USA > Georgia > The army reunion : with reports of the meetings of the societies of the Army of the Cumberland; the Army of the Tennessee; the Army of the Ohio: and the Army of Georgia > Part 5
USA > Ohio > The army reunion : with reports of the meetings of the societies of the Army of the Cumberland; the Army of the Tennessee; the Army of the Ohio: and the Army of Georgia > Part 5
USA > Tennessee > The army reunion : with reports of the meetings of the societies of the Army of the Cumberland; the Army of the Tennessee; the Army of the Ohio: and the Army of Georgia > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24
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Army Reunion.
Another quality of the Army of the Cumberland was a great degree of military enthusiasm. The morale of the army was ยท uniformly good. As a body, it always had zeal, spirit, hope and confidence. These qualities gave it not only endurance, but superadded enthusiasm. No reverses broke its spirit or dimin- ished its zeal. Its tenacity and ability to endure reverses were sorely tried at Stone River. Its spirit and enthusiasm were brilliantly displayed, in contending against heavy odds, at Chick- amanga. The officers and men, as a class, were always enthusi- astic in asserting the justness of their cause, and in their steady belief of its ultimate triumph. This confidence gave the army great power in the conflict of battle, and rendered examples of bad conduct in the face of the enemy, either on the part of indi- viduals or organizations, an exception to the general rule. A direct effect of this feeling was to prevent disquiet, home- sickness-that bane of the volunteer soldier-desertion, and all the train of evil consequences which flow therefrom.
Another quality which was constantly observable in the Army of the Cumberland, was its esprit de corps. Pride in army organization is always a most desirable trait in military life. The officer or private who can sink all individuality in the name and success of his company, regiment, division, or army, is, by the same degree in which he does this, so much the better soldier. This pride of the soldier in the army to which he belongs, gives it force and vigor-ennobles the men, and operates as a strong incentive to individual valor. This animating spirit of the collective body was a conspicuous trait in the Army of the Cumberland. There were none of its regiments or batteries who were not chary of the good name of their army, and proud of the victories and services achieved by it.
These were some of the features of the "Army of the Cumber- land" which were ordinarily to be remarked. They, however, by no means constitute all. They were qualities possessed in
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Oration of General Cruft.
common by all our armies in the field, and it may be by others to a degree equal or superior to that of the one to which allusion is made. It is true that they existed in it, and by referring to this fact no invidious comparisons are intended.
TEACIIINGS OF THE WAR.
The war of the Rebellion, like all sectional outbreaks, is not without its instructions. Results which follow a civil war are seldom apparent at its immediate close. Its teachings are not always impressed on the generation which has lived through the eventful scenes which spring from it. Time is required to soften the tone and passions of the contending parties, to heal up the wounds of the nation, and to show the permanent consequences which are produced. The late Rebellion is no exception to the rule. It brought about changes in our country and Government, and among our people, which will be as lasting as the Republic itself. It is impossible now to allude, in the most cursory manner, to all the revolutions in business, finance, political views, personal life and habits, which came from the war. They are many, and are full of instruction, regret, or foreboding, according to the temperament in which they are read, and spirit in which they are studied. Vast changes have, already, followed the war, and its teachings are grand, solemn and wonderful. It over- turned many of the accepted ideas of our people- not a few fundamental axioms in politics, and numerous preconceived notions in business and commerce.
One of the grandest effects which flowed from the Rebellion was the establishment of universal personal liberty in our country. The theory of our Government has always been that of complete individual freedom and protection, but yet, since its foundation, slavery and oppression had continually existed under its sanction.
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Army Reunion.
At the commencement of the war, notwithstanding the boasted freedom of the United States, four millions of persons were held in bondage, used and traded as chattels, and subjected to cruelties such as were tolerated in no other civilized country. The war burst the shackles from these millions of poor creatures, and bade them look up, assert the intelligence the great Creator had given them, and strive to become worthy and useful citizens. It made our country not only free in name, but absolutely so. Henceforth the world may truly look to the United States as
"_ the land of the free, And the home of the brave!"
