USA > New York > Wayne County > Military history of Wayne County, N.Y. : the County in the Civil War > Part 56
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Burkhardt Hurter, 90th Inf. D.
George H. Fitch, 9th H. A. A Thomas J. Chaddock, 2d Lieut. 9th H. A. G.
Isaac Vanderpool, Corp. 9th H. A. H. Ethan B. Kellogg, 9th H. A. H.
Edgar A. Rawson, 3d Art. G. David H. Mann, Music., 192d Inf. D. William C. Rose, 24th Inf. C.
Asa L. Richardson, 75th Inf. F. Cornelius L. Groot, Asst. Surgeon 15th Engineers. Albert Snyder, 75th Inf. H. Philip Thomas, 9th H. A. A.
Charles D. Lent. 1st Lieut. 9th H. A. B David Hendrick, 9th H. A. H. Lewis Feeck, 9th Ohio Inf. D.
Charles Uhlrick, Corp. 9th H. A. C. Thomas Armstrong, 9th H. A. A.
William H. Snyder, Sergt. 9th H. A. K George Johnson, 65th Inf. A. Edgar J. Merrill, 9th H. A. A. Cyrus E. Fitch, Corp. 9th H. A. A. Owen Foster, 21st Ohio Inf. K Charles G. Oaks, 5th Wisconsin E. Roswell S. Tracy, 9th H. A. G. Frank Hayne, 1st Reg. M. Cav. L. Charles R. Hurst, 9th H. A. H. Edwin McCumber, 27th Inf. B. Frank J. Upson, Corp. 75th Inf. F. Hiram L. Munn, Sergt. 9th H. A. D. David T. Haywood, 75th Inf. B. James J. Johnson, 126th Inf. I. Frank Leroy, 81st Inf. B. Jonathan Neal, 9th H. A. A. Jabez Carter, 9th H. A. G. Judson H. Dowd, Q. M. Sergt. 10th Cav. E.
George Adams, 111th Inf. C. Merritt F. Fowler, 9th H. A. G. Frank M. Nichols, 111th Inf. B. Warren Drury, 75th Inf. H. James Towlerton, 9th H. A. G. William Johnson, 3d Art E.
O. P. Weeks, Sergt. 18th Kentucky Inf. G.
Beriah J. Worden, Sergt. 117th Inf. B. Austin Miller, 2d Art. I.
Volney H. Sweeting, 2d Lieut. 75th Inf. E. Albert Walmsley, 9th H. A. D. Dewitt M. Weeks, 2d M. R. L.
Matthew Gaffney, Seaman, Nav. Ser. Samuel M. Chesebro, 1st Lieut. 75th Inf. G.
George W. Brinkerlioof, Capt. 9th H. A. A.
Rev. H. L. Snow, 110th Inf. E. John Cook, 9th Inf. E.
Wm. Rogers, 9th H. A. B. James A. Merrill, 9th H. A. H. Robert Wolvin, 9th H. A. G.
James H. Brewster, 9th H. A. E.
George Loveless, 9th H. A. G Charles T. White, 147th Inf. D.
Wm. Taylor, 185th Inf. C. John E. Strait, 137th Inf. H.
Henry F. McIntyre, 160th Inf. C. Samuel J. Snow, 9th H. A. A. Nathaniel J. Field, 9th H. A. A. Timothy S. Fish, 111th Inf. (recruit). Frank M. Woodruff, 9th H. A. G. Joseph B. Casterline, 9th H. A. A. Richard Garrett, 9th H. A. H. Wm. B. Sayre, 111th Inf. H. David N. Hunter, 2d Provisional Cav. Charles Howland, Serg't 3d Art. I.
Miles B. Dakins, 111th Inf. F.
John Depew, 9th H. A. G. Wm. H. Rhinehart, 3d Art. I. Alfred K. Gamer, Corp. 81st Inf. H. Cyrus B. Longyear, 9th H. A. A.
John A. Reed, 75th Inf. G.
