USA > Maine > First Maine bugle, 1890 (history of 1st Maine Cavalry) > Part 10
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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 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
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if I do not say something - (this is about the only mistake I ever knew him to make) and I want to escape that, for I want to be at your ball to-morrow night. I belong to one military organization, the Loyal Legion, of which I am very proud ; and it is in one respect a model - we never allow a speech inade at one of our dinners. Consequently we are a happy and good-natured set. Sermons and speeches should both be short. Perhaps the shortest sermon on record was from a good divine to a set of most ungodly students. The sermon ought to have been a success for it was concise enough. 'Twas simply this --- Turn, or burn.' If its brevity would be followed by most speakers we should have better natured audiences no doubt.
" Boys, you have had a hearty welcome, and you deserve it. Twenty years has not buried the gratitude Maine feels toward her sons, who, first among those who responded to the call of their country, never disgraced their uniform. The men were brave-and the women of that day --- one word there. They, you remember, were all young, and all handsome, and they remain so to this day. But, seriously, we can never over-esti- mate the value of the consecrated work done by loyal women of the north - at home, patiently watching and waiting amid suffering and loss, in the hospital doing never-to-be-forgotten deeds of mercy, amid discouragements and defeats in the country's darkest hours -- their patriotism never flagged. God bless the mothers and sisters, the wives and sweethearts of the soldiers of twenty years ago. You are welcome, and yet 't is not an unmixed joy, for one after another has responded to the solemn roll-call to which we must all answer 'here,' and your thinned ranks tell many a story of sorrow.
" But to-night you carry us back to the memory of the day when the flag went down on Sumter - but it went up in every hamlet and village, town and city in the State. From church steeple and flagstaff, from window and balcony, house-top and store, the 'old flag' was flung out. We had not until then known the meaning of its heavenborn colors ; but in an instant. we read the full meaning of its red, white, and blue. Its mes- sage sent the blood through our veins like the play of lightning
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-- for it meant the Declaration of Independence, Lexington, Bunker Hill, freedom, honor, the life of the Republic.
"Then sprang into the field the citizen soldier-and when did nations ever before see such material for an army - from pulpit and workshop, plough and study, work-house and count- ing house, town and country, sea and land, men left all and gave their strength, their treasure, their lives to save the nation whole.
"Thank God it was saved, and well may we glory in it. Many a hard lesson had the citizen soldier to learn, and well and quickly he learned. Perhaps the hardest of all was for him who had called no man master to yield at once to strict military discipline, and obey orders promptly and implicitly without question ; and, when the time came to lay down vic- torious arms, silently and swiftly thousands upon thousands and tens of thousands stepped from the ranks back into the channels of civil life.
" What country save this infant in birth among nations, but the infant Hercules, ever saw so mighty an army, flushed with victory, lay down their arms and in a day, from citizen soldiers, their work well done, become peaceable soldier citizens. Another victory was this for us. Look about you to-day. How few reminders in the North to tell the story of the war. On your street an empty sleeve, an ugly scar, a crutch, a Grand Army badge -almost the only reminder of the days when a nation's heart almost stopped beating.
" But do you know what these trifles mean ? Under citizen coats, daily walking in your midst, outwardly like other men, walk often unnoticed the stuff of which heroes are made. These men, few as they are, could tell you of brave deeds done, of long and weary marches, of hunger and thirst, pain and sick- ness, of heroic deeds done that would stir your blood as only the deeds of heroes can.
" These are the men, citizens of Eastport, to whom you have given hearty and well-earned welcome. You have honored them. They are an honor to you, to your State, your country, and they are an honor to themselves."
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FIRST MAINE BUGLE.
REMARKS BY CAPT. HALL.
Major Henry C. Hall, of Putnam, Conn., was then called upon, and spoke as follows :
" From Washington into Virginia. Incidents and Reflec- tions.
