The National tribune., 1886-07-08
TRIBUNE WASHINGTON THURSDAY. JULY 1885,


battles description. The cheers fairly shook
the building. and il was some time before Col.
Thomas Rafferty,, the President Of the Society
of the Third Corps, was able to call the meeting
to order. When he had commanded silence he
said:
"As suppose that none Of you know the
man who made the victory Of Gettysburg pos
sible, will have to introduce him 70 you
Gen. Daniel Z. Sickles"
AS the roar of laughter and cheers that
greeted the Colonels little joke ceased, Gen.
Sickles said. You viii excuse me if | remain
seated" This set M another flight Of wild
cheers, in honor Of the reason why the old sol
subsided, voice from the audience cried out,
where is LOngstreet General p
You ought TO have had enough Of him on
the Sd of July, 1863" the General answered,
with grim smile. The enthusiasm broke out
afresh. and it was some minutes before any
one could be heard.
Before the Gederal commenced his grafton
the Rev. JOS III. Twilchell, Chaplain Of the "a
Excelsior Regiment (7lst y. x }, offered prayer.
Gen. Sickles's speech was remarkably fine
effort, but its great length precludes its publi-
cation in this weeks issue Of THE NATIONAL
TRIBUNE. We shall, however, PUBLISH t in
full in next weeks issue. As soon as Gen.
SicE,les had finished speaking Col. RAFFERTY, in
troduCed the Rev. Mr.. Eimbail who gave a
description Of how the Slarpshooters and the
Sd Ne. came across the whole rebel army while
feeling for the advance. " Here's the man who
did it." cried Gen. Sicklcs az the same time
giving Gen. BeTdan q sounding slap on the
shoulder. Mr. Kimbails address was in sup
port Of Gen Sickles's speech, and in the eouree
Of his remarks he said Gen. Sickles was
to hold the Emmittsburg road and it was
only the unextnguishabie instinct OF the sol
dier that led him TO the field. He heard the
boom Of guns and marched not delaying
against ORDERS but going forward against
orders.
GEN. PERDAS's ADDRESS.
Gen. Berdan then made the address which
the rain prevented him FROM delivering at the
dedication of the monument to the Sharp
shooters. He said
CosfRADEs: 1t il now more than quarter Of a
century since you responded 70 my call for skilled
rhemen to form corps Of SharpshoOters for the
great army tien being organized Tor the preserya
ton OF our Union. The conditions imposed by me
for admission were very severe, in order that the
corps might be composed OF ShGrpshoOters In fact
~ well az ia name. SO severe was tie firing test
that less than 4O0J were admitted in all including
the recruits, out OF twice tlia number who believed
they could make the required targets. 10 II not
too InuCh TO Say. therefore, that this corps con-
tanned the best shots in the loyal States. from the
foTni@ joe" Graduates from our best colleges
preferred to carry rifles In this corps than swords
Ia infantry commands, which accounts for the
wonderful esprit dc corps existing ID ,he orsanza-
tion.
But your superior skin with the rife was net the
ouly advantage you possessed owe. other COM
mauds. You had those beautiful heavy target
nEcs with telescope sights, carried in wagons
I the march aud used IN rifie-pit duty, with
which you rendered much valuable services dur
ing the siege OF Yorktown and elsew here. Gu
also had bEeeeh-lOading rifles for the zkrEish-lus
and for line Of battle ia great emergencies, which
I regret 10 say occurred only too ofien. Bot the
corps sold the lives 81 her brave dearly,
the enemy admit and tie results OF your many haTc
fought battles covered you wi.h glory that viii
last long as tie recollection Of the eiyi. war.
You are ns well known among military men in
Europe as you are in this country. and you
gaTded a. tine men who taught the world the supe-
Tiorty OF breec-loaders over muzzle-iOedeTs some
OF yOu may not be o. the fact thai the Sharp
I shooters was the first command that fred az an
enemy with breeeh-oading rifles. / say fred a.
enemy" becaGse Prussia had The JTecclI-lo2der
| called the needie-gun. but they have never been
tested IN segiOn. IL was lea for corps. there
fore 10 prove the Importance Of this arm IA actual
| service.
