The Redwood gazette., 1902-06-04

against those who would dare pluck
oven one star from our banner OF
blue. This man is the one par ex- :zl
.cellencen above all else, that I most
admire and on whom this country and
the stability Of our government must
forever depend the humble but nigh
ty American volunteer.
Yes, that splendid gala throng of
volunteers that went forth in '61, with
flying colors, youthful hearts fired with
otism, presented quite another
picture in '65, as you proudly marched
home again with colors flying, but
dusty in garment and sad of heart, for
many of your brave comrades had been
left dead in the trenches, never to
speak the story Of their valor to those
who gathered around the ireside
home.
Venerable veterans of that once
grand army Of volunteers, my own
heart throbs with joy and happiness
that you have done me the high honor
this day to address you. Magnificent,
indeed, was the cause you fought for,
the object for which you bled, but
greater still, in my esteem was the
conflict you had to pass through, such
as no other nation has ever been called
on to endure, which shook the world
on its foundations, by the tread ola
million of armed men, and darkened
the fair shining Of the sun with the
smoke of thousand battle fields. You
could far more vividly than I, tell your
own experience on the bloody fields of
battle.
Maybe you were with Hooker at
fredericksburg or with Rosecrans at
Chattanooga, or that you marched with
Sherman from "Atlanta to the sea-"
or that you fought and bled, it may be,
even at Gettysburg. Oh Gettysburg,
where the eternal hills crown the val
leys of the Shenandoah, where the
flower Of southern liberty fought duel
to the death with the three dauntless
heroes of the Union, where the sickle
of death reaped sheaves of the choicest
wheat in all our land, and whereon
thousands of mothers, fathers, sisters
and sweethearts roamed to and fro in
the days that followed that immortal
three days. battle, seeking for the NOR
tai mangled remains of their loyed
ones. To seal the Union, Gettysburg
cost the liyes of 100000 soldiers, which
widowed l6, 900 women, and orphaned
over 10000 children.
No wonder, then, with solemn and
impressive ceremonies, when Lincoln
came to dedicate the National burying
ground Of the loyal soldiers who fell at
Gettysburg, he said truly, sit was I'M
possible further to dedicate, to conse-
crate or to hallow this ground, which
was already hallowed, dedicated and
doubly consecrated by the march of the
living who struggled there, and blessed
by the presence of the sleeping dead.
So when the last breathing hole OF
| the rebellion was closed, and Whining.
ton evacuated, and the Flag of Old
Glory again foated from Fort Sumter
| the cause of our common country haG
been fought and won. Our beloved
dead had not died in vain. This nation
under God, had a new birthday OF
freedom, and the government of tht
people took new strength in the words
of Honest Abe" that it shall never
perish from the earth. Then the pa
! triotic and mighty volunteer flung
away the garb and the weapons o
war, and donning again the dress Of
simple civilian he returned to his loved
ones at home to part from them nc
! more.
Speaking of volunteers, whilst ii
would be altogether impossible to
do justice in Memorial Day oration,
to the several particular States that
fought SO gallantly in the civil war,
still my reason tells me would be an
untrue and disloyal citizen of the North
Star State if failed to mention two
noble parts Minnesota played to help
and save the Union
The grand old Fifth Minnesota, of
which John Ireland was chaplain, how
you closed that gap and saved the day
at Corinth. How you lay behind the
levee all the weary hours Of the night
at Vicksburg, whist the enemies mon
strous shot and shell screached over
your heads as they cut the trees in
twain, making its victims grey as bad
gers before your release from that hell
hole of destruction. Then. the surren-
der of Pamberton and the capture of