" On our arrival at Washington in March, '62, we were ordered into camp on Capitol Hill. At noon of the 29th, five companies, A, B, E, H, and M, received orders to be in readiness to move on the following morning, Sunday. Towards evening a violent snow-storm set in, and at ' taps' the whole visible face of nature was covered with a mantle of white. Notwithstanding the storm and the order and the belief that we were about to ' pass the Rubicon,' we obtained a good night's sleep, and arose in the morning at early bugle-call, and quickly completed our preparations to march. The agitating elements of the night had all ceased, the sky was clear and cloudless, and soon the sun came up over the hills and illumined the scene with un- usual beauty and splendor. Our barracks and stables were crowned with caps of purest white; the branches of the ever- greens were gracefully bowing beneath the increasing weight of adhering snow, and the great marble Capitol, scarcely a mile away, was not easily discerned by a stranger to its location. No sound was heard save the solemn voices and the footsteps of preparation in our snow-clad camp, and a spirit of peace, of hallowed peace, seemed to pervade the place, and as far as the eye could scan. Oh, the sweet stillness of that first Sabbath morning in the field that had succeeded the passionate storm of the night! Was it typical of the first Sabbath that should succeed the long and relentless storm of war? Ask of him who survived the direful contest, and was present on that mem- orable morning at Appamattox.
" At the appointed time we were in the saddle and moving out in the direction of Georgetown and the upper Potomac. No person was seen at this early hour save an occasional dar- key, who was especially conspicuous standing upon the snowy carpet and gazing at us in the bright sunlight. The snow
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was already melting into little streams that were augmenting and hurrying down through the meadows and lowlands to unite their forces with the untiring Potomac on its ceaseless march to the sea. When it was nearly noon we passed through Rockville, a little village of Maryland, and soon after ascended a gentle eminence, from the summit of which a beautiful plain, not extensive, with a single farm-house in the center and many slave shanties clustered about it, came into full view. At first no signs of life were seen, but in a few moments dark forms began to emerge from the rude dwellings like bees from a disturbed hive, and all faces were turned toward the strange column approaching. They evidently understood that it was a body of troops, but of which army, union or reb, they seemed uncertain. In a little time, however, a few of the braver ones, half in hope and half in fear, ventured slowly and cautiously out on our left flank, parallel with the highway and two or three hundred yards distant, to meet us that they might the sooner satisfy their increasing curiosity. When they had approached us so near as to be certain that we wore the blue and not the gray, their swelling hopes burst into realization. and filled them with wildest excitement. They threw up their hands in greatest glee, and shouted back with all their strength of voice, ' Dey is Yankees ! Dey is Yankees !'
" In an instant the whole tribe, men, women, and children, was on its way, plashing through the mud and melting snow, and leap- ing over ditches and fences to meet us, all yelling and screaming in a manner that would have done credit to any tribe of natives that ever whooped there in earlier ages. Such ludicrous and laughable manifestations of pleasure and gladness we had never before witnessed in human beings as found vent in these joyful creatures. Some of the younger ones would jump and skip and caper like unchained calves, and some of the women would throw back their heads, clap their hands, and scream, .Glory ! Glory! Fore God's sake am dese de Yankees!' while some of the men, electrified with their joy, would leap over high fences and over each other like professional acrobats or tumblers ; and in many other ways did they amuse us and
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express their intense delight at the sight of the long-wished-for Yankees. When the excitement of the sight had somewhat subsided, they would gaze at us with a look more of reverence than of respect, as though we were more than mortal - super- human beings that had been directed there by a divine hand for their deliverance. At length some ventured near enough, and stealthily touched a stirrup-hood or the haunches of a horse, as though they, too, were sacred things that were contributing to their freedom, and then darted back with an expression of satisfaction and delight on their wide open faces.
"Our little column of scarcely five hundred men seemed to them a mighty army, and they felt that if the Yankees could put such a force as that into the field, their freedom was as- sured. They followed us with unabated interest to the farm- house, where, close by the roadside, stood a worn-out old man, whose dull ear had been awakened by the joyful shouts of ' De Yankees are comin' !' and he had left his cabin of scanty comforts and hobbled out that he might feel the inspiring presence of those who had come to make him free. His head was white with the snows of a hundred winters, his limbs were crooked and cramped with rheumatism, and he seemed to have Jong waited the fulfilment of a fond dream. One hand was raised above his uncovered head, while with the other he was clinging to the faithful crutch. Tears were flowing from his sightless eyes down his deep-furrowed face, and he was ex- claiming and repeating in tones expressive of his joy and of his gratitude, 'I be free ! I be free ! I tank God dat I hab lib to see dis day ! God bress de Yankees! God bress um!' And we left him praising God and blessing the Yankees.
