Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1885-06-16
MISCELLANEOUS.
General Mcclellan at Antietam.

Below we give an extract from the
address delivered by Gen. Mcclellan
at Antietam Cemetery, May 3Oth, as
reported for the Baltimore Sun:
Gen. Mcclellan said, "Whcn Hast
stood upon this historic field the
smoke of battle still wreathed these
hills and filed those valleys; these
rocks still re-echoed the harsh sounds
of strife, and the ground was all toe
thickly strewn with the forms of the
quiet dead and of those still writhing
in agony. Two great armies had met
in deadly strife, the fate of the nation
hanging upon the result. Within the
walls of this vast cemetery, pcopled
almost in single day, those who met
death sleep after their long and dcs-
perate struggle. These men who
laid down their own and sought each
Others lives in fierce but loyal battle
have been placed almost side by side
awaiting that last dread trumpet
sound that shall call them to life
again. There arc here to-day those
who fought on either side; men who,
clad in gray, followed the noble Lee,
and we who wore the blue. We arc
here with a common purpose-to tes-
tify our reverence for the valiant
dead. So let US bury all animosity,
all bitter rccollections of the past,
remembering only that on Antictam's $
hills brave men gave their lives for
what they thought right. 1 pray that
this fair land of ours may never again
be the scene of such carnage. Ishall
not trench upon the causes of that
war further than to say that our chill
dren should never forget that it was
brought about, and even made ne
cessary by the extremists of the two
sides. If the moderate men North
and South could have controlled
events the dread arbitrament of arms
might have been avoided. / and my
acknowledgements of the North fought
for the Union because we believed
that it contained within itself the
power OF insuring all possible good
things to this people, and OF securing
us against unnumbcrcd evils, and
chiefly because we believed that we
could sec the hand of God guiding
our fathers in the creation of nation
destined to become the greatest of
which history bears record. We felt
that it was our sacred duty to offer
our lives as His feeble Instruments in
the preservation of the magnificent
edifice His hand had reared. Those
on the other side, smarting at the
time under actual or apprchended
evils, honestly differed from US.
dare not judge them, for their per-
feet honesty was proved by the mag
nitudc of the sacrifices they made for
the cause they deemed just. 1 be-
lievcd, and still believed, that it is
impossible for two governments to
exist in this land of ours without soon
coming into collision On some second
ary question, and that it was better to
fight at once for the main issue.
do not judge those who honestly held
different views, but rejoice that the
logic of events has sustained my own,
and still more do 1 rejoice that the
vast majority of those who fought so
earnestly on the other side cheerfully
accept the result and are proud of
their citizenship in our land, at last
thoroughly united.
Z" In 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 bat
tie from Yorktown to Appamatox,
where the scattered and mangled re-
mains of the great army of Northern
Virginia laid down it's arms, but not
its honor. Thanks to the magnanim-
ity of the great soldier who led the
Union army-now, alas! a prey to
disease-therc was nothing said or
done to create personal hate or tc
cause the blush of shame. When we
look back upon that day and that
other army which made its advance
from yonder heights across the An
tietam-the grand Army of the Poto-
mac-what more can say of it than
l have often said in the past? 1t was
ever worthy of its fame, whether in
adversely or in success, and never
more so than IN the field. No page
of its long history is obscurred by
shame, and as one who commanded it
through times of extreme trial can
say that it never failed me in the hour
need. am glad that have been
permitted to live until the fame and
exploits of those magnanimous rivals,
until the ability and virtue of Robert
E. Lee, and the achievements of the
Army of Northern Virginia, as well
as the heroism and renown of the
Grand Army of the Potomac have al
ready become part of common her
itage of glory of all our people:
Would 1 could meet here to-day the