The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1904-05-26

nearing the end of long march and
the children of this generation will see
the passing of the G A. r. forever.
Since the close of the war a new gen.
Grafton has taken hold of the affairs
of the country, and in the home, the
place of business, in civic station
great and small those are in charge
who were too young to enlist in the
war, while large percentage Of them
were born since the great conflict.
Year by year we are becoming re-
moved farther and farther from the
realities of that war that marked a
crisis in our development. The pres
ence of the old soldier in public and
private life serves to keep alive the
memories of those days when the fate
of the nation was hanging in the bal
ance, but when he is no more the pages
of history, the national cemeteries, and
the thousands of soldiers graves all
over this broad land will alone re-
main to recall the memories of the
days when brother met brother in
deadly'confict and the great spirit of
Lincoln was guiding the destinies of
the nation.
None only the old soldiers can ever
realize the awful sacrifice of the civil
war and the cost in blood alone of
that conflict to determine whether a
nation was to be master of the free
dom of it's people or whether man him
self was to be the sole tribunal to de-
termine what constituted that price
less heritage of mankind-liberty.
Memorial Day has long since be-
come the great day of our nation, but
it is the G.. A r. that has made it so,
and it rests with future generations to
say whether the day will be kept sa-
cred and in loving remembrance of
those who died for the cause of free
dom, and the home and fireside. Lest
we forget, let the youth of the land
remember the awful cost of the Civil
war. Nearly three million men en-
tered the service of the United States
during that war which cost the govern
ment Sc, 50O,O O0,0 900. In the Confeder-
ate army there were over 100000
young and middle aged men who en-
listed and who fought with the same
zeal as their northern brothers. The
Union army lost in killed, wounded
and missing over 100000 while the
Confederate army lost over 300, 200.
At Gettysburg 5000 Union soldiers
were killed and $4,000 wounded:
Spottsylvania has a record of 2,725
killed and $4,000 wounded; in the bat
tie of the Wilderness 2,246 brave men
died and 1000 were wounded; Antie-
| tam had death record of 2,lO9 with
10000 wounded. These we're only a
few of the great battles but there is
enough in the record to make the war
the bloodiest in the worlds history.
The war and the events leading up to
1t Will always remain the great epoch
OF our history. Great though the sac
rifice and awful the scars, it national
lied us as a nation and on the bloody
battleields was born new nation.
mighty and powerful that has taken
the banner of liberty and freedom and
waived it over the isles of the Antilles.
while from the Golden Gate to the
Philippines it has established chain
of stars and stripes.
What of the future? Nothing but
glorious let us hope. We have passed
every crisis in our development with
honor and glory to ourselves and a.
betterment of the condition of man
kind in every instance, and our flag is
unsullied BY a single inglorious or.