Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-06-01
TAFT ASKS BIG ARMY
AS SHAFT is GIVEN
GETTYSBURG DEAD
Continued from Page One.

Continued from Page One.
than in the early years of the republic
1t should not be reduced.
The profession of arms has always been
an honorable one, and under conditions Of
modern warfare il has become highly
technical and requires years of experience
and study to adapt the officers and men
to its requirements. The general purpose
Of congress and the American people, If
one can say there is a plan or purpose,
is to have such nucleus as regular
army that it may furnish a skeleton for
rapid enlargement in times of war to o
force ten or twenty times its size, and
at the same time be an appropriate in
strument for accomplishing the purpose
of the government in crises likely to arise,
other than a war.
at West Point we have been able to
prepare a body of professional soldiers,
we'll. trained to officer an army, and nu-
merous enough at the opening of the civil
war to give able commanders to both
sides of that internecine strife.
T. VOLUNTEER OFFICERS.
Upon the side of the north, many Of
the officers were drafted to command
the volunteer troops from the states,
while the regular army, aggregating about
900 at the opening of the war. was in
creased to about $500 during its first
year. More than half this army was en-
gagged in the battle of Gettysburg.
Time does not permit to mention the
names of the heroes of the regular army
whose blood stained this historic field, and
whose sacrifices made the union victory
possible With my intimate knowledge OF
the regular army, their high standard of
duty their efficiency as soldiers, their
high character as men, have seized this
opportunity to come here to testify to the
pride which the nation should have IN
its regular army and dedicate this mon
ument to the predecessors 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 associations
thew had not the friends and neighborS
OF the volunteer forces to see to 1t that
their deeds of valor were properly record
ed. and the value Of their services suit
ably noted in the official records by leg
islative and congressional action, and they
have now to depend upon the truth of his
tory and in the cold, calm, retrospect Of
the war as 1t was, to secure from con-
gress this suitable memorial Of the WORK
in the saving of the country which they
ALL HONOR TO ARMY.
"Au honor to the regular army of the
United Statesl Never in its history ha:
Ii had a stain upon its escutcheon. Witt
no one to blow it's trumpets with no loca
feeling or pride to bring forth its merits
quietly and as 1t BELTS a force organized
to maintain civil institutions and subject
always to the civil control, II has gone
on duty which 1t was its to do. accept
ing without a murmur the dangers Of
war whether upon. the trackless street.-the:
of our western frontier. exposed to ar
rows and the bullets of the Indian, Of
in the jungles and the rice paddles Of
the Philippines, on the hills and in thu
valleys about Santiago, in Cuba, or II
the tremendous campaigns of the civil
war itself, and it has never failed Il
make a record of duty done that should
satisfy the most exacting lover of hi!
country.
ut now becomes my pleasant duty t
dedicate this monument to the memory o
| the regular soldiers of the republic, WHIT
gave up their lives at Gettysburg, ant
who contributed in a large degree to thu
victory of those three fateful days II
the country's history"
TAFT STARTS TO BATTLEFIELD.
President Taft arrived here shortly afte
| 10 o'clock after an all night ride from
Pittsburg. A great crowd surrounded thu
! station The presidential party was me
| by the members of the Gettysburg Ma
| tional Park commission. After a Sigh
! delay President Taft, his party. and tn
| local reception committee entered automo
| bies for a trip over the battlefield. Fol
| lowing the visit to all historic points tn
president returned to his car for lunch
con at 2 p. m. he took his place
at the head of the military parade which
will form in the town and proceed to tn
Bloody Angle" on Cemetery ridge.
The ceremonies at the monument wer,
opened by the playing of America
/ by the Thirteenth coast artillery band
followed by prayer by Chaplain H. H
| Chouinard, Fifth United States infantry
/ President Taft then delivered the ora
ton. Immediately after the address }
| the president, his daughter, Miss Helen n
Taft, unveiled the monument.
| DICKINSON GIVES SHAFT.
The address transferring the monumen
| from the national government to the Get
tysburg National Park commission wa
delivered by Secretary of War Dick
inson, and the acceptance made b!
| Colonel Nicholson. chairman Of tie com
| mission, who will deliver an address.
| Laurel wreaths were placed at tn,
base of the monument by the oldest sur
viving regimental or battery commando
present, after which taps were sounded
by the trumpeters. Following the con
clusion of the dedication ceremonies tn
president reviewed the troops.
!