USA > Michigan > Annual report of the Adjutant General of the State of Michigan for the year, Vol. I > Part 16
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Of all these flags there is scarcely one which has not waved in the
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thickest of the fight; scarcely a color which has not seen its heroic bearers one after another struck down in battle. Ah! yes, many a hand that vigor- ously grasped these flagstaffs and led the van, now lies crumbling in the grave; and not color-bearers alone, but nearly 15,000 others who fought beside them-the flower of Michigan-return not to receive your thanks and the plaudits of their grateful countrymen. They walk the earth no more in the flesh, but their fame survives, and their glorified forms bend above us, now, and with hands unseen deck these colors with invisible garlands. While we have souls to remember, let their memories be cher- ished. Let a monument be erected to them-at once worthy of their deeds and worthy of the State; let their widows and orphans be cared for; and never let us forget the cause for which they fell: a war not for ambi- tion, not for a dynasty or a party-no, let party spirit be hushed in their majestic presence-not to establish or defend a throne, neither for spoils, oppression, nor any other unworthy object, but simply for the Union, and as soon as may be let the ancient foundations of the Constitution be re- stored, with only the crumbling stone of slavery left out, and with liberty guaranteed to all.
I have seen the finger of Providence through the thick smoke of battle, and now that the dark curtain is lifted, and the sun of victory breaks through in meridian splendor, I have more confidence than ever in our destiny. We thank God that we have returned to our homes victorious. If you, the Governor and people of Michigan, are satisfied with the manner in which we have performed our part, we are grateful for your applause. We have tried to do our duty, and have done no more than that duty which every citizen owes to a free and fraternal government, and in the peaceful walks of civil life we shall endeavor to set an example of peace, moderation and submission to the laws. It only now remains for me, in the name of the Michigan soldiers, to surrender to the State these flags, tattered but not stained, emblems of a war that is past. We shall ever retain our pride in their glorious associations, as well as our love for the old Peninsular State.
ADDRESS OF GOV. CRAPO.
General, Patriot Soldiers, and Fellow Citizens:
The memories which cluster around this day, the solemnity of the occa- sion upon which we meet, the vast concourse of people who have come up hither to witness these ceremonies, all conspire to render the task well- nigh hopeless of giving utterance to the feelings they inspire in such lan- guage as may even inadequately express that natural eloquence felt by all.
On behalf of the army of Michigan volunteers, raised for the suppression of a gigantic rebellion, which was organized for the destruction of the Government and the overthrow of the Union, you now return to me, as the representative of the State, these regimental colors.
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In thus accepting these banners, I may be permitted to allude, briefly, at least, not only to the events with which they are associated, but also to those of no less importance which this day commemorates.
And the day itself: The annals of our State, of our common country, of the world, present none that may compare with it. It is a memorable, a glorious day ! Glorious both in itself and in its associations of other days; and not only glorious, but deeply solemn and instructive, as it speaks to us from the shrines of departed heroes, patriots and statesmen; and its voice should be heard, and its lessons regarded, by all.
On the Fourth of July, 1776, ninety years ago this day, our fathers, under the iron heel of oppression, to assert their rights, as well as to resist the encroachments of despotic and arbitrary power, declared to the world their unalterable purpose to "hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with cer- tain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
To maintain and enjoy the civil and political rights thus asserted, a sol- emn compact was entered into for mutual protection and defense, and the foundation was thus laid for a free and independent Government, recog- nizing the great principles of liberty and equality before the law, enunci- ated by said declaration. But tyranny and despotism are not wont thus to give up their prey, nor to be so easily foiled of their purpose; and dis- regarding every principle of justice and right, and substituting in their stead the power of "might," they ruthlessly sought, by the force of arms and the devastation of war, to reduce to vassalage and submission those who had thus dared to assert their manhood.
