USA > Iowa > Scott County > Davenport > Reunion of the Second Iowa Cavalry Veteran Association, 1882 > Part 10
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Nor was it an enthusiasm of the hour, to be chilled by the first reverse or defeat. It was a settled determination born of the belief that they were right and their enemies wrong. It was a firm conviction that underlying the contest was a great moral principle and. appealing to the God of battles for His support, they went forth to fight for their country as their highest duty. But it is not of their military service alone, glorious as that has been, that the sentiment of the toast demands of me. The old soldiers in time of peace have represented all the varied industries incident to civil life. We find them among the front rank of all the social, moral, educational. re- ligions, business and political professions of the day, and as the advance guard of civilization. they have taken possession of every city and country of the civilized world. I believe they have represented every state in the Union in the halls of Congress, either as members of the House or Senate, and have occupied the office of Chief Magistrate of the Nation continuously
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from 1869 to the present time, with the exception of four years. No class of men has ever been more faithful to public duty than the old soldiers. They have been true to every trust confided to them and are entitled to quite as much distinction for their energy and industry, their integrity and ability in the councils of the city, state and nation since the war as they are for their heroic courage, their gallantry and their patriotism in the military service during the war.
The education received during four and a half years of military service, tended largely to develop leadership. Much has been said and written, and often without wisdom or point, on the subject of leadership among men. "No man was ever a leader of his fellow men in a free country by self-asser- tion or the spirit of dictation."
"He who controls the reason, convinces the judgment, enlightens and satisfies the conscience, is a leader of the people, mightier far than he who relies on the sword." Strong argument, elaborate research and eloquent persuasion have been and will ever continue to be more potent factors in the world's long annals than the gleaming sword and bayonet and the shot- ted cannon.
A Garfield and Logan were never so strong, so magnetic, and so irresis- tible as when under assault or crowded in discussion by an able antagonist. Their qualities for such an ordeal were of the highest order. If we turn from the public record of the old soldiers and view them as men in all the varied relations of life, we can pronounce their eulogies without the qualifi- cations of opposing opinions. The old soldier, as a rule, is honorable and just in business affairs. He is easy of approach, affable and kind, carrying into his life as a citizen none of the bitterness of war. He is a man of good habits and temperate, plain, of unblemished character and the highest type of an American citizen. He is a lover of order and peace and, if not a mem- ber of a religious society, he respects and observes the obligations of relig- ion and morality, and in human society he is faithful to his duty to his kindred and family, and leaves an example of purity and honor in private life. It is these virtues far more than genius, learning or intellectual force. that make our old soldiers, in time of peace, worthy of the high praise the free people of a great nation bestow upon them. But something bas been said about the old soldier being a partisan. One of our Past Commanders- in-Chief said: "It must be conceded by all that no class of citizens have a higher right to freely express their political opinions and take part in the campaign as their convictions shall dictate than those who, through unself- ish patriotism, went forth to save the nation."
I know by no construction of my observation, uor by anything I can draw from history, any other mode of conducting the discussions and cam- paigns of a great and free people except by means of great and firm parties. I believe, therefore, that steadfast adhesion to a party is a merit, and I be- lieve that political contests fail much of their service to their country when steadfast and intrepid adherence to political leaders is neglected on the part of the mass of a party.
But, comrades, I am not here to detain you with a lecture on political economy; but permit me for a single moment to call attention to a fact that I sometimes fear is forgotten by us. I have heard it said here and elsewhere that old soldiers are heroes. Heroes in this world are not man- made heroes: they are made by the infinite goodness of the Supreme Archi- tect of the universe, who decrees in the manliness, the grandeur, the mag- nificent worth of their action, that they shall be heroes. Men worship he- roos, not because they want to. but because they cannot help themselves. When you hear the ponderous tongued bell on the morning of the first day of the week in your church towers, sending forth its peaus to invite to praise and thanksgiving, ask that bell why it rings and it will tell you it rings because it cannot help it.
