St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1901-08-07
TWO SCORE YEARS AGO.
q. A. r. Anniversary at Cleveland

"A pin marching ana WAVING
A~ of banners, with speechify
Wv ing and clarifying, tn,
Grand Army veterans cele
brate the days of aud lang syne a
the annual encampment in Cleveland
Sept 8 to IA. This is the fortieth an
niversary of 1861, the natal year of the
new nation. Forty years ago the colo,
mel in his spurs and the soldier in his
blouse were marching and waving
banners, speechifying and clarifying
all along the line from Maine to Iowa.
In September 1861, shin bruised and
bleeding, the army was looking the
war job over and bracing muscle and
limb for another trial. The job had
grown upon public common sense as
well as on public imagination since
Sumter days. Some old heads were
saying, Let our Maynard sisters of
the south go in peace" But the spunky
younger brothers of the north said,
thine enough for that after we have
given them a good spanking"
Sumter, Bull Run, Rich Mountain
and Wilson's Creek - the first a hui
initiation, the second a disaster, the
third a victory and the fourth a Bull
Run Of the westl Backward in swift
retrospect the mind of the volunteer
of autumn, 1861, Travelled without
tremor, without pause. What If 49,
000 what if 100000, what if 100000,
had fallen down on the job the first
three months? The new quota focked
to the tents singing;
"We're Coming, Father Abraham,
Three Hundred Thousand More"
Broken bones from Bull Run had
reached home to be mended, and fresh
graves of Bull Run heroes made their
brown scars upon every northern hill
side. Somebody had been hurt in try
ing to march from the Potomac to the
the same course, and more were ready
to face broken bones and early graves.
Words are weak to tell the story of
that first great uprising of April, like
the swift, instructive gathering Of the
surprised and wounded tigress for a
leap at the sudden and remorseless foe.
1t was mighty mood and a savage
one. The hosts who went marching on
and on, invoking the soul of John
Brown and proposing to swing Jeff Da-
Wis hammock under balmy apple
shades, were in earnest, and If the
time had been called while the fever
was high and the fit was on something
would have happened worth recalling
in 1901, perhaps the end of the war.
But a three months campaign Is just
time enough in which to find out |
whether or not you must fight and |
whether or not you're glad or sorry for
it.
v One volunteer Illustrated the differ
ence between the spirit of April and
September, 1861, by saying: Until Bull
Run was afraid l wouldn't get sight
of a Johnny's coattail till it was all
over. Then l went home, married the
girl l left behind me, rented out the
farm, Joined the church, made my will
and re-enlisted for the war"
All through that summer the Yankee
fathers were saying to their favorite
sons, "1f we lose the first battle, then
you may 60" OF course every favorite
son was sure the first battle would be
lost without him in it, but twas useless
to say So and he bided his time, mean
while getting familiar with the idea
that battles could be lost and taking in
other nuggets Of horse sense about war.
He was found in the ranks of Father
three hundred thousand"
One of the generals said that the troops
he took out in April, 1861, were the
finest soldiers and the poorest fighters |
an army ever had, but those who came |
to him after Bull Run were the poorest |
soldiers and the best fighters. When
they couldn't get at the enemy, they
fought among themselves, and the only
discipline they took to was the order,
"Come on, boys" when in a charge
1t was a prevalent notion in April,
1861, that the ne'er do wells-Tom,
Dick and Harry--were the kind to fill
the ranks as common soldiers. Young
men with stuff in them should wait for