Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-14
SECOND CORPS REUNION
ELOQUENT SPEECHES AT ITS AN
NUAL BANQUET.

The annual banquet of the Second Corps
Association took place last night at the
Shoreham, and a large number of the sur
vivors of that famous corps and their
guests made the occasion a notable one.
The banquet hall was beautifully deco
rated with flags and guidons, and on the
wall right opposite the presiding officer was
an Illuminated badge of the well-known
trefoil, which was the emblem Of the corps.
An informal reception was held prior to
the dinner. at which veterans and their
guests. which included senators and repre-
sentatives and many army officers of the
present time, exchanged greetings and
pleasant memories. The menu cards were
gotten up very tastefully, having on the
face a splendid picture of Gen. Winfield s..
Hancock-as Capt. Lyman said: LAS we
knew him from 81 to 60" Underneath
this was his well-known signature. The
menu card also contained the officers of
the association, list of all the organiza-
Army of the Potomac, and the engage
ments In which it participated, together
with the several commanders of this corps
This was due to the secretary Of the asso-
The Speechmaking.
In the absence of the president Of the as
ISOLATION, Mr.. John Joy Edison, who is now
in Europe, Capt. Charles D. Lyman acted
as POSTMASTER when the time came for the
speechmaking, and happily introduced each
of the speakers. With the coming Of coffee
and cigars Capt Lyman raped for order
and announced the first toast, 1.-The Pres-
dent of the United States, which was
drunk standing and with great enthusiasm
The next regular toast was The Old Sec
ond Corps" and he called upon Capt.
Hyland c. Kirk to respond. After giving a
brief history of the corps and some of
its achievements, Capt. Kirk read a poem
recounting those deeds as q dream, which
was loudly applauded. The next regular
which Gen. John c. Black eloquently re-
sponded, showing that war is only the
preserver of peace, and along this line he
work it is doing in the development of
the country. Representative Francis w.
Cushman Of Washington told of the Clio
ries Of Our Country" and fully lived up to
| liant orator. District Commissioner H. B.
F. Mcfarland eulogized the present and
future possibilities and beauties of the ma
tional capital: paying high tribute to
Corps and of that great army which made
1t possible that there should be national
capital. and of the veterans who had since
become citizens Of Washington for their
patriotic and heightened citizenship.
These comprised all the regular toasts,
| but brief remarks were made by Gen. John
M. Wilson, retired: Lieut.. Commander
Knapp, Second Assistant Postmaster Gen.
eral Shallenberger and ex-senator John
M. Thurston.
History. Of the Corps.
The history Of the I'd Corps was splen-
| didly told and condensed in an address,
delivered by Capt. Lyman at the reunion
a year ago. and which is worth repeating
now. He said:
Uoc ~ zod hu III ~
President Lincoln on March Is, 1862, and
there was regularly assigned to 1t during
| its period of service, from seventeen
states, ninety-six regiments of infantry,
| two regiments and one battalion of cavalry,
| six regiments heavy artillery, twenty
| three light batteries, including six regulars
| two regiments fBerdans) and two compa-
niles of sharpshooters and one battalion OF
| engineers. A number OF other organizations
served with the corps at different times
and for varying periods that were not reg
ularly assigned to 1t.
"As the war for the Union was unprece-
dented in the history of the world, SO the