Wm. W. Upson, 44th Inf. Co. K, James H. Marvin, Serg't 9th H. A. G. George Sharp, 14th N. J. Mounted Rifles K.
Dexter D. Corey, Corp 94th Inf. A. Levi M. Rice, 50th Engineers, E. Edwin Eggnor, 9th H. A. G. William D. Potter, Corp. 54th Inf. C. Wm. Wood, Lieut .- Colonel 9th H. A. David D. Becker, 19th Inf. Co, I. Joseph E. Lawrence, 8th Mass. Inf. K. Francis L. Williams, 16th Art. E. Orlando Shaver, 96th Inf. D T. E. Mason, 7th Mich. Inf. K. Delavin R. Baldwin, 20th Cav. D. Irving Scott, 9th H. A. G. Charles H. Barker, 9th H. A. G.
Jacob Williams, 9th H. A. H. James Vandebergh, 9th H. A. A. John McCowles, 4th Cav. G. Melvin Streeter, 9th H. A. A. N. W. Merrill, 96th Inf. D. A. Henry Dudley, 9th H. A. A. James E. Palmer, Corp. 3d Art. C. Josiah Loveless, 75th Inf. H. Franklin Hurd, 4th Art. C. Charles Sharp, 96th Inf. F. Atlas Miller, 65th Inf. I.
Benjamin Wilson, Ass't Surg. U. S. A. Franklin Merrill, 75th Inf. G.
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Hiram Mecker, 9th H. A. A. Jacob Crounse, 9th H. A., C. James G. Wheeler, 75th Inf. B.
Maynard Terpenny, 9th H. A. H. Joseph Labuff, Corp. 160th Inf. B. John F. Snyder, 96th Inf. C.
Daniel A. Snyder, 110th Inf. C. Eleazer Duval, 160th Inf. C.
H. P. Lewis, 2d Art. B.
W. H. Merrill, 9th H. A. A.
H. B. Hallett, 9th H. A. H. Wm. T. Clark, 110th Regt. F. John Newland, 2d Art. M. Rev. L. F. Congdon. 21st Cav. K.
Aaron B. Chapman, 65th Inf. I. Andrew Michel, 8th Cav. G. Birney Briggs, 3d Art. E. Eugene F. Seymour, 146th Inf. G.
Hiram Taylor, 9th H. A. H. James Boyd, 2d H. A. L.
The Post owns forty stand of arms. They have a hall rented for a series of years, and well furnished. Since their organization they have each year conducted decoration ceremonies. May 30th, 1875, there was an address to sur- viving soldiers, by Colonel Anson S. Wood, and a Memorial Oration, by J. W. Hoag, Esq. In 1876, the oration was delivered by General John B. Murray, of Seneca Falls. In 1877, Hon. John M. Davy, of Rochester, pronounced the Annual Address. In 1878, the proceedings were more of an informal character, and brief addresses were given at the cemetery, by Revs. W. L. Page, R. H. Clark, and Matthew Gaffney. In 1879, Rev. William L. Page, delivered the Annual Address. In 1880, the proceedings were again varied, there being several short addresses by Revs. Cooper, Rice and Mills, and by Captain James H. Hyde. In 1881, a similar course was taken, remarks being made by Revs. Mills, Cooper, Dodd, and Devoe, and by E. M. Walker, Esq. In 1882, the Post called back to the platform one of their earlier orators, J. W. Hoag, Esq. Revs. Messrs. Congdon and Rice, also made brief remarks. In 1883, a general programme was prepared, which was commenced as our informant states, by singing from the Sunday-schools, and " closed by the rain driving all to a place of shelter, and dispersing the crowd."
Keeslar Post decorates thirty graves at Wolcott ; thirty-six in Huron ; fourteen in North Wolcott ; one in the Roe Ceme- tery ; two in Fitch Cemetery ; three in Miller's Cemetery ; seven at Butler Centre ; three in Hubbard's Cemetery ; four in Lovejoys, and fourteen at Westbury.
VOSBURGH POST, NEWARK.
