USA > Michigan > Oakland County > History of Oakland County, Michigan, with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and important manufactories > Part 108
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"May just and righteous laws Uphold the public cause, And bless our name : Home of the brave and free, Stronghold of liberty, We pray that still on thee There be no stain.
"And not this land alone,] But be Thy mercies known From shore to shore : Lord, make the nations see That men should brothers be, And form one family, The wide world o'er.
in the singing of which the whole congregation participated.
" The ceremonies were closed with benediction by Rev. W. H. McGiffert.
"The flowers were deposited on the stage by the ladies and Sabbath-school children, and were subsequently placed on the graves of the soldiers by & com- mittee appointed for that purpose.
" The various committees had so perfected their arrangements that, had the day been pleasant, the procession, together with the entire fulfillment of the programme, would have been impressive in the extreme. As it was, the out-door obsequies came far short of the committee's design or the public expectation. The Band, Knights Templars, Odd-Fellows, Good Templars, in their various uniforms, the Steam Fire Engine and Hose Cart,-the former drawn by horses, and the latter drawn by mem- bers of the company, beautifully decorated with bouquets of flowers and draped with the American flag,-together with the M. E. Church Sabbath-school, with banners, on which were inscribed the mottoes,-' Honor to our Brave Defenders,' 'God is our Refuge and Strength,' presented a very creditable appearance, and, in view of the inclement weather, far exceeded our expectations."
The 30th of May, 1870, was a memorable occasion. A very large concourse of people assembled, and at two P.M. the procession was formed, preceded by the Sir Knights' Band, followed in order by the Sir Knights, Odd-Fellows, Good Templars, and an open carriage containing sixteen young ladies dressed in white, and appro- priately decorated, whose province was to strew the graves with flowers ; following were citizens in carriages and on foot. The fire department was out in force, with their engines and hose carts beautifully decorated with evergreens and flowers. There was music by the band, and singing under the direction of Professor Lockwood, and a classic and beautiful oration by Hon. Henry M. Look, which is given below :
MEMORIAL ADDRESS.
Mr. President-Citizens :
When Pericles was called to pronounce the honors of the Athenian dead he spoke of them as the most fortunate of the Greeks-fortunate in having crowned their mor- tal existence with such glory, that their memories should be forever venerated by mankind. He spoke of them not so much for their individual worth as for what they had done for their country and for the rights of man. Yet the achievements of the conquerors of Samos, as compared with the conquests of the victors whose chaplets we wreathe to-day, are but as the pastimes of the world's youth to the Her- culian triumphs of its maturity.
Who, then, shall speak for our dead ? Whose lips shall pronounce their eulogy ? Nay, let no man speak for them ! Be silent, bow the head, and listen rather to the still words that come from them to us; " for they, being dead, yet speak." There is a language filling all the air, an influence moving every soul :- it is the noble lan- guage of their deeds, the mystic influence of their memories. If we will but hearken, there is a voice for every ear, a lesson, for every heart-a voice from lips which, mouldering and breathless though they be, do yet appeal to us with silent eloquence; a lesson from lives which, though vanished from our earthly horizon, yet gild our pathway with the twilight of their bright career.
As we stand by these graves, a moment's thoughtful reflection upon the nature and results of the gigantic struggle that has peopled them with so many of the best and bravest of our land, is eminently proper. Indeed, I know of no worthier expression of our veneration for the memory of the brave and good than an earnest devotion to those sublime principles for which their lives were sacrificed.
