The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-07-20
Gordon Was the First Speaker, and
Was Followed by the Chief of
the Men in Federal Blue.
ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR MOUNT
SPLENDID TRIBUTE TO THE WORTH
OF AMERICAN MANHOOD.
Mission of the Former Enemies in
ObIiterating the Nations Scars
The Other Speakers.

ATLANTA, Ga, July 19.-Five thousand
members of the Grand Army of the Re-
public and the United Confederate Veter-
ans Justify cheered the commanders Of
these two OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Albert f.
Shaw and General John B. Gordon-as they
sat together upon the stage of the Grand
Opera House at the kindling of the camp
fire Of the blue and gray reunion here to-
night. The occasion the formal begin
ming of the reunion of the surviving vet
Grams of the Union and Confederate armies
who fought in the battles around Atlanta
in July, 1854. President Mckinley. unable
to be present, sent his regrets in the fol-
lowing telegram:
my inability TO be with you during the re-
union of the blue and the gray in Atlanta
this week. Such reunions are gratifying
evidences of good feeling and comrade-
ship and give assurance of the permanence
of our government resting upon the patriot
ism of reunited people. Please express
TO those who may be present my cordial
congratulations and best wishes.-Wiiliam
Mckinley"
The Presidents words brought the audi
ence to its feet in a burst Of applause.
When General Gordon, who was the first
speaker of the evening, was presented to
the vast audience by Col. w. A. Hemphill,
master of ceremonies, the cheering con-
tinued for several minutes. General Cor
don said:
'For more than a third of a century
1 have earnestly and unwaveringly lahored
for the realization of this era Of Amer
lean brotherhood. All hail the power OF
an all-pervading Americanism which shall
make of us in truth, as in name, one peo-
pie, inspired and swayed by the one lofty
and resistless purpose to do justice to all
nations; but to see to ii that the flag
of this Republic shall be a protecting
power over every American in all lands,
even in bloody and barbaric China. All
hail the day when with one accord we
shall proclaim to all the world that every
drop of American blood shed by unlawful
hands shall be avenged by American man
hood"
No less enthusiasm greeted Gen. Shaw.
He began by saying:
This is the first time I have ever heard
General Gordon, and want to say our Ma
tion owes him more than any other for
the voice he has raised for our Union and
nothing but our Union. In my recent visits
through the South my heart has been
stirred by the evidence that We are to
live hereafter in the present.
1--WE understand each other now. 1t was
an untold sacrifice to learn the lesson of
the past and now let us learn the lesson of
unity.
LET us go forward until as Abraham
Lincoln said, this Nation becomes the
happy and united home of 600, 900 of con-
tented people,
GOV. MOUNTS ADDRESS.
Governor Mount, of Indiana, was the
next speaker. He was received with hearty
applause and spoke as follows:
Comrades OF the Blue and the Gray
Thirty-six years ago the storm of battle
swept around the city of Atlanta From
hilltops and valleys echoed the din of war.
Heroic, intrepid soldiers, Americans all,
met in mortal combat this sanguinary
field. For more than two months the ar
mics of Sherman and Johnston had been
daily engaged in maneuvering, SkirmiSh-
ing and lighting, which eliminated in the
great battles around this city. The partici-
pants in the civil war had not precipi-
tated the conflict that called them forth to
battle. The Ominous muttering of the gath
ering storm had long threatened the tran
quillity of the Nation. There was a con-
fiict of opinion, controversy over consti-
tutional rights. that neither the Congress
of the United States nor state legislatures,
nor courts of justice could settle. Divers
opinions over constitutional questions in
volving the irrepressible conflict between
free and slave interests dl sided the Ma
ton into bitter sectional strife. Antagonis-
tic interests led to acrimonious debate
which engendered bitter strife. Families
and friends were alienated. churches divid-
ed and the bonds of unity and concord be-
tween the States sundered. LII was our
night of gloom and sorrow. the crisis OF the
Nations supreme peril. Statesmen could
a n
the penumbra the approaching day of
peace. Grave questions which had long
disturbed the tranquility of the Nation
were now TO be settled by the last arbiter-
the sword.
War followed, the magnitude of which
finds no parallel. This war lasted six times
as long as the Franco-Prussian war, and
the United States lost seven times as many
men in killed and wounded as Germany lost
in overrunning all OF France and in the
defeat of the French armies. There We're
seventy-three Union generals and 6,365
other Union officers killed on the field of
battle On the Union side the loss of life
was 334. 900. while the Confederate loss was
near 00,000-more than twice as many as
composed the great armies of France and
Germany at Sedan. more than three times
as many as the combined armies of We'll
lington and Napoleon at Waterloo.
"Braver men were never marshaled into
battle array than the men of the North
and the South. For intelligence. loyal devo-
tion to the cause espoused and determined
purpose TO win the great armies of the
Union and the Confederacy stand un-
matched I'm the annals OF war. The charge
OF the Light Brigade at Balaklava or of
the Old Guard at Waterloo pales into in
significance compared to Pickett's daring
charge at Gettysburg. The percentage of
loss of the brave six hundred who charged
into the Jaws of death,
"'Cannon 10 right of them.
Cannon to left of them.
yolleyed and thundered.
was not half as great as the loss sustained
by the First Minnesota at Gettysburg
when. in a charge. 160 out of 200 were killed
or wounded. AT this reunion Of the Blue
and the Gray. appropriate IL seems to
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