USA > Maine > First Maine bugle, 1890 (history of 1st Maine Cavalry) > Part 2
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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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ferred upon you is only in accord with your deserts and the sentiment of the generous hearts of the American people. This country was saved, and who did it? Those who bared their breasts to the shots of the enemy, and those who laid down their lives for the country. The day will never come when the union soldiers and the three hundred thousand patriotic dead will be held in less esteem than to-day; their names will be immortal in the history of this country, as well as those of the fathers of it.
" What was the history of the defenders of this country when the war was forced upon us? Although the hearts of strong men and strong women almost broke, they did not waver; they counted the loss; they knew for whom and what they served. The day will never come when the people of the United States of America will be so much engrossed in their business affairs as to forget their soldiers. When the summons came to go forth and fight the battles for this country, they answered, from every hill-top and from every valley, and from every situation and position in life, 'Here am I; I go to the fight ;' and to their wives they said, 'Take care of the children ;' and, not complaining and not faltering, they imprinted the part- ing kiss upon the lips of their loved ones, and, with their bless- ing upon their heads, with a firm and steady step they joined the march, many of them never again to see their homes and their dear ones. This is the type of men who entered the fight and broke the rebellion, threw down treason, and established the authority and the integrity of this grand and glorious nation. It is now left to us to teach our children, and they to teach their children, the full cost of this republic. I will close by saying, so long as our soldiers of the rebellion, and their descendants, are suffered to stand upon the watch-towers of this country it will be safe."
Licut. Tobie said : " I give you next ----
". The Grand Army of the Republic. She gathers our comrades in and binds Us together in friendship, charity and loyalty.'
"And I have the pleasure of calling upon T. Horace Holman, Assistant Adjutant-General of the Department of Maine."
.
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Mr. Holman said :
" Mr. Toast-master : - I believe this is a little unfair. I have been in the hall about three minutes, and this is the first infor- mation I have had that any remarks were expected from me ; and I think, Mr. Toast-master, that it is especially unfair, be- cause I have not half eaten my supper.
" My father always told me, when I was in company to keep still'and hold my tongue ; and my mother always told me when it' was dark under the table to go to bed. But I have been called upon to speak for another man, the commander of the department. Now, comrades, you know that if there is any- thing in the world that is hard to endure, it is being compelled to speak for another party. If I had been called upon to speak instead of another man, I should have known what to do ; but how to speak for another party is entirely beyond my compre- hension. How do I know what the intentious or ideas of the other party are, or what he would say on this occasion ? I came in here in citizen's clothes, and kept on my overcoat to cover up my badges, in order that I might not be noticed. Isupposed, comrades, that this was a reunion of the First Maine Cavalry, and that that body was to do all the work and all the speech making. But it would certainly be discourteous, on this occa- sion, for me to come in here and participate in this grand ban- quet of yours without expressing my gratification.
" During the summer I happened to be on a vacation in the western country. After a long journey we passed through the Alpine Pass in Colorado ; passing through a tunnel 2,400 feet long, we emerged to find a large snow bank on one side, while there was a strawberry patch on the other, so that one of the ladies in the train got out and picked a bunch of strawberries in her left hand, while she picked up a snowball with her right hand, and she put them together and said, . Oh, what a con- trast ! Now, Mr. Toast-master, I think my speech, compared with that which the commander of the department would have made, would contrast about as strongly as the snowball and the bunch of strawberries.
" But I am always ready, Mr. Toast-master, to speak in favor
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of the Grand Army, although I am aware that you do not need any speech from me to know of its workings. It has done its part well in the State of Maine and throughout the country. I only wish, comrades, that you could have been with me during the summer, away down there at the base of the Rocky Moun- tains. You certainly would need no speech from me to show you the great and glorious work of this Grand Army. We number in the State of Maine, I believe. 5,500 veterans in the organization, and our numbers are increasing every day and every month. The 82,700 that was paid during the last year as a charity fund certainly speaks well for the nobility of pur- pose of the Grand Army of the Republic. But, Mr. Toast- master, I will not take up any more of the time, because I know that members of the First Maine Cavalry have interest .. ing remarks to make, and that is the organization we are anxious to hear about to-night."
