The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-04-16
Indianapolis sentinel.

me address of Gen. Lew Waliace, 0e- nvered at the dedicatory exercises of the monuments on Shiloh battlefield. Is stir ring up the Civil War veterans from one end of the United States to the other
 General Wallaces attack on General Grant as commander Of the Army of the North at Shiloh, his scatching criticism of the management of the battle, his broad inference that nothing but an accident saved the army of the Tennessee from an initiation. his credit for Union victory given to the death of the Confederate commander, his arraignment Of the dfvf- sion commanders at Shiloh for allowing complete surprise through their gross carelessness, have caused most intense Following Is the address in full, pub l1shed from the original manuscript in General Wallace's handwriting, as read by him at the dedicatory exercises. It is the first publication of the address. The Sem tinei has already been the only paper that has published verbatim extracts from it.
 My friends, it has pleased Providence 10 suner 1t to come about that of the soldiers representing Indiana at the bat tie of Shiloh T. should be the first in rank if not tn years. The fact as l see 1t makes them all my brethren and me their comrade. And recognize myself in many ways bounden to them in duty arising out or the fact-a duty which shall proceed to perform now lest the opportunity to do so never come again.
 To strangers in attendance 1t is proper for me to say in the beginning that 1t has pleased the lawmakers of Indiana to honor the memory of the soldiers of the State, those living and those dead, who here did battle that the nation might live. To every regiment and every battery en- gagged they have accordingly set up sep arate monument on a spot selected be- cause on that spot each fought its best fight, winning or losing. And the object of assemblage now is to dedicate those mon- uments, Governor Durbin officia ting. Justice of the Critics.
 Are the men deserving of the honor? ? Monuments, you all know are, as rule. limited to the greatly successful. while some of these, it is said. were not of them. Let us in the first place single out distinctly the regiments to which the crit tcfsm has been applied, and then try the justice of the critics.
 By the records it appears Indiana had present in the field a detachment of the 2nd Cavalry. two batteries. the 9th and 9th and 18th Regiment of Infantry, of which latter eleven belonged to General Buell's army of the Ohio and five to the army of the Tennessee. General Grant commanding.
 Now, as General Buell's army had nc | share in the misfortune that befell in the course of the first day of the battle his ment; that is, having been greatly sue cessful in the second day. their entitle- | ment to their monuments is absolutely un- clouded. In other words, no one has ever presumed to smirch them or their com. | mander with the spray of bitter aloes-
 to which all unjust remarks leave the
 nearest likeness.
 In First Days Action.
 The 11th, the 2Srd and the 24th Indiana were of the Third Division of the army oi 1 the Tennessee. The 31st, 25th and 44tt | had part in the first days action. anC
 touching on circumstances must stand tc | their credit of itself more than enough tt | silence detraction--a circumstance to live I in history and he rpnaat00 long after the good Indiana stone of their monuments
 has crumbled to dust. They helped holo | the hornets nest against which the best
 chivalry of the South, led by palladins
 like Hindmap, Gibson, A. P. Stewart, Al | len and Avegno and Stephens. were sever
 times lost and seven times repulsed. No
 not repulsed, but beaten to a standstill. | After all. however,. the story of tht
 31st and 44th Indiana at Shiloh is insep arabic from that of the army to whicf
 they belonged. They-the regiments anc l the army-stand together in honor There | evan be no judgment for or against th'
 two that does not comprehend the whole | of the others.
 Heroism Never Excelled.
 And now l say broadly and boldly tha | in all the chronicles of war there is noth l ing of herosm superior to that made l manifest on this ground forty-one year: not speaking of mere courage or obsti l macy of resistance; in those respects l doubtless the conduct of the army under | consideration mas been many time! | eQualed. but-and this is my insistance- never under circumstances so trying tC the souls of men in arms-circumstance:
 so peculiar, so deterrent. so unprecedent
 ed. and nece ssarily of such overwhelming | influence for the worse.
 l My friends, l know that 1 have nov | wrought you up to degree of intcres
 not to be allayed except by enumeration
 of the circumstances so insisted upon.
 know, too. that in giving them ] may
 subject myself to misunderstanding anC
 attack. No matter. A man standing face | to face with a duty to the many nus
 himself be hardy enough to speak inde
 pendently of the few.
 T will state the points now.
 ITO begin with, the army of the Ten nessee had present for duty April 6, 31 66 | men, while the Confederates g IA
 marched from Corinth, and were pre- sumedly present at the attack-a differ ize the materiality of that difference. bu | l am sure every. soldier will.
 Fighting Without Commander. My friends. did any of you ever hea, | Of an army fighting battle without
 commander? No? Well, that was th' case with the army of the Tennessee tn, | first day here. Inc five divisions on uh' | field had each its chief, to be sure; bu none of the five chiefs was in genera command. Instead of enc supreme gov elDlnS Will, no VIlSTe so essential as 4f battle. there were five olciats. eAcf | independent if. the 'oth,r between then thirgs were dole by request, not order
 No one of them was responsible for what the others did I am sure you will. al
 see the enormity of the disadvantage You will ever wonder that there was any resistance made. 1 may not pass this
 point without an explanation. To 'lo sc would be the grossest injustice. Genera
 Grant. as everybody knows, was in com
 mand of the army of the Tennessee al | the time. By order of General HailecR his headquarters were at Savannah. ter miles below PttsburP Landing. Hearing | the guns. he made all haste to the scene of action. arriving there four hours after | the attack began. It was then too late for him to change the day. The battle had passed beyond his control.
 "A strange circumstance that, certain
 ly. But what will you say to this l offer you next?
 Where the Marvel Lies.
 "The Confederate army left Corinth for
 noon. It moved in three corps-Har- dee's. Bragg's. Polk's-with Brecken- ridges three brigades in reserve. It was
 the intention to attack the army of the
 Tennessee Saturday morning. but it was not until late Saturday afternoon that the entire army reached its destination and was deployed. Here no is the mar vel How. then, was 1t possible to move
 the three great army corps into as many
 lines of battle, each behind the other within two miles of Shiloh Church with out making their presence known? Were there any Union pickets out? How far out could they have been? Had they nc
 eyes. no ears? It would seem not, for al 5 o'clock Sunday morning. when Hardet l .rtnV oil