Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1877-05-22

Th;rteen wears ago the Sabbath still
ness AZ this beautif1l Valley was broken
hv the ruae shock of arms. Instead OF
tbe sweet tones of the church. bells cali
inc to worshin. the reyerberating thun-
ders of artillery. mingled with the rat
fling vollevs Of musk etry. told that here
men were engaged in deadly strife
Many of those around me remember the
day. and saw the brave men who then
fought and died in defence of the cause
whieh they then believed. and which
Won now believe. was the cause of ius.
fice and of truth. Tt is to do honor to
those men. to commemorate the victory
which thew then won. that we have as
sembIed here to-day. We come not in
a spirit of yeppeful hate towards Others.
for we are no longer enemies of the peo-
ple of other sections. but we. as mem
bers of a family. draw closely together
to tell each other of the heroic deeds
and poble qualities of our own brothers
and sons. Tt is right that we should
do so. In all ages and countries, where
virtue and heroism have been admired,
have the records of heroes been kept
bright and fresh by transmission from
sire to son, from generation to gene
ration. Let us emulate this example.
and for ages to come let fathers point
out to their sons this scene and tell
them of the men and boys who fought
and bled and died upon the field of yicto-
ry at New Market.
In point of numbers engaged, it NAV
not be ranked among the great battles
of the late war, but Judged of with ref
erence to the mastery strategy DISPLAY
ed, and the brilliant and desperate fight
ing exhibited, it must ALWAYS excite the
admiration of those versed in the mill
tary art, and of those who admire the
display of true courage wherever found,
To us here, the battle will always be a
source of deep interest and sincere pride,
for it was fought on our side by Virgin
la troops, against an invading foe. in
defence of Virginia homes and soil, in
this the loveliest portion of our venera-
ted and loved Mother State. AS to its
influence upon the other great opera
tions then being conducted by the mill
tary authorities of the two contending
governments, we can Judge, when I
state briefly the positions and move
ments of the troops which were being
controlled with reference to the effort Of
the Federal authorities to reach Rich
mond, the Capital of the Confederacy,
and the heart of what they were pleased
to call the Rebellion.
In the first days of May our great
Captain, Lee, was confronting the i'm
mense army of Grant, and hurting it
back day by day with such fearful
slaughter as had not before in our day
been witnessed, always interposing his
gallant force between them and their
coveted prize. / need not stop to recapitu-
late the series Of grand military exploits,
in those days, of that illustrious man.
They are familiar to you all. The Fed
eral Commander in-Chief determined,
in aid of his great object, upon com
blned movement of all the detached
commands under his control in distant
positions. With this view, Sigel, with
his force of arms, amounting to 10000
or $4,000 men, was ordered to advance
up this Valley, his first objective point
being Staunton, where he would COM
mand the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad,
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