The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-06-12
THE SOLDIERS MONUMENT.
Appeal to Veterans and Citizens to Perpet-
uate the Memory of Indiana'S Heroes,

The monumental committee has sent out circu-
lar letters to the Grand Army Posts of the State
urging that reunions be held in all the counties
the following extracts are published by request:
The reunions should not be of partisan charac-
ter and it is particularly recommended that the leg
islatve candidates of all parties where they have
been nominated be invited to make addresses.
1t is not our intention to interfere with any effort
you are making, may make in behalf of local
monument for your county; but such a monument
must necessarily be limited in its proportions and de-
signs because of the limited field from which you can
draw resources, whereas the monument which the
department of the G. A. R. has undertaken to build
will represent the grandeur of great State, and
be of such proportions will do honor to the
for which the Union soldiers fought and died. There
is being erected at Indianapolis, State-house, In
which there is no reference to the late war or those
who sacrificed so much for their country Both are
alike ignored From the lowest foundation stone to
the lofest pinnacle there is nothing to remind future
generations of the most glorious epoch in history
1t is not only fitting therefore, but it is necessary
that within sight of that structure, monument be
raised wholly devoted to the Union and to those
who so galantly sustained it, and equally accessible
to every soldier in every part of the State 1t is the
wish of this committee that the proposed monument
snail take the form of memorial hail. surmounteu
by the statue of a Union soldier, in which shall be
gathered the trophies and mementos of tho late war,
its literature and pictures with inches for appropriate
statuary, and assembly-room for the use of the
soldiers of the State at their reunions while they live,
and for the of the Sons of Veterans after they
"A
ments in war, it would soon become the Mecca of
every Union soldier and loyal citizen in the land and
would in time be regarded as the grandest thing i'll the
country.
1t is conceded that the citizens ought to furnish the
money for the monument, but the old soldiers can
appropriately engage in the work of collecting it. pre-,
esey they that of decorating the graves OF
their dead comrades. The cases are parallel.
Nor is the monument to be built alone as personal
tribute to the soldiers it will commemorate and honor
the for which they fought well and for this
they will build it themselves, in defense of and
to perpetuate those principles, and to vindcate the
history they have made if it is not done by the cti
ZenS.
But every battlefield of the South are the graves
of unknown Union soldiers On some of the most
memorable they lie in pits-'forty feet square and
eight feet deep! On others they lie alone, with no
mark to indicate their resting place, and soon time
will have obterated all traces of their earthly abode
Shall they be forgotten9 As their comrades we
answer, no. but will erect monument in their
honor in which they and their deeds shall live again
and while it shall last their fame and country will
be secure To this high purpose are devoting our
best energies. We ask and expect the hearty CO
operation of every comrade.