Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-06-18
BRATTLEBoRo VT, FRIDAY, JUNE 1s,

Win swelling SHOUTS. tempest hi hUut anu Fu'll
lowling above their heads, from their batteries IN
he rear, swept the heights.
1t was at this point that the brave Hancock was
everely wounded and carried from the field. Gen.
iibbon succeeded to the command, and walking
long the line, told the men to hold their nre. On
ame the rebels, In perfect order I'LL within point
blank range, when the order to fire was given.
sudden sheet Of name, crash, and the FIRST line
disappears like a wreath OF mist. Scores, hundreds
20 down, but they do not falter; undismayed the
second line swept on with cheer, up to the muz-
lies of the guns They are blown away, mangled
Orn, piled In heaps but on they pressed waving
heir fags aud shouting victory. But the moment
)f their triumph was alsO the hour OF their destruc-
ion. The batteries from the western slope Of
Cemetery hill ennlade the spot forty cannon pour
grape and canister into the uncovered ranks. The
effect was awful; nothing human could withstand
such murlcrous fire. The line swayed back In ter
ror and then ctumbed into fragments. The plain
was a mass Of discomdted rebels. The ground was
thick with the dead as with fallen leaves in au-
tumn. Whole regiments laid down their arms and
surrendered. The enemy was repulsed-now was
the time for action. Webb's brigade, without walt
Ing for ORDERS dashed into the lylng mass and
took 500 prisoners Stannard's brigade took rs
many more. The 9th took In this charge the reg
Imental colors Of the I'd Florida and sth virginia.
1t had been a battle Of the giants. our loss
25, 600, besides 1s,621 left in our hands.
Thousands Of bayonets nashed In the beams Of
the setting sun,-the invasion Of the North was
over, and the power Of the cOnfe deracy broken.
There az that sunset hour could disc ern the fu
turc, no longer an overcast sky, but clear. un-
cloulcd starght,-a country redeemed, saved,
baptized, cOnsecrated anew 10 the coming ages.
Neither ancient nor modern times can furnish
brighter record Of patriotism. or bring witnesses
Of boodler or cOsiltr battles than those you help
tttu NO nnf mi uhnrmnuy1un a
teilOo, MarengO, AusterlltZ or Trafalgar Against
Caesar, Alexander, Hannibal, Wellington, NapOc.
or Nelson we do not hesitate to place our Grant,
our sherman, our Sheridan, our Thomas our Burn
side, our Meade, our Farragut.
More than twenty centuries ago Grecian orator
said, "the whole earth T. the sepuchre of illusrl-
men" The price Of liberty has ever been blood
and treasure The blood Of the nations best life,
thr treasure Of loving hearts. Two million seven
hundred thousand brave soldiers sprang to the
cue Of the country. Fathers left home and family,
husbands left wives ana loved ones, sons left the
comforts Of home Tor the hardships and dangers Of
the tented field The plow was left IN the furrow
upon the hillside, the mechanic laid aside the ham
mer and the saw, the couniinp-room was locked,
the doctors ONCE was closed, aud the lawyers
desk grew dusty. OF that number how many never
returned TO Their northern homes, except TO sleep
In their graves! Three hundred aud sixteen thou
the battle field or from wounds received In battle
Thirty six thousand eight hundred and siNty-eight
died In Southern prisons, while more than 10000
died Of disease.
-Four hundred thousand men,
The brave, the good. the true.
In tangled wood In mountain glen
On battle plain, IN prison pen,
Lie dead for me and yOu
-Four hundred thousand Of the brave
Have made orr ransomed soil their grave"
We have assembled here to-day, encircled hy the
sa ame yerdant mountains that looked down upon
onr fOrcfljhers, to do honor to our heroic dead
We gather here In the solemn resting place Of The
dead that We may render silent and heartfelt trb-
ute TO departed worth. This is no Idle show and
di splay, no vain ceremony; but We come In an
swer TO the prOmptngs OF patriotic hearts 10 test
fy that we iUndly cherish the memory OF those to
who we owe the continuance OF the Republic.
a ceremonial Of such beautiful simplicity yet ap-
proprateness can have but little added to It by the
words OF the speaker.
The graves that We honor to-day by decoration
are sixteen ia number. Albert II. Allen, Robert
Grimes, Lewis II. Lamb, Cyren b. lawtOn Geo. A.
Rice, Cyren o. Rice Lucius :. swan, Jonas f..
ware, VIM. II. Wilson. In the the cemetery 10 the
north Lysander A. Dennison, Daniel b. Smith. In
lntcrvale cemetery, Leonard y. Cummings, and in
private burying lot near his home, Dana p. Chand.
ier The bones Of other soldiers whose names |
have read lie to-day under southern skies with no
stone to mark their last resting place.
trust the day is far distant, the year far re-
mote, when this day shall cease to be an annual
observance which Nils our hearts with unutterable
emotions and dms our eyes with tears As We hal
low IN recollection the great army Of unreturning
brave.
