Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1884-05-27

piayihg march, and little child three wears
Vi "se' Vi Mr' Geo. W. Hewitt. dressed to rep
resent america, was on the stage waving a Ma
Iion"i nag. After medley of Dixie and the
o'ar-spansieo banner, the proceedings were
opened by the following
| REMARKS OF MAJOR NEWTON
Gentlemen Of the 18th ". Y. Volunteers. and 5th
Virginia Infantry. % ~''0 '"'
Ladies and Gentlemen.
The object OF this meetingis SO well and wide-
ly known, that it is needless for me to Consume
| time in giving 1t further explanation.
The saying is a common one that 1--WE are in
the hands of our friends" Let as reverse the
order of the speech and SAVIOUR friends who
nave been our enemies and, now in truth again
our friends, are now in our hands. [Appla1se /
Twelve months ago amid the thunders of the
waters or Ntagara-when had the honor OF
standing before the 18th New York Veterans
| | said thanked God had lived to see the day
mat enabled me to view those surroundings, to
meet you and TO greet you. as friends and
brethren OF q common humanity and discharge
Inc most pleasant duty of my life. II happy
then, what must be my feelings now, when
about to call TO order this meeting-in the lead
| Ing city of the Shenandoah Valley: under the
SHADOW OF my own home, in the county where-
| IN was born and reared, and the home ofmany
Of the surviving members OF the gallant and
war-worn 9Th Notwithstanding, whose guests
you are To-Day. congratulate myself and NV
friends that we have this peculiar pleasure Of
looking into your faces again and extending the
I'VE are delighted to meet you. donot aim 10
use the mere formal terms of courteous express
sion, but speak forth the words of truth and
sincerity. O
This occasion is one of prime Importance. for
the reason that 1t Is the first time since our late
courtesy and friendship from the soldiers nf the
| North. This kind and humane appeal to our
peter feelings. affecting as 1t does, our better
by nature we are not more susceptible to the
Influence of kindness and Cancellation than we
| are to force we would be unworthy the name
of Freemcn Therefore we take YOU by The
| hand with warm. firm grip as members of the
common human family and would to God that
| Uncle Sans large and extensive family knew
| each other more Intimately. as it would beget
| more kindly and lasting relation. TApplausel
| Need say that ! rejoice to-day in the honor
| OF presiding over this assembly, as it recalls TO
| my mind so wildly the scenes and incidents
shaf transpirei one year ago. when stood be-
9TH Va. Infantry. Stonewall Brigade. A. N. Vir-
| ginia lapplsuse.l to return to you that banner
Tue ensign OF the nation, the flag of COM
mon country, and beneath the folds of hat star
Spangled Banner Applause now unfurled to
N M throughout the land. let us know no
NorIh, no South, no East, no West. and may it
| peacefully aud triumphantly wave DER the
ia a1 OF the free and the home of the brave un-
Ill Time shall be lost in vast eternity.
The band then played "Dixie" and other airs
Rev. Frank McCutchan, Chaplain of the 5th
Va, then invoked the blessing of God in pray
err.
Then followed the
ADDRESS OF CAPT. JAMES BUMGARDNER, ADJU-
TANT OF THE 9TH VA.
welcoming the 18th in behalf of the 5th Virgin
ia:
Veterans of the 18th New York:
| You do well, on each recurring anniversary.
to hold your assembly and your banquet, 10
revive the associations, and recall the Incidents
century.
On your last anniversary, you Invited and
welcomed to your homes and to your hearts. as
participants IN the JOY and giadness of your
festival, the remnant of band, who in the
most disastrous hour of your soldierly career,
stood opposed in your front, as your dsadliest
foes.
In this also you did we'll. For by IL you de-
clared that the war is ended; that the causes Of
strife are past; and that the feeling and passions
of the war, should sumber in the graves of the
buried dead; that the survivors OF the army of
the Union, and the survivors of the army of the
South ought no longer to be foes. but friends.
and are no longer foes, but friends, countrymen
and brothers. Applause
| In the warmth of your fraternal greeting, you
asked US not of our hopes. of our motives or of
our as pirations in the time gone by, and met
us as men, who in the time past were foemen
worthy of your steel, who in the present, were
| friends worthy of an honest hand clasp. and of
| a place by an honest fireside applause and
| who in the future, are to toll side by side with
| you, to secure the welfare and perpetuate the
| glory of a common united country IApplause,1
In the same spirit welcome you to our
midst, to our country and to our homes, asking
nothing OF the past, thinking only of the pre-
sent. and trusting confidently In the future.
| From our standpoint, trusting that the merci-
full providence (which shapes our ends, rough
| blessings of restored union compensation for
| the agonies of a losing struggle and consolation
for the pangs OF defeat lappiause;l and believ-
ing that the event indicates that in the destiny
| OF our country there is a mission to be fulfilled,
| for the benefit of human happiness and human
| liberty that needs for its final accom- pish ment
| the efforts OF the sons of the North and of the
| sons of the South battling together with uni
| ted hands.and united hearts Tapplause inspir-
! ed by the memory that in all the crises of our
| country's common history, her sons came fol tn
in countless thousands to offer their lives in re-
", haIf 80
| duty.