With the war has gone the great curse of slavery, and with this are passing away those deep-rooted prejudices of caste and color which have been peculiar ouly to our country.
The war exploded the great Southern maxim of commerce, "Cotton is King !" This staple, hitherto, held high place, it is truc, in all our great commercial relations, domestic and foreign, and gave to our Gulf States a certain power which was asserted to be supreme. Cotton, and its surroundings, and the ideas which cluster around its production, had much to do with bringing about the war; but, before it was fought through, the world learned that cotton was not all there was of the United States. Cotton, though a great power, as formerly used, was not " King"-the maxim, asserting it to be so, was a fallacy, but it required the war to teach us this fact !
Another truth, established by the Rebellion, was that all the chivalry and manhood of the nation was not compressed into that part southward of "Mason and Dixon's line." It taught us that there were valor, patriotism, and vitality elsewhere, and that too sufficient to preserve the Government, and to overturn the most powerful rebellion which has ever existed.
Oration of General Cruft.
Another fact settled by the war was the mastery of the Federal Government. The claim of the supremacy of the State over the General Government in matters of conflict, and the doctrine of paramount allegiance owed by the citizens to the latter, were fully overturned. The falsity of such assumption is now under- stood. The right of secession is also abandoned, and will nevermore be asserted, at the point of the sword. The war determined the Federal Government as the great central controll- ing power which shall, for all time to come, regulate, within the limits of the written Constitution, the various States of the Union. Before the Rebellion, the great mass of citizens scarcely realized the existence of the Federal Government, or had any daily evidence of its being. It levied no personal taxes upon them, restrained their liberties in no way, nor exacted any thing from them. They knew that Congress held annual sessions, that a President was elected every four years, the Cabinet changed, that the Government transported their letters, and that it held a court in their State. The only officer with whom they came in contact was the postmaster. Comparatively few, away from the sea- board or the larger cities, had ever seen a custom-house, light-house, navy-yard, man-of-war, file of soldiers, or any thing else, except the national flag, which represented the physical being of the General Government. It laid its burdens so lightly on the citizen that they were hardly known. The war, however, taught our people the existence of a federal power, and its ability for self-protection, and the general defence.
These, and other similar lessons, were taught to our coun- trymen by the grim and horrid experience of the war. The soldiers also, who were engaged in it, survived its battles, and were honorably discharged, received an experimental tuition which they will not soon forget. They stood nobly to their colors in the tide of battle, and did not desert them in camp or march. Dangers, difficulties, or suffering could not drive them
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from their standards while there was a single armed foe in the field. Now that the war is over they do not propose to desert the cause for which they fought, for they still owe their Govern- ment allegiance and fealty. While they may no longer measure arms with an enemy, in battle array, they must still, as citizens, render homage and support to the constituted authorities. They naturally look for the results of their victory. As honorable soldiers they desire the return of peace, and the restoration of order as one of the first fruits. If this is not attainedl, then the war has been fought in vain, and all its carnage and cost have been made for nought. The survivors of the Union armies, with one accord, join their late Commander-in-Chief in his magnanimous and soldierly demand, " Let us have Peace !" The people of the nation have re-echoed this demand, and have strongly emphasized it, by the recent election of our grand Chieftain to the Presidency of the United States. This great tribute to the soldier element of the country proclaims, in thunder tones, the determination of all classes to have that peace which is demanded by those who fought the war; as well as their intention to honor those who were engaged in it.
A further duty impressed on returned soldiers, by the education of the war, comes in the shape of an obligation to stand by one another. All other things being equal, there can be no wrong to the public in the soldier giving preference to his comrade, when his interests come in competition with the citizen who did not go to the war. He would be false to the acknowledged, though unpledged, ties which bind him to those with whom he has suffered and fought-false to the memory of his fallen com- panions -false to the associations which gather around and hallow his life as a soldier, if he did not do so. As soldiers, you kept the touch of the elbow when in line, so stand together now as citizens! The living public will honor you for such conduct, and posterity will not fail to praise your faithfulness.
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Oration of General Cruft.
