Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1899-02-25

marx the Contribution winch ireland mas
yielded to preserve the flag of this great
land and the integrity and power of re-
publican institutions Read out the mus
ter rolls of the volunteer army Of this
land, and answer if Irish blood is not
there a-plenty to testify his devotion to
truth, justice and liberty. No, the desire
of narrow cult of Anglomaniacs to turn
honest American opinion was defeated
by the spontaneity with which our peo-
pie answered. The alliance with Eng
land has not yet been effected, and it
may be that the leopard will lie down
with the lamb ere the wish of this cult
will be gratifed. They will have to prove
to Americans by actions rather than
honeyed words in subsidized journals
that England is their friend and we
enemies. We, of Irish blood, have no
apologies or excuses to offer for our past
deeds in America This regiment, of
which have the distinguished honor of
being but an humble member, stands
today before the world as the repre-
sentative military corps of race whose
loyalty and devotion to American in
stitutions have never been shaken, and
whose sacrifice in blood and treasure
contributed in a great measure to rear
them aloft. The Sixty-ninth Irish Regi-
ment of the New York Guard stands as
the connecting link between the actu-
alities of the present and the traditions
of glorious past. Organized in 1851 by
the refugees of Young Ireland" it lives
the embodiment and exponent of their
principles. 1t takes up the thread of
tradition from the cradle days of this
nation-that story which tells us how
John Sullivan and his brother James,
sons of an Irish schoolmaster, captured,
and took from Fort William and Mary
the arms and munitions which subse-
quently on Bunker Hill sounded the
death knell of monarchy in America. 1t
tells us of the sacrifices and deeds of a
Knox, a Wayne, a Moylan, Fitzgerald
and a Conway, of the Irish dragons;
aye-let caviliers question who dare-of
Morgans famous Irish Rifiemen; how
Count Roche threw up his commission in
the French service and was the first of
the foreign swordsmen to come to fight
for freedom. 1t tells us that 800 of
Rochambeau' legion were the veterans
of Frances famous Irish Brigade. From
Quebec, where the Irish Montgomery
laid down his life, to the ramparts of
Savannah in the South, Irish blood
flowed lavishly on every field during that
seven years struggle. Nor must we for
get the deeds of McComb, Jackson,
Barry, O'Brien or McDonough, in the
war 1912, when the status of an American
citizen was determined once and for all.
In the Mexican war Shields and Kearney
with numerous others upheld the honor
of the fighting race"
In the great contest of 1861 there could
no more be room for doubt than in the
last. Disregarding the debated questions
which tore the nation apart when trea-
son showed her foul face at Sumter, the
representative corps of the Irish in
America, the Sixty-ninth, hurled itself
into the fray and became the mother of
regiments and brigades. Needless to
mention the names of Meagher, Shields,
Corcoran, Mulligan, Nugent, Kelly,
Guiny, Cass and Sheridan and others who
led their countrymen on many bloody
field from Corinth to Petersburg.
Nor in the recent conflict, as said be-
fore, can a doubt remain in an honest
mind as to our position. Irish-American
military organizations asked no guaran-
tees before they would leave their States
to defend, if need be with their lives, the
nations honor. They knew but how to
do their duty, and fastened to do that
duty with the same alacrity that they
would have answered a call to strike one
blow for that island home which had
given birth to them or their fathers.
fear 1 have detained you over long
with my disjointed remarks, but could
not allow the occasion to go by without
calling attention to the last attempt to
belittle or deny the facts of American
history by the narrow, illiberal coteries
of so-called Anglo-Saxons Tories in re-
ality) and the harborers of that still
more homeless, countryless fiction-the
Scotch-Irish.
thank you again and again for this
manifestation Of your esteem. thank
you in the name of those forty COM
rades of mine who sleep their last sleep
beneath Southern sky or are scattered
through the cold, silent graveyards Of
the North. In the name of the $50 brave
fellows who succumbed to horrors OF
camp disease and fevers, thank you
for this tribute.
And last, though not the least, in the
name of that splendid body you saw
march home last Monday evening, who,
had an opportunity presented. would
have shed additional luster on the Irish
name. The Sixty-ninth Regiment, New
York Volunteer Infantry, has passed out
of existence and nothing but the memory
remains. 1t was worthy the tribute paid
last week and this last in honoring me.
And assure you as one OF that corps
l will not forget it. Neither am l un-
mindful of your kindness to me person