Vosburgh Post, No. 99, was organized July 5th, 1879. In the movement to establish the Post, Colonel J. P. Foster, then Rector of the Episcopal Church, in Newark, Captain
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
E. K. Burnham, James E. Briggs, James Jones, of the Newark Union, and others, took an active part. Colonel Schooley, of Rochester, presided at the organization, assisted by members from Gordon Granger Post, of Phelps. The Post was named in honor of Dr. William B. Vosburgh, late Surgeon of the One Hundred and Eleventh Infantry. The first officers were :
C. A. Burt, C .; E. K. Burnham, S. V. C .; L. L. Rose, J. V. C .; Rev. J. P. Foster, Chap. and acting Q. M .; James Jones, Adjt. ; Charles Burchard, O. of D. ; E. B. S. Landon, O. of G .; F. M. Scott, I. G .; George Wright, O. G.
Officers of 1880-C. A Burt, C .; E. A. Burnham, S. V. C .; L. L. Rose. J. V. C .; Lafayette Congdon, Chap. ; J. P. Foster, Q. M. ; James Jones, Adjt. ; W. G. Burnham, Surg. ; S. A. Pyatt, O. of D. ; E. B. S. Landon, O. of G. ; L. W. Plass,* S. M .; F. M. Scott, Q. M. S.
Officers of 1881- E. K. Burnham, C .; S. B. VanDuzer, S. V. C .; Alfred Westfall, J. V. C .; Horace Crosby, Q. M .; William L. Sternberg, Adjt .; J. J. Cornwell, Surg. ; J. P. Foster, Chap. ; George Wright, O. of D. : Nathaniel Cook, O. of G .; Robert Randall, S. M .; E. B. S. Landon, Q. M. S.
Officers of 1882-E. K. Burnham, C .; James Jones, S. V. C .; John Van Dusen, J. V. C .; Horace Crosby, Q. M .; J. J. Cornwell, Adjt .; S. D. Burrows, Surg .; George H. Mills, O. of D .; Victor Leroux, O. of G. ; Robert Randall, S. M .; S. S. Richards, Q. M. S.
Officers of 1883-James Jones, C .; (died January 9, 1883), S. B. Van Duser, (to fill vacancy) ; John H. Van Dusen, S. V. C .; S. S. Burroughs, J. V. C .; Howard Burt, Chap .; Horace Crosby, Q. M .; Robert F. Randall, Adjt. ; Conrad WVeh, Surgeon, George H. Mills, O. of D. ; Victor Leroux, O. of G. ; David Lown, S. M. ; S. S. Richards, Q. M. S.
The following were charter members of Vosburgh Post : J. P. Foster, Col. 5th Cav. W. G. Burnham, Serg't 111th Inf. D. -
James L. Briggs, Capt. 94th Inf. H.
Oren E. Doty, 1st U. S. S. S. I.
Almon Baldwin.
James Jones, Com. Serg't 160th Inf. E. B. S. Landon, 111th Inf. G. H. J. Crosby, Corp. 5th Eng. C. George Wright, 1st Serg't 6th U. S. Č. T
Charles Burchard, 35th Ind. Inf. F. Patrick Dening.
A. H. Vanderbilt, Corp. 9tlı H. A. D. L. H. Carll, 1st Lieut. 8th Cav. M.
Thomas J. Jenkins, Serg't 111th E. K. Burnham, Capt. 111th Inf. D. Inf. E.
MEMBERS RECEIVED SINCE THE ORGANIZATION.
C. A. Burt, Lieut .- Col. 159th Inf. L. L. Rose, Paymaster U. S. A. Finley M. Scott, 1st H. A., C. T., A. William Dickinson, Corp. 2d M. R. F. Henry A. Shults, 9th H. A. G. Philip Bartholoniew, 160th Inf. A.
* Resigned and William L. Sternberg, appointed to fill the vacancy.
