Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, September 22, 1895, Page 11

AN EPOCIL IN NATIONAL ONITY | Bigoificance of the Dedication of the Obickamauga Battlefield, ADDRESS OF GENERAL C. F. MANDERSON | Historieal and Reminiscent Review Mighty Struggle that cd Hills and Vales with the Blood of Men, | | im: denth, wo have foral rything. ] citizenship, with all of honor, of governing power and controlling rights, that the term ports, has been accorded to all who par- tleipated or lent ald and comfort to the enemies of the union “Happy tn the glorion trinity of resnlts— the saving of the natic ‘s 1ife, the extinction | of tho curse of slavery and the establlshment of the equality w of all men before the law— o belleve them worth oven the cost of treas- {ure and*of blood and have no room for malice | er ill-will. | great [ have peace,’ rein W chieftain, Join In the sentiment of our Ulysses 8. Grant: ‘Let us mbering also that the gen- 4s_cunqueror at Appomatiox said of and for himself, and for us who served under him: ‘Wp are not teady (o apologlze for our part In the war’ and are content that the result | of the dread arbitrament and the pages of the | truthrul The history of our time affords no parallel In magnitude for the scene of amity and good will witnessed during the past week be- tween the surviving members of hostile armies that fought for supremacy in and about Chattanooga. The occasion was the tormal dedication of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military park, and brought together thousands of men who par- ticipated in the mighty struggle and a muld- | tude of the new gencration—all animated by ihe spirit of national brotherhood. In addition to the dedicatory exerclses Ihere were numerous reunions, chief among ng that of the Society of the Army of the Cumberland. The orator of the ansion was General Charles F. Manderson of Dmaha, who spoke as follows: “Mr. President, Ladies, Gentlemen and “Jomrades of the Society of the Army of th Jumberland: We celebrate an event. We iv mors, We mark an epoch! “We commemorats a confliet, nore. We record a new era! “That the celebration of the event, the jommemoration of the conflict, the mark- ng of the epoch and the recording of the aew era should be at the same placs, with identical natural surroundings, is most fit- ling. “Mighty hosts battling made these hills and vales a scene of deso- lation a third of a century ago. The earth was torn and seamed by the dread enginery of war. The fruitage of those autumn Cays was gathered by the grim reaper, whose name is Death. “A generation has passed away since that shock of arms. For thirty-two years the spring rains have fallen, the summer's sun has shone, upon the sofl. once crimsoned by the blood of the country’s best and its bravest, and how great the change! “Time, the great healer, and nature, the sweet restorer, have labored hand in hand o wipe out the traces of conflict and leal e scars of ‘grim-visaged war.' The salient ind the bastion, behind which shone the glistening steel and above which threatened the black-muzzled cannon, are now leveled to the crop-producing earth. The ¥o'l that then drank, with fearful thirst, of the en- riching blood of battle, now fecds the plant and nourishes the flower. Broad flelds of nodding corn and waving grain, ylelding abundant harvest to the knife and scythe of the husbandman, gladden the sight. Where was heard the cannon’s roar, the sharp rattis ot musketry, the shriek of shell, the hiss of bullet and all the dissonant din of the votaries of ‘Moloch, horrid king’' now the eonsonant harmony of piping p:ac: pleases the ear, the tong of birds melodiously ming- I'ng with the hum of busy industry, lej-urely rising and gently falling in symphonic uni- son. ‘Our brufsed arms hung up for monu- ments' have gathered the rust and dust of the advancing years and have nigh forgot their mission. YAl tells of change! MEMORY SERVES BUT LITTLE. “The veteran returning to the fleld of *high emprise’ meets difficulty in finding the ‘dark and bloody ground,” where once the red tile Gf battle cbbed and flowed. There are those of us here present who have seen where— “Tracks of blood, e depths, And scattered arms and lifeless warriors, Whose hard lineaments Death's self could change not, Marked the dreadful path Of the outsallying victors.’ “Peace hath emphasized her victories! “The scattered hamlet, the objective point of military endeavor in 1863, is the thriving city, the center of commercial distribution in 1895. Stately public edifices, business pal- aces and artistic homes lining the well paved streets of a metropolis, afford most marked contrast to the lowly and homely structures that were strung along the couniry roads a generation ago. The quiet of the agri- cultural village has given place to the actiy- ity of the manufacturing city. Fed by the rich deposits of iron and coal the pulse of trade throbs with vitalized energy. The vi- bration of mighty machinery, the whirr of revolving wheels, the tremendous movement of the mighty mills, fills all the alr and shakes the very earth itsclf. A people few In numbers, with petty ambitions, has given place to a great population of enterprising citizens, instinct with energy, pursuing their varied vocations with forceful power. t is a transformation wonderful indeed! “And yet mingled with the new and strange is the old and familiar, With the old time resemblance to the crouching lion with paws extended lofty Lookout moun- taln still lifts its proud head, looking out over the confines of flve mighty states of a mightier natlon. Mission Ridge, with fts steep sides and thin backbone, yet forms the rim of the seml-circular amphitheater in which lies Chattanooga. Moccasin Point is as prominent in the landscape as of yore and Orehard Knob is in evidence before us, “The Tennessee, like ‘Tagus making on- ward to the deep,’ still sweeps along carry- ing its weight of water to ‘La Belle Rivierie," the old boundary line of the middle north and south, it rushing on to join the turbid flood of the Father of Waters, which now indeed ‘flows unvexed to the sea.’ Chick- amauga and Chattanooga crecks, as their waters are swallowed by the greater stream, still tell the story of the past that dignified thelr names and even little Citico is here to whisper of that first day's advance of the Army of the Cumberland upon the line in Bray on Orchard Knob. These witnesses of the memorable past aro here to observe the new condition. GAPS IN THE RANKS, “Most fitting, too, It is that the actors in the tragedy played here a generation gone. by should agaln be on the stage. Alas! not all are here! We recall with aching hearts, the tens of thousands of braves of both contentions who paid the supreme sacrifice for the cause for which they fought, and who proved thelr bellef in the faith professed by laying down their young lives for its ad- vancement. By instant killing and from grievous wounds; with blighting disease and from criminal neglect; upon the fleld of honor, under the hospital tent, in the pest camp, within the prison pen, they perished. o the glorious list of the honored dead who thus fell we add the many others who, sur viving the conflict of four long years, have crossed the dark river. “How rapidly are our mighty lines short- ening. “The years that bring old age, infirmity and death are making greater havoe in our ranks than did the fire of the foe. Time i our most relentless enemy. File after file drops to earth and soon our vast host will be a small battalion; yet a little while and but a squad will remain and then—not one shall live to tell the tals of personal experience in the great war of the rebel- Mon. As in the hour of battle, so now, death is no respecter ofy person or rank. the great leveler calls for his victims from the fleld and staff as well as from the rank and file. Of the great leaders who here won immortal fame how few are left! Their passing avay s of the every day. In- ed— “The afr is full of farewells to our dying, And mournings for our dead.’ “In the hearts and minds of those who are left, their names are enshriued and a grate- ful ‘country will ever keep their memories green. NOTHING FORGOTTEN, ALL FORGIVEN. “The new era we, survivors of _those troublous times, are here to greet Is that of perfoct peace and genuine gooa will. Thi period of distrust, the time of suspicion, ha pacsed away. We who fought to save the nation ever recognized the indomitable cour- ago and puissant valor of those who sought to break asunder the union of states. Long &go, while condemning the false teachiigs that led to the bellef that alleglance was to the state, we appreclated how deep abid- ing was the honest conviction of those, who, taught In a different school from us, made uatold sacrifice for the cause they espoused, Forgetting nothing of the past—the cruel blow :i.u.l::_n.u‘t‘y.. :lhl- n“;'m":“d attack upon W/ sad results of Weeping and wounds, ef ond We do for the mastery n to the forest's | Is gone. | Johnnie, | Destruef history bave shown that we, who fought to save, were forever right, and they, who fought to destroy, were eternally Wrong. “As the victors and the vanquished hav recognized' equal courage and even powe: endurance, there has come mutual respect, Through the throes and labor of reconstru tion, with the contact of peoples, the inter- change of commerce, the common interests of the different parts of the national whole, the dovetailing of states through the construc- tion of the iron highways of trade and the mutual contribution of the capital needed for the development of the new south, has come peaceful, contented reconciliation that gather wisdom and expe long ago taught the less even to tho who fought for it, that the cause for which they struggled and suffered was better lost than won And now all of rancor and hate The unionist and the secessionist, leral and the rebel, the Yankee and the meet to rejoice in the existence of a nation, not a confederacy. We glory in the fact that we have the proudest dignity and highest rank that can come to appreciative man, that of American citizenship. Hail the epoch of concord. All hail the era of fr ternity. NOTHING LIKE IT IN HISTORY, “Tomorrow's sun, rising on the anniversary of the first day of Chickamauga, will wiiness a scene the like of which has no record in history. By the bounty of a generous govern- ment, supplementel by the acton of appre- clative states and by the voluntary con ribu- tions of men who fought on eitber side, a great battleficld has be:n restored. Th: ex- federal and the ex-confederate soldier will g0 hand in hand and recount to each other the story of the struggle for Chatlanoog. The lines of both coit:nding armies are ¢ r rectly shown by enduring monuments and lasting tablets. The skill of the artist and the genius of the architect have been supple- mented by the deft constructive power of the artisan, The combat of arms has become the rivalry {h taste. A generous contest has succeeded the grapple of death dealing foes has given way (o preservaton. Emulation sueceeds detraction, We are told that thirty-four years aiter the la'te ol Waterloo it was necessary to cover wit) many ccats of co'or the walls of the chateau of Hougomont, held o valiantly by the Engi h against the repcated attacks of tho Fieich because of the scurrilous and insulting sen- ience to all the | tences writeen upon them by the survivors of the battle. A generation has served but to in- tensity the mutuality of bha'r.d of the two peoples. The ¢ to Brussels wto visits the fiell of Waterloo, temptad €0 to do by the well known story of the fall of Napo eo1 and the fame of Wellington, meets with grievous disappoiniment. The English and Germans, in placing the great monument of earth stone commemorating the re- nown of the Iron Duke, the name of Bluc'er and tho glory of those who fo ght under them, have so changed the earth's surface that the features of the field are undizcover able, As Victor Hugo puts it: “‘History dis- concerted, no longer recognizes herself upon it. To glori it, it has been di fi.uvel’ Wellington, visiting the scena of his stu pendous viciory a few years thereafter, ex- claimed: “They have changed my battlefiell. “We have restored as near as may be the condition of 1863 in the surface surround ings about this great strategic center. My comrades of the Cumberland, we will hold in grateful remembrance the men who have bean instrumental in accomplishing this great work. I cannot here mention all entitled to credit, but in fairness I must record the names of Generals Boynton, Fullerton and Cist of the federal army and Generals Stew- art, Wheeler and Bate of the confederates. IT SOLVED THE SITUATION. “What has here been done should also be accomplished on the other flelds set apart by the nation as places not to be profaned. Gettysburg, Antietam and Shiloh should be- come object lessons to the patriotic student of American history. As he intelligently studies, and as he shall write the results of his investigation, he will say to the future, ‘For bold attack and firm defense; for dash- ing assault and valorous resistance; for dogged onslaught and tenacious grasp; for desperate fighting and courageous combat, no battle excels, and nearly all fall far short, of being the equal of Chickamauga.’ Aye! more is true. In importance to the cause, in far- reaching result, in the bringing of the end desired, no battle equals those fought for the possession and retention of Chattancoga. Ca turing the stronghold of the south, this strat- egic key to open the very vitals of the con- federacy, guaranteed the holding of loyal east Tennessee; kept Kentucky within our bounds; threatened the flank and rear of the Army of Northern Virginia; permitted the Atlanta campaign, with the capture of the capital city of Georgia; made possible the march to the sea; was the chief instrumen- tality in the fall of Richmond; was a prime factor in the surrender at Appomattox, and dld much to prevent that recognition of southern natlonality by the great powers that would probably have made of secession a fact accomplished. We know this and history must record It. Too long have the lights of Antietam end Gettysburg been al- lowed to dim the glory of Stone River and Chickamauga, Great battles indeed were those of the east, but in extended effccts they bear no comparison with these sanguinary conflicts of the middle west. “You brave men who were the gray know it. Let some of ‘our friends, the cnemy.' glve testimony. Confederatc General Loring says of the campaign for Chattanooga: vculd gladly have (X:hangel a do-ea vious victorles for that one failure. No man in the south felt that you had accomplished anything until Chaita- nooga fell. It was the closed doorway to the interior of our country, * * * The loss Vicksburg weakened our prestig tracted our territory and practica us from the Mississippi river, but the bod of our power unharmed. As to Gettysburg—that was an experiment. * ¢ Our "loss of it, except that we could less pare the slaughter of veteran sol- ) than you could, feft us just where we e. * ¢ The fall of Chattanooga, in consequence of the Chickamauga campalgn, and the subsequent total defeat of General Bragg's efforts to recover It, caused us to experfence for the first. time 4 diminution of confidence as to the final result. “Lieutenant General Hill, a most distin- guuished confederate, came from experience on the Peninsula and the seven days’ battle about Richmond and was ripened by service at South Mountain, Antietam and- Freder- icksburg to command that great corps of the Army of the Tennessee in which command- ing divisions were such men as Cenerals P. R. Cleburne J. C. Breckinridge, W, H. T. Walker and St. John R. Liddell, and in com- mand of brigades were Colquitt, Walthall and Mills, In his contribution to war history expeilel it left was no more splendid fighting in ‘61, when the flower of the southern youth was in the field, than was fQisplayed in those bloody days of September But It scems to me that the e'lan of the southern soldier was never seen after Chickamauga—the brilliant dash which had distinguished him was gone f . He was too intelligent not to know that the cutting in two of Georgia meant death to all his hopes. He fought stoutly to the last, but, after Chick- amauga, with the sullenness of despalr_and without the enthusiasm of That “barren \'l\:wrf" sealed the of southern confederac ROSECRANS, THE SCAPEGOAT. “And yet, In spite of abundant available testimony, Chickamauga is declared by those elther ignorant or jealous to have been a defeat of the federal arms and the non- fighting croakers at Washington indulged in much paper bombardment of those who planned- the campaign for the capture of Chattanooga. A victim was demanded and Rosecrans was cruelly. sacrificed. His service from the beginning of the war was ignored. No recollection of Stone River moved to respect for that ability that we who | had served under him knew he possessed. The vilifi tion of Rosecrans by these carp- ing crities was abuse of the grand army he led from Nashville to Murfreesboro; to 'victory plucked from the jaws of defeat, and victory most pronounced at Stone River, through (he Tullahoma campaign to the final occupation of the objective point of all military endeavor from the days In 1561 when the troops of the union crossed the OhI8 river. On that event- ful 20th day of September, 1863, the Army of the Cumberland for the first and only time lost possession of the battlefleld, but it The years ( gained, to hold until the end, the goal of military aspiration, this Gibraitar of the south, It was not to be won without hard fighting and the confiiet for It raged with in- describable fury from Lee and Gordon's Mill to Snodgrass hill, the Horse Shoe ridge, made fmmortal by the immovable figure that stood there—gerene, sedate, our own General George H. Thomas, the ‘Rock of Chickamauga.’ “The Army the Cumberani can be congratulated that among its werc no jenlousies and never ev of well o of de sire to reach chieftainship by wrecking an- | other's fortune and raini another’'s fame, Fealty to each other, devot'on to the er.lc and loyalty to the cause were the inspirations that led to success. Victo'las ara as urel fealty holds, devotion con inues and y prom How well those command supplemented each other! To ganize, to discipline, to convert the fresh levies ‘of raw troops into the compact and resistless battalions that moved with precision and struck with force—came General Don Carlos Buell. To take the mighty weapon, thus skillfully fashioned for his hand, and, with admirable skill, wield it with the power of genius and the force of a strategy most masterful, followed General William . Rose- crans. To steadily, persistently hold to all advantages ever gained and to be ever suc- cessful in fighting with the veteran soldiers, who looked on him as their father and tinged all their service for him with a confidence and a love that jeneral George H. Thom did subaltern commande head of corps, the chiefs of divisions and who led our brigades! How our hearts thrill with recollections of that distant past as we read the roll of names that were not born to die! Let me speak of some of them, Jackson, Sill, Whittaker, Beatty, Geary, Kim ball, Newton, Baird, Brannon, Cruff, Rous- sea, Davis, Johnson, Van Cleve, Reynolds Steedman, Slocum, Granger, Garfield, Hooker, Palmer, 'Crittenden, Wood, Stanley, Cook, Howard, Sheridan. “These are the immortals! WERE FIRST CLASS FIGHTING MEN, “Never did better men draw swords and fix bayonets than those of inferior place and of the rank and file that followed these ained leaders. Coming from nearly all the states north of those bordering the gulf, the great mass of them were from the middle west. They were of the best blood of the communities from whence they came. Skilled in pany callings, learned in all professions, they brought to the performance of' their duties a_rars and most exceptional intelli gence. [Milled with the fire of patriotism they followed the flag of their country to endure until the end and determined that et the end no star should be effaced from that glorious banner of the Republic. They were ‘Inflexible in faith, invincible in arms.' “Fain would I give in detail the story of our army from its first combats in the sum- mer of 1861, on the neutral soil of Kentucky to the great battle in the winter of 1861 fought at the capital of Tennessee. But time will not permit that I should make more than the merest reference to the glorious tecord unparalleled for continious success in the annals of war. Neither need I show the process by which it passed from the hand of its first commander, General Robert An- derson of Fort Sumter fame, to the control of that able military leader, who, endowed with prophetic vision, saw the magnitude of the coming contest, sald that to advance the great line of the center to its ultimate ob- jective and reap the legitimate rewards would require an army of 200,000 men anl who was relieved because of doubts of his sanity, to be again