Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-07
Soldiers Of the Fifty-hrst Reg
iment Reach Council
Bluffs Today.
GREETED WITH CHEERS
Council Blufs Gives Them n,Hoyal
welcome-First Two Sections Ar
rive This sMorning-ThirdS Sec
ton Somewhat DELAYED.

q d.aa
Council Bluffs, Nov. 6.-(special. y
To the sounds of blowing whistles and
ringing bells, and amid the shouts OF
a vast concourse of people, the Fifty
first Iowa regiment of volunteers, ar
rived on Iowa soil. The troops, though
tired from their long overland trip,
seemed glad to be at home again. The
first two sections of the special train,
arrived at o'clock this morning, while
the third section, which was delayed in
Utah, came in this afternoon. The SOL
diers of the first two sections We're
given banquet at noon, and when the
last section arrived, the formal recep-
tion was begun. Gov. Shaw and 9th
er prominent men of the state spoke.
At the reception of the Fifty-first
Iowa at Council Bluffs, Governor Shaw
said:
"Oficers and men of the Fifty-first
Iowa Infantry, Volunteer: Eighteen
months ago, your departure from the
Z
state that was even then proud OF you
was witnessed with universal anxiety
and solicitude. Today your returning
footsteps make glad Iowa's every loyal
heart. Your journeyings have been
most carefully watched, and the record
of your noble conduct, both in camp
and on the firing line, has made the
state you4left behind yet prouder to
call you hers.
sit is due to you to have it said on
this occasion that no report concern
ing you has brought either shame to
the. homes from which you went, or a
blush to those who have followed you
with their good wishes and their pray
ers. The press dispatches have all
been of the most favorable character
and have borne convincing proof that
the one regiment whose heroic mission
was far towards the setting sun, like
the three regiments from your state
who, with equal fidelity, followed the
same flag in other directions, had not
forgotten either their manhood or
their self-respect. On the morning af-
ter your departure from San Francisco
on your return trip, the papers
throughout the country contained the
following: Hundreds of friends of
the regiment gathered at the Presidio
to say goodbye, for these Iowans
made many friends by their gentle-
manly conduct while in camp here.
drunkenness and riotous conduct are
strangers to these sturdy Hawkeye
veterans Such report shall be sa-
cred to the state, and the truthfulness
thereof will be of great worth to you.
But it must not be forgotten that, of
the number who, in the springtime of
1898, went from Camp Mckinley with
proud step, firm heart, and lofty mien,
some have gone to their reward and
there is left us but the scant privilege
of tear in their remembrance and a
word of sympathy for the sbereaved
hearts and sad homes made so by their
absence. The Righteousness of the end
towards which they strove, the justice
of the cause for which they died, and
the response to duty ever imperative,
constitute the only justification for
the sad sacrifice.
Proud as we are todhy of what has
been SO recently accomplished by
v
shall have added thereto their settings
and the hopes of improved conditions
for the oppressed both on the east and
on the west of us shall have reached
fruition, the remembrance that broth
er, father, or ancestor took part in the
events through which you have passed
with such signal honor, will be a
priceless legacy to your descendants.
The cause of liberty has not suffered
at your hands; human rights have not
been transgressed; human hopes have
not been blighted, but the world is
somewhat nearer the day of universal
peace, universal righteousness,and uni
versal self-goyernment because of
what has been achieved by the army
and navy of which you, citizen soldiers
of Iowa, have formed an integral part.
"a little over third of century
ago, there returned to this state, from
war that also reflected much honor
upon the nation, a much larger but no
brayer body of men. These heroes of
the old war, by common consent, have
been accorded peculiar privileges. 1t
has been theirs to say whatever they
pleased concerning the conflict in
which they We're engaged, and to free
ly.express their opinions rs, to the
righteousness or the unrighteousness
of the cause for which they rendered
the sacrifice of their lives. Theirs al
so it has been to teach their children
anything concerning the part their
fathers bore in the great struggle for
the preservation of the Union which
they considered essentials to good citi-
zenship. The same privileges will be
yours; and with you as with your
fathers, what you teach in your neigh
borhoods, in your homes, and at your