Because you so kindly invited and welcomed
| us; have come so far from your homes to permit
| us to welcome you; because contributions in
| thousands, headed by the illpstrious command
er-in-chief of the armies of the Union Zap
plause,l from general and private, from soldier
and civilian. from man, from woman and child
| have come from the North, within the last few
| days. to build refuge and home where the
| manged Confederate soldier. whom for obvious
| and necessary reasons, govern mental aid cam
| not reach. may spend the remnant of his days
| in comfort and ease. instead OF misery and
want; because you soldiers of the Union are
| here. in sight, and with the approval of your
countrymen, 10 visit as as soldiers of the Con-
| federacy, and pr, pose before your return TO
| stand for a brief space with barred brows and
| bowed heads at the graves of Lee and Stonewall
Jackson applause; infer-yea, verify believe,
that as time rolls on, and as the passions eyok-
| ed, and the interests involved in the conflict
| perish: that the deeds of the heroes on either
| side will be gathered in common treasury of
glory to Illustrate thegenius, the valor and the
| devotion of the American people. GAppIausel
In this belief this hope we hay. an examnJe
In our mother country, whose civil strifes were
| as bitter and as fierce as ours historian poet
ana novelist, record, as part of the sum of Eng
| glands glory, the deeds of the men who charg-
| ed with Rupert and who stood with Cromwell
VIII o conquered with Cumberland and who
| persisted with the clans of Lochiel History
will repeat here what it has recorded there
| Wnere tne uescendants OF the men who fought
| for the discrowned Stuart at the Boyne and
died for his exiled son at Cuiloden, have borne
the English banners to victory in every cline
| beneath the sun.
| Peaceful transports have borne you swiftly
| hther, over the folds which you, and we. in
| the time past measured with the w earv stems ~
| marching soldiers. The long wears since linen
| have silvered locks of raven blackness: have
| dmmed eyes that pierced the dun clouds OF
battle with eagle sharpness. and stiffened limbs
| that the bugle-call sent rushing to the charge
with bounding fleetness But time which works
such swift decay to the form of the soldier does
not so deal with the scenes of his warfare. To
| them it brings healing and restoration. And
so we trust that the view of those fields and
| landscapes, arrayed in their spring mantle,
| smiling in the bright Southern sun, and still
more brightly illumined by the blessed sun
| shine of peace, will efface in your memory
| their aspect as you viewed them when dark
| ened by the clouds and SCARED by the tracks OF
war. [Applause1
We hope that our hearty thanks for your
initiation oftbe relations OF friendship between
the 2Sth New York and the 9Th Virginia. and
for your unstinted hospitalfttes to us. and the
welcome with which we greet you. Will cause
! you ever to remember us in Kindness your
| iy to forget US as your stubborn adyersarfes in
| the old, by.gone days OF strife.
/
| ssThe more we know the better we forgive"
| But at last our deeds must speak for us more
| truly than our words.
Knowing, as well know, the feelings which
! burn in each heart of the survivors of the 5th
| Virginia. say for them, TO you of the 2Sth New
| York, Thanks" and Welcome"
After the applause following the closing of
Capt. Bumgardner's address, the following re-
| Spouse was delivered by
COL. f. F. BROWN OF THE 18th,
| who said: -
| Capt. Bttnigardaer Comrades of Fifth Viroio;o
Ladies' and Gentlemen of the Cftv of Sn1,nro,,
and the great Commonwealth Of Tisoi,ia
Your welcome of our little band OF old sol-
diers-the remnant of the Twenty-eighth Reg
| iment from the State of New York-ts 90 baeS
ty, so complete, and in all respects SO snrnris-
| ing. that we stand before you In amazement
Your reception and this grand denonstration
overpowers and bewilders us compIeteIv We
are plain people, coming from the rural dis
| tricts of Western New York we were onca
soldiers. We are now citizens. Our daiiv
bread is earned by our daily labor. Rv vonr