The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-05-31
Memorial Day Address Of Gen. Byron c. Ward

VA No
regiment? l said it was q small regi
4 ment. It ranks had been depleted
| by previous hard fighting and twt
of its companies were absent OF
guard duty 1t made that charge will
only 262 officers and men. And II
that charge their gallant colonel, VIM
Colville, was shot seven times ano
every line officers and most OF the
company officers were either killec
or wounded. Out Of the 262 who
made that Charge, only forty-seveT
came out, but these forty-seven mer
came out with their flag proud,
waving in defiance of the whole south
ern confederacy. said that the LOSE
Of the famous light Brigade" In
killed and wounded was thirty-s1x pei
cent, but the loss of the First Mime
sofa was eighty-two per cent-eighty'
two as against thirty-six, and yet no
great poet has attempted to immor-
talize the First Minnesota regiment
But they need no poets eulogy for
they immortalized themselves.
I was a Vermont soldier. and that
small state sent $4,000 men into the
field, and there was not Vermont
regiment which, under the same cir
cumstances, would not have made
just as brilliant q charge as did that
Minnesota regiment. Iowa had 76,-
600 men in the army and comrades.
you know that there was not an Iowa
regiment, had it been at Gettysburg,
that would not have made that charge
with the same heroism as did the
.61f r.
mettle, that kind of noble spirit that
characterized the union soldiers, who
were always ready to challenge death
in the line Of duty.
But not on the battlefield alone
was heroism displayed 1t was mani
tested in hospitals where men suffer
ed untold agonies without complaint;
it was displayed in confederate pris-
ons that were very bells Of torture,
where over $4,000 Of our men died by
inches from abuse exposure and star
walton. And when some OF these
brave men were offered a release
from their suffering, on the one. cen-
dition that they renounce their ALE
glance to the Stars and Stripes, the
offer was spurned and the man who
dared to make it was held in con-
tempt. They preferred to die the
most miserable death and be buried
like dog In an unknown grave,
rather than dishonor the dear old flag
they loved SO we'll.
would fail in my duty on this oc-
casion, did ! not pay tribute to The
loyal women of the north. l have
spoken of the heroism Of our soldiers,
but the heroism displayed in those
days was not all rendered by men.
1t was found among the women who
did their part so nobly and bore their
sufferings so patiently.
You remember Jennie Wade. the
only woman killed in the battle Of
Gettysburg. She was baking bread
for our hungry soldiers in the midst
OF battle. Her friends told her she
must go into the cellar or she would
lose her life. But She refused to go
into the cellar and kept baking bread
until the fatal bullet crashed into her
dwelling and pierced her body. and
she died. That was splendid devotion
to the flag. 81
Widow Of Hero. $
A young husband had enlisted in
New York City. AS he was bidding
goodbye to his, family, consisting OF
the wife and two little girls, the girls
began to cry pitiably and said: PA
pa, don't go to the war and leave
your little girls" but the heroic wife
put her arms around her husbands
neck and said: Go. my husband and
little girls. Go and God bless you.
would rather be the widow Of hero
than the wife of a living coward
That unc pyalfad M frintiSno
An army nurse was on board a
steamer as it was nearing Vicksburg
during it's siege by General Grant.
She had been working night and day,
caring for sick and wounded soldiers
and was breaking down. Her friends
told her If CHE did nor relax her. ef-
forts she would surely die. And she
said: What II I do die, Shall men
come here by tens of thousands and
fight and suffer and die and not one
women be willing to die while trying
to alleviate their sufferings?" Tha.
was superb heroism.
These incidents show the beautiful
spirit that dominated the loyal wom-
en- of the north.
There were the dear mothers, God
bless them, who gave their sons. in
many cases all they had. How their
hearts ached as they kissed their boys
goodbye and watched them go down
the road until out OF sight-many OF
them never to come back again
My mother was widow and poor,
but she gave all she had-my brother
and myself. My brother and l were
in such battles as Fredericksburg,
Charlottesville, Gettysburg, the
Wilderness. Spottsylvania and many
others, ending at Appomattox, and we
never knew what our mother suffered
especially during the time OF those
battles; and there we're thousands
and tens of thousands OF such moth
ers throughout the northland.
l have no time to speak Of the 81
tiers who gave their brothers. nor ii,
sweethearts who surrendered the:
lovers and bore their grief in silence.
I had such a sweetheart whose in