Lieut. Tobie said : " I give you as the next toast ---
"' The Sons of Veterans. We depend upon them to preserve the memories we leave them, and to take our places, should duty call.'
"I have the pleasure of introducing Gen. F. D. Merrill, Com- mander-in-Chief of the Sons of Veterans."
Mr. Merrill said :
" Mr. Toast-master, ladies and gentlemen, and members of the First Maine Cavalry: Contrary to the experience of the gentleman who has just addressed you, I came here this even- ing, at the request of President Little, to respond to this toast to the Sons of Veterans. I did not prepare a speech, because I do not feel that I am competent to address a meeting of this kind, composed of old soldiers. I am not a soldier, but I am the son of a soldier. I am not only the son of a soldier, but I am the son of a private soldier. My father went into the army a private ; he served four years, and he held his own. I think he did first rate.
" The Sons of Veterans of the United States of America is a body which was organized to perpetuate the memories of the
4
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private soldiers. The officers of the Union army, at the close of the rebellion, formed an association known as the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, to which only officers and their sons and descendants were to be admitted. In the fall of 1881 the order of the Sons of Veterans was formed in Pittsburg, Penn. Our objeet is to aid the members of the Grand Army of the Republic in their declining years. We all know that their numbers are growing less. If the First Maine Cavalry holds a reunion in ten years from now - and we all hope they will - I venture to say there will be a smaller number present than they have here to-night: but, members of the First Maine Cavalry, you have sons, and, if they do their daty, they will join the Sons of Veterans. and when the 30th of May comes around every year they will strew your graves with flowers, and you will certainly be remembered once a year. We not only admit the sons of veterans, but their grandsons and great-grandsons. We intend to hand down, from generation to generation, the memory of those who sacrificed their lives that the nation might be maintained. We think it a glorious cause.
" I will say, for the benefit of those who may not be posted on the subject, this being a new order, that we are now repre- sented in twenty-five States: we have a membership of eleven thousand, although we have been organized practically but little over a year, as the first year's growth was very small. We hope before another year to have a membership of between fifty and seventy-five thousand.
"J thank you, Mr. President, for the honor conferred upon me to-night, but there are many old soldiers here who are better qualified to entertain, and to whose speeches I had much rather listen than to make any further remarks myself."
Lieut. Tobie said : " The next toast we offer you is --
" .. The Paymaster. Often heard of, always wished for, but seldom seen.'
"I have the pleasure of introducing to you, to respond to this toast, Maj. J. D. Pulsifer, who served as paymaster in the army."
Maj. Pulsifer said :
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"Mr. Toast-master: I notice, among those present, some young ladies of Auburn who have been quite busy this even- ing. I have often seen them at their work at the Auburn High School, and have counseled them when they spoke to fill the room that they spoke in. I am afraid they will now have an opportunity to return the compliment and say to me, 'Fill the room.' I do not feel that I have voice enough to-night to fill this hall.
"Certainly, Mr. Toast-master, this is entirely unexpected. You know very well that I had no thought of making a speech ; I never made one in my life. I remember when in school, under Dr. Tefft, your first chaplain, whom we are very glad to see here this evening, of reading an apology by one of the Roman historians, who certainly did not need any apology for the qual- ity of his work; he apologized for a man who did not act himself but only recorded the exploits of others. I am one of those who never acted as a speech-maker. The apology he made was that he thought it was not discreditable to write the doings of others, even if he did not do anything himself worthy of being recorded. And it has been my business, as you know, to record the speeches of others, never having made one myself. To car- ry the parallel a little further, I would say it was my business in the army not to fight, but pay those who did fight ; and they always seemed very well pleased with my services in that direc- tion ; certainly it was very pleasing to me. Though it was not my good fortune to have the pay-rolls of the First Maine Cav- alry, I always felt an interest in that regiment on account of friends in it, yourself, Mr. President, and you, Mr. Toast-mas- ter, among the number. I also had a brother, a private in Co. D, whom the rebels honored by two bullets in his person, and by furnishing him quarters for a time in Libby Prison. I did have the pleasure of seeing Charles H. Smith, Col. and Brevet Maj. General, at Fort Monroe, where I was having charge of paying mustered-out men. He had seldom seen the paymaster, and I think I paid him near $300-a good deal of money to pay at one time. I have a good voucher for it, I have no doubt.
