Milford chronicle., 1959-02-27
Civil Var Centennial
Group Planning For
lYe0- Fete
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continued from page onel
Some states may have such a
thing in mind, and the National
Commission will not tell them they
can't go through with it-in fact,
we intend to help them with their
individual programs. But we hope
that a series of dignifed 0bserv-
ances will form the backbone of
the Centennial"
The General recalled that ex-
perience advises against turning
the Centennial into a mere re-
staging of battles.
"The job is too big and too cost
ly," he explained. Then, too, the
most we would have would be may
be $4,000 men deployed to repre-
sent 10000 or more, situation
that still would make it necessary
for us to use a great deal of imag-
ination to visualize the phase of
history we are trying to depict.
There naturally will be some re-
enactments of key events-possibly
Fort Sumter, First Manassas, the \
Merrimack- Monitor battle. Antie-
tam, Gettysburg and othsrs-but
these will be widely spaced.
The chairman thinks of She Cen
tennial as carefully coordinated
program involving every part of
the nation, with the strengthening
of the Union as its major goal
We who are planning the Gem
tennial acknowledge that the war
was great tragedy, and we de-
plore the lives that were lost and
the damage done during the four
| years it was in progress" he said.
But we also recognize that the
war has served to draw us closer
| together rather than to tear us
apart"
He cited the seventy-oSd Civil
War Tables throughout the nation,
with a total membership running
| into the thousands, that now meet
in frequent session to study and
discuss battles and leaders of the
war.
"The activities Of these groups
prove that there is much to be
gained from a study of this contest
that was fought nearly a century
ago." he continued. s'It was Pat
rick Henry who said, i know of no
way of judging but by the past.
This is something the military pro-
/ fession realizes, and it is a COD
! sideration that brings many Pfli-
tary-minded visitors from abroad
to this country to walk over our
hallowed fields and to gain from the
examples set for us by our grand.
fathers who took part in this war"
General Grant added that he
looks forward to the Centennial as
"a new study of American patrio-
tism and capability" 1t must be a
lireappraisal, he said, that will give
the nation deeper understanding
KOf the immense reserves OF brav-
cry, of sacrifice, of ideaiism which
lie in the American character"
He described himself as highly
pleased" to hear recently that Co
lumbus, Ohio, is planning a service
in memory of the 1920 Confederate
| soldiers who died while prisoners
of war in Camp Chase, a major
concentration center in that North
ern state. This he identified as the
type of gesture the National Com
mission appreciates, one that will
help to unity sentiments in the
country and obliterate whatever
sectional feeling may remain.
Our Civil War was the greatest
test this country ever faced" he
concluded Built of the heroism
and endurance that was drawn
from men and women of both sec
tions of the nation by devotion to
principles valued more than life
itself, it was our most profound
and tragic experience. What was
finally gained by it affected our
national character and our nation
al destiny itself-the preservation
of the American Union as an IN
! strumentality of freedom for all
the peoples of the world.
after the war ended, these an
cestors of ours saw in the unity
of their land something that over
| shadowed the bitterness of their
fight Since then the sons and
grandsons of the enemies in that
war have fought shoulder to
shoulder in four foreign wars-an
inspiring happening unique in
history"