Daily Republican., 1880-08-31
GARFIELD AMONGST HIS BOYS
speech OF General Garfield at a
Reunion Of his Old Reg tnent.

Of General Garfield at u
Re. union of his Old Reg tnent.
The re union of General Garfeld's
regiment, the Forty second, was held at
Ashland, Ohio, on Wednesday, the. 5th.
The General was elected president OF
the regimentsl association for the On
suing year. The next reunion will be
held at Gallon, on tie last Wednesday
of August, 1881. The address OF Gen.
Garfield, as stepOgraphically reported
f,r the Cleveland Herald, was as fol-
lows:
FELLOW CrrIzRNs-This Is family
gatherings military family, for in war
regiment is to the army what family
10 to the whole civilized community.
( Here portion Of the platform fell.
A military re-. .nnion without some ex-
element and some accident would be
altogether too p0notonous and tame tt
be interesting, and in this good. natured
audience We can have good many &C.
cidents like that and still keep quiet
and be happy. l said this is a family
re union, an assembly Of the old Forty
second military family, and it is well
for us to meet here. Nineteen years
ago met crowd Of earnest citizens in
that court room above stairs. Your
bell was rung, your people came out
the teacher of your school was among
them; the boys Of the school were there
and after we had talked together for q
littls while about our country and ita
imperillsd Gag, the teacher o! the
school offered himself to his country,
and uenty Of his boys with him.
They never went back into the school
house again, but in the dark days Of
November, 1861, they and enough Ash
land county boys to make one hundred
went down to Columbus with me to joir
another one hundred that had gone be-
fore them from Ashland county, and
these two hundred Of your children
stood in the centre OF our military tami
ly and bore these old banners that yor
see tattered before you TO day. One o
them was given TO our family by th'
ladies' Of Ashland, and Company c. from
Ashland carried 1t well. 1t was riddled
by bullets and torn by underbrush
Flapped by the winds Of rebellion i
came back tatterel as you see, but with
never a stain upon its folds and neVel
touch of distonor upon it aAyWh ers
and the other Of these banners wa:
given US by the special friends OF Com
pany A., in my old town of Hiram, the
student company from the heart OF the
Western Reserve, and 1t also shared
like Ito fellows the fate, and came home
covered with the glory Of the conflict
We were q family, | say again, and VI
did not let partisan politics disturb us
then, and We d. not let psrtisanshiI
enter our circle here to day.
We did not quarrel about controver-
sizes outside Of our great work. We
agreed to be brethren for the Union
under the flag, against all its enemies
every where, and brothers to all men
who stood with us under the flag to
fight for the Union, whatever theil
color of skin, whatever their previous
politics, whatever their religion. In
that spirit we went out; in that spirit
We returned, and We are glad to be in
Ashland to-day, for Ii is one OF the
homes OF our regiment where we were
welcomed in the beginning and have
always been welcome since. We are
grateful for the welcome rendered us
to-day by this great assembly OF oul
old neighbors and friends Of Ashland
orunsy. And now, fellow citizens,
regims ant, like a family. has a right tt
be little clannish and exclusive. i
does not deny the right Of any othel
family to the same privileges, but Il
holds the members of its own family
little nearer and little dearer thar
any other family in the world; and 81
the Forty second regiment has alwayi
been band of brothers. l do not thii
day know Forty. second man in thu
world who hates another Forty-sscond
man.
There never was seriC us quarrel In
side the regiment. There was never
serious disagreement between its Off
GERS. The worst thing I have evel
heard said against it is that all 1T
three field officers came homo alive anc
they we're here on this stand to-day
It was perhaps little against us tha'
no one Of us had the honor to get kill
ed or seriously crippled, but we hole
that 1t was not altogether our fault
and we trust that some day or othel
you will have forgiven us, IT, you have
not to-day, for being alive and all her'
together.
Iwant to say another thing abou
the soldiers work. l know OF moth
ing in all the circle Of human duty thA
80 unites men as the common suffering
and danger and struggle that wa
brings upon regiment. You canno
know man so thoroughly and so sooI
as BY the tremendous test to Nhici
war subjects him.
These men knew each other by sigh
long before they knew each other b!
heart but b1fore they got back HON
they knew each other as you some
times say you know song - "b.
heart''-for they had been tested b.
starvation ; they had been tested b.
the grim presence of death, and eaol
ILnaSy N AZ that thoaa who ramRine