The Mankato free press., 1901-05-31

to the call for aid. But in the loya
north, the response was free and with
out reserve. From the factories ant
workshops of the east, from the for
ests of the north, from the fertile fields
of the middle and western states, came
men of every trade and calling, to en-
roll themselves under the stars auG
stripes, the old banner of freedom, tt
save the life of the nation.
Think you these men, as they severa
every tie that bound them to their
lpast surroundings, and rushed to The
lscene of the conflict, thought less o.
home and friends and fresides, thar
in former times? Did men think les!
of their wives and their little helpless
children? Less of their grayhaireC
fathers and mothers? Nay AS the
Thought and time of parting came,
nearer and dearer grew those loved
Zones, and stronger the ties that bound
men to their homes. But the life OF
the nation was menaced and hanging
in the balance. And men who pos,
sessed the most sterling worth and in,
tegrity, who loved home and family
best, also were most true to theil
Icountry. This country, broad and un,
ldivided, had been the pride as we'll as
the home of their fathers, and they
were resolved that undivided, it should
be the home and the pride of their
children and their children's children
And the adopted sons of America,
coming from the vine terraced banks
| of the Rhine-the dear old Deutschen
| vaterland-from the snowcovered hills
| of Norway and Sweden, from England
and from sunny France, all, as they
had come to this country for the sake
of freedom, showed their willingness
to sacrifice their lives, if need be, on
freedom sacred altar. Like the rev.
lolutionary hero, the farmer left his
| plow in the furrow the artisan left
his shop the merchant his store, the
lawyer his books, and took up the
sword and the musket and marched to
the frowning front. In those days,
and the dark days that followed our
grand state of Minnesota sent to the
front something like one seventh of
her entire population. And that too,
when able bodied men were (for a
time) sorely needed at home to pro-
tect our people from the ravages of
the red man. 1t should be source of
pride to each of us citizens of this
great state, native born and adopted,
| that Minnesota showed such unt1inch-
ing loyalty to our country, in the hour
of national distress In that dark
period of time, it required patriotism
to stem the tide of rebellion, and a
noble patriotism sustained the Union
soldier in life, in health, in sorrow,
sickness, and in death. Right here
mention might be made of those who
fought on the other side of Mason and
Dixon's line. What shall we say of
their patriotism and zeal? 1 think l
| am not ungenerous. l have no desire
to call up bitter memories. But l
| cannot place the patriotism of those
who fought to destroy the nation, on
level with that of those who fought
and who fell to preserve it. The
patriotism of the Union soldiers was
broad as the country they fought to
| save. The patriotism of the confeder-
ate soldiers was local, sectional, while
| they fought to destroy our common
country. Honest in their convictions
the rank and file of the southern army
may have been. But if SO, their ideas
of right and wrong had been warped,
and their judgment distorted. Brave
| they were, and foemen worthy of your
| SVOCI. DuI lOI hO III l1y plSSCuSO,
place on an equality the men who gave
who trailed it in the dust. 1 shall
not dwell upon the scenes of the four
weary years of the war. You veter-
ans know more of the incidents OF
those years than l can tell you.
know not what leader you followed,
know not what rank you bore. l know
not whether you aided Grant in win
ming his first great victories at Shiloh
and Vicksburg. Whether you swept
Missionary Ridge under Sherman, OF
fought with Hooker, the battle above
the clouds. Whether you, with Meade
and Hancock, hurled back the power
Of rebellion from the fercely fought
field of Gettysburg, or toiled in the
battle of the Wilderness. Whether you
marched with Sherman through Geor-
gia and to the sea, or bravely charged
with the eagle eyed Logan, or gallant
Phil Sheridan. The history of those
years is written in your hearts and
minds, as in the minds and hearts Of
millions in our land. With saddened
heart and moistened eye, you recall
the memory of many brave comrade,
who marched at your side to the field
of battle, who did not live to return tc
gladden. the eyes and hearts of wait
ing, watching friends. You remember
how they died. How they fell by
thousands before the grape and cannis
ter upon the bloody field of battle.
How, faint and sick, they sank by the
wayside, on the weary march. How
they wasted away in prison pens, dy
ing of starvation, while feverisheG
dreams of home and friends and
plenty, fitted through their brains
How their lives ebbed away in the
fever-fed bitches There, amid the
toll and hardship come to them and
to you, messages from home. Words
of cheer and comfort from friends SO
many hundred miles away. Not al
ways, however. did those messages
bring good tidings. But sometime.
brought news as sad as any you sent
back to your far away homes. On'
soldier is told that his aged father,
who never wept till he bade his sol
good by, has grown weary, and gone tt
his last, long rest. Another, that hi
mother whose soft, sweet lullab,
comes back, like the sounds of sweet
est. music. from distant, wasted years
shall meet him nevermore. Another
that his waiting, watching youne
wife has sickened and died, and the
light in the window shall burn fo
him no more forever. Or that little
Johnnie, asking if papa would never
come home again, has closed his eyes
to open them only in the land of eter-
nal rest. And so the soldier would take
up his burden anew, wondering whe1
the end would come-the end that 81
many of them never lived to see
Some were laid in lonely graves, nov
unknown to mortal man. Others were
brought back. one by one to the hom,
of their childhood, with the shadow O.