USA > New York > History of the Ninth Regiment N.Y.S.M. -- N.G.S.N.Y. (Eighty-third N. Y. Volunteers.) 1845-1888 > Part 61
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1888
AT GETTYSBURG.
683
flag, unless suicide by secession be counted such a right. On the contrary, all that was achieved upon this and other fields of this war, was achieved equally for the South as for the North, and the blessings already flowing and forever hereafter to flow from a preserved Union and Constitution shall flow equally for all States and sections of the Union, whatever their part in the work of such preservation. With the surrender at Appomattox the Constitution was restored and acknowledged throughout every foot of our National territory, and, if there are any events in our history which as patriots we are called upon to celebrate, surely we should celebrate the preservation of our Constitution not less than its creation, and the victories and battles by which it was preserved. not less than the victories and battles of the Revo- lution by which it was made possible. The men who fell on this and other fields of the late war in support of our Government and flag are entitled to no less grateful commemoration than those who fell at Bunker Hill, Saratoga and Yorktown ; and until love of country and gratitude fail among men we cannot cease to commemorate the heroes and celebrate the battles by which our Constitution and Union were pre- served. From such commemoration and celebration patriots of this country will never cease till these graves shall give up their dead. Nor will such celebrations be partici- pated in by the people of one section of our country alone. The day is not distant when universal gratitude, North and South, to those who upon these fields preserved our Constitution and perpetuated our Union, shall prevail everywhere throughout the country ; and, if any men of this generation shall refuse to participate in or syt- pathize with such celebrations, their children and children's children, as they partici- pate in the glorious progress and greatness of the Republic, and rejoice under it in the highest liberty of which civilized man is capable, will hereafter, as they visit this Thermopyla of their country's history, drop tears of gratitude for the preservation of the Union, here achieved.
Veterans of the NINTH regiment : If those are to be accounted fortunate who through service to their country have been able to entitle themselves to the gratitude of their countrymen, you and those who fought with you for the preservation of the Union and who have survived to see this day are most fortunate. It is not likely that in this generation another equal opportunity will be afforded for service to the country on the field. A country reunited, prosperous, happy, progressive, and con- tented in the enjoyment of equal liberty is spread out before you, and the hum of its free, joyous and happy industry greets you from every quarter of our great domain. You have lived to see, rejoice and participate in the results of your work in the service of your country ; and, if those who are permitted to die for their country are to be accounted happy, surely they who have freely put life at hazard in their country's cause, and have lived to see, as you. the result of their efforts and sacrifices in its universal prosperity and happiness, cannot be accounted unhappy. You have done well to set up this monument,-a record of your youthful devotion to constitutional liberty. It will encourage those who shall come after you, to preserve and transmit by similar service, when called for, the blessings of liberty which you have aided in trans- mitting to them ; and so it shall serve to convey the influence of your example to those who shall occupy the places which in the ordinary course of nature you must ere long leave vacant. You serve your country in thus perpetuating the record of your early sacrifices in her behalf. The admonition of this monument shall be to those who shall look upon it in all coming time : " If the liberties of your country are in danger, enlist as volunteers promptly, and enlist for the War."
But this shaft in enduring stone and others like it which decorate and shall increas-
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i : 1
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THE NINTH NEW YORK.
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ingly decorate this field through coming time, are not the most lasting or most worthy monuments to the victory here achieved. Monuments of brass or marble will yield to the tooth of time and crumble to dust. The Government itself, which you here con- tributed to save and perpetuate, is the most fitting and most permanent monument to the services which you and such as you here rendered for your country. The Govern- ment realizes and embodies protection and security for the equal liberty and rights of man in the highest and best form yet wrought out in the experience of our race. It is the last best hope for the advancement of man through self government. Under it every power of the Nation and every power of the State is directed and consecrated to the highest security and well-being of the individual citizen. The free and self- directed prosperity, happiness and advancement of every State is part of the strength and glory of the National Union, and that Union, which has its existence only in and through the States, is given and can have no object for the exercise of its great and National, though prescribed and delegated, powers, but the security of the citizens of every State in the enjoyment of self-government under their own laws, in obedience to the National Constitution, without interference from other States or from the outside world. Mark this more than human security for human liberty and progress. It was not wrought by man alone. The strength and power of the Nation thus become the strength and power of every State, small or great, and of every citizen of every State for its and his own protection and security, while every State is a free self-govern- ing community, within and under the Constitution of the country, with the respon- sibility for the advancement and welfare of its own people by such laws as their own wishes and wisdom may determine. Each State is thus in competition with every other State in the advancement and perfection of its laws, and the prosperity and happiness of its own people. A mistake in one, by unwise legislation, affects no other State, except as a warning, and when proved a mistake is soon repealed ; each real advance made and proved valuable in any State soon becomes the property of all by imitation or improvement. No system of government ever before existed equally capable of promoting and securing rapid and safe advancement in civilization for a great and free Nation, occupying a vast extent of territory, with varying wants and necessities arising from variety of climate, production and employment ; and noth- ing in the experience of the world gives assurance or hope that a better system of government for a great, free and progressive Nation can ever exist.
