The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1903-06-04


These men of battle, with grave dark looks,
AS plain to be read as open books,
While slowly gathered the shades of night.
For the foe had crossed from the other side
That day in the face ofa murderous fire,
That swept them down in its terrible ire,
And their life blood went to color the tide.
"Herbert Cline" At the call there came
Two stalwart soldiers into the line,
Bearing between them this Herbert Cline,
Wounded and bleeding to answer his name.
ezra Kerrn--and a voice answered "Here. "
"Hiram Kerr but no man replied.
They were brothers, these two. The sad
wind sighed,
And q shudder crept through the corn field
near.
"Michael Ryan" Then soldier spoke:
"Ryan carried our regiments colors," he
"When our ensign was shot, left him dead
Just after the enemy wavered and broke.
"Close to the road his body lies.
paused moment and gave him drink;
He murmured his mothers name, / think,
And death came with 1t and closed his eyes.
Twas a victory--yes, but it cost us dear,
For that company's. roll, when called that
night,
Numbered but twenty-eight who answered
Here"
While the living make promises,
plight faith and praise virtue, promises
may not be kept, pighted faith may
be broken, and vaunted virtue may be
only the cunning mask of vice. We
do not know one promise they made,
one pledge they gave, one word they
spoke, but we do know that in their
death they summed up and perfected,
by one supreme act of men and citi-
zens, and gave their lives in the SER
vice of their country.
For our misguided brother who wore
the gray and lay beside our comrade,
he, too, was brave and shed his blood
for cause he was taught to I've right.
Mistaken though he was, let us cherish
no thoughts of enmity against his
memory. His surviving comrade is
now our brother, and as such let us ex-
tend to him soldiers greeting, and
with a firm and hearty grasp of the
hand, forever bridge the "bloody
chasm."
While we are willing to accord to the
old world her Leonidas, her Alex
anders, her Caesars, her Napoleons and
her Wellingtons, we are proud TO say,
the American republic is also rich in
her heroes, in the men and women
who dared to do and die for the rights
of man, for the enlargement of liberty
and the upholding of the republic.
There is no sex in heroism; woman
can be, and have been, as heroic as
boastful man. Thousands of lives were
saved by our women during the war.
Some of the bravest acts of the wal
were performed by women. They not
only ministered to the sick, wounded
and dying in the hospitals and in camp,
but were at the front, where they faced
danger as bravely as the men. | have
seen woman under fire and wounded,
and in every instance did she prove
herself the heroine she is. 1t was a
woman who made the first flag this
country had, and who of the old sol
diers does not remember the flags made
by our dear mothers and presented to
the company on leaving home for the
scenes of the war;. 1t was an Amer
lean mother who said, "If had twenty
sons, would gladly give them all to
save the Union; and if were not too
old, would go to the war myself"
We have ample reasons for genuine
heroism in this land of ours. Our flag
does not stand for royalty nor for aris-
tocracy, but for liberty and equality.
1t is the only thing large enough to
cover the entire republic. We have
room enough in this country to cover
almost everything, but not room enough
for more than one flag. All old SOL
diers will remember the order of that
sturdy soldier, General Dix: "Ifany man
attempts to haul down theAmerican flag
shoot him on the spot. JOHN A. DIX"
1t was wonderful how dear the Stars
and Stripes were to the soldiers. Should
his standard be assailed, scores of brave
men would rush to the rescue. When
shot down, as 1t often was, how quick
ly some brave spirit would again raise
it on high. My own battle-stained
banner had over one hundred bullet
holes through the field and eleven
through the staff, and the latter
was entirely shot in two at
the sanguinary battle of Chicka.
mauga; and yet no rebel hand
was ever laid upon its folds. Well do |
remember more than brave color
sergeant who, at the battle of Resaca.
marched into the very jaws of death,
waving his flag in the faces of the en-
emy who were fighting behind burning
breastworks, and only retired when he
saw the Union lines falling back. This
act of herOism was repeated three
times, the brave soldier escaping with
out injury.
While soldering in Kentucky, a no
bic old patriot, with flowing white
beard and hair, seeing our fag-the
first Stars and Stripes he had looked
upon for years-clasped 1t in fond and
loving embrace, and with the hot
UniOn-lOving tears coursing down his
furrowed cheeks, imprinted a kiss
upon its stars.
We all remember the poet Whittier's
Barbara Freitchie at Fredericktown, !"
and the brave daughters of that staunch
old gray-haired East Tennessee Union
ist, Parson Brownlow, who kept the
flag of their country floating over their
residence during the occupation of
Knoxville 10y the rebel army. Here
was heroism which took courage 10
perform, and it was two noble girls
from the mountains of East Tennessee
who had the courage.
Brave men and women of our land
have been ready at all times TO Law
down their lives for their starry ban
ner, because in its stars and stripes is
represented the dignity Of their free
dom, and TO assail their flag is an as
sault upon their liberties.
The eud of the war finally came, and
then the h0meward march. And oh!
what homecoming it was to thou
sands of fond parents and friends " hose
hearts lie buried beneath the soil of the
Sunny South. This sOrrowful and sad
homecoming was one Of the legacies of
the war which was left to the South ,
well as to the North. No section of our
eOVntry was exempt from these heart |
burns and yearning of the people. In
all those festivals aud rejOicings over
the return OF the living, there was
hardly one whose joys were not sad
dened by the recollection of some one