USA > Virginia > Post-bellum campaigns of the blue and gray, 1881-1882 > Part 6
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"I have a patriotic veneration for Virginia, for on her mater- nal bosom was nourished the hopes of the infant republic, and from the memory of her distinguished sons there springs an in- spiration to a loftier destiny for America. It is a hundred and six years since you last visited us as a representative body, when led by the greatest of all Virginians, with shoeless feet and foodless bodies, you assisted in dealing a blow that kindled anew the dying spark of an expiring cause.
"It was just yonder, in this street, within sound of my voice, that the gallant young James Monroe, with his command, assaulted and captured Rahl's battery, while over there a body of Virginia infantry flanked and cut off the retreat of a Hessian Regiment in their flight toward Princeton. Yes, Virginia is securely and richly enclosed in the historic past, while the future is aglow with a new era of material prosperity ; boundless in mineral wealth, new and distant enterprizes are plotting to pluck it from her hillsides; while through her valleys course innumera- ble streams, pleading in liquid utterance for the wheels to turn their beauty to good account.
" But, gentlemen, I must not detain you, and let me again assure you that you are welcome, thrice welcome, to the capital of New Jersey, and that the heart of the people is in this greeting. And fondly let us congratulate each other that the ship of State is riding peacefully and majestically on the golden stream of national prosperity, and that Massachusetts and South Carolina, Virginia and New Jersey, and all the Brotherhood of States, are on the quarter deck ready for united action."
The order to attack was obeyed with a prompt- ness and zeal that betokened the fearlessness of the men, and attested the confidence they had in the caterer, which might be described in the words of Tennyson slightly modified : " Was there a man dismayed ? No! for the soldier knew, No one had blundered."
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On a handsome card was the bill of fare. On the front of the cover was the following :
" Reception to Old 1st Va. Infantry, Otey Battery and Howitzer Associations, of Richmond, Va., by Aaron Wilkes Post, No. 23, G. A. R., Auxiliary Corps and Citizens of Trenton, N. J., April 12, 1882, at Trenton House."
And on the back were the words " Welcome Old Dominion," beneath which, in a fancy border, were two hands clasped, and the Grand Army Badge. On the inside was the following :
" Menu .- Oysters-on Shell. Soup - Consomme. Delaware Shad-Baked. Boiled Turkey-Oyster Sauce. Roast Sirloin of Beef. Potatoes, Spinach, Green Corn, Green Peas, Tomatoes. Cold Ham, Alamode Beef, Cold Tongue. Chicken Croquettes, Terrapin. Lettuce Salad, Lobster Salad. Canvas Back Duck- Currant Jelly. Neapolitan Ice Cream, Chocolate Ice Cream, Vanilla Ice Cream, Wine Jelly, Lemon Jelly, Charlotte Russe. Assorted Cake, Chocolate Glace. Oranges, Apples, Raisins, Ba- nanas, Figs, Dates. Paper-Shell Almonds, English Walnuts, Pecans. Coffee. Sherry, Whiskey, Claret, Champagne."
After the good things had been disposed of, and the popping of corks had been sounding for some time, as Washington Irving has it, “breaking through the chills of ceremony and selfishness, and thawing every heart into a flow," Senator Taylor called for order, and read the following letters, expressive of the regret of their writers at their inability to be present :
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA : GOVERNOR'S OFFICE.
RICHMOND, VA., April 8th, 1882.
Colonel William H. Palmer, Chairman, &c .: DEAR SIR :
I am in receipt of your favor of the 5th instant, conveying an
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invitation to accompany the Old First Regt., the Howitzers and the Otey Battery, on their excursion to Trenton, N. J. With re- gret I am compelled to decline. I cannot leave Richmond at present without neglecting important public duties. Otherwise it would give me great pleasure to participate in an occasion which cannot fail to be pleasant and productive of good results. With thanks for the courtesy of remembrance and for the polite manner in which you have communicated it, I am
Resp'y and truly yours,
WILLIAM E. CAMERON.
MAYOR'S OFFICE, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA,
April 11th, 1882.
Col. Wm. H. Palmer, President ; C. C. Bridges, Esq., Secretary, Confederate Associations, Richmond, Va. :
I esteem it a special honor to receive an invitation from an as- sociation of such heroes to accompany them to visit another asso- ciation of like veteran American heroes at Trenton, New Jersey.
My regret at being unable to go is so deep as to be painful, because I know of no more gratifying and ennobling occasion than when the different groups of an American family meet together to show the world what real national fraternity exists in our country.
