USA > New York > The Ninth regiment, New York volunteers (Hawkins' zouaves); being a history of the regiment and veteran association from 1860 to 1900 > Part 28
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" And I now take great pleasure to call up 'our Tom Flocton,' who was equally handy with both bugle and musket, to use the same old bugle with which he sounded the charge upon this field, to sound out once more upon this historic ground, whose soil was drenched by the blood of so many of his comrades, the 'assembly', once so familiar to us and so pleas- ant to remember."
After the "assembly " had been sounded the
498 NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
President introduced Rev. Joseph M. Richards, as one formerly a private in Company F, of the Ninth, and a good and true soldier of the Republic, and who had for many years been enlisted in another army, that of the Prince of Peace. Mr Richards offered the following prayer :
"Our Father, Thou whose throne is in the heavens, yet whose glory and majesty and power is seen in all things which Thou hast created, and whose love is realized and under- stood and felt, because of the providences with which Thou hast surrounded our being, we come into Thy presence with uncovered heads and bowed hearts, glad that we may acknowl- edge Thee to be our Father; and as we approach into Thy presence we come remem- bering not only all the dangers and vicissitudes which once surrounded our lives in this place, but we come remembering too all the mercies and goodnesses which have followed our lives hitherto. WVe thank Thee that thou dost not only permit us, but has graciously invited us to come to Thee, and not only come to Thee, but with prayer and supplication make known our wants and our requests. Therefore on this glad occasion, and at the very threshold of these services we ask Thy presence and Thy blessing upon all the exercises of this hour,
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COMRADE RICHARDS INVOCATION.
upon all Thy servants here before Thee, and upon all these comrades who have met after the lapse of years in a scene fraught with such grand and far reaching significance, while its surroundings are filled with the memories of a terrible carnage. Grant, our Father, that the memories of this hour, memories of marches and battles, memories of deliverances, memories of comrades whose forms are scattered on this once fearful battlefield, may inspire us to a more heroic devotion to Thee, and a more faithful consecration of our lives, and a more steadfast performance of our duties on earth. Bless, with the blessing which Thou only can bestow, the members of this regiment and friends here present, and while our heads are bowed, and we remember how many homes were made desolate on this battlefield, we ask too, thy blessing upon the widows and orphans who yet remain. Bless our country, and grant that justice and truth, unity and love, peace and prosperity may abound throughout its length and breadth. Guard it in the future as Thou hast in the past, and grant that it may be an example to all nations. Cement us together in the bonds of peace ; make us more and more one people, and may thy blessing be upon it forever. And, our Father, when the march of our individual life is halted, when the last
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battle to be fought is ended, and the victory won, grant, we pray Thee, that we may enter into an eternal bivouac in Thy Kingdom above. We ask it in His name, who taught us when we prayed to say, ' Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven ; give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever and ever, Amen."
The President then introduced Lieutenant M. J. Graham, with the following remarks :
"It is fitting that in the dedication of this memorial the Grand Army of the Republic shall take part in the ceremony. And it is sentimentally fortunate and most appropriate that we have with us to-day an esteemed com- rade whom we all honor, and who upon this spot performed brave and honorable service which made him a cripple for the rest of his life.
" He is now at the head of a Grand Army Post, named in honor of one of our brave lieutenant-colonels, who was killed while in the service of his country.
" It is now my pleasurable duty, tinged with
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LIEUTENANT GRAHAM'S INTRODUCTION.
the sadness of memories of far off sorrows, to present Lieutenant Matthew J. Graham, who will conduct the Grand Army part of the cere- monies."
Lieutenant Graham's remarks were as fol- lows :
"Friends and Comrades :-- To-day is the festi- val of our dead. We unite to honor the memory of our brave and our beloved, to en- rich and ennoble our lives by recalling a public heroism and a private worth that are immortal, to encourage, by our solemn service, a more zealous and stalwart patriotism. Festival of our dead ! Yes, though many eyes are clouded with tears, though many hearts are heavy with regret, though many lives are still desolate be- cause of the father or brother, the husband or lover who did not come back; though every grave which a tender reverence or love adorns with flowers is the shrine of a sorrow whose influence is still potent. Despite it all, to-day is a festival-a festival of our dead. No less a festival because it is full of solemnity.