But although few in number and poor in resources, in a cause so just and holy, they fearlessly flung to the breeze the flag of our Union, upon which were emblazoned those Stars and Stripes that were adopted by Con- gress as the symbols of freedom; and rallying under its inspiriting folds, they calmly resolved either to perish in its defense, or to follow it to victory-to positive and complete triumph.
And nobly did those brave and liberty-loving men do their duty in be- half of the cause they had espoused; and gallantly did they defend that flag. With a population of less than three millions, one-third of whom were either the open or secret allies of their foes, without money or muni- tions of war, they struggled to maintain their rights for seven long years -years of suffering, of anguish and of blood-against the most powerful nation on the globe, aided by mercenary legions and savage allies. Again and again were their armies decimated, broken up and destroyed by over- whelming superiority of numbers; and as often were they rallied and their broken and shattered fragments re-united and re-organized, presenting still an undaunted front to their implacable foes. And thus was this un- equal contest continued, until, from their limited numbers, an aggregate
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force of 395,000 heroic men were sent to the field. Such was their de- votion to liberty-such their veneration for its sacred principles, that no sacrifice was deemed too great for the success of their arms and the triumph of their cause. All those pursuits of peace so essentially neces- sary to furnish the means of subsistence were wholly abandoned; not only those in the prime and vigor of life, but the old and decrepit, as well as the stripling, took up arms in the common defense. No private interests were permitted to outweigh the duty of sacrificing those concerns to the general good. Life, with all its bright anticipations of social enjoyments, with the hopes of success in its various avocations, was deemcd as of no value if the goal of their desires and purposes-the establishment of a Republican Government-was not reached. It was the alpha and omega of their civil and political creed; and nobly did they show in its mainten- ance their "faith by their works," until victory at last crowned their efforts, and the cause for which they had so long and so bravely con- tended, was triumphant; until that proud, arrogant and despotic power was compelled to yield its unjust pretensions, and ingloriously abandon the field of conflict.
The independence of the American colonies was thus achieved, and their right to establish and maintain such form of Government as they might deem fit and proper, was recognized, not only by the Government which had sought to enslave them, but also by the civilized world.
In the enjoyment of this right, and in accordance with the principles of self-government, which they had avowed and maintained in the struggle, the original compact, which had been ordained for mutual aid and sup- port, was, after careful and mature deliberation, succeeded by the adoption of the Federal Constitution, and the formation of the Federal Union, in which was recognized and established those principles laid down in the Declaration of Independence, for which all the colonies had so devotedly and persistently labored.
Under the fostering care of the Government thus formed, for a period of more than 80 years, the growth and prosperity of the American people, as a nation, was without a parallel in the history of the world. From a few detached and feeble colonies we had become a first-class power. Our influence was felt in every quarter of the globe, and the example of the fruits of our free institutions was observed and studied in all lands. We were respected abroad. At home we were rapidly increasing in population and wealth. The wilderness was steadily giving way to enterprise and progress, and the arts of civilization, science and refinement were keeping step with our material advancement. The future was bright and promising.
With one exception, we had no aristocracy possessed of exclusive polit- ical privileges which could be wielded to the prejudice of the masses, either socially or politically. The genius of our free institutions opened the door of advancement and progress to all. The principles of Christianity, recog-
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nized by these institutions, laid the foundation for social order; and, as a legitimate consequence, a system of popular education was adopted which enabled every one to comprehend the relations which he, himself, bore to the Government under which he lived, and by which his rights were protected.
By the acquisition of knowledge thus brought within the reach of the American citizen, his thoughts and desires and purposes were enlarged and elevated; and as he began to comprehend more clearly the nature and extent of his own powers and capacities, as well as his own individual and inherent rights, his ambition was at once aroused to secure for himself his full share of the advantages which a Government so beneficent held out to all its citizens. The poor were thus enabled to comprehend the fact that here wealth was not so much an accidental acquisition as the result of in- telligence, temperance, prudence, and labor; and the ignorant were taught, as their first lesson, that knowledge was not exclusive, but that by self- application, aided by the means for education so liberally provided at the public expense, they might reasonably hope to acquire a sufficient share of useful knowledge, at least for the practical purposes of life.
