St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-17
GEN. MASON,s LECTURE
Listened to by Large Audience
Last Might

A large and appreciative audience
gathered at the House of Hone church
last night and for an hour and a half
listened to Gen. E. C. Mason tell of
the campaign of the Army Of the Po-
tomac from the beginning of the wear
1868 until the close of the war. The
lecture was listened to with the great
est OF interest, and as the speaker told
OF the brave deeds of those engaged
upon the held or in the march he was
frequently greeted with enthusiastic
outbursts of applause
A quartette from the House of Hope
church choir sang several patriotic
songs previous to the introduction of
the speaker which aided greatly in in
spring the patriotic spirit which per-
vaded the gathering throughout the
evening.
In introducing Gen. Mason, Rev. ].
P. Egbert said: ''The great Sidney
Smith frequently denounced war as an
unnecessary extravaganza which
should be bitterly hated But there
came time in the history Of our nation
when 1t was not only necessary, but
prudent 1t was prudent because there
existed things that were far worse
than war at that time. Since that war
the United States is a better and a
stronger nation; the North and the South
understand each other as never before
and II they ever are forced to engage in
conflict with Great Britain or any other
foreign power all parts Of this great
republic will join hands and march to
the field beneath the stars and stripes
Of the same old Glory
ITO introduce Gen. Mason to a ST.
Paul audience would be an absurdity.
When an Introduction of this kind is
needed it will be when patriotism has
reached a very low ebb. / esteem it
a very great pleasure to have the priv
ilege tonight of leading this audience
in giving to our fellow citizen a hearty
welcome
The speaker began with description
of the condition Of the Army Of the
Potomac at the opening of 1863. The
closing events Of the campaign of 1862
had been far from satisfactory to the
North. Gen. Burnside was in COM
mand and he had the army poorly or
gained AT the very opening Of the
year he set out upon march through
rain and mud in a country where the
soil had no solidity, and as a conse-
Quence had to retrace his steps at the
end Of three days, leaving hundreds of
horses and mules to perish in the boys.
This was discouraging, and in two
weeks he was relieved of his command
and Gen. Hooker succeeded him. This
general, after spending February and
March in reorganizing his forces, suf-
fered a discouraging defeat and Gen.
Meade was soon placed in command.
The speaker then described the vic
tory of Gettysburg, which took place
in July of that year. This battle was
the turning point. 1.-THE remainder of
the year. said he, was spent in a
series of minor skirmishes of which
Centerville. Brandy Station and Cedar
Run were prominent. They were inter
ludes in the great game of war.
'"The winter of 1S63-1S64 was spent by
Meade's army along the line Of the
Orange & Alexandria railroad by means
of which their supplies were obtained
from Washington After telling a
number of interesting incidents con-
nected with camp life of that time, Gen.
Mason added: when the order came
to march upon the afternoon of May
8, the soldiers cheered for they believed
it was the beginning of the end Of the
war" The events of the march along
Rapidan and through the wilderness,
and the final victory OF Spotsylvania,
Company H, were wildly portrayed.
This in some respects was the great
est battle Of the world and heroic action
was displayed by both sides The lee
ture was closed with beautiful eulogy
to those who persisted in the great
struggle