The National tribune., 1904-08-11

he can Corps. But listen to the bugles
It's just O'Clock. They're prompt"
| "Everything military has got to start
on the dot nowadays" said 81. Every
different from what it was when we first
went ont. Then & o'clock lasted till Z
lO'clOck"-
Or any old time in the forenoon" in
terrnpted Shorty.
But when old Sherman said 6 o'clock
you'd better be getting started at half
past B."
The tremendous wave of cheering. ming
ling with flood of stirring marching airs
which rolled up the Avenue toward them
stopped all conversation. They all turned
to watch for the appearance Of the head
Of the column around the Treasury De-
partment.
Marching up imperial Pennsylvania Ave
nue. from Capitol Hill. constantly grow
ing greater and more imposing as brigade
after brigade left its position on a side
street. and wheeled into column, was the
mightiest engine of human power that the
world had ever seen
Seventy-five thousand men, in the very
prime of their youthful strength, trained,
developed. and hardened into peerless
veterans by four years of the mightiest
battling since the sword began to devour,
swept up the Avenue in a great Missis-
sippi Of armed force. They filled the wide
Avenue from curb to curb with ranks in
perfect alignment. with step cadenced as
regular as a pendulum, every man in the
place to which years Of discipline had
made natural to him-the whole miles
long mass moving with rhythmical swing
and motion as if one brain and one set of
nerves controlled every motion and swayed
every limb. Never had there been a bet
ter-knit army. Never one whose whole
strength could be instantly hurled in con-
centrated power upon a given objective.
nffn .t,sv
never commanded its peer, and the famed
Roman legiOns were raw recruits in COM
| pariSOn.
The spectators on the Avenue looked
along the long, broad river of steel, rising
and falling in flashing waves, with wonder
that was too deep for words. 1t was more
overpowering than Niagara, the ocean, or
| a storm at sea.
1t was something superhuman.
Only when the people from a State,
usually gathered in groups, would recognize
the shOt-tattered flag of one of their own
glorious regiments, and break forth into
almost hysterical cheers, would their emo
tions find expression.
| Hello, there's Gen. Meade, now," ex-
claimed the one-armed veteran, his long
expectancy breaking into enthusiasm as
the first hOrseman at the head of the col
umn came into view around the corner of
the Treasury grounds. There's the grand
est soldier that the Lord ever made. Hip
l-hip-hooray for the Hero Of Gettys-
burg"
Everybody Joined in the enthusiastic
cheering.
Gen. Meade, thin, rigid, spectacled, with
| beard beginning to bleach, relaxed his
severe face, lifted his hat, and bowed
courteously to the distinguished occupants
Of the stands, then rode on with martial
stiffness past the President, saIuted cere-
Il fo dsc
mounted, handed his reins to an Orderly,
and ascended the Presidents stand, where
he was cordially greeted by every one
j Behind the headquarters guard came a
mounted band, playing wild fanfare of
trumpets, and the street was suddenly
filled with flashes Of yellow, from wave
after wave of mounted men, swinging
around the corner in platoon front. At
their head, behind the yellow headquar-
ters banner Of the Second Cavalry Diyi-
sion, rode the youthful Maj.-Gen. Wesley
Merritt, as erect, as calm, as sedate, but
as alert, watchful and ready as he had
been on a score of battlefelds, where he
had won his way from the modest bar of
a First Lieutenant to the double stars of
a Major-General. He and his command
were not as spectacular as the Third Divi-
sion and its commander, but were every
whit their equals upon the field of battle
The cheering became a deafening roar
| Us the CTOWu TcCOSulZeu the yellow
| Custer at the head of the Third Cavalry
Division. His heavy yellow name reached
nearly to his shoulders; he was almost
covered with flowers presented by admirers
along the route, and he was riding a pow
erful, spirited horse that grew more res
tive constantly from the wild yells of the
crowds. AS he turned the corner of the
Treasury the horse became frantic, and
dashed wildly up the Avenue, past the
Presidents stand, disOrganiZing the we'll
aligned ranks of the Second Division. Any
but q perfect horseman Of perfect nerve
would have lost his seat. Custer lost his
hat, but did not drop q flower, until he re-
gained control Of the steed, and rode back
to his place amid wilder cheering than
ever.
Following the cavalry came the Ninth
COrps-"Burnside's Geography Class
which had begun its career with one of
our first encouraging successes-the cap
ture OF Roanoke Island, had fought att