The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1900-08-30
1850

lion all hau part. Extending south
in Michigan avenue was solid col.
umn of odd soldiers. OF the many
hundreds of posts in the United States
and Alaska all were represented except
about 200. 1t was the big feature OF
encampment week and proved to be
a magnet which drew hundreds Of
thousands into the downtown dis
trict.
Rent with Age.
! long line of blue winch passed
under the festoons and banners were
i marchers bent with age. The cane
and the crutch took the place of saber
and musket. There were 10000 men
in uniform to represent the 2,500O00
soldiers who went out of service after
Appomatox.
/ Old Soldier Falls Dead.
But there was blot upon the
standard. Right in the midst of the
| glitter and the eclat of it all vet
eran dropped dead. Patriotic mu-I
/ sic was sweeping over the swarm |
of people at Madison street and |
Michigan avenue when suddenly
| Charles BecLivith, 65 years old, bowed
/ ahN bNhtp ACAA W OiiC NODOlC oNOhC1f
dead. He was with Sheridan post No.
| 4, department of Michigan.
4 The start.
The white banner of peace and the
stars and stripes led the column, as,
heralded by IL trumpeters, it marched
south through the army arch and into
the court of honor. First there was
the Pageant of Patriotism," Gen.
Daniel Z. Sickles of New York, COM
manding. Escorting him was the ia
nous Lafayette post of New York,
and then came the O;d Guard post of
| Washington, whose members lost
limbs in the civil war.
| Guests of Honor.
The guests of honor were next,
among them being Gen. Nelson A.
Miles, the duke and duchess of ARGOS
| and the presidents of the Woman's
Relief Corps, the ladies of the G. A. r.
and the Army Nurses association.
Order of the Parade.
| Col. Joseph II. Wood grand marshal
of the day, led the column, escorted
by the citizens committee, mounted,
100 strong, and then came Wisconsin,
leading the veterans of the grand
army The bands played Tramp,
Tramp, Tramp, the Boys Are March
| ing" and there was swelling of
hearts in the breasts OF the thousands
| of onIookers as the little handful of
| survivors of the famous Iron Brigade
marched by, led by Gen. Edward S.
| Bragg.
The veterans of the Badger state
1 r.II ~
| sylvania, their old battle flags attract-
ing much attention. Ohio made
magnificent showing in the second di-
vision. and was followed oy New York.
the BidwelI-Wilkeson post of Buffalo
having the honor of escorting the
coumander-in-chief Next came posts
from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New
Jersey, Maine, California, Nevada,
Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Yer
/ mont, Virginia, North Carolina, Mary
land, Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa and
| Indiana, Indiana had the honor of
/ having more men in line than any
| other of the visiting states. Follow
| ing it were the veterans from Colora-
do and Wyoming, Kansas, Delaware,
Minnesota, Missouri, Oregon, Ken
lucky, West Virginia, South Dakota,
/ Washington, Arkansas, Tennessee,
Mississippi, Texas, Idaho. Arizona and
other states, Illinois. with the battle
flags of the state, bring up the rear
of the parade.
| Battle Flags in Line.
| Fifty ragged and torn battle flags
in the pageant of patriotism attracted
/ at In, ha hax
carried by New York regiments, but
Tuesday the members of Columbia
post, Chicago, bore them, tightly
wrapped to their stats. The post was
formed IN four platoons by Com
mander NJ. w. Diffiey, the flags and
escorts being in the center of hol-
low square. This display of war relics
brought cheers from the crowd every
where along the line of march
Five Hours Passing Reviewing stand.
The signal gun for the start of the
procession was fired shoruy after ten
o'clock, and the parade was nearly five
hours in passing the reviewing stand.
Arch Dedicated.
Before the parade the attraction
was the dedication of the Army arch
in front of the Victoria hotel. As the
veterans gazed up at the white arch
which spanned the street and beheld
the names of Lincoln, Grant, Logan,
Sherman and Sheridan lettered there
on in bold relief they cheered again
| and again.
The dedcatoFy exercises opened
with an invocation by Chaplain Coulter,
of New York. Commander in Chief
Shaw from a raised platform deliv-
cred the dedicatory address. He point
ed to the names engraved on the arch
and said those names would appear
in the pages of history to the end of
/ time.
| There were cries for Gen. Nelson A.
| Miles, and when the commander Of
the army of the United States stepped
up beside Commander in Chief Shaw
he was given storm of cheers by the
veterans. He gave them a patriotic
address. filled with sentiments which
occasioned wild cheering.
| State Reunions.
Reunions of the veterans by states
were held in the evening. As 26 states
furnished volunteers from 1861 to 1865,
so there were as many reunions. BY
these state assemblies men who have
not met for years were given an OPP
portunity to shake hands again with
ehums of army days.