sought for and to win immortal fame—General William Tecumseh Sherman. He was succeeded by General Don Carlos Buell and the troops under his com mand became known as the Army of the Ohio, losiug for a time their original apjel'a- tion “To operate on Buell's flank and retard the movement into Tennessee General Humphrey Marshall, then of considerable military fame, moved a strong force into eastern Kentucky In the presence of this threatening danger Buell looked for the man equal to the emer- gency. He sclected an unknown volunteer soldier, a newly made colonel of an Ohio in- fantry regiment, who proved himself the right man_in the right place, drove the con- federates from their mountain fastnesses and laid the foundation of that splendid reputa- tion and forceful character that commanded our admiration and won our sincere respect for General James A. Garfield BROKE THE OPPOSITION BACK. “In the winter of 1861 the confederate line extended from the Mi; sippi river at Co- lumbus to Cumberland Gap, its er belng at Bowling Green. It was not long to rema'n undisturbed, for the first fleld fight in Ken- tucky at Mill Springs was a victory so decided that it compelled the abandcnment of the rebel line and, with the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson, permitted the occupation of Nashville. The defeat of Cri‘tenden at Mill Springs was a crushing blow to southern hopes. eneral Albert Sidney Johnson wrote of it: “The tide of fugitives from that battlefield filled the country with dismay.’ It did much for the couse of unionism ir Kentucky, and above all it drew the attentlon of the republic to the great soldier who was never to disappoint its expectations—General George H. Thomas. “Of the concentration of our Nashville I need not speak, but allusion to Shiloh would be inexcusable. It was the first great combat between large armies led by prominent chieftains, and while its results were not decisive, the bloody slaughter secured to us the holding of the canter west and the opening of the valley of the Mississippi. The natural and artificial conditions pointed to Corinth as the objective and it was won at Shiloh as Chattanooga was won by the battle of Chickamauga. How well do we who formed that marching column that composed the divisions of Nelson, Crit- tenden, McCook and Wood remember the booming of the cannon that filled the air of that beautiful Sabbath morning in the early spring time. We meved to the sound of the guns that told us that the fight was on in deadly earncst and that our brethren of the Army of the Tennessce were heavily engaged across the deep river, whoe name they bore. ON THE WAY TO SHILOH. “There were long miles ahead of us be- fore we could reacn Savannah, where there could ba crossing of the deep and rapid s'ream, flowing past the rear of the army of Grant; but eager feet, responding to lstening ear, devoured them rapidly. Supply wagons were thrown to the side of the road, ammu- nition hurried to the front for rapid dis- tribution, unnecessary burdens cast away, and the men of Buell's army stripped them- selves for the fight. The division of Nelson, the gallant old tar, was the first to reach the battlefield and did good work on that Sunday afternoon in repelling the assault of Bragg's command on Grant's left. C-it'enien’s divislon was a close second and McCock's crossed the iive carly the next day. The spe > present d to these troops, as they lefi the (ranipoits and climbed the river back, is simply m e- | scribable. Und:r the prate‘t'on affocded by the slope was huddied a mass cf dishea ten>d, demoralized creatur:s, comp'etely unnerv.d and cowel. It was a trying ord:al to pass tiirough thes> prophets of disaster and hear thelr forebodings of defiat. But t'e bawring of the weil dizcipiin:d trocps of Bu:l put heart into many of those thus disprited and induced good service in the battle of the 7th. The Comte d- Pirls says of the tires di- visions that servel at Shlloh ‘coist ntly rilied for tha year past by a rigid disci- plinarian, and train:d by their lo g march:s across three stat's, these so'diers of the Army of the Chio aré distinguished ! ¥ the'r line and their fine bearing, Tae readi- with which the; march against the en- my wins the admiration of generals, who, like Sherman, have had to fight a who'o diy at the head of raw and inaxperianced troops.’ She'man himsalf says fn his official repor:: ‘Here I saw for the first time the v ell ord:rel and compact Keatucky foress of Geicral Buell, whose sol lierly movement at once gave confidence to our newer and less di:cipl ned forces." “I do not hera propose to open the vexed question as to wheth:r the attack of Johnson upon Graut at daylight on that quizt Sunday morning was expected and prepar d for. However that may have be:n, true it is, that, fighting under coadicions of great :nd pos:tive disadvantage, the magnfiesnt brave'y, the stern determination and the #o d erly quali fes of the men cf the Army of the Tenn:s:ee, un- der that steady and resistless immobilily of | Grant, that the country afterward came to know so well, preven el the sudden blow of | the first day from becoming a erushing defea and equally true it is that the participa ion of the Army under Buell, on the scconl day brought a threatened disaster to a full, com- plete and glorious vietory. “It was a terrific combat and killed and wourd:d very great. Grant had 33,000 men and lost 10,050, Buell with 22,000 lost 2,140, making the total union loss out of 65,000 men 12190. The confederates num- And those splen- who were at the troops at to forego the lois in aders there | n suprems | or- | | Bragg, never shaken, a devotion that never faltered | has never faded—succeeded | Me- | red about 40,000 and lost WK making th {otal loss of both armies 23,000, BROUGHT OUT BUELL, “The battle of Shiloh strenghened con- fidence In General Buell. He was a great or- ganizer, a fine disciplinarian, a Jearned srato- gist, with a wide and comprehen:ive gr: of military conditions—Ia 'thort an accoms plished soldle A great pity mde 4 it was that these qualities were #o £0on to be lost to the country and that, apparently of his own volition, there came retirement from act vity and that after October, 1862 h> con'd find no Place for the exercise of taldat £6 pronousced, “Under him the grand army he had | motded Into shape and dressed in such per- ot form mcved, after the fall of Corinth, across Missi:sippl, Alabama and Tennessee, its objective the strategic c:nter of the con- federacy where we meet tonight. With much distress of mind at the lcss of territory it had cost o much labor to ga'n it moved, on lines parallel to those of the Army of General back to the Ohio river. General Thomas urged that battle be forcad upon the confederates before they could reach Ken- tucky, but his sound advic: was unheeded. I need not tell of Perryville, with lts use less sacrifice of 4,300 men, and of the un- fortunate misunderstandings, if not to say the inexcusable blunderings, of that most unhappy day. After it there came a re- newal