St. Paul daily globe., 1891-06-29
ssSatatIstb SEs fEatsEttESF
Col. DOnan Gives the VeteP-
ans at Moorhead Ene2flp-
ment a New Cry.
An Eloquent Tribute to the
Soldiers Who Wore the
Blue and Gray.
How Lee and jackson Gave
Grant and Sherman Great
Opportunities.
We Should Glory Alike in
Bunker Hill, Bull Run
and Buena Vista.
Special to the Globe

| MOORHEAD, MIMI, June 2S.-Col.
Donan was invited to speak to the vet
erans here the other day, and embraced
the opportunity to deliver one of his
most eloquent addresses. He said:
| Fellow Soldiers aud Countrymen -
] came over to your encampment this
morning with no thought of taking any
part In your proceedings except that of
| a quiet looker-on. / have no eXtempO-
raneons speech in manuscript up my
sleeve. had no idea of being asked to
say a word. But, prepared or unpre-
pared, when called upon in such cause
and on such an occasion, would do vio-
| lenee to my own feelings, violence
to my own American manhood. if
L did not rise and, at least,
assure you that my heart and soul are
with you In every meeting, move and
measure that tends to perpetuate the
| glorious memories of your soldier days.
1t may seem strange to some Of you that
| a Southerner, former Confederate,
| should participate in your exercises. 1t
IS not strange; it should not seem so.
| NO man can so fully appreciate the
valor and the knightliness of the SOL
| dlers of the Union as Confederate
VINO fought against them. | salute in
| you the representatives of the warrior
| leglonS that conquered the grandeSt
| army OF modern ages-except your own,
am the only Confederate who ever
| spoke, or was invited to speak, at a ban
| quet of the Society Of the Army of Ten
| nesSee, of which your grand old hero.
Lecumseh Sherman, was president. At
the banquet in Chicago in 1885, re-
sponded to the toast, 'Our Reunited
Country" 1t was, with single excep-
| tion-the one OH Grants return from
his tour around the world-the grandest
aSsemblage of famous soldiers In the
history of the society. Sheridan, Han
COCK. Logan and many others of your
li!ustrious chieftains, who have since
| spread their silent tents on Fame's
eternal camping ground" were then
living: ot the 450 present. every name
| was histerc-and Sherman presided.
began my speech by saying that, as
one, who in the Confederacy, had fought
four years trying to get out of the
| Union at the southern end, and who, as
| citizen of Dakota, had fought five
| years trying to get into it at the North
ern end, certainly knew as much about
the Union as any of the men who
| fought for it. and felt myself qualified
and entitled to speak for it everywhere,
| at all times and under all circumstances
There are special and potent reasons
why Confederate should feel that he
has right to share in all your celebra-
| hraponS and cOmmemoratlons, yonr
| convivial. triumphal and mourning
ceremonials. Think a moment. But
| for It's where would you have been? If
| there had been no Confederates, where
| would have been your battles and who
| would have been your heroes? If there
| had been no ConfederateS Grant would
| probably have been, to the end of his
| days, tanner at Galena; Sherman a
| school teacher in Louisiana. and Phil
| Sheridan, at most. a major or lieuten-
| ant colonel of cavalry at some rude
| frontier outpost.
| But for us-the ConfederateS-yOu
j and the world would never have
| known what heroes you had, and the
lmperishable records of American pa
| triotism and courage and devotion
| would never have been written in the
| fire and blood of one four-years war.
| But for uS-the COnfederates-Lin-
coins emancipation proclamation
| would never have been written, and all
the millions of negroes would still be in
| slavery. But for us-the Confederates
there would have been no battle of
| Manassas or Shiloh, Vicksburg, Gettys-
| burg, Chickamauga orThe Wilderness;
| you could have won no victories, gaih-
| cred no laurels, added no splendors to
| new-world history.
| Half the glory of every glorious field
| from Bull Run to AppOmattox is ours,
| for it could not have been without us:
| aud, till the tall archangel sounds
Times last great reveille, your mighty
heroes and ours will go, must go, hand
| i'll hand to fame. Grant will never be
mentioned without mention of Lee;
Sherman will sweep through the ages
side by side with Johnston; and Sheri-
dan and Custer will ride neck and neck
to immortality with Stuart and Hamp-
ton and Forrest.
No mere accident of success or fail
ure can alter the DEGREES os God. or
change the records of eternity. Sup
pose the Great Immortal, who lies
buried at Mount Vernon beside the blue
Potomac, but whose mauSOleum is in the
heart of every freeman, had failed in
his struggle for the separation of the
thirteen colonies from the mother cOun-
try. Think you that one true American
would on that account have relin-
quished his share in the deathless herit-
age of English herOiSm and genius and
glOry-in the fame of Arthur and Cour
de Lion, of Sidney. Marlborough and
Wellington, of Rodney and Drake and
Nelson, OF Chaucer, Shakespeare, Mil
ton, Goldsmith, COWper and Gray?
Nay, verify! Nor do we, as South
ernerS, as C0nfedefates, simply because
we failed and you succeeded, propose to
surrender one jot or one little OF our
share and interest in the resplenden5
heritage of American valor, American
patriotism and American glory Whetil-
er you won, or we, Americans were the
victOrs; and, in either event, 1 throw
up my hat and hurrah for American
prOWess. The time has come when
every American, regardless of section
or party, whether he wore the blue or
the gray. should feel his bosom swell
with honest, patriotic pride at the re-
cital of deeds that lend new lustre to
American fame, no matter where
or by whom wrought. We should
glory alike IN the memories
of Bunker Hill and Brandy
wine and Yorktown: of Palo Alto, Re
SAGA de la Palma and Buena Vista; of
Bull Run, Antietam, Gettysburg and
Appomatox. We share alike the fame
of Washington, Jefferson, Hancock
and Adams, of Taylor and Scott. Of
Lincoln, Grant. Sherman and Sheridan,
Lee, Jackson, Johnson, Longstreet and
Hill. Your flag is our flag, your coun-
try is cur country, and your God is our
God. Your destiny and ours is one and
inseparable. Let us, then, lay aside all
bitterness and pickering and work to-
gether as brethren for the highest good
of the majestic new-world republic that
rightfully claims the allegiance aud the
love of us all.
---cE1.--