The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1888-07-06
THE GETTYSBURG REUNION.

THE GETTYSBURG REUNION.
Although not the first by many, the Re
, union of the survivors of the Army of tn,
Potomac and of the Army of Northern Vir
gtnia At Gettysburg on the 1st, I'd and Sd o
July, was the greatest and most memorable
that has occurred, and IN occasion which Il
unparalleled in al the annals of time. Or
the twenty fifth anniversary Of the three
days battle, the survivors of the two hardest
fighting armies the world has seen, who were
pitted against each other for over four years
and who fought back and forth over the hun
dred miles that intervene between Washing
ton and Richmond until the veterans we're
almost as familiar with it as the Fairgrounds
Of their schooldays, met on the most mem
orable of oil the many fields, in peace and
good will, under the old flag, and shook
hands IS sons Of the Republic where q quar-
ter of q century before they had fought each
other with valor never surpassed and where
the tide that sent back Pickett's division
started to sweep the Southern Confederacy
from existence. The exercises of the Re.
union were most interesting, the attendance
was enormous and it will be . regret of
those survivors who were absent, so long as
they shall live, that they were not there
on those glorious days. We have not space
to give any details Of the ceremonies, but as
indices of the sentiment prevailing submit
two of the many addresses by eminent SOL
diers on the occasion.
General Daniel E. Sickles said:
"This assemblage marks an epoch. You
are the survivors of two great armies. You
and your comrades fought here, the decisive
battle Of the long and terrible civil war.
twenty-five years have passed and now the
combatants of 1868 come together on your
old field of battle TO unite in pledges Of love
and devotion to n combination-Union
and flag. To-day there are no victors,
no vanquished. As Americans, We ali
claim = share in the glories of this Battle
field, memorable for so many brilliant feats
OF arms. No stain rests on the colors of
any battalion, battery or troop that contend
ed here for victory. The gallant Buford,
who began the battle, and the brave Pickett,
who closed the struggles fifty represent the
intrepid hosts that for three days rivalled
each other in titles to martial renown.
Among the hundreds of memorial struc-
lures on the field there is not one that
wounds the susceptibilities Of an honored
and gallant foe. We all share III the rich
harvest reaped by the whole country for
New America born on this battlefield when
the Republic consecrated her institutions to
liberty and justice. It is sometimes said
that it is not wise to perpetuate the memo
ries of q civil war. The conflict of 1S61-65
was . war of institutions and of systems
and policies. The memories Of such q war
are as indestructible as our civilization.
The names Of Lincoln and Lee and Grant
and jackson can never be effaced from onr
annals. The valor, fortitude and achieve
ments of both armies demand q record in
American history. The Wal of 61.5 was !
our heroic age. It demonstrated the vitality 4
of Republican institutions. It illustrated
the martial spirit, resources, and genius Of
the American soldier and sailor. 1t was a
war In which sentiments and ideas predom- j
mated over interest. We now see that the /
obstinacy of war on both sides compelled q |
settlement of all the elements of disunion
beween North and South. An earlier peace
might have been . mere truce. We fought |
until the furnace of wal melted all our dis
cord and moulded us in one homogeneous
nation.
Governor Gordon of Georgia responded:
"Mr. Presidentjand Fellow Soldiers:-Iereet
you with far less trepidation and infinitely |
more pleasure than in the early days of July |
OF 1868, when l last met you at Gettysburg.
1 came then as now to meet the soldiers of |
the Union army. It would be useless to at
tempt an utterance of the thoughts which
thrill my spirit. The temptation is to
draw the contrast between the scenes that
were then witnessed and those which greet
US here tonight; of the contrast made by
This mass of manly cordially and good fell
with the long lines of dusty uni
forms which then stood in battle array be-
meath guns and spread ensigns, moving with
awful silence and with sullen tread to Crap
pie each other in deadly conflict. There is
suggestion which dominates my thoughts
this hour, to present which l ask brief in.
diligence. Of all the martial virtues the one
which is perhaps more characteristic of the
truly brave is the virtue of magnanimity.
my fairest earldom would l give
To bid clan Alpines chieftain live"
Was the noble sentiment attributed to Scot
lands magnanimous monarch as be stood
gazing into the face of his slain antagonist.
This sentiment immortalized by Scott will
for all time the name of Scotland's
" O0OS0 vi u SICob SptIltS VI Gu0 |
past. How grand the exhibition of the same
impulses that characterize the VIC
'ors upon this memorial field. My fellow
Of the North, if I may be per-
mitted to speak for those whom 1 represent,
let me assure you that in the ~profoundest
depths of their nature they reciprocate that
generosity with all the manliness and SINGER
ty of which the brave are capable. By
he blood of our fallen brothers we unite in
! solemn conservation of these battle-hal-
owed hills as q holy, eternal pledge of fdel-
ty to love freedom and the unity of this
Republic"
How In the hearing Of such utterances as
hese, surrounded by the men who fought
m that bloody field, rales into contempti-
the statement of Breckenridge in
. few days before when he object
ID to aid therefor that "war celebrations are
conducive of no good"