" In our Northern homes and in our free schools we had read of the institution of slavery as it existed in our Southern States, and from pulpit and platform we had heard it de- nounced as . a monstrous evil; a relic of barbarous ages; the sum of all villanies,' etc., but we had never before been per- mitted a personal observation or study of its character nor of its effect upon servant and served. We only knew that it
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existed by virtue of the Constitution of our country, and that it was sustained by statutes not in violation of the letter or spirit of that instrument; and we felt that even were it the great crime its most embittered opponents claimed it to be, it were better to suffer it for yet a while than that the charter of our liberties should be subverted or the union of the States be imperilled. Indeed, if when the first call was made for troops the purpose announced had been coupled with 'and to free the slaves of the South,' where a thousand men sprang to arms, only one would have offered. But the slave power with its sycophantie sympathizers and supporters inaugurated rebellion, and precipitated the nation into civil war, and all for the pur- pose of destroying the union of the States, that they might erect a slave oligarchy upon its ruins. The despised . mudsills and greasy mechanics' of the North, liberty-loving and loyal, were forced to meet them and the issue they had made, and yet so late as this month of March, '62, after nearly a year of de- feats and reverses, there was no thought by the government nor in the army that the emancipation of the slaves by procla- mation or otherwise, would become necessary to restore peace and harmony to our unfortunate country.
"The people of the loyal States believed at this time that the Union could be saved with slavery; indeed, they felt that it could not be saved without it, the copperhead element was so loud and strong in its expressions of sympathy for the South. and in its denunciation of the North for its support of the gov- ermment in its efforts to enforce its laws, and to protect and perpetuate its life. They needed to be better informed as to the cause of the war and the purpose for which it was waged, and much of that information could soonest and safest come through those in the field, who themselves were yet untaught, but who were apt and willing students, and freely imparted as they received.
"This day we had learned the whole alphabet of the lan- guage, ave. had read strange passages from the dark volume, in the gushing joy and the reverent gratitude our presence had evoked in the glad throng that had greeted us. Our sleeping
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sympathies were aroused as we beheld human beings, not for crime nor fault of theirs, doomed to a life of payless, thankless servitude, and realized that within their dark forms were dwarfed and struggling souls susceptible of culture and growth, and of all the possibilities enjoyed by the more favored races of men. It is true but a single ray had fallen upon the dark blot. but that had revealed to us restless, aching spirits, hoping, long- ing, yearning, praying for the light of liberty to illumine their sad way and restore them to the condition nature had so kindly prepared them to fill and to enjoy. What the single ray had re- vealed suggested that the war could not cease and permanent peace come to our land until the cause that produced the war was removed effectually and forever.
" But there was much to be done to prepare the public mind for the great event that occurred only three-fourths of a year later, and the men in the ranks of the army contributed not a little to that important end. The negro, too, unconsciously, perhaps, did much to bring about the desired result. Indeed, he won the applause and the admiration of all loyal men by the earnest zeal with which he engaged in the various duties he was permitted to perform in and about the army, and where- ever opportunity offered, and, finally, by the ardor and en- thusiasm with which he entered the military service and fought for his country and for his freedom, even against the black flag of Fort Pillow and other inhuman barbarisms of the enraged confederates. When the first day of January, 1863, came, the people of the North were ripe and ready for the great procla- mation that, eventually, made four million slaves freemen and citizens of a free republic."
CLOSING EXERCISES.
Comrade Sheehan moved that a vote of thanks be tendered the ladies of Eastport for this entertainment, which motion was carried unanimously, amid great applause, and the pleasant ex- ercises terminated.
The comrades were cared for by the good people of Eastport for the night. Wednesday, the exercises prepared were some-
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what interfered with by the rain, yet there was pleasure in abundance for the comrades. In the forenoon quite a party visited the Queen's dominions at Campobello, and enjoyed their too brief visit. At 11 o'clock, Capt. Bibber and his wife held, at their residence, a reception which was largely attended by the comrades and was exceedingly pleasant, and the day was passed in various agreeable ways.
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FIRST MAINE BUGLE.
CAMPAIGN II.
OCTOBER, 1890 ... CALL 2.
THE REUNION OF 1890.
It is not proposed to print the full report of the grand re- union in Boston on the eleventh of August last, at this time - that will appear in the Bugle in its proper order-yet it seems wise to make some men- tion of it now, while its mnem- ories are still fresh in the minds of the comrades. It was a glorious reunion, and was a re- markable gathering of the com- rades of the grand old regiment. While there were not so many of the comrades present who now reside in the good old State of Maine as has been the case at previous reunions, there was a larger number from other States -- from the great West, where so many of our comrades have made their homes, and from other sections of the coun- try - the meeting of the National Encampment, Grand Army of the Republic in Bos- ton, that same week, offering extra facilities to the comrades living far away to visit Boston and their old homes. So there was probably, from the nature of the case, more instances where old comrades met who
had not seen each other before since the war closed, than at any other reunion, except, of course, the first.
We met five comrades from our own company - G - whom we had not seen since their ser- vice with the regiment ended, and met as many more whom we had seen but once since the muster out. And the comrades of the other companies were doubtless as fortunate. The pleasure of such meetings can- not be told in words -cannot be understood by any but the comrades - cannot be fully realized by any except those who have served and suffered together, as did the boys of 1861 to 1865. What cordial greetings, what hearty grasps of the hand, what questionings. followed upon such meetings ! What real fun it was to bring two such comrades together. tell them they knew each other well, and then watch them. as. hand in hand, they looked square into each other's faces. striving each to find some fa- miliar look by which to recog- nize the other, some sign which
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would aid them in putting the . Detroit. well-remembered name to the now strange face. How they looked each other over, as if perchance, size, shape, or some peculiar motion might aid them in the recognition ! How they watched each other's words, to catch a touch of the old voice, or a glimmer of the old form of expression ! How often some- thing seemed to call up the old look, and one of the comrades thought he recognized the other, only to be laughed at for his erratic guess, and then in turn have an opportunity to laugh at the other for a similar mistake ! Oh, no! These instances and incidents were not among the least pleasures of the reunion in Boston in 1890.
Our old and dearly loved commander, Gen. Charles H. Smith, was present, and it just did the boys good to see him once more, clasp his hand, re- ceive his hearty greeting, and once more hear his voice. How inany old memories the sight of his face and form called up! He has been a colonel in the United States Army ever since the war -a position he well won by his services with the grand old regiment and while in command of the brigade. He should, by right and justice, be a general in the United States Army now, but, - alas, fortune sometimes goes by favor in this free country of ours. lle is colonel of the 19th Infantry, U. S. A., with headquarters at
The comrades were just as glad to see him as though he were a full general, as he is by brevet, and as the boys al- ways call him naturally. Gen. Smith was re-elected president of the Association in spite of his protest, and for once he had to obey the boys, instead of the boys being obliged to obey him. He had planned a nice little surprise for the boys, and one which they appreciated very highly, and will appreciate more and more as the days go by. He had had prepared a hand- some souvenir of Gettysburg, in the form of a neatly bound book, containing the services at the dedication of the First Maine Cavalry monument at Gettysburg, on the third of October, 1889, with a fine picture of the front and re- verse of the monument -- a thoughtful kindness on his part, especially as few of the com- rades will ever see the monu- ment, and can only obtain an idea of it from these pictures. These souvenirs were presented to the comrades in the hall at the business meeting, and will be highly prized as long as the comrades live, and by their children long after the com- rades have joined those whose bodies they left in Virginia. He also had some fine steel plate engravings of himself for the boys who wished one - another act of thoughtful kindness on his part.
Gen. Jonathan P. Cilley was
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present. He is always present. As usual, he was hard at work all day long with his many- duties as treasurer. Is there a treasurer of any similar organi- zation who has half the work or half the care that he does ? Read his report in the Bugle of July, study it, and then, if you can, form some idea of the im- mense amount of work which he has done for this Association, out of his love for the grand old regiment, and his desire that its record shall go down to history in its full glory. That report shows a marvellous amount of hard work - work that few could do, that probably no other would do. Gen. Cil- ley is deserving of boundless credit for his services to the Association in this line, and he has for his reward the consola- tion that his efforts have been successful. As usual, the re- union day was for him a day of hard work, and, as usual, a day of rare pleasure, also. By the way, he struck a key-note in his remarks at the banquet, when he suggested that the sons of the comrades be brought to the annual reunions in greater numbers, and that an organization of the "Sons of the First Maine Cavalry" be formed. This is a good idea. By all means let it be done. Let it be done at once. In the call for the next reunion, let there be a call for the sons of the comrades to come, and pre- parations made for their organ-
ization. The daughters of the comrades are provided for by the Ladies' Auxiliary, now let the sons be made to feel that they are welcome, and that when they go to a reunion, they shall have a reunion of their own. For some years it has been the custom of some of the comrades to take their sons to the reunions now and then. until the sons enjoy them al- most as much as the fathers. And they will be made more enjoyable if the sons have some interest of their own to call them there. This matter has been thought of before, and talked over by some of the sous. but never was brought to the front until Gen. Cilley spoke of it.
Col. Samuel H. Allen was present. He was the second colonel of the regiment, and in command until the army reached Frederick, Md., in September. 1862, when he was appointed military governor of Frederick and vicinity, an office which be filled with fidelity and ability. He was a thorough down- easter, and the good people of Frederick were much astonished one frosty morning to see the military governor riding through the streets in a basket sleigh. over an inch or less of snow. which was so soft that it melted before noon. But the colonel cared little for the remarks of the people of Frederick, who could not understand his al- most uncontrollable desire for a
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sleigh-ride, in memory of that particular time of year in his down-east home. However, they respected him none the less for his love for his home and its customs.
Major Benjamin F. Tucker was there, and it was good to see him. But, somehow it was easier to call him " Adjutant " than "Major." He was the first adjutant in the regiment, the first officer commissioned in the regiment, and as adjutant the boys first knew him. It was from Adjutant Tucker the boys first heard the words of command after they went into camp at Augusta - old " Camp Penobscot" -and from him they received the rudiments of their soldier education. It was Adjutant Tucker who really organized the regiment, for he was not only the executive officer of the regiment, but he knew what to do and how to do it. Had the expression been common in those days, the boys, one and all, would have said : " There are no flies on Adjutant Tucker." Co. G's company street was named "Tucker Street," in his honor. When he was promoted to be captain of Co. B, the boys of the regi- ment, as a whole, did not know him so well, but he got into their acquaintance again when he was made major. How the recollections of the early days of the regiment came into mind at the sight of Major Tucker! He looks the same, acts the
same, and his voice sounds the same as it did in '61. Many good stories might be told of him, but they are reserved for future use.
The absence of Major Henry C. Hall was all the more conspicuous on ac- count of his hitherto regular attendance, and he. was sadly missed. But the cares of busi- ness would not allow of his attendance this year, much as he wished to be present, and much as the boys wished to see him. By doing double duty on the day of the reunion, he was enabled to go to Boston the next day with his Post, to join in the grand parade of the Grand Army of the Republic. He met many of his old com- rades, recognizing them often by the new badge they wore.
Surgeon George J. Northrup was there - the second reunion he has attended, the first being at Brunswick in 1882. Although 'tis but eight years since we met the surgeon, for some rea- son we did not, and for a time could not, recognize him, even after talking with him for some minutes, and after hints enough had been thrown out to enable one to recognize half a dozen long-lost brothers. Finally, Gen. Cilley addressed the stranger as "doctor," when he looked as natural as ever, and we felt a bit ashamed that we had n't known him at once, and without any hesitation. It was to Surgeon Northrup that we
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