Our country has passed through a phase of national history which has been com- mon to all great powers of the earth. When the time came for Rome to quit the plane of political mediocrity and rise to the dignity of the dominant state o the world, she passed through a struggle as tremendous as that from which we are scarcely recovered. Cæsar marshaled his Gallic hosts in rebellion, and marched against the national capital. Pompey fell, and for a time treason was triumphant. Then came the dagger of the assassin, and the blood of the first Cæsar sprinkled the statue of the man over whose corpse he had marched to seize upon the purple. Then the ship of state swung out helpless and dismantled into the wild sea of anarchy, until he whose reign was the golden age of the Roman world stood bravely at the helm, and guided her with the mighty will of one born to empire. England had her " War of the Roses," in which the whole kingdom was distracted by intestine strife until at last there arose one-the noble Richmond-who, as he was crowned on Bos- worth field, could lay a hand upon both York and Lancaster. He grasped firmly the mediatorial sceptre, and Britain became again one nation-her unity and strength more permanently secured than ever before. France, in the struggle of 1789, saw her throne go down in a sea of blood ; then groped and agonized in the bewildering chaos of the "reign of terror ;" revolutionized in 1848; and finally, like a changed and risen spirit, burst from the horrid gloom, and under the banner of the kinsman of the " Little Corporal" has in this generation eclipsed even the power and splendor of the reign of Louis the Fourteenth.
These convulsions are incident to national life. . Whether we call them rebellions, revolutions, or reformations, they are the prominent points in the great system of events which constitutes a nation's history-marking its important crises, and indi- cating to present and future ages the eras of its rise, progress, or decline.
But it is only in point of its mightiness as a mere historieal event that our recent national struggle can be compared with any other that the world has ever witnessed. In the grandeur of its leading political results-the vindication of the strength and permanency of free institutions-it rises above every other political conflict as freedom rises above tyranny, as republicanism rises above absolutism. The world has learned the lesson of man's ability for self-government faithfully at last.' Europe has suddenly become respectful, and the crowns of her hereditary despots bow obse- quiously to an invincible democratic republic.
Upon the battle-fields of the late civil war there fought, in the final death-close of hate, the two grand antagonistic ideas that had struggled for supremacy during the previous forty years. One was the idea of national unity-the idea of Jefferson and Webster; the other was the idea of national disintegration-the idea of Calhoun and Davis. In such a conflict, among such a people, under such a civilization, there could be but one result-the absolute and final establishment of the unity of the States and of the people. The battle is over now; and as the sword glides into' its sheath, the North says to the South, " Give me your hand, Brutus;" and the South responds, "And my heart too, Cassius." What traitor hears them and says not Amen? The man who would seek to defeat such a reconciliation by the inter- position of partisan spite, or sectional hate, would be unworthy of the title of an American citizen-worthy only of the Spartan's epitaph-
"Sparta had many a worthier son than he."
And so after all the bitterness and slaughter of this terrible war, the States-still States, and equals under one common government-are coming back under the shadow of this glorious old flag, and its benison of peace and joy descends upon them all alike.
"Those opposed eyes Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven, All of one nature, of one substance bred- Did lately meet in the intestine shock, And furious close of civil butchery, Shall now, in mutual well-beseeming ranks March all one way ; and be no more opposed Against acquaintance, kindred, and allies."
They could not stand divorced. They were all ennobled by the blood of the same ancestry, all thrilled by the same immortal -memories. Their destiny was one and
V
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
indissoluble; and we see them now hastening to ratify anew the decree which the fathers proclaimed at the beginning, that as this people was of one lineage, one language, and one religion, so should they also be of one government.
And yet, just as the first dawn of peace was breaking over the land, in the very flush of victory, as though there were still one great truth to be impressed upon the hearts of men, the red hand of the assassin was raised, and at midnight the cry went forth that the Chief Magistrate was slain. The public mind reeled and staggered at the blow, like a strong ship smitten by the surge; but the government was unmoved as the ocean rock. The people trembled, but the state stood firm. Oh, how despica- bly weak was the arm of that base assassin ! He thought to murder the government, but he murdered only a man. He thought to prove that a single desperate villain might take the life of the nation, but he proved that the nation was immortal. Abraham Lincoln fell, but not the Republic. The heart of the President grew still, but the great heart of the Union yet throbbed strongly and fervently. Cruel as was the fate of Abraham Lincoln, yet in his fall was illustrated the great truth that no man, no administration, is the government; but that the incorporeal spirit of the Constitution is our government; and that that spirit is invincible to all mortal foes, as the crest of Michael to the fallen angel's sword.