"And now, as in this silent camping ground of our dead, with soldierly tenderness and love, we dedicate this, our monument, let us recall those who made their breasts a barricade be- tween our country and its foes. Let us recall their toils, their sufferings, their heroism, their
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supreme fidelity in camp, in prison-pen, on the battlefield, and in hospital, that the flag under which they fought, and from the shadow of whose folds they were promoted, may never be dishonored; that the country for whose union and supremacy they surrendered life, may have the fervent and enthusiastic devotion of every citizen ; that, as we stand in this place as before an altar, we may pledge our manhood that, so help us God, the memory of our dead shall en- courage and strengthen in us all a more loyal patriotism."
Colonel Hawkins' then addressed those pres- ent as follows :
"Ladies and Gentlemen, and Comrades of the Ninth New York :- To be permitted to express upon this field a greeting of welcome to the surviving members of the regiment I had the honor to command is the most interesting and gratifying duty I have ever been called upon to perform. I share with you all the conflicting emotions of pleasure and sadness which fill our hearts as we gaze upon the faces once so familiar to us, and recall to our minds the many stirring scenes in the far off past in which we participated. Although but a remnant of the patriotic band remains, the old spirit sur- vives.
" The heart-throbs of youth are weakened by
OPENING ADDRESS BY COLONEL HAWKINS. 303
age, but the bond of affectionate comradeship is as strong as ever ; time has not affected that, and never will. The chain forged upon battle- fields which binds together the men of the Ninth New York Volunteers can never be broken.
"This is characteristic and as it should be ; and now here, upon this to us dearest spot on earth, let us renew our fealty to each other and the sacred memories of the past, which are so honorably interwoven with out military ser- vices, and which are the brightest jewels in our carthly crown. The incident which has brought us together is only a part of what has gone before. It is perfectly natural that we should meet upon this field appropriately to honor the bravery of our companions who here gave up their lives.
"Holding prominent place in the earliest known record of human achievements, we find reference to monuments erected to perpetuate memories of heroic deeds and notable events in the history of nations. From a most remote period the custom of monument building has been handed down to the present, ever ac- cumulating strength rather than diminishing, and to-day it may be safely claimed for our countrymen that during the last half of the nineteenth century they have surpassed all
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. other nations in the number of memorials they have erected to keep alive in the hearts of the generations to come the thrilling story of the heroism of those citizen soldiers who fought for the preservation of a government, es- tablished for the purpose of continuing our political experiment in the interest of constitu- tional liberty.
"It may be said that the culmination, as to magnitude, simple grandeur, beauty of indi- vidual examples and perfected artistic purity, was realized by the Greek architects and sculptors who wrought during the supreme Hellenic period. The matchless proportions and refined details of their wondrous concep- tions formed a fitting crown to a civilization which fostered the cultivation of the heroic and beautiful as had never been done before or since. The Greeks of that time, by reason of their appreciation of the beautiful in art and its ennobling and refining influence upon their nation, occupy the exceptional position in the history of races and peoples which no lapse of time can efface.
"Running in parallel lines throughout the history of civilization, we find love of the beau- tiful and worship of the heroic joined together, the ever-reminding evidence of the presence of those higher and better qualities of our imperfect
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COLONEL HARKINS ADDRESS.
natures, which lift humanity to a plane above the commonplace of a merely material exist- ence.
" This companionship of the artistic with the heroic has taught us that the office of the beau- tiful and noble in art is to give living and enduring expression to the heroism of the
Art is the recording agent of great ยท ages.
deeds. To the hero worship within us we owe the incentive that inspired the illustrious masters of the arts of all times -imperishable masterpieces which have excited the admiration of succeeding ages and kept alive in the hearts of generations living memories of man's great- est achievements.
"To-day, in our humble and imperfect way, we assist to continue the beautiful custom born of antiquity.