Then, too, I am convinced that no group of our National family know better how to show forth the full courtesies and pleasures of such an occasion, than the true and tried sons of gallant New Jersey.
Yet with all my admiration for the associations which are to meet, and with all my earnest desire to be with them, the circum- stances now surrounding prevent me gratifying my wishes.
Please accept my grateful thanks for your kind consideration ; and bear to our brother veterans of New Jersey the assurance of their warm welcome here, when they can again give our people occasion to show it. It is useless to wish you a joyous or happy time, for that is assured to every one who falls into the hands of New Jersey people as a guest.
Yours, very gratefully,
W. C. CARRINGTON, Mayor.
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From Colonel Marshall, chief of staff, to Gen- eral R. E. Lee :
BALTIMORE, 8th April, '82. MY DEAR COLONEL :
Your invitation to accompany the Richmond military on the occasion of their visit to the Aaron Wilkes Post, G. A. R., of Trenton, was received to-day, and I return my sincere thanks to you and the committee for the honor conferred upon me, and par- ticularly for the pleasure it gives me to know that I am remem- bered by the brave men of the several famous commands repre- sented by the committee.
It is my pride and happiness to know that I was the comrade of the men of the glorious Old First Virginia, the Richmond Howitzers, and the Otey Battery, in the memorable battles when they won their imperishable renown; and I should take the greatest pleasure in meeting with them in visiting the brave soldiers, whose guests they are to be, once our honorable enemies, but now, I trust, to be forever our countrymen and friends ; but, unfortunately, I am engaged in the trial of a case which will cer- tainly not be concluded in time for me to join you at Trenton.
Let me assure you, however, my dear colonel, that my sympa- thy and good-will accompany my dear old comrades in their mission of peace and friendship as sincerely as they went with them in the days of old on the field of battle.
Yours, sincerely, CHARLES MARSHALL.
COL. PALMER, Chairman.
RICHMOND, April 12th, 1882.
To the Commander of Aaron Wilkes Post, G. A. R., Trenton, N. J. : MY DEAR SIR :
Nothing has caused me more regret than my inability to be among those who leave our city to-day to enjoy your generous hospitality. But, sir, although absent, I hope that the few of your noble fellows whose acquaintance I made while here will recollect me, and accept from me the assurance that only inexorable neces-
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sity prevents me being with you to-day. I send to you, gentle- men, the greetings of an old Ex-Confederate, and I would that my voice was loud enough to send you a
Hurrah for the day, When the Blue and the Gray, Consent to commingle In this social way.
But, boys, we have not done with you yet. Your battles are not yet over. You have got to make another " On to Richmond," and such a fight as you have got to make then will lay all your old fights way back on the shelf; and if you get out of this city alive, consider yourselves fortunate.
Yours in fraternal bonds, THOS. A. BRANDER, Vice Presd't F. Co. Asso'n.
OFFICE SOUTHERN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, No. 7 LIBRARY FLOOR, STATE CAPITOL, RICHMOND, VA., April .11th, 1882. Col. D. N. Walker, "Officer in Charge," etc. :
MY DEAR SIR :
Up to the last moment I had purposed joining your command in their raid on our friends, who " wore the Blue," in Trenton, but imperative engagements have arisen to detain me, and I take this method of assuring my comrades that my heart is with them.
In the early spring of 1863, when the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia were confronting each other on the opposite heights of Stafford and Spottsylvania, there came down to the river bank one evening a splendid Federal band, which began to discourse sweet music, while large crowds of soldiers of either army gathered to listen. First they played "Star Spangled Banner," " Hail Columbia," and other U. S. National airs, and as one of these would cease "the Boys in Blue" cheered vociferously. And then, in compliment to their friends across the river, they played " Dixie," "Bonny Blue Flag," and other Southern melodies, and as the notes of one of these would die away there arose from the Southern bank the well known " Rebel yell."
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But at last they struck up, in sweet and tender strains, which were wafted on the evening breeze across the beautiful Rappa- hannock, " Home, Sweet Home."
At the conclusion of this piece, there went up a simultaneous shout from both sides of the river-cheer followed cheer, and those hills, which had so recently resounded with hostile guns, echoed and re-echoed the glad acclaim. A chord had been struck re- sponsive to which the hearts of enemies-enemies then, but now, thank God, friends and brothers once more-could beat in unison ; and on both sides of the river
"Something on the soldier's cheek Washed off the stain of powder."
