La Junta tribune., 1905-09-16
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in Denver last week. was . most
notable gathering and will be long
remembered by the people Of that
city. IL is admitted on all hands To
have been the largest assembiage Of
Of visitors that ever met in the
Queen City Of the Plains. The esti-
mates Of attendance range from
IS. 900 TO lOO. 600, nearly one-half Of
whom were ex-soldiers Of the civil
war.
The first thing that struck me as
noteworthy was the fact that the
thought and conversation in the
hotels, restaurants, and everywhere.
was not about present day events
but about what occurred over forty
years ago. The thought and feeling
Of the veterans had penetrated tc
every nook and corner of the capitol
city. That feeling is thus expressed:
Les sit down and talk. old comr.sis,
on the days u~si to kno~.
Les forget we're old and battered
Les 60 baek to loas ago
When ve hpth o youngsters
Didnt knos . single care;
Folks q ours neixhhos farmers.
You lived here and lived there"
The old soldiers lived again in war
times. Incidents and anecdotes
were repeated. old tricks and esca-
pades were recounted. and sad and
ludicrous scenes were recalled. The
music Of the bands did much To pro-
duce this transition. They were
everywhere. playing John Browns
Soul Is Marching on" Marching
Through Georgia" I'VE Are Com
ing, Father Abraham. Three Hun
dred Thousand More" and other
war songs. The parade on Tues
day Of the Union ex-prisoners Of
war. the survivors Of the Battle Of
Shiloh and other military Organiza-
tions attracted much interest.
Among the former we noticed VIII
liam Green. Of Rocky Ford. who
served his apprenticeship in Ander-
sonville prison. The survivors Of
the Battle Of Shiloh excited and re
newed the memories Of one Of the
fiercest and most decisive battles Of
the war. Eighty-four of these now
reside in Denver and several hum
dred others reside in other states.
Thes. were the remnant Of that
proud army Of emancipation, A.
600 strong. who. on the hanks Of the
Tennessee, under the command Of
the then unknown u. 8. Grant,
fought one Of the few decisive hat
ties of the war. Occurring ~ II did
1t the beginning Of the war. forty
three years ago last April. it sound
ed the keynote Of the entire strug-
gle and settled the question Of
superiority in the west. II the Con-
federate forces. under Albert Sidney
johnson. had won that battle. it is
believed BY war critics that the war
for the Union would have lasted two
or three years longer. Hence. the
appearance Of the boys who partici-
pated in that struggle will always
enlist much interest and attention.
There were many strange meetings
and renewals Of old acquaintance-
ships among the comrades in Den
yer. Comrade Chambers, Of La
Junta, recognized IN old comrade on
crutches whom he had not seen for
over forty years. He approached
him and nid, Your name il so-and
80; you lost that leg in front Of At
lanta; DR.. So-and-so cut OF your
limb and I am the boy who held
your leg while the doctor did the
job" The crippled veteran recog-
nized him. and, calling up his wife,
he related to her the circumstance,
and she, overcome with her feelings
and the the pathos Of the occasion,
embraced Comrade Chambers and
gave him such q kissing and hugging
- he has not had since he was
baby.
The climax Of the encampment
was reached on wednesday. when
the ex-soldiefs Of the civil war were
requested to march in The parade.
They marched eight and ten abreast,
and for nearly four hours the
streets Of Denver resounded with
the strains Of martial music and the
tramp. tramp, tramp Of the the
remnant Of that victorious host,
which, forty years ago. DESTROYED
the incubus Of slavery, eemented the