The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-09-19
/ the world stood aghast at

Never was the courage, the con-
stancy. the endurance of the Confed-
crates surpassed; never were the pluck,
the patriotism and the persistence of
the Union soldiers exceIIed. Most wars
that have settled great questions have
turned upon pivotal battles. England
was conquered in the battle of Hast
ings. Napoleon humbled Italy at Lodi
and Bordence; he broke the power of
the Austrian alliance at Wagram and
Austerlitz and his own downfall was
complete at Waterloo. Austria was
overthrown by Prussia in the single
battle Of Sadowa, and the great
Franco-Prussian war was practically
decided at Metz and Sedan. But in our
civil war, neither Manassas nor
Fredericksburg, nor the terrible car
mage at Cold Harbor, nor all these
combined could dishearten the armies
of the Union. Nor could Donaldson,
nor Vicksburg, nor Missionary Ridge,
nor Gettysburg-au these together
break the spirit of the Confederates.
The Confederacy fell only when .ex-
hausted by four years of incessant
combat. Then the question of cessa-
ton was decided; and then, too, thank
God, the question of slavery, which
had come into dispute, was also de-
| cided.
But, after all, my countrymen,
what was it all for? What did it
mean? What was all this struggle, all
/ this exhibition of heroism and the
| appalling sacrifices for? A reunited
! country makes answer. No other is
needed. A union stronger and freer
than ever before, a civilization higher
and nobler than ever before. A COM
mon flag dearer and more glorious
than ever before, and all, all of them
secure from any quarter; because the
contestants against each other on
this historic field thirty-two years ago
are now united, linked in their might
forever against any enemy which
would assail either union or civiliza
ton or freedom or flag. The sacrifice
here made was for what we loved,
and for what we meant should endure.
A reunited people, a reunited country.
is the glorious reward.
The war has been over thirty-one
years, there never has been any
/ trouble since between the men who
fought on the one side or the other.
| The trouble has been between the
men who fought on neither side-who
could get on one side or the other, as
occasion or interest demanded. The
! bitterness and resentments of the
war belong to the past, and its glories
are the common heritage of US ALL
! What was won in that great conflict
belongs just as securely to those who
lost as to those who triumphed The
future is in our common keeping, the
sacred trust Of all the people. Let
US make it worthy of the glorious men
who died for it on this and other
fields of the war. 1t is gratifying to
state that these monuments are ever
afterwards to be in the keeping
of the United States government. The
! government they preserved should
guard them-that is where they be-
long. Henceforth these monuments
shall be the possession of all the peo-
pie. They show, Mr.. President, the
honor paid by great commonwealth
to the patriotic Valor of her sons.
They are calculated to encourage
patriotic devotion for all time. They
are the nations guarantee that the
bond Of union shall not be broken.
Their lesson is that the constitution is
and shall remain the supreme law
I over all.
In this great battle some fought to
save the union; others to divide it.
Those who fought to save triumphed
and so the union survived. Slavery
abolished; peace restored; the union
strengthened, and now, hand in hand,
all stand beneath the folds of one flag,
acknowledging no other, marching
forward together in the enjoyment of
one common country, and in the full
fllment of one glorious destiny.
None Other Has 1t.
Our government has done what no
other government has ever attempted
or countenanced. We have published
fully and fairly the official records of
both armies during civil war, and we
are now publishing q complete record
! of both the Union and Confederate
navies. We conceal nothing on each
side from the world, from ourselves
or from posterity and the soldiers of
! the two great armies are fraternizing
as soldiers who had fought each other
never fraternized before. We do not
/ forget to mourn our comrades who
fell, but meet here to do honor to their
memory. We contemplate with a pa
triotic pleasure and pride that knows
no bounds the splendid exhibitions of
American manhood that lit up every
battlefield of the civil war with halo
of glory.
The soldiers of every state, from
Maine to Texas, from Oregon to Flor
ida, won for themselves renoWn that
will endure while history survives. The
common opinion in the south in 1860
was that the Yankee had degenerat ted
| into a dollar hunter and that he could
not fight. In the north. the belief OBJ
taired that slavery had enervated the
southerner till he had become a brag-
CART and a coward. Political fury and
sectional hate had destroyed mutual
respect, the necessary foundation of
fraternal feeling. How quickly all was
changed! The change began at the
! front
Some "Reminiscences.
remember that from the battle of
Fredericksburg in December, 1862, till
the battle of Charlottesville, in May,
| 1863, the Army Of the Potomac lay op-
posite Fredericksburg on the north
bank of the Rappahannock, stretching
for miles up and down the stream; OPP
posite to it on the south bank was the
army of Northern Virginia. Both ar
mics picketed close up to the banks
of the stream, which was scarcely a
hundred yards wide. In all these three
months there was no picket firing,
| There was tacit understanding that
! there should not be. During this peri
| cd l saw General Lee one day, with
! two or three members Of his staff, ride
! half way down the hill at Banksford
and survey the scene. There he stop
ped, and sat serenely looking Oh. The
enemy's pickets were in full view, not
| 500 yards away. Within 1000 yards of
him on the brow of the opposite hill
was battery of artillery. 1 could not
! but fear he would be fired on. With
| the naked eye, Federal soldiers could
see he was a general officer. With a