"The solemn and impressive magnitude of the work before us will attest for many generations to come the love and respect a people bear for our brave comrades who nearly thirty-five years ago laid down their lives upon this never fading field of honor; not only a field of honor for those who fell face to the foe, but for those who fought shoulder to shoulder with them. Many have since fallen by the way, but those here to-day who tread again this sacred soil testify their love and loyalty for the dead
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of their regiment, who here gave their lives for a cause they had sworn to promote and maintain.
"This simple memorial, fashioned out of a people's gratitude and placed by our loving hands, will stand a silent sentinel, ever jealously watching over the blood-enriched soil of this sanguinary field. And although silent, yet a living and imperishable record of one of the most thrilling pages in the history of man's sacrifice for a truly exalted ideal.
" Although more than thirty-four years have passed since the tragic event we now com- memorate, we remember that awful day and the unspeakable slaughter. And we remember too, that it was unnecessary, and our victory brought no perceptible result. Thrust unwit- tingly forward to a position of exceptional danger, face to face with the forces of armed rebellion greatly outnumbering an already depleted command, unsustained by adequate supporting force, our devoted regiment encoun- tered almost alone the concentrated fire of superior numbers, which nearly annihilated its thinned ranks, until there was left but a rem- nant to tell the tale of horror through which it had passed. This was but one link in the chain that dragged through years of needless slaughter; one of the results that marked the
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RETROSPECTION.
unnecessarily slow progress of a merciless war. "In history, Antietam stands for our most sanguinary and earnestly contested single day's battle, and was attended with the largest pro- portion of fatalities. Like many battles of our Civil War, it was fought without preconceived plan or definite aim, and ended barren of the hard-earned results which, if garnered, might have finished the war. At best it was a con- test of accidents, fought in detached patches, without cohesion of lines, at different hours of the day, when subordinate officers and the rank and file made immortal records, seldom equaled and never surpassed. It was not the fault of the Army of the Potomac that its com- mander failed to perceive or to take advantage of the victory his command had thrust upon him.
"Under the circumstances then existing, to permit the army of Northern Virginia to recross the Potomac was an unpardonable neglect. It amounted in its results to a crime against a patriotic people whose blind confidence in in- competent leaders was only equaled by their ignorance of military affairs. The capture of any considerable part of the Confederate Army at that time would have placed Richmond at the mercy of the Army of the Potomac. Then the end of the war would have been a matter of
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. months instead of years. The incidents we- now recall are beyond correction. > They have passed into the boundless province of history, and we can only say, 'Let the dead bury the dead.'
"While never forgetting the great sorrow which came to us with the reopened knowl- edge of our mighty sacrifice, we must consider the patriotic cause for which it was made and not hold ourselves responsible for the outward misfortunes of war.
"Now, however. more than a third of a cen- tury after Antietam was fought, consolation has come to their companions who survive. We have witnessed how sincerely they who fell were mourned. We know what they did is gratefully appreciated, and are sure that the future will not forget their heroic deeds.
"In all ages the luster which gathers around the memories of those who fall upon the field of battle stands out from the accumulating mists of time as the great signal stations in the histories of nations, emphasizing the ever-pres- ent heroic attributes of the human race. And so it is with those whose heroism we honor to- day. They have joined that silent and cease- less procession which leads to immortality."
When the hearty applause which greeted these remarks had ceased, Colonel Hawkins
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UNVEILING THE MONUMENT.
announced that the time for unveiling the monument had arrived. In introducing Miss Lillian Elsie Horner, to whom the honor of re- moving the flag had been assigned, he said :
"For this occasion we are compelled to call upon one of the second generation to assist in our dedicating ceremonies: We have with us the daughter of one of our most affectionately esteemed comrades. As a non-commissioned officer, he came within a half of a mile of being in the first battle of the rebellion, and as major of a regiment was in the last fight on Southern soil. Not content with serving his full term in the Ninth and being mustered out as an officer covered with honor, he again entered the ser- vice of his country and in time became the major of the 17th New York Veteran Volun- teer Infantry.
