The New York Herald Newspaper, September 18, 1867, Page 3

ANTIETAM. Dedication of the Na- tional Cemetery. President Johnson end the Diplomatic Corps Present. impressive and Interesting Ceremonies. Oration by Ex-Governor Brad- ford, of Maryland. Earnest Invocation for Peace by the President. Keupyeviiie, Md., Sept. 17, 1867. ‘The interesting ceremonies of the dedication of the Antietam National Cemetery and the laying of the cor- ner stone of the Monument occurred to-day on the soene of the great baitle of ‘Antietam, about two miles from. this village. The weather was delightful and nothing bas occurred thus far to interfere with the Jong programme of arrangements previously agreed upon. The railroad train’ from Baltimore and that from Wasbington having met at the Relay House, pro- eseded on their way hither, which they reached at about twelve o'clock. Among the invited guests in the ‘| ‘Wasbipgton train were President Johnson, Secretaries Seward, McCulloch and Welles, Postmaster General Randall, Assistant Secretary of Navy Faxon, Colonel Morrow, of the President’s staff, and Mr. Corshaw, of the Execative Mansion, and the following named rep- vesentatives of foreiga countries:— a" Sritain—Francis Clare Ford, Secretary of Lega- a, France—Mr, J. Bentheny, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary ; the Viscount de St, Ferriot, Secretary of Legation. Russia—M, Edward de Stoeckl, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary; M. Waldemar de Bodisco, Secretary of Legation. Spain—Senor Don Fatundo Goni, Envoy Extraordi- mary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Italy—The Chevalier Cerruti, iti, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary; Mr. Romero Cantagulli, Secretary of Legation. Aostria—Baron Frankenstein, Chargé a’ Affairs. Nicaragua and Honduras—‘enor Don Luis Malina, En- voy Extraordinary and Miuister Plenipotentiary. Mexico—Sénor Don M. Romero, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pienipotentiary; Senor Don Ignacio saris. cal, Secretary of Legation; Senor Don Cayetano Romero, Second Secretary. Turkey—Minister Blacque and his secretary, Baltze. There were also on the Washington train, Hon. Wm, E. Robinson, Congressman trom Brooklyn district, N. Y¥.; General Thoa, W. Eagan, Hon. G. V. Fox, ex-Assist- ant Secretary of the Navy; Mr. Chilton and Mr. Donald- son, of the State Department; Mr. Pleasants, of the At- torney General’s Office; Col. Jas, R. O’Beirne and nu- merous other gentlemen occupying public positions, On the Baltimore train, among others, were:—Gov- ernor Swann, of Maryland, with staff; consisting of Adjutant General Berry, Brigadier General W. H. Neil- won, Judge Advocate J. B. Latrobe and Colonel Waters, aid-de-camp; also ex-Governor Bradford and Lieutenant Governor Cox, General Shrever, Provost of Baltimore, and Colonel Sellick, the two last named being of the Commitee of Arrangements, and Colonel Webster, Collector of the Port of Baltimore, Fenton, of New York, with his staff, 19 Adjutant General Marvin, Inspector Goneral Batch- ejer, Commissary General of Ordnance Palmer, Judge ‘Advocate General Young, Paymaster General Olcott, ‘Colonel Moit, did-aé.chmp, Governor English, gf Con- “Kea Paymaster General Charley; Governor Ward, of ‘New Jersey, and his staff, as follows:—General Lewis Perrine, Quartermaster General Wm. Stryker, Adjutant Lewis W. Oakley, Surgeon General Ed. C. Campbell, State Military Agent General A. T. A. Torbet, United ‘States Army; Lieutenant Colonel N. N. Halsted, ald-de- camp; Lieutenant Colonel Robert 8. Swords, aid-de- camp; Lioutenant Colonel Wm. E. Potter, aid-de-camp; Lieutenant Colonel James W. Woodruff, deputy quarter- master. Civil officers—Horace N. Conger, Secretary of State; Wm. L, Dayton, Jr., Private Secretary to the Governor; Wm. K, McDonald, Comptroller; Geo, A. Halsey, Member of Congress; John W. Foster, historian ; Dr. S- B, Hunt, editor Newark Daily Advertiser, Governor Bullock, of Massachusetts, being unable to attend that State was represented by the following named gentlemen:—General commanding, Adjutant General Cunningham; General W. R. Lee, Brigadier General Palfrey and Brigadier General W. S. King, all of whom were in the battle of Antietam. One of the cars was engaged exclusively by the Gov- ernor of New Jersey, who has Governor Fenton, of New York, for bis guest. Governor Swann invited all the Governors to share in bis hospitalities on board of his car, and extended to t em all an earnest invitation to visit him at the seat of verpment. we ontgomery Biair, Major Generals McMahon, A. A.; Daryea, Gregory and Torbett; W. Prescott’ Smith aud other prominent emen were on board. ‘The miiicary f in line near the com gue and presented arms while the President of the United ‘States and other invited guests passed into the enclosure amid the repeated cheers of the multitude, the band plagiog in the meantime patriotic airs. eo enclosure was not reached ontil nearly two o'clock, and by that time tem thousand persons were already on the ground. A large number of ladies were t apon an extensive platform for them. Us the speasers’ * aod were tue President of the Un ted States, the members of his Cabinet, the repre. sentatives of foreign governments, and the Governors of States who have already been mentioned, together with Governors Chamberiain, of Maine; Bereman, of West Virginia; Geary, of Pennsylvania, and the other dis tinguished guests, imposing ceremonies were commenced by Gov- ernor Swann, of Maryland, who delivered a brief #1 which was greeted with loud cheers, Governor Swann aid;— Frutow Covxtrrmes—Before with the Programme which has beon handed to me by the Com- m. tree of Arrangemen'e fit seem appropriate that, asthe Oficial organ of the Stave of wand, upon whose soil and with whose hearty co-operation this cemetery has deen iounded. I should extend acordial welcome to bis Excellency, the President of the United States, and his Calin »t, the Governors of our sister States, and the dis- tiugui-hed guests who have come to participate ia the ceremonies of this most interesting occasion. During the ad@vin'stration of my immediate predecessor the iirst appropriation was made by the State of Maryland toward establishing a burial place for the dead who fell upon the battie field of Antietam At a at period, the jation thus made having nd inadequate, upon the application of 1 missiovers charged with this trust # further su added in res; to acommanication made by the Legislature in this behalf, haryland having done her stare in providing a burial place for these brave and patriotic men, the co-operation of our sister States was Invoked to their aid in throwing around it a national interest, and most liberal contributions have been accordingly made by nearly all the States in ¢ removal of their dosed, the erection of monuments d im adding to attractiveness