Akin to this is another duty learned by the soldiers of the Republic, -to support none but loyal men for official stations. The man who took his life in his hand, and fought rebels in open arms, can not be expected, by the most charitable, to use his ballot to undo the work which his musket wrought. It is an insult to the soldier who has returned from the war, with an honorable record, and who has brains, to ask him to contribute to install unregenerate and unrepentant traitors, or their sympa- thizers, in place and power.
The war of the Rebellion was fought by volunteer soldiery. The policy of our Government has always been opposed to a large standing army. As a result of such course, the entire land force of the nation, at the commencement of the war, did not exceed fifteen thousand effective men-barely sufficient for light frontier service. Our navy, too, was small, and scattered over distant oceans. The Government was, therefore, necessarily compelled to call for volunteers, and to rely upon them for its support in the great contest before it. The army, small as it was, was divided in loyalty, and about one-fourth of the old officers went to the cause of the Rebellion; those remaining steadfast afforded material from which to officer the volunteer troops and largely to contribute to their education. The small force of regular troops, engaged in the war, proved themselves brave soldiers. All that martial science, endurance and valor conld achieve, belongs to their history. It is the business, however, of the regular soldier to be brave and resolute- to fight gallantly. He is fitted by long preparation and exercise, by the study of the school and training of the camp. Such is not the case with our inexperienced volunteers. The nation is justly proud of the regular army, and of its valiant achievements. Another, and a peculiar pride, possesses our people as they turn to their volunteer soldiers. They are part of themselves, their fellow-citizens, their fathers, brothers, husbands, sons.
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Army Reunion.
They are the immediate representatives of the state, county and neighborhood. They are "the Republic itself in arms !" They came, at the blast of the bugle, and roll of the drum, and ran, on willing feet, to their country's banner. They left their farms, work-shops, professions, homes and kindred, to fight back the foes of their common Government. They knew nothing of arms as a profession. Theirs was no mercenary service. Listening only to promptings of patriotism, they went forth to fight for their country, and then returned quietly to their homes, laid aside the garb of the warrior, put on the habiliments of peace, and resumed their former avocations. The war has demonstrated the fact that we now have a great and powerful Government, where every citizen can suddenly spring into a full-armed, effective soldier, and can as suddenly be transformed into a peaceful . citizen.
You, of the Army of the Cumberland, and the volunteer soldiers of our other Grand Armies, have revealed the secret of the physical strength of the Republic. Our people now know the " mighty muscular power of our nation, and the nerves, tendons and fibres of our Government." We can now, as if by the wand of an enchanter, evoke great and magnificent armies. During the late war the calls of President Lincoln flashed, with electric speed, over the land, and, as at the blast from the wild horn of Clan Alpine's Chief, every " bracken, bush and stone" gave forth its
"- Warrior armed for strife."
But our volunteers have not only taught the lesson how easy it is to raise vast and powerful armies, but, also, the further and more important lesson, how casy it is to disperse them without violence or bloodshed. Your example, in quietly return- ing to your homes from the bloody scenes of four years' war, is
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Oration of General Crufi.
full of meaning and instruction. The lesson to be learned from such conduct was not lost on the world. To-day the monarchs of Europe wonder how this is done. All civilization is aston- ished to know how one million of volunteer soldiers, who have fought to successful issue the most malignant civil war which time has yet recorded, have quietly stacked their arms and betaken themselves to civil pursuits. It is an irref- ragable fact that this has been done, and that you, and your comrades in arms, have done it. The loyal volunteers of the United States have proven to the world the case with which our Government can raise armies, from her citizen soldiery, and then suddenly transform them to peaceful life. This element of strength is now as apparent as it is wonderful, and constitutes a grand bulwark of freedom among us. This ability suddenly to raise and disperse citizen soldiery, stands in place of immense armies and navies. It is like the fan of Paribanou, the fairy, in Oriental mythology-spread it, and the armies of powerful Sultans could repose beneath its shade-fold it, and it became a toy in the hand of a lady.
