St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-12-21

yielded to the fortunes and privations of Belle Isle
omr State monrns for its best and bravest sons
And right here the patron divinity of our country
extends the laurel-leafed crown to that long pro
cession of brave men whose names commencing
with Chamberlain and ending with Wright are en-
grayed beneath her feet.
The marble and granite of that beautiful struo
ture win speak of the gratitude of this large heart
ed town to her brave soldiers and their noble deeds
long after we have crumbled to dust and the ira
ditions of these things will hover about TINS spoi
when the marble and the granite shall be for
gotten.
luton and of the struggle of the occupants of the
i New Hampshire Grants with their oppressors, did
so much for you and the country in the time OF he1
need and helped both through the last great wal
and enables all Vermonters to reflect with pride
upon what you and your comrades, living and
dead have done is it not our duty to preserve ana
Vermont men did as soldiers in the war OF the he
bellion.
II One who took so small part in active service
and has little to claim for himself may be allow.
ed to say more for his comrades than modesty viii
permit them to say for themselves-and to claim
more at the hands of p0sterity for them and fol
the preservation of their memories and the recol
lection of the glorious deeds by them performed
than any officer who has hitherto spoken, had felt
like asking. With this statement not apology. ]
speak for my comrades.
/ 1t is duty we owe to our dead comrades in the
field that their memories perish not and that they
lie not in their graves aforementioned.
1t is duty owe to our country and State that
all the high motives and holy aspirations which
prompted those brave in their solemn sacrifice
of life and hope for their countrys good pass not
away from the memories of men. 1t is not only
due that what men have done should be remember
ed but the daring the herosm, of the sons of Yer
mont, the sacrifice and sympathy of her daughters,
should be held in mind as perennial fountain
from which future generations may draw lnsplra
tions of patriotism in ages yet to come
Let us tell, then, often and again, without pride
or Boosting, all that the Green Mountain Boys did
from Big Bethel to Appomatox Court House, and
trust that those who come after us will draw re
newed love of country from the traditions that shall
folk Tfrh no
the future.
Written history cannot always do this. No book
could contain all that done by our soldiers
collectively and individually. And be the story
ever well written, it does not reach all the PEG
ple-and especially the children, whose hearts are
most moved and moulded by these things.
1t is each veterans individual story of camp and
field of the march, the battle and wounds, told il
his own words among his own friends that builds
up that faith in the past and patriotism for the flu
ture that is warmer and stronger and deeper THAI
any principle instilled by books or acquired in ma
ture years.
The influence of one man devoted to a single pur
pose is incalculable.
To-day in my own village there have been com
mitted to the grave the remains of great and gooo
man. unknown to many of you For eighty-s1
years has Doctor McKeen cast his influence among
his felow-men, and always on the side OF right
The very presence in village OF this estimablt
person, this patriarch, has always been a support
and comfort to the friends of order and purity
When, in April 1861, the first regiment was called
into the field, he delivered a most patriotic and
encouraging address to the Bradford Guards a.
is gone; yet his influence will live long after him
So may many a veteran soldier of the rebel
lion exert strong influence upon the patriotism
of his countrymen so long as he lives, and leave
memory that shall not fade for many years aftel
his death.
These narratives from every soldier in his home
to his children, go to make up that great stock Of
Evolutionary lore which moulds and shapes the pur
poses and achievements of the State in future years
Have you never watched with fathers interest
the kindling eye and glowing cheek OF your boy as
he sits by your side or upon your knee and listens
anf m
scaled the ramparts bristling with cannon. or tC
the sad tale of the sufferings of the wounded and
the dying. Does he not drink in at every breath
the very soul of his country's love Where will
you find so lively and vivid appreciation of the
distinction between friend and foe as in his mind
| Where so deep hatred of treachery, treason and
rebellion as in his heart Every time you tell him
of these things, you are laying the foundation
broad and deep tor that true patriotism and State
pride that the citizen of Republic must have to
make ii strong.