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
J. H. Van Dusen, Serg't 160th Inf. A. Howard Burt, 4th Cav. K. W. S. Doake, musician 160tlı Inf. A. S. D. Burroughs, Serg't 160th Inf. A. S. A. Pyatt, Lieut. 111th Inf. E. Edwin Booth, Serg't 2d Vet. Cav. M. S. B. Van Dusen, Bugler 2d M R. F. G. W. Phillips, 16th Mass. Inf. F. James Cook, 111th Inf. E. John Arnold, 160th Inf. D. Halsey Nichols, 169th Inf. E. Omer O. Stone, 20th Cav. E. Gilbert Whitbeck, Corp. 151st Penn. Inf. C.
Amos Baldwin, 50th Penn. Inf. D. Andrew Palmer, Corp. 117th Inf. H. M. W. Plass, 111th Inf. B. Charles Rosch, 48th Inf. I.
Daniel Heitz, 1st Vet Cav. E. Conrad Kellerhouse, 9th H. A. G. W. L. Willett, 147th Inf H. C. Hopkins, 2d Lieut. 1st Vet. Cav. I. S. W. Braman, 111th Inf. E. James A. Flint, Corp. 24th M. C. F. Robert Hunter, 22d Cav. H. William Heath, 160th Inf. A.
Wells Axtell, 7th Mich. Inf. F. John Patterson, 160th Inf. A. Lafayette Congdon, 22d Cav. K. Henry C. Price, Regimental Q. M. 160th Inf. John J. Cornwell, 111th Inf. D. Augustus Donk, 111th Inf. A. Robert F. Randall, 18th Ind. Battery. Alfred Westfall, 1st Vet. Cav. E. Andrew J. Mott, 2d M. R. F. Alfred Bailey, 9th A. C. Vet. H. James F. Groat. 160th Inf. A. William F. Steenburg, 135th Inf. D. William Hodgson, 111th Inf. E. James M. Coons, 111th Inf. H. Henry Eggleston, 33d Inf. C. Eugene A. Harrington, 8th Cav. C. George Cook, 160th Inf. A. Nathaniel Cook, 160th Inf. A Philip Heitz, 2d M. R. F. Darius Lake, 160th Inf. A.
Conrad Weh, 148th Inf. C. John Quinn, 33d Inf. B. Uriah Hutchins, 76th Inf. A, George M. Smith, 2d M. R. F. Charles P. Patterson, 9th H. A. Ralf Rogers, 17th Inf. Aaron Willis, U. S. Navy. James Bradley, 29th N. J. Inf. I. George Harvey, 4tlı H. A. A. Thomas Sweeney, 111th Inf. A. S. N. Keener, 160th Inf. A. Leman Purchase, 111th Inf. E. George H Mills, 148th Inf. C. Nathaniel Pierce, 1st Michigan L. Art. E.
Jacob Stever, Serg't 2d M.R.'F. Victor Leroux, Serg't 160th Inf. B. Joseph C. Armitage, Serg't 22d Cav. G. Wm. H. Stacy, 111th Inf. E. John H Kemper, Major 10th Cav. K. Wm H. Myers, 14th U S. Inf. H. Frank H. Spoor, Corp. 2d M. R. F. Henry Humeston, 16th Mich. Inf. G. Frederic Stell, 9th H. A. D. John Cohs, 160th Inf. A. Edwin Richmond, 111th Inf. D.
George Clark, 94th Inf. I.
Sidney A. Day, 14tlı Inf. I.
Charles H. Bigelow, 160th Inf. A.
Mathew Wolf, 160th Inf. A. John Gerdes, 160th Inf. A. John Gallagher, 56th Inf. C. Rufus Smith, 111th Inf. C. John H. Martin, 160th Inf. C. Calvin Pulver. 7th H. A. D. S. S. Richards, 10th H. A. E. William Jenkins, 8th Cav. C. Frank L. Thompson, 8th Cav. D. George Evans, Q. M. 2d M. R. Frederick Parks, 111th Inf. David Lown, 1st Conn. H. A. M. William B. Curtin, 50th Eng. A. Peter Merrick, 98th Inf. I. Philetus M. Skuss, 111th Inf C. James S. Horton, 111th Inf. D. Charles H. Sanford, 9th H. A. G. Albert H. Bull, Serg't 9th H. A. A. Henry C. Wood, Artificer 50th Eng. F.
