Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1904-06-23
"REMINISCENCES OF THE DAYS OF '63
yividly Recalled by DR.. Gardner Cox.

wholesome food, no bed, no good rest, no
natural life. no ease. no chair, no anything
/ too comforta bic, all rises up before me, ana
/ | pity every soldier, every WIDOW, every
/ mother that suffered for our sake, or the
cause. The suffering was not all on the
/ fighting line, there was suffering deep,
sharp and long at home.
Now that We are a good safe distance
i from the war, and can look at il through
I the other end of the norm, the thing that
strikes me the most forciblY IS its I'M
I mense size. The Cuban war, with all re-
spect to the brave fellows who went to It,
I was, in the old soldiers eyes, morning
skirmish, a before breakfast exercise,
something to settle the coffee. Think OF
+ il. more men lost in the Gettysburg battle
j than we had soldiers in Cuba, and that
was only one Of the 400 battles Of the civil
war.
! / have made a few calculations, and you
may believe me when | say that they are
4 quite correct, as / have made them over
more than once, just for the sake of hay-
/ ing them correct. Nothing but the truth
\ is immortal and there is nothing gained
/ By lying, except lying reputation. Here
are my figures.
When you reckon up how much an
army mule team can draw, and how many
/ feet of space mule team would occupy,
Stanton was correct when he SAID that the
teams that belonged to the army of the
1 Potomac would have reached from Wash
/ iugton to Richmond / aver that ii is so.
/ Lees army must have had nearly as many.
/ We mustered in two and two-thirds mil
| lions Of men, and 100000 of them were
| for three years. This counts those who
| we're mustered in a second time. II tue
| Confederates had half as many, then there
/ were 100000 men mustered in on
1 both sides On both sides there were
| 100000 men lost, 100000 on our side.
/ The government established Al military
\ cemeteries, in which are buried 100000
soldiers,
Grant in his campaign to Richmond lost
within $50 of 100000 men. That would be
| a large city in itself, as five times that
number would 90 with that number Of
adult able bodied men. That is, Grant
/ lost more men in that campaign than
there were able bodied men in any Ameri-
can city at chat time.
There were 1870 OF the soldiers Ameri-
cans, z Irish and 90 Germans, according
to the real figures. According TO the
/ noise then and since, there were 1910 irish
and 25@ of all others. Irishmen feel very
proud of their part in the war; they were
/ brave and willing soldiers There IS
splendid monument to the Irish brigade
| IN the woods near the DEVILS Den at Get
tysburg. Ii brought tears when / viewed
| it. One OF their priests was there to bless
and encourage them at the time. The
priests never shirk their duty, no matter
what the danger.
When the war closed, the government
had left on its hands 1900 miles of tele-
graph; nearly 5000 miles OF railroads; 500
| locomotives; nearly 200 cars; 1900 hospi-
tails and barracks; 600 ocean Transports.
| /, 034, 064 soldiers; over 100000 horses.
The government furnished over half
million cavalry equipments; there were
10 900 artillery carriages, and $4,000 artIll-
cry harnesses; there were 5000 cannon,
which were fired in all three million times.
The artillery carriages would have made
train 300 miles long, or twice the length OF
the state of Vermont. Side by side in
| lighting order, the artillery would have
reached across the state.
The government furnished as many
muskets as there were men enlisted on
both sides, or four million. II laid end to
end, they would have reached nearly twice
| across the continent, or 5000 miles. The
infantry fired their muskets 1000 million
times. The greatest number OF any one
article was the percussion caps, one bill
lion and two hundred thousand in num-
Der. With the three million artillery
projectiles, and the % million pounds of
powder that the government paid for, and
| the 96 million pounds of lead, the ammu-
milton train. all told would have reached
| from Bethel to Chicago. To get some idea
OF the funerals, had those eventually lost
on both sides been placed in hearses, the
| train would have reached from Boston to
| Albany to Chicago and thence to st. Louis.
The fighting line of both sides, in single
| file, would have reached half way across
| the continent.
All Of this havoc had to be paid for, and
| to make ii short. the cost of the war, in
| gold, loaded in army teams, would have
made a train reaching from Burlington to
A T,,ta nV,1 fFRfaa udH 81
| to get the entire cost OF the civil war en-
tailed upon ourselves, and posterity, the
| gold train would more than reach from
| Boston to Albany, or over 300 miles.
Vermont has the first right to decorate
her soldiers graves of any state in the
union. By s'first" / mean that Vermont
soldiers were the first to throw up Virgin
/ ian soil into intrenchments. They were
| first to assault Confederate fertilization.
| They were first in the union column to
march through Richmond. Vermont sol
| diers were in the last charge made on
| Lees army. They captured more Confed-
crate colors, lost more in killed and lost
more by death than any state, or portion
/ OF state, of like numbers.
Out Of every 81 men able to do military
| duty in the state, 81 of them enlisted. Out
Of every ten persons in the state one able
/ bodied youth went to the war. No Yer
mont regiment lost her eolors; no coward
| ly act is recorded against Vermont COM
pany. They were all honest young men,
4 unschooied in the art OF Sinking, too
/ proud TO neglect duty, too reliable to ever
be dstrusted. "Put the Nermonters in
front and close up the ranks" will live as
long as brave men admire courage. 1t is
companion piece TO 'In the name of the
great Jehovah and the Continental Con-
| gress.n Verify Vermont should decorate
her fallen heroes graves.
Rest on, embamed and sainted dead, dear as the
/ blood sc gave.
We claim from war her richest spells, the ashes
| 81 her brave,
Nor shall their glory be forgot while Fame her
| record keeps.
or Honor points the haIlowed spot where valor
| proudly sleeps,
| on Fime's eternal camping ground their silent
| tents are spread,
| And Glory guards with solemn round the hivouac
| of the dead"
/ have written this letter in the middle
OF the night. / did not find any other
time after | read that you were to have
| Memorial services. We decorate. but
! there is no such feeling as you have in the
good old state OF Vermont. / doubt IL
there is really as much real patriotic feel
ing in the larger places, as in the country
towns. ! love everything that is stamped
with the initials OF Vermont. We never
forget the boys and girls of our youths;