of the long standing conflict between the trained and practical leader of men in the fleld and the fnexperienced and theoretical superior _at Washington, whether east or middle Tennessee should be the scene active operations. Such disturbance of r fations between Buell and Hallcek ensued that General William 8. Rosecrans came, on October 30, 1862, to the command of the Army of the Cumberland, rebiptized in its original name. He came (o us with the halo of battles fought and won and socn se not ouly the confidence but the affection of his men, who gave the soldicrs’ characteristic evidence of it by giving him a familiar nick- “Bragg settled the question in dispute by concentrating a large army at Murfreesboro, threatening therchy our hold on Nashville, Again the union forces gatherid st that city and how well we recall the Christmas gresting that came to us the n'ght of De- ccmber 25, 1862, to move upon the enemy thirty miles away. No batile of tha war shows the dash, pluck, bravery and endur- ance of the American soldier better than Stone River. The attack, fo spirit-d and bold, upon the right wiag, under M Cook the gray dawn of that winter morning that foresd it back until the exultant enemy was not only on our flank, but in our rear! The peedy taking of new pos tioss by the trops of the left wing, unier Crittendea, their ga'lint and successful charge in th» cedars (hat regained much of the ground so ruin- ously lost! The sturdy and immovable stand of the center, under Thomns, that resisted assaults most impetuous and broke the charg- ing columns into disorganized fragments, as waves are broken on a rockbound ccast! The dash of the southern'rs in attack, the steadiness of the northerncrs in resistance the {mpulsive ardor of the one, the delib:rate repose of the other; both o charicteri t'c! The bold front, the coafident daring, the personal exposure, the actual l:ad rshiy and the unconquerable spirit of Rosecrans that ‘plucked victory from defeat and glory fr-m diaster.” All this, any cf thiz, was worth the sacrifice of life itself (o To the troops engaged It was experience most valu- able and fitting, as preparaticn for the feartul shock of arms that must come at Chick- amauga before Chattanooga coald be ours. “Agan let the figures (el how blcody was the struggle, how desperate the ing. The union force of 43,400 lost 11, The confederates, aut of 37,800, losd 10 The lo cers was particularly .0t berland, ninety-threc wounded. Generals Sill fell dead at_the id Chief of Staff ward, The confe head of thelr command Garesche went to his re at’s mourned the loss of Generals Hauson and Rains, and many another, gallant leader of brave men. : ACTORS IN DREADFUL; DRAMAS. “Of the masterly strategy that, after some months of restoration of lines of supply, of fortifying positions of strength to be held by small garrisons, of devotlan to drill and discipline, ‘led to the campalgn of Tulla- homa and Sheibyvillz, that drove Bragg across the Tennestee and permitted the forces of Crittenden to march into Chattanooga, the ‘gateway o Georgla and the back door of east Ten- nessee,’ 1 ne:d not speak. Nor will I at- tempt detailed description or bloody Chicka- mauga and its two days of desperate fighting, unparalleled in the annals of war. The orators at tiie solemn dedicatory services tomorrow will spzak of the incidents of that great battle and will be worthy to be heard, for they were participints, and did thelr duty nobly and well. At the dedication at Gettysburg these words fell from the lips of that greatest of Americans, than whom the south never had a trucr friend, or the a purer patriot—Abraham Lineoln ‘The world will little note, or long , what we say—nere, but it can er forget what they did here.’ he speakers of tomorrow upon this hallowed field were the actors of a genera- tion ago. They will speak of tuat of which they were a part. Who can better tell than they of the gathering of the components of the army of Bragg, strongly reinforced from both east and west, to strike the federal force in detail; of the speedy concent of the widely scattered corps the union army along Chlckamauga 80 soon to be baptized with blood in an im- mortal name; of the delay of Bragg to take the initiative, while his enemy was ‘exposed in detail'; of the terrific charges of the 19th of September, made with the ‘historic firce- ness of the primal attacks of southern armies;' of the stout resistance of the fght- ing brigades of the Army of the Cumberland; of th> capture and recapture of cannon and thelr indiseriminate usa on both sides of the bloody controversy; of the struggle, during all the day, that left both sides exhausted; of the coming of the night that brought not repose nor rest, but active vigil and slespless movement, with the certainty of conflict still more fierce in the morning; of the coming of the great and experienced captain during the night in the person of General Longstreet, with thres brigades of veteran fighters from the Army of North- ern Virginia; of the renewal of the combat in the early dawn, with its varying and un- certain fortune, to that critical time when, obsying an order mistakingly given, Wood moved his division out of line; of the pouring into ‘the gap thus opened of the charging columns of Long- street; of the doubling up of our right, the capture of our guns and the hurl- ing of broken brigades and disorganized di- vislons back upon the far slopes of Mis- slonary- Ridge and toward Chattancoga; of the passing to that objective point of Generals Rosecrans, McCook and Crittenden, with the shattered but not demoralized forces of our right; of the ride of Garfleld, chief of staff, to where stood the gragd old hero, the ‘Rock of Chickamauga,’ at’ whose unmoved feet the highest waves of battle.broke into surf and foam; of the persistent; furious and im- petuous attacks on the smail force on Horse- shoe ridge that made na {mpression on that firm, impassive, defensive line except a slaughter that was mutual; of the flanking of Brannan by the left wing obthe confederates and the opportune arrivall of the compara- tively fresh troops of Gordon: Granger, which was like the coming of Blucher to Welling- ton; of the charge, with a fury born of deadly per!), of the division of that gallant soldier, Steedman, that saved fPhomas from a rear attack that surely meant disaster and prob- ably imported defeat aud rout; of the giving out of all ammunition ‘and (the holding with grim determination of Snodgrass hill with cold steel; in short, of ja contest so severe, a battle 50 tremendous as to force from Gen- eral Hindman the statement that, while he ‘had never seen confederate troops fight bet- ter,’ he ‘had never seen federal troops fight so0 well.! “Again let the roll of glory tell its story of herole sacrifice. From Rosecrans’ army of 56,965 the loss was 16,179. The confeder- ates out of 71,651 lost 17,804, making a total loss in the most precious of war material 33,923, EVENTS THAT FOLLOWED FAST. he Army of the Cumberland felt that splendid leadership