William Lang, 24th Cav. C. Daniel E. Haskell. 8th Cav. L. Michael Weimer, 33d Inf. F. Jeremiah Fisher, 33d Inf. H. George Hoetzel, 9th H. A. B. David Ganebol, 9th H. A. D. Stephen Walters, 1st Vet. Cav. B. Hansom J. Smith, 126th Inf. C. Horace Hughson, 2d M. R. F. Theodore Tillotson, 50th Eng. M. C. C. Lusk, 111th Inf. George W. Tindall, 27th Inf. B.
Thomas Christley, 21st Cav. D. Charles Miller, 148th Inf. K.
William E. Greenwood, 1st Lieut. 9th H. A. B.
George H. Garlock, Serg't 160th Inf. A. Oliver Van Norman, 111th Inf. A.
William J. Dibble, 33d Inf A. Adam Appleman, Corp. 22d Cav. F. Washington Hathaway, Serg't 160th Inf. D.
Henry A. Ganze, Serg't 160th Inf. D. L. D. Coleman, 160th Inf. C. Edgar P. Hicks, 1st Vet. Cav. E. William Gleason, 24th Vet. Reserve, E. Baron A. Mead, 111th Inf. E.
Warren H. Gillett, 3d Light Art. I.
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Matthew Hildebrandt, 70th Inf. A. Robert M. Galusha, 8th Cav. F.
Charles Van Ostrand, 9th H. A. A. George M. Sweezey, 111th Inf. A.
The Post has taken much care to observe Decoration Day, with appropriate ceremonies. The oration in 1879, was delivered by Captain T. L. Brown ; in 1880, by Colonel C. A. Burt ; in 1881, by Rev. J. H. Moore ; in 1882, by Rev. A. Parke Burgess, and in 1883, by Rev. E. H. Edson.
FLAG PRESENTATION AT NEWARK, JULY 4, 1881-SPEECH OF HON. S. K. WILLIAMS.
" Commander, Officers and Members of Vosburgh Post-Veter- ans of the Late War-We are Assembled to do you Honor :- Twenty years ago this quiet village was startled from its slumbers by the report that rebels South had fired on the old flag ; it became full of the expectation and preparation of war. The sound of martial music was heard in our streets. Our young men came forward and enlisted. We said, " God bless them," and they went away. They went to encounter the hardships of war. They parted from home. They left the joys and peace of a father's house. They left the tender ministrations of a mother. They left the family circle. They left brothers and sisters around the family altar. They left all the sweets and quiet of home. They plunged into the midst of the dire conflict of war. They went where hardship was the daily life. Tenderly nurtured, they slept on the ground through the searching rain, amid the cold of autumn nights. They went away into the smoke and roar of contending ranks. They looked to Heaven for their guide. They trusted to God. Away from their friends, entering into the very ante-chamber of another world, the field of battle, where it was but the step of a bullet's swiftness into the unseen world which their comrades were daily entering, they learned willingly to obey their marching orders, whether they led them into the fire of the enemy or into that unseen world. They became familiar with death. He became their friend; their con-
stant companion. They dreaded him not. He was so familiar that of him they had no fear. He was with them daily. In the Southern forests ; amid swampy vapors ; on the lonely picket-guard ; in the advance of battle ; amid the roar of contending armies ; under the thick smoke of artil- lery ; with the remorseless bullet; the miasmas of an unhealthy and pestiferous climate; the slow starvation of Southern prisons, more cruel than the elements, and less pitiful than cannon and shell and ball, death was their con- stant companion ; pain, suffering, privation were their daily food.
45
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
" They returned no more. The homes that looked for them, and held wide their open doors for their entrance, received them no more. The friend, the lover, the father, the mother, the brother, who waited for them, and ever cast longing looks southward for their return, waited in vain. The telegraphic dispatch said, ' died in battle,' 'lost,' ' missing,' ' in hospital,' 'severely wounded.' Some returned. Some with only a part of their bodies-a leg, an arm, both legs, both arms, left behind, buried, or left to bleach on Southern soil.
