Omaha daily bee., 1895-09-22

"HIapny in the glorious trinity Of results
the saving Of the nation's life, the extinction
OF tho curse Of slavery and the establishment
OF the equality Of all men before the Law
we believe them worth even the cost Of treas
ure and'of blood and have no room for malice
or ill-will. We join in the sentiment Of our
great chleftain, Ulysses s. Grant: Let us
have peace remembering also that the gem
eruus cUnqueror at AppomattoN said or ana Tor
himself, and Cor us who served under him:
we are not ready to apologize for our part
In the war and are content that the result
Of the dread arbitrament and the pages OF the
truthful history have shown that we, who
fought to save, we're forever right, and they,
who fought 10 destroy, were e~ternally wrong.
'As the victors and the vanquished have
recognized equal courage and even powers Of
endurance, there has come mutual respect.
Through the throes and labor Of reconstruc-
ton, with the contact OF peoples, the inter-
change of commerce, the common interests OF
the different parts of the national whole, the
doyetailing Of states through the construc-
ton Of the iron highways of trade and the
mutual contribution Of the capital needed for
the development of the new south, has come
peaceful, contented reconciliation. The years
that gather wisdom and experience to all
long ago taught the lesson, even to those
who fought for 1t, that the cause for which
they struggled and suffered was better lost
than won. And now all Of rancor and hate
is gone. The unionist and the secessionist,
the federal and the rebel, the Yankee and the
Johnnie, meet to rejoice In the existence of
a nation, not a confederacy. We glory in the
fact that we have the proudest dignity and
highest rank that can come to appreciative
man, that of American citizenship. Hail the
epoch Of concord. All hail the era of fra.
ternity.
NOTHING LIKE IT IN HISTORY.
"Tomorrow's sun, rising on the anniversary
of the first day of Chickamauga, will witness
a scene the like of which has no record in
history. BY the bounty of a generous govern
~AA hv thn not nm ~ nrnrA-
ciative states and by the voluntary con ribu-
lions of men who fought on either side, a
great battlefield has bean restored. The eX-
federal and the ex-confedera.e soldier Will
go hand in hand and recount to each other
the story of the struggle for Chattanooga.
The lines of both coltanding armies are or
rectly shown by enduring monuments and
lasting tablets. The skill of the artist and
the genius of the architect have been supple
meuted by the def constructive power OF
the artisan, The combat of arms has become
the rivalry In taste. A generous contest has
succeeded the grapple of death dealing foes
Destruction has given way 10 preservat on.
Emulation succeeds detraction, We are told
that thirty-fOur years after the tate o.
Waterloo IT was necessary to cover VITA many
coats of co'or the walls OF the chateau oil
Hougomont. held so val!antly by the Eng h
against the repeated attacks of the FIeach,
because of the scurrilous and insulting SEN
fences written upon them by the survivors OF
the battle. A generation has served but TO In
tensify the mrtuality OF hard of the two
peoples. The visitor to Brussels wto visits
the field of Waterloo, tempted so TO do by
the we'll known story OF the fall Of Napo eol
and the fame of wellington, meets with
grievous disappointment. The English and
Germans, in placing the great monument
Of earth and stone concentrating the re-
nown of the Iron Duke, the name of Bluc1er
and thc glory of those who 70 ght under
them, have so changed the earth's surface
that the features of the field are undiscoyer
able. AS Victor Hugo puts 1t: History dis
concerted, no longer recognizes herself upon
1t. To glorify it, it has been di- h.ure1.
Wellington, visiting the scene of his stu
pendous victory a few years thereafter, eH,
claimed: They have changed my battleheld'
I'VE have restored as near as may be the
condition of 1868 in the surface surround
ings about this great strategic center. MY
comrades of the Cumberland. We VIII hold
: in grateful remembrance the men who nave
been instrumental in accomplishing TINS grea'
work. / cannot here mention all entitled tc
credit, but in fairness l must record the
names of Generals Boynton, Fullerton anc
Cist Of the federal army and Generals Stew
art, Wheeler and Bate of the confederates.
IT SOLVED H SITUATION.
What has here been done should also be
accomplished on the other fields set apari
by the nation as places not to be profaned
Gettysburg, Antietam and Shiloh should be
B, NplAIS } S@SS' ~ N"N
of American history. As he intelligentlN
studies, and as he shall write the results
of his investigation, he will say to the future
For bold attack and firm defense; for dash
Ing assault and valorous resistance; fol
logged onslaught and tenacious grasp; fo
!, desperate lighting and courageous combat, nj
battle excels, and nearly all fall far short, o
being the equal of Chickamauga. Aye! NOR
is true. In Importance to the cause, in far
reaching result, in the bringing of the enc
desired, no battle equals those fought for tn
! possession and retention of Chattanooga. Cap
turing the stronghold of the south, this STRAIT
egic key to open the very vitals of the con
federacy, guaranteed the holding of loya
east Tennessee; kept Kentucky within GU
? bounds; threatened the flank and rear of tn
/ Army OF Northern Virginia; permitted tn
Atlanta campaign, with the capture of tn
t capital city of Georgia; made possible tn
l march to the sea; was the chief instrumen
5 tally in the fall of Richmond; was a prim
g factor in the surrender at AppomattoX, an
a did much to prevent that recognition o
$ southern nationality by the great power
1 that would probably have made of secession
a fact accomplished. We know this an
= history must record 1t. Too long have tn
: lights of Antietam and Gettysburg been al
lowed to dim the glory of Stone River an
, Chlckamauga. Great battles indeed wer
1 those of the east, but in extended effects the
bear no comparison with these sanguinar
: conflicts of the middle west.
r You brave men who were the gray knoy
1t. Let some OF our friends, the enemy,
1 give testimony. Confederate General Lorin
says of the campaign for Chattanooga:
e 1--WE would gladly have exchanged a doe
n of our previous victories for that one failure
: . No man in the south felt that yo
: had accomplished anything until Chatta
e nooga fell. 1t was the closed doorway to tn
interior of our country. The loss c
Vicksburg weakened our prestige, con
tracted our territory and practically eXpeile
) us from the Mississippi river, but it LEI
o the body of our power unframed. AS t
/ Gettysburg-that was an experiment.
our loss of ii. except that we could les
h easily spare the slaughter of veteran so
- diers than you could, left us just where W
. were. The fall of Chattanooga, /
d consequence of the Chickamauga campaign
d and the subsequent total defeat of Genera
Bragg's efforts to recover 1t, caused us [
experience for the first time a diminution {
confidence as to the final result
Lieutenant General Hill, a most distir
u guuished confederate. came from eXperienc
I on the Peninsula and the seven days battl
about Richmond and was ripened by servic
o at South Mountain, Antietam and FredeI
icksburg to command that great corps of tn
e Army of the Tennessee in which command
ing divisions were such men as Generals T
II. Cleburne j. c. Breckenridge, w. ii. 7
Walker and st. John r. Liddell, and in CON
y mand of brigades were Colquitt, Walthall an
Mills. In his contribution to war histor
he writes:
There was no more splendid fighting
81, when the flower of the southern yout