of this beautiful spot. The 4 far as it has progressed, is now . The fag which floats over us g of our Union. The sword ed, The tramp of contending brother no lo! of this great republic is again im the ascendant, In the calm sunshine of peace we are here to mingle our tears with the survivors of the illustrious dead who have sac- Fificed their lives for their oye ye sees ie ‘this fold. May I not, in this solemn hour, im APLerpositi of Almighty God for @ speedy restorati of harmony and ert: land, that North, South, aside the apimosities of the past, we may #tand togeth: hereaiter, and in ail future time, as one people, having commoa and bound together by # common jertiny. May this Union be perpe: Next & prayer by the Rey. Hiram Matteson, 0B. By U New e ye hymn composed by the Rev. Edward Meyer, Pennsylvania, was then the vast assemblage. There was music by the band the jntervals, which added much to the beaaty and impressiveness of the scone. The corner stone of the monumont was then Jaid in due form, arcording to the Masonic rites, Fx-Governor Bradford then proceeded to deliver the foliowing oration:— © have met here to-day, my countrymen, e of the mont memorable of the battie fields of eat civil war, \d we stand upon a site selected from the midet of it an appropra: Place for those who have taid down their Ii secrifics to the committed, to dedieate " rome pabiie and oficial the Battie, the ape fovernmont bas ine on this the anni of lected, beiiowed aa it © tb every bil! around }t, ip the heart of the nation, To the instance of t been more expec ' NEW ‘YORK HERALD. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1867.—TRIPLE SHEET. unite in this the President of the United ry members of oop the a Justice the United States, of the national Legislature, py or other dntngeiaed seacpeesteloras of most the Bites whose oit:Sens , form: e army U ve ho with their pion, have us presenca, meaning, Tam sare, for th ives and those they represent, to express by that their enduring gratitude to the presence hving or dnd, who 80 nobly stood by them in their “be 4 hour of trial. With such a company around me, and thia vast throng in ‘ront, I feel, as you may well imagine, to the fu! extent, the responsi- Dility of the duty with which I have been honored; an honor for which I am doubtless chiefly indebted to the accidental circumstance that | was, to some extent, offi- cially connected with the initiation of the cemetery, so far at least as the selection of its site was concerned, When, directly after the of Antietam, an order was issued by the Executive of ‘land returning thanks to the officers and men of the Union army who had so success- fully expelled the invader from our State, the command- ing general of that ko whom it was transmitted, responded to it in challenged our attention. Expressing on behalf of the Army of the Potomac their thanks for our appreciation of their achievements, and their hopes that no rebel army would again pollute our State, he concluded by committing to us the remains of their it comrades who now rested beneath its soil. 4& commission so toucl ly confided to the people of the State, to say nothing of the duty otherwise incum- Dent on them, could Bever become with them a subject of indifference or neg! id at the fi therefore, of their bly in Janvary, 1 an act was passed aut! the purchase of a part of the battle field for the reception of ite dead, and an appropriation of $5,000 placed at the command of the Governor for that purpose. Directly thereafter he visited the ground, examined it, and after consultation with prominent lected this hoy embracing in tis view the most interesiing points of the field of the proper site for the proposed prop! tion to $16,000; trustees were appointed to superintend the work; other States came generously forward to par- ticipate in the undertaking, and by their united efforts it is hoped that the cemetery wiil become in time a place worthy the noble purpose to which we to-day deyote it, and of the nation to whom the charge of it should properly belong. In recurring to the events which, im connection with this day’s proceedings, seem to require @ brief notice at our hands, it is a subject of congratulation that we can survey them at present trom a standpoint which ought to secure for them a calm and dipassionate consid- eration, ‘those imfluences of passion or policy which to some extent are almost inseparable from all accounts of military operations, prepared while the war itself is raging, are Dappily, it is to be hoped, at an end, or if any still linger they should find no piace on such an occasion as this. Yet in reviewing the details of the sanguinary conflict to which we are about to refer, we find some difficulty, with ‘all the assistance that estab- lhehed peace and the lapse of time have furnished, to ix with proper historical accuracy some of the facts imme- diately connected with it, more especially of the precise force of the Confederate army in that action. The number of the Union army engaged therein, computed as it has been not only from official re- cords, but these records, made up after ample time had elapsed for the correction of errors, may be constdered as authentically established. It comprised 87,164 men of allarms. In regard to the Confederate force, the accounts are more conflicting, The Union command- er, in estimating it at upward of 97,000 men, basing bis estimate on all the information received from prisoners, deserters and refugees, hes probably overstated the number, while, on the other haad, our knowledge of the size of that army shortly before it crossed toto Maryland would warrant us in saying that the straggling to which its commanders chiefly ascribe its subsequent reduction, must bave exceeded all ling ever known in the history of armies, if, it reached Antietam, it numbered only forty thous: believe, in a report the action, does say that he went into it with only that number, but in the reckoning he must undoubtedly have excluded the three divisions which, under A, P. ‘Hill, McLaws and Walker, he bad several days before de'ached to different points to aid in the investment of Harper's ferry, and had not returned at the com- mencement of the action on the evening of the 16th, but came in most opportunely his support before its conclusion on the following day. This inference is rendered certain by other Southern accounts of the number engaged. Confederate historians and news- papers in those days, however, under certain circu stances, they might at times have attempted to deceive us by an inti account of their military power, were by no means given to such an exaggeration when the battle was Lie ‘and they were summing 2 its erp i a ig Newspaper at Richmond, professing to giv. i days afterward, authentic particulars of the atte, declared that it was opened en the 16th of September by