Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1896-06-04

Z
not effaced the memory Of these expert
ences The aged father here to-day las not
forgotten the brave hoy whom he gave a
/ ireewill offering to his country. We still
feel that they were our friends. brothers,
fathers and sons who died that we might en-
JOY peace Shall we forget them those who
toileo- and bled and suffered untold agonies
Tor the redemption of our nations Never.
Young men and women VIII never. as long
rs Yander flag shall symbolic free and
happy people. draw lessons Of patriotism
ana heroic devotion to-day from their mem
ories The boys and girls shall ever learn in
school ana at home TO think with pride of the
gallant soldiers Of the Union. Their memo
ries snan never perish-thev are immortal.
There are other scenes than those Of the
battlefield where hardly less fortitude was
shown or less suffering endured. Thousands
upon thousands Of soldiers fell wounded
These often lay for hours upon the field
burning with thirst, under the hot sun. the
hfe-blood slowly ebbing out upon mother
earth. MaHy were carried to the hospital
and there were compelled to submit to pain
tul operations parting with an arm or
mangled leg. others To lie in close crowded
tents while their bodies were burning with
fever and wasting with disease. There they
lie upon their improvised cots. far from
home and friends hope dying out while in
those quiet tedious hours the memory was
ever bringing before them their own former
HAPPY hresides. so fearfully contrasted by
their present surroundings A ia, or a
week perhaps before they were in buoyant
health confronting the enemy now their
hope Of future usefulness seems forever lost.
Some indeed are TO rise again and resume
their active duties. but many must be there
for months and months YEARLY waiting to
welcome death: their only reward for all
this toll and suffering is the bright con-
seriousness Of duty done and country saved
Heroic IN the battlefield they are no less
heroes in their patient accompanying SUI
feriug i'm the hospital.
Amid all these sad pictures of the war we
must notfail to notice a brighter one Those
loving mothers, sisters and maiaens are not
Idle in the midst Of this suffering Hun
dreds Of brave young women, unaccustomed
10 the sight Of blood went to the hospital for
any service. Delicate fingers were en-
ployed in binding up the bloody wounds:
genie feet were moving noiselessly from cot
~ cot on messages Of love and mercy
bring cup ofcold water 10 the parched lip. (
to smoothe the pillow of a fevered and dele
rious head, To lay the soft cool hand upon
the troubled brow and as by magic soothe ii
70 composure to stop here and there and
pray for the dying 10 ask the dear Father
TO vine away the tear and heal the sick if it
might be but if it was His viii 10 nnally pill
low Their heads on his everlasting bosom
No one can ever measure the value of the
services of the noble. devoted women. their
reward waslot gold ana silver but the far
better reeompense Of eternal gratitude.
from the hearts OF as true men as the world
has ever known. se1f-sacrihcingd deeds
Shed a lustre Of glory upon the name OF
womanhood. a brightness that
viii ever lend beautiful and pathetic grace
70 the stern annals OF a time when all else was i
sfifn ana relentless. Our hearts bow TODAY /
IN reverence to the memory Of the women pf
our nation who with sweet QnaSsuminc +
Marty helped their brothers to save the
| nlonand blot out the great crime of human 4
bondage. We turn reluctantly from the con-
temptation OF loyal woman's work-a work (
~ mercy to friend and foe alike to scenes Of +
Dafharlsm not exceeded in atrocftv by the 1
biaeEeSt crimes of pagan history MANY Of /
the mon boys who had perhaps better died /
seriously nghung on the field. were cap 1
tured and taken to the Southern prison-penS /
The names of Belle Isle Milleus Libby An I
Jacksonville and Salisbury prisons will for |
ever stand as synonyms for all that is cruel |
harbarouS and hendish. 1t seemed that Sa- |
tan mad entered into league with treason |
aux u dlStDI INTO human beings into imDS to /
sdtlate ms foul enmlty against unfortunate I
men. Libby prison The heart of stone |
must melt as II contemplates its horrors /
one seems still to hear the echo of its erOanS I
ana prayers, and rawlings and meanings |
RINK OF men Roasting of the highest feel |
ngs OF chiyalry. starving systematically |
starving thousands of brothers to render |
them unfit for future service in the Union |
army Our hearts bleed when we think of |
our brave boys being tortured by iniquities (
worse than the rack of the Inquisition. by |
the men whose souls grew harder by the
very brutality they exercised. There they |
lay through weary dayS-which were as cen
turtles in the woe and utter destruction they
Droug ht-amid vile doors. filthy rags diving
ot all the diseases with which humanity was
ever atnlCted. starved until their reason was
gone and then lie down in the sickening mud
To babble OF home. of Youthful lows shout
ing wild shouts OF glee as insanity brought
before them the faces of comrades: again
for the moment they are on the Wild charge
striving to plant the flag on the heights of
victory: now they were at home embracing
the mother, the wife or maiden of whom
in their rational hours they had so often
then perhaps wandering in their
dellrium beyond the dead line * revenge
tuI yet thrice mercifnl Shol from vigilant
sentinel stopped the wild dream and cast
ms aside the deranged brain. the body Of pu-
tEld sores. leaving ali the pain and anguish
of the extremity of physical prfvation the
spirit purified by suffering took its tight 10
the God who gave it.
Much al this was almost in the shadow Of
| ne Repel capitol ana within the direct
knowledge of the traitor leaders. Even the
t4fA sent To them ny Northern frlenuS WAS
not distributed to them but piled near the
prison seemingly to tantalize the already
emactated prisoners.
: vt Anaer>onville thirty thousand prison
ers We're confined within an area of twenty
SIX acres. crowded together like cattle. for
thirteen months with no shelter either from
the cold OF winter or the burning rays OF the
midsummer sun Bl0od-hounds were kept
10 hunt down escaped prisoners. Each aay
camel the dead wagons to carry away their
CHASTITY roads u be dumped into unknown
graves.
one would fain turn from the thought Of
this legitimate offspring of slavery. but one
must learn the facts to compre hend the
most maEnanimous sacrifice OF the MON
prisoners, This sacrifice rises into sublint-
1ty when we think that food aud plenty We're
promised them il they would only renounce
the Union ana swear allegiance to the Com
te0eraCv. a historian Of the war tells as 81
4 boy wholonged g see his Northern home
THIS kind mNtheT-tte fatr sister playmate
ne longed 10 grasp mas father 5 nanQ lte
secs all around sim the mlSeries nave tried
Ia described With My Imperfect words he
knows that s0on his already fragile sralIic
must We an that ealuas deaa waGon his
oaCe falt cheek Is BOW ~Qnken ana nis ncrS
exc is growing diuz. W3N be- accept free
tsHf2 ana a4E tne Dressed thing. the WgIa M