Omaha daily bee., 1909-06-01

pare a body Of professional soldiers, we'll
trained, to officer an army, and numerous
enough at the opening OF the civil war to
give able commanders to both sides of that
internecine strife.
o the side of the north many OF the
officers were drafted to volun-
teer troops from the states, while the reg
ular army, aggregAting about 10000 at the
opening Of the war, was increased to about
Is, 900 during its first year. More than half
this army was engaged in the battle of
Gettysburg. Time does not permit me to
mention the names of the heroes of the
regular army whose blood stained this his
toric field and whose sacrifices made the
union victory possible"
with my intimate knowledge of the
army, their high standard of duty, their
efficiency as soldiers. their high character
as men, 1 have seized this opportunity to
come here to testify the pride which the
nation should nave in it's regular army, and
to dedicate this monument to the predsces-
sors Of the present regular army. on a
field on which they won undying glory
and perpetual gratitude from the nation
which they served. They had not the local
association; they had not the friends and
%neighbors of the volunteer forces to see to
it tina their deeds OF valor were properly
recorded and the value OF their services
suitably noted in the official records by
legislative and congressional action, and
they now have to depend upon the truth
Of history, and in the cold, calm retrospect
of the war as 1t was, to secure from con-
gress this suitable memorial of the war In
the saving Of the country which they
wrought here.
Always Loyal to Duty.
A honor TO the regular ARM OF the
United States. Never in its history has 1t
has a stain upon its eseutcheOn. With no
one 10 blow it's trumpsts. with no local
feeling or pride to bring forth its merits.
quietly and as befits a force organized to
maintain civil institutions and subject al
ways to the civil control It has gone or
doing the duty which II was its 10 do, ao-
cepting without a murmur the dangers of
war, whether upon trackless stretches OF
our western frontier, exposed to arrows
and the bullets of the Indian, or in the
jungles or rice paddles Of the Philippines;
on the hills and in the valleys about San
tiago in Cuba, or In the campaigns of the
civil war itself, and 1t has never failed to
make a record Of duty done that should
satisfy the most exActing lover OF his
country.
1T now becomes my pleasant duty TO
dedicate this monument to the memory OF
the regular soldiers OF the republic who
gave up their lives At Gettysburg, and who
contributed in a large degree to the vic
tory Of those three fatsful days in the
country's history"
Dickinson Presents shaft.
Standing on the battlefield where vir-
tually was decided the ~sanguinary con-
fllct between the north and south, Secre-
tary of War Jacob M. Dickinson, a south
crn mar by birth, turned over to the
Gettysburg National Park association on
behalf Of the people Of the United States
the handsome monument.
The overthrow OF the south, as always
occurs after a fierce war, when the de-
feated are helpless, ana the more con-
servative of the victors for a while are
dominated by the fiercest and most aE-
gressive leaders" said Mr.. Dickinson, was
Immediately followed by sufferings and
humiiations that for a long time admitted
OF nothing but lamentation over a result
that could bring such woes. Keen and
bitter as they were. time and a manifesto
ton of a more generous sentiment, brought
a mitigation OF SORROW and a clearer visior
of the tremendous evils to all the state:
which would certainly and Immediately
have followed upon the establishing NJ th'
southern confederacy.
Its very cornerstone was Of laminea, pre-