bim a few days after with all their available fc “ sixt d a nies, and, ooking’ to the’ meane of information ¢ @ still more ro- mjoyed, liable euthority, a has published a History of the War,” in describmg the battle of Antietam, states that for half the day it was fought on the Confederate side with “a force of 45,000,” and for the remaining half, “with no more than an aggregate of 70,000 men.” 1 think, there. fore, that the discrepancies in the Confederate eccounte of their force have been the result of the different pe- riods of the action to Co pn Mgr Pare seuals regard ime Preceded isions from the neighborhood of ‘the 1 of their the ferry, and others including these divisions in their statements. All therefore, considered, and allowing for that tal pert there could not have been mt ai @fective strength of the two armies; but if such a aiference exist, and in favor ‘Union army, it was It may be confidently the progress of aftrmed that at no time during bellion did the heart ure of long cherished expedi the war were such feelings more rife than during the summer of 1862, In the early spring of that year the Peninsula expedition bad set forth, and the le of the loyal States looked with anxious solicitude to its results and with earnest hopes that it would retrieve the disasters of the preceding year and place rebel capita: at our command. In every movement of the army in that direction, in all its marches, all its tolls, its victories and reverses, from Yorktown to Williamsburg, on the Chickahominy, at Fair Oaks, Gaines’ Mill, Malvern, and on the James, it never turbed. About two months before this period the acthorities at Washington. gathering up bewh on eg nev forces which bad been manders about the middie of July, His occasion rang ont #0 cheerily od conte confideatly in tom that the public pricked up ite ear al forbearing any criticism of style, accepted the sub- stance as an assurance of a wore vigorous policy than had before led, and a8 foreshadowing a system of tactics which, even if we falied before mond, ould compensate us with success elsewhere, But on is |in@, too, disappointments awaited ey Sn} the keener for the expectations they excited, Our reverse oc. curred at Cedar Mountain on the 9th of August, when the corps commanded by General Banks, arrayed on- supported against three divieions of the rebel army under Jackson, Ewell and Hill, most advantageousiy posted, after accomplishing all that heroic men could against overwhelming odds, was forced back with severe toss Tho withdrawal simultaneously with this action of the Army of the otomac river enabled Lee the Inst week of August rope’s army was Kept ta a continvous action, leaving little ime refreshment or fest, ite imdaence +a. simply as one of upfortonate antecedents im- mediately preceding the march of Lee into Maryland, which was calculated to exert © depressing influence as ‘well upon the public mind as on the epirite of the army, On Which alowe We BOW depended to oppose bis passage, ‘That army was to be composed of what remained of those two once formidable organizations, the Army of the l’o- tomac and the Army of Virginia, constituted each of them of material better than which the world but returning simultaneously from ther with such heavy worn, so keenly sensitive, as we may well suppose, to the disappointments the country might feel in the hopes formed of their achievements, thai in the new and for- midabie invasion the; ably still fewer to-day, who in the exigency then exist- img would question the wisdom of the order that com- mitted to him this command. His services in a like capacity and under circumstances so strikingly similar that the coincidence is worthy of note, must 'e been fresh in the recollection of both government and ple. At the time of our fiest great disaster, the first battle of Bull Rup, he was conducting active senoone, im Western Virginia, and the very day r that unfortunate aflair a teleram from the President directing him to turn over his command to another, summoned him to Washington. Placed there by tho President's order in chiet command, he was in less than a woek after that reverse bringing order out of the confusion which for a while prevailed, Now, other disasters culminating on the same unfortunate field, ded in the services of a soldier who, pos- sessing the skill to reorganize our broken columns, could so command their conidence as to inspire them with the enthusiasm necessary to forget disaster. That the administration, without any disparagement to other distinguished leaders, chose the right man for such an emergency, few, I repeat, will at this day venture to deny. But little time remained for preparation. Lee and his army, exhilarated at the thought that their long be- leaguered capital was at iength relieved, encouraged by their recent successes near Manassas, and stimulated by the prospect of the rich supplies which here and along the fertile Cumberland Valley awaited their approach, had, by rapid marching, within four days after Pope’s army retired within the Washington intrenchments, crossed the Potomac and encamped around Frederick city. McCiellan, reorganizing as he marched, set forth to intercept him; embarrassed alt the time by the doubts: which enveloped Lee's designs; fully alive to the various vital interests involved in them; compelled, for the timeto turn his back upon Washington, and yet well aware and (requently reminded, after all, that might be Lee’s objective point and his movements in other direc- tions meant only a feint; with the capital of Pennsyl- Vania and the emporium of Maryland both menaced the enemy, , and the citizens of each watching ait anxious concern McClellan’s movements, with the natural apprehension that the course of his march might so far ‘uncover their several cities as to open the way to Lee’s approach, we may imagine to-day, though even now can scarcely appreciate, the responsibilities of the Union com - mander, and understand some of the reasons for what, in the nervous anxiety of that moment, might have been considered by some as too tardy a pursuit, He was, however, on the right track. The van of his y reached Frederick on the 12th of September, Lee, with the greater part of his command, having left it two days before, Here, vefore following the subsequent movements of these armies, allow me to advert briefly to reception that awaited them, respec- tively, on this new theatre of the war on the north of the course of its pro- gress, rebel raids and invasions were matters of frequent occurrence, aud came to be regarded by us as a thing of course whenever our usual summer drought reduced tho river to afordable condition. This, hows was our first hostile invasion, and om thht and other accounts was be grey by the people of the country, and espe- cially of this State, with absorbing interest and anxiety. The loyal