The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-05-19
Mr.. Taft Is Guest of Honor at
Petersburg, Va.
HARTRANFT STATUE
In Memory of Pennsylvania Sol.
diers Is Unveiled.
Many Other DISTINGUISHED Visi.
tors Are Present.

triDute alike to the soldiers OF tha
north and Of the south, President Taft
witnessed the unveiling of a heroic
statue in bronze, erected at Fort Ma
hone on the Petersburg battleffelds in
memory of General Hartranft and the
pennsylvania volunteers, who fell in
tne stubborn fighting about this out
prss,s pose or the Confederate capital The
president coupled with every tribute to
the Union soldiers a eulogy of the
valor of the Confederates.
we could not dedicate this beauti-
tuI ana enduring memorial he de-
clared, ito the volunteer soldiers oe
pennsylvania with such a sense or its
justice and appropriateness had thew
not Deen confronted by an enemy ca
paole or resisting their assaults with
equal vigor and fortitude. PennsvI-
vania's pride must be in the Victory
achleved by her men against so brave.
resoiute and resourceful an enemy,
Ine president declared the battle be-
tween the states had to be fought and
'hat enduring good had come of it.
The Presidents Address.
President Taft said In part:
My Fellow Citizens: We are r,at
To-Day on the soil of Virginia to dedi-
cate memorial to the bravery of the
sons OF Pennsylvania exhibited in a
contest to the death with the sons of
Virginia and the south We stand
here in the center of the b1oodiest and
most critical operations of the last
year of the. civil war, only a few miles
distant from that dramatic scene at
Appomattox 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.
| To Pennsylvania as one of the great
! states OF the Union engaged in the de-
termination 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 Potomac was the force of
her people and their devotion to the
4 cause felt.
| In the time which has passed." the
president continued, the bitterness of
the internecine Struggle has passed
| away and We now treasure as a--cona-
mon heritage of the country the
| bravery and the vaior of both sides in
| that controversy. The army of the
potomac under Grant and Meade was
seconded and supported by generous
| government. It was hardly so with the
| Confederate forces.
Put Upsa Good Fight.
"Scaptily clothed, rarely on more
than half ratiOnS and for considerable
periods reduced to an allowance of ba-
con and meal hardly sufficient to sus-
tain life, the long winter through, their
shivering infantry manned the ever ex-
| tending siege works and made head
| against the vigorous assaults of the
Union army until their depleted ranks
were no longer equal to the defense of
their attenuated lines and they gave I'D
a contest which by many other SOL
diers, but the tried and seasoned vet
Grams of the army of northern vir-
ginia would long before have been
| abandoned.
Pennsylvania pride must be in tho
| victory achieved by her men against
so brave, resolute and resourcefuI an
enemy. That we can come here today
and in the presence of thousands and
tens of thousands of the survivors of
the gallant army of northern Virginia
| and of their descendants establish such
| an enduring monument by their hospit-
able attendance and acclaim is con-
elusive proof Of the uniting of the sec
| tions and a universal confession that
all that was done was done well. that
the battle had to be fought, that the
sections had to be tried, but that In
the end the result has Injured to the
common benefit of ALL The men of the
army of northern Virginia fought for a
principle which they believed to be
right and for which they were willing
to sacrifice their lives, their hornes-all
indeed, which men hold most dear.
"The contending forces of now half
century ago, have given place to new
north and new south and to a more
enduring Union in whose responsible
tiles and whose glorious destiny we
equally ana SrdteIuIly snare.
City All Afiutter.
The presidents visit to Petersburg.
once the citadel of the Confederacy
has had the city afiutter for more than
a month and the plans for his enter
tafnment have surpassed anything of
the sort before undertaken here. The
occasion of Mr.. Taft's first visit into
the south as president is to be taken
advantage of by the Virginians for a
display of hospitality for which the
section long has been noted.
II In addition to the president, many
other distinguished visitors partici-
pated in the days events Governor
Stuart of Pennsylvania. Governor
| Swanson of Virginia. members of the
battlefield commission of Pennsylvania,
large delegations from Grand Army
posts and a host of Confederate vet
Grams have gathered, while at the
| luncheon this afternoon the speakers
include, in addition to the president
and the two governors, NJ. Jusserand,
the French ambassador; Rear Aduira I
| Sigsbee u. S. N, retired; President z.
A. Alderman of the University of Vir-
ginia; former Governors William E.
Cameron and Andrew Jackson Mon
tague of Virginia; Mayor Jones and w.
B. McIlwane of Petersburg.
On the Battlefield.
Upon his arrival shortly after 3
O'Clock the president was driven ar
once to the old battlefields so rich in
historic interest. He first witnessed
at Fort Stedman the unveiling of a
tablet which stands on the spot where
the Third division of the Ninth army
corps. commanded by General Hart
ranft, later governor of Pennsylvania,
recaptured the works on March 25 1865,
: after they had been taken by General
John B. Gordon, and 100 picked men
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