"Thcy sleep their last sleep,
They have fought their last battle;
No sound can awake them to glory again"
The nation gathers to-day among tombstones all
over the land with mingled feelings OF sadness and
Joy; feelings OF sadness because Of the
death Of, thousands OF her brave and noble
sons who came to an nntimely end under the
crushing, reeklng wheels Of the Juggernaut OF
war; feelings Of Joy because the lives they so hero
icaly laid upon Their cOuntry's altar were cept-
ed as sacrifice, that the cause Of liberty sim lives,
and the proudest banner upon which the sun ever
shone sim trumphantly waves over free, united
people.
How sleep the brave who sink 10 rest
By all their Country's wishes hlest!
When Spring with dcwy fingers cold,
Returns 10 deck their hallOwrd mold,
She there shall dress sweeter sod
Than FanSy's feet have ever trOd.
BY fairy hands their knell is rung,
By forms unseen their dirge Is sung;
There Honor comes, pilgrim gray,
And Freedom shall awhile repair
To dwell weeping hermit there"
In the undying words Of the martyred Lincoln,
at Is altogether htttug and proper that We should
do this. But, In larger sense, we cannot dedi-
cate, We cannot Cousecratc, We cannot haliOw the
ground where rest our heroic dead. II is for us
the living, rather to he dedicated, here 10 the un-
finished task remaining before US. 1t Is rather for
US TO take from these hOnOred dead increased de-
yotOn TO the cause for which they gave the last
full measure of devotion; to highly resolve that
the dead shall not have died In vain that this
great nation SHAH, under God, have new birth Of
freedom, and that government Of the people, by
the people and for the people, shall not perish from
the Garth"
soldiers. sleep peacefully on; and NAV your
graves never lack for "A mementO OF respect a. The
SOih day OF May shall come in the on-maTchnG
years. Sleep peacefully on, whether you fell by
land or sea, whether cut down 10y the leaden ball
or by disease Your hearts were loyal and true
and as We pay our tribute Of respect to your men,
ory, we gather inspiration from your lives aud
deaths 10 prove true to our calling, our manhood,
our country and our God. Sleep on, brave and no
ble men. Your memory shall be Kept fadeless.
pure, immortal I'm the hearts and homes Of yOuI
COuntrymen. ENultlng In the glory of your grand
achievements. the Institutions saved through
q q Peace 10
ashes, whether they rest under the green turf OF
their native state, or under Southern skies, with
none to watch their nameless graves but the
sentinel stars. Winters OF the NOrih weave your
soft white shrouds over the patriot dead; winds
forever chant their requiem, through South
ern pines and magnoias; snringtime, deck theil
resting places with your choicest yerdure and
bloom; autumn, drop over these sttl sleepers yOul
scarlet and crimson and golden tributes, when al
the hands that to-day stTew these graves shall
have become dust. "Duice q dtcOrum est pro pdfrid
mort" at is sweet to die for ones native coun
try" wrote the old poet but, surviving soldier, It
is sweet TO lire for ones country, No nation Is
safe without the guardianship OF those who, like
Yourselves have offered to die for II. Wen did the
State Of Wisconsin. when her soldiers were return
ING from the war cause 10 be erected in her beau
tlful Capitol Park at Madison, majestic arch
hearing IN great letters the motto, "lhe only debt
ths nation can never pay Is the debt she owes hel
soldiers - When the war was over and Its heroic mel
came back TO civil life, there was no place toe
cool M honors TOO bright But now new growth,
and a new generation are ushing up from The bot
tom, and the generation that knew you as soldiers
growing dim and many forget seemingly who the
men were that saved the life Of tn,
nation; who they were that stAked their lives
their all, that the freedom, the glorious nation
al political and social privileges and prospects o
this day might be realized ana preserved. It hal
been said that "Repuhlics are not ungrateful.'
Let us hope that the future will prove its truth.
Into the hands Of the present generation is con
nded an important trust Fifteen years have
passed away since the martial drum was heart
and the deep-throated cannon dragged TO delds o
carnage and death. The day OF warlike toll an,
danger Is over. The grass grows green upon tht
trampled field, and over the caves OF the UnioI
aud Confederate soldiers, sleeping side by side
| To-day we have a united nation. While We mus
| hold the results OF the war with firm determine
| ton let us not cherish bitterness aud hatred TIL
| mast is washed away In blood The high noon o
| the nineteenth century is upon us, I'm which ther
| exists a higher and nOblU mission for ever.
| American citizen than the perpetuatOn Of un
fraternal feelings anu anmOslties engendered from
| internal strife The great problem OF the war ha
| been solved Let its issues be forgotten But lie
us see to II that We do not betray in time to COM
what the brave dead gave their lives to Yindlcate
| God grant that the national sovereignty suffer N
| loss that the union Of these states cemented b.
/ a fl. Hasas OIL aauN NhNg Uy