citizens of the North bad been taught to be- hi loyalty of Maryland had, at best, but an istence; that as a patriotic and spontane- ous impulse it was limited toa few; while as regarded the great body of our people, it was but a pretended and superficial displ induced chiefly by ihe presence of the national force. confident in the early atages of the rebellion bad been tho appeals of our secessionists, so exorbitant their claims to an assumed social and com- mercial importance, and so orous their denuncia- tions of what they depom: an odious federal ban, forcing the action of the pcople into cbannel contrary to ite natural inclination, that there seemed for a time some excuse for such an opinion, and a few even of our own citizens, who had not watched that strong patriotic under cerrent, on which. as on a full mountain stream, the masses of our people were from the first borne on- ward, came sometimes themselves to the reluctant con- clusion that the outside estimate of our loyalty migot poasibly be true, General Lee, doubtless, confiding in the same representations, only more highly exagge- rated, chanced to select as favorable a moment for himself as possible for putting these theories to the test. To say nothing of the despondency already no- faced, resuiting from recent disappointments, a process had just commenced better calculated than anything ‘that hag occurred to awaken the le of the country pad tical sense of the grim ities of war, The om the Istof July having issued a call for three hundred thousand volunteers, followed it on the 4th of August with an order for the draft of a like nam- ber of militia; the preliminary details for that draft had been just completed and the enrolling officers sent forth on their mission, as Lee made his appear- ance north of the » The order tor a draft bad something startling in the ideas it sug- gested. No one who was subject to the procezs had e: ‘Witnessed its application, The country bad only a kind Of traditional Knowledge of the character of the proceed- e ing—all the more exciting for its very vagueness, It ‘was ip this condition of things that Lee oncamped bis — about Frederick, and none knew better than him- self how to take advantage of it. Appointing as the Pro- vost Marshal of that city a former resident, who, having poorrlyranted pwaiek-ads reap noanenry fofluence, bad in the early days of the rebellion attached himself to its for- tunes, and observing the most scrupulous forbearance to- ward the citizens, he next issued to them @ proclamation every wentence of which was studiously adapted to their supposed tastes and political sympathies, and which, if the facta had corresponded with the sugges- tions ‘of Southern sympathizers and Northera skeptics, woutd bave brought them in crowds to the Coniederate standard, It ex the deepest sympathy for the “wrongs and outrages” they had suffered; it reminded them of the obligations that bound them to the South by ‘the strongest social, political and commercial ties; it depicted the profound indignation of their r States at the spectacle they presented of conquered province; it appealod to their State pride, alluded to military usurpations of armed stran, me rest and = imprisonment of their citizens, and “the faithful and manly rotest’’ made against such outrages by a venerabie and ustrious jurist, who, being a former citizen of this town, was known to be beld by its imbabitants in bigh Tespect and esteem. Then reminding them that tbe people of Maryland & spirit too lofty to submit to such @ government, gave them to understand that the confederate army Lad come among them to aid them in “throwing off this foreign yoke," and all that was neces- sary was their co-operation. ‘as there ever so fair an Opportunity fer a semi-loral, secossion-loving threatened with « federal draft, and awaiting only the Opportunity to escape and throw themselves into =the arms of their Southern friends’ How did they respond to this opportunity and these eloquent appeals? A Con/ederate ofiicer, who seems to have secompanied the expedivon, written an account of it, tells the story it wearers of the gray, the patrio in blue are coming.” When they did come who that saw can ever forget; what heart that even now does not throb the quicker as it remembers the change from the ed, moody, scowling aud stifled condition in which of the Confederates boys in blue pressed on upon their rear. All along their way, wherever they appeared, in the towns or among the log cabins of the mountain, up went the national banner; hid away, some of them, ontil this day; for the occasion, and exacting dare say, of many a dis- carded ribbon ‘and threadbare wrapper: some. times faded and soiled it may have been and utterly regardiess of the rtion® required by army regulations, but every jpe and every ster was the: re, and, better still, every beart that beat beneatm it was overpower! tall of the sacred cause of which it was the symbol, Yet to this day with that aod every other ordeal—and that was neither the first nor which Maryiaod loyalty bas tested, there are thore ‘who still make it the subject of an unecnerous sneer. Lam bappy, ever, to believe that it never comes frem that gallant host that accompanied her sons to the feild, but usually from those whose well caiculated distance from the scene of conflict placed them as far out of the reach of information as of danger. When Lee evacuated Frederick on the 10th of September, di- recting his course toward this county, he doubllees sup. eye that the reticent policy and sirategic manonvres bad thus far so successfully pursued would still have its influence on McClellan's movements, leaving him in doubt as to where the threatened blow would Cy | ich some before tailed for tat purpose, McCleilan, with the main of the ir toward while reconnoitering in front. The morning of the 15th dawned upon the Union army the sole occupants of the mountain, the Confederates having retired during the night, and McClellan resuming his march, halted that afternoon on the.east bank of the Antietam. The evening was passed in assigning positions to his several corps, ting bis batseries, and making preparations for cross- ing next morning. Lee having previously reached and Grossed ihe st had ‘camared the choice of positions, au advantage which he did not fail to improve, A tele- gram from President Lincoln, dated at Washington about the hour that McClellan reached the Antietam, con- veyed to him the Premdent’s last command, in Mr. Lin- coln's own earnest and santentious style. It merely said :—‘‘God bless you aud all with you ; destroy the rebel aruy if possible,” With this parting benediction they Divouacked that might on the eastern bank of the stream. On the morning of the 16th the rebel pat- les, occupy’ ri teri riou: upon ferred {rom the agoount of General Hill, who, in a sub- sequent repyrt S Pe