And so, as "the Blue" and "the Gray" shall mingle together at Trenton, and proud memories arise of the brave days of '61-'65, when each met " foemen worthy of their steel," may all bitter re- collections of tlie stormy past be hushed by the melting strains of the " Home, Sweet Home," of our common country.
And gathering around scenes hallowed in the great struggle of '76, may brave men " proclaim perpetual truce to battle," clasp each other's hands in fraternal greeting, and declare to the world that we once more "keep step to the music of a union " of hearts and hands, which shall ever seek to promote the common weal of our common country.
Asking the one of the other no humiliating confessions-accord- ing the one to the other honesty of purpose and heroism of action -proud of each other's deeds as those of American soldiers-let these noble old veterans declare that "the war is over," and that they are henceforthi no longer enemies but citizens of one country, friends, brothers.
Pardon me for obtruding so much upon your time, which, I know, our friends in Trenton will fully occupy ; but it was in my heart to say as much with the pen, as I cannot go to say it in person.
Y'rs very truly, J. WM. JONES, Sec' y So. Hist. Soc'y.
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RICHMOND, April 6, 1882.
Col. Wm. H. Palmer, Chairman Confederate Associations, &c .: MY DR. SIR :
I beg that you will transmit to the old soldiers my high appre- ciation of their invitation to accompany them to Trenton, and the great regret I experience at being obliged to decline it. "Duty," our mutual commander-in-chief is reported to have said, "is the sublimest word in the English language." My fishing in- terests at this time require my personal supervision every day, and when I fail to participate in the "good time" the veterans are going to have next week, I try to console myself in the belief that I am rising to the sublime, in the discharge of my duties at home.
Most truly yours, FITZHUGH LEE.
RICHMOND, April 9th, 1882. Col. Wm. H. Palmer :
MY DEAR SIR :
I have received the invitation of "the Committee representing the Old First Va. Infantry, the Richmond Howitzers and the Otey Battery, to accompany them and take part in the interesting pro- ceedings consequent upon so unusual a meeting" as is antici- pated in Trenton, New Jersey, with the Aaron Wilkes Post, Grand Army of the Republic.
I deferred sending my reply until this morning, with the hope that I might see my way clear to accept your kind invitation. Now, at the last moment when a reply is possible, I regret to find that the serious illness of a member of my church, and engage- ments made before your letter came, will, probably, prevent my leaving Richmond with these associations on the 12th inst.
In full sympathy as I am with all that tends to bring the South- ern and Northern States into complete amity, I would be most happy to participate in the reunion of the Confederate and Federal soldiers at Trenton. In the war of the Revolution the patriotism of New Jersey, and the valor of her troops, gained for her im- mortal honor, and so the place of your meeting is auspicious.
In the late war the men who fought to maintain what they
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thought to be right, on both sides, are now the first to recognize and to respond to the paramount dnty of doing everything in their power to re-establish cordial relations between the sections of the Union,
Patriotic statesmen sympathize in every effort to promote con- ciliation and national harmony; while partizan politicians and ecclesiastical bigots alone are left to fan the flames of sectional strife and to perpetuate divisions which are now meaningless, im- practicable and mischievous.
Although I cannot promise to leave Richmond with you on the 12th inst., in compliance with your kind invitation, yet, if I can get away at a later date I will gladly do so, and if the opportunity offers, I will say in Trenton more than I can express to you in this letter, but should I be detained at home by imperative duties, you will possibly do me the favor to have it read some time during the reunion of the brave men of the Blue and the Gray.
Yours most respectfully,
MOSES D. HOGE.
WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY, LEXINGTON, VA., 8 April, 1882. Col. Wm. H. Palmer, Chairman, &c., Richmond, Va .: MY DEAR COLONEL :
I received last evening your letter of the 5th inst., inviting me to accompany the several Confederate associations named to Tren- ton, New Jersey, on a visit to the Aaron Wilkes Post, No. 23, Grand Army of the Republic, and hasten to acknowledge the polite attention.
In addition to the other difficulties in the way of my leaving college during the session, there is to be a special meeting of our Board of Trustees here on the 11th inst., and it will, therefore, be out of my power to be with you on the 12th and 13th April.
Thanking you sincerely for your kind invitation, and regretting exceedingly my inability to accept it, I remain,
Faithfully y'rs., G. W. C. LEE.
Then came the feast of reason and the flow of
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soul. The following toasts and sentiments were proposed and responded to :
"The First Virginia Infantry :"-We give them a brother's welcome to-night, as once again, with one common purpose, we march shoulder to shoulder toward one common destiny.
