The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1888-06-15

reform. With no particular formation, In
squads, with flags now dropping, now fall
ing, again uplifted, the men l0ith no more
orders, followed by their officers, move on
bear upon them and burst their shells over
their heads, and crOss-musketry fire from
the rlle-trenches kill some and wound 9TH
ers, but our men do not stop until they have
fully crowned the summit of this angry
mountain, and turned the enemy's guns to
fire in another direction-upon his own
fragments"
= General Grant says of this moment =
General Thomas with his staff, General
Gordon Granger; commander Of the corps
making the assault, and myself and staff,
occupied Orchard Knob, from which the en-
tire field could be Observed
AS illustrative of the indOmitable spirit
that animated the heroic soldiers, who per-
formed this incredible feat without orders,
General Howard relates pathetic incident.
After the last charge four stout men were
carrying a sergeant to the rear. They stop
ped to rest. +. p. Smith, then of the Chris
tian commission, drew near the stretcher,
and speaking kindly asked, "where are you
hurt, sergeant? ~ He answered "AlmOst up,
sir" 81 mean in what part are you injur-
ed" He fixed his eyes on the speaker, and
answers again, "AlmOst up to the top"
Just then Mr. Smith uneOveres his arm, and
sees the frightful SCATTERING wound of the
shell that struck him. "Yes" he says, turn
ing his eye thither, that's what did it.
reached the top" The sergeant was bearing
the flag when he was hit. He died with the
fainter utterance of "Almost up" while his
companions on the heights he almost reach
ed were echoing the cheers of triumph that
he would have so much enjoyed.
An officer who was present related to me
several years ago, that after the fight was
thu ayhoVctal hx- tha alimh
the fight and the shouts of victory, had
thrown themselves upon the ground, Gen
eral Sheridan, who had found some devious
bridal-path, up the mountain, came riding
up, and with mock severity shook his fist at
and scOlded them. "YOu rascals! How dare
you fight without orders? You were order.
ed to take the Entertainments at the base OF
the ridge, and here, you rascals, you have
gone up and taken the crest"
What can a grateful nation, saved from
destruction by their valOr, what can admir-
ing humanity do for such soldiers? Build
monuments to their memory? No artist or
architect could draw design, nor earth
be exhausted of their gems, worthy of the
service.
They have buided monument unto
themselves grander than anything that
could be fabricated by human hands and
more enduring than bronze or marble
Beneath the dome of st. Paurs church in
London are deposited the remains of the
master mind that conceived and executed
that architectural wonder, Sir Christopher
Wren. Sunk in the tiled floor above his re-
mains, is a simple slab of black marble bear
ing the inscription, "St mOi,,tnentltm re-
Q,tiris, circ,tmspice," ("Would you seek
his monument, look arOund.")
&c. would you seek the monument of the
Union soldier, look around, and you will
Gap IL in q Uraat and mighty n atinn fnrayar
dedicated to freedom, that will challenge
the centuries as they pass and hail the COM
ing ages; you will see it in six million lib
Grated and enfranchised slaves; you will |
see it in hundred thousand school houses
where once ignorance was compelled by
laws, and education was crime; you will
see it in the happy homes of sixty mill
ions of reunited and happy people who
have beaten their swords into plOwShares
and their spears into pruning hooks, and are
vieing with each other in the peaceful pursuit |
of productive industry you will see it in
the marvellous development OF the mineral
Of e of savarv snd 1h under
miniOn of ''King Cotton, had lain unde-
velOped if not undiscovered until these sol
diers, as with Moses rod, smOte the rock
and set them free. you will see it in
the soon to be restored American commerce
which will again whiten the seas ; you will
see it in every school boy and in every pratt
ting babe, who, by their herOism, has been
saved from the necessity of picking up, in |
turn his fathers sword to participate in in
ternatiOnal border wars and finally, you
will see it in the dancing folds of the glori-
fed stars and stripes, as it floats over the
sea and oven the land, the emblem of liberty |
and the hope of the world.
The reason of this heart yearning sympa-
thy for the common soldier was that those
who first Sprang to arms in defence of the |
lmperilled Union were the sons and broth
ers, the friends and neighbOrs of those who
at home ; and as the war dragged |
its slow and bloody length along, and the
were Immediately refiled with other sons
and brothers, friends and neighbors, equal
ly dear as those who had fallen. Particu-
arly was this so of Vermont, who having
no cities or large towns from which to draw
a surplus population filled her regiments
with her own sons. Every Vermont soldier /
who fell left incOnsolable grief and COM
The National Government honors the
dead and rewards the living soldier, in
grateful recognition of the fact that to them
1t owes its very existence, and that however
ably they We're commanded, every victory
was due to the intelligence, patriotism and
courage of the rank and file
Devotion to the Union had been their life
their nature No Christian ever followed
the standard of the cross, or Mohammedan
the crescent, as the emblem of their religion,
than did the Union soldier the stars and
stripes as an emblem of national unity. In the
darkest days of the rebellion with brave and
enemy in his front, and cowardly
and copperhead enemy in his rear, declaring
in their presidential platform that the war
was failure henever for moment doubted
The ultimate triumph of the Union cause,
that
He is twice armed who hath his quarrel just"
md devOutly believing that
The right that he fought for was given by One
Who gave to the universe plant and SUM-"
No foreign armies, nor troops of any kind,
by lesser sentiment. could have
ever withstOOd, and never conquered the
brave and determined foe that they encoun-
tered.
cannot leave the theme of the private
soldier without directing attention to the
fortitude, constancy, fidelity and loyalty of
The private soldiers then in the ranks of the
regular army. At the outbreak of the re-
oellion, when hundreds of officers, many of
hem OF the highest rank. educated at the
expense of the United States, the union of
which they had solemnly sworn to support
md maintain aUaipcf al ire a,,o,,;no 10