action, describes it ag the ‘‘most melancholy farce of the war,” they being unable, as he says, to cope with the “Yankee guns.” After some little delay required to make an alteration of the position of some of ey = Speage Hool been in- ‘rusted with the duty of turning the enemy’s left flan! crossed his command by an upper ford, and not long afterward encougtered the troops of General Hood, wh: ip antipation of our move: bad been transterred from the enemy’s right wing to his left, to strengthen that part of his line. It was nearly dark before ihe {troops of Hooker and Hood met, and after a brief but spiriied jest, jm which the Penusylvania Reserves, under G Meade, opened the action, the Con- federate advanco wat forced back, when wight in- terveuing, the combatiants rested on their arms 80 Rear together that it is said some of tho pickets of the two lines unconsciously intermingled. the battle of the iTtm opemed at the dawn of day on the spot where the skirmish of the previous evening had closed; each side seems to bave looked to this Pomt as the one to be particularly sirengthened, end as though anticipating the tremendous sirazele of which it was to be the centre, General Mansfieid’s corps—com- posed of the two divisions of Generals Green and Wil- liams—had crossed over in the night and tsken post a mile to the rear of General Hooker; while on the Confederate side General Jackson had brought one of his divisions to the tront, and substituting two of his brigades for those of Hood that had suffered from the engagement of the previous evening, placed the other— the old Stonewall division—in’ reserve in the woods, on tne west side of the Hagaratowo road. In the whole history of the battle fields of tho rebellion, it would be perbaps dificult to find a spot which for ‘an entire day was assailed and defended with such perse- vering, obstinate and concentrated valor as th* one towhich I now refer, embracing the ground on both sides the reat ee mentioned, and in close proximity to yonder little church, that nestles now so quiet- ly in the margin of the woods, From early dawn ull dark the contilct surged and swelled across it in one continual tide, advancidg and receding as reinforcements from the one side or the other came to the support of their comrades, It was opened on our side with the three divisions of Generals Meade, Doubleday and Ricketts, forming General Hooker’s corps, who after an hour of fearful car- nage succeeded im driving back Jackson’s advanced line, Before, however, their exulting cheers had fairly coased they were themselves compelied to retire before his veteran reserves that now came to bis relief, support- ed by Hill’s division and Hood's refreshed brigades. The corps of Gen. Mansfield coming next to our support, re- inforced the shattered command of Hook id recover- ing the ground that he had iost, swept again to the road and seized a corner of the woods beyond. Again, however, our tenure was but temporary, both our corps commanders had falien, and veteran Mansfield and the intrepid Hooker, the one mortally the other very painfully wounded, and their commands fear- fally thinned, were again forced to fall back. When just as they were retiring, two divisions of General Sum- Rer’scorps coming fresh upon the field, buried back once more the rebel line, and held for a time definitive ——— of the woods about the little church. The ssions of Generals Ri wdson and French talling in about this time to the support of Sumner, pushed val- jantly to the front, and the tide of battle was once more flooding in our favor, when, just as victory seemed within our grasp, two fresh Confederate divisions, under Mclaws and Walker, the one just arrived from Harper's Ferry and the other detached from their right wing, turned again for a time the fortunes of the day, and once more drove back our tottering line over that hard fought field. Two other of our division commanders had been now lost to us, the lamented Richardson and the heroic General Sedgwick, the for- mer falling mortally wounded, and the latter, though rounded several bree struggling to keep the feild, 'o and fro the contest how swayed for seven hours It was afternoon, and the combatants stood, as it were, at bay, each apparently confident of their power to defend, but doubtful of their ability to assail. Now, most opportuncly, ap- pee another auxiliary on the scene, and we may Imagine the tumultuous joy that reanimated our exhausted troops as, turningttheir eyes towards yonder creek, they beheld two divisions of General Franklin’s corps, freshly arrived from Pieasent Valley, and hasten- ing forward to their support. Under their gallant lead- ere, Slocum and Smith, they swept onward in a resist- Jess charge. Running, and cheering as they ran, they dasbed across that downtrodden cornfield, cleared the woods of their Confederate occupants, aud at last held acai: pecan of the ground 80 often lost and won. Jai Night her course begam and over Heaven Inducing darknoss, grateful truce imposed And silence on the edious din of war. On thevextreme left of our line the Ninth army corps, under Gepers) Burnside, occupied, during the forenoon, the left bank of the Antietam, near the lower bridge, Waiting a fiVorable opportunity for forcing @ passage, ‘The precipitous character of the banks of the creek at that point, and the advantageous positions secured by the enemy’s batteries along these heights to the west ed, it would seem, that opportuniry until lock ; but at that hour # gallant charge of fty-Oret New York and Filty-first’ Penn- sylvania regiments carried the bridge, and, cross- ing by that and a neighboring ford, the whole corps crossed o' assailing yonder beights, from which arebel battery bad been pouring upon them a constant and destructive fire, which suc- ceeded in dislodging the enemy, and it is said that some of thoir arsailing force nearly reached the vil- lage; but here, as on our right, victory seemed to vi- brate. A. P. Hill, with his division, by a rapid march from Harperse Ferry, which they left that morning, reached the ground in the afternoon, and joining bis command to the rebel right wing, ir united efforts drove back our troops {rom their advanced position; but rallying with spirit and supported by our batteries on the easiern bank of the creek, they, after desperate fight- ing, in which General Rudman, one of their division commanders, fell mortally wounded, were enabled still to maintain their stand = its western shore, while the rebels fell back to the heights as darkuess closed the day. [The bridge has been known in the neighborhood ever since the battle as the Burnside bridge, which Tame, for its pastoral as well as patriotic siguiliotate, it will probably retain forever.) Thus ended only fer want of light to pursue it further a battle that had fourteen hours, and which, beyond dou! was the fiercest