It may be safely said that since the adoption of the Federal Constitution, the people of the United States, through their local State governments, have made more rapid progress in perfection of laws affecting and securing just and equal rights than any other portion of the world. Nor will it be doubted that this system of govern- ment, born of the American Constitution, will be found adequate for any degree of advancement in law and liberty of which man shall be capable. It was the over- throw of such a government which you and those who fought with you on this field successfully resisted. This Government, then, I repeat, with all its vast possibilities for good to your own country, and to the world, in commending and assuring free self-goverment to mankind, shall be the fitting, undying monument to those whose valor and blood gave it triumph and perpetuity on this field.
But, fellow citizens, we may not tarry long upon this battle-field, great and glorious as were its achievements and as are its memories. The call to duty is to our own places as citizens of the Republic in the great march of peace. Commemorations of past events, however important, are chiefly valuable as incentives and motives giving purpose, courage and strength for present and future duty. It cannot be doubted that
MONUMENT AT GETTYSBURG, PA.
1888
THE MONUMENT.
685
this Republic holds the advance of human progress in development of free self-gov- eraument for mankind. Trustees of all achieved by our fathers in this cause, the weight of our responsibility is increased by all the blood and treasure poured out on this and other fields in the war we here recall. The declaration, "Government of the people, for the people, and by the people, shall not perish from the earth," thundered from this field, has been heard round the world and will go down the ages. Until the Government of this great Republic, born of the American Constitution, shall depart from its purpose and fail of the end for which it was created, self-government cannot fail, but is within reach of all mankind having virtue to appreciate and maintain it. All hail, then, the future with its problems of state. However many and difficult. these shall all be solved when reached as the highest good of this great people shall require, and this "Government of the people, for the people, and by the people," shall conduct this and future generations who are to occupy our places to as high develop- ment and achievement as shall be permitted to man under human government.
When the applause succeeding Mr. Potter's oration had partially subsided, Conterno's musicians played "Dixie." Then Chaplain Roe pronounced the benediction, after which the NINTH reformed their ranks and fired three volleys of blank cartridge as a salute to the monument, and the exercises were ended.
Upon the East face of the shaft (see the engraving facing page 684), is inscribed in the granite :
2ND BRIG. 2ND DIV. IST CORPS.
Below this is the circular bronze plate bearing the coat of arms of the State of New York, and below that, cut in the granite :
83RD N. Y. VOLS. NINTH REGIMENT. N. Y. S. M .-- N. G. S. N. Y.
Upon the West face is the circular bronze plate bearing the regimental badge, a Maltese Cross with the figure 9 in the centre, surrounded by the motto " Ratione lut Fi," in a circle. In the arms of the cross are the letters N. G. S. N. Y. Below this is inscribed in the granite :
.
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THE NINTH NEW YORK.
1888
VOLUNTEERED APRIL 19TH, AND MUSTERED INTO U. S. SERVICE, JUNE 8TH, 1861.
Officers and enlisted men . 2278 Killed, died of wounds or disease 261
.. Wounded 423
Promoted, discharged, etc. . 1764
Mustered out, June 23d, 1864 .
253
Upon the North face a bronze tablet contains the following engagements :
Fitzhugh's Crossing Va.
Chancellorsville
V'a.
Gettysburg Pa.
