Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-10-29

| Just the reverse OF this might be i'm
aglncd by any but the careful reader.
The different Incidents preceding the
| fight were related. including the rcslgna-
| ton of General Hooker and the appoint
ment Of General Meade to the command
on June q, 1863. He expected to fight Ice
! fifteen miles south OF Gettysbure |, was
| the heroic Reynolds whom Meade had
| sent forward, whose military eye took
| in the situation at Gettysburg and who
at once notified Meade that it was the
| place to neht the battle.
| Tho death of Reynolds and how tho
Union forces had to fail back on the
! first day wcro mentioned and great praise
was given to the Union general for the
way he held the enemy, till the whole
Of tho Union army reached the field
! Iickeu's grand charge across the opcn
stretch Of ground between the two ridges
where General STANDARDS Vermonters
made their reputation on the third day
of the battle The magnihconce Of that
attack could be easily imagined from
the LAY Of the ground. and as capt. Long
remarked, Plckett's 1900 men came o.
cross as If on parade. They had about
q mile to cover on the open plain and
their steady march excited the admira-
tion Of the Union soldiers The way
they were cut UP by the Union forces.
and how much that end was contributed
| to by the thanking movement executed
under orders of General Stannard were
referred TO by the lecturer with high
praise. He summed up that part of the
subject with the remark that tho work
of the Vernon; troops on that day
would be remembered as long as the
granite monuments erected at Gcttys-
burg held togctNer against the attacks
of time.
Capt. Long also reminded the Vermont
ers that just In front Of them was the
scene whore they had captured the bat
tory and also where capt LonerGon and
the men of Co. A had tskcn tho rebel
sharp shooters from the Rogers house:
nothing can be more peaceful that the
field Of Gettysburg at that moment.
The warm sun was heating down with
July heat ana little remained to remind
the visitors of great conflict but the
monuments. and the lines of batteries
which are composed of condemned can
non of the kind Aed in the war II
requires feat of the imagination u
bridge over the forty-hve interesting;
wears, ana people the plain with dying
and dead men, the struggling hosts Il
comhatants, and the awful roar Of the
200 cannon as they answered each other
from ridge to ridge.
In his three lectures, Capt Long point
ed out the significance OF tho "Dcvirg
Den,' Tho Valley Of Death" between 1T,
and Little Round Top" and many other
points Of interest 1t was remarked that
tho spot known as the "Whcntfcld" had
been fought over five times by the con-
tenNinR armies. T-lc ia nous Peach Or
chard' was shown /. is now bare of
trees. An orchard Of younger trees is
nearby but the old one could only be re-
coCnized as tn" Vermonters drove up to It
by the siGnboard nailed to telegraph
pole How much depended on the cav
airy fight between the Stuart and Gregg
divisions. ending in the defeat OF the form
er, and thus preventing the carrying out
Of Lees plan to have Stuart attack
Meade's rear while Pickett charged him
in front was fully gone into but no OK
PLANTATION could be so lucid as the ride
over the actual ground.
The third and final discourse was de-
voted to different subjects or the battlo
IN detail A complete tour of the field
was made both in regard to the Union
and Confederate positions. The "Nation-
al Cemetery" was also visited. In all
$500 bodies Of soldiers are buried there
&c whom go who were killed on the first
day OF Gettysburg and whose bodies
were stripped of clothing thus making
identification impossible. make up the
unknown dead, which almost equals in
pathetic history the greater number Of
unknown who lie asleep in the Arlington
-
have been honored in the well-tnown
lines called the "Bvouac of the Dead"
which has given them an identity no
YOnd that of most soldiers
Photographs We're taken Of the Vermont
veterans and those accompanying them
on the field Of Gettysburg. and a short
explanation was given at the monument
erected by the 18th Regiment Of the
incident in the career of Can't Brown
which Is depicted BY the bronze figure
on top. The State monument surmount-
ID with General STANDARDS statue near
by was found TO be an appropriat. shaft
to his memory. Much admiration was
expressed to see the Vermont monuments
erected at Gettysburg Tho national |
monument IN the Gettysburg colueta-,. |
that was erected by New york S,ato IN |
her fallen sons, in the same grounds and |
the ne. monument put NY by the govern !
ment in memory OF the regular troops |
who gave up their lives are in q oIass |
apart from the ordinary memorials !
They nrc massive and beautiful 81 tho |
same time. Vermont howevcr has no |
reason to be ashamed % what sh. has !
done to keep green the noble dcels Of !
her soldiers.