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So in all the great acts of men, in however humble station in life, when the masses understand and imprint upon them greatness and true valor. then we ring out in heart worship, not because we want to, but because we cannot help ourselves. Now, my comrades, there has been a sort of a ling- ering fear in the minds of some of us that our country would forget that we saved it; forget our hardships, our trials, and our perils in maintaining the liberties of the people, in preserving and handing down to posterity those priceless jewels of human liberty? Hear not; there is no trouble at all. Right here in Maquoketa the homage that was done us to-day and now is a homage involuntarily given. It was given and will be given in every cor- ner of this country of ours, in every portion of the civilized globe wherever old soldiers march.
An illustration only: I remember once, in a great city, in a dark hour in the night, that an awful alarm of fire was sent out, and those who went out on the street saw in the residence portion of that great city a flame that was destroying palace after palace, and in the midst of all the din and con- fusion and shrieking of whistles and hissing of steam, there was heard one voice above all others. A woman came out of one of those residences and facing it, pointed to a window above and cried in the agony of her soul: "My child! oh, who will save my child?" In an instant a ladder was moun- ted to the window at which she pointed, and confusion came and then quiet. Oh, what a stillness! Where was there a man brave enough, where was there a man strong enough in soul and great enough in purpose to mount that ladder and save that babe in answer to the cry of its mother? It was not the fireman, dressed as he was in that showy uniform and inured to peril and to danger, that answered that cry. There crept through that crowd a poor, ragged man with smutty hands and dissipated air-a waif -- without hat, without coat, but with a firm step he mounted that ladder and was lost amid the crackling blaze. In a moment he returned, bringing to the foot of the ladder that darling babe and laid it safe in its mother's arms. The next moment, in answer to this great law of which I have made men- tion, the air was filled with loud huzzas. That man was taken up and car- ried over the heads of men. Even the miser wept and went deep into his pocket and did as he had never been known to do before; and poor Mat O'Brien, hitherto unknown and uncared for in the world, was a hero. with ten thousand men and women singing his praises and with three thousand in gold in his pocket. They did homage to that hero, not because they wanted to, but because they could not help themselves.
So, my comrades, when fractricidal treason had fired the fair fabric of this, our government, and the flames doubled and redoubled until it seemed that the whole fabric must be destroyed, it was then that the Goddess of Liberty, that other mother, raised her imploring hand and pointing to that edifice, exclaimed: "Oh, my child. my child! who will save my darling child?" And it was then, comrades, that a million men like you mounted that ladder and were lost in that burning building for four long years. It was then that 500,000 perished and died in their struggles to answer this great demand, but in the end. at Appomattox Court House, you brought out that darling babe and brought it safely to the lap and placed it in the bosom of its mother. From that day on. comrades, you have lacked not the homage, you have lacked not the respect, you have lacked not the ven- eration that comes from all mankind involuntarily to the dawn of great and good things.
Comrades, our ranks are thinning; our numbers are fast growing less. On examining the published proceedings of the various state departments and the statistics furnished by the Assistant Adjutant Generals of the Grand Army, the fact is established that the death rate among us is in- creasing. In the natural course of events this is not a surprising thing, but something to be expected.
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. FROUTH REUNION SECOND IOWA CAVALRY.
It is a quarter of a century since we laid down our arms at the close of the war. The elasticity of youth is gone. The infirmities of age are creep- ing on, in too many cases prematurely, because of the effects of wounds, or disease contracted while in active service. And so we must expect that henceforth our ranks will be rapidly reduced until the "old soldiers" will live only in the sons and daughters of veterans, who will, with the assistance of all liberty-loving and patriotic people, sacredly observe our memories on a day, the outgrowth of a sentiment clothed in language by all old soldiers. It is a day sacred to the memory of the virtues and noble sacrifices of the dead. It is a day for the living to plant and water anew a purer purpose and a more tender devotion to family, friends and country. None are more zealous in the observance of that day than the "old soldiers.". I wish it might soon be a day when all over our land it shall be observed by all people for a like purpose and with a like devotion. The tenderness and resolves of such a day will strengthen us for all the days to come, and in- spire a patriotic purpose in the minds of our children which will stand as a bulwark for liberty and free institutions for all time.