This host of veterans which has just disappeared from camp and field, is ready to spring up again at the sound of the trumpet. Now that peace is spreading her healing wings over the country, the vast military strength of the Rebellion has become added to that of the Government. If war with a foreign power should make occasion again to summon our countrymen to arms, we can now rally, in a common cause, from the survivors of the two late contending armies, two millions of such tried and trusty soldiers as fought the terri- ble battles of the Rebellion. This subtle but wondrous power is now with us. The nation feels it-the world knows it!
While the war cost many lives, and millions of treasure, it educated the nation to arms, and developed the martial taste of our people to such extent as to leave no apprehensions for the 5
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Army Reunion.
future. Every loyal soldier laid down his arms at the termin- ation of the Rebellion with the solemn, though unuttered pledge, that he would seize them again on the first call of his country, and again wield them in its defence.
With all the horrors, destruction, and expense of the war, it was not without some good. In our point of view it operated as a great field of improvement to those who passed through its dangers and turmoils, and survived. Many of the rough, boisterous, and untrained men of the country were disciplined by the service. Many were there taught their first lesson of sub- ordination, thoughtfulness, cleanliness, and systematic personal habits. The lessons of the camps sometimes savored of vice, but yet more frequently of virtues, and the conduct of the thousands of soldiers who have quietly returned from the war, and have since become honored and reputable citizens, shows that their training in the field was not harmful, but improving.
CONCLUSION.
Gentlemen of the Society of the Army of the Cumberland ! Since first entering the service of your country you have seen all the vicissitudes and hardships of a soldier's life-the camp, the march, the battle, and the victory. You have borne yourselves bravely and successfully, and have exceeded the expectations of your countrymen. You endured the trials of your new life without murmur. Hunger and thirst, exposure, sickness, fatigue, have not daunted you. You encountered your country's enemy around the church at Shiloh ; you toiled nobly as one of the besieging armies at Corinth; you rolled back the advancing tide of battle at Perrysville ; you wrested victory from the enemy amidst the tangled cedars at Stone River ; you held at bay his compact hosts in the dark and bloody valley of the Chicka-
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Oration of General Cruft.
mauga ; you endured the memorable siege at Chattanooga ; you contributed part of the heroic column that stormed Lookout Mountain ; you formed the centre in the memorable assault on Mission Ridge ; your dead lay thick on every battle-field from Dalton to Atlanta. Many of you stood in solid ranks at the murderous battle at Franklin, and moved upon the enemy at the crowning victory at Nashville. Part of you "marched down to the sea" with our great leader, Sherman, while part made that other and terrible winter march in pursuit of a flying enemy, without which " the march to sea" would not have been so fully vindicated as one of the grandest exploits in war. Your record has been a glorious one. You can point to numerous pitched- battles in which your army was engaged singly with the enemy, and many others in which it bore a conspicuous part. Your ser- vices have been no trifling matter, no mere "fun mustering," but constant and deadly grappling with "foemen worthy of your steel." The long and toilsome marches you have made, the moun- tains and rivers you have crossed, the various routes you have traversed, the weary miles you have made, the fortifications you have built, all these I have not attempted to relate. The world knows these ficts, for they have already passed into history, . and have become great and startling truths. While you have been toiling on, and risking your lives in battle, you have not only been exalting yourselves, but unconsciously carving an undying fame. It is to be spoken to your credit, noble soldiers, that your army has not sullied its reputation by any base or unmanly actions. It wears no dishonorable scars. It has not recoiled in battle, nor faltered when the charge was sounded. In this respect you have a common repute with your fellow- soldiers of all the other grand armies of the Union-a glorious national heritage, which has been wrought out by gallant soldiery, and to which you have contributed.
One fact must not be omitted. Many of your regiments
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Army Reunion.
became veterans in the volunteer service. The stripes of honor, added to the uniform worn by them, indicated that they were not only United States volunteers, but, further and higher than this, veteran volunteers! The additional title was no meaningless thing. It proclaimed to the world that those who enjoyed it had trod the wine-press of affliction, had been tried in the furnace of battle, and that three years of experience and faithful labor had been consumed before they gained that honorable distinction. The day that your veterans, having fulfilled their first enlistment, again entered the service, was the crowning day of their glory. Less patriotic or determined men would have shrunk from this second trial. To their noble purpose, to the re-enlistment of thousands in all the great armies of the Union, our country owes its safety and integrity.
