The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-05-31
SPEECH BY WADE HAMPTON
HE PLEADS FOR MORE LOVE BE-
TWEEN THE NORTH AND SOUTH,
And Indirectly Hits Some Members OF
the &. A. R.-The Ceremony of
COnsecrating the Guns.

=
sand men. who, in the days between 1861
and 1865. wore the Confederate gray, and
who, far from their homes and friends,
sealed with their lives their devotion 10 the
lost cause" To-day there stands above
these lowly stones of white tall and beau
tiful monument, erected partly by the sons
Of the South land and partly by men of the
North, to testify, the their love for
gallant comrades fallen in the fight, and the
other for the respect which heroic endur-
ance and brilliant courage must always
evoke, when 1t is based. as was the en-
durance and courage Of the men who sleep
in Oakwoods upon firm convic-
tion of Justice of the cause for
which they strove. To-day above
those grass-grown mounds the griz-
zled veterans of the Grand Army of the
Republic and the white-haired warriors of
the South clasped hands and realized that
the war is over. The roses Of the North
fell in profusion upon the graves of Con-
federate dead, and over the resting places
of many Of those who wore the blue were
scattered the magnolia blossoms of the
South, and by the hands Of men who had
fiercely sought in battle the lives of the
silent sleepers who lay below.
The dedication of the Confederate monu-
rather such an eradication of the two great
sections as the Nation has rarely seen be-
FORE Side by side with the man who sent
Pickett's brave Virginians against Glib
bons's wall of steel on Cemetery Ridge.
stood the man who stoutly hurled back
Hoods mad charges Franklin-Long-
street and Schofield. Elbow to elbow stood
the men who led the best blood of the
South behind the guidons of Stuart and he
who was the cavalier par excellence of
Sheridans famous cavalry-FltZhugh Lee,
Wade Hampton and Wesley Merritt There
were present any number OF other men
who had borne their part nobly, and with
distinction, and others of the rank and
file who fought as bravely and marched
as WELL but found no glory save that
which hung around the coors of the army
in whose ranks they fought These plen
in the shock of battle stood to-day with
tear-dimmed eyes, while the cannon which
had borne their part or, both sides. of the
fratricidal struggle and which will now
stand around the monument were spiked
and forever silenced by the fair hands of
women.
LOVE AND TEARS FOR ALL.
There was love and tears for all-for
Federal and Confederate, for friend and
foe There were flowers, garlands for all,
and if in the chance of war the men in blue
had won the laurel while the willow was
left for those in gray, no one to-day per-
ceved any distinction in the honors given
to the memories of the departed warriors.
Laurel and willow were intertwined. and
so enwreathed, were laid on graves and
hung on the monument, and no one asked
when decorating each grassy mound what
uniform he wore who rested beneath.
The largest assemblage of distinguished
Confederate veterans ever seen IN the North
was u notable feature of the occasion.
Those present included Generals John h.
Gordon, Wade. Hampton, James Long
T5rse Hese D. French ree F.zhusRW E Wafsa NARY
Butler. L. l.. Lomax. NJ. j. Wright, f. {.
Armstrong, Eppa Hunton, Joseph o. Shelby,
W. H. Payne, Fayette Hewitt, c.. A. Evans
and Joseph II. Lewis. Nearly all these ais
tinguished visitors. accompanied by their
wives and families. together with repre-
sentatives of the Confederate Association
of Washington ID. c., Camp Moultrie Sons of
Veterans. of Charleston, ;. G., and repre-
sentative delegations from Atlanta and 9TH
er points South arrived yesterday. They
were met the depots by comrades-in-
arms. who preceded tnem, and by the local
reception committee, composed or federal
and Confederate veterans and the leading
professional and business men Of the city,
with a suitable escort, and driven to their
hotel. Later they attended matinee per-
were welcomed to the city by Mayor Swift,
General Gordon respondiing This was. was foi,
9Mea Rings,eTys Todays moSa ceremones Began
with the ringing of Columbian liberty
bell firing of national salute by Battery
D, Illinois National Guard, on the lake
nowned Northern and Southern generals
was formed, and moved under military es-
cort. to the Twelfth-street depot, and there
tIer etery. ae Where e the dedication ceremonies
occurred. The military escort consisted Ii OF
fional Guards, Il er command of Col. Hen
nv L. Turner, as well as the Chicago Hus-
sars. a mounted military organization OF
Nv
Quincy. - or.not,
cvith nraver by Colonel Joseph Desha Pick
EFT. chaplain of the Kentucky Orphan bri-
gaie. c. s A. Then john 5. Underwood, in
few Introductory remarks, MARKS placed IN IN me me
Centenary Methodist Church., and past
commander u. S. Grant Post, No. q, G. A.
R. of Chicago. who delivered a brief ad-
dress on assuming his duties.
WADE HAMPTON'S GRAFTON.
The dedicatory Grafton, by Lieutenant
General Wade Hampton, of South Carolina,
followed. He said:
1.-The scene presented here is one that
could not be witnessed in any country but
our own. and for this reason. II for no 9TH
er, it presents significance worthy of the
gravest consideration. A few years ago
brave men from the North and from the
South ssooa % iaes an bSaod of the q co,nsrv
poured out like water on many a battlefield.
Thousands. and hundreds vf thousands, OF
DraVeSt
men who gave their lives to prove the faith
of their convictions, and low North ard
South, standing by these s-aves, wherever
they NAV be, grasp hands across the bloody
chasm and proudly claim federal and Con-
federate soldiers as Americans, men who
have given to the world noble examples
OF courage and devotion 10 duty IS can be
enrolled on the page of history.
Nor is this all that marks tfsis occasion
as exceptional and remarkable, and WHICH
should render it memorable in our annals
for all time come No monument In the
world has such an honorable history as at
taches to yorder one that marks the graves
of no victorious soldiers, but of The FOLLOW
ers of a lost cause. 1t stands not on South
ern soil, but on Northern: the men who
rest under it's shadow COM from cur far
off Southland, and it owes its erection, not
TO the comrades of these dead soldiers. but
mainly to the generosity and magnfr :-nity
OF their former foes, the. citizens cf this
city. All honor. then, to the brave and lib
eraI men of Chicago. who have shown by
their action that they regarded he war as
over and that they can welcome IS fIierds
on this solemn and auspicious occasion their
former enemies.
..As long as this lofty column FONTS to
heaven: as long as one stone OF Its f0unda-
ton remains, future generations of Ameri-
cans should look on II with pride. not only
y, bopor a those who conceived cop-