the veins and sets our sabres
flashing in the morning sun, as our grim squad
rons swoop like eagle down upon the startled
foe; we hear no more the sharp, fe-se rebel yell,
the clear ringing, Northern battle cheer, no des-
perate, defiant, hostile hosts of gallant men now
glover on Us across the flaming pit; no hurtling
she'll or Kissing bullet no crack OF rifles or clash
ing Of sabres disturb the quiet Of this hour Let
then once more stand reunited beneath the blessed
fnII cnf Ia l.. lz.
protecting shield over all our fair land. Sound
out the glad bugles Fling out the starry banner
to the breeze! Bring forth the old shot. torn
standards and the tattered guidons! Thunder
liant bells! Catch up and bear along the echoes,
oh We eternal heavens, and proclaim the good
tidings of great joy The day is dawning-yes,
has already come is now here-when North and
South, East and West, shall unite in one glad
song of peace and good will and fraternal love;
and when their only strife shall be the noble emu
lation of who best can serve, and perpetuate, and
make immortal the glorious union Of free and
happy and regenerated country! And ye. oh
comrades of the Grand Army Of Liberty. whose
ties shall never be broken in this world. nor, 1
trust, in the world to come; ye who learned vigi-
lance from the constant presence of danger, calmly
facing fate, day after day, where the gleam of the
rifle was the signal Of death; ye who patiently
watched beneath the stars, seepless thst the army
might slumber in safety,-shall not these lessons
come to US with augmented weight, with COM
manding authority from the lives and deathless
fame of those brave souls, whose beaming eyes
and shining faces we can see just beyond the
heaving tide, whose hands we soon shall clasp
once more on the other side, with all the warmth
of that tried and true friendship which bound US
together here as one ffaternal band, when we
stood shoulder to shoulder on the inimitable fields
of the nations agony and glory! We who survive
tarry yet little while, we must do duty yet
little longer. We cannot put aside our armor, or
lay down our arms; we must remain steadfast and
faithful at our posts prepared for whatever events
or conflicts await US while we uphold and defend the
great principles for which we fought and suffered.
We are marching along. Tramp, tramp, tramp,
is heard all along the line The echoing footsteps
of our comrades grow fainter and fainter with
every passing year. One after another of us will
''tall out" by the way the great march Of life,
but the column will still move on till the last
totterng form among us has Joined the reformed
ranks Of the grand army at rest. Bearing con-
stanty in mind those bright examples, cherishing
ever those precious memories, striving always to
emulate that patriotic zeal which sustained them
through the final sacrifice for God and Humanity,
let US resolve to discharge whole obligation
citizens here, now and henceforth, even as We
strove to fulfil our high calling those fields Of
sterner duty and experience, that when we, too,
shall be mustered out on earth and answer to the
great roll-call above, we may hear the welcome
words, well done good and faithful servants
and may find our names enrolled upon the book
of eternal life!
along the perilous, bloody pathways you trod so
fearlessly, so unhinchinglyl They are sleeping
on the crimson fields of the Shenandoah Valley,
by the passes Of the Blue Ridge and along the
mountain sides Of Maryland to where immortal
Gettysburg rcars its consecrated heights. They
are sleeping where they fell, on the sunny plains
before Port Hudson, on Morris Island, at Baton
Rouge, and before the defences of Vicksburg.
They are sleeping at Manassas and Belle Plain,
by the sullen waters of the dark Rapidan, and
along the banks of the Rappahsnnock down to
bloody Fredericksburg. The joyous sprngtime
brings its earliest flowers, natures tenderest
tribute, to deck their lowly resting places, At Bull
Run, and South Mountain, and Antietam, and
sanctifies the gloomy thckets Of the Wilderness,
and Spottsylvania, and Cold Harbor, and the
Chickahominy Beneath the sobbing pines they
are sleeping near Richmond. where the peaceful
graves. At Yorktown and Williamsburg, ct NAL
vern Hill and Fair Oaks, and down by Deep Bot
tom, before the intrenchments of Petersburg, at
Ream's Station and the Boydton Plank Road
far across the Weldon Railroad, at Hatcher's Run,
and Five Forks, and Sailors Creek, and on the
slopes that amphitheatre Appomattox-they lie.
Dead on the field OF honor Dead that the Re-
public might live!
"On flames eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac OF the dead"
-Anu tuot suDimC Oiu army istu! 1uAt peer
less host whose illustrious arms crowned with
laurel, whose triumphant standards are
embazoned with countless battles for God and
Humanity whose myriad heroes have gone to
swell the exalted legions who died for Liberty and
Truth All, comrades, hushed are its bugles,
whose thrilling reveilles broke the sweet stiffness
of the morning air as they saluted the coming day;
silent its guns which thundered defiance to the
foe stcd are its deadly rifles, whose murderous
volleys rolled back in billowing waves Of blood
the flushed and exultant enemy; no longer, like
battle meteors, flash its avenging sabres as our
resistless squadrons sweep like merciless whirl-
wind over the feycely contested field; no more
wave over us its standards which beckoned US en-
ward to undying fame! Its cid tattered, smoke
grlmed banners reverenty furled, its tents are
all struck, its camp fires dead.
Dead is the roll of its drums"
Their distant echoes die,
They fade in the far off sky"
Broken are our serried ranks that never qualed
before the rebel hordes. "Vsnished the embattled
hosts that shone in the morning sun, scattered the
friendly band that shoulder to shoulder stormed
the gates of gloryp
Yet, still fingers with US. like distant music
gently waited on the breath Of evening, the
sad sweet refrain which comes up ever from those