Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-06-01
ADDRESS

AUUkESS
Delivered by Geo. t. Foster, on the Occasion
of q Public Decoration of the Grant Connt
Soldiers Monument, May 3Oth, 1876, q
Lancaster, Wis.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
| On the 4th of July, 1867, with dirgt
and muffied drum you dedicated thi,
monument to the memory of the mer
from Grant County, who laid dowr
their lives in the war of the great re-
bellion. Now for the tenth time you
have assembled here to pay reverence
to the memory of those honored dead
Words and deeds of tribute are poor
returns for the debt we owe the seven
hundred and fifty dead heroes whose
names are inscribed on this marble.
When men sacrifice their lives for
their fellows, the living become bound
to the dead for a debt that must re,
main forever uncanceled. But as
honest men never forget debt, tho
they are unable to pay it, so we as.
semble here year by year to preserve
fresh the memory of the obligations
by which we are bound.
Not to the dead soldiers only would
we acknowledge Indebtedness, bat to
the whole army of those who still live
to serve the world and their country.
They come hither to-day, some fortu-
nate indeed in being able TO say that
they are as sound in health of body
as they were when they entered mill
tary service; others silently telling the
story of their sufferings by their falter-
ing steps, hobbling upon crutches,
shattered frames, broken health,
wrecked constitutions, empty sleeves,
or faces still marked with CHASTITY
lines of suffering in prison. Other
faces usually happj, but that to-day
look solemn, tell of hearts made sad
by our grea: war, and designate the
friends of dead soldiers. By such be
it remembered that as your husbands
and fathers, brothers and sons Yielded
up their lives alike for us all, and as
we all alike have reaped the fruits
oftheir 'last full measure of devotion, ="
that we sympathize with you in your
sorrow, claim share in the honor
which these men dying reflected upon
you, and we beg the privilege Of
joining in the grand chorus of their
praise.
That silent pillar, lone and gray
| Claims kindred with their sacred clay;
Their memory sparkles DER the fountain
| Their spirits wrap the dusky mountain.
The meanest rll the mightiest river,
Rolls mingng with their fame forever"
Their whole story is told in the
single couplet on the western side of
yonder shaft, taken from a monument
found at classic Thermopylae =
" 60. stranger to your country tell,
For her we fought, were buried where We fell"
Now, as the spirits ofthese soldiers
are marshaled out before the snow
| white tents on their eternal camping
ground, and as they look down upon
US here gathered, what work would
they most desire to sec us striving to
perform ? What is the duty of the
hour
The true American patriot ana the
student of the times will answer, it is
to Join in efforts to unite with a firm
bond of union the people of the North
and South.
TO discover where this duty arose
in our political history, glance back
over the eleven years of peace that
have passed since our two great
armies were marching in review
| down Pennsylvania avenue, precedent
to being mustered out of service.
Before the death of Abraham Lin
coin, the two great objects of the war,
the preservation of the Federal union
and the abolition Of slavery, had been
secured. There remained the work
of reconstruction-now accomplished,
the making provision for the payment
of the war debt-also accomplished,
and the most difficult task of all, still
unaccomplished, the renewing of a
fraternal feeling between the people
of the North and South,
Passing by all the dead issues OF
the war, let lis consider the one that
still remains alive. The enormous
difficulties that hindered the removal
of the animosities of the war led
Wendell Phillips to say; "There can
be no solid peace at the South until
this war generation is in its grave"
Is that sentiment true? Let us see.
The existence OF these difficulties can
not be questioned, but they may be
fully appreciated when we recall the
feelings of both parties. The North
felt irritated by the stubborn resist
ance and frequent defeat with which
our arms met in the war. South
erners were such unrelenting, uncom-
promising enemies, and their treat
ment of prisoners was so exasperating
that when at length our armies were
flushed with victory, it was hard not
to indulge desire for revenge. 1t
was natural that the feeling of hatred
should be stronger at the South than
at the North They had to contend
with all the shame, chagrin and vim
dictive remorse consequent upon de-
feat They had fought for what they
regarded principle, and they were
willing to die as men will always die
for an idea. With the passion of hot
olooded sou:herners, long after they
had given up hope of ultimate success,
the soldiers in gray continued to
fight with the energy of despair. In
many battles on land and sea, when
the alternative of surrender or death
lay before them, they would hoist the
black flag, to signify that they asked
and would give no quarter. Not until
every army had been scattered, every
city taken, every fort stormed, every
vessel seized or sunk, cltadels fallen,
leaders captured or exiled, plantations
and homes desolated, the tread OF
armed men heard in every town and
their whole country overrun by a
hostile soldiery; did they lay aside
their arms, and then only to sit down
and brood over the memory of south
ern wrongs, and the story of the lost
cause? Between such parties, could