and Dioodiest of the war. Twelve at lougt as many more of the enemy, lay stretch upon the field. I have, of course, not ventured to at- tempt more than the merest outline of some of the most prominent points of theaction. To note the movements of the various divisions, brigades and regiments, their Marches, mancavees and combinations, ané@ the names who led them, even if I possessed the in- formation nece-sary for the purpose, and that would in- sure me against doing mjustice to any, would far ex. ceed the limits permi to sach an . I should tejoice to be able by mame to every man who that day did his duty, from the General in-Uhief to the humblest subordinate in the ranks; but I bave the satisfaction of knowing that they are all registered elsewhere, and that neither their names nor deeds are dependent on this ephemeral record Viewing these hills and valleys as we do today by the indomiabie energviof. thelr thrifty population to y the indomiabie energvio! ir thrifty the condition they presented before hostile armies selec- ted them as the theatre Ante ae oy then calling up to memory or imagy mm the spectacle they ex! ed when that contest closed. and the harvest of death Iny beaped in horrid swaths all over their undulating surface, and how impressive, almost appalling is the sense of the destruction which a few brief hours had accomplisbed. The before the battic this region, one of the most beautiful and productive of the State in ites orchards and meadows, corn fields and pastures, woodlands and water courses, presented A happy rural seat of various view, that filled aa e. the visitor with delight, inferior only to that the husbandmen, its ewners. ‘They, thus far knowing | of war save by its distant echoes, awoke on the en of the 17th of Septem- ber, 1862, to all ite dread realities, Mark to that roar whose swift and deafent Tu countiges eeboee through the mountains ing, ighttal, of 8 Ss 23 Tush of men Loud and more loud Death shuts the acene, ‘conquered draws - iz 8 th f antiquity, poles of the hums pe and the brave. In the best days of the ice of old these mortuary observances were far more frequent and impressive than in modern times; they not only embalmed tno bodies of their warriors and , but their funeral ceremo- nies, the eul “= over them, and be ereet were AR = ae repel To id tl as a classic i F it it is eee sionally a few rude letters; but whatever be its eondi- tion, or wherever it may be, on the banks of the Mis- sivsipp) or among the mountains of Peynsylvania, iu the morasses of the Chickahomiyy or in this quiet and well ordered cemetery, Greece gor Rome, in their palmiest daya, ever offered up costlier sacrifices in the cause of buwan freedom than ‘the hearig once pregnant with celestial fire’ which these rude sepuichres entomb. in ancient times it was undeubtedly true, especially a: regarded the honors to living men—and altogether exempt from the imputation—that in the costly statues erected to, and the munificent o ons showered upon, the successful soldier or accomplished Statesman, there lurked not unfrequently some personal consideration sinsilag with the motives that suggested them. Sometimes it was fear that prompted the mid thus to propitiate the wrath of the pow- eriul, Sometimes it was servile adulation, thar in t rving sought fuch means to se- cure a recompense, in the shape of other honors or emoluments to be reciprocated. It was doubtiess the knowledge of such corruptions, and an appreciation of the motives that should always control such memo- | hat prompted Cato, when once asked by a friend statues had been erected to him while Rome was crowded with so many others, to reply as he did, that he had much rather his countrymen should inquire why he bad no statues than why he bad any; but the character and circumstanees of the honors to render to our patriot dead not only their motive, but in that motive i found the very germ of the honor we confer Let statues or monumeats to the or the dead tower ever so high, the true honor after all is notin the polished tablet or towering column, but iv that pure, spontaneous and unatlecied gratitude and devotion of the people thut enslrines the mem. ory of the honored one in the heart, and transmits it from age to age long after such costly stractures have disappeared. ‘Ihe only honor accorded to Miltiades, the great deliverer of Athens, was to be represented In a picture painted by order ‘of its citi- zens at the nead of the other nine commanders of the heroic ten thousand, auimating bis toilowers vo the atack of the hostile force which outnumbered thom ten to ohe; and yet that simple painting, pre- served in the affections of succecding geverations, existed for centuries thereafter, while (he tures hun- dred statues which, in a later and corrupter age, were selected by the same people in honor of Demetrius, wore all demolished, even in his lifetime, thas in our heart would We ensbrine (ue memory of the Union sol- dier; generations yet unborn shall recount to their off- spring the history of their valor, aud long after brass aod marble bave crumbled into dust shall their names be preserved as the men who perished to perpetuate what their fathers bad so struggled (o estublish, this heaven appointed government of popular freedom. A sepuichre, as I have said, was formerly prepared for tue heroes of ancient Greece in the most conspicucus suburb of their cities; this custom, however, bad one memorable exception, and for which this day’s solemnt- ties on the fleld o Antietam furnish an appropriate par- allel. Such was the extraordinary valor displayed by those who fell fighting against the Persian host on the memorable battle field of Marathon, that (he Athenians determined that their sepulchre should be separated and distinguisued from those of their other heroes. The most honorable distinction they could suggest was to bury them on the field where they had falien; and thus this little marshy plain, immortalized by this battle of more than two thousand years ago, was pointed out to succeeding avea by the lofty mound, around which many a tourist bas since lingered, and which to this day May marks tho spot where the Athenian beroes fell. not imagination, as it seeks to portray t! this great American republic, witbout an: ing of ita powers, see the coming time possibly may be, but none the less desirable or cer- tain—when her sons from State shall seek this litte hamlet for its nal Memories of the past, and coming from the th ag Wel as the North, reunited in fact us well as theory, in afection as well as formality, shall stand here together as pilgriws at a common shrine, and forgetting the feuds of the past, save only the mighty powers which their results developed, mutually admit, as they ap- peal to the records of this fleld, that they have sprung from the same stock, are un in the same destiny, entitled to