But what a struggle we had to gss breech-loaders
even for this small command OF picked riGemen.
| My Application WAS opposed by every Depart
4 meEt and by the commanding Generals. They
I stated officiaiiy that breech leaders would
/ spoil nly command; that the u1eu would IRE too
/ rapidly that they would even shoot each other
\ BY accident; that there nothing Ike the
/ Sprn giieid nusket for soldiers. and some even
1 went far 20 advocate the old system Of ball
aud buck But atier constant efforts Tor almost 3
year succeeded ia getting order from President
Lincoln, direct, not only 70 erm my COMMAND As
chose. hut 10 appoint my OWE Oheers- The start
hg results you produced with these breech- -lOaders
cali-ssi al HE worIi 10 Gdspt them within less than
- years. Yes, ana all are now trying 10 be sharp
/ shooters, and up 10 the standard Of mark
rnansEip, in place OF the old standard with the bay
Onet.
| Il would he impossible for me. oon1radcs, 20 DO
justice this occas.On 10 the valuable services you
rendered. whether in Ire rife pits ar Yorktown or
/ at Chaneeorsviiie, where you captured more pFis-
than there were men in your command, or in
I the dozen more other battles you fought that
must be left for the history Of the corse which
have promised to write very soon But must re-
toe
ing the great battle. the anniversary Of which We
/ celebrate t0-dgy-!ucideuts which. to my mind,
Prove that this battle was essentially soldiers bat
tie, not battle won by great strategen- II was an
occasion when the men were imbued with q spirit
4 that ! never before since. Every man
seemed To understand the situatiOn-t1at the enemy
invading the loyal States. and II victorious
here could be in Philadelphia in q few b0urs and
/ so on To New York in word. if this battle was
that their lives, e-en, were not important 70
1 their children undivided Union.
Comrades. will first refer 20 the reconnaissance
| made by the morning Of the % Of July. lie
j. rot necessary for 20 describe the detCur we
made the le Of the front pursuit Of the enemy
but i wish to speak Of what occurred when we
made that sharp attack IN the point Of the woos,s
in front Of us Is have never Gny thing pub
lished that showed clearly the exact state Of affairs
al that moment. You may remember that rode
two or three hundred yards in front Of my com
! mand quite alone that day. j did this to prevent
your being surprised by the enemy under
cover, a., being mounted, could see a
greater distance. This proved most foTEnnate, for
as we were nearing the open observed through
some vistas what appeared TO be q whole array
moving down ia the open field close 10 the W woOd
and as halted saw the heads OF men by the side
Of the trees in front of Us.
saw that this was a movement to flank us under
cover Of the wOod, and the enemy already in
front Of cur extreme ieft ItherefOre determined 10
attack, and violently too in hopes Of throwing the
| column into confusion and thus gain tine for a
change OF direction OF the corps our ieh. rode
| back about 100 yards and gave the order: Follow
/ me; advance firing doubie-g -guick-nlarchi 2" No
| sooner was the order given than you responded to
| man. At the same time the enemy opened FIRE
| upon Never were caTtridge-boxes and pistols
emptied quiekeror with more effect. We not only
doubled UP the column bat threw il into confusion.
| The enemy has confessed TO have had several
| thousand killed aud wounded by this attack, bu.
the main point gained was the time necessary 10
put the Third mud Firth Corps into position TO re-
eeive the eney from the south instead OF the west
fank, and perhaps The rear the result Of which
could have been very disastrous
When this had been accOnlP ished retired what
was left OF the command. and regret to say That
about one-haif were stih the field, killed or
wounded. We halted at the rear % the gallant
Third Corps, when gave the orders for those who
were fit for duty 10 step TO the front. Every man
stepped forward, sOne with baudsges on their
arms, others on lheir legs heads saturated with
blood. Thea commenced the old story Of reCrgan-
tenants Of Corporais ] heard one wounded man
say 10 his comrade: That hill I" referring 20 the
Little Round Topl is place." j remarked
= Yes, my men, you are right, and you will be
taken there in 4 fow moments soon after you
were pat ia that position The enemy advanced In
as originally intended by him, that - difficult
[ to keep supplied with ammunition, ] went
around taking cartridges from the boxes Of dead
men aud giving them TO those VINO weFe firing.