But, in the adoption of the principles of free government which pro- duced all this greatness and prosperity, there was permitted to be re- tained-by a sad mistake-a single element of the system which had been discarded in all its other relations, -an antagonistic principle, that, in its very nature, could not fail to become the germ of a fatal disease,-a foul and virulent canker spot,-a monstrous deformity. Our revolutionary fathers were not blind to its dangers; and in the formation of our Govern- ment it was merely tolerated through misguided expediency, in the confi- dent belief that it must speedily die out, unable to survive the contact with its glorious surroundings.
And thus SLAVERY, the natural enemy of freedom and free institutions, in every form, at first only tolerated by usage, then sanctioned by law, was, by degrees, permitted to build up, over a vast area of our otherwise free and prosperous domain, one of the most exacting and intolerant oli- garchies-one of the most despotic and arbitrary aristocracies which the world has ever known; whose appetite for power but grew by what it fed on, and whose insolent demands and encroachments kept constantly increasing with their gratification.
To conciliate this monster and to appease his insatiate thirst for des- potic rule, though with a mistaken generosity, and also to delay, if not to obviate, the apprehended calamnity of domestic discord, and to save the nation from its tumults and troubles, concessions and compromises have been repeatedly made.
SLAVERY has thus been our bane-the blot upon our otherwise fair es- cutcheon-the constituent, admitted into the very structure of our Gov- ernment, which could not fail to be at war with its fundamental and avowed
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principles; which, in its growth and perpetuity was destined, in the very nature of things, sooner or later, to become the implacable enemy of the Government, in whose bosom it-had been warmed and nurtured into life and strength.
The truth of this has been abundantly verified in the history of our coun- try. Slavery has not been slow in bearing its legitimate fruits. In its at- mosphere a spirit has been generated of deadly hate to every sentiment of popular government; to the very name of Republicanism, and to all ideas of social and political equality; until, in its mad ambition, it dared to put forth its sacrilegious hand for the undisguised purpose of overturning the altars of Liberty, and of destroying every vestige of Republican Freedom in our prosperous and happy land.
The very men whom the nation had trusted and honored; whom it had raised to offices of profit and trust; upon whom it had lavished its choicest gifts, became perjured and forsworn traitors and rebels. Abusing the confidence reposed in them, and trampling under foot the most sacred ob- ligations, they robbed our Treasury, seized our Forts and Arsenals, and stole our arms, and other munitions of war, thereby depriving the Gov- ernment, as they fondly hoped, of all means of defense, in order to secure to themselves an easy conquest.
" The origin and maintenance of the rebellion to destroy the Government, was induced by the same spirit which sought to overthrow the Fathers of the Republic in their efforts to establish it; and as the struggle, on the part of the heroes of '76, was purely a work of self-defense, in maintaining their principles, so was the struggle on our part in the late rebellion, purely one of self-defense, in preventing the overthrow of the same principles, by preserving the life of the Government. For every drop of blood shed, and for all the property destroyed and money expended during the strug- gle, the rebels and their sympathizers-and they alone-are responsible. Of this there is abundant proof, even by the most direct and positive ad- missions of the rebels themselves. For the truth of this I need only quote the language of one of their prominent leaders-of no less a traitor than he who occupied the second place in the conclave of traitors. But it is familiar to you all, and further allusion to it here is unnecessary. No one can doubt for a single moment as to who are the guilty, and the only guilty parties in this enormous crime. The facts have been too apparent to leave a single doubt on the mind of any one not wilfully blind to their significance.'