Let us not throw off the tinge of sacred sadness that clusters about Memorial Day, but let it live as the day of sweet remembrances of our com- rades whose lives went out that this free government might be preserved to coming generations. And let monuments be erected to the old soldier's memory. Let orator and poet chronicle his worthy deeds. And when the marble slab no longer depicts to our eyes his manly figure-when eloquence and song can no longer charm us with the recital of his noble qualities, coming generations will speak of his work and be influenced by his ex- ample.
Capt. Edward Jones, better known as "Kansas Jones," was called upon to respond to the toast "Cavalrymen." He was again surprised, and said that after eating two meals he was unfitted for such a duty, in fact, too full for utterance. He thought the people of Maquoketa generous-too gener- ous. The ladies were good and hospitable, and he invited one and all to Kansas and give him a chance to return the courtesies shown. He invited the young men in particular to call upon his daughters; he wouldn't seriously object to having Maquoketa relations. If the young men called when he wasn't at home all they would have to do would be to tell the girls they were from Maquoketa.
COL. EGBERT'S RESPONSE-"THE OLD REGIMENT."
MR. PRESIDENT. COMRADES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN :- I have been called upon to respond to the sentiment "The Old Regiment." This might be an easy task for many among you but to me it seems difficult. The dec- laration that this is on old regiment must imply that it was once new, and if you will allow me I will make a digression here and have something to say of the new regiment. There is not a man among you but distinctly re- members where and when he first had his name attached to the roll that would eventually place him among the men who had responded to the call for such sacrifices as this Nation had not known since the days of the Rev- olution. The wise men of the Nation could not see or foretell what the end was to be. The question did not arise in your minds. Treason was abroad in the land. The inheritance that had been bequeathed to you was in danger. and this was sufficient to cause you to say "Send me."
The enrollment and march to camp were momentous events to you. and yet they were but the forerunners of the future. You thought when the bread issued in camp was stale, or the beef was a little tough, that you
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had sufficient cause to rebel, and turned away in disgust to visit the sutler and replenish your depleted commissary. When you entered the field and the first discomforts of camp life came upon you, you hankered after the fireside at home, and dreamed of the girl you had left behind you, but as the superfluous brass dropped off your uniforms and the yellow stripes on your pants faded, you began to enter into the real soldier life, when soft bread and beefsteak were things of the past and dress parade became a lux- ury; when your longings were only for plenty of hardtack and coffee, and the smell of powder and the song of shell became familiar; when you had learned that the men who stood by your side were true, you merged rapidly from the new to the old, and the time soon came when you were no longer considered new troops, but men of valor.
"With bray of trumpet And roll of the drum The keen ring of the bugle The cavalry come. Sharp clank of the steel scabbards, The bridle chains ring. And foam from the red nostrils The wild chargers fling. One hand on the sabre And one on the rein,
The troopers move forward In line on the plain. As rings the word 'Gallop,' The steel scabbards clank
And each rowel is pressed To a horse's hot Hank; And swift is the rush, As the wild torrents flow, When it pours from the crag On the valley below. Resistless and reckless Of aught may betide, Like demons, not mortals The wild chargers ride. Cut right and cut left, For they parry who needs? The bayonets shiver Like wind-scattered reeds."
And as you recount your hardships and dangers and fight your battles over your hearts swell with gladness, and the proudest part of your life history is contained in the days from '61 to '65. Who among you would blot from your remembrance those days? To be sure, it was $13 per month and hardtack, yet your spirits never flagged. And when Appomatox came. your names were written high on the pages of history. To-day a fragment of those who composed the new regiment are here to enjoy this festive oc- casion.
