The Wilmingtonian., 1886-02-13
G.. A. R.
Commander Litzenberg's Address


COMRADES =
1t is unnecessary for me to remind yor
that another year has passed away since ouI
last annual meeting. And now that we have
assembled here this afternoon, in this the
9th annual encampment of the department
in pursuance of the Rules and Regulations
of our Order and in obedience to General
Orders No. of this Department, we should
with gratitude to our Heavenly Commander
gratefully appreciate and acknowledge the
great blessings and protection which have
been bestowed upon us in the year Just
passed and permitted so many of us to again
renew the pleasant memories of past asso-
citation.
am thankful to thus be Privileged to
greet you all and to welcome as comrades and
the representatives of that Grand Old Army
who in the hour of our countrys peril took
u2 arms in the defence its honor and its
flag.
We meet here this afternoon to settle the
affairs of the year just closed and to plan for
the further advancement of the principles
and influences of this Grand Organization
in the future, and as commander of this De-
partment deem it my duty to submit for
your consideration such recommendations
as the experience gained during the year
suggests as necessary for the growth and
success of this department.
To be brief and not to appropriate valuable
time that should be consumed in necessary
work for the good of our department.,
will submit for your approval some of Off
cial acts during the year and leave to my
official staff the duty of showing il. detail
the growth and prosperity of the depart
ment.
1t affords me great pleasure to express the
conviction that in your preedngs dursng the
session of this encampment you will bracti-
cally exemplify the noble precepts of our
grand organization.
Remember comrades that there is liber-
ality of sentiment born of charity and
curbed in loyalty which in conjunction with
true fraternity will lead yon to rejoice in the
full realization of how good and how pleas
ant it is for comrades to dwell togetSr in
unity, and may tue spirit of fraternity be
present " ith us and rule over our delbera-
tions.
Our order has never been in a more BROS
porous condition in this Department.. FS-lay
an increased interests in Grand Army mat
ters has been manifested by nearly all the
Comrades throughout the entire depart
ment.
Many of the Posts have added largely to
their members while some few have lost; but
after we take into consideration the protrac-
ted depression in business through which we
are still passing, with hundreds Of our COM |
rades out of work we should be thankful |
that we are still on the increase in members
and could we have had prosperous year
with all our comrades at work and with the
same interest in the work of the G. A. R., that
they have shown, firmly believe we
would have numbered fully loco members
We have only been able to add one new
Post to our department during the year but
the prospects ale very good for three more,
and could have enjoyed good health this
fall and winter am satisfied l would nave
been able to report gain of four Posts in
place of one.
But trust that they will be organized
before the next Quarterly report.
You will see by the report OF the Assistant
Adiutant General that we have gained l59
in the last Quarterly reports; and
further additions and loses and the financial
standing of the department will be found in
the reports of the G. A. r., and the A.
@. MIG,
THE 18Th NATIONAL ENCAMPMENT.
At the 10Th annual session of the National
Encampment held at Portland, Maine, June
23rd, to Goth, 1885, this department was en-
titled to II votes, and am pleased to say
that there were of them present and we
did our best to represent this department in
a creditable manner
A full report of the proceedings of the En-
will be found in the printed
journal of that Encampment which will be
furnished to each post before this session is
over
OFFICIAL VISITS.
When | entered upon the duties of depart
ment Commander fully realized the respou-
sibillty resting upon me and the work before
me and l resolved to visit the Posts as often
as possibly could but unfortunately have
not been we'll enough to visit them as often
as | wished to.
have had the pleasure Of visiting every
Post in the department, once and the maiori-
ty of them or times and some ofteucr
have attended numerous reunions, festivals,
and camp fires, finding the Posts generally
in good working order have generally been
received with the warmesU courtesy and am
glad to report that with a very few excen.