Mine Run Va.
Wilderness V'a. .
Laurel Hill
l'a.
Spottsylvania . Va.
North Anna River .
Va.
Cold Harbor
Va.
Below the bronze is cut in the stone the following :
JULY 28, D AND 3D, IS63. AT ZIEGLER'S GROVE ; ALSO SUPPORTED BATTERIES WITH LITH, 12TH AND 2ND CORPS.
The South face contains also a bronze plate with the following inscriptions :
Harper's Ferry Va.
Cedar Mountain
Va
Rappahannock Va. .
Thoroughfare Gap Va. ·
Second Bull Run ¢
.
Va.
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THE MONUMENT.
687
Chantilly Va.
South Mountain
· Md.
Antietam
· Md.
Fredericksburg
Va.
Below the bronze plate is cut in the stone the following :
ENGAGED ON THIS GROUND JULY IST, 1863, I TO 3 P. M.
ASSISTING IN CAPTURE OF IVERSON'S N. C. BRIG.
Upon each of the four sides of the shaft, near the top, is the badge of the First Corps, a disc, cut in the stone and polished.
After the ceremony the regiment marched back to the camp, while the veterans returned to the town in time for a late sup- per. The evening was all too short, for the veterans were to leave at ten o'clock on their return home. It was pleasing to notice the manner in which old comrades greeted each other whenever acquaintances happened to meet-" Well ! Well ! You here? How are you anyhow !" and such hand-shaking as would follow ! Then they would fall to recounting their experience on the field ; after that inquiries would be made as to their life since the war, and their present habitation, business, etc., etc .--- then would follow an exchange of cards with mutual invitations to call on each other in New York, Boston or Chicago.
Shortly after ten o'clock the Veteran Association, in their special train, rolled out of Gettysburg, cach member full of the proud consciousness of duty well performed, and more than satisfied at the successful completion of their great undertaking. At half-past nine the next morning, July 2nd, the train arrived at Jersey City, and the veterans were soon at their homes in New York and Brooklyn.
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THE NINTH NEW YORK.
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CHAPTER XXXV.
REUNION OF THE BLUE AND THE GRAY.
1888 (CONTINUED). GETTYSBURG (CONCLUDED.)
How the Regiment was Rationed .-- The NINTH Escorts the Society of the Army of the Potomac to Its Meeting .- The Boys visit the Field .- The Reunion of the Blue and the Gray .- Account of the " Love Feast."-Speeches of Generals Sickles, Gordon, Beaver, Hooker, ex-Governor Curtin, Generals Longstreet, Slocum and Curtis .- Reception in the Evening .- Review in Honor of General Robinson .- The Exercises at the Cemetery on July 2d .- Poem of Mr. George Parsons Lath- rop .- Oration by George William Curtis .- Close of the Reunion .- The Regiment Leaves for Home .- Arrival at New York .- Acknowledgments of Faithful Ser- vice .- Register of Veterans Present at Gettysburg. -- Register of Commissioned Officers and Strength of the Regiment on July 4th .-- Annual Inspections from 1859 to 1888 Inclusive .- Grand Register of Commissioned Officers of the Regi- ment from 1859 to 1888.
TO return now to the regiment which we left at the camp near the Springs Hotel at Gettysburg. The boys were fed by contract-that is, a caterer from Carlisle had been engaged to furnish food to the regiment, officers and men alike, at so much a meal per head. Of course there were some who grumbled because the coffee was not stronger and the butter weaker, because the morning's steak was not cooked enough, or too " well done," or so tough that a piece of sole leather would have been easier masticated. Then some had to wait too long before being helped; others didn't like to drink out of tin cups or eat off of tin plates ; others wanted napkins, and some finger bowis. After the first day, however, matters regu- lated themselves, and the chronic grumblers found themselves in such a helpless minority that they kept quiet. Colonel Seward set a good example to all the officers, and men too, by appearing promptly at the general mess tent, taking his regu- lar rations and successfully making believe that he liked them. He was ably supported by Lieut .- Colonel Rand, who appeared to enjoy the " discussion " of the Menu as much as though he
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THE BLUE AND THE GRAY.
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was "going through " a more elaborate one at the St. Cloud Hotel.
