The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-07-01
.CRUTCH AND CANE IS ONLY
WEAPON At GETTYSBURG
up and fall lifeless while his blood
drad tba anil Then thew had no time

.are for the stricken. Their duty was
ahead and they answered the call.
But today they lived 1t all over again
and prayers and tears were mingled.
These men were not ashamed to show
heir emotions. They made no at
tempt to hide their tears. They had
earned their right to shed them half
. century ago and 1t was plain that
they deemed 1t only meet that they
should remember the boys who had
drunk from the same canteen" but
whom the fortunes OF war had claim
ed.
The spot where the gallant Rey-
nolds fell, directing his army, was
the mecca for many wearers Of both
the blue and the gray. He was the
first OF the ranking officers to fall
and the monument that marks the
spot was fragrant with the perfume
Of many flowers placed thereon by
survivors Of his own army and men
from HILLS corps, who had opposed
him.
But the tears shed today were not
tears Of regret. The spirits of the
veterans were of the highest The
dead had given their lives In the per
forinance of their duty and their fight
had not been in vain. Their spirit
was the spirit of the entire encamp-
ment. Not one man who wore the
gray would have changed the out,
come If he had the power. Cheers
for the reunited nation came from
group after group as they listened to
impromptu orations by noted mem
bers OF their own immediate parties.
For 1t was day Of speech making
and story telling. There were to be
formal exercises late In the after
noon in the big tent erected for that
purpose but real speeches were heard
in nearly every section Of open
ground The battle field proved an
inspiration for those who were over
come by their feelings and sought
opportunity tosg be 1 card Inaprenaptu-
company, regimental brigade and
corps reunions were the order OF the
day and one merged into the other SO
easily that patriotic talks came with
out effort.
A remarkable feature Of the entire
day was the manner in which the
north and south united. Knots of
blue clad veterans would gather
around granite and bronze figure.
At first their talk was In low, almost
whispered tones.
That was the way most stories be-
gan. Then began the recital of the half
hour in the wheat field and the cruel
raking of the standing forces by
shrapnel from the distant hills; of the
heroism of Tom, of Jim, OF Ed. And
finally when the narrator reached the
point where the orders to advance
finally came he would find himself
the centre of a group that sometimes
reached far into the hundreds. And
the crowd of gray clad men was al
ways ready to pick up the story where
the wearers of the blue dropped It.,
to tell of how the charge was receiv-
ed; how the bayonet thrusts followed
when the two opposing forces met in
the final desperate hand to hand en-
/ counter; how the sharp shooters pick,
ed off the color-bearers and the Off
1 GERS; how the flags we're saved. Then
everything would halt while black oil
cloth coverings were unbuttonei,
stripped from tattered strips of silk,
some SO faded that none OF the orig
inal colors could be distinguished
and the battle flags would be exhib-
/ ited-priceless relics that moved the
sternest to tears and caused grizzled
fighting men to hug them to their
.bosoms and press kisses upon the
shot-torn remnants.
There would be cheers for Meade
for Lee, for the slain Reynolds, foI
/, Pickett and his gallant Virginians
| for the living and the dead. And as
the group would break up the veter
ans would pass on to another section
of the field where similar scenes
I would be enacted. 1t was east and
4 west the north and south meeting
Oregon and Maine, Ohio and Louisi
/ ana shook hands, patted each othel
on the back and made the most o.
4 the day. For this in all probability IL
i the last great reunion that will evel
be held of the survivors of war be
8 tween the states. Nearly all have
passed the biblical limit of three score
4 and ten, their trembling feet are halt
ing on the threshold of eternity ant
they have earned the rest that Il
( coming to them So today they clap
d ped each other on the back. shool
hands with enthusiasm and cheeret
/ for friend and former foe and LIVED
again the stirring days when the.
were boys and part Of the creates
/, fighting forces the sun has eve
shone on.
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