Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1885-09-30
Commander stewert, Comrades of the Gran

rommander stewert, Comrades of the Grand
Army, and soldiers of the Union:
To me iias.been assigned the delight
=ft,l duty Of Welcoming to the Capital
this srea. ni,iititude ofratriot heroes.
YET II seems TO ME that words of wei
csme are unnecessary. There is no
town or city within the boun-
diaries of Kansas where the
soldiers Of The Union would not be
erected as friends or comrades, and
honored as guests; and | know that
the loyal people of the capital, one and
all. will welcome YOU with a hand
clasp far more eloquent than speech
They will welcome YOU a men who
brought from the gloom of the past
the lights of the present and the hopes
of tho fut,Ta- They will welcome
You as soldiers who rescued the re-
public from anarchy; As heroes who
brought union, liberty and peace out
of the smoke and flames Of civil war.
Phey, will welcome YOU as fellow-cit-
izens whose energy, enterprise and in
dustry are building up, here in the
heart of the continent, the greatest
and most prosperous state in the
Union. Onc and all, they will well
come and salute yon.
You are survivors of the greatest
war the world has ever known. You
were prominent actors in the grand
est epoch of history. You fought for
the noblest cause flat c"er warmed
the hearts and nerved ;he arms of
heroes. You have lived to witness
the grandeur of your triumph, and the
growth and prosperity il has brought
liz its train iou are here 10 meet
old comrades: 10 revive recollcctions
ofscenes and events that should never
be forgotten: to sing the old songs; TO
touch elbows again in the steadily
dwinilin@ line that once reached from
the Rocky mountains 10 the Atlantic.
And am glad and proud 10 say to
YOU: -'All hail. and welcome, thrice
welcome. to the capital.
know that ,lvspeptic, envious and
small-sonled people regard the fact
that soldiers reunions are steadily in
creasinc III interest. with ill-couccaici
dis:rust. Some years ago. following
meeting similar 10 this, a gentleman
SAID to me: The boys have had Z
pleasant time. no doubt But Of what
practical benefit arc these great gath
erings OF soldiers? They keep alive, il
seems 10 me. rccollec'ions of Il period
of strife and blocdShed, and wha
good does that dc:'
rep!ied: ..Mv friend. did YOU evel
object TO the caiebralion of the Fourii
az July: That keeps alive memorie
OF period of strife and blOod,hed
Vet we have been celebrating th'
'Gioriou, Fourth for oVera hundred
wears. and nobody has objected that i
did no good to celebrate IT,"
Similar objections are sometime
made to The Grand Army OF the Re
public Ii j said that such an or
ganization not only keeps alive tn
memories OF war, but perpctuates la
iceliag, aud prcjaiice- Of a perio'
whea tie land vas aiiaHe with pas
sion. lu,i that Ihcre i something &
cguIiorn in these associations and "a
semblaoes of men 20 celebrate event
in which they were actors.
For one. acknowledging that sol
,liers' reunions and the Grand Arm
organizations do all this, make II
apologize, TOR them. On the contrar,
[ rejoice that tie Grand Army
growing more popular with the me
who wore the blue, and that soldier,
reunions aud camp-fircs are held wit
more and more frequency. When th
people cease TO remember that ther
haze been times when men cheerful
perileh health and life for "a 600
cause, ihey cease 10 believe in such
thing a pafrio,isG. There Is some
thing in example, and these organiza
tions OF old soldiers, these reunions Q
old soldiers. reviving recollcctions G
the old days, when ncarl
three million men steppe
out of the monotony of common
place lives. and sloriiied II gloriou
cause by patient endurance of hard
ships and priyatIons, and the heroisl
of death-this example cannot b
without its uses in teaching IN
Younger generations OF Americans
enjoying the tirthright won al Iorl
". town and preserved at Appomatto,
that love of country, courage and dt
votion 10 du:y should endure forever
And why should not the memorie
OF the late war he kept alive? Wa
there ever. since the morning star
fist sang together. a more patriotic
ii boiler, greater war than tina
wagcd for the Union? We have bee
celebrating the Declaration OF ludC
pendencc. as have said, for over
century. Iei the total free popull
ton of the American colonies. at /
outbreak OF the revolutionary wal, wa
in round numbers. $4,000 less tina
the number OF Union soldiers muster
a ftnr M LAT
war.. The Continental army durin
the Great revolutionary war neve
exceeded $4,000 men, present and al
sent: our army during the war {
1872. aggregated only 81. 1856; and tn
total force of the United State
during the war with Mexico was onl
ll6.Sol. During the war of the r,
belliop. 2.772. i0S men enlisted in III
Union army, and from January Is
1868, 10 May LIST, 1865. cur army nun
bered, at ali times, nearly 100000
trained soldiers. Kansas alone furr
ished nearly half rs many men for III
Union army ~ were present for dut
during any year of the Revolutioaar
struggle under " ashington.
There were more Union soldier
= Killed in battle during the war of th
+ rebellion. and more died of wound
received in battle. than were presen
for duty during any previous war i
which the United States has been Ell
gagged. In the National cemeteric,
4fS.S70 soldiers of the Union ar
buried-more than four times rs man
rs were enlisted during the Revolu
,ionary war. The latest and most sc
curatc statements show that i423
Union soldiers were killed in battl,
1926 died of wounds received III ba,
tie: 9.05S were drowned or accidentally
killed: Isl were executed by the che
nv: 224 500 died of disease. and IA
l55 of causes not siatcd-lnaking a 10
tai of 3i11l9 There were 40 engage
menis, large and small, during tn
eight wears of the revolution. Their
was 2.26l during the four years of III,
rebellion. And in each of l49 of thes,
the Union loss exceeded 500 men kill
ed and wounded: in each of eighty
eight IL was over 1000: in fiftv-tw,
: over 1000: in twenty-ihree, over 5,
0O9: in fourteen, over 10000: and II
each of four, over 2o.oO0.
The engagements of the war of Isl;
numbered only so and the caSualtie,