This was responded to by R. H. Keiningham, who said that Virginians, being a people of varied resources, and he would endeavor to be equal to the occasion. His remarks were well timed, and were loudly applauded. He concluded by saying : " The Old First meets you on the broad platform of our country. We are with you to the end."
" The American Soldier,"-whether Revolution- ary or Mexican. Federal or Confederate, he has ever displayed a bravery that has won the admir- ation of the world.
This was responded to by General Oliphant. He said :
" If a stranger should ask what right have you scarred veterans, from the shores of the James, to sit here in banquet with the men of the armies of the North on the banks of the Delaware, a' ready answer could be found in the gist of the toast just read- in the chances of battle and the healing up of old wounds-but if he should ask, why are you here, it would take volumes to answer the question.
"You would have to go back, if not to the Garden of Eden, where our first parents lived and loved, sinned and fell, to the period when the star in the east rested over the manger in Bethle- hem and ushered in the dawn of the Christian era. You would have to follow down the tortuous windings of the stream of Time, noting the changes in its current which mark the rise and fall of
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nations, and the departures of many peoples upon new streams of thought and empire. You would have to follow it through the dark ages to the days of chivalry, the crusades, and the Norman invasion ; to the days when the son of an obscure peasant, a pupil of the school of Tarsus, rent the veil that divided the old from the new civilization, and wrung the knell of ecclesiastical dominion over the rights of reason, with its inventions of gunpowder, the art of printing, the application of the polarity of the needle to the principles of navigation, the blending of the crowns of Aragon and Castile, and the arms of Ferdinand and Isabella; to the coming of Columbus, to be followed by the Pilgrims to Plymouth, the Dutch to New York, the Quakers to Jersey and Pennsylvania, the Swedes to Delaware, the Catholics to Maryland, the Cavaliers to Virginia, the Huguenots to Carolina, and Oglethorpe to Georgia. You would have to follow it through the long and eventful period of colonial trials, formation and preparation for political convul- sion and revolution, to Trenton, Princeton and Monmouth, to Jamestown, Yorktown and Independence, thence, through growth and development, to Lundy's Lane and New Orleans ; to the day of the steamboat, the locomotive, the cotton-gin, the cylinder-press and the telegraph ; to Buena Vista and Molino del Rey ; to Bull Run and Gettysburg.
"All the elements that have combined to produce these results, have contributed to make the American soldier what he has been, what he is, and what he will be. Christain faith, Saxon stay, French dash, Puritan pluck, and Dutch courage, mingled with the knightly spirit of the Cavalier, the devotion and zeal of the Huguenot and Catholic, and the quiet soothing charity of the Quaker. And then, when Greek met Greek, and these elements of heroic mould were arrayed against each other on the battle fields of the late unpleasantness then,-hell to split !
" But the cruel war is over, and throughout this broad and beau- tiful land of ours 'peace reigns and the government goes on.' The bloody chasm is fast filling up with friendship, love and truth,-with 'tongues in trees, books in running brooks, ser- mons in stones, and good in everything.' 'Johnnie' and 'Yank ' are no longer terms of reproach. All are ' Yanks,' all are 'John-
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nies.' The pine tree of Massachusetts and the palmetto of Carolina again entwine their branches in friendly embrace; the ‘Sic Sem- per Tyrannus' of Virginia resounds in harmonious accord with the quieter language of the 'Great Seal of New Jersey,' and every swelling city, thriving village and quiet hamlet, every hill- top and valley, every noble river and rippling rill, every rock- ribbed mountain, aud every surge of the sea as it breaks upon the shore, gives back the old refrain our fathers loved, 'Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseperable.'
"That is what brings us here to-night-to banquet together in a spirit of mutual respect and conciliation, and to bury the ' bloody shirt' so deep beneath the ruin of civil strife that all the drums and guns that thundered from the Potomas to the Rio Grande should fail to wake the demon damned that would dig it up again."
" The Richmond Howitzers-The bravery with which they attested the courage of their convic- tion is only equalled by the heartiness with which they grasp the hand of restored friendship."
Responded to by Carlton McCarthy, of that or- ganization. His reply was as follows :
"I thank you, gentlemen, for the compliment implied by your request to respond to the toast to the Richmond Howitzers, but surely you cannot expect me, on such an occasion as this, to re- count the deeds of the men who have made the name the synonym of true soldiership. Nor is it necessary-their history is written in blood from Bethel to Appomattox. Nor are we here to boast, or to