The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1886-07-22
NATIONAL TRIBUNE WASHINGTON o. THURSDAY JULY sa 1885,

IDENTIFY more difficulty in finding the "gap"
than Gen. Halleck had in seeing it from Wash
ington.
i dismiss the absurd report of Maj -Gen.
Halleck with the following statement of facts,
which the record confirms: i solicited orders
all the morning of July 2 defining my disposi-
tions on the left flank. / received no orders,
hence any "misinterpretation" of orders not
received was impossible. advanced my line
500 yards on the left aud 300 yards on the right
en- eehelOn to the Second Corps. covering all the
front on the prolongaton OF the Second Corps
towards Round Top; there was, therefore, no
gap whatever made in our general line of
battle by my forward movement. After
FOUR HOURS OF HARD FIGHTING,
and after was wounded, Brney's and Hum
phreys's Divisions were relieved by fresh troops
from the Second and Fifth Corps, and massed
in rear of Round Top Ridge, to the left of the
Second Corps. (See official reports of Birney
and Humphreys.)
Comrades, your record Is vindicated The
official reports of the enemy concur with our
own official record in establishing your claim
TO large share of the honors won in the great
battle of July 2. 1S63-the -.tle of Gettysburg
The Third Corps made great sacrifices in this
battle. Its losses on the ID Of July were 1910
out of an aggregate Of 10000 present-a greater
loss in killed and wounded in proportion to
numbers than was suffered by Gny other corps
on the field.
And right here let me say, once for all that
am by no means unmindful of all that is due
TO the other corps OF the Army of the Potomac
They are one and all entitled to the honors so
justly accorded them. Looking over the field
Of Gettysburg we see everywhere great names
Of well earned fafne-ReynOlds, Buford, How
ard, Hancock, Pleasonton. Hunt, Vincent, Zook.
Weed, Ellis, Gregg Greene. Lockwood, Stan
nard, Crawford, Barnum, Cowan, Biglow, and
many, many more
1t is not the purpose OF this statement to de-
scribe the battle of Gettysburg, nor to assign TO
all the combatsnts their just place in the roll
OF honor; that duty belongs TO the historian.
My purpose is to point out the injustice hitherto
done TO the Third Corps, and to establish its
fair claim to recognition for the signal part
borne by it in the decisive battle of July 2 1863
Looking over all the field, from the hour when
our positions were taken IN the afternoon OF
Wednesday, and during the anxious hours Of
our concentration Wednesday night and Thurs
day morning, and remembering the prompt,
Jealous support given US by Caldwell and ZOOk
and Willard, Of the Second Corps, on Thurs
day, and the final repulse of the enemy on
Friday, in their desperate assault on the line
of the Second Corps-I sAy that in looking over
all the field, If were asked 10 name the figure
conspicuous above all others in this great con-
1ict, would point to
HANCOCK
as the impersonation Of Cettysburgi
The victory was worth all IL cost. Followed,
as il was, two days afterward by the capture of
| Nicksburg by Grant il marked the beginning
of the decline and fall Of the Southern empire,
| the foundations Of which were laid in so much
blood and ruin and SORROW Every soldier who
fought at Gettysburg under the old flag may
fold his arms aud say, " have fought the good
| fight" And Of those who fell on this great
Il field forayar mo In - nil ka
said by all the generations to come in our Re-
public, They died that our country might
| live"
trust that this may not be our last Reunion
on this field. / have recently proposed to
Licut.-Gen. Longstreet aud Maj.-Gen. McLaws
that i would gladly unite with them and their
surviving comrades Of the army OF Gen. Lee in
making arrangements for grand Reunion of
both Of the armies that fought at Gettysburg
the Army Of Northern Virginia and the Army
/ Of the Potomac.
am happy to state that both OF these distin-
| guished soldiers and citizens have signified TO
me in the most cordial manner their approval
of my suggestion. IL these overtures shall be
seconded by my associates in the Army of the
Potomac, steps will no doubt be at once taken to
celebrate the proposed gathering of the con-
tending hosts on this field Such an event will
do much TO soften such asperities as time has
not yet removed from our memories of the
great civil conflict. The fraternal reunion OF
the eOmbatants of Gettysburg on their field OF
battle would give touching emphasis to the de-
sires Of all who wish to see our people again
united heart and hand under one flag and one
Constitution in one Republic.
Yes here at Gettysburg. let the two armies
come together once more, after % years of
tranquility, aud let them ask the Government
to raise on this battlefield an arch, not Of tri-
umph, but Of Peace and Union aud Strength
Of Peace, because liberty is the law of the land
Of Union, because war has no weapons to sepa-
rate the union Washington formed of Strength,
because the Republic, strong in the love of all
her children, fears no enemy. And here at
Gettysburg l hope we shall see established by
the War Department q permanent military
post, garTisOned by battery of artillery, and
that on this consecrated ground the morning
aud evening gun shall forever salute the rising
and the setting sun.