The meetings of the several corps of the Society of the Army of the Potomac were held in the Rink in town between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning, that of the society at three o'clock in the afternoon of Monday the 2nd. At the appointed time the NINTH formed line, and, marching to the Springs Hotel, received the officers and members of the Army of the Potomac society, whom it, together with the various detachments of the regular army which were on the ground, escorted to the rostrum in the National Cemetery; where the grand Reunion of the Blue and the Gray took place. From the columns of the New York Tribune we cut the following account of that notable gathering :
The fever point of the enthusiasm which will make this battle celebration a notable patriotic memory was reached this afternoon when the veterans of the Blue and the Gray met as hosts and guests on the grassy slopes of the National Cemetery, and the chosen orators on both sides told in glowing phrases amid a din of cheers how the hate and rancor of a quarter of a century ago had vanished and the North and the South could again clasp hands under one flag in hearty fellowship and peace. Politics had no part in this fraternal demonstration, nor the sentimentality that would hide the vital issues of the war under an affectation of complete forgetfulness. The feeling on all sides was one of frank cordiality, of solcherly welcome, of genuine satisfaction that the war had ended twenty-three years ago, as it did, and that the gallant survivors of both armies could stroll about as friends on the field that their bravery and steadfast- ness had made famous. Preparations for this friendly meeting had been on foot for two days, and the vast crowd filled the broad open space in front of the cemetery rostrum even far beyond the reach of any speaker's voice. The heartiness and unanimity of the applause, the perfect good order and good nature of the assemblage. all bore witness to the prevailing spirit of the day. Every time the blue and gray appeared entwined the colors were greeted with a cheer ; " Dixie Land " and " Yankee Doodle " were the melodies the listeners demanded. A " Yank " and a " Johnny " arm in arm set all the crowd applauding.
Twenty thousand people tried to push their way into the pretty cemetery. Ten thousand more hung around the granite walls which fence in its close-shaven lawns and long glistening lines of whitish head-stones. They could not see the ceremonies or hear the speeches, but there they stood, patient and enthusiastic, waiting only for the roll of applause from within to break into a rousing cheer of their own. * * * * *
Once in the cemetery, the rank and file of the veterans took their places on the lawn and the dignitaries mounted the rostrum. Besides the speakers, there were present among a hundred or more well-known men : General Longstreet, General Slocum, Generals Carr, Richardson, Robinson, Nugent, Graham, Tremain and Bar-
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THE NINTH NEW YORK.
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num, of New York ; ex-Senator Warner Miller; ex-Governor Hartranft, of Pennsyl- vanìa ; Generals Berdan, Fairchild, Greene and Beaver ; Major Rea, the commander- in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic ; General N. Martin Curtis, Commander of the Department of New York, Grand Army of the Republic ; Colonel Bachelder, of Boston ; General Grant, of Vermont ; General S. Wylie Crawford, of the United States Army; ex-Governors Smith and Holbrook, of Vermont ; Governor Ormsbec, of Vermont ; the Rev. Dr. Twichell, of Hartford ; Colonel Parsons, of Virginia ; General Hooker, of Mississippi; George William Curtis, Orlando B. Potter, General George H. Sharpe, and ex-Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania.
General John C. Robinson called the vast assemblage to order and introduced General Sickles as the presiding officer. He called on the Rev. Dr. Twichell for a prayer, and then read from the type-written sheets a signally appropriate and striking speech. He was applauded throughout, and when at the end he called on the vet- crans of both armies to unite in a pledge to the perpetuity of the Nation and the defence of the flag, there was a sounding chorus of ayes, then a burst of cheering in which the sharp note of the " Rebel yell " rang out even above the Yankee " hip, hip, hurrah."
From the Report of the Proceedings of the Society the fol- lowing is taken. . General Sickles said :
This assembly marks an epoch. You are survivors of two great armies. You and your comrades fought here the decisive battle of a long and terrible Civil War. Twenty-five years have passed, and now the combatants of 1863 come together again, on your old field of battle, to unite in pledges of love and devotion to one constitution, one Union, and one flag. To-day there are no victors, no vanquished. As Americans we may all claim a common share in the glories of this battle-field. Memorable for so many brilliant feats of arms, no stain rests on the colors of any battalion, battery, or troop that contended here for victory. Gallant Buford, who began the battle, and brave Pickett, who closed the struggle, fitly represent the intrepid hosts that for three days rivaled each other in titles to martial renown. Among the hundreds of memoria I structures on this field, there is not one bearing an inscription that wounds the suscep- tibilities of an honorable and gallant foe.