"I will say that it was my good fortune-I thought it so then - to see something of fighting service, although I did not
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take a hand at it myself ; and although counting myself a cow- ard and afraid of danger, I almost wonder now at the position in which I found myself. I remember once, with the 13th Indiana, in front of Petersburg- I do not know whether you were ever associated with them- I was paying where the shells were flying quite freely around, and they were quite amused at my surprise at the vicinity of the shells. I considered it no disgrace for me to dodge, because it was not my duty to show courage, but only to honor the courage of others.
" We regret the absence this evening of our Governor, Pay- master Robie, whom I used to meet in the service. He is not here this evening ; but he has been well spoken for by Mr. Councillor Bolster. I will not make any further draft upon your patience, but close with my best wishes for the First Maine Cavalry."
Lieut. Tobie said : " The next toast we offer is -
"'The Ladies. The First Maine Cavalry was a better regiment, and its members were better soldiers, by reason of the cheering and patriotic letters they received from their mothers, sisters sweethearts and wives."
"I have the pleasure of calling upon County Attorney A. R. Savage, to respond to this toast."
Mr. Savage said :
" Mr. Toast-master, members of the First Maine Cavalry, and ladies and gentlemen : I have before now had some difficult tasks assigned me, but I never had one that was quite equal to the present. I think. sir, you must have made some mistake. I supposed it was the invariable rule on occasions like this to call upon an unmarried man to respond for the ladies. You see an unmarried man can speak out frankly and freely, and nobody is hurt ; but a married man, you see, doesn't dare to; at least, I shouldn't dare to.
" Now there are some folks who are always loaded with an after-dinner speech ; I am not ; I do not go off so easily as some folks do. I came down here intending to be good to-night; I had resolved that I would not eat anything after I got here, but they got me down here beside Major Hill, and he got to telling
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me about the ice-creams they had out in front of Richmond. He said, I think, that they had but two meals a day ; breakfast they went withont, I believe ; and the result was that I got to eating heartily of ice-cream. I had resolved, also, that I would not say anything to-night, but I find that my good resolution was of no avail.
" What can I say for the ladies ? Mr. Toast-master, you who were at the front ; you who participated in the more than one hundred battles which are named upon the walls ; you, who stood under shot and shell and fought bravely and well for your country and your flag, know something of courage ; you know something of faithfulness ; you know something of persistence ; but let me say to you, who fought as I have said and won the bat- tles of our country and saved this nation, that you do not begin to know what the real, highest, truest bravery is. You stood there, shoulder to shoulder with your comrades ; you had the inspiration of the moment ; you were laboring under the excite- ment of the occasion ; you fought well ; but let me say to you, it took the highest and noblest courage for those who stayed at home, your mothers and your sisters, your wives and your sweet- hearts. who bade you go to the front, and bade you God speed, and told you to fight and fight to the end ; for those who stayed in silence in your homes, waiting and fearing, and half expect- ing every day to hear that you were dead. I tell you that there was bravery, and there was courage that you never equalled.
You veterans have come home ; you enjoy year by year as they go by, recounting the victories of the past ; you rejoice, many of you, in health and strength ; but there are those who mourn to-night, whose hearts swell with pangs of grief, and to whose eyes the tears unbidden start at the memory of loved ones who went forth with you and have never returned. They have borne their burden cheerfully ; they have borne it well. And when the record shall at last be wholly written of the deeds of the War of the Rebellion, there will be no higher tales of stiffering. there will be no grander examples of courage and constancy, than those of the women who suffered as no other women ever suffered since the world began that our country might be preserved.
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" Mr. Toast-master, I thank you for this opportunity of vio- lating my resolution."
Lieut. Tobie said : " I have no apologies to make. We pur- posely neglected to notify any of the speakers this evening, be- cause we remembered with how much more vim we went into an engagement if we did not have an hour's previous notice. We are satisfied with the experiment. I have one more toast, and I will ask comrades to rise as this toast is being responded to :
"""Our honored dead. Their memory is ever blessed.'
