St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-06-03
MCCLELLAN AT ANTIETAM.


Gen. GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN was the
orator of the Decoration day ceremonies al
Antietam. 1t was his first visit to the field
since he commanded the Union army there
in the eventful battle fought in September,
1862. In the course of his Grafton, which
was listened to with the closest attention by
the great crowd, Gen. MCCLELLAN sale
that the war, of which Antietam was one OF
the greatest battles, was brought about anC
even made necessary by the extremists OF
the two sides. eff the moderate men NORTH
and South" he said, could have controlled
events, the dread arbitrament of arms
might have been avoided. and my fellow
Democrats of the North fought for the
Union. because We believed that it con.
tanned within itself the power Of insuring
all possible good things to this people and Of
securing us against unnumbered evils, anC
chiefly because we believed, as we traced
the history of America from its faint begin
nings, that we could see the hand of Cor
guiding our fathers in the creation of ma
ton destined to become the greatest OF
which history bears record, and having as
its mission the fulfllment of some great de-
sign of His.
I'VE felt that 1t was our sacred rduty tC
offer our lives as his feeble instruments in
the preservation Of the magnificent edifice
his hands had reared. Men smarting at the
time under actual or apprehended evils hon
estly differed from this view-I dare not
judge them, for their perfect honesty was
proved by the magnitude of the sacrifices
they made for the cause they deemed just.
but and those who felt as l did be-
lieved that all other questions of the time
were contained in and subordinate to the
vital, the immense question Of the preserva-
ton OF. the Union. I believed, and
still believe, that It was impossible
for two governments to coexist in
this land of ours without soon
coming into collision on some secondary
question, and that it was better to fight at
once for the main isSue-an issue, it seemed
to me, directly in harmony with the designs
of the overruling Providence"
After an extended review of the services
of the two opposing armies which for four
long years confronted each other along the
banks of the Potomac, and paying beau
tiful tribute to the gallant dead, Gen. Nc,
| CLELLAN concluded his Grafton as follows:
I'm the ages of future generations, how
strange, how romantic, and how stirring
| will always seem the history of these two
armies, pitted against each other through
long years of battle from the beginning to
Appomattox, where the scanty and man,
| gled remains Of the great army Of Northern
| Virginia laid down its arms, but not its
honor. Thanks to the magnanimity of the
great soldier who led the Union army-now,
alas, prey to disease-there was nothing
said Or done to create personal hate or to
cause the blush of shame. When we look
back upon that day, and that other army
which made its advance from yondel
| heights across the Antietam-that grand
army of the POtOmac-What more can [ say
of it than I have often said in the past? II
was ever worthy of its fame, whether III
adversely or III success, and never more sc
than in the field. I am glad that 1 have
been permitted to live until the fame and
exploits Of those magnanimous rivals, unit
the ability and virtue of ROBERT E. LEE
and the achievements of the army of North
| ern Virginia as well as the heroism and re-
nown of the Grand Army Of the Potomac
have already become part of common
heritage of glory of all our people,"