The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-07-01
The Grand Army Encampment.

nual encampment The streets Of the For
est City echoed to the strains of martial mu-
sic and the measured tread of the veteran
soldiers, as post after post arrived and was
escorted to its quarters in Camp U. s. Grant
From the Pacific slope, from the Gulf, from
the Atlantic, from the Northwest, from the
great heart of the nation, the old warriors
of the republic came from their peaceful
pursuits to fight their battles over again on
the breezy shores of Casco Bay. The city's
resident population of about thirty-fve
thousand was suddenly doubled Schedule
time was abandoned in the running Of rail-
way trains leading into the city, under the
unusual pressure for transportation. All
trains were run wild, but not wildly, for
though there were long and unavoidable
| delays, there were no accidents to mar the
enjoyment of the occasion. There was some
confusion in assigning arrivals to quarters.
In some instance departments came with
twice the number of men for whom they
had ordered accommodations, and there
was vastly greater number of official and
unofficial visitors from all quarters than
had been expected.
| The first day of the encampment passed
without special incident. Commander-n
chief Kountz with his escort, the Dahl
! gren Post of Boston, arrived at night and was
escorted through some of the principal
streets of the city. General John A. Lo-
! gan and Washington delegation of the
Grand Army arrived from Boston in the
evening, accompanied by posts from that
city and various points in Massachusetts,.
He received a hearty welcome and Mrs. Lo-
gan also came in for generous share of
the enthusiastic greetings.
Tuesday, the second day, dawned as fair
as the fairest of the New England days in
June. Cool, gentle breezes from the ocean
tempered the heat of the sun. From early
morning the streets were thronged with
people. The trains brought additional
| thousands of citizens from Maine and other
| states. AT half-naSt ten o'clock the VaripuS
commands moved into line, and promptly
at eleven the parade began. Not until the
vast body of the men had stretched out in
apparently interminable array did it be-
come apparent that far greater numbers of
men had gone to participate in the encamp-
ment than had been expected. 1t required
more than three hours for the column to
pass given point, although the divisions
all moved promptly and smoothly. Com
mander-n-chief Kountz was warmly greeted
everywhere, but the great sensation of the
parade was the manner in which General
Logan, who was accompanied by Congress-
man Reed in a barouche, was cheered. 1t
was a great ovation Cheer after cheer
went up from the people on the densely-
crowded sidewalks, from one end of the
city to the other. The shouts of the thou
sands could be heard for many blocks
away. The militia of Maine made fine
appearance and were warmly appauded
for their excellent marching. The veterans
themselves came in for no small share of
enthusiasm. Many trudged along with the
aid of canes or hobbled past on crutches.
! The route was very long and wearisome to
the older men, many of whom dropped ont
! of the ranks before completing the entire
| distance just after the head of the column
had entered Congress street, on the last
stage of the march, COMMUNICATIVE
Kountz, General Logan and other dis
tinguished gentlemen left the ranks and
were driven ahead to the reviewing stand,
yInra t1,AtY itnI nah Nf 1a
column. Both the commander-in-chief and
General Logan. as well as the other dis
| tinguished gentlemen on the stand, were
greeted with much enthusiasm as the pro-
cession moved by. The Dahlgren and An
drew posts. of Boston were frequently
applauded on the route. After the
end of the procession passed the grand
stand the soldiers called loudly for Gen
eral Logan, who was obliged to re-
spond He said: Meetings Of soldiers in
soldiers, but to the people among whom they
come. | know that when you leave this
kindly spot you will leave it with the fond
est memories of the hospitality you have re-
ceived. Soldiers, I thank you" His closing
words were drowned in enthusiastic cheers
| The reviewing stand was crowded with mill
tary and civic notables, among whom were
Commander-in-chief Kountz, General John
A. Logan, Generals Slocum and Robinson,
Governor Robe and staff, General John G.
| BLACK commissioner OF penSlOnS), eN-tTON-
ernor Fairchild of Wisconsin, General III. A.
Barnum Governor Alger and staff of Michi-
gan Lieutenant-Governor Ames of Massa-
chusetts and General AmaSa Cobb of Ne
braska. The number of men in the parade
is placed at or near thirty thousand, of whom
more than twenty thousand were members of
the Grand Army organization. By some
misunderstanding or miSmanagement some
of the posts in many of the Western, as well
as in some of the Eastern departments, were
not assigned to places in the procession, and
owing to this neglect or oversight some five
thousand men, it is thought declined at the
last moment to take part in the parade.
! There was general good nature, however,
and the slight was attributed by all to the
great confusion resulting from the assem-
| bling of nearly twice as many men as were
expected to come Twenty-Five hundred
tents had been provided for thirteen thou
sand men, but it was thought that there
were not less than twenty-five thousand
Grand Army men in quarters. Doubling up
was necessary, but there was little or no
grumbling.
Tuesday evening the official reception
took place in city hall. General Hall, de-
partment commander Of Maine, welcomed
Commander Kountz and his comrades, and
| Governor ROBBIE gave the official welcome.
Speeches were made by the commander-in-
chief and General Slocum, Governor Fair
child and Others when General Logan was
presented and was received with wave on
wave of applause. His first words were of
| Grant, of whom he said: While we are
assembled here tonight in this beautiful
| city, surrounded as we are by friends, who
meet us cheerily and greet us kindly, we
cannot but allow our minds to wander away
from here, momentarily at least, TO where
the old commander, grander than all, suffers
with disease that has brought him to the
very verge of the grave. In my judgment
time has not given to any people grander
| commander of men, greater director of
forces, more magnificent campaigner, a
man with more ability TO execute than IT,
S. Grant. For this country he has done as
much rs any man that ever lived has done
for any other country. No matter what
may have been said, no matter how as
persed by those he despised, he has passed
up and beyond all the clouds that have sur
rounded him, and his character shines out
| to-day before the civilized world as bright
as the brightest star that decks the heavens.
| believe there is not "A citizen in the United
States of America that does not sympathize
with his misfortune and suffering now, and
il is the prayer of the Grand Army of the
| Republic, | am sure, that God, who disposes
all things, may permit this grand old man
to live on as one of the citizens of this grand
that when he passes away this country and
civilization will lose one of the greatest sup
porters of liberty that ever lived, and one
of the grandest citizens that ever died"
He eulogized the Grand Army organiza-
ton. OF its charitable character he said
"The charity that belongs to our organza-