The toast was responded to by a quartette, Misses Noyes and Brown, and Messrs. Harlow and Hackett, all of Auburn. The quartette rendered " Rest, Soldier, Rest," with the entire au- dience on its feet.
The regular toasts being completed, President Little said :
" Let us panse at this time and remember one of those who have more recently left us. During this year this association has lost one of its most valued members, and one of its most enthusiastic workers, Maj. John D. Myrick. I will call upon Gen. Cilley to offer a tribute to the memory of Maj. Myrick."
Gen. Cilley said :
C
" In that beautiful testimonial on the death of a soldier, Sir John Moore, occur these lines :
"'Few and short were the prayers we said; We spoke not a word of sorrow: But steadfastly gazed on the face of the dead, And bitterly thought of the morrow.'
"Something of the same feeling comes over us at this hour as it has time and again when our comrades were called sud- denly from our ranks to add to those of heaven.
"There is now no dim feeling of uncertainty of the 'morrow ' as there was in war times, which caused us to wait breathlessly for the light of another day.
" We make now our plans for the morrow with as much con- fidence as for the next minute. Yet we are well aware that our
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lives are hurrying forward. We know that they are moving ; moving on with rapid, never-ceasing pace towards that wide, wide sea that rolls round all the world, whose mysterious depths must ere long close over and envelope us.
" We look into its depths as we miss them and ask, 'Do the dead never look back and regret ?' and the answer rises in our hearts,
** The valiant are constant and tender, And honor can never forget.'
"Just one year ago Maj. Myrick stood before us in the vigor and strength of his manhood. Time and again have I heard it expressed to-day that not a member of our organization shows better promise of life to-day than he did on that day a year ago; and, as we pay a tribute to his memory, through it all runs the assurance that our regiment is being recruited on the other side. We gain not in numbers here; no recruits join our ranks; every departing brother increases the vast majority that stands beyond. And we have authority, almost, from the Holy Writ to speak of them as ' an army, glorious with banners.'
"The son of a distinguished physician, fresh from the halls of Harvard, he recruited his section of Company K along on the seashore of Lincoln County, and brought it to our camp at Augusta.
"It may have been that the salt winds of the shores of ancient Pemaquid did not mingle readily with the fresh breezes from the pine-clad hills of Aroostook, and a storm centre was formed over that part of our regiment, which Maj. Myrick character- ized as 'fighting K company '-a company wherein fifty-six of its men laid down their lives on the altar of their country. I call to mind no other company of the twelve which suffered so severely.
"The history of Co. K is largely the military history of Maj. Myrick. In the legend of the life of the swan it is asserted that, when about to die, the sweetest song is the last it sings. So in the memory of this association, with well-rounded sentences, exuberant in words and bristling with facts, Maj. Myrick one year ago sung his song of Co. K. Prophetic it
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was, melodious it must have been, for it held the true essence of song, in that the major's delight went forth with the effort.
"'The song that from the heart is poured Is in itself a rich reward.'
"During our four years of active service Maj. Myrick was with us. Leaving out Middletown and Winchester, in which only five companies participated, and the chaplet of Aldie, Mid- dleburg. Upperville and Gettysburg won by Capt. Ford, you can hardly name a battle, you can hardly call to mind a cam- paign, a winter of exposure and picket, in which Maj. Myrick did not render honorable service and efficient work.
"His military form and bearing impressed themselves on his company, and I can emphatically say that the standing of Co. K and its very military appearance were due in a large meas- ure to the military bearing and appearance of its commander.
"I would fain linger longer on his military history, but his own last utterances in the history of Co. K tell all the facts with a fullness of utterance and eloquence that was the genius and joy of our departed comrade.
"His career since the close of the war has been most credita- ble and useful. He served with distinction in the regular army for some years as an officer of cavalry, and was only drawn from its honors by the attractions of household and home life, created by a happy marriage to an accomplished member of the well-known Fuller family, of Augusta.
"He was successfully engaged in business at Augusta; was for a time Librarian for the State of Maine, and afterwards Chief Clerk in the United States Pension Office. In church and society affairs he was esteemed and honored. For some years he was Commander of the G. A. R. Post at Augusta, and for one year Department Commander of Maine.