the same respect, and animated by the same heroic and Paiiotic impulses, This d countrymen—the 17th of September—happen the anniversary of another event in our po: tory. Not jess memorable thaa the to-day more particularly engages our atten’ some respects it is so intimately connected with the considerations which the occasion sug that it is acarcely proper it should pass without no: It was upon this day, eighty years ago, tial the representatives of our ancestors, with Washington at ‘their head, after four months’ deilberation, adopted the federal constitu- tion—an instrument go remarkable for the c that gave birth to a“) for the wonderful prosperity wa ch sprung from it, for the reverence with whici, irom gen- eration to generation, it has been handed down to us, that there has probably been no record of a like cba acter which has exerted so important an influcnce on the bistory of a government or the rise and progress of apeople, The political condition of the country at the time of its adoption, in some of its aepects, was not unlike the present. We had just concluded a war upon the issue of which depended the existence of the nation. That war, combined with other circumstances, had led vo the formation of parties uo widely differing in some of their theories of government that there seemed but tittle hope of constructing it upon any lan on which the two extremes would ever unite. pon one side political leaders were striving to establish @ strong and consolidated government, ignoring almost the governments of the States; while on the other were those, who were for investing the latter with ali substantial authority, and making the general government little more than their general agent. ‘Tnese leaders—honest, doubti all of them, in their opinions—had by their continual discussion and the wide- ly different views they promi Drought the to a critical conditien ments, In the mutual four years consent coult conseq lousies and suspicions the jered, after the close ot the war before any either from Congress or the States tor the assembling of @ constitutional conven- tion, and with tbe acknow! impeafections of the existing Articles of Confederation, and amid the most disheartening embarrassments, the result chiefly of those Imperfections, the country along as best it could without eitheran executive or judicial department, ‘Then at last there assembled that illustrious body of statesmen that framed the constitution under which we live, ‘shey as undoubtedly, coustitaencies maintaining of the theories of government to which I have adverted; but, mindful of the conditton of the country, resolved, if Posaibie, to rescue it, and with this noble purpose resisting impatient behests of party, they the ultraisms which distin- Quished both the consolidation and state right na ae provided a government which so judicious- ly com! the two principles, and so distinotly as- a to each its proper sphe: reflecting of all parties unit that the moderate and in its support, and the Constitution received the unanimous ratification of the States. Alter the lapso of three-quarters of acentury, and after it had elevated us to a point of pational importance it advocates could never their ; bat it was only after the which they had been long attached bad been allied with more substantial and powerful interests, that they ven- tared to lay violent bands on that work of our fathers to which they and all of us bad so often sworn allegiance. How it resulted it is scarcely necessary to remind people, though occasionally you. The differing en questions of cobstruction of doubsful clauses of tue Constitul bad yet been trained m such habits of for all its undis- we supposed the present, suddenly evil ork, somelires the Juries past, ‘either, perbaps, instigated by upon these fears and memories to recover some old office or or to versary of its adoption, funte'/ by the memory it, upon this spot wh of @ Di if ite behalf, appeal to you to preserve, protect fend ft. ny of the of the oration were sprilauded, and as (he orator took hw seat there were loud and re- ated cries for Governor Geary, mingled with calle for ident Johnson. The band strock up Governor Geary repeate: Geter 1 bave the» progr handed tome by your Committee of pry = which they desire fo be carried out, After it has been compiéted you ma have an opportunity to bear some of our distinguished gaests. Io the order of exercises a will now be rend, The « ing for Governor Geary was then renewed. The mul ‘etermined to have ®epeecl from him. At inst Governor Geary approached the front of we ably no age may be | 3 a aR . and, and was greeted with iong continued applause, rnor Geary said:— Fiinnps AND Fetitow Crrizeys—Will you do me one favor? (Voices, ‘‘Certainiy!’’) Please let the pro- gramme be completed, and then I will be glad to ap- Pear in front of the stand and say a few words to you. I thank you for your kinkness, and hope you will preserve order and decorum unti! the pi | is complete, when several of the ernors will be | glad to address you, Applause.) The Govermor was applauded as he retired. Ihe programme was proceeded with, and the poem of | Clarence F, Bubler, of New York, was read by Hon. G. K. On Commissioner from Western Virginia. | | Governor Swanp then introduced President Jobnson to the assembly, who, advancing to the front of the plat- form, was greeted with applause. He said :-— My Feu.ow Countkkues:—In appearing before you it | is got for the purpose of making aay lengthy remarke, | but simply to express my appoobation of the ceremo- nies which have taken place to-day, My appearance om this occasion will be the speech that I will make ; reflectionsand my meditations will be in sient communion with the dead, whose deeds we are here to commemmorate. T shall not attempt to give utterance to the (eelings and emotions inspired by the addresses and prayers which have been mate and the bymns which have been sung. shall attempt uch thing. Iam merely here to rn untenance and aid to the ceremonies on this occasion; but { must be permitted to exprees my hope my that we may follow the example which has been so eloquently alluded to this afternoon, and whieh has been 80 clearly set by the Silustrious dead. When we look on your battle field, and think of the brave men on both sides who fell in the flerce struggle of battie, and who sleep silent in their graves—yes, who ‘sleep in silence and peace afver the earnest conflict has ceased, would to God we of the livimg could imitae them example, a8 they lay sleeping iu peace in their tombs‘ | and live together in friendsbip and peace. (Applause.) You, my fellow citizens, have my earnest wishes, as you bave had my efforts, im times gone by, in the earli- esi and most trying perils, to preserve ihe union ot these States, to restore peace and harinony to our dis- tracied aud divided country, and yon shall