Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-07-03

dignIiird ami inspiring OF any of the meet
ings OF survivors OF the war that have &C
CURED since Appomat"H
The place was the national cemetery,
where beneath the ~lopug greenswari,
shaded tv murmurlnG trees and dotted with
ranreutrjc hines If granite marked with their
maine, OF else marked with the grm Tn
known So many thousands vi the nations
dead h. in peaceful sleep The actors were
the very IurD who defended the ridge. on
who. sI.p., tue Gem terry lies against the
repeated and desperate assault led by the
very men twenty-five wears ago yesterday
who j4,nei them here now III pledges Of
Friendships loyalty To common flag. and
unity Oi devotion to T. common country. The
Mace, scene and living figures Of the men
themselves were inspiring Five thousand
-pectator=-mUn who wore the blue. men who
wore the gray women who t0ied aud wept
at nome children born since the hioody -trug
gle enhed-lo1Eci IN and eheered and laughed
aud wcpt 10y turns.
The procession to the cemetery marched
ont from the dusty town at a little after 4
O'Clock The regular troops led the
way The Ninth New York militia came
next and behind all their brave array OF new
uniforms. sparkling gold lace, and glIstening
helmet marched BODY OF men whose Older
face, du ty clothing and hand, bearing no
arms were more eloquent tn II all the gilt
ter and parade in front These were the
Grand Army mon, amounting IN number to
battalion. and the thin ranks Of their
former foes There were not many OF these
Confederate veterans, but the people who
lined the way sldr Cheered until they were
hGaTse a. then thin ranks tTamped 10y. Men
wara among Them from Virginia, North Car
DINA Cieorgia, Mississippi and Louisiana AS
the Inc OF eX- Confpdrrates neared The GENE
terry they were made "A little fuller by re-
ciuits These were men vino had been Grip
pied, most OF them had lost leg. and had
| hnhhiod ont to the road on clutches and
waited Tor their comrades to come along.
None Of the marching troops were ad
| mitted within the cemetery gate, but the
veterans and the thrOng OF people poured
| through and gathered about the arbor at the
| western end of the great enclosure. They
stood closely together, the crowd scattering
a lutte at its edges, and there must hav'
| been ), 600 of them. The centre of tue gath
| ering was the arbOr, platform OF earti
| about twelve feet above the ground Brief
columns support a roof, and these columns
are covered with ivy.
On this platform were gathered group o
veteran officers, and scattered among then
| were not few of those who wore the gray
The corps commanders there were Majo
Generals Sickles aud SlOcum, the division
commanders were Generals Barlow, Craw
ford and Robinson Then there were Brig
adler Generals Lynch Carr, Graham AMI
Ward and Maj or General Buttertieid
Meade's chief of staff Representing tn
Confederate side were Generals Longstree
and Gordon, of Georgia, and Hooker of Mis-
sissippi In the midst of this array of vet
, eran officers nearly all clad in civiiau attire
but adorned with badges of the army of tn
, Potomac and Of the army
northern Virginia, was Governor Beave
I surrounded by his staff Geore
William Curtis and Ex-senator Warner Mi
: Ter sat near him
Gen. John c. Robinson, president of tn
; Society OF the Army of the Potomac, Intro
duced as the presiding olicer of the reunio
Gen. Daniel Sickles, who, with few wore
of acknowledgement, introduced Gen. Go
l Ion, who spoke on behalf of the ex-Confe(
. crates. As his sentences eloquent and rim
ing, were uttered there was frequent a
: plause He said
Mr.. President AND FELLOW SOLDIERS gre
you tonight with far less trepidaton and in
nitely more pleasure than In the early DAYS