In the midst of profound peace, when the loyal people of this great and prosperous nation were engaged in their lawful pursuits-in their quiet avocations-these wicked and perjured men, by the aid of lesser but equally traitorous spirits, sounded the tocsin of rebellion and revolt; and on the 12th day of April, 1861, our national ensign, the symbol of our country's strength and honor, the Flag of our Fathers and of the Union,
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which was associated with the earliest achievements of Liberty, and which for 70 years, never trailed in the dust, but stainless und defiant maintained its integrity over land and sea, was trampled upon and in- sulted. The shot and shell from rebel cannon tore its radient folds. Its lustre was tarnished and its glories dimmed by the smoke and flame from hostile batteries, planted by fratricidal hands, within its own dominion. A half-starved but heroic band of less than a hundred men succumbed be- fore seven thousand armed traitors, and leaving the burning barracks of the fort, brought away with them their tattered flag-a sacred relic-an auspicious omen, that, though overpowered, it was neither dishonored or destroyed. The iron hail that fell upon that flag at Fort Sumter ;fell, too, apon every loyal heart. The shot aimed at the national ensign which waved over that meagre garrison tore away every remnant of national for- bearance. From that hour there was to be-there could be-no more con- cession or compromise-nothing but war. In the great and irrepres- sible conflict between the two opposite ideas-liberty and bondage-de- mocracy and aristocracy-republicanism and despotism-the time had arrived when the question as to which should triumph, at least for the present, must be settled. The rebellious South, confident of success and insane with fiendish malice, had made the issue and had appealed to the arbitrament of the sword, and that issue must be settled in blood. As in the war of the Revolution, so now, freedom and oppression met in deadly conflict, and'now, as then, freedom triumphed. Although when the con- fliet came the Government found itself with a bankrupt treasury, without an army, without the munitions of war or the preparations for defense- for treason and robbery had despoiled it of all-yet, in the hearts of a loyal people, it possessed an invincible spirit to resist its ancient enemy ; in the resources of a liberty-loving people, if not in the despoiled treasury of the nation, it possessed ample wealth to furnish all the materials of war necessary for the defense of the flag against either domestic or foreign foes; and in its noble and patriotic sons, unnumbered freemen, sufficient to form countless battalions of citizen soldiers, ready to die in the defense of those republican institutions, for the establishment of which so many of the heroes of '76 had perished.
Relying, therefore, upon these resources, that truly great and good man, Abraham Lincoln, who fell a martyr not only to the principles he cher- ished, and which he was chosen to defend, but also a victim to the malice ' of the enemies of those principles, and who to-day stands second to none in the hearts of the American people, had only to make known the national danger and the national wants in order to be furnished with all the means necessary successfully to guard and defend the portals of Liberty.
Michigan, in response to the call of the national Government, promptly and cheerfully filled her several quotas, and raised and organized her numerous regiments, which were sent, without a moment's unnecessary
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delay, to the field of conflict. Taking with them the banners of Nation and State, beautiful and lustrous as they were, our gallant soldiers, conse- crated by prayers and tears for the noble and patriotic work, have bravely borne them along the toilsome march, and upon the field of battle, where danger threatened. Yes, these banners have been valorously and triumph- antly borne through the sunshine and gloom of the past five years to be at last returned, baptized in the fire and smoke and blood of battle, disfigured by the elements, and torn and rent by shot and shell.
Brave and noble citizen-soldiers of Michigan: Whether occupying places in the ranks before me, or absent on this occasion-whether among the living or the dead-these banners ever waved you forward, ever led you on. In your hands they braved the first defeats of the war. They waved proudly through Mcclellan's first brilliant campaign in West Vir- ginia. They cheered you through the gloom of the Peninsula disasters. In South Carolina and Georgia, in Tennessee and Mississippi, they gath- ered new laurels, and were honorably conspicuous in the campaigns of 1862 in Maryland and Virginia; while in the West and South-west, under Pope and Butler, they established an enviable prestige. In the eventful campaign in Virginia and Pennsylvania, in 1863, they gained fresh lustre. At Vicksburg and Knoxville and Chattanooga they maintained it. While, in Grant's great and final campaign-with Sherman in his glorious career about Atlanta, and on his "march to the sea "-with Sheridan in his matchless encounter with the enemy in the Shenandoah-or with Thomas at Nashville, no State established a nobler reputation for fidelity and valor than that written by Michigan troops upon the flags of the Peninsular State. Upon each of them is inscribed a page of our nation's history. They are memorials of a great era in our national life-an era fraught with more importance than any since the foundation of our glorious Republic.
