The Oskaloosa herald., 1912-04-11
ON SHILOH BATTLEFIELD
Address Delivered Major John Anniversary Cele
braton of Crockers Hornets Nest On the
Et Scene of Conflict April 7th, 1912. ~

L
tinged with more or less sadness ant
disappointment. 1t is short tim
in the history OF nation, but Ions
time in the life of man.
The average Oh generation i
lthirty-three years. No wonder tina
so few survivors appear here today
But there are stin many left of the
Igreat host who battled here in 1862
and they are with one accord turning
, their thoughts in this direction today
Their hearts are with us.
The first day at Shiloh ended in
gloom, and night closed in on the
silent dead and amid the means OF
the wounded.
The Iowa monument now stands re-
newed for its second day at Shiloh
1t has not yielded to defeat. 1t has
risen again from its overthrow. May
! it stand as a mute eloquent memor'
ial of the heroism of the sons of Iowa
| for thousands of years to come.
Battles are turning points in the
worlds history, and to the scene of
one of these sanguinary struggles the
human Imagination always turns with
profound interest.
| In all days and generations a pyra-
mid or a mound has been the most
common memorial of battlefield.
and under such mounds are usually
I Inferred the remains of the dead.
The great mound at Waterloo, sur
mounted by the colossal Belgian lion
marks the spot Where the Old Guard
went down in final defeat, after Ma.
poleon had dominated the world for
twenty years. And when | visite'
this monument few years ago the
straws hung from the open jaws or
the lion, showing that the doves OF
peace had there built their nest.
At CherOnea the Greek mound
marks the spot where their heroes
were buried tWenty-three hundred
years ago, and in the broken frag-
ments of the old lion on that mound
the wild bees have made their home.
When the warning hosts cease their
contests peace resumes its sway, and
the birds are in possession OF the
field at Shiloh.
Germany has erected a monument
to the great Arminius, who overthrow
a splendid Roman army in the days
of Augustus, and whose name troubled
the sleep OF the Emperor and led him
to cry aloud in the anguish Of his
heart: 20, Valens, give me back my
legions!"
Zinghis Khan erected a pyramid OF
skulls to commemorate his Victories
the most CHASTITY memorial OF the
scourage of mankind. These monu.
ments have usually celebrated the
victories of aggression but it has re-
manned to the people of our country
to make memorial or monument OF
the battlefield itself.
These national parks are created
rather to commemorate the full and
complete reconciliation that has come
upon the participants in our Civil
War. As the war of York and Ian.
caster ended in the union of the Red
and White Roses, so the reunion OF
the states is cemented upon every
battlefield of the war.
We have met on one of the great
est of these battlefields, upon the
fiftieth anniversary of the contest.
To-day we stand among the trees
where the whistling bullet, the shrek
ing shot and shelf dealt such havoc;
and best of all we meet on this scene
as friends rejoicing in a Union Gem.
ented by so much of sorrow and
strife.
From Bull Run to Appomattox as
the crow flies is only one hundred
and twenty miles, but that journey
covered thousands OF miles through
many states. Measured by time it
was a journey of four years: meas.
ured in blood and tears it was Il
thousand years.
The journey was by various and
devious routes: through mud and
mire, through sunshine and through
storm, through summer heats and
winter SHOWS. through dangers by
food and fire, through dangers by
stream and wood, through sickness
and sorrow. and by the wayside death
always stalked and grimly claimed
his own.
The real monument OF that war aft
er all is not the marble and granite
that celebrates the life and death
of heroes, or preserves their features
or names for the study OF genera.
lions yet 10 come.
Under ST. Paurs Cathedral in Lon
don is the tomb OF Sir Christopher
Wren, who designed the beautiful
and constructed it from
corner stone to spire. His epitaph Is
short and simple: II you would see
my monument. look around you!"
Ii you would see the true monument
Of these dead, and OF their surviving
look around you wherever
you may be. A united country Isl
their monument: their monument
can be seen from the ear windows OF
prosperous states.
The monuments erected by the liy.
ing 10 the dead honor the living even
more than they honor the dead. And
here upon this southern battlefield,
by men who fought on
both sides, we may quote with our