The Topeka state journal., 1899-11-23
Monuments to the Sons of IIli-
nOiS Who Fell
At Chickamauga Field and
Missionary Ridge
DEDICATED TODAY.
More Than a Thousand Resi-
dents of the State
Make the Journey to Witness
the Ceremony.

o'clock this morning the exercises OF
dedicating the 1O7 monuments and the
markers of the state of Illinois on the
battlefeIds surrounding the city were
held at Orchard Knob, the site of one
of the principal memorial shafts and
famous during the civil war as the
headquarters of Gen. Grant. It is esti-
mated that more than one thousand
residents of Illinois and at least 5000
Chattanooga people attended the eXer-
cises. Among the distinguished visitors
were Senator Cullom, Governor Tanner.
and staff of Illinois,. Commissioner of
Pensions H. Clay Evans, Gen. H. V.
Boynton, representing the secretary of
war and a. large delegation from the
confederate camp of this city
Major Charles A. Connolly delivered
the speech presenting the monuments
to the governor of Illinois on behalf of
the Illinois commissioners.
Governor Tanner of Illinois received
the monuments. delivering an eloquent
speech of acceptance and in turn pre-
Sented them to the government
Gen. Henry V BOyntOn, president of
the Chickamauga Park commission re-
ceived the monuments in behalf of the
secretary of war.
BOYNTONS ADDRESS.
General H. V. Boynton, chairman of
the National Park commission in re-
ceiving the monuments said:
THE citizens of any state, or of any
nation, might we'll be proud to stand on
TINS historic spot, with the right to
stand here as the military associates
of General Grant, participants with
him, each in his appointed rank, in that
miracle of military history, the storm
ing of Missionary Ridge. First, toward
this point, and then from this point he
directed that series Of memorable bat
| ties Which have given Chattanooga
! worldwide fame.
But it is especially fitting that the
| state of Illinois which gave Grant to
| the Union army should come here and
set up a monument to the heroism Of
| its soldiers upon the very ground of his
| field headquarters, and from which he
observed the progress of the battle. It
| is also fitting that Illinois should place
| that other lofty shaft which looks down
| upon US from the crest reached by his
| victorious columns so largely composed
/ of soldiers from that state. And it is
| especially fitting that Illinois, in the
presence of its chief executive and his
staff, accompanied by many of it's dis
! tinguished men, by this large represen-
! tation of its citizens. and by these
! laurel-crOwned heroes of the musket
and the sword, who glOrified this region
/ with the proWess of their arms a gener-
! alton ago, should gather on this ami
| versary to dedicate the monuments
/ which their state has erected to COM
! memOrate the valOr of her sons.
| LAS we stand upon this spot, the
/ spirit which actuated General Grant
/ must of necessity move ali hearts to-
| day. What brave men, whether he
| taught under the flag for which we all
! fight now, or under the battle flag Of
/ the South, will ever forget that the VIC
| tory at AppamatOx sent Southern SOL
! diers home with their horses which, in
/ hi sthOughtfulness of the general well
/ fare, he saw they would need for their
| spring pIOwing? Or when will pass
! from the minds of men his military
! Observation-Disclosures directed, we must
| belieVe@Let US live in peace?' Over
! every corner of our land that peace has
! come to abide forever. And in its
! blessed strength inspired bv the joint
memories of all our armies and their
! leaders, and all our battlefieldS, the
nation has sent its flag half around the
/ earth and taken its place as one of
/ the controlling powers Of the world.
! What of the soldiers who won the
/ battles which these monuments COM
( memOrate, and the great captains who
/ command them2
did General Grant spend his time
I about the cOmmiSSary stores in the ca
/ pacity of a pure food commissioner?
/ Did ne send his staff officers through
/ out the limits of his command to gather
] evidence to prove that the war depart-
( ment did not know more than a thing
/ or two about war? Did he fill the press
! Of the land with interviews criticizing
| everything and everybody hCt himself?
! When he teIegraphed General Thomas
! from Louisville to hold Chattanooga,
! did Thomas reply, We are out of the
/ proper brand of meat and it can't be
! done or, did he reply, We viii hold the
/ town till we starve?' Did General
/ Thomas and his general officers send a
| round robin to Washington concern
! ing the condition of their stOmachs.
/ thei Temperature and their pulse and
/ promptly furnish a copy of it to the
/ press?
And what of the soldiers who served
under General ThOmaS2 They went
about the streets of Chattanooga, and
/ the horse and mule COrrals, picking up
! kernels Of scattered corn. They gath
! cred about the refuse heaps of the COM
missary stores where mOuldy bread
was thrown, whitfield off the mould and
/ filed their haVerSackS with the crumbs
and when interrupted by the play of
! the seige guns. they would look UP at
the smoking summit of Lookout and
eXclaim, If these rations hold, Mr..
/ Johnny Reb. We'll get you vet
The monuments which illinois here
! dedicates are to such officers and men.
( Let the small, but the loud and persist
/ ent crowd of gumblers Of the National
guard in the war with Spain, who filed
the land with their baseless grOanings,
! take notice of the kind o soldiers which
| an American state delights to honor.
And those who fought against these
iron men were soldiers of like mould
1 When Union veterans gather, that fact
| should never be forgotten, and ever be
/ held as a matter of pride, since, to-
! getheT, they fix the universal and IN
/ disputed standard of American pluck.
endurance anr heroism on the field of
! battle.
This great park, embracing seven
I battlehelds, is being established with
Z absolute impartiality as a military OBJ
| ject lesson, and an illustration of the
| prOwess of the American soldier in bat
tie. More than a thousand historical
| tablets attest this impartiality. The like
| of it was never seen before in tiny land.
ITO it's establishment and develop
| ment Illinois has most generously con-
/ tributed. and its state commission has
! been efficient, energetic. painstaking
and able, and has reflected credit equal
~ upon the governor whose officers
| they are, and upon their state To that
distinguished son of Illinois, Hon,
! Joseph G, Cannon the park project