" O, who shall recount the suffering, the heroism, the self- sacrifice, the bravery, the unfinishing endurance, the noble self-devotion of those heroes, comrades. Language fails. Imagination fails. Words fail. The power of human expression is unequal to the task. None but an all-seeing eye could know ; none but an eternal pen could record ; none but an infinite imagination could conceive the suffering, the hardship endured. A few are returned to us. You, com- rades, friends, neighbors, braves, are still with us. You are the remnants, the sole representatives of all the youth, and strength, and manhood, and high hopes that went out from among us. Can we honor you too much? Can we show our appreciation of your courage, your devotion, your giv- ing yourselves to your country, for us, too much ? Never !
" Well do I remember those scenes of enlistment, of nightly gatherings, of patriotic utterances. I recall with pride, and mention it with an honest and, I trust, pardonable satisfaction, that I was chairman of the War Committee dur- ing those years, and exercised my influence as to who should occupy the position of captain, of major, of colonel, of sergeant, and faithfully aided many a wish or plan of the boys. I recently found records showing large amounts raised by citizens of this town, and paid towards bounties ; signed by myself, William T. Barney and P. W. Kenyon, the War Committee. You will pardon me in this; for by this reminiscence I seek onlyto stand with you-not so honored as you-but simply one of the attendants on your glorious band.
" That you may remain long with us, that your later days of life may be filled with comfort, with respect from others, with honor; that your names may be enrolled on the list of those whose names are written on high, and who shall finally listen to the roll-call and to the welcome of the Captain of our salvation, when you shall rejoin the friends gone before, is our hearty wish. It has fallen to me to be the one to present to you an emblem of our appreciation, a nicely embroidered, elegant specimen of the glorious old Flag. It
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
is not like those tattered ensigns that you brought home from the war. It is pierced with no enemy's bullet. It is not grim with the smoke of conflict. Its staff has not been shot asunder by a rebel ball. It is not stained with the blood of any hero, shed to protect it from falling into an enemy's possession. No young hand has loosened its grasp from it in death. No young eye, dimmed and filmy, has cast a last glance at its silken stars. It has not been rescued from the enemy. No such associations cluster around it. It is fair, bright, and pleasant to look upon. Its colors are brilliant. The blue is unfaded. The white is untarnished, like your records. The stars are all there, thanks to your bravery. They count thirty-eight. Some have been added since you fought to keep those on it, there. Live worthy of it. It is not entirely of earthly composition. Its stars are from heaven. Its azure is from the sky.
" ' Flag of the free heart's hope and home, By angel hands to valor given; Thy stars have lit the welkin dome, And all thy hues were born in heaven.'
"I wish I could recount the names of those whose lives have been lost in thy defence-those heroes who went out from among us never to return. I speak not now of the living. We can honor you while living among us, and recount your virtues when dead. But the look of the old flag, with these associations, brings up the shadowy land, unseen, eternal, more real, because eternal-the names of those who have gone down under thy folds-the glorious achievements of war-the heroes, the self-forgetfulness, the unselfish sacrifice.
" 'Peace to the slumberers ; They lie on the battle plain, With no shroud to cover them ; The dew and the rain Are all that weep over them.'
" You remember them. The noble, brave Captain Andrew Wilson, of the first company from this town-Company A, Seventeenth Regiment-a good fighter and in earnest ; wounded in the swamps, in the battles of Virginia, in his sword-arm, and afterwards his left thigh broken by a ball, laying in the rain all Saturday night, and again all Sunday night beside the road in the enemy's lines; taken through the lines to Alexandria. He said to a friend weeping near him, before his brave spirit left his body, already mortifying by his wounds, that he did not regret that he gave his life : " ' Weep not. I do not regret that I am about to die ; that I have given my life in the service. I had rather be as I am than to be back in my office, and have had nothing to do with this war.'