You have become in reality the old regiment. A quarter of a century has passed since you, in the Hush of your young manhood. were weaving crowns of laurel to enrich your brows. To-day your locks are whitening. your step is less firm, the hardships of camp life and the scars of battle are upon you, and you are steadily marching on to the grand review that will come beyond the river. And the day is not far distant when the 2.000 men
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enlisted for this old regiment will respond to the reveille that will summon you to fall in and take your places in the column that will pass before the great white throne. May your declining years be blessed with peace and plenty, and when you come to make your final statement may you be able to say "I have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith."
"Comrades known in marches many, Comrades tried in dangers many, Comrades bound by memories many, Brothers ever let us be.
Wounds or sickness may divide us, Marching orders may divide us, But whatever fate betide us, Brothers of the heart are we.
Comrades known by faith the clearest, Tried when death was nearest, Bound we are by ties the dearest, Brothers ever more to be.
And if spared, and growing older, Shoulder still in line with shoulder And with hearts no thrill the colder, Brothers ever we shall be."
COL. C. C. HORTON ON "THE EXPERIENCE OF A SPECIAL EXAMINER."
MR. PRESIDENT, COMRADES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN :- I hardly know what is expected of me in responding to this sentiment, or what I have done that the officers of this Association should detail me to respond to so dry a theme, but I must obey orders even though you be the sufferers.
As most of the comrades know I have, for the past eight years or more, held the position of Special Examiner for the Pension Bureau. (Now don't some of you old vets. call me a Mugwump.) During the last administra- tion I was stationed for the greater part of the time at Louisville, Ky., and in East Tennessee, that Switzerland of America, and I assure you there is no room for a Mugwump there-the climate is not congenial-and they all take their's straight, you know.
The people of the South generally believe in no half way wishy-washy men or measures, and I confess to a liking for that kind of people-men that strike square out from the shoulder, so to speak. When you find either a Republican or a Democrat there you find a thoroughbred and you do not have to skirmish much to know what he is. We of the North have a very faint conception of what it cost to be a Union man or a Republican in the South during the war. All honor to the brave, true and loyal men and wo- men of the South, who stood so nobly by the old flag and to the 50,000 Un- ion soldiers of Tennessee. many of whom had to fight and steal their way by might through the mountains for hundreds of miles to join our army. And I want to say to my Democratic friends that it would take a good half- dozen average Iowa Democrats to make one full-grown, Simon-pure Ken- tucky bourbon. During my stay in the South I was thrown much among our old Confederate comrades-among those who had ridden with For- rest, George and Chalmers, and when they learned that I belonged to the Second Iowa and had been with Hatch they greeted me as an old friend.
I find it true of the brave and gallant soldiers of both sides that when the rebel army surrendered and laid down their arms at Appomatox the war was over, so far as they were concerned, and the blue and gray struck hands in fellowship with a grand appreciation of each other's gallantry and
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courage. We are bound to respect the man who has the courage of his con- victions and risks his life in the cause he has espoused, no matter how wrong or criminal we may think it.
And now, a word about pensions. The pension system of the United States was inaugurated as early as August 26, 1876, when, by resolution of Congress, provision was made for disabilities incurred during the Revolu- tionary War, and from that time to the present this system, thus early adopted as the policy of the government, has advanced step by step, grow- ing gradually broader and more liberal in its provisions until, though far from perfect, it stands as a grand testimonial of the Nation's honor, justice and gratitude to those of her defenders who have been disabled by the cas- ualties of war. Prior to 1882 those detailed by the Hon. Commissioner of Pensions for field duty were known as special agents, and they were charged simply with the duty of looking after frauds. By act of Oct. 25, 1882, the duties of these agents were extended so as to include an investigation as to the general merits of a claim referred, and they were called special exam- iners. It was during the regime of our grand old war Governor S. J. Kirk- wood as Secretary of the Interior that that unjust ex parte system of of in- vestigation was done away with. The soldier was given his day in court and the right to be present in person and by attorney during the examina- tion of all witnesses, and to introduce such material evidence in his own be- half as he saw fit.
