The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1904-09-29

19-2O, at Indianapolis.
Gen. I'll. V. Boynton, of Washington, ID.
c., President of the Society, called the
meeting to order, and Judge Daniel w.
Howe welcomed the visitors. Gen. John L.
Wilder, of Knoxville, Tenn, who COM
manded the famous Wilder Brigade re-
sponded. Gen. Boynton then read letters
from President Roosevelt, Whitelaw Reid,
and Judge Alton B. Parker.
PRESIDENT ROOSEvELT'S LETTER.
Oyster Bay, n. Y, Aug. 80, 1904.
NV Dear Gen. Boynton: Permit me,
Through you, to extend my hearty good
wishes to the Society of the Army Of the
Cumberland at its Reunion in Indianapolis.
/ only wish it were in my power to be
present.
The record of the Society of the Army
of the Cumberland is. indeed, noteworthy:
Three of its members were Presidents OF
the United States-Grant, Garfield, and
Harrison. Four commanded the army after
the civil war-Grant, Sheridan, Sherman,
and Schofeld. Two reached the Supreme
Court-Matthews and Harlan. You have
had many members in the Cabinet, In the
Senate. and in the House of Representa-
tives: one of them, Gen. Keifer, becoming
Speaker of the House.
For this exceptional record you are en-
titled to the respect and admiration of your
countrymen; but after all, the great claim,
the undying claim that you have upon all
the people of this Nation, rests upon the
fact that all of you, from the Major Cen
eral to the private, did your full part in
that great brotherhood of men who formed
the Union army from 1861 to 1865, and
who during those four years rendered not
only TO our people, but to all mankind, the
greatest service which it was given to any
men of the 10Th century to render. The
men who served in the great civil war left
TO their children and their children's chill
dren. unto the remotest generation. not
merely reunited country, not merely
the sense of belonging to a Nation
which has before it a future so vast that
even its most loyal SONS can hardly venture
TO anticipate it: but you left TO them also
the memory of the way ii which that
formidable army of fighting men, when
once the war was ended, turned forthwith
to the pursuits of peace, and showed them
selves good citizens at home just as they
had shown themselves good soldiers at the
front. In any great crisis of war this Ma
ton must rely mainly upon its volunteer
soldiery, and the veterans of the civil war
have left us forever the model of what such
a soldiery should be- We of the younger
generation owe you a debt greater than we
can ever pay, alike for the lessons you
taught in war and for the lessons you
laugh. in peace.
! With the heartiest regards. and with
every cordial wish for the success of your
Reunion. believe me, very faithfully yours.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
JUDGE PARKER's LETTER.
Rosemount, Esopus, " T., Aug. 81, 1904.
Gen. HI. V. Boynton-My Dear Sir:
very much regret that it is impossible for
me to attend the 32d Annual Reunion of the
Society of the Army of the Cumberland.
me to attend the ed Annual Reunion of the
Society assurances of my regret and very
grateful appreciation. Very truly yours,
ALTON B. PARKER.
wHITELAw Reds LETTER.
Camp Wild Air,
Upper St Regis, n. Y, Sept. 8, 1904.
Gen. II. ". Boynton, President Society of
the Army of the Cumberland.
Dear Gen. Boynton: An invitation to
address your Society on the battle of
Pittsburg Landing can only be esteemed by
any man who was there as privilege and
q great honor. / beg to tender my sincere
thanks for it, to you personally, and to the
historic body you represent.
Over 20 years ago Gen. Sherman wrote
me a similar invitation ON behalf of the
Army Of the Tennessee. 1t happened that
] was just going TO Europe for consider
able absence, and was thus compelled to
forego the opportunity; but in expressing
regret / ventured to tell Gen. Sherman that
if ever | should be able to meet such a CALL
j should hope TO have the Army of the
Cumberland in the audience.
Unfortunately, for me, your meeting
comes at the exact date when my position
az a director of the Associated Press re-
quires attendance for our annual meetings
in New York. Nothing but such clear duty
would now prevent me from standing up
before the honored survivors of the army
that saved q lost field in the greatest battle
of the civil war at the West, and recount
ing, face to face, what l heard of the an
ticipations of leading commanders from
their own lips the night before; what
saw on the first morning of the battle along
the bank of the river for three miles below
Pittsburg Landing: what | saw that first
forenoon on the field itself; when and un-
der what circumstances / saw the advance
OF Buell's army greeted On the narrow strip
of land by the river side, into which our
people had been forced, and especially when
and how those splendid, compact ranks adj
yanced over the ground that had been lost
should like to ask this Society TO con-
slider if it does not yet owe a duty to itself
and to its honored dead. Official publica-
lions have only recently come TO my knowl-
edge, in which. aside from personal errors
that need not now be noticed, there appears
strange distortion of facts as to when
the several parts of the Army Of the Ohio
cISdSeu viii the enemy, on the
9Th and 9TH of April, 1862. Al old book
OF my own, Ohio in the War" printed
long before the official reports were Access
sible. is quoted as one authority for these
statements; but in some of the few cases
have already been able TO colate, they
agree neither with that work nor with the
official reports, nor with themselves; and
the time when certain regiments went into
action Is set down. on the very monuments
the State has erected on the spot, three or
four hours after they had been hotly en-
gagged and the field had been well nigh re-
gained Whether this is due to a blunder-
ing effort TO shield names which need no
such treacherous props TO their solid re-
nown, and TO do it at the expense of the
Army of the Ohio, or whether it is due to
mere incompetence. the effect is the same.
Can your Society, in loyalty to itself and
to It's martyrs on that field. permit these
misrepresentation TO stand? Believe me
with renewed thanks and regrets, very
sincerely yours,
WHITELAw REID.
SPEECHES.
Orlando Somers, of Kokomo, Ind. de-
liyered the annual grafton.
The Grand Army of the Republic" the
subject Of an address by Gen. Blackmar
ELECTED great applause. Gen. G.. H. Gros
yenOr, Of Ohio, followed Gen. Blackmar.
The exercises closed with the singing oil
Tha lal