The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1901-10-31

boro, month before the closing
: scenes.
Commanding the Second Regiment
of Heavy Artillery in the field, ! there
met some Of my old comrades and the
/ survivors Of the Twenty third and
! Twenty seventh Massachusetts of Gen
eral Fosters invincible brigade.
THE Twenty-fifth left Worcester
with 1045 men, including the field staff
and band; 1926 recruits were sent to the
! regiment; total 1871. 1t was in "a en-
! gagements, participating in the siege
I of Petersburg, in 1864. Total killed and
wounded during the war. 564 There
! died in prison, 61 Of disease and acct
dents, los. Two hundred and forty one
| were discharged for disability from
disease and wounds, making a total
| loss from all causes of 974. OF the 81
| prisoners Of war, only 36 survived
| Color bearers were down In the thick
est of the fight, but the colors were
never surrendered. Three, tattered and
| torn, are In the State House. and one
| in the City Hall. One was blown to
! shreds and destroyed by shot and shell
at Cold Harbor where the regiment
| suffered a loss of II per cent. Thirty
! four of our comrades accepted promo
! ton in other regiments. After nearly
| four years Of service, the survivors
were mustered out, July q, 1865.
| LAS we gather year by year, the
| whitened locks and furrowed cheeks
and absent ones whose faces we shall
see no more, remind us of the pass
| ing years. Fathers and mothers broth
ers and sisters, wives and children have
| fallen by the wayside, weary with the
march of life, and
1.-THE messy marbles rest
On the lips that we have pressed
In their bloom.
And the names we loved to hear
Have been carved for many year
On the tomb"
We are glad that we wore the blue
and followed the flag and helped, as
best we could, to place 1t where 1t is,
today, respected throughout the civ
iIized world, the emblem of the "land
of the free and the home Of the brave, .
Rev. DIR. Willard Scott, pastor Of
Piedmont Church, responded to the
toast 1.-The Soldier" His discourse
was Interesting and was listened to at
tentively by the members He spoke
of what the word soldier typified, and
felt when a man was a good soldier
he was more than worthy of being
called a good citizen.
Hon Alfred s. Roe, in responding to
the toast, president Mckinley" re-
called manx incidents Of soldier life
of more than passing interest to the
members. He repeated the incident
told years after the war by Gen. Phil
Sheridan when he first met President
Mckinley Mckinley was at that time
captain on the staff of Gen. Ruther-
ford B. Hayes. AS Sheridan dashed by
| Hayes and his staff at the engagement
| of Cedar Creek he used a number OF
| explosives to express his ideas on q
| point. Years after he said Had
| known that future President of the
United States was among the officers
/ saw standing on knoll at Cedar
! Creek, 1 might have modified my Ian
guage."
Mr.. Roe referred tenderly to the
death of the President, and said he was
pleased, as should be every citizen,
| that all foreigners were not under ban
/ because q foreigner has shot the Pres
/ ident. He said because the assassin
was Pole, do not put all of his coun-
trymen under a ban, for we must go
back to the days Of the Revolution
when a Pole, Gen. Kosciusko, stood by
! Gen. George Washington and did untold
good in Kidding this country forever
from it's tyrranical oppressor. Who
was it at Cold Harbor who said. after
he had received his death wound, he
was sorry he had but one life to give
for his country? Capt Tom ONeil. He
was born on foreign soil, but he was
a true American, and none more than
he, wanted to see the Union preserved"
Other speakers were Col. James Tue
ker of Boston, County Commissioner
Emerson Stone and Capt. Denny Of
Boston. Capt Denny said in part:
II am sure that when we were en-
gagged In defending our loved country
however optimistic we might have
been, not one of us expected to live
long enough to attend a reunion 40
years after the day when we raised
our right hands toward heaven and
swore allegiance to the government Of
the United States.
Let us be thankful that while so
many of our dear comrades have gone,
we have been spared to this time; that
we have lived long enough to see our
country prosperous in everything that
makes country great; that we have
lived long enough to see the boys who
wore the blue and those who wore the
gray go out together, keeping step to
the music of the Union, to defend Old
Glory and carry the freedom of our
flag to other lands; to see the Stars
and Stripes triumphant over As united
states our territory so expanded that
the sun never sets upon the land of the
free and the home of the brave.
Let us be thankful that by the
valor OF our arms from 1861 to 1866,
supplemented by the valor OF the sons
of 1898, we have been spared the mis-
fortune of miserable existence upon a
fallen and splfntered column Of a once
glorious temple"
other speeches were made by Capt.
Charles F. Tew, Martin McCue, Frank
Wright, Lieut.. Thomas Saul, A. &c.
Stevens, Capt. J. B. Knox, Col. James
M. brennan, Chaplain Spaulding Of
Fitchburg, j. z. Fisher, George Stone,
Jerome Stone and Luther Leighton of
Clinton
Among those seated at the table
were: Gen. Josiah Pickett, Charles w.
Putnam, Mayor Philip ]. O'Connell,
Col. James Tucker Of Boston, Hon.
Alfred s. Roe. Gen. A. B. r. Sprague,
Rev. DR.. Willard Scott, County Com
missioner Emerson Stone Of Spencer.
Luther Hill Stone of Spencer. Chap
lain j. Calvin Spaulding of Fftchburg,
Gen. Fred w. Wellington, Col. James
M brennan, Capt James b. Knox,
William w. Morris of Charlestown, A.
F. Bartlett, w. d. Blanchard of Leom-
mister, H. w. Fernald, Boston; j. w.
Kendall, East Princeton; Willard F.
Cheney, G. w Stone Oakham; Nat
II. Foster, North Brookield: c. N.
Winship. Barre; Ernest Winship Pratt.
Barre; j. G. Warren, West Brookfield;
Samuel w. Ward, Hannibal Whitmore.
Uxbridge; William A. Andrews. West
Boylston; Charles Allen, ]. E. Hol-
brook, sutton; C. A. Hyde. Shrews-
bury; A. L Thompson. Joseph Ray
mond. J. B. Reed. Boston; A. J. Kirby
Grafton; John Burke. F.. o. Holt
Gardner; James Molloy, Patrick Do
herty, Theodore Barber. Albert Stock
ade.
A. L. Bush. Thomas Hamilton, Man
chester, N H. Charles F. Tenney.
Boston: j. NJ Stone. Thomas Windle,
West MillhurY. Nathon u. Drury.