Oh, how loftily in the bright heavens looms the fair column of our country's renown! Blatant fanaticism has assailed it, foreign treachery has sought to under- mine it, treason has opened the artillery of hell against it; still it stands, firm as the eternal truth on which it is based, unshaken as the Omnipotent Throne to which it points.
Alas, that so sublime a consummation should be achieved at the cost of the blood of so many brave men, and sealed by the sanction of so many untimely graves ! While we exult at the triumph of our government over armed rebellion, and its glorious vindication of its own unity and supremacy, there comes to our ears
"The noise of the mourning of a mighty nation, Mourning when their leaders fall, Warriors carrying the warrior's pall."
There is weeping in the camp of victory, and tears are shed in the midst of joy, like summer rain-drops falling athwart a background of bright sky. How many stricken hearts there are among us! How many manly forms lie crushed and trodden beneath the clod ! How many homes have we where the light and the hope are gone out forever ! While the flag waves triumphantly above, graves are lying thickly below; the one shaken by a nation's applause, the other moistened and blessed by a nation's tears.
And in the folds of this flag I see the blood of friend and foe mingling in one crimson dye. Upon its splintered staff I see clinging a matted lock of some soldier of the Union, beside the light curl of some Southern boy. Here, on the shore of the blue lakes of Michigan, a heart is breaking for the one; down by the sunny gulf of the South, a heart is breaking for the other. Even the woes of this great people are kindred, as is their destiny.
How many of your minds are turning at this moment to the days of desolation ! the days when the shrouded dead came home to you-or perhaps did not come at all, but only a word came, that crushed you where you stood. For months after wards you saw the vision of a manly face that no eyes but yours could see. As you thought, last midnight, that to-day the people would go up together to the city of the dead, you saw that face again, and it looked at you through the darkness like an angel looking through a cloud. This morning you came forth to this garden of graves, and cast upon its billowy beds the mournful, touching tribute of your remembrance and affection. Upon the portal of each narrow house you have written with loving hands a wordless poem-written it in the fairest and brightest characters in all God's vast vocabulary-the flowers of the field ! Simple is the offering, and meet as it is simple. The beauty of these flowers is like that of the noble lives whose memory we cherish ; their perfume is like the holy incense of a true sorrow; their already drooping leaves betoken that speedy decay which awaits each one of us, for " we all do fade as a leaf."
There is in this floral offering a distinctive feature worthy of honorable mention. Man has singled out the names of our greatest commanders, and made them the theme of the warmest eulogy and the burden of the loftiest song. He has emblazoned them on his banners ; he has cut the marble, cast the bronze, and reared the column in honor of them. He has bestowed upon them such a tribute as it is natural for man to give-sublime, brilliant, imposing. But while he has pressed these grand testimonials in such profusion upon the more conspicuous characters in the historic drama, he has too often passed in comparative indifference the dust of those countless heroes of a humbler station-the common soldiers and sailors of the army and navy-the men whose iron nerve, whose patient endurance, whose invincible courage, whose unques- tioning devotion, made the fame of their commanders, and won for the world the sublimest cause in history.
"Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die."
But mark ! After four years of peace, and just as the shadow of forgetfulness is beginning to obscure their tombs, woman, in the spirit of a tenderer and truer grati- tude, comes and plants the myrtle and the rose upon ten thousand nameless graves ! The women of America have arisen, and with their own hands rescued from oblivion that long and illustrious roll of honor which, but for them, would have remained unread and unknown forever. The deed is its own commentary. Woman, last at the cross and earliest at the tomb of the Saviour of the world, is last at the death- couch and earliest at the grave of the soldier of liberty. Man will care for the fame of the general, the statesman, and the orator ; she has embalmed the ashes of the lowlier brave, and pointed humanity to the shades where sleep a race of martyrs worthy of Marathon and Thermopyla. I tell you, women of America, every
wreath that you twine for them shall be a chaplet of immortal honor upon your own fair brows.