The chief object of a special examination in a case is two-fold: 1st- To protect the Government against claims which are not genuine. 2d -- To obtain the real facts in just and lawful claims, which are inadmissible upon the testimony filed. The duties of a special examiner are delicate and im- portant. He is charged with protecting the interests of the Government and the rights of claimants, and is not in any sense the attorney of either. It is his duty to secure the true facts without bias or prejudice. If fraud is discovered it becomes his duty to bring the guilty party to justice, if pos- sible, and in this I assert that he will have the aid and support of every true and honorable soldier, for no class of our citizens are so much in earnest or so deeply interested in keeping the pension roll clean as the sol- diers themselves.
Pensions are in no sense a charity-simply justice. There is no room for sympathy in the adjudication of a pension claim. It is simply a ques- tion of the law and the evidence, giving the claimant, of course, the benefit of a reasonable doubt. Right here Iet me say that, in my opinion, no one not in full sympathy with the Union soldier has any business passing on these claims, for sympathy and justice, walking hand in hand. will see that claimants are accorded all their rights under the law, and will afford them every opportunity to establish their claims. Sympathy will carry the special examiner on long, weary rides through cold and storm in search of a witness who may perhaps be able to furnigh a link in the chain of evidence. There is a large class of soldiers who never can be reached by invalid pen- sion legislation, be it ever so liberal. These are the boys who were always on duty. always in front, never in hospital, never attended sick call -- they had their ailments and injuries, but did not give up for every ache or pain. They had. if you please, too much "sand." Consequently they have no record. Now, understand me. I cast no slur upon the honorable hospital record, when stricken down by rebel bullet or fell disease. The best of you had to go to hospital; there was no alternative. The comrades referred to were more fortunate then, but now, when admonished by failing health, and with the honest conviction that they contracted their disability in service and line of duty, they apply to comrades to know if they can recall the time, place and circumstances under which the disability was incurred, and they are met with the reply: "Why no. I cannot remember that you were
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sick or injured. I remember you as always in the front, always ready for duty. I know every word you say is true; I can swear to that, but I can- not swear that I have a personal knowledge of your disability," and so he is stranded.
No soldier who put in the honest services performed by this class, ever came out without greatly impaired health, and it is that they may receive recognition that I am in favor of what is known as the "one cent a day bill."
My duties bave perhaps brought me into close contact with and have given me a better insight into the condition and circumstances of our old comrades than most of you; and I am not ashamed to admit that I have at times been moved to mingle my tears of sympathy with those of a com- rade over his blighted hopes, and tears of joy with those happy in success.
Oh, how much of hope and joy, of sorrow and despair, alas, too often hangs upon the adjudication of a pension claim! A mere pittance, perhaps, at best, but how much it means to those dependent upon the exertions or daily labor of him who gave the pride of his young manhood to the services of his country, and sacrificed his health in defence of the old flag! God only knows.
Comrades, there are thousands of such cases throughout this prosper- ous and happy land of ours. I have met them by the scores, in my going to and fro among their humble homes; yes, suffering perhaps for the com- mon comforts of life in the midst of and surrounded by the prosperity alone made possible by their gallantry and heroic sacrifice.
And yet we find not a few who would begrudge them their small pit- tance of a pension. My God! have these men forgotten that while they were making money and amassing fortunes safe in the rear of our lines, these soldiers-many of them-gave up fine business prospects. positions of profit, happy homes and loved ones? For what? $13 per month payable in currency, worth 50 cents on the dollar? Oh, no, no; they forgot all and thought of nothing save that their country was in peril and needed their services; and after four years of war and strife and courage, they came marching back in triumph, covered with glory, bearing aloft the old starry banner, torn and rent with shot and shell, but without the loss of a single star, and all radiant with a new glory, for the black stain of human bondage had been wiped out. forever by their courage and the blood of their com- rades. But they could not live on glory and began casting about for some- thing to do. They found their old business gone, a new sign written over the door and the positions that they had been told would be kept for them tenaciously held by others.
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