Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-10-05

| country.
The fort, which lies between the depot and
the foot of the mountain, was gaily decorated
with flags, which had been planted on the
| ramparts, and which fiourished lightly in the
breezes. The embankments remain the same
as when constructed for defence IS years ago.
The excursionists met at the fort Judge En-
erson and the committee of reception, by
whom they were escorted to the interior, ac-
compannied by the crowd of citizens. 1t has
been fitted up with seats and a speakers
stand, the young trees that had sprung up
| since the war having been removed for that
purpose. All was peaceful, and contrasted
| wonderfully with the past scenes Of strife:
| ''No sound of artillery smiteth the ear,
So calm you can catch e'en the fall of u tear
Here, in this quiet place, after the assem-
blage had been seated, prayer was offered up
to the throne of grace by Rev. Mr.. Wright,
followed with music by the Ironton silver
| cornet band. Then Judge j. w. Emerson,
| of Ironton, delivered the following
WELCOME ADDRESS:
COMRADES, LADIES AND GENrLEMEN--T
am thankful to the committee who assigned
me the duty of presiding to-day that they
dresses and speeches on our eminent visitors
and guests. The more pleasant privilege is
| mine on behalf of our committees, on behalf
of all our citizens of every political party and
every creed, of extending to our visitors and
| our guests welcome most warm, most earn
est, and most unqualified. We welcome you
| to these historic grounds, to these charming
| hills and valleys of ours. We do not assem-
BILE here, on this eighteenth anniversary Of
the memorable battle of Pilot Knob, in any
mir of in ~
| anship, in any spirit OF bOasting over yicto-
ry won or a battle lost; we meet here as men,
| bers Of all political parties, men who fought
here eighteen years ago this very hour; some
| under the old starry banner, others under the
stars and bars, after Is years of separation, to
| look at the old fort, to view the battlefield
which was then the scene of as heroic strug-
gle as graces the pages OF Greek or Roman
| history; a battle in which the participants on
| both sides behaved so bravely and so heroic
ally that the memory Of brave deeds, Of an
| understood duty, so well performed, must be
| a cause of graduation to them and their pos
| terity forever. We meet for the nobler and
higher purpose, too, of showing how it is that
peace hath her victories no less than war;
| how brethren can dwell together in unity;
how brave men can be enemies in war, in
peace friends; to exhibit to the world one Of
the evidences of the grandest triumphs Of
| modern civilization, spectacle that can be
seen in no other country save in this free
L
through and fought out the
GRANDEST WAR OF ALL TIME,
suddenly lay down their arms return to peace
| full pursuits, greet and embrace each other as
| brothers and live together as the warmest Of
| friends, all alike earnest workers for the good
| of society, the advancement of our common
country; all alike loving the grand old flag of
freedom, the Constitution Of our fathers and
that matchless American liberty which these
tipify, welcome that spirit Of fraternity, well
Gen. A. j. Smith, the hero of a hundred fights,
| the commander of the fighting division; to
| Col. Thos. c. Fletcher, commander of the
braye Forty Missouri Infantry, e1gh-
| teen years ago to day; to Col. David Murphy,
! commandant of the artillery; to the brave
Capt. Lucas, commander Of the Iowa Infan-
| try, who comes to US as u member OF the
| State Government of Iowa: to the officers Of
| the old Twenty first Illinois-Gen. Grants
| old regiment-who come to us from the State
| Of Illinois; to the officers and men Of the
Sixty eighth E. NJ. NJ, who were here on the
occasion; to you all. We bid syecial well
| come to the citizens who were then here, to
our friends who were then engaged on the
Confederate side of the late unpleasantness; !;
| to our visiting friends Of every degree, and
to the ladies,
GOD BLESS THEM,
to the ladies most especially of all we extend
welcome, thrice welcome. We have to
| apologize to YOU for the tameness of your
| siasm, the glorious pomp and circumstance
of war of eighteen years ago; we cannot re-
produce the thunder of artillery, the crash
Of m,lsketry, the explosion Of shells, the
burning furnaces and buildings, the cheers
| Of charging legions-nay, but we do the best
we can. II it is less animated to-day, let me
assure you it is decidedly more comfortable.
We do better than then-we exhibit to you
the triumph Of peace, the miners blast, the
glow of the furnace, the steady clank of the
engine, the electric light, the whistle Of the
locomotive and the swift cars of commerce.
All is peace, all is plenty, all is happiness.
Instead Of marching armies and blazing guns
we exhibit to you the loving smiles and the
flashing eyes of our wives and our sweet
hearts, and these we know by experience are
more grateful to an old soldier than all the
pomp and circumstance OF war. And now
with assurances that there will not be mis-
sile fired to-day by any speaker which will
hurt you in mind or body, beg you will join
In the further festivities of the day.
During the delivery the Judge was follow
ed by his hearers with the closest attention,
his remarks being interrupted frequently by
hearty applause.
GOV. FLETCHER
was then introduced and made the following
address:
"In behalf of the survivors of the battle of Pi-
lot Knob and their friends from distant locali-
the kind and cordial reception and greeting
extended to us by the people OF this valley.
ave come to-day to stand amid this the
grandest scenery in all Missouri, and with the
gentle autumn breezes cheering and exhilar-
ating us to renew old acquaintances and form
new ones; to look over the ground once the
scene Of fearful and deadly strife, and to con-
trast the scene Of eighteen years ago to-day
with the present surroundingsof beauty and
peace and prosperity. We fought here to
determine the principles in our government
as to the supremacy Of authority of the States
and of the national Government. The fight
at this place was only one Of many battles Of
the war by which we settled forever the ques-
tionthat the national authority is the supreme
authority; but it was an important battle to
the national cause, because of the fact tnat it
delayed the march of the Confederates and
gave time for the preparations for the defence
OF st. Louis and of Jefferson City. 1t was a
fight in which there was displayed
AS MUCH DARING
on the part of both forces as was witnessed
anywhere in all the war.
81 had witnessed assaults and repulses at
Vicksburg, Lookout, Mission Ridge, Ringold,
Resaca, Dallas, and other memorable battles,
but had always been of the assaulting party.
Here, for the first time, was of the assaulted.