I might speak particularly and personally of those whose ashes lie buried here. I might name them one by one, and trace each from his hearth-stone to his grave; but that has been often and eloquently done already, and upon occasions more appro- priate than this. The first paroxysm of grief is past, and instead has come the serenity of a silent, thoughtful sorrow. Each soul has its own bitterness, and into its sanctuary of grief I may not enter. In the cleft of each broken heart a sleeping form is enshrined, and none but the rudest step would pass the secret portal.
I said the names of our great leaders had been honored as became their merit. Pardon me, friends, I said too much. I gave credit for more than the record warrants. Look yonder. In a lonely and neglected grave, without a stone to mark his resting-place, sleeps one of the bravest of the brave,-Major-General Richardson ! Verily, you have
"Carved not a line, and raised not a stone, But left him alone with his glory."
And if his glory had not been so bright that no neglect could tarnish it, it would long since have been corroded with the rust of ingratitude. I see here some of his companions in arms. In their minds they carry the memory of that firm face, turned always to the foe. They remember that eye that never blenched before the cannon's mouth. They remember him at Bull Run, at Williamsburg, at Fair Oaks, at Malvern Hill, at South Mountain, at every point of danger, until at last, amid the smoke and thunder of Antietam, he went down to death, covered with a hero's fame. Yet what stranger would know, from sight of that nameless mound, that any but a coward lay there ? Day by day his old comrades from other States come to this burial-ground to drop a tear to his memory, and go away with a muttered reproach against this community. Are you Americans, are you patriots, and yet permit this thing? I ask you will you longer permit it? Shall another year, another month, nay, shall this day pass, and nothing be done for him who has done so much for us ? God forbid that Michigan, that Oakland, that Pontiac, should rest under the stigma of the basest of all crimes,-ingratitude ! Let us rear upon this ground a monument worthy of his name and character. Let us crown it with his likeness cut in enduring marble. Here let it stand for the gaze of friend and foe, of kindred and of stranger, as long as sunshine and starlight shall revisit this abode. Let the tempests of heaven beat like another battle-storm upon the stony features : let the daybreak gild them in the morning, and the twilight touch them in the evening : for his fame is our fame, his honor our honor, his country our country.
Citizens, let us take heed to the salutary lessons of this hour. Let us leave this place with purer and higher resolves. Let us learn to cultivate every feeling of fra- ternity and frown upon every disorganizing faction; remembering that we are all one people, under one government. May our sympathies be as broad as the Union, and our patriotism as generous as the Constitution. With tears for the dead and charity for the living, let us commit the destinies of our country to the God of nations, and to a free people; trusting that He will do for her what it is impossible for man to do, and that they will perform all that the finite can accomplish.
Let us remember that not alone to the fallen, but also to the living defenders of our liberties a meed of gratitude is due. Many of them are standing with honorable scars among us to-day ; and, to their honor be it said, the plaudits which they receive they have merited as well in the civic as in the military field. Secure indeed must be that government whose best soldiers are also its best citizens!
Soon we shall separate and go hence. The garlands that we have scattered here will decay. Every work of our hands will perish, and we shall come and lie down at last with these silent sleepers. Yet, let what may betide, the fallen brave shall still be unforgotten. Wherever an American shall live, there shall their work be known; wherever liberty shall be revered, there shall their deeds be remembered. And when our brief vigil shall cease, the spirit of the Republic shall still watch mournfully and silently over the ashes of the warrior dead, as Thetis and the Muses watched by the fallen Achilles.
THE FIRST MICHIGAN INFANTRY.
