The times., 1899-05-23
A SOLDIERS, MONUMENT.
Why Has Washington Not Raised
One to the Boys I'm Blue.


monument representing Lee and Grant
standing with clasptd hands as they stood
at Appomattox; and propositions have
been made at frequent intervals TO erect
at the Nations Capital monuments to va
rious generals and admirals who have
served their country with fidelity and
ability. No patriotic citizen will object to
the erection of such monuments as ex-
pressions of the nations appreciation of
and of its obligations to these distinguished
officers, provided they are deservedly so
distinguished above others Of the same
grade that such personal recognition OF
them works no injustice to others; but be-
fore any more monuments are erected TO
individual officers the historic fact that
the battles of the nation have not been
fought by armies and navies composed ex
clusively of generals and admirals should
be recognized.
While there are now standing in the
public parks of the Capital City statues of
ten generals and two admirals erected by
the nation, there is not a chip of marble
nor an ounce of bronze to intimate that
in the wars fought for the establishment
of national independence and for the per-
/ petuity of national life any soldier or sailor
of lower rank than that of general or ad
miral took part The nation may well
erect individual monuments to the few
who by the fortunes of war were singled
ont from the many deserving and who
were named and known, but the many un-
| named equally deserving should not be
, ignored nor go unhonored.
| There has been no time from the begin
! ming of the nations struggle for independ-
ence to the present day when any conf
pany or regiment of our army could not
have been officered by promotions of men
in them with other officers of equal patriot
ism, intelligence, and military ability; nor
when the brigades and divisions could not
have been officered from the regiments
I composing them. with other officers OF
p, equal merit; nor when the army corps or
! the army itself could not have been Off
cered, by promotions from the divisions,
with other officers of equal ability in every
| particular. And there has been no time
when any battleship or any squadros or
feet of our Navy or the whole Navy. could
not have been differed by promotions from
lower grades with other officers equal in
! every particular and equally deserving
| with those in command. Nor was such
/ loyalty to the Government, such zeal for
the cause, and such personal bravery as
should command national recognition at
any time possessed and shown alone by
those who were otherwise fitted for posi-
J tions of command. There have been hun
! dreds and thousands of men in the ranks
! doing the duties of common soldiers and
non commissioned officers. and on the
decks of our battlesbips doing the duties
of men in the humber positions, whose
patriotic devotion to country. whose zeal
fer the cause, whose fidelity in the dis
charge of every duty entrusted to them,
whose inherent manliness of character,
and whose alertness Of perception, accu
racy of judgment, promptness of decision,
and dduntless courage in execution of what
should be done at critical moments on the
battlefield or in strategic movement, were
not and never will be surpassed by officers
| of any rank in any army or navy, but who
while lacking the technical education
which would have fitted them for positions
of command only because the nation had
not afforded to them the opportunities for
acquiring such technical knowledge as it
| had afforded to the officers did their du-
ties in the humber spheres in which cir
cumstances placed them with such intelll-
gence, such fidelity, such zeal. and such
courage as only made the glorious record
of our armies and navies possible.
An ignorant, stupid, Indifferent soldiery
thoroughly drilled and massed in column
or in unbroken lines and under the fear of
discipline may be marched into battle and
be made TO load and fire their arms under
command; but the independence of the ma
| tion could not have been achieved nor
could the nations battles have been fought
and won with such an army, no matter
how efficiently differed.
| Ne other army ever marshaled could
| have fought the battles of Lexington and
Bunker Hill, and no other army than that
commanded by General Grant would or
could have fought and won such battles as
those fought on Lookout Mountain and on
Missionary Ridge where. from necessity.
every soldier was his own general and
where all depended on the intelligence and
on the individual courage and fidelity of
| each.
The nation could not and should not
/ attempt to erect a separate monument TO
every deserving officer nor to every deserv-
| ing soldier and sailor. but it can and it
must recognize the qualities in its citizen
soldiers and sailors which have won the
! admiration and the respect OF the world,
and it should give expression to its apprec-
| iation OF those qualities in a monument
which. in its impersonal character, shall
stand for each and shall include all.
The monument TO be erected at the
! Nations Capital to its defenders must not
| be a library, nor hospital, nor a
bridge, nor any similar institution
for changing administrations or con-
tending political parties or warning muni-
| n o. p,
a monument erected by the nation, in
honor OF its defenders. 1t cannot be more;
| il must be less.
II Libraries and hospitals and bridges are
| 10 be built and ornamented with statuary
| the presence of representatives of the ma
tons citizen soldiery in bronze and mar
! bic will not be out of place there; but
| these as ornaments and associated with
the idea OF utility, cannot be accepted as
sufficient recognition. Such a monument
as is here contemplated, and all connected
with 1t must suggest but one thought
must breathe but one sentiment--the ma
tion's recognition of and its gratitude for
patriotic devotion and service which may
! be appreciated, but which can never be
repaid.
The building of such a monument is not
! the proper work of an individual or Il
society, nor of any number of individuals
or societies. and past experience and OBJ
| seryation show that IL such a work is
undertaken by individuals or by societies
It will fail: and such an attempt ought 10
| fail. No man of this or the next genera
| ton will live to see the dividing line be-
tween the results of Individual effort and
that of national completion erased from the
| Washington Monument, and no patriotic
citizen can see that dividing line. know
ing its history. without wishing it were