Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1878-08-08

and his comrades. The resence of his comrades
manifested that they are proud of their record
Ihirteen years had passed STAGE the muster-out,
and perhaps many OF the stirring scenes of war
have begun to fade from the memory. To him
there were no more pleasing recolections and
sottening "reminiscences of army life, than those
which cluster around the earliest days of the reg
ment, when quartered at Camp Penobscot. lie
could see, in Imag nation, the old camp ON the
rottlng park, just Is 1t first appeared TO his
derlng eyes-those great white cone shaped Sibley
tents, SIX IN row,and in which we assigned
apartments tor the winter season, and awful
winter season 1t was those old board tables
whereon We took our frugal meals in the open air.
Tue irost that settled upon our primitive tin
plates and cast iron knives and forks mad little
ABOUT II that reminded : of the comforts of moth
CT $ table The damp wheat straw within which
we rested during those long, cold winter nights,
was II poor exchange for tue comfoi table aud
downy beds We had recently forsaken The
winds and the SHOWS had ready access to our
quarters. But the best day was that which first
saw us arraNed in our hIgh-top boots dark blue
pant, aud jackets Iespleudeut with yellow stripes
and gltteilng with innumerable brass buttons
Ihdt day viii always be remembered Then came
the urllls anu dless pal AIDES, and the routine of
camp life. Thanks were rendered the Citizens of
Augusta Tor the lntei est they manifested IN the
welfare OF the regiment, in caring for the sick and
suffering, many taking soldiers to their own homes
ior nursing ana kindly treatment. No history of
the regiment Is complete which fails to record the
kindly, humane and dislntcIested acts of CHARITY
OF the citizens OF Augusta, duing the encamp-
meut here.
How we waited anxiously for the news and
hoped that the would la until we participated
10 the stirring scenes. Our hopes were fully sat
ished. The war lasted until many a poor boy
lar away from home aud loved ones-ald down to
his last rest on the field of honor. Ii lasted until
disabled by wounds, worn out by the fatigues and
exposures OF the service, wasted by starvs lou and
III treatment IN The prison pens of the South, they
dropped on one by one, until April 1865, when
the last blow struck at AppomattoS the
records OF tue regiment show that |, l07 men had
been Killed, died OF wounds and disease, or been
discharged Tor disability, number considerably
III excess of nine tenth- of all the men who lett
the State 10 Marcn, 1867, with the or gusi organ
Kaon. This i independent of the mcn dis
charged in 1864 for expiration of their term of
service. 1t was aregiment of true and noble men,
who were not actuated by unworthy or mercenary
motives. The history vi the rebellion aud the
history of the regiment as vel has taught us that
u sol her Is something more than 3 mere machine
but man OF thought aud ideas, and 50 within
the ranks of the Unon aru4y were men who would
have honorably worn tue stars of Major General.
The orator dwelt in brief upon the many battles
10 winch the regiment participated, showing that
the regiment was TO the eud OF the war constant
and faithful IN the d scharge of every duty, ever
ready IN the tim, OF trial, tghtng msufuily never
altering, patient and uncon palng. The history
of the regiment Is the record of l07 engagements
from MIddletown to Appomsttox, and in all Of
which II LOST some of It's numbers, either ia killed
wounded or captured by the enemy. Its roll of
honor contains the names OF y commissioned
officers killed. la the fall OF SG4 the regiment
received All accession of strength and of numbers
by the transfer OF about eight hundred men IRON
the First ID. c. Cavalry. They came to take the
places of those men whose term OF service had
expired, and were shortly to be mustered out.
How well they filled the depleted ranks their his
tory will tell. 1t Is history that OF either
regiment need blush to read. No drawer men, no
more faithful OF better soldiers ever stood
suit of blue. Together and Ia harmony they
moved in the pa,h oil duty. Together they de-
termined TO maintain the honoi of their req Inent
aud their native State. S,Ge by side they fous ut
and fell.
Capt. Blanchard closed his Grafton In the follow
ing eloquent words
We read ia the records of the oden time of gal
lant and heroic deeds, oil heice encounter and
stubborn bravery, OF patriotic devotion and noble
sachces IN the defence of national honor; but III
the records of the rebellion In that struggle OF al
most four years of incessant warfare, may be
found deeds OF daring and proves, of brave el-
counter and fierce exploits, that ouishine the glo-
ries of Balaklavs and would compaie with the
maveous 10 the tales OF tue Arabian Night.
There Is an unwritten history OF the rebellion
that the world will never know There were
honors won that were known only to the few.
and which worthy the proudest name in his
tory. There were heroes who went down the
stoim of battle and now sleep IN unknown graves,
"unwept, unhonOrod and unsung. The turI
grows green maityred forms who were sac
rices upon freedoms altar, and whose memory
lives only in the heart OF surviving comrades
and in the bosom of mourning friends. How
many can we all remember of our own old re2-
mept whose faces were familiar to US in camp,
the mar h and the encounter, who fill u soldiers
houored grave and who IN a few years more wi
entirely be forgotten. To us belongs the duty
of preserving their memories while We may. Let
US in our hearts erect a tablet Inscribed with their
noble deeds, which shall never fade away, until,
like them, we shall sumber IN the dust.
There seems of iaie u manifest disposition to
forget, forget, It is believe. according to the
creed of some, our bounden duty to forget the
struggle through which we have passed; that we
must forget the trials and sufferings of our aruy
life that must forget, 50 far as we eau the
thousands of our noble comrades now sleeping in
Southern graves; that we must not only forget
but we must also forgive. tell you, my friends,
the time has not yet come when You and are GO
lug to FORGET however willing We may be TO Tor
give We have not forgotten those days OF 81,
when the first notes of war were sounded, and the
young men of Maine gathered from the hiilsdes
and along the valleys of the Penobscot the An
droscoggin and the kennebec, and srrayed them
selves uudet the of their atners, determn-
ed to defend 1t to the last
We have not forgotten the long struggle and
the wished for victory and peace. We have not
forgotten nor forget those noble men who
went W 18th us into the war, aud who never came
back. How we forget, when we see daily
upon our streets men bearing about the seed, of
disease and death contracted in the service; the
armless sleeve and the crippled soldier with his
crutch and care. No, my trends, while we have
charity and forgiveness for our enemies, let us
not be forgetful of our friends. While we enjoy
the blessings of peace, let us not forget the prce
il has cost. Let Us not by mistaken zeal Tor re-
Cancellation insult the memory of our honof-d
dead And while hold out the olive branch
of peace let us not from the brow of our fall
leu heroes the laurel they nobly earned
No, my comrades, the struggle has not been
in vain. We may be robbed of the fruits OF VIC
tory, but the glory and honor of the ach ,,e-
ments is ours. The time has not YET come WI,
it is an empty boast that served in the army If
the Union Our tolls aud our suh rings have moth
ing about them of dishonor, and our comrades
have not died In vain.
The abstract of the Grafton which We have given
shows it to be patriotic and able ehor,, ana
written in excellent taste and spirit
The poet of the evening, Z. p. Tobie was then
introduced, and told "The Corporals Story in
the following pleasant lines;
The corporal gazed with dreamy eye
As the mounted militia went marching by,
For his thoughts went BACK to the long ago,
When soldering was something more than show;
When, instead OF rapplngs OF gorgeous hue,
The trooper wore simply the Union blue;
His only pride, his single boast
L..