This meeting is a historical event. We dedicate here on this battle-field to-day an altar sacred to peace and tranquility and union. We sow the seeds of friendship between communities and States, and populations once hostile are now reconciled. We all share in the rich harvest reaped by the whole country, North and South, East and West, from the new America born on this battle-field, where the Republic conse- crated her institutions to liberty and justice.
It is sometimes said that it is not wise to perpetuate the memories of Civil War, and such was the Roman maxim. But our Civil War was not a mere conspiracy against a ruler ; it was not the plot of a soldier to oust a rival from power; it was not a pronunciamento. The conflict of 1861-65 was a War of institutions and systems and politics. It was a revolution, ranking in importance with the French revolution of the eighteenth century and with the English revolution of the seventeenth, universal in its beneficent influence upon the destinies of this country, and ineffaceable in the footprints it made in the path of our national progress. The memories of such a War are as indestructible as our civilization. The names of Lincoln, and Lee, and Grant,
9
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EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESSES.
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and Jackson can never be effaced from our annals. The valor and fortitude and achievements of both armies, never surpassed in any age, demand a record in American history. And now that time and thought, common sense and common interests, have softened all the animosities of War, we may bury them forever, while we cherish and perpetuate as Americans the immortal heritage of honor belonging to a Republic that became imperishable when it became free.
The War of 1861-65 was our heroic age. It demonstrated the vitality of repub- lican institutions. It illustrated the martial spirit and resources and genius of the American soldier and sailor. It was a war in which sentiments and ideas dominated interests. The lavish sacrifices of blood and treasure, the unyielding tenacity of the combatants, the constancy and firmness of the people on both sides, men and women, old and young, rich and poor, signalized the great conflict as the heroic age of the republic. We now see that the obstinacy of the War on both sides compelled a settle- ment of all the elements of disunion between the North and South. An earlier peace might have been a mere truce, to be followed by recurring hostilities. We fought until the furnace of War melted all our discords and moulded us in one homo- geneous nation. Let us all be devoutly thankful that God has spared us to witness and to share the blessings bestowed by Providence upon our country as the compen- sation for countless sacrifices made to establish on just and firm foundations a govern- ment of the people, by the people, and for the people.
For myself I rejoice that I am here to-day to meet so many comrades and so many foes, and to unite with all of you in pledges of friendship and fraternity. And now I ask you one and all, the survivors of the blue and the gray, to affirm with one voice our unanimous resolve to maintain our Union, preserve our institutions, and defend our flag.
[For several minutes after General Sickles ceased speaking, cheers and yells from the vast audience filled the air, giving good evidence that those present were in hearty accord with the words uttered.]
Gen. Sickles introduced Gen. J B. Gordon, who spoke on behalf of the ex-Confed- erates. As his swinging sentences, eloquent and ringing, were uttered, there was fre- quent applause. Gen. Gordon said :
Mr. President and Fellow-Soldiers: I greet you to-night with far less trepidation and infinitely more pleasure than in the early days of July, 1863. when I last met you at Gettysburg. I came then, as now, to meet the soldiers of the Union Army. It would be useless to attempt utterance of the thoughts which now thrill my spirit. The temptation is to draw the contrast between the scenes which then were witnessed and those which greet us here to-night ; to speak of the men with whom I then marched, and of those whom we met; of those who have survived to meet again twenty-five years later, and of those who here fought and fell; of the contrast made by this mass of manly cordiality and good fellowship with the long lines of dusty uniforms which then stood in battle array beneath bristling bayonets and spread ensigns, moving in awful silence and with sullen tread to grapple each other in deadly conflict. I would speak of all these, and of the motives which impelled cach, of the swaying tides of the three days' battles, of the final Federal victory, and of its preponderating influence
1888
THE NINTH NEW YORK.
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in turning the scales of war, but the nature of the pleasing duty assigned me forbids this.
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