The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1902-05-29
COMRADES IN The
WHITE HOUSE.
BY M. X. Rutledse
Copyright, 1902, by Fl. Musk, I

S copyright, 1902. by IT. Musk.l
I'VE veterans of the civil war
= were honored with the highest
- gift in the hands of the people,
election to the, White House.
s>s@" Mckinley, the last of the five,
was nearer to the mass of his former
comrades in arms because he came
from the ranks. William McKinley's
army career was that of a typical
American volunteer. ....
T. While serving as a private in the
ranks Mckinley formed the army
friendships which bound him to the
old soldiers throughout all his distin-
guished career. When he lay wounded
to the death in Buffalo, his old regi-
ment, the Twenty-third Ohio, held it's
annual reunion at Cleveland, and the
chairs which had been prepared for
him on the platform and at the banquet
board were left vacant except for the
drapihgs Of the stars and stripes. These
mute memorials were more impressive
than the real presence of the president
would have been, for in the gatherings
Of old comrades all ranks are leveled.
President Mckinley at the Cleveland
festivities would have been one of the
boys. Every private soldier who shared
his dog tent or divided rations with
Private William Mckinley in 1861
would have been the equal for a day
of the president of the United States
by the mystic bond Of comradeship.
Grant was the first president enrolled
in the ranks OF the Grand Army Of the
Republic. The year of his first inau-
guration, 1868, the Grand Army was in
the second year of it's existence and
numbered but a few thousand veter-
ans. In that year the custom of deco
rating the graves Of the fallen COM
rades was first officially observed by
the order. During the eight years of
Grants occupancy Of the White House
the society gained in influence and
membership. After he laid down the
cares Of Office and was on the eve of
departure on his trip around the world
Grant was mustered in under a special
dispensation suspending the rules for
initiating new members. The ceremony
IOON p1eA\C III 1uA1duCApA1d LII Iue PRES
ence of delegation of comrades of
Post 1, Department of Pennsylvania.
Immediately after the muster the par
ty repaired to Independence hall,
where the eEpresident and former gen.
eral of the army shook the fraternal
hand of several hundred Grand Army
men. On his return to the United States
in 1879 Comrade Grant was given an
enthusiastic welcome at a mammoth
Grand Army campfire held in the
Academy Of Music, Philadelphia. In
the course. of speech, accounted brief,
but long for the "silent man" who ut
tered it, he used three times the word
so dear to the old soldier-that is,
Comrades
General Hayes, General Garfield.
General Harrison and Major Mckinley
were veterans Of the Grand Army
when they were called to the presiden-
tial chair. Hayes, Garfield and McKin-
ley came from the state noted for vet
eran enthusiasm in all things. Indiana,
the home of Harrison, had proud rec
ord in the war, and the activity of her
veterans since the founding of the
Grand Army has kept her in line as a
soldier state.
Grant alone among the veteran presi-
dents was professional soldier. Yet
even ne, West Pointer though he was,
entered the war as an Illinois volun-