The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-05-31

; this republic is to be perpetuated. l
: must be made known and emphaslze'
, that the safety of a republic like our
does not consist in its wealth, nor II
commerce., not even It's battleshlps
but in moral and patriotic, citizen
ship. AS American citizens, we mus
remember that eternal vigilance Il
the price of our liberty"
AS your speaker today, hope t.
say some things that will interest ant
inspire my comrades, and / hope t
bring some message that will hell
those in this audience, who belong u
the new generation that has come into
being since the Civil war, to have 8
better appreciation of the men ano
women who saved this republic from
its imminent peril, and better con
ception of the peerless sacrifice they
made.
/ Much has been said and written
about the Civil war, but the half mas
/ never been told and never VIII pc
| The pathos and tragedy Of that con-
| flict Is indescribable. No orator can
| depict it, and no artist can paint II.
| There are some things which ba11le
description-for instance, cyclone,
or great storm at sea, or a great
battle. l have seen many pictures OF
our civil war battles, and have seen
in the art galleries Of Europe many
paintings of the great battles OF the
world, but I never saw one that gave
me any satisfaction.
While l cannot describe a battle,
perhaps l can help you who never saw
battle, to get better conception OF
the awful character Of war and Its
fearful tragedy. if 1 paint for you ono
or two word pictures, not OF battle
but OF some incident Of great bat
tie Here is a word picture OF one
Of the many experiences which l had
in my army service
Personal Experience.
My regiment and others were or
dered to make an assault on the we'll
nigh impregnabie works of the en-
envy, and as we rushed forward into
the Jaws of death. the hailstorm Of
rebel bullets mingled with the burst
ing shells. and the screeching OF
grape and canister, in one deafenlng,
Internal chorus Of death, moved down
our comrades; right and left; yet, I'M
dismayed, we closed our decimated
ranks and pushed forward, following
our flag. overcoming every obstacle
the enemy had devised to obstruct
our way, and finally, with exultlnS
cheers, we scaled the enemy's works
and planted thereon our flag. and the
victory was won. But for this victory
a fearful price was paid. But that
was not battle, just an episode IN
great battle.
Let me give you one more WORD
picture Of another battle scene. Some
OF our men were supporting certain
batteries during terrific contest be
tween the Tartillery of the two con-
tending. armies, when the awful thun-
dering OF almost 800 cannons, belch-
ing their missiles of death, made the
heavens reverberate with the deafen-
ing tumult and the earth tremDle be-
meath our feet, while the bursting
shells from the confederate artillery
killed or cruelty mangled our COM,
rades by our sides, whose groans or,
piteous shrieks added to the awful
horror Of this carnival Of death, and it
seemed as though the very demons of
hell had been turned loose, commits
stoned to do their worst.
But through all this trying ordeal,
we remained unflinchingly in our
place, waiting for and ready for the
expected assault of the enemy upon
our lines-an assault for which this
fearful cannonading from the enemy's
guns had been the sure prelude. Fin
ally there came lull in the cannon
aiding. and we heard that never-to-be-
FORGOTTEN sound-the rebel yelf'-a
sound SO wierd. and uncanny, so I'M
like the cheering of our soldiers.
Then we saw their long lines of glis-
tening steel, and as they moved rap
idly toward us with their waving bat
tie flags that Haunted in our faces
the very challenge and defiance OF
the southern confederacy, we poured
into their advancing lines. our leaden
hail Of minnie balls. And as the rat
tie Of the musketry mingled with the
hurting notes of the artillery, death
began to reap his harvest while the
blue and the gray continued to bite
the dust. After fearful carnage,
when death seemed satisfied with his
reaping. the enemy began to waver,
and then, with shattered ranks, fell
ba ok in confusion, leaving their dead
aud dying to mingle with our dying
and dead on the bloody field
Not by two or three such conflicts
as I have so poorly described to you.
was a great battle fought, but by
many such assaults-some assaults
made by the enemy upon our lines
and some by us upon the enemy's
lines, some being victories and some
resulting in defeats. But so, and only
so, was a great battle fought. You
remember General Sherman said.
War is hell" and he was right. In
the battle Of the Wilderness, many OF
our men, who had been so severely
wounded as to be helpless, had been
lying on the ground between the bat
tie lines where they could not be
reached, some of them for thirty-six
hours, when the woods were set on
fire and many of these suffering men
we're burned to death. That was
fearful tragedy, but there are many
tragedies in war.
While / cannot describe the battles
of the civil war. / think l can help
YOU of this new generation to get
hot+or Notwithstanding Of that mighty