The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1891-06-05

' much to heighten the effect and arouse tt
enthusiasm, but II Is the genius of true or,
, tory to seize upon the passing event on
} mould 1t to Its purpose.
} said, flowed freely In his veins and althoug
the necessities of war compelled MIN to pei
, form many acts OF seeming cruelty they wer
done only to expedite the finish and reliey
the country of its burdens and horrors
"War," he said to me once, sis hell, and sew
Gritty that will bring speedy peace is the trues
Kindness"
At another meeting of the Army of the Pc
tomac. he said, There was a battlefield ,
| thousand miles In length and the echoes OF
our fight reverberated along the line unit
you heard them In Richmond and as we went
on step by step, at Resaca. at Atlanta and Sa
vannah, know that those gentlemen who
now stand before me representing the old
Army of the Potomac will bear witness that
they heard and felt In their bones every
sound we made. know you were glad we
were coming. Therefore In the name of nv
old comrades of the West, In the name OF the
soldiers. the private soldiers, those brave
men who experienced the full force of the
horrors of the conflict, we say to you that we
Many q time as l rode along the lines, T
heard soldier say. "We are going to Rich.
montl, too" Richmond was the great point
tor us all. We knew that there was the
devil himself and we wanted to see him be.
fore he died. think we saw some of the
throes of his death. At all events we were
satisfied that he was dead and that the war
was over. And he and bis army might have
been in at the death, had he not himself
waived the opportur ity not wishing to take
any share Of the honor from the Army of the
Potomac when 1t was apparent they could do
It alone.
General Sherman has felt OF late years that
hnfn TN ctr nnlx tuxy
the incessant social demands upon him. He
never could refuse his old Western associates
but l had some difficulty to persuade him
that be had as many friends In the Army of
the Potomac, and that he really belonged not
to a section of the Grand Army, but the
whole army. But he almost always acceded
to my request, but at Saratoga Springs In
my persistence. I cannot do better than give
The entire extract tfrom his speech at the
banquet. He said: "By the law of our land. |
which Is the only king we worship, l was
urned out to grass and l was told that | |
could spend The rest of my days In peace and |
sought refuge In the city of St.
Louis, where | have many, many friends and |
which city love very much. found but
little peace there. But read, think In DR..
Johnson, that peace and quiet could only be
lad In great city or in the fOrest-in ma
ure's wilderness. l therefore sought 1t In
Jew York city. l then read In wilhelm
leister," by Goethe, by whom is the beauti.
al poem "Mignon'. that on the heights lies
epose. have chosen Occur de Leon Lake
n Idaho, and you don't know where 1t Is.
sut friend here, your secretary, Horatio c.
ling, initiates a new doctrine, that because
happen to he survivor, l suppose of the
ttest, l must fulfil all the offices of all my
cad comrades; therefore l must come to the
eunion OF the Army of the Potomac; l must
o to West Point; must go to
,hicago; l must go to Detroit; must
o wherever an army band meets, because l
m the only survivor. Where comes the
eace? My friends, come with full heart,
iod knows. | love you all because you
ought for the common flag. Some years ago
here was little captain In the army called
Bonneville. He got peace and quiet. He
sked for two years leave of absence and got
:, and ne went out to the mountains where
alt Lake now Is. Nobody knew where 1t
'as then. That was about fifty years ago.
Bonneville was little fellow. God knows
hen he was born; don't. 1t was before
he age of man. He was an aide de camp
18th Lafayette In 1924. He went off and
lught beavers and otter, and fished and the i,
rows came and cleaned him out, and he
,pt out of the way for two years more. He !
as reported dead. He went to the adju- J
mt general and reported, but the adjutapt
,neral says. Bonneville Is dead" He says.
am not dead" 30 yes" said the adjutant
,neral, "you are dead: you are as dead as a :
ackerel. Go away from here and don't
sturb the record" Bonneville insisted
lat he was not dead and he insisted upon
'ing back on the army register so that be
uld get his pay; tel IN win W ASH, on
red and one of your citizens. He painted
e tale of Bonneville so that his name will
IS down to history. God bless him and
J memory-Wasbington Irving. Now, I
~
lrk me dead and 1 won't turn up. | won't
Their him as my old friend Bonneville dis
bed Jones. Let me alone and will have
ne peace the rest of my days.
lis last pubic appearance was at sol.
RS gathering in Brooklyn at the presenta.
n by Lafayette Post Of flags to the Packer
Polytechnic Institutes. And he made
at audience, which included several hun.
q of the pupils of these schools. His
me was naturally the flag and his appeal
the children to reverence and love it was
ost pathetic. One expression. which he
me came spontaneously, referred to the
federate flag, the "Stars and Bars" The
,inal ensign adopted by The Confederates
so close an imitation of our own that 1t
1uced much confusion and led to some
results in actual conflict. General Sher.
recounted this and then added "And =
ley made the stars and bars and left out Y
blue field. Ah," he exclaimed, .'they cut
zen out of their flag and they were sure to
nave been thus liberal in quotations from .
lree not accessible to the general public
they present hts pecuarities OF temper
expression as clearly and forcibly as any.
z might offer. That he was often mis-
ed and illuminated, we all know
thou as chaste as ice, as pure snow, thou
Shalt not escape caumny."
1t more loyal, honest. guileless, unset.
heart never beat In mans bosom. And
we'd down all calumny.
lere have been three great funeral
ants In New York city. those of the
.y,ed President Lincoln, of the great
,r of our armies and twice president;
It, and the third, of General Sherman. r
spontaneous tribute of the people attests I
incerity of their sympathy. The long 7.
Of regulars. the battalion of cadets from
Point to whom he had spoken words of uon
" advice and announcement only last we
ner, the three hundred and fifty men, less
of the Loyal Legion at whose board he Pur
,ften been an honOred guest, the seem. fui ,
endless procession of the Grand Army 49,
e Republic and the splendid body of uni u. ,.,
ed National Guard were not present In VIII
erformance of a perfunctory duty but germ
us to show their respect, their admira.
yea, their affection for the man whom
y all had seen and whose CHEEKY voice a DOT
number had heard. To them he was not
the great general but the genial man.
In that long, and TO the veteran espec-
some that wearisOme march from sew
first to eighth street over rough pave.
), there was no falling out, and IL the A pl
If tine boys Of 81 to '65 was not so firm,
d less of the martial tread an when l.
touched elbows on southern neids, their Exec
,listened and faces frightened as they MAN
eu the dfavs when "Uncle Bilyfwas do and :
lightly work In Tightening the coils which GAN
7 sfrangled the unhallowed rebellion. ing
o and friend-hai and farewell! We s aen
miss thy tall and supple form the warm fn1i ,
earty shake of thine hand, thy kindly free.
thy frank and wise discourse. But the FAIL
IS Of patriotism thou hast taught by