The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1885-10-15
OUR VOLUNTEERS.
Judge CCchran'S Eloquent Address at
the Reunion Of the Army of the
Cumberland.

The fourth toast of the evening was Our
Volunteer Soldiers, TO Wnich Judge SochTau
responded as follows:
The American conflict was the browning act IN
The experiment of se!i-government 1t closed the
debate At seif-clll the people IN the people war
with tie Iil,stion of their best blood sealed the
fmmutable decree that Government OF the people,
by the people and for the people shall not perish
from the earth-and the voice oil the people Is TIC
voice of God.
The volunteer, trained and led by the noble men
of West Point. whom we love as our own, WAS the
mighty engine that met and overmaiched the shock
and storm OF unmatched war. The volunteer was
a remarkable compound of citizen, sovereign ana
subaltein lie loved peace, unskiiled III arms,
and abhorred war. He comprised the realm OF
versatility and was the embodiment oil PATRIOTISM
and self-;bncga;ior that said to the world, A aay
an hour of vrtuous liberty Is worth whole
eternity of bondage" Devoted TO his home. fitted TO
adorn any station he did not abandon family, COM
petence and comfort and dare the storm oi oatte,
the fever camp and he'll oil prison for the pltiance
of Si3 a month and the cruel lie that dubbed hlih
a Uessinn and hireiing should have bghted the
hateful life and bIstered The leprous Ups tilat gave
He brought to the tented field a freeman's will
and all tie forces and culture of freeman home;
all the attachments industries, science and art OF
high civilization: and TO crown all he brought 10
the cause a sublime belief that Thrice Is he armed
that hath his quarrel Just, ana ne put naked i
though locked up in siee!, whose conscience WIN
treason is corrupted He came from every voca-
ton and profession, UP from the hope ana home
and heart of all the people. tie was the aggregate
everybody from everywhere who knew everything
and could do anything. lie MAS The culture, courage
and patriotism of the Republic under arms, It's
nervous fluid, vii and genius Ill tie camp, ana
himself everywhere. When his mind wandered
back in ancestral line there present every land
and cline besides those OF tle Genes;a and the
Puritan-G 'acht all 10 sec that!
All he a mutiiaTious fellow-a regular
Yankee Kaleidoscope, whether born in America
the Rhine, the Dundee, or ON the SHANNON lie
was grave and gay 10y turns, and so absolutely
con,ented with his soldier life that he gave Ii poetic
expression in rhyme and symphony that would
nnIit iatrr.n af.n 4uHS
I'm happy volunteer
j wish | wasn't here
want to be Mt home with the army in the rear
Swing low. sweet chariot
John Morgan's got my mule.
At the ouset he believed he was 4 sovereign.
knew he a General admitted 10 superior, and
only yielded obedience 10 others because 1t was law
typitied by commission. and he knew tnat II was
only himself commanding himself by proxy, ana
that while he was everybody man he was no.
bodys man, and every man WAS hlS-such Is the
genius of our institutions.
In a spirit of resigned symposium he would some
times drink something from the same-something.
He could condescend to accept from his General,
and appreciate with solemn relish the lquliacion
of an EYE opener" or the license of mine eyes
be shut for one half hour With profound
humor infinite adaptation 10 occasion, lie could
obey a Corporal, lead forlorn hope, invade n
smoke-house, command IN army; deliver moral
homilies to a mule, or Glide Chaplain; attack a
fort a sweet-potato patch; master Constitution,
international law evolution, chuck a-luck and flap
jacks; translate Virgil, or Ialleck, or by verbal
ANALYSIS determine the pre;tamic archaeology of
an army cracker. He was very human, and II Is not
claimed that he was always supremacy fitted TO be
a Sunday school superintendent, though i'll his
life better qualities We're the rule and meaner traits
the exception.
On the more serious and enduring phase we can
but touch. Never was transformation from citizen
to solder-rather combination of both-more
rapid. He instinct with duty and, under a
master hand rapidly took on Inc discipline ana
selfreliance of a veteran. His cause was an appeal
from the fiat of moral wrong and cruel might for
final decree of eternal right.
HIer he iptu
courage and sefsacriiice that come OF liberty regu-
lated by law.
He was of a land whose homes, pupts and
hustings taught creed which set the love of liberty
above the love of life and he conceived that liberty
&c be not merely the enGrossment of an abstract
idea but a supreme living, throbblng principle.
whether his enlistment was impulse and act In
one fruit of settled purpose IL was growth OF the
same germ-the love of something higher than the
love of self and profound devotion TO nationality.
He watched the progress OF the strife, penetrated
the DISCUSSES of campaigns criticised the tactics and
strategy OF his commander, and with the lntelil-
gence of a freeman and eiector watched and aided
in directing civil affairs, that liberty might he set
above price, intrigue and assault. When OFF duty
il not uncommon TO see him with textbook in
hand storing his mind and fitting himself for the
professions and multifo!d duties and stations of
civil life when the cruel war should be over. one
supreme excellence of his 20
broader liberty and better law not alone to himself,
but to the prodigal tho struck the fratrcida blow
His faith la ultimate triumph was fixed the stars,
and if he seemed To falte- II was but mental
discipline to his zeal clouds temper the glare of
for the divine right OF obedience to none but his
better self He willing to die, be forgotten and
wholly lost in q cause, that the cause might not be
lost His triumph came and brought to the political
and moral world revc alton grand as came TO
the physical world when God said. let there be
light and there was light" When the war ended
the world was better for the fray and he melted into
the civil list, rounded into "A better manhood, and
became in every neighborhood the nucleus of
better and higher civilization. Multiply this rude
sketch by millions and you have dim reflection
OF the volunteer soldiers of country.
If the clouds hung heavily at Bull Run and lifted
at DonelsOn, and came and went with the varying
phases of the war, they melted into a shower of
mercy at Appomattox that should ever be held
revelation and benedicton.
At the close of the strife the lives of 100000 of
comrades had gone out. If living to-day and
standing before us in single rank they would pre-
sent front of 100 miles.
The best soldier in embryo is the obedient boy of
the true mother the devoted son, the true citizen.
He is the hope of civil liberty and of man, and
cherish his noble qualities and his fame not hero
worshipers, but because he Is an example OF the
tendencies, the developments and the supreme
exceliences Of free Government.