In these days of easy communication and rapid
travel inclined to let our love for State
grow COOL and pride in her, lose its strength
and depth. This ought not to be.
Gatherings like this, the annual summer en-
campment of veterans in the field. regimental re-
unions the campfire stories of the Grand Army,
all come in to aid in the transmission of what is
best
A few durable monuments may be erected, but
not all towns are like this We cannot hope tohave
the deeds of our sOldiery recorded in simple. yet
durable characters like the Assyrian cuneifOrm
inscriptions burned into the lasting tiles to be de-
ciphered in the hOary centuries yet to come. Mon
Republics too soon forget the sacrifices of their
sons.
Let us all unite in painting for posterity pic
ture of what Vermont troops did in the rebellion.
Let the broad canvas contain all of your suffer-
ings and heroism upon the Peninsula reeking with
poisonous vapOrs of the swamps of the ChiekahOm-
my from Williamsburg to Malvern Hill. Put in
that first attempt at warfare at Big Bethel and
leave ont the plains of Bull Run and Manassas and
what you suffered there.
Paint, then, the gate in the mountains at Har-
per's Ferry, with every eminence bristling with
cannon and gloomy with treachery.
Put in bloody Antietam, with its cornfelds laden
with the harvest of the dead
The blood shed ON ST. Marys Height at Freder-
icksburg will color your picture with such Grim
son tint as viii cast its horrible CLEAN far down
the vista of time
Tone down these glaring aspects with the suffer
ings and groans upon every battle field. Put them
all in and this will cast such sombre hue over the
canvas that men will shudder as they look upon it
bank in the Mexican Gulf, Ship Island and that
mighty fleet, steamng up the mouths of the Father
Philip and breaking in upon the Crescent City.
And while there, paint the Red River and King
Il Cotton, taking a tour under the escort Of Uncle
i On the river bank plant Port Hudson, Numbered
at for forty days or more: Sprinkle your great
composition all over with the seventy-two cavalry
fights of splendid regiments of hOrsemen.
Light up your picture with the lurid fires of the
two hundred cannon of Gettysburg. Put in one
brilliant flash to mark where the raw troops of the
Second brigade turned the tide of that great day.
Let the victory that drove Lee back to the confed
paint then the joy of the whole country if joy and
gladness are pigments on your ARTISTS pencil
Put in one bright spot at Funkstown where the
skirmish line of the old Brigade drove back three
rebel lines of battle in succession.
Spread over the whole the storm and snow, rain
and hail mud and discomfort of four Virginia win
tiers, and the burning heat and dust of as many
summers.
And then dip your brush in blood and smoke and
fire and carnage and make one broad sweep of death
and hell from the Wilderness through Spottsylva-
mia and Cold Harbor down to Petersburg.
Scatter few of your best mems bones along the
Weldon Railroad. Put in tolls and marches, ia
tigues and sweat and groans and wounds. Death
turks in every shadow. Then tip your pencil with
gall and NORWOOD and depicture that old tobacco
warehouse, Libby Prison, and Belle Isle, falsely
named, and Salisbury and Andersonville-paint
filth and wretchedness, the offspring of calculating
cruelty; paint gangrene and foul sores, hollow
eyed hunger and starvation, tears dried up at @he
fountain, death rasps and utter despair. Paint
ly half the truth posterity will declare it a lie.
But when you come to the Shenandoah Valley
prepare your palette with colors bright the
MONDAY sun. Bring out in bold relief Charleston
and Winchester, Opequn, Fishs Hill and Cedar
foe. Heap up the captured guns and camp equip
age, and leave room for long file of gray-coated
captives.
But finally catch upon your brush the brilliant
and crimson rays of the setting and in the
very centre of your grand panorama, high above
Appomattox court housein such colOrs shall give
a light to your whole canvas. Put in the hues of
success and victory. Paint the caps of the ex
ultant soldiers in the air and in some way give
voice to their loud hurrahs.
And, as you finish your first efforts in the arts
Vermont for posterity.