"I am sure we are all happy to have him with us upon this almost sacred occasion. Hale, hardy, vigorous, and, if need be, quite as full of fight as ever. I now take great pleas- ure in presenting Miss Lillian Horner, the daughter of Maj. James B. Horner, and call upon her to uncover this monument."
Miss Horner wore a costume which was both unique and beautiful in effect, being fashioned out of the National flag, and as she stepped forward to perform her part in the ceremony,
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510 NINTH REGIMENT. NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
her appearance was so graceful and striking that it brought forth rapturous applause from the assemblage. . Seizing the cords which con- trolled the covering of the monument, she said:
"To the memory of the brave men of the Ninth New York Infantry-Hawkins' Zouaves -who fought upon this field, and especially to those who died here that their country might live, we now dedicate this monument."
The flags were removed, the act being ac- companied with the applause of the assembled veterans, and the monument was disclosed in all its beauty, simplicity and stateliness. It is of Barre, Vt., granite, in four pieces, of simple design and imposing dimensions, and of suffi- cient proportionate breadth for its height of fifty-two feet. It consists of a monolith on an admirably proportioned die and base. The monolith is forty feet long, tapering from four and a half feet at the base to three and a half feet at the top, and said to be the largest single block of granite ever quarried at Barre. On each panel of the die is an inscription. On the first, 'under the words "Toujours Pret," the motto of the regiment, appears, "Erected by the State of New York to the memory of the Ninth New York Infantry (Hawkins' Zouaves) who fought on this field September 17th, 1862."
The others are:
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THE MONUMENT.
"About 2 P. M., having forded Antietam Creek, the regiment, meeting with desperate resistance, advanced to this position and held it until ordered elsewhere."
"The greatest mortality occurred near this position, where the regiment contended with a superior force of infantry and artillery."
"Members present for duty in action, 373; killed, 54; wounded, 158; missing, 28. Total loss, 240. Two companies were detailed and engaged elsewhere and did not participate in the advance."
The President, Colonel Hawkins, introduced the orator of the day, as follows:
"Among the younger of those who enlisted in our regiment, and performed good service, was one who has lived to arrive at a mature estate and now holds an honorable position among his fellowmen. He was of those who though younger than the law required for mili- tary service, could not be held back from the carrying out of a determined patriotic purpose. Law or no law, he had made up his mind to go into the army and fight for his country.
"This boy-soldier was destined to survive and to become a soldier in another and a greater army, where he could exercise a wider field for the benefit of his kind.
"He is known as the Reverend Clark Wright,
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of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and I now take great pleasure in presenting him to you as the orator of the day."
After receiving a flattering greeting from his old comrades, the Reverend ex-Zouave spoke as follows :
" Comrades of the Ninth New York Volunteers, 'Hawkins' Zouaves :' 1
"Ladies and Gentlemen :- On this battlefield the heroic deeds of the honored sons of the Empire State greet you! We gather to mark the spot where they fell, and dedicate this monument that shall tell to future generations the heroism, fidelity and courage of the faithful soldiers of the State of New York.
" The greatest mortality in one day, of all the battles that have been fought in the New World, transpired on this battlefield thirty-four years ago. During the war of 1861 to 1865 there were 112 battles fought, where the mortality exceeded 500, but here, on this, the bloodiest battlefield of the war, the combined loss of both armies was nearly 25,000 men.
"We come to-day, not to glorify ourselves nor to depreciate the brave men who met us on this sanguinary field, but are here to speak in behalf of the men who, coming from their peaceful homes in our native State, willingly sacrificed their lives that the Union might be
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ORATION OF REV. CLARK WRIGHT.
unimpaired, that our flag should float unsullied, without one star dimmed, and the Republic continue to live among the nations of the earth.
"We gather to do honor to those whose blood flowed freely on this spot, while these hills around us were the last scene their eyes beheld ere they closed in death. We come to speak for those whose lips are silent, and tell the present generation of deeds performed by them, equaling in heroism and devotion Mara- thon or Thermopyla, Horatious at the Bridge, or the old Guard at Waterloo. We come to speak of the American soldier at Antietam.