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
" Bartlett Brown, killed at Gettysburgh. When ordered to take the place of a wounded comrade, on skirmish line in face of the enemy, bidding his comrades farewell, know- ing the fate he was going to, had not been out 20 minutes when he was shot and killed, willing to surrender his life at his country's demand.
" James E. Brown, private, starved to death in Salisbury prison. He died a raving maniac.
" Lieutenant Richard Taylor, of the Eighth New York Cavalry, killed at Sheridan's raid, at Richmond.
" I mention these as types of others not less meritorious, only not mentioned because I have not the facts in regard to them. I cannot mention, for I have not the material, one in hundreds of those who thus gave their lives, of the boys who went from this town, all equally worthy of mention. I wish I could. I would commend to some historian of your Post, to preserve in written form the names and worthy achievements of each one of those of our citizens whose lives thus ceased. Their deeds are written all over the Southern soil. Their mouldering remains mark and hallow the march of our army and its victories.
"' Ah, never shall the land forget How gushed the life-blood of her brave- Gushed, warm with the hope and courage yet, Upon the soil they sought to save.'
"' How sleep the brave, who sink to rest, By all their country's wishes blessed ! When Spring, with dewy fingers cold, Returns to deck their hallowed mould, She then shall dress a sweeter sod Than Fancy's feet have ever trod.
By fairy hands their knell is rung ; By forms unseen their dirge is sung ; There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray, To bless the turf that wraps their clay ; And Freedom shall awhile repair, To dwell a weeping hermit there!'
" The money contributed for this flag with great willing- ness, has been limited by the ladies soliciting to small amounts, so that many could participate. All have united ; old ladies ninety years of age; children of dead soldiers, some giving their carefully saved pleasure money ; soldiers' widows, whose memories are sad with the events that occurred under its folds ; from the people of this village and town, and some from the neighboring town of Palmyra. Nearly two hundred individuals have united in this tribute of respect. You will remember that it is not given grudg- ingly, but freely, and you will retain it as the silent memor- ial offered by gratitude to the Saviors of our Country.
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MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Let its motto, 'The love of country conquers,' remain in your breasts, and may you take from it a fresh inspiration of devotion to the land it floats over. Veterans (citizens,) comrades, friends ! You have set us a worthy example for the preservation of Liberty, to be remembered for long years to come.
" ' Freedom's battle once begun, Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son, Though baffled oft, is ever won.'
" Take, then, this flag. as a memorial of your past services. It is given by the grateful hearts of the ladies and citizens of Arcadia, and some from East Palmyra, to the brave defenders of the nation's honor, the nation's liberty, our property, our lives, our homes. Preserve it unsullied. The stars on it are undiminished. They are undimmed by national dishonor. You have kept them bright and untarn- ished.
" ' Forever float that standard sheet ! Where breathes the foe, but falls before us, With Freedom's soil beneath our feet,
And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us.'
" This is a day mingled with sadness and rejoicing com- bined, as one of the principal defenders of the Flag, Presi dent Garfield, lies stricken down by the assassin's bullet. It is to be hoped that the President may recover. And I express here your and my sympathy, and anxious and earn- est solicitude for him and his family, and the nation in its hour of distress."
REPLY OF COMMANDER E. K. BURNHAM.
" Hon. S. K Williams :- In behalf of William B. Vosburgh Post, allow me, through you, to return to the ladies and citizens our sincere thanks for this beautiful Flag you have presented us. We shall always cherish it with a true soldier's devotion for the flag of his country. Yes, and even more, for while the old Stars and Stripes is always dear to us, in whatever form or material it may appear, this beautiful silk emblem has clustering about it that which will make it doubly precious to the members of Vosburgh Post.
" We remember, when at the front enduring the hard- ships and privations of a soldier's life, upon the march, the skirmish line, the field of battle, or with shattered limb or wasting constitution in hospital and prison pens, the good, loyal ladies all over the North, through the Ladies' Sanitary Commission, and other organizations, were continually send- ing to us the thousand and one things that helped to make our lot more comfortable, our hardships more endurable, and the continuance of life in many a poor wounded soldier possible. In this good work they were ably seconded by
670
MILITARY HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
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