The First Michigan-the regiment which, under Colonel Wilcox, led the advance of Michigan troops to the front-although hurriedly organized and hastily equipped, left the State a pattern regiment in every respect, none better having preceded it to the national capital from any State; arriving there at a critical time, when that city was in great and immediate danger of being attacked and captured by the rebels, whose troops then picketed the Potomac. " Its presence aided much in establishing confidence among those in authority that the capital was safe, and the appearance of the regiment on Pennsylvania avenue was hailed with the cheers of loyal thousands. As it passed in review before the lamented Lincoln, it received his highest praise, and through them he thanked the State for their prompt appearance in Washington." At the battle of Bull Run the regiment was in the brigade commanded by Colonel Wilcox, and was in the hottest of the fight, eagerly pressing forward on the enemy, losing heavily but fighting stubbornly and gallantly. "On that disastrous field the First established the highest standard for Michigan troops, so uniformly and remarkably maintained throughout the entire war. Its dead were found nearest the enemy's works." Among the loss of the regiment were Captain Butterworth, Lieu- tenants Mauch and Casey wounded and taken prisoners, and who afterwards died of their wounds in rebel custody. Colonel Wilcox was wounded, and falling into the hands of the enemy was held as a prisoner at Richmond for about fifteen months.
The regiment was mustered out on the expiration of its three months' term of ser- vice, August 7, 1861, but was soon after reorganized as a three years' regiment, and returned to the Army of the Potomac August 16, under, command of Colonel John C. Robinson, He was succeeded on his promotion to a brigadiership by Colonel H. S. Roberts.
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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
The regiment was engaged in the following battles and skirmishes : Bull Run, Virginia, July 21, 1861 ; Mechanicsville, Virginia, June 26, 1862; Gaines' Mill, Virginia, June 27, 1862; Peach Orchard, Virginia, June 29, 1862; Savage Station, Virginia, June 29, 1862; Turkey Bend, Virginia, June 30, 1862; White Oak Swamp, Virginia, June 30, 1862; Malvern Hill, Virginia, July 1, 1862 ; Harrison's Landing, Virginia, July 2, 1862; Gainesville, Virginia, August 29, 1862; Bull Run (second), Virginia, August 30, 1862; Antietam, Maryland, September 17, 1862 ; Shepherdstown Ford, Virginia, September 20, 1862; Snicker's Gap, Virginia, No- vember 14, 1862; Fredericksburg, Virginia, December 13, 14, 1862; United States Ford, Virginia, January 1, 1863; Chancellorsville, Virginia, May 1, 2, 3, 4, 1863; Kelly's Ford, Virginia, June 9, 1863; Ashby's Gap, Virginia, June 21, 1863; Gettys- burg, Pennsylvania, July 2, 3, 4, 1863; Williamsport, Maryland, July 12, 1863; Wapping Heights, Virginia, July 21, 1863; Culpepper, Virginia, October 13, 1863 ; Brandy Station, Virginia, October 13, 1863; Bristoe Station, Virginia, October 14, 1863; Rappahannock Station, Virginia, November 7, 1863; Cross Roads, Virginia, November 26, 1863; Mine Run, Virginia, November 29, 1863; Wilderness, Virginia, May 5, 7, 1864; Laurel Hill, Virginia, May 8, 1864; Po River, Virginia, May 10, 1864; Spottsylvania, Virginia, May 12, 1864; Ny River, Virginia, May 21, 1864; North Anna, Virginia, May 23, 1864; Jericho Mills, Virginia, May 24, 1864; Noel's Turn, Virginia, May 26, 1864; Tolopotomy, Virginia, May 30, 1864; Mag- nolia Swamp, Virginia, June 1, 1864; Bethesda Church, Virginia, June 2, 1864; Petersburg, Virginia, June 18, 1864; Weldon Railroad, Virginia, August 19, 20, 21, 1864 ; Peebles' Farm, Virginia, September 30, 1864; Hatcher's Run, Virginia, Oc- tober 27, 1864; Nottaway Court-House, Virginia, December 8, 1864; Dabney's Mills, Virginia, February 6, 7, 1865; Hatcher's Run, Virginia, March 25, 1865; White Oak Road, Virginia, March 29, 1865; Five Forks, Virginia, April 1, 1865; Amelia Court-House, Virginia, April 5, 1865; High Bridge, Virginia, April 6, 1865; Appomattox Court-House, Virginia, April 9, 1865; Siege of Petersburg, Virginia, from June 17, 1864, to April 3, 1865.