The pleasure of every greeting among soldiers is commingled with sadness. In looking over the representation here of those who once composed the Army of the Cumberland, in vain we seck many well-known and familiar faces. Why came they not from the dangers of the battle to mingle with us to-day? Too well we know. The great record of battles furnishes the sad response, and points us to the heroic dead. It recalls to memory those who fell gloriously in battle, and rendered up their livos to their country-their souls to their God. We may deplore them, we may grieve for them, but our lamentations will not avail. Others there were who fell by the wayside in weary marches, or whose eyes grew dim and spirits fled from camp or hospital, and whose names adorn no battle-roll. Disease, the great destroyer made sad havoc in your lines. His victims far exceeded those who fell in battle. Many a comrade who escaped the perils of the field, driven from his place in line, came home "to die amid his friends and kindred- ending life where it began." Honor, then, to our patriotic dead !
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Oration of General Cruft.
Others, too, there were, not numbered with the dead, who, stricken by disease, or bullets of the enemy, have returned to drag out a life of disability and suffering. Honor, also, to them ! Strong and manly soldiers once, their wounded limbs and shattered bodies are to be revered and held doubly precious.
But our sorrows to-day may not be wholly for the dead. Their names are
- "Freedom's now, and Fame's."
Our sympathies rather go out for the living. The nation mourns her warriors slain, and weeps over the rivers of blood which have reddened its Southern plains, but our per- sonal and effective sympathy must be for the friends and relatives of the fallen braves-most of all, for the widow and orphan of the slain. While we can not but lament the dead, who manfully fought their last battle, it is the living that should call out our active condolence and future care.
Let the nation and the state, while, out of their abundance, they labor to perpetuate the memory of the dead, also make haste to provide for the needs of the living. Let it be a matter of individual duty with us all to care for the wants of the soldier's family. As God has given to each of us, so let him give of his substance to the widows and orphans of our gallant dead.
The stalwart returned soldier should have place, employ- ment, and honors. The wounded and helpless should have home and comforts. The widow of the soldier, and his fatherless children, should not beg bread. His orphan should have education, and the state and kind friends should hover around him, like ministering angels, to nurture, instruct and guard him.
.
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Army Reunion.
I leave to linger with you these parting injunctions which are caught from the spirit and purpose of your Association ; and, again wishing you the return of many such joyous reunions, I bid you
HAIL ! AND FAREWELL.
BADGE OF THE SOCIETY OF THE
ARMY fof. the CUMBERLAND
ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND.
15
ORATION OF MAJOR-GENERAL J. D. COX.
MY OLD COMRADES : I feel, very sensibly, the difficulty of expressing fitly the feelings which must fill the heart of every member of the Grand Army of the West at such a reunion as this. We have met our old comrades of the corps and subordinate army organizations, since we parted at Raleigh after our last review as a separate army in the presence of Grant and Sherman (names that need no titles) ; but to-day the Army of the West meets, by its representatives, for the first time in the garb of peace. To-day, in the presence of the same commanders, for whom our love and admiration have not grown cold in the interval, we meet to renew our pledges of comradeship and brotherhood, to mingle our regrets for the honored dead, and our congratulations with those who have survived.
The years which have passed since that memorable April, 1865, by carrying us further away from the great and exciting events, then just ending, enable us to take a juster and more comprehensive view of the war itself, and of our own share in it; and though no true soldier need apologize for the honest pride with which he may have imitated the ancient hero in exclaiming, "quorum pars magna fui," all will frankly admit that a distance of three years reduces somewhat the proportions, and tones down the coloring one used to give to the achievements of his own command as compared with other portions of the army. The soldier in the ranks naturally believes that his own regiment is the flower of the army, and is peerless in discipline and courage. This faith is so important
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