The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1909-05-27
THE SPEECH OF PRESIDENT
TAFT At PETERSBURG
At dwelling Of Statue Of Gen. Hart
rant, of Pennsylvania.
Following is the full text of tn,

line of earthworks at Petersburg
Va.
President Taft said: "My fellow
citizens: We are met today on the
soil of Virginia to dedicate a men,
orial to the bravery of the sons. of
Virginia and the South. We stand
here in the center of the .bloodiest
and most critical operations of the
last year of the civil war, only a
few miles distant from that dra-
matte scene at Appomatox between
Grant and Lee, which marked the
great qualities of the heart and
soul of each, and which was the
real end Of the terrific struggle be-
tween the two sections.
Here, in and about Petersburg,
the outwork of Richmond, the
home of the Confederacy, were
carried on those besieging opera
ton begun late in the spring of
S64 and continued with the cour-
age and the tenacity of purpose
characteristic of the federal COM
mander for nearly a year, and re-
sisted with the bravery and STRAIT
egg and wealth of expedient of
the Confederate leader until the
forces of the South, worn out by
the constant assaults and the in
Cessant hammering, were Compell-
ed to yield to the greater numbers
and the resources of the north.
"To Pennsylvania, as one of the
greatest States of the Union, en-
gagged in the determination to save
it, fell the burden of furnishing
tens of thousands of men for the
struggle in every part of the line
of attack, but especially in the
Army of the Potomoc was the
force of her people and their devo-
ton to the cause felt. Besides her
settled columns, she contributed to
ne Union Army Major General
: George c. Meade, the commander
of the Army of the Potomac; four
corps of commanders, Hancock,
Humphreys, Birney and Parke, to-
gether with Gregg, the command
er of the cavalry division, a roster
of which she may we'll be proud.
The mine under the Petersburg
works which was successfully ex-
ploded in the early summer of 1864
was the work of the miners of Penn
sylvania, enlisted in the Twenty
fourth Regiment of that State, and
the work which was done by them
called for especial mention in the
dispatches of Gen. Meade. In the
early summer Of 1864 until the
surrender at Appommattox in 1855
there were engaged from Pennsyl-
vania upward of SO, 900 men, lar
ger number than now constitutes
the army of the United States.
Upon the 18th of March, 1865,
Gen. Lee determined to make an
assault upon the federal besieging
lines east of the town, and success
fully carried them by attack of a
division under Gen. Gordon, only
to be ultimately defeated by the re-
sistance offered by Hartranft's two
Pennsylvania brigades. These bri-
gades had just been recruited, and
might have been expe, ted TO yield
to the terrific onslaught of the
veterans; but, taking on the stub
bornness and courage of their great
brigade commander, they with
stood the battle and turned the
enemy and to the martial renown
of the Keystone State. 1t is forty
four years since the battle of Fort
Stedman and the victory of the
Hartranft brigades.
In the time which has passed
the bitterness of the internecine
struggle has passed away, and we
pow treasure as common heritage
of the country the bravery and
valor of both sides in the great
tcontroversy. A memorial which
Rmarks the steadfastness, the cour-
Fge, and the soldierly qualities OF
fhe forces engaged in defense OF
the Union finds its true signifi-
Nance and meaning in the cores
bonding bravery and courage OF