Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-06-01

definitely for the coming of the gun
ply train. run short of rations, and
worried through the stress of weather
all ordinary incidents of the SOL
diers.
And then the harder side of the mic
ture: The preparation for battle. the
sentry work, the anticipation of en-
gagernent fraught with unknown pos
sibilities. the danger of ambush. the
wild shock and frenzy of the battle
itself and perchanee the rear guard
in the sullen disappointment of re-
treat.
Through all these trials men have
passed and marked in the history of
their country and the regiments have
placed upon their standards, rings
bearing the memory of their efforts. in
the names of great battles to record
what human bravery may accomplish
Great wars have fired the iriagina
ton, quickened the pulses. crimsoned
the cheek. Frightened the eve, and
raised the voice of man to cheer in
proud approval of the fortitude, the
courage, the ambition of his ancestors
and his fellow-co untrymen. And
finally. when the wreck is complete,
peace concludes the turmoil. the SOL
der puts aside his arms. rivals admit
that their differences are settled, and
the woeful cost of it all, is left to be
forgotten.
When in 1857, the Supreme court
of the United States decided the ia
nous "Dred Scot" or fugitive slave
case. and held that a slave was only
personal property to he considered
the same as a horse or a dog. the peo-
pie of the North and the people of
the South were widely divided in
sentiment and in judgment.
Then followed the raid of John
Brown into Virginia a product of the
popular excitement. aroused by the
discussion of the slave question, and
when Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote
Uncle Toms Cabin" the people were
in a fevered and receptive condition of
mind. and the paths of the North and
the South diverged more widely as
the prejudices of each irritated and
disturbed the other.
With the country thus disturbed
came the Presidential election of 1860,
when Abraham Lincoln of Illinois was
elected President, and Hannibal Ham
lin of Maine. vice President of the
United states.
Before the end of the year South
Carolina had seeded from the Union
and before the inaugural of President
Lincoln, Mississippi Florida, Alabama
Georgia, Louisiana and Texas had fol-
lowed her lead
Our people were divided. each man
convinced that his way was the only
right way and his judgment the only
sound determination.
Not to meet, confer and adjust, but
to meet. resist and not yield. was the
temper, and with such temper, and
with the mind and inclination so dis
posed. all happenings furnished addi-
uonal reasons for disagreement.
Before Abraham Lincoln took the
oath of office as President, the South
ern Confederacy was organized and
actively at work.
Event followed event with startling
speed. but the real gravity of the
situation was not realized until Sum
ter was fired upon. and this great ma
ton was actually in Civil War. The
questions leading up to the war were
of tremendous Importance. It's con-
elusion settled for all time that no
state could secede from the United
States; and during it's progress the
main contention. the troublesome in
stitution of Slavery" was ais set
tied.
II is interesting in this connection tn
note that when we were at war with
england in 1872, our own New England
states were quite of the opinion that
they had the right to withdraw from the
Union If the action of the National Coy
eminent did not satisfy them; and later
John Quincy Adams, then an ex-presi-
dent of the United States, strongly ad-
vocated that If the states should lose
fraternal feeling for each other il would
De better that they part in friendship
from each other than to be held together
by constraint Even as late as 1874 and
lS45 we find our sturdy Massachusetts
avowing the right of secession, and
threatening it, if Texas should be admit
ted to the Union: and Horace Greeley of
New York expressed himself as beIiev-
ing that the right of secession was in
herent i'll the State. Such diverse opin-
ions could not be harmonized and the
sacrifice of vast numbers of lives alone
could proptiate the God of War, subdue
the passions of the people and restore
peace to distracted and divided country
At Bull Run. the first important clash.
each army had less than 30.01O men en-
gagged but its effect was to enormously
increase the war levies on both sides, to
concentrate the passions. and to mark
that line of stern determination that
made the conflict between Americans the
most heroic spectacle of unyielding ma
lures the world has ever witnessed.
Defeat melted to greater effort. and
through the years that followed, monu-
ment after monument marks the endur-
ance, the vitality, the unrelenting force,
and the resolute character of the Ameri-
can citizen and the American soldier.
Manassas, Fort Donelson, shiloh, Fair
Oaks, Winchester, the Seven Days Bat
tie, Malvern Hill, Antietam, Fredericks-
burg, Murfreesboro. Vicksburg, Chick
amauga. Chattanooga. Missionary Ridge.
Charlottesville, Gettysburg. the March
of Sherman to the Sea, The Wilderness.