St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1891-11-19

left. Particularly was this true of the
Mine" July 80, and Popular Grove
church, Sept. 80.
Of the other nine regiments partic
ularly mentioned by you, the 31st
Me-, was in our brigade Second
Brigade, Second Division, Ninth
Corps,) and was with us all through
that terrible campaign. The seth,
57th and 5Sth Mass, and 14th N.
Y. H. A were in our division and
saw similar service. The 18th VT,
was a three years regiment, as, l
think, the others were, and, as l
have said, their membership was
largely made up of men who had
been in the service before. The war
had lasted long enough and the
slaughter been great enough, so that
they realized that they were starting
on no holiday excursion.
l do not suppose that these regl-
ments suffered worse than many
other regiments. or rendered better
service l speak Of them, as l hap
pened to have personal knowledge
of their service, and very little has
ever, to my kno Wedge, been said in
their behalf in the public prints,
while much have been said and
written from time to time for the
last 26 years of the grand old reg1-
ments that served from the first Bull
Run to Appomattox.
Let the carping critics who are
declaiming against pensions for these
men look over record and consider
what that last years campaign
~, &c he
ming with the Wilderness, really was;
what strain on the physical system
for those who survived-marching
and fighting day after day, with
very little rest, for six weeks, until
Petersburg was reached and the
siege commenced. and then in the
trenches in the vicinity Of Fort He'll,
at the nearest point to Petersburg,
under fire constantly, night and day,
for weeks, all through the hot sum-
mer months Then let them say, the
aforesaid carpers, whether they be-
grudge pensions to the private
soldiers who went through such
hardships for monthly pittance,
and returned home at the close of the
war mere wrecks of what they form
erly were.
1 believe it is held by experienced
late war, where large share Of the
soldiers were taken to a very diff
ferent climate from what they had
been accustomed to, reduced the
life to the survivors, on the average,
eight or 10 years, and who that is a
careful observer doubts it?
Nearly all our generals are dead,
most of them dying when they were,
so far as years were concerned, in
the prime of life. Grant, Sheridan,
Thomas, Hancock, Meade, Burnside,
Logan, Mcclellan, Kilpa trick, Blair,
and host of others we might men
ton, all, or nearly all, died under 60,
and many of them not over so years
of age.
At the present time the Northern
Copperhead and the fellows who
were skulking during the war seem
to be abroad in the land, and
are trying to belittle the services of
the soldiers and declaring that all
the good soldiers are dead, and that
only lot of bountyjumpers and
short-service men remain.
They are aided in their efforts to
make the pension laws odious by
some of the young men who have
grown up since the war, who fail
somehow to fully realize what the
service really was. And, secondly,
by the brutal money power of New
York and other Eastern cities-the
same money power that in the dark
days in the winter of 1860 and 81
favored comprise, and is ever ready
to compromise away the cause of
human liberty and human rights
when trade may be in danger. And,
lastly, by the mugwumps, who, as
rule, are a cold-blooded set, and
consider that they know all that is
worth knowing in this little world
of ours.
However, there is nothing to fear
The noble action of the 51st congress
on the pension question is approved
by the great mass of the American
people, and in the future the pa triotic
and honest people of the country,
mindful of the fact that but for the
services of the soldiers they would
not have this government and its
free institutions to enjoy, can be
relied upon to see that the promises
that were made to the soldiers are
faithfully kept, as those to the bond
holders have been.
THE LECTURE PLATFORM THEN
AND NOW.