The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-09-16

10 the men on the very front line,
where the bullets flew, inspired that
remarkable scene at Appomattox.
Built "a Home For Disabled Enemies.
1t was on an occasion of national
significance that the formal barriers
were at last thrown down and the
| veterans began to shake hands, with
ceremonial displays, meant to be SYM
| bolic Among the visiting org aniZa-
! tons at the Yorktown centennial, in
1884, were Aaron Wilkes Post, of
Trenton, NJ j., and the Veteran asso-
citation of the First Virginia infantry,
of Richmond. AT the close Of the
celebration the G.. A. r. comrades went
to Richmond and were handsomely
entertained by the .ex-confederates. 1t
was the first appearance of a body of
union veterans, cemenred by ties dat
ing from the field, across the old sec
tional border. Soon after that the
active soldiers of Richmond formed
Lee Camp, having for its object the
care of INDECENT veterans, the same as
the Grand Army. Meanwhile, Post
Phil Kearny, had been formed in
there, and in 1888, Lincoln Post, Of
Newark. N. J., and Lee Camp met for
fraternal handshake at the rooms of
! Phil Kearny Post,
That meeting was attended with
most important results, for it led to
the cooperation OF the Grand Army
in the founding. of the confederate
soldiers home in Richmond. Lee Camp
soon visited the veterans at Newark,
| the first, organized body of confed-
crates ever seen in the north. The in
spring genius of. Lee Camp at that
! time. Captain James z. Lane. in ac-
| knowledging the courtesy and hospi-
tally of Lincoln post, set forth in the
following crude but expressive lines
the basis upon which old foes came
! together: -
Now as we-uns drink to you-uns old
friendships to renew,
| The Old Dominion Gray viii pledge 1ealth
to the Jersey Blue.
We are marching in the union, trne and
loyal band
And for its preservation give each a
heart and hand.
| Then here's to you-unS ana 10 We-unS,
! to Lincoln anu to Lee,
! Not forgetting all the comrades, IN Jer-
sey by the sea ~
| Virginia's shore, - y, +,o
| Our hearts still cling to Jersey, as IN the
days of yore."
The first battlefield reunion of the
| blue and the gray took place at
Fredericksburg in May, 1884. The par
Elephants were members of the Grand
! Army posts and confederate veteran
! camps of Washington, Richmond ana
Fredericksburg. A month before that,
] however, most remarkaple oenioh-
stration of good will among the Veter-
ans of both sections sprung out of
the joint activities of the old soldiers
! of Richmond and New York. In March
! of that year representatives OF Pnll
! Kearney post and Lee camp, Of Rlch-
mond. and of the Grand Army in New
York city. with General John B. Cor
! don at their head, called a mass meet
/ ing of veterans to be held on April y,
! the anniversary of Lees surrender 10
Grant. General Grant was asked TO
preside. In his reply the hero of APP
| nomattox day set the seal of his APP
proval on the unique object avoweo
by the committee, as follows:
washington, April Sd, 1884.
General John B. Gordon, CHAIRMAN
Central Committee, New York:
/ ..your letter of March 31st, inform
| ing me that [ had been chosen TO pre-
! side at a meeting of the different posts
| of the G.. A r. and eX-Confedefates
! in the CITY of New York, is received.
| "The object of the meeting is to in
augurate under the auspices OF soldleTs
| of both armies, q, movement IN behalI
of fund to build home for dlsaDleo
! ex-Confederate soldiers.
81 am in hearty sympathy with the
movement. and would be glad to &C
/ cept the position of presiding ofhcer, II
! 7 were able to do so. You may rely
upon me, however, for rendering all
! aid [ can in carrying out the designs
of the meeting.
II am here under treatment for an
! injury received on Christmas eve last
| and will not be able to leave here later
than the 9th. and cannot tell now
how soon or when 1 will be able to go
Hoping that your meeting will in
sure success, and promising my sup
port financially and otherwise to the
movement, I am.
Every truly yours,
"U. S. GRANT"
Following that meeting, which was a
rousfng one, several thousand dollars
were raised by the local posts of New
York. Brooklyn, Boston and elsewhere
General Grant sent a check to the
/ fund. and added words of hearty en-
dorsement. The sympathy of the ex-
/ Confederates with the sufferings OF
! General Grant at the close of his life
and their action at the time of his
/ death, were evidences of their lasting
goodwill toward former opponents on
! the battlefield.
America Leads the World in Chi
valry.
In the four years next succeeding
Gordon's anniversary mass-meeting
1 there were sixteen formal reunions OF
/ the blue and gray. One was at Fred
/ ericksburg, as has been stated, two
at Gettysburg, one at Antietam, and
! one at Kenesaw. Several were the oc-
casions of social visits between Grand
/ Army posts and Confederate camps
! ceremonies at the anniversary of Bun
| ker Hill. and enjoyed a perfect ova-
ton at the hands of the people of the
i Bay state. IN that same year, the
| Confederate memorial exercises al
/ Stanton, Va, were conducted Jointly
| by the blue and the gray. The Union
cavalry leader, Averell, whose squad
rons, more than those, perhaps, OF
any other one general, had despoiled
| the fair valley of Virginia. was pres
ent, a most conspicuous and welcome
guest. A similar scene is witnessed
in New Orleans, where the Union and
/ Confederate veterans have united
since 1873, in conducting on their re-
I spective days, memorial exercises fol-
the dead. That former foes should
clasp hands over the graves of their
dead seems natural enough for men OF
valor. The age of chivalry is recalled
! by it. But what shall be said of the
unique demonstration at the joint re-
union on the heights of Kenesaw, in
! 1887, when ife-size Examinations OF