"Some things never die. They live on in enduring immortality while the sun continues to shine and the earth revolves in its orbit. The good men do; the self-sacrifice, devotion to duty, consecration to a patriotic work will live as the story of heroism and fidelity is repeated from one generation to another, and will be a monument to the memory of the fallen heroes, more enduring than this beau- tiful monolith of granite, or the bronze tablet upon which their names are inscribed. And while we, their comrades, who knew them so well. who stood by their side on this and other battlefields, are here with the accredited repre- sentatives of the Legislature of the State of New York, who erected this memorial to mark
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the spot on this bloody battlefield where they fell, let us rejoice that their memory has a more enduring monument in the Republic that lives, in the Union unbroken, in the starry flag without stain upon its escutcheon, which their heroic acts and vicarious death perpetu- ated, as we remember, their deeds will be forever enshrined in the hearts of their country- men.
"With gentle tread and bated breath we come to look upon the scene around us, for we know we are on holy ground, reverently, devoutly, we stand here in the midst of this, the nation's holy of holies, a place consecrated as no human lips can consecrate the earth, as no waters scattered by the hand of man can hallow the soil, for it was here on this spot the last prayer, the last sign, the last breath, the last drop of blood came from the patriot's heart making this place forever sacred, as his life- blood baptized the ground with a baptism that shall forever regenerate the nation, banishing disunion and sectional strife, and exalting the American Republic to the highest pinnacle of greatness among the nations of the earth.
"Any words poor human lips can utter can- not add to the sanctity nor enhance the record of the honor and glory of the brave men who, coming from their peaceful homes in New
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ORATION OF REV. CLARK WRIGHT.
York, paid the greatest price mankind can pay, even the last drop of blood in their bodies, that future generations might enjoy the freedom and happiness found on the broad domain of this fair land and protection wherever its starry flag may wave.
" Who were these men ? Nearly all the men composing our regiment were graduates of the public school, of all trades and professions, averaging twenty-one years of age. In the ranks were those who could build a locomotive, edit a newspaper, survey the land, pilot a steamship across the ocean, conduct a case at law, preach a sermon, direct a commercial house or command a regiment. Men of intel- lectual power, brave as the bravest, gentle as women ; men who could treat the enemy with clemency in the day of victory, manifest mag- nanimity in the hour of power, who could philosophize and find encouragement amid dark reverses; who decked manhood and truth with a halo, patriotism and martyrdom with a glory that can never fade, and a self- sacrificing devotion that causes the whole world who know their story to exclaim: 'These died, not for themselves, but for their country!' They had no old world aristocratic lineage ed through effeminate dukes, counts, or lords, but far nobler, they were American
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citizens who, with face to the foe and breast exposed to the deathful fire of a determined enemy, stood for the right as God showed them the right, in defense of home, freedom, and native land, until all who saw the heroism displayed on this spot rise and place a chaplet of fame and glory upon the grave of these true sons of New York, and write their epitaph in a word that means more than star or garter, ribbon or decoration, as. we, their comrades, inscribe upon the tablet that marks their rest- ing place the words: 'These were men; men who were true to God, their duty and their sacred honor.' This is the character of those who fought in the ranks of the Ninth New York, Hawkins' Zouaves, on this spot, more than thirty-four years ago.
" How different our surroundings to-day from that of September 17, 1862. To-day the birds sing sweetly in the tops of the trees that in other days were mutilated by shot and shell. The husbandman peacefully reaps the fruit of the soil while the children sit quietly at our feet and listen to our story of the battle of Antietam.
" Let us briefly'recall some of the scenes that crowded these fields with the troops of two hostile armies.
"General McClellan, in his official report of
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ORATION OF REV. CLARK WRIGHT.
Antietam, states: 'Nearly 200,000 men were for fourteen hours engaged in combat.' The Offi- cial Record states that General McClellan's army was composed of the following :
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