THE SECOND INFANTRY.
The Second Infantry, commanded by the intrepid and gallant Israel B. Richard- son, of Pontiac, by whom it was organized, followed the First Regiment into the field with such promptness it was in time to participate in the first engagement in Virginia, being in the brigade of Richardson, which opened fire upon the enemy at Blackburn's Ford on the 18th of July, 1861, and which covered the retreat of the army from Bull Run on the 21st following. The regiment, under command of Colonel O. M. Poe, participated in most of the engagements on the peninsula, first meeting the enemy in that campaign at Williamsburg on May 5, 1862, where it lost seventeen killed, thirty-eight wounded, and four missing ; at Fair Oaks on the 27th, at Charles City Cross-Roads on June 30, and at Malvern Hill July 1. The regiment was with General Pope at Bull Run (second) and Chantilly, and in 1863 participated in General Grant's campaign in Mississippi, and with Burnside in East Tennessee, and in the defense of Knoxville. In General Sherman's pursuit of Johnston, the Second Regiment was in the second brigade, first division, and on the 11th of July became engaged with the enemy, making one of the most daring and gallant charges of the war. Colonel Humphrey, commanding the regiment, in his report thus details its movements on that occasion : " At five A. M. I was ordered by Colonel Leasure, com- manding the brigade, to deploy my regiment as skirmishers on the left of the skirmish line of the first brigade; to keep my connection with it perfect; to be guided in the movements of my line strictly by those of the regiment on my right ; and to advance until I drew the fire of the enemy's artillery. I at once deployed my regiment as directed, and moved forward, meeting with only slight opposition from the enemy, until about six o'clock, when he opened a brisk fire along my whole line. We had come up to the enemy strongly posted in front of muy right on a deep water-course, and of my left in a heavy woods. For an hour a brisk skirmish was kept up. The enemy made a determined resistance, but was gradually forced back toward his sup- port. At seven A.M. the order came down the line from the right to 'forward! double-quick !' The men at once advanced with a cheer, drove in the enemy's skirmishers through their camps, and into their reserves, strongly posted in a deep ravine; charged and broke the reserve, and drove it up out of the ravine into its main support, drawn up in line of battle on the top of the south bank of the ravine; charged under a hot fire of musketry and artillery up the steep bank against the main body, broke this line, and drove the enemy within his works. We waited now for our support to come up, but on sending for it were surprised to find we had none. The regiment on my right, for some reason unknown to me, advanced but a short dis- tance, then fell back to the line left by it a few moments before. By some mistake the three companies (C, F, H) on the left did not advance with the rest of the regi- ment in this charge, which was made with about one hundred and seventy men ; fifty of these, almost one-third, had fallen. The enemy was being reinforced, and we were entirely without support, with no connection on the right, and no troops on the left. Thus situated, to hold for any length of time the ground we had so dearly won would be impossible. I therefore put my men under cover of the bank of the ravine through which we had advanced, within twenty yards of the enemy's works, and held the position until the wounded were carried to the rear, and then, following the movement of the regiment on my right, fell back to the line from which we had advanced an hour before." In this charge the regiment had nine killed, thirty-nine wounded, among whom were Lieutenants Sheldon, Stevenson, and Montague, and eight taken as prisoners.
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