These battle-flags are now restored to us. We receive them reverently. When they went from our borders these emblems of our nationality had been derided and defied by traitors. They come back to us with honor sustained and insult washed out in blood. They went from us radiant with beauty-the storms of many battles have beat upon them, the con- flicts in which they triumphed have, marred them-but they return to us speaking of victories, of heroes and patriots among the living and the dead. They proclaim not merely victory over the rebels, but a Govern- ment preserved and Liberty saved. As the eye wanders along this glorious array of tattered flags, with but a tithe of the original remaining, and that in shreds, and catches the half-effaced inscriptions, we realize as never before the great work that has been accomplished. These flags, the as- sembled troops, and all this paraphernalia of war, bring to mind as noth- ing else could the history of the past five years; for here are arrayed me- morials of almost every important battle of the war, from the first Bull
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Run to the glorious flood of sunshine which poured in upon us at the surrender of Lee.
In this great work of saving the Government, and of conquering a glo- rious victory in behalf of freedom, Michigan troops have accomplished their full share. Wherever called upon to bear a part, they have achieved fresh laurels; never flinching from danger nor faltering while a glimmer of hope remained; ready alike to face and return a deliberate fire or join in a forlorn hope. The 1st Michigan Regiment, armed, clothed, equipped and fully appointed, under the command of its gallant leader, was the first regiment to arrive at the seat of war from any point west of the Alleghany Mountains. They were among the first troops to cross Long Bridge into Virginia, and were a part of the command that captured Alexandria, the first city taken from the rebels, and of which you, General, was the first Military Governor. ' Michigan troops were also among the first who opened fire upon the enemy at Bull Run, in the vicinity of Blackburn's Ford, under the command of the brave and lamented Richardson. Throughout the entire period of the war they were actively engaged, and at the surrender of Lee they were well represented; and at last the rebel chief was captured by a Michigan regiment in his inglorious flight to escape punishment for his infamous crimes. In all the battles in which they fought, in every posi- tion in which they have been placed, Michigan troops have been conspicu- ous for their good conduct, and for their bravery and gallant services. They have been patient and uncomplaining under hardships and suffering, privation and fatigue. From the commencement of the war they have evinced a determination to suffer and fight until the enemies of the Gov- ernment should be conquered and thoroughly subdued. They went forth, carrying these sacred banners, upon so many hard-fought fields and through so many unequal contests, to enforce the laws and sustain the Government; to aid in restoring that peaceful enjoyment of liberty, which only fidelity to the Constitution can secure. They went on a holy mission ; not to impair the rights of any of the citizens of the Republic; not from hatred or revenge; but from a sense of duty to the whole country; from devotion to the Union; from allegiance to its legally appointed rulers, and from obedience and loyalty to the Constitution.
You have returned home from this great and patriotic work, full of hon- ors, bronzed and battle-scarred from victorious service. The price you have paid in blood and toil ought certainly to be sufficient to secure a per- petuity of the free institutions for which you have fought so devotedly. But is the security of these institutions better assured to-day, than it was supposed to be by our fathers when the " mother country " acknowledged the independence of her colonies, after their fierce and protracted strug- gle ? It is not slavery, but the spirit which seeks to make slavery the corner-stone of empire, that we have now to guard against -- that element of hatred to freedom and equality, which instituted the conflict from which
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you have so gloriously come out. That spirit is neither dead nor sleeping. In its own appeal to the arbitrament of the sword, it has been vanquished; but it is proclaimed on authority no less authentic than that of such men as Alexander H. Stephens, that though conquered it is not convinced. Hav- ing failed so utterly in the resort to force, it will but recuperate its energies for a more insidious endeavor in a different method of warfare.
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