The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-10-09
TABLET UNVEILED.
AS DEDICATED TO
COMMON SOLDIER

4
organized in October, 1861, upon the
, soil of Virginia, and after nearly four
years of constant, active service, il was
disbanded IN June, 1865, at almost pre-
csely the same spot near the surrender
at AppomattoX. Its formation out of
Vermont regiments was due to sug-
gestion of distinguished engineer in
the regular army, Colonel William +.
Smith, afterwards General 'Baldy
Smith, who was its first brigade com
mander, It's original components were
the Second, Third. Fourth and Fifth and
Sixth Vermont, and added to it after
wards was the Eleventh Vermont. Ii
continued through the war as nearly
solid body. The Second Vermont regi-
ment was in the first battle OF Bull Run
and witnessed Lees surrender at Apo.
mattoX.
The testimony of all the commanders
of all the armies in which this brigade
| fought is of one kind, to wit, that while
they were not the most conspicuous on
the parade ground for nicety of drill
they We're the part of the army always
selected to take the place where iiercest
| onslaught was expected, and where en-
durance and courage and sense of re-
SpOfslDlllLy were UeRutu lu Uplu IL punt
against the infuriated attack of deter
mined enemy. What they showed in
war was what has distinguished the
people of Vermont as a part of the peo
pie of the United States and as a
leaven of the communities in which they /
migrated, they displayed common sense,
sturdy assertion of right, courageous ex-
hibition of selfrestraint on the one hand
and endurance TO bear and withstand at T
tack upon the other.
Their history manifests in the high /
est degree the proof of the principle that
| have attempted to maintain in what I
/ have said about the private soldier
in these remarks, that the character of
an army and its success are largely due
to the intelligence and discrimination,
the courage the ability to take and use
discipline intelligently, OF the common
soldier and the enlisted men. Ii Is well,
therefore, that in the state of Vermont
the first memorial to the private soldier
alone should be erected, because it is the
Vermont private soldier throughout the
war who has demonstrated the effect
upon the army at large of the personal
intelligence, character worth and cour-
age of the men who filled the ranks"
Tablet Presented.
Harvey B. Amey of Island Pond made
the presentation speech and said: "This
is an extraordinary occasion. because OF
the presence of the president of the
United States, the foremost citizen OF ,,
this republic. if not of the world, and
because we here present memorial tab
let to the common soldier, by whom our
IA hos AoE front rank pa frint. !
ism and achievement.
ut is peculiarly fitting that this tab
let typify a soldier in the business OF
statecraft as well as in war, a master :
builder and an honorable private in an
infantry regiment in the Civil war-our :
own ex governor. whose early struggles !
50 closely resemble those of Andrew
Jackson and Abraham Lincoln. !,
81 wish every school boy could learn =
and become absorbed in the career of >
men like this, who without star to guide T
lr home to welcome, has arisen from d ),
1oyhood OF the bitterest and direst pow =
,rty by his own stupendous courage to :.
,he highest office within the gift of the :
The direction which =,
Ulysses gave to his ship may well apply: y
: Sail on and in regular order cut each fl
billow, n
For | propose to go beyond the sunset
Beyond the paths OF all the western t.
stars until | die II
"And so may it be said of the com q
non soldier of Vermont With an ex ie
llted courage and bravery unsurpassed, p
le has always met the foe.
"But this memorial tablet is not for q
my common soldier of Vermont. but for y
III, whether their bodies are exposed TO i
outhern battlefeIds or they lie in the
uiet silence of death upon our hillsides, z
r vet remain a noble remnant of a once Y
plendid militant army.
Gentlemen of the government in au-
hority, as a member of the committee
nd of the general assembly of 1910, I M
ave the honor to present this memorial
ablet to the common soldier of Yer
mont"
Medal Accepted for Common Soldiers. NJ
In accepting the tablet in behalf OF Bi
he common soldiers of Vermont. Hon. til
elk w. McGettrick Of Boston, former til
: of St Adams, spoke in part as fol- by
,ws: III
"Thirty-ive thousand common sol III
ier BOYS volunteered from the ranks of tr
he common people in this grand old isl
late; faced the fire of cannon and mus
ct and endured the hardships, suffer
lgs. privations and horrors of the camp,
le march. the battlefield and the hos w
tal; nor i it recorded in war history
nat the soldier of Vermont ever finched
the face of danger or failed to credit
bly, execute the orders of the superior po
ficers. mi
The bravery and efficiency of the 10Y
eTmont soldier was preverhial in the OF
rrible conflict in which the preserva- rel
on Of the union was the priceless stake. or
hey fought. bled suffered and more =
IAN five thousand Of them died that IN
ermont might remain a proud AMI Al
-osperous state in an indissoluble sal
iion OF states. constituting a nation oi ~.
eedom; that Vermont. assured Of per-
ancnt membership Of a great family ut
commonwealth. might maintain her II
lsition in the march Of American prog to'
- under the laws and institution. Ne
e products Of popular intelligence AMI ~,
triotism administered and maintained hei
r the commonweal Of the people.
1t j. eminently fitting that the me-
llion surmouuting this beautiful tht
emorial should he Of a representative Sci
.rmont soldier who fought in the ranks an
u whose life and achievements 80 tru