The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-05-29
ALL ARE UNION MEN.
FederaIs and Confederatcs Are Unit.
ed Under Ono FLAG.
Come, let US fairest flowers spread
Wherever sleep the hero dead,

Come, let us fairest flowers spread
Wherever sleep the hero dead,
Nor ask, on this Memorial day,
Whether they wore the blue or gray
1.-The war has made us nation or great
power and intelligence. We have but ut
tie to do to preserve peace, happiness anu
prosperity at home and the respect OF
other nations. Our experience ought 10
teach us the necessity Of the hrst' our
power secures the latter. I feel that we
are on the eve of a new era, when there
is to be great harmony between the red
eral and the confederate. cannot stay
to be q living witness to the correctness
Of this prophecy, but l feel 1t within me
that 1t is to be SO. . The universally klnd
feeling expressed for me at time when II
was supposed that each day would prove
my last seemed to me the beginning OF
the answer to let us have peace
These are the words of General Grant,
written sixteen years ago. The condition
which he foresaw is now indeed come to-
pass. ~. & lsis4
The great commander did not long sur
vive this noble and prophetic utterance.
The tributes of which he spoke We're no
doubt due in a large degree to personal
good will on the part Of his former antag-
onists, for the southern people saw IN
Grant one Of the greatest military men
of the age, a frank and resolute oppo-
nent, fighting to the last while lighting
remained to be done, but every reader to
extend the hand Of brotherhood when the
battle was over and the enemy had SUI
rendered. The year just PASSED has Wit
messed the fulfllment of General Grant
prophecy.
The era Of good feeling between federal
| and confederate has come Indeed there
is no federal; there is no confederate. All
are union men, united under one tag, up
holding the honor and interests OF our
Fl f,rrr, fnrf
glories while forgetting the animosities
Of the past. For the first time In half a
century American blood has been shed In
a foreign war, and on this year's Mem
orial day flowers will be strewn over the
gallant dead from north and south who
| fell not in sectional strife, but In battle
against an alien foe.
| The veterans Of the civil war are fast
| passing away. The survivors are nearly
| all old men,
Memorial day does not lose it's interest,
however, as years roll on Rather do Its
| associations become more sacred as the
scenes Of the great conflict are mellowed
by time. Memorial day stimulates pa
| triotis1n; it fosters wholesome interest In
| the past Of our country; it teaches Ameri-
cans to value the heritage Of liberty and
union, which cost so many lives, and 1t
proves that the American republic at
1sleast is not ungrateful. The government
| followed the admirable precedent OF the
/ Mexican war Is bringing back to Amer
lean soil tho remains Of our brave men
who died In the war with Spain. The
touching scene of their reinterment at
i darlington recalls the lines of O'Hara re-
\ garding. the Kentucky dead brought back
from the glorious field Of Angostura:
l Sons Of the dark and bloody ground,
Ye shall not slumber there,
1 Where stronger steps and tongues resounC
4 n Along the needless air.
Your own proud lands heroic soil
4 Shall be your filter grave: ,ss
She claims from. war its richest spoil
4 The ashes Of her brave.