The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-07-21
DIDN'T PLEASE GEN, GORDON
(Continued from First Page.)

Let us cherish the memories,'' con- tinued General Gordon, ''and history
 will record and heaven judge, that both
 sides were right in fighting for what they believed was right. Let it be set
 tied on a basis of that immaculate
 truth that both sides were fighting for
 the constitution of their forefa thers."
 General Shaw responded gracefully
 to the generals exceptions. Our chll- dren should be taught said General
 Shaw, "the true glory and sublimity of
 our country; their fathers will teach | them this Let them be so alike, the | children of the north and of the south | that no difference will be perceptible." l The incident closed with three cheers | for the blue and the gray.
 The speakers of the day were General ! Albert D. Shaw, General John B. Cor don, Governor James A. Mont of h.
 diana, Hon. W. c. P. Breckinridge,
 General J. c. Breckinridge, inspector
 general U. S. A.; General A. P. Stew | art of Chattanooga and General o. O. Howard. General Shaw spoke in part as follows:
 I am proud to be present on this battlc- field of the great war and to meet and greet comrades and veterans of the North and of the South on this anniversary of the Peach Tree Creek battle of the eos. I am not here to speak of its details, for others will recount the reminiscent features of this famous fight. who were participants on either side; but am present as a Union veteran, to show my full sympathy with reunions of this sort, where brave former foes once engaged in the hot rush of con tending armies now meet as friends and fellow citizens, with common aims and in common rpnnblic the. world. l am to speak to-day, not off cially as the comInander-in-che of the Grand Army of the Republic, but as a vet eran and private soldier of Company A, 35th New York Volunteers, in which csp, Tied gun for two years, what walls up in my heart on this great occasion. be- lieyc the time has come when plain words should be spoken of q past that will for ever witch the world by it's great deeds American history between 1861 and 1865
 The Great War Days
 l will not dwell long upon the unhappy trend of events which led up to the open ing of the great war here and now. It will be enough to say that the South and the North became divided in the current of national ideas and sentiments of liber- ty, and slavery and state's rights became the causes of an "rrepressible conflict" be- tween two great sections of the Union. Our diplomacy and statecraft lamentably failed to compose the sectional differences that divided the nation along sectional lines, and the final appeal to the bloody court of war, through the cruel arbitrament of the sword. came as the last resort in the composing of vital questions In which the fate of the union was at stake
 And there followed four years of the fiercest internecine war of all the ages, fought in the main by armies of volunteers on either side, composed of the flower of the North and of the South, equally brave, equally as honest in their convictions of duty, and of Il girth and brain of lofty pa triotism that has won for their soldlerly qualities the admiration of the whole world. The great struggle was stupen- dous conflict unparalleled in its great sf- crifices in the history of wars, More and greater battles were fought and more men were killed, wounded and died of disease, than ever before went to their doom in the horrid holocaust of war during any simi lar period in history.
 The Cavalier and Puritan.
 The end came at AppomattoX, and the Cavalier Lee and the Puritan Grant faced each other on the closing scene of the most pathetic and bloody drawn of all the ages. The half drawn sword was motioned back, and the victorious leaders words sounded forth the death knel of past national diyi- sion and greeted the glorious dawn of new destiny, when he said How many tatiens dc your hungry soldiers needg" And then followed the blessed assurance that horses and side arms could be retained, the former as helps in the new life of peace and the latter as evidence of personal loy- altN. what q scene was t1lS, my c0un- tiytnen. Here stood side by side the grand representative of the Cavaliers and the splendid type of the Purtans, facing new epoch in the history of the saved nation. In this hour, big with events, the Puritan and Cavalier were merged into Il new pro- duct of our soil the one representative type of the future within our union, the American Christian citizen. Times cur. tain then dropped down to shut out from view the carnage of war, blood ceased to flow nd only the memories of the dread strife remained Peace, sweet peace came to bless all homes and gladden. all hearts within the circle of our Union.
 A New Destiny.
 The era of war had ended and the epoch of peace began. If 1t be true that there are no birds In last years nests, and that there can be no turning of the wheel with the water that has passed. so also must it be true that dead and gone events in the life of individuals and nations must rest upon the history of the recorded years. that slavery and States rights and the stars and bars should be surrendered, and henceforth there should be one Flag, one Faith, one Indlssoluble Union, and one Ideal and Sentiment on American Citizen ship. This was the immutabe basis of the final settlement of the question fought to q finish in blood and agony, in sum total of sacrifices almost appalling to con template. Ours was not war of conquest, but war to commandingly solve and settle the problems sectionalism had brought into view, for it had come to pass that nation. al unity was at an end unless this could be done As the great Lincoln tersely and wisely stated the issue: '"rhe nation could not exist half slave and half free" When the last resort of war had been tried and the south surrendered. then the bond of a common citizenship was sacredy signed in the blood of almost countless thousands, and henceforth ther was to be no national divisions and former sectional lines were to disappear utterly. This was the issue and Judgment of fate and war.
 Happy Reconciliation.
 I amproud to say on this glad day that us n whole and under all the conditions In Il broad view the South has nobly kept the bond at Lees surrender. The reconcila- tion has been as complete as 1t has been glorious in the happy circle of our redeem ed Union. The braveSt are the tenderest | and the heroic are the daring in all battles | of war or peace, and the stately and heroic l Lee and his able generals, as whole fully | accepted the bond of blood and at once en- | tered upon the era of peace, worthy in q surcharged with the sentiments mained under God for the Spanish -Ameri- can war to come to bring into line side by 1 side with the sons of veterans of the North | and the sons of veterans of the South | to the music of the Union, un- | der the stars and stripes, and commanded | by former wenrers of the Gray and the | Blue, to bring forth full concord between | Du toeS, anu thus secure q common senB,- 1 ment of American patriotism This meet ing, on the ground where the brave men | fought and fell during the fierce onsets of l trates the lessons of peace and concord of | he 'nOs I boVp inst Inentjonpd trust