The National tribune., 1909-07-08
TABLET TYPIFYING LOYALTY.

done by President Taft, who while Sec
retary of War was Chairman of the
Commission appointed to take up the
question of the memorial
1T is a memorial" said Gen. Wag-
ner, "of which our comrades may feel
proud and which will be recognized by
future generations as emblematic of a
grand army which made the United
States of America a possibility. The
work originally contemplated a memo
rial to DR.. Stephenson, but as it pro-
gressed and as contributions increased
in amount 1t was thought advisable to
enlarge the scope and to make 1t not
merely a memorial to the founder Of
the Grand Army of the Republic, but
of the Grand Army ITSELF
Commander-i in Chief Nevius.
He then presented the monument
completed and paid for to Commander
in-Chief Nevius, who received it on be-
half of the Grand Army of the Repub-
lie. Bestowing high praise upon the
work done by the Grand Army of the
Republic during the civil war, Com
mander-in-Chief Nevius expressed the
hope that the monument would lever
stand as an enduring memorial to the
son and sons of the worthy sires whose
monument stands at Bunker HILL"
He spoke of the organization in 1886,
| first Post being formed at Decatur, Ill
Pointing to the statue before him, Com
mander Nevius said:
THE three figures in bronze upon the
sides of this monument, representing
cardinal principles of the G. A. r., are
the principles upon which DR.. Stephen
son founded this great organization.
| From time immemorial monuments
have been erected i'm one form or an
| other, commemorative of men and wo.
men who, by energy, industry and per-
severance In the activities of their lives
have made their names memorable in
| various walks of life"
Speaking then of the work of Wash
ington and other founders of the Re-
public, he traced down to the openine
of the civil war the growth Of the
| country.
I'm the Northern States" he contin.
ued, there were many who loved party
and party power and party supremacy
better than they loved the Union; many
who openly avowed that our fathers
Constitution was worthless rag, tha
under 1t the Government had no righ
to coerce rebellious State or States
But when Abraham Lincoln called fol
men to enforce the law they responded
by thousands and hundreds of thou
sands"
! After reviewing some of the cam
|
exclaimed:
"On this very street in front of III
(Seventh street) the dashing Early
made his raid when he made his ad
vance upon the Capital City, the onl,
time the National Capital was in dan
ger, and on this same street, on tn
night of July 10. 1864, the boys II
blue marched out to Fort Stevens ant
there confronted Early, and then tn,
gallant Sheridan hurled him back III
the Valley with such disastrous results
Commander-in-Chief Nevius lost hi
left arm In the fight at Fort Stevens OF
that fateful day.
He declared that II had been by tn
! suffering, sacrifice and blood of tn
comrades of the Grand Army of tn
Republic that the Flag had been raise,
from the dust and mire, smoke be
grimed. powder stained and bullet rid
den. and thrown to the breeze to fioa
forever over our broad land of tn
free"
The Monument Unvailed.
Prolonged cheers rent the air as tn
Commander-in-Chief turned to Presi
dent Taft and presented the monument
as the strings pulled by Mrs. Van Cas-
teel a daughter of Illinois and of Col
George c. Ross, loosed three great Gar
rison flags, which spread out on tn
wind as the flags few up in the air
leaving the monument standing thin,
of enduring beauty, unvailed to tn
vast crowds. The Marine Band playe
''The Star SI'angled Banner" and Mrs
Anna Grant Fugitt sang the words witt