have my last efforts in vindication of the flag of the republic and of the constitution of our fathers. (Appiause,) i The benediction was then pronounced, when the President, Cabinet officers, Goveruor Swann and others left the platform. Colonel J, M. Moore and his assistants formed the mil- itary, who escorted the President and party to the cars | at Reedysviile, which place they left at ten minutes to seven o clock for Washington and Baltimore, Cally were renewed for Governor Geary, by the crowd which’ constituted a meeting independent of the regu- lar arrangements by the authorities of the State, and the Board of Managers of the Antietam National Cemetery. Governor Geary, being impatiently and vociferously called for, came forward, saying :— Fetiow Cirizens—Atter all you have heard to-day I bad supposed you would want ‘nothing more. The pro- gramme opened and concluded with prayer, Those who ave waited must come in at the last hour, But, my friends, we still have a place in the hearts of the peo- ple. (Applause.) When you come to Pennsylvania we will jet everybody speak; we want to hear. Thanks to Almighty God for His preservation and care of the country, we have no g (Applause.) we have no programmes for this purpose—(renewed lase); we have no gax on our pe am not here to say anything on that sub tor of the day has presented to you the history of the great batite which we are uow seeking to commemorate in the dedication of this cemetery, and the location of the monument in bovor of the heroic dead who, in the language of the learned Lincoln—(appluuse)— ‘died that the government of the people, established by and for the people, should not perish from earth.” ‘The battle (Antietam) was fought under circumstances of the greatest depression, when public coniidence was lost, and the Army of the Potomac had been greatly diminished by the disastrous campaign on the Foninsula and in Eastern Virginia, and the loss of twelve thousand men at the shameful sarrender at Har- per's Ferry. (Applause. ) In Lee's coming to fignt the battle of Ante’ We had, therefore, the prestige of his victories to begin with, (A voice—"That’s 60.”) To appreciate the victory here we must review events by the most liberal jogic known to military ethics. While ‘the Ariny of tue Potomac had lost more men than the rebels, according to the authority of the latter, Lee was ‘obliged to flee from the field,’ ac knowtedged himself varquished, and a true and hearty tory resulted to the Union army. My fellow citizens, I do not intend to detain you long here, (Cries of “Go on,’’) 1 feet it improper for me to let the occasion go past without placing on record the honored regiments ot Pennsylvania who fought here. (Cries of “Hurrah tor Peonsylvania;” “Go on.”) 1 proudly place on record these’ regiments of my ‘hative State, and claim for her a full share of the honor of the victory at Antietam. (Cheers). The Governor then recapitulated the numbers of the various Pennsylvania regiments, re- markiog by way of suramary, five reciments of cavalry, six batteries of artillery, and fifty regiments of intantry from the Koystone State, in tne baitie of Antie- He said: “From the records I have the facts, 1 find them replete with splendid achievements of these men, and while 1 earnestly claim or Pennaylvavia ail the honor she bas won. 1 say it was here, as always with that great State when she presented her ful! strength of members, she carried the government to a glorious vic- tory. I would not detract in the ieast from the glory and honor of the other States; I would not deprive them of one particle of glory of their troops on this battle field. It was one sacred flow of blood in crimson stain at Antietam, Not to any particular troops the soldiers of the country won this victory, and we are indebted for it to Maine, New York, Ohio, Maryland, Wisconsin, Iowa, and other Siates for the victory, and whose sons perished on the field. They are as d us and are cherished as kindly as our own, The sons of all died this soil with blood, and when the day ‘dawned on the battle feild here, it found Umon dead ail commingled on the field of strife, and while the sum continues to rise and set, and the dews distil from Heaven, our children, and our childrens’ children will come hither to worsbip at this shrine, and they will recur to the patriotic dead here, and to the ory of those who 9 god and fell to preserve the union of the country and mghte of men, the rights of freemen in a preserved republic. (Applause.) 1 have been ing repeatedly for the Jast two or three days and will therefore conclude my rei ‘There are here Governor Fenton, Lieutenant Governor Cox, and the Governor of Maine, whom I have no doubt you will be hear. (Cries of “ ") But Gevernor words, It is not eaay to words to fully and express my feelings or that priately employed in the same of — eight en charg + bere. uman spec poor emotions which recollections i a 3& Be New York had almost ¢ 2 upon this field one- But the ers of of & e * peace, whose ripened (ruit hangs waiting for bands clear of all unfaithfulness and injustice. the of all lands, toiling and wai for their harvest of freedom. ‘will evermore turn their to our berole struggle and vent and strong. hooey grap! ras conten impede the progress of peop! by selfishness, appalled by crime or disheartened by tadifference, looking to these heights above the clouds surround him shail eee this to liberty, and ‘work on ; and if it shall be at any time that wicked men eeem to desiroy or disturb buman reckooit orance which suffers or the prejudice whic! bare the lowest agd most friendly; wil! not they at least fore the hand of an unfranchised peo- from national trials, but liberty the result 1s not as the lives of the men States:—New York, Indl- lew Jersey, Illinois, Min- Oho, Wis- made appropriations for paying and ornamenting (hs cemetery, in of Vermont, Lilinois, New ware. all the omic of Arrangements were pres ih Dr. J. E. Snodgrass, Chair- ent at wit on —- 3 onument piso vigh Lay re a , roy will be surmounted with Sumber sits ofw rom ie Siehay ix toon. started from Reedyav’ afew minutes fore ven els Baltimore apd |, aad about their valuables, incleding watches and pocketbooks, pickpockets being in the crowd. Much excitement was produced by these dishonest proceedings. The Committee—Excases from A ‘The following are the ames of those ne agreed the james G. Negley 1, Cram pe NG ye tol ‘ ; 7 CL oe rowalbg, vernon Oglesby, PROM GENERAL GRANT + Heanquantens ov rue Anwins oF THS ‘Usire States, ‘Wasmearox. D. C., July Sl, 1867, Dr, J. F, Seopenass, Chairman, and gentlemen of Committee son of Jaly 28 te at hand, General Your communt say that it @ Hot probable that he Grant directs me to say ee be can be at Antictam on poe be can leave the city; that if does moneae will ake hie 10 the Weet, The Generay CONTINUED OW SEVENTH Pacs.