CanÌƒon City record. [volume] (CanÌƒon City, Colo.) 1883-192?, 1908-06-04
MEMORIAL DAY OBSERVED
IN CANON As never BEFORE
CONTINUED from page ~

diets and of the Sons of Veterans, and
that the public gave the day such sa-
cred consideration. That there was no
program of sport and frivolity to di-
vert attention from their beautiful
memorial service was highly appre-
ciated by the old soldiers and they
will not soon forget it.
At O'Clock in the afternoon at the
First Methodist church the formal
Grafton of the day was delivered in
the presence of magnificent audi
ence by Hon T. B. Coulter, president
of the Citizens State bank and former
commander of the G. A. R., for the de-
partment of Illinois. The music at
the church was provided by General
Marion Chapter, Daughters of the
American Revolution, and was OF the
most delightful character An operate
concert by the Canon City Military
band at the City park at o'clock in
the evening closed the public obserV-
ance of the most generally recognized
Decoration day in the history of the
city. Inc COmplete leAI VI MI. Soui-
ter's address is as follows:
The invitation to address you today
came to me as a surprise. l appre-
ciate the honor, and have accepted it
knowing that for this time, you de-
cided to invite one who was with you
in the dark days that only the soldier
can realize. You will pardon per-
sonal reference The Army of the
Potomac, in which l served for over
four years, was engaged in some OF
the hardest fought battles of the war.
At the battle of Antietam, September
18th, 1862, I was regarded as hope
lessly wounded, and lay for eleven
days upon the battlefield. Through
this terrible experience, l lived to
give further service, and was with
my command, on the 9th day of April,
1866. by the surrender of General
Robert E. Lee, OF the CO moderate army
to General Ulysses s. Grant, COM
mander-in-chief of the Union forces,
which practically terminated the
bloodiest rebellion of all times.
The years which the members of
the Grand Army of the Republic pass
ed through, during that terrible Re-
batIta. were the heroic years Of
African history. ~. {"
4116Be tof, as VINO lay in hospitals
that fairly ached with the suffering
they contained, who know the agonies
of the fever tent, and the dreadful
marches by day and night, who have
made the terrible onslaught on the
enemy, and who know what it is to
lie on the field Of battle; dying in
awful suffering, those of us present,
who passed through the terrible or
deal, realize the awful drama, in
which each soldier played his part. %
And as has been well said, "Yet now
that the passionate hopes and fears
of those days are all over-now that
the grief which can never be forgot
ten, Is softened and modified by the
smoothing hand Of time-we love to
remember the gathering of the splen-
did hosts, to hear again in memory
the shock of battle, and to wonder at
the magnificence of the drama"
We are no longer the Young Guard
of the republic" we have earned an
exemption from the dangers of the
field and camp, and the old musket
or crossed sabres hang harmless, as
priceless souvenirs, over our winter
fires.
What the consequences would have
been, had the Civil war terminated in
favor of the seeding states, we can
only conjecture. But we all know,
and will agree, that the glorious
achievements of this nation since the
war, and its present position among
the world powers, has yindicated the
policy of the government, and COM
pensated in the fullest measure, for
the terrible sacrifices made to pre-
serve the Union.
Comrades, fearful as the Civil war
was, are we not glad today that it
came, and are we not glad that we
took part in it; since by our efforts
we saved the country-the Union?
And as we are gathered here today,
for special purpose, we are enabled
to look back over the history of the
pi st, and our hearts are cheered with
the glorious records of the achieve
ments OF our nation.
1t was matter of great concern,
at the close of the Civil war, as to
what would become OF the thousands
of soldiers discharged from service in
the two great armies 1t was feared