had failed of recognition, arduous service had been poorly requited and the soldlerly merits of a superb strategist grosely lgnored, when Rosecrans was deposed. The name of his successor in command recon- ciled them to the change, for it was one that was never mentioned by them save in terms of endearment and with tones of confidence, for It was the man of pure mjnd, large heart and noble soul, the true soldier, the prudent and undaunted commander, the modest and incorruptible patriot, who stands as the model American soldler, the grandest figure and brave ured | in | fight- | of the war of the rebelllo George H. Thomas, “Of the starvation slege of Chattanooga; the coming to our relief and the opening of our ‘cracker line’ by our brethren from tho | Army of the Potomac; of the ‘retort courte- ous' of our comrades of the Army of the Tennessee, who, as we had gone to their | ald at Shiloh, came now to our assisiance here; of the appearance on the scene of the great captain of the war, Grant, and his able and aggressive lleutenant, Sherman; of the spectacular battle of fighting Joe Hooker against that gallant confederate, Walthall, amidst the clouds that lowered about the front «of lofty Lookout, 1 fain would speak, | but passing time forbids, “But how can I refrain amidst these roundings from repeating the told tale of Mission Ridge? While | the beleaguered army, foregoing, Iif | not forgetting the pangs of hunger, echoed the language of Thomas in his gelegram to Grant, ‘We will hold this place untll we starve,’ it was with a right good will that it marched out in front of its works on that beautiful November morning, being ordered | to make a ‘demonstration’ and relieva the pressure_on Sherman in his effort to take Tunnel hill, the right flank of the semi- clrcular nafural defense, composed of Mis- sionary ridge, with its crest from 600 to 800 feet above us, around to Lookout on the left, | with fts proud head over 2,000 feet above the town. It was a_crescent, with defensive works erected with engineering skill, brist- | ling with guns and reflecting threatening | lights as the sun played upon the musket bar- rels and bayonets in the hands of skilled defenders. 1t looked like the eurve of the cutiing edge of a huge scimi- | tar. our own General sur- oft | Jur comrades of the Tennessee were to teach us how to fight and give an object les- son to the men of Mill Springs, Shiloh, Perry ville, Stone River and Chickamauga (] were simply to make a ‘demonstration,’ but | for us— to demonstrate meant to solve the problem FRIENDLY RUDBELY RELATIO TURBED. “A feeling of amity, almost of fraterniza- | tion, had existed between the picket lines in | front of Wood's division for many days. In the early moining of that day, being in charge of the left of our picket line, 1 re- ceived a turn out and salute from the con- federate reserve as I rode the line. But the friendly relation was soon to be rudely dis turbed. My pickets, composed of the Nine- teenth Ohio and Ninth Kentucky, became the line of skirmishers. Our troops being well out of their works, we advanced with our left resting on Citico creek, and, I believe that from these regiments came the first shots in that glorlons advance that resulted in the taking of Orchard Knob. “Baird's and Johnson's diyisions of Palmer's corps and_Sheridan’s and Wood's Qivisions of Granger's corps, having ‘demon- strated,’ were permitted to remain during the night, all the day of the 24th.and well into | the afternoon of the 25th before they were again called upon. With impatient joy they had witnessed the stars and stripes raised on | Lookout crest and heard the guns of Hooker on the cnemy's left. The evidences of the hard fighting of Sherman and the stub- born resistance Bragg's right was giving him were borne on every wind. The flanking as- saults upon the ridge were not achieving suc- cess, There must be another ‘demonstration’ by the center. Grant stands on Orchar Knob, silently smoking the incvitable ci He sees the heavy work to right and left and that the waning day is showing its lengthening shadows. The center mu again relieve the pressure. To Thomas goes the order—take the rifie pits at the foot of the ridge. At the six gun signal from Or- chard Knob advance the lines to the attack. Baird, Wood, Sheridan, Johnson were qu in line in the order named from left right. Restlessly they await the signal. It Is well on to 4 o'cl At last the sharp re- port of a cannon from the Knob! Another! and another! and fn quick succession the six have thundered forth the order for the charge. “To you feet and forward, men of the Cum berland! ‘Taks the riff> pits at the foot of the ridge’ is the order. IRANDEST CHARGE IN HISTORY. “How splendid’y they respond! Adding en- phas’s to their lcud b is the no'se of t e light artillery on the plain ani the decp roar of the big siege guns fn the forts of Chatta- nooga. The crest of the ridge tirowvs its ful weight of metal at the lines in blue. The musketry fire from the pits is full in their facz. But neither shot nor shell cin stop that impatuous advance. On and on they go, sur- mounting every obstacle, “The order is obeyed! “The rifle pits arc ours, and their dafenders our prisoners. How the gray jackets hasten to the rear! We wonder:d at their ha:t>, but soon unde:stood it when the guns cf the ri‘g", depressed to sweep the pits, seemed to open the gates of hell itseif upon us, We cannot stay! Must we fall back? Perish the thought! No! No! No order given, and yet to every man the impulse. Forward, the whole line! To the crest of the ridge and take the guns! Every man forward! “Grape and canister from fifty cannon for- bid the advance. Wood, Sheridan, Baird, Johnson, Willich, Hazen, Beatty, Carlin, Tur- chin, Vand:rveer, catching the spirit from the men, shout ‘Up boys! to the top!" and g:ape and canister wounds and death are forgotten! On and on and up and up we go, ‘while all the world wondered.! Grant turns to Thomas and, with distress if not anger in his vo'ce, says: ‘Who ordered those men up the rdg ?' Replies our oll hero: ‘I don’t know; I did Says Grant: ‘Grang:r, did you?' ‘No.' Granger; ‘they started without orders n those fellows get startzd all hell can’t stop them.’ “With hearts in their throats these anxious chieftains watchel, The spzctito:s in Caat a- nooga hold their breath in terrble suspense. It look: a desperate ven'ure, a foolhardy ef- fort. Can they make the top, or will they b» driven back to the plin, with columns broken and ranks dizordered The musketry fire from the entrenched line in gray is murder- ous! The cannon be'ch forth incessantly! ‘It is as though men fought upon the carth and fiands in upper air.’ Not a shot from the wedge-stapcd lines in blue as they g.vanc: with the colors of regiments at the apx of the triangles. Sixty regimental banuers in rivalry for the lezd! Colors fall as the bear- ers sink In death, but other stout a'ms nerved by brave hearts bear the flag aloft. Ah! the lnes waver! They cannot mak: | ! But repulse means d:feat and the lozs of all we have gained. Look! again they go forward! Will they reach the crest? S:e! the answer! A flag! the nation's flag! Our flag upoa the top! An- other’ and yet another! The crest breaks out in glory! It is the apothcosis of the banner of the free! “The rebel lines are broken! We are into their works! Cheer upon cheer ‘set the wild ecaoes flying' from Tunnel Hill to Lookout! They tell of victory! glorious, exultant vie- tory! Forty pleces of cannon and 7,000 stand of arms, with 6,000 prisoners captured, give emphacls to the story. The bars are down for entrance next campaign to Atlanta, gate city of the south. HERE STARTED THE GREAT MARCH. “How vividly we recall the winter move- ment into East Tennessee for the relief of Burnside, penned up in Knoxville, and the re-enlistment for ‘during the war' of the veteran soldiers. We can give it brief men- tion only, but I would love to tell of the cam- paign of the summer of 1864 in Georgia; of the start in early May from Ringgold, Gor- don’s Mills and Red €lay, of the three great armies of the west, under the leadersalp of their commanders—McPherson, so soon to fall upon the field of glory: Schofield, who yet lives to receive from a grateful country the recognition of his services and fame, and Thomas, the steady, the ever sure, all under the command of that military genius, William Tecumseh Sherman, and of how they swept | with uniformity of success and constant con- test, until they entered Atlanta in early Sep- tember. “Mr, President, three great rivers have thelr source in sections remote from each other, and, taking their winding course by mountains and through plain, unite to give the Father of Waters that mighty current that insures to the country he traverses pros- perity and power. With gources far apart, they have a common destination and in gener- ous rivalry their waters flow, each helping | the other to the accomplishment of the same purpose. Most happy the thought, that, rec- ognizing the parallel, gave to these three grand western armies, that united In the ad- vance on Atlant numbering 100,000 men, the names of these mighty rivers (hat drain a continent—the Ohlo, the Tennessee and the Cumberland, “Organized at different times, at places far apart, they met in Georgia, and in the steady flow of thelr generous rivalry, contrib- uted to the common cause, labored for the same purpose, and as the resuit of their su- preme efforts, separate yet combined a na- tlon, glorious and united, instinct with power, allve with progress, rejoices in its salvation DIS- | | portance of the great battles fought by the and rests calmly assured of perpetuity. Each gave to tho other the strong hand of assist- [ per cent and Steedman lost 40 per cent In ance and all unitedgn help, support and suc- | four hours of herole fAghting, Bates' brigade, tor. Thus joined they made of the Atlanta |of theirs, lost nearly 49 per cent, and Vare campalgn one that {s unprecedented in tho | deveers' brigade, of outs, a fraction less than annals of war. It is a study o grand strat- 50 per cont. Regimental losses were at time torribly severe, 1 may bo pardoned the statement that my own regiment at Stone River lost over 40 per cent “These figures are most startling when | compared with destruction of men in batties declared by historlans to have been most saugoinary, At Wagram Napoleon lost bnt "General Scott said carly in the war, ‘Be- |5 per cent and at Marongo and Austerlite ware of Lee advancing and watch Johnston at | less than 15 per cent. 4 At Malpliquet Marls a stand; for the devil himself would be de- | horough lost but 10 and at Ramillies but 6 teated n the attempt to Whip him retreating.’ | per cent. At Worth and Sedan the average The history of that well conducted retreat ot both armies was 13 per cont. The from Dalton to Atlanta, with its wonderful { chargo of the Light Drigade at Balaklava preservation of material, men and morale, [ s be:n fmmortalized by Tennyson: justified the characteristic compliment of the Cannon to right of them, old soldier, e g Gannen to left of themy WAS A DESPERATE CAMPAIGN, Volleyed and thundered! “Wao Inscribed upon our regimental banners (SR LLEGLLS il many bright names, am them Fito The: e Dt AeThy Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, / a Into the ‘mouth of hell, kin Vine Creck, Dallas, Ne Hope Church, Rode the six hundred, * Kenesaw (where the lamented Harker and | Yot of those who role . 673 ) gallant Dan McCook met their glorious fate) b % ; k: SR allant Dan M " : there rode back 426, who were witcra ched, Teach Tite oreek; uattahioolchie, Allanta, | for thero wore killed 113, wouned 134, bilag Jonesboro, Lovejoy's Sta was over 100 | o total of 947, or eb Catits The days of constant fighting in which Shorman's | oy ‘oeay of 2 e LT Bl ) loss was Killed, 4,423; wounded, 22,822; miss- | {nat oxceed that borcontas Bo a slnglo ch ing, 4,442; total, $1,687. The confodorate loss | bt *3EFe] AL b 'f:“f, ||. a single, en: was 3,040 killed, 18,952 wounded, L i B L B R LR LR, 18 S LBk B DI TeRs. MHbs claimed that Helm's brigade of Rreckentidge's IR L G T L divison lost 76 per c-nt of its fighting forcy Sapaton Lt [ and its gallant leader was numb red with the L LIS slain, ner in which our long IT PROVES with the point of suj e hundred miles of railr St showing acity, and yet the welcome shriek of the locomo- tive followed us with the move of every day. fhedl it o God that through all future time its ys Carlyle, ‘an army, like a serpent, goes | PHY AL 2 8 o B exertion may be dir:cted agaivst fo elgn and not domestic fors. - We fight too hard to come upon its belly,’ and that great army of 100, « | bat with each other. 000 men was seldom hungry on the move- ment to Allanta. We captured fifty plec . fRstevll \ of cannon, many of them slege guns, 25,000 | ‘“The battle of Nashville practically clo-ed the war in the west and In a fow months the of the Cumberland dissolv:d and the stand of arms, ‘a vast amount of wat m terial Impossible for the confederacy to re- men who had carried the flag of the nation ig the forefront of battle, and the sceies of place cupid more new territory and | opencd the gate for that ‘march to the sea,’| which served to stamp out the expiring em- | Whose high emprise I haye fiintly poririyel, 1 up in the great body of the heir wrk ac omplished, bers of the rebellion | “Men of the Cumberland were of that fa- | K this, like the other great armies of the res public, melted away at the command of tie mous march, but their duty was a pleasure Jaunt compared with the work of their com rades who remained to resist and fight the | government, whose call to arms had given a of Hood—alert, vigorous and expe- | them life, as the morning vapor be'o.e the Would that time would permit me | rising sun. Quictly and without dizorder, to tell of Franklin, with the splendid exhibi- | they stacked their arms, droppel the garh tion of manly courage from Stanley and|of and took upon them:c'ves the dutes Opdycke and of glorious Nashville, the last [ of civil lif>, They crowd the Lusy avenies signal victory and the final and decisive bat- | of commerce ani ara to be found ‘n all the tle of the west. December, 1864, saw the | marts of industry and plac®s of endeavor. end, when the disheartened remnant of | *“The hand that dropp-d the musket scized Hood's army was driven for the last time | h plow, ths gool right arm that wielled across the Tennessee. As General Thomas | the saber with des'ructive force, impe'led tha expressed It in his congratulatory order, ‘It | caw and plane, and the sword: o° the 1 aders had been finally sent fiying, dismayed and | of charg'ng Losts were drojped for t e pene disordered, from whence it came, ‘impelled | thag have proved to be mightier weapons on by the instincts of self-preservation.’ Stating | ‘ohange in the busy mart, the office, or in the councils of the nat Likewise has disap- to his victorious troops the result of their n kgt UL L of the | Prared that spiendid bo’y of men who fought rebel army since It crossed. the Tennestae courageously and sacrific:d so m-ch for river to fivade the state, at the least eatl- | the ‘lost cause.’ They have ac:cpted the re mate, 15,00 men, among Whom were—killed, | sult manfully, hopefully, patriotically. Tha plpitlEen relchteen general | two contending forces are bl:nded. They are officers, Yo rom the encmy, 80 | ; IbudeCist | Par B8 DO haURt et : united in devotion to one flag, one n:t'on, o 1m0 htpleces | desting. Therc is no line of division now bo- tween those who wore the blue #nd those whe wore the gray. Thelr blending has brought of artillery, 10,000 pri s, as many stand of small atmy s thousand of which the neutral tint, gratifying evary sense, ine dicative of rest and peace. ve been gathered in, and the remainder DID NOT FIGHT IN “Under the able leadership of a great con- tederate—General Joseph B, Johnston, the Army of the Southwest, with Hardee, Polk Smith and Wheeler commanding corps, made a fighting retroat most masterly, challonging the admiration of every milltary student ive of wonders to me was the man line of communication ly was sustained. Five d to the Ohio rive AMERICAN this digre VALOR slon, for the makes of the brav.ry, ten- rve and verve of the American, I will pardon that it force w the route of the enem retreat- and between thirty and forty flags beside: compelling him to destroy much ammuni- tion and abandon many wagons.' VAIN, DEADLIEST OF FIGHTI “My comrades and countrymen, have ne *“Colonel Fox, in his valuable wo:K on the | fear for the republic. It Is bised upon man's ‘Losses in the American Civil War,' says that | love of liberty, its structure embedded in battles are considered great in proportion to | equal rights to all and fs cemented by the the loss of life resulting from them, and that | blood of our slain. Let the pessimist feel dls. the history of a battle should always be | turbed, false prophets scant d nger in the tudied in connection with the figurss that | signs of the times and g've forebodinzs of show the los: The suggestion is found d | evil to come. Be not dismayed In truth and tried by that standard the im- [ * “This government of the people, by the people and for the people, shall not perish | from the earth.’ It has, ‘Our hearts, our hopes Army of the Cumberland is alrcady hown. The later gauge or measure of imporian-e is usually comparison with the los sus- tained at Waterloo, or Gettysburg, th greit- cst fields of the present centuy. Compared | with them, and taking the p-reentage of loss | to the numb:rs engaged many of the batties entirely fought or participated in by the Cumberland are at no disadvantage. It is true of Shiloh, Perryville, Stone River ani [ As the sculptor uncovers the statue Chickamauga, and the percontage of loss to | When he has brought his best. ) the troops engaged In the battles about | o thou, my country, may the future seo Atlanta_and at Mission Ridge is nearly as | rhy shape ’.m.,(.n. e Ku‘]»n-ml' a8 now, grat. The desperate and deadly charac'er of | And every stain which mars thy starry robé the fighting of Americans from north or | In the white sun of truth be bleached away? south s shown by c:nsultlog the very in- | Hold thy grand posture with unswerving teresting figures given by Colonel Fox and mien,” S gathered also by that dashing cavalryman | fIFm, a8 o statue prond of jte brishl, formy 0 pestiferously annoying at times fn our b iy "firePRdicta o' shattert From thine eye rear, General Jo:eph Wheeler, late of the | Let the clear light of freedom confederate, now of the United Statd The broad, unclouded, statiosar ‘At Waterloo, while the lcss to the French | Still with thy right hand on the fa army was much in excess and unchtainable | And with the other point the lving s with accuracy, Wellington's loss was but 12 | Whence ail thy glory comes; and per cent. At Gettysburg the federal loss was | Bt still 4ll-se 25 per cent and the confederate 20 per cent. [ Whose swords At Shiloh the loss to the Army of Grnt nd, and that if his enemy proportionately cqualed swn and note how we fulfill our Gettysburg, and at Chickamauga the (otal ! loss was over 25 per cent of the eniire force of both armies, and of the troops actually engaged both days it exceels 3 » eent Longstreet's division lost the second day 44 our prayers, our nt o'er our fears.' ngs eternal in the pers test of republics, chiefest alth triumph And that faith petuity of this gre of nation: ‘God uncovered the land That he hid of old time in the west urce whera ing, the great patriot souly and wisdom left us thus trust! Still hold beneath thy fix'd and sandal'd oot The broken sceptre and the tyrant And let thy stature shine above th | A form of terror and of lovelines gyves; A Few Adva;xtages Offered by the Chlcago, Milwa ukee & St. P aul Railway, the short line to Chlcago. clean train made up and s rted from Oma ha. A Baggage checked {rom residence to destination teous employes. Entire train lighted by ele ctricit every berth. Finest dining car service in the west, with meals served a la carte, or, in other words, order what y nd pay for what you get. Flyer leaves union ded pot daily at 6:00 p. m., m R, City Ticket Agent. Tlegpant train seryice and coure with electric ding lamps in City Ticket Office, nam Street. . 8. CARRIE ~ What is This?--Cimmis G GIVEN AWAY “Max 1 only keep f is altogether All our seed, Geisler’s Bird Store, ;o3 no. 16t st, omata. Every Saturday at 7 P. M Bird Seed cctly clean common soe 4 A ticket goes with every package of : A" Remember that we 1 ' that our mixture led “Mixed Bird Seed.’ - the ete., I8 warranted, IXACT SIZE THE MERCANTILE IS THE FAVORITE TEN CENT CIGAR. «r sale by all First Class Dealers. Manufactured by the F. R. RICE MERCANTILE CICAR CO., Factory No. i B 1 S A Y 1 ] M 11 0 g | Adjust Family Differences Bad temper is often merely bad digestion. Many quarrels attributed to pre- verse dispositions are due to disor- dered livers, Ripans Tabules ad- just family differences and would prevent them, which is better, if taken in time. E | i o s M1 i 5 4