The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-06-19
ON TO WASHINGTON.
FIFTY THOUSAND VETERANS WILL
RALLY AT THE CAPITAL

I'll. Trepty-sixth Annual Encampment
of the ora.4 Army VIII BE the Largest
A.semnlace In It's History-It VIII Re-
call tbe Grand Review OF 1866.
rspecial Correspondence
wAsrHc1oy. June IA.-Three months
hence. or on the Goth day Of September, the
rapitaI city will be the scene OF one OF the
most interesting pageauts ever witnessed
IN this country. On that day nearly 10000
veterans OF the war between the states
will march down Pennsylvania avenue
from the Capitol to the White House, fol
lowing the route Of the great review OF the
victorious armies in 1856. The twenty
hxth annual encampment Of the Grand
Army Of the Republic, then TO be held In
Washington. will without question be the
largest assemblage Of veteransever seen In
the country. When one considers the de-
sire that must exist in the hearts OF the
surviving veterans 10 revisit the capital
which they fought TO defend, 10 stand once
more upon the battlehelds with which
Washington Is surrounded, to see once
more before the last tattoo IL sounded the
historic spots and buildings Of the Federal
city, it is not surprising that nearly if not
unite $1,000 veterans are preparing TO
march in that great parade Of Sept. 20
next.
Four hundred and fifty Grand Army
posts have applied 10 the local committee
for quarters for 5000 Of their members
Thirty thousand OF these men have been
assigned TO various hotels, boarding
houses, private houses and halls. So vast
Is the crowd coming 10 the second grand
review that II has been found necessary,
extensive as is the hotel space in Wash
ington, to press halls into service and fit
them up as dornitories and dining rooms.
School houses will be similarly used, and
thousands Of private homes will be thrown
open to guests.
From two TO three hundred thousand
persons are expected In the capital next
September, and Washington has promised
to take good care Of them. This she IS
we'll able TO do, as the entertainment OF
large crowds is no new thing here. where
during the last twenty years every fourth
March has brought an inundation of hui
inanity larger than the one which preced-
cd it. To is estimated that at the Harrison
inauguration three hundred thousand
strangers were in the city, though perhaps
more than one-half of these came in the
morning and went away In the evening.
This vast Grand Army crowd of Septem-
Der. estimated at two hundred and fifty
4 b . rol Il
and when they are all here the hospitality
Of the city will be tested as it has never
been before.
-Four features Of the coming encamp-
ment attract our attention First there
will be q reception in the great hall Of the
pension Office, where inaugural balls are
now held. On this occasion the hall will
present an unexampled scene. A hundred
thousand people will assemble there, the
greatest and fairest in the land wing with
each other in honOring the men who saved
the Union. Fifty thousand veterans Of a
war which closed more than quarter OF
century ago meeting with their families
and friends and the dignitaries Of the ma
tion in a building from which 100000
are each year distributed to the survivors
Of the war and their dependents by
grateful nation will constitute a spectacle
which no other country in the world can
approach or gwen understand
There viii be another great reception az
the executive mansion. For many hours
the president and the ladies of his house
hold and of the cabinet families will stand
IN the blue room TO receive the Boys in
Blue" and their friends. On the large
green park between the White House aud
the Washington monument will be pitched
the reunion tents. These are not for the
veterans TO live or even sleep in, and are
not intended TO form a camp. Large hos
pital tents will be pitched, and from each
will fly the flag Of an army corps, calling
the attention Of every veteran TO the fact
that in this tent or that he may find the
men Of his army shaking each others
hands ia glad reunion After the corps
has been thus brought together there will
be opportunity for regimental reunions.
Some regiments will have nearly disap-
peared, but Of others a dozen, q score or
fifty men may be found to shake each
others hands and in imagination fight
over again the battles OF thirty years ago.
will be the parade. From 10000 70 10000
men, every one Of whom carried gun in
the war, will take part In it. With three
exceptions all the organizations represent
ed will be posts Of the Grand Army OF the
Republic. Tho exceptions are the Old
Sixth Massachusetts, Regimental associa-
ton, now composed Of about 40 Of the
men who met and yanquished the mob In
Baltimore while en- route 70 the front, and
they viii occupy the right of the line or
the post Of honor. After them will come
the veterans Of the Army Signal Corps and
the National Association of Naval Veter-
ans. All others will march as Grand Army
men and under the flags Of the posts 10
which they belong. Every state and terri
tory in the Union will be represented. The
route will be from the Capitol to the White
House and to Washington circle, little
farther along. IL is precisely the route
followed by the victorious armies on their
return from the south.
That was the greatest pageant ever seen
On the American continent May % the
Army OF the Potomac and May "A the Di-
vision Of the Mississippi swept through
the capital for many hours. Practically
all of the two days was consumed in the
march. The enthusiasm of the spectators
Is said TO have been something phenome-
nal. Great expectations concerning this
review had been INDUCED throughout the
nation. This homo coming Of the boys
in blue" reused every hamlet In the north.
for almost every home had in 1t direct
personal interest either for the husband or
son who survived or on account OF him