"To his efforts was due largely the success of our first reunion, and his voice and efforts have contributed to the success and enjoyment of each of our subsequent gatherings.
"I will close by calling to mind a tribute rendered to him by the Russian officers who were present at our reunion at Augusta in 1878, when they had been hearing of our regiment from a
Cop HERMON R. GREEN, Co. M. Cambridge, Mass.
MONROE DAGGETT, Co. I. Capt. 11th Maine. Cœur d' Alene, Idaho.
Bugler ALFRED PIERCE. Arlington, Mass.
Leot. WINFIELD S. COLLINS Co. E. Killed at Boydton Plank Road. Oct. 27, 1864.
Sergt. JAMES J. GRAY.
U
Sergt. DANIEL W. HAINES, Co. E.
WILLIAM O MCFARLAND, Co. B. Brunswick.
Corp. GUSTAVUS MCCLURE, Deceased.
NATHANIEL L. OWEN, Co. M. 2d Sand.
:
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distinguished senator of our State, how our regiment stood at home and what was its reputation abroad, in Scotland and even in Germany. One of them said, 'What a regiment! and why wonder? for to-day one of her members, Maj. Myrick, stands before us with triune powers as poet, orator and accomplished soldier ! "
President Little said :
"Those of us who went out in 1861 will remember our first chaplain, and his many deeds of kindness to us. I have the pleasure now of introducing Dr. Teft, the first chaplain of the First Maine Cavalry."
Dr. Teft said :
"It is always a pleasure to me to be present at the reunions of this regiment. I have not had the opportunity now for some years, and I am very glad to be here to-day. I am always rejoiced to meet with this regiment, because I know it; I knew it well in the time of the war, and I know it will bear the affec- tion that I hold towards it. I can freely speak of its bravery, of its manliness, of its courage, of its faithfulness, because I was not a fighting member of it.
"Mr. President and Comrades, why do we meet every year ? I have been thinking of this question while sitting here, listen- ing to the eloquent speeches that have been made here in your presence to-night. Why do we take the pains to leave our homes and travel through the country to assemble once a year, as we have assembled here to-day ? I answer: First, it is to shake one another's hands ; we like to renew our old acquaint- ances. I have not known a more cheerful day for at least three years than I have had to-day in shaking the hands and looking into the eyes of my comrades of another time. Some have grown so old that I did not know them, and I have grown so much older that they did not know me. But since we began to shake hands and ask one another questions they remember me and I remember them, and this is one of the objects that we have to accomplish in coming together at these reunions. An- other thing is, we want to recall the scenes through which we
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FIRST MAINE BUGLE.
passed. I do not propose to speak of them here to-night; many of them are suggested by the names that are written upon the wall. Those scenes were not always bloody, either; they were not always sad ; sometimes we had fun and frolic, and a good · deal of nonsense, and the nonsense was the very best wisdom of the whole. These battles tell of blood and carnage; but we had our times of sport ; we had our games, and especially we had our conversations and our free times. We like to recall those scenes ; we like to tell one another our experiences in the war, and tell over our old stories; they will never get really old ; they are always new when we undertake to tell them.
"There is another thing that we do when we get together at these reunions ; we review the work that we did for our country. I cannot stand here and look into these brave men's faces with- out recalling to my mind what was accomplished largely through your bravery ; I cannot forget what you did. I look over the whole country, and see that you are a part of that wonderful enterprise so wonderfully accomplished in the salvation of our country. You, with others, reunited our country, reunited it as a geographical portion of this globe. When it was severed by rebellion you remember that the dividing line cut right across rivers and lakes ; you remember that it divided the country without reference to natural boundaries or the various modes of transportation throughout the country. Our country could not have survived, thus severed, any more than a man could live with his body cut in two. There was the great Mississippi river. Every bushel of grain that should have gone down that stream must halt at a certain point and pay duties ; and so with other navigable streams. Our whole country was to be cut in two and divided forever. We did our part of the work in put- ting this country together again when it was thus divided, geo- graphically uniting it and making it one country again. This was certainly a very great work ; a work which, perhaps, few of us have studied enough to know its magnitude and import- ance.
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