The age-herald., 1898-06-10
THE CONFEDERATE
 BATTLE FLAGS

l Washington
 What some of the men who have headed the Grand army in peace said was pleasing. The remarks of others were disappointing. The first thing that impressed itself upon my mind after concluding the reading was, What would the dead leaders have to say on the question were they alive, the com manders-in-chief who have pitched tents on the eternal camping grounds?''' What would be the answer of Major Gen eral stephen Hurlbut. the first man to hold the high station?
 "Why should the redeemed nation longer keep them? If the confederates want them, and l can understand why they should, let them have them It is not in my heart to deprive them of such pleasure. They have waited long enough for it. and patiently, too. Yes, send them back"
 l am confident that that brave son of Illinois, who lead bodies of union troops in many battles. would have said something like that.
 What would that prince of volunteers, the dauntless commander of a regiment in 1861. brigade in 1862, division in 1883, corps in 1864 and the army of the Tennessee a little later-what would Major-General John A. Logan have said in reply to the Times Herald's question?
 Is it stretch of the imagination to think that. he would have responded with some thing having this meaning?
 When I see men whom I fought in the
 6Os and their sons drawing swords and car rying rifles for the honor and glory of our common country-marching and fighting ka the same brigade, division and corps, in which my boy. the apple of my eye, is serving, feel like saying, Give to our old time enemies-now our friends, the coun- try's unyielding friends-anything they want. l know they will never ask for the Southern Confederacy. The past third of a century has shown them that one great, strong government, under one flag is a million times better for the republic plan ned by Washington than two governments, under different flags, both governments con- stantly watching and hating each other; both maintaining large armies, ready at the drop of the hat to pitch into each other Nothing, so long as the world stands, will ever draw the south into another war for the destruction of the union. Give them their old battle flags. BraYer men never fought under any flag. They and their sons are now as proud to fight under the stars and stripes as our comrades and their sons. Mark me: The herosm displayed under the old flag on two thousand battle- fields generation ago was fortified by veins filled with blood that will contribute as heroic defenders of our flag and our united country as it ever had, or as it will have for centuries to come Some of that blood flows in the veins of Lieutenant Hob son, whose exploit in Santiago bay has no parallel. It courses through the veins of nearly every soldier from the south in this war. It Is good American blood. There is none better. Thank God for it. Such blood can be trusted implicitly. Battered, crim- soned, crumbling flags cannot thin or weaken it.
 Maior-General Ambrose E. Burnside was, like Logan, commander-in-chief for two terms. By the way, Captain Roswell Mil- Ter, president of the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad. was Burnsde's ad- jutant-general during both terms.
 What would that old commander of the Army of the Potomac, the hero of Knox vile, the governor of Rhode Island and United States senator, have sent in as his reply?
 'tThere is no reason why we should keep them any longer There is no reason why they should not be returned to the states
  have only one kind of Americans today. All are alike loyal to the nation and the na- tional emblem Better use the room for something else. Send them back.
 That would be like General Burnside.
 
 Here is another name that was marked high up on the wall of fame: John F. Hart Ianft. If he did not go out early in 1861 as a private it was as a lieutenant in Penn slyvania regiment, but when the war was 1,ox .ix.r1 and had risen to the command of a corps for a short time, and bore three of four lead marks. After the war he was governor of his state and held various high positions in Philadelphia Hartranft was command er-in-chief for two three terms. It will be seen that l have named over some emil nent men-eminent in war and in peace who have been leaders in the grand army.
 What would Hartranft have said to your question?
 He was man of few words. guess he would have spoken about as follows:
 'I do not believe that there is man, woman or child at the south who would lift a hand to dig up and try to breathe life into the dead confederacy. I believe that the nation has no truer, braver defenders than the Lees, Wheelers,- Hamptons, But lers, Gordons, Oates-than the survivors of the confederate armys and their sons and grandsons. If such men want the flags, why, let them have them. They will see that they DflIiB nO HdTIil to d country IIdL Is now as dear to them as to and my comrades of the Grand Army
 What would Major General Charles Devins, who succeeded Hartranft, have said?
 Devins. too. went out with low rank, if not as a private, but when the shooting and flag harvesting was done two glisten- ing stars shone on each manly shoulder and one leg rested on battlefield. After the war he was a justice of the supreme court for Massachusetts, and later served in the presidents cabinet as attorney general. "If they want them let them have them. Why should we hold them any longer? Didn't congress the other day, without dissenting voice. repeal the last act which deprived a solitary soul of the south of single right he did not possess before the war? Look yonder and see our sons of the north shouting themselves hoarse as their gray-haired commander rides along the line under the American flag, the leader of corps in the American army! Ills deeds and work at Havana stamp him as a typical rfa cRa md