Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-02-01
THE CAMP FIRE.
OLD SOLDIERS LIVE OVER AGAIN
THE DAYS OF THE WAR.
As Loyal To-day as They Were
When Fighting Under Grant,
Sherman and sheridan.


Sherman and Sheridan.
The Grand Army Posts of this city
Summer, Warren and Fair Oaks-gave a
reception, or, what they term, camp
fire." last evening. in Changers Hall, to
the members of the Legislature who be-
long to that organization, to Governor
Waterman. Mayor Gregory and other dis
tinguished citizens. Over one hundred
and twenty Grand Army men were pres
ent. representing every State north of
Mason and Dixon's line, and every army
that did service in crushing out the REBEL
ion. 1t was dignified and representative
body of men, and the camp fire, as they
called it, proved to be genuine reunion.
Among the guests were the following:
Governor Waterman, Mayor Gregory, Sec
rotary of State Hendricks, Surveyor General
Reichert, Senators McComas and Bowers,
Assemblymen Solomon, j Johnson, Humbert,
Edwards, Dibble, Storke, Barrett, Hyde,
Tucker and Holmes; NJ. D. Boruck, P. S.
Dorney, ex-Assemblyman Cooley and
many others whose names could not be OBJ
tanned.
The hour from to o'clock was spent
in the main or assembly hall, where the
Reception Committee busted themselves in
making the comrades acquainted with each
other There seems to be a tie that
binds .'old soldiers" together, and the sight
of G. A. r. button is always introduction
sufficient when they meet. no matter
1. {I,- he on
at o'clock J. w. Reeves called to order
and announced that all were invited to the
banquet-room, where the Posts had ar
ranged for collation.. He took
Governor Waterman by the arm and
marched for the door, and the words
" fall I'M were given and soon they were
seated around the festal board. Instead of
the tin cup and plate, the black coffee and
bareback, were tables clothed in white
linen, bedecked with the choicest flora,
resplendant with beautiful china and sill
verware, and groaning under its weight of
the most tempting eatables. 1t was such a
spread as the soldier never enjoyed " in
camp but such feast as he enjoyed when
he returned to his home from the war
Rev. Mr.. Needham, Chaplain of Sumner
Post, asked blessing, after which the COM
mand fall to" was given, and it is need
less to say they tumbled.
Mr.. Needham's invocation was very
short-in fact. was covered with less than a
dozen words. which caused Assemblyman
Solomon TO remark: " We made mistake
in not electing him Chaplain of the House.
There was room for only 100 at the table.
and those who could not get in on time
busted themselves in doing the waiter
act"
After all had partaken freely of the
spread, tobacco and clay pipes were passed
around and all except few took an old
fashioned smoke.
THE ToAsTs.
The toast master, j. W. Reeves, made a
neat and well-timed address, contrasting
the feast before them with that the Govern
ment provided in the dark days of the re-
bellion. He announced the first toast,
THE Volunteer Soldier" and called upon
Past Department Commander Solomon to
respond.
Governor Solomon is an eloquent and
fluent speaker, and the toast seemed to in
spire him with new life. He said it was
not a difficult subject for him to talk upon,
nor was it to any one who had served in
the ranks. He always felt at home when
he was surrounded by the boys who stood
shoulder to shoulder from 81 to IS. The
NOiQulCcl SOlu-ti lnCduo luOlc kDdll
the words seem to imply. When treason
reared its head, when the life of our Gov
eminent was threatened, a volunteer army
was called in the field, achieved greater
victories than ever did the battalions of
Napoleon or the legions of Cesar
The armies of the great European
monarchs cannot lay claim to the success
you achieved Inspired with patriotism,
the volunteer soldier fought the battles of
his country for liberty and freedom, for the
preservation of the Union. The volunteer
soldier, although his duties ended over a
quarter of century ago, has not ceased to
exist, and to-day is found in the Grand
Army of the Republic. We remember
well our dreary marches through mud,
snow and rain, often forced and in the
night; our bivouacs, with their pleasures
and SORROWS; the battle fields, upon which
many comrade died that his country
might live; the hospitals, in which the
sick and wounded were cared for, and the
prison pens, in which we were tortured.
When we entered as volunteers we
thought we were doing right; We thought
SO at the close of the service and we are OF
the same opinion still. At a reunion held
some months ago, when the blue and gray
came together as brothers, one said: =" Let
by-gones be by-gones. Let us forgive and
forget He came from South Carolina.
He said, Let Us not question who was
right or who was wrong, leave that to the
historian of the future"-I care not who is
the historian, be he past, present or in the
future, if he says the cause of the Union
was wrong, he utters what is not true.
[Applause.] We are ready with all our
hearts to forgive those who tried to destroy
our Government We are ready, i say, to
forgive, but not to forget. Can we blot
from memory those four years of cruel
war; | cannot, and if / could, would
not. The volunteer soldiers formed the
grandest army that was ever seen on the
| face of the globe. From it sprang some OF
the greatest military leaders that the world
| ever produced-men who had no previous
| military training, and who handled armies
| Of 100000 men as easily as they could a bat
talon, over an extent of territory half the
size of all Europe. During the Franco.
| Prussian war, the great military chieftain
| Won Moltke followed the American style
of warfare in adopting the rihe-pits. The
| genius and originality of the American
| people as developed in those four years was
simply marvellous. This gathering here to-
night is something that could not be Sc
cured anywhere outside of California, fol
here we have representatives from every
| State in the Union, and every man of the
one hundred present represents different
| regiment.
He spoke of his early enlistment in Hi
nois, and in speaking of the yolun
teer soldiers of the old Sucker" State
pronounced beautifully word painted
eulogies on the lives and service:
of Stephen A. Hubert, John A. Logan
| Ulysses S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln
each of which brought out round after
round of applause. He said the soldiers Of
the rebellion, many of them were yet in
their prime and would shoulder muskel
tomorrow just as quick as they did in
1861 in case of foreign invasion. The vol
unteer soldier of America was freeman