Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-09-20
HARRISON TO HIS COMRADES.
AT \ REUNION OF THE sEvENTIETH IN
DIANA INFANTRY

Al y hECNlON Ot The SEN ENTIET1 IN
DIANA INFANTRY.
The Seventeen Indiana Infantry,
which was recruited by General Harri-
son, held its reunion at Clayton, twenty
miles West of Indianapolis, last Thurs
day. General Harrison was present,
and in response to a speech of welcome,
said:
l feel quite incompetent to discharge
the duty that now devolves upon me,
that of making suitable response to the
touching, cordial and sympathetic words
which you have addressed to us. We
thank you and the good citizens of
Clayton, for whom you have spoken,
that you have opened your hearts so
fully to us to-day. l am sure we have
never assembled under circumstances
more attractive than those that now
surround us. The mellow sunshine of
the autumn that falls upon us, the
balmy air which moves the leaves of
those ShadOwing trees, the sweet calm and
spell of nature that is over everything,
makes the day one of those that may be
described in the language of the old
poet as,
"A bridal of the earth and sky"
Your hospital welcome makes us feel
at home, and, in behalf of this large
representation of our regiment, possibly
the largest that has assembled since the
close of the war, gathered not only from
these adjacent counties but from dis
tant homes beyond the Mississippi and
the Missouri, we give you to-day in re-
turn our most hearty thanks for your
great kindness.
The autumn time is a fit time for
our gathering, for our springtime is
gone. 1t was in the springtime of
our lives that we heard our coun-
try's call. Full of vigor and youth and
patriotism, we responded to it. The
exhaustion of march and camp and bat
tie, and the civil strife of the years that
have passed since the close of the war,
have left their marks upon upon us, and,
as we gather from year to year, we no.
tice the signs of advancing age, and the
roster of our dead is heightened. We
are reminded by the minutes of our last
meeting, that have been read, of the
presence at our last reunion of that
faithful and beloved officer, who went
out from this county, Major Reagan.
With prophetic instinct of what was
before him, he told us then that it was
probably the last time that he should
gather with us. God has verified the
thought that was in his mind; and that
simple, true-hearted, brave cOmrade has
been enrolled with the larger company.
We are glad to-day to be together, yet
our gladneSs is SObered. As | look into
those familiar faces 1 notice a deep
sense of satisfaction, but l have not
failed to observe that there are tears in
many eyes. We are not moved to tears
by any sense of regret that we gave
some service to our country and to its
flag, but only by the sense that we are
not all here to-day, and that all who are
here will never gather again in meet
ing like this. We rejoice that we were
permitted to make some contribution to
the glory, and credit and perpetuity of
the nation we love. Applause.
Comrades who served under other regi-
mental flags and who have gathered here
with us to-day, we do not boast of high |
er motives or greater service than yours |
We welcome you to a participation in
our reunion. We fully acknowledge |
that you had full-possibly fuller
share than we in the great achievements |
of the war. We claim only this for the
Seventeen Indiana, that we went into
fhn 20 with 10 full fn
spond to every order cries of "That's |
SO" and that we never evaded a fight |
or turned our backs to the enemy. APP |
plause. We are not here to eXalt our
selves, but | cannot omit to say that a |
purer, truer self lf-consecration to the flag
and the country was never offered than
by you and your dead comrades who, in
1862, mustered for the defense of the
Union. Applause.
1t was not in the heyday of success,
it was not under the impression that |
sixty days would end the war that you
were mustered. 1t was when the clouds
hung low and disasters were thick
Buell. was returning from the Tennessee;
Kirby Smith coming through Cumber-
land Gap, and Mcclellan had been de-
feated on the Peninsula. 1t seemed as
if the frOwn of God was on our cause.
1t was then, in that hour of stress, that
you pledged your hearts and lives to the
country applausel, in the sober realiza-
tion that the war was desperate one,
in which thousands were to die. We
are glad that God has spared us to see
the magnificent development and in
crease in strength and honor which has
come to us as nation, and in the glory
that has been woven into the flag we
love. Great applause. We are glad
that with most of us the struggle in life
has not left us defeat, if it has not
crowned us with the highest successes.
We are veterans and yet citizens, pledged,
each according to his own conscience
and thought to do that which will best
promote the glory of our country and
best conserve and set in our public
measures those patriotic thoughts and
purposes that took us into the war.
Applause. 1t is my wish to-day that
every relation l occupy to the public or
to political party might be absolutely
forgotten Cries of "Good, good" |, and
tIldG L LllSHG lOI UiilS udg, among Ill6S6
comrades, be thought of only as COM
rade-yOur old Colonel. Great ap-
plause.
Nothing has given me more pleasure
on this occasion than to notice, as l
passed through your streets, so beauti-
fully and so tastefully decorated, that
the poles that have been reared by the
great parties were intertwined APP
plause and now l remind myself that
| am not the orator of this occasion
cries of "Go on" but its presiding Off
Ger. The right discharge of that duty
forbids much talking.
Comrades of the Seventieth Indiana,
of all these associated regi-
mentS, l am glad to meet you. Moth
ing shall sever that bond, hope. Moth
@I.,A I Al AI.s. |