The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1903-10-16
TRIBUTES TO
I. OHIO VAL0R
Ten Monuments Unveiled, Upon The
Field lfintietam With Impressive
Services.
GOV. MASKS STIRRING ADDRESS
scripps-McRae Telegram.

onarpSDurS, Mu., OCt. lo.-lH tHe
presence OF Gov. Nash distinguish
ed citizens and Ohio veterans of the
civil war; ten monuments to Ohio SOL
diers were unveiled today at the bat
tlefield of Antietam. One was a splen-
did shaft to Sergeant William Mckin-
ley for brilliant service. All are gifts
of Ohio and were received by the fed
eral government.
Governor Nash, previous to the u:i-
yelling of the monuments, made the
following address:
Major Cunningham and Members OF
the Ohio Antietam Battlefield Com
mission:
You were soldiers, who took part in
the great battle of the civil war fought
upon this field on the 18th of Septem
Der, 1862. | am sure that it was
work of love upon your part to erect
for Ohio the ten monuments in men,
ory of the heroism here displayed by
your comrades l congI atulate you that
this work has been completed, and
that it is of such a character as 10 be
a credit not only to you, but also 10
your state.
1t is now more than forty years
since the men, whose deeds of valor we
thus honor, contended on this field.
The monuments Of bronze and granite
which you have erected cannot make
their fame more enduring, for their
achievements are inscribed in history's
imperishable pages. No words of ours
can add to the Iuster of their patriot
ism, of purest ray, as it is already
deeply enshrined III the hearts of their
countrymer.
Neither are we here to boast over
those who were then our foes Ours i;
a loftier, more noble and patriotic pur-
pose. They are no longer our enemies.
They Are our friends We are all
Americans. We love one country W
owe allegiance to one government. We
live under one flag, which each of us
/ am sure, is ever ready to defend, now
and evermore. If, when we leave this
scene and the lessons here inculcated
our love of country is not more sim
cere, our allegiance to our government
is not more firmly cemented and our
love for the flag is not more intense,
our coming together will have been for
little purpose.
When the great conflict began and
all seemed lost the president of the
United States was of sufficient strength
and nobility of purpose to look beyond
the storm and utter this message of
hope: Though passion may strain, it
must not break our bonds of affection
The mystic cords of memory, stretch
ing from every battlefield and patriot
grave to every loving heart and h.aarth-
stone, all over this broad land, will
yet swell the chorus of the Union
when again touched, as they surely will
be by the better angels of our nature"
The better angels now hold sway. The
prophecy CT Lincoln has become his
tory.
There was in this battle a young
soldier from Ohio, by name William
Mckinley. He was the commissary
sergeant of the Twenty-TGird regi-
ment, o. V. !. On the afternoon of the
close of the battle, with much personal
risk to himself, he supplied his hungry
comrades with cooked rations upon
tlat part of the field where they haG
valiently contended for hours with
their intrepid foe For this act the
state of Ohio has erected upon the
ground where this service was per-
formed a beautiful monument ana
dedicated it to his memory. This SOL
dier was afterwards president of the
United States and became a martyr
for his country as did Lincoln. Like
Lincoln he prayed that the passions
of the civil war might pass away, and
that affection for the Union might be
restored to all the people of this coun-
try For this reason Ohio has taken
all the more pleasure in erecting this
monument. Fortunately he lived to sec
the evidence, OF the cordial feeling,
to which he contributed so much, be-
tween the North and the South, which
existed during the Spanish
war. This led him to exclaim: What
an army of silent sentinels we have,
and with what loving care their graves
Sre kept! Every soldiers grave, made
during our unfortunate civil war, is a
tribute to American valor. And while
when. those, graves were made, we
differed widely about the future of this
government, those differences were
long ago settled by the arbitrament of
arms; and the time has now come in
the evolution Of sentiment and feeling
under the providence of God, when in
the spirit OF friendship we should share
with you in the care of the graves Of
Confederate soldiers"
AS the years go by it is our hope
that whoever wanders over these fields
and looks upon the monument lovingly
erected by this state to the memory Of
Mckinley, will learn to love and rever-
once the flag as he loved and rever-
enced It,
Those who recall the incidents of
the Spanish-American war in 1893, will
not forget the affair of the torpedo
boat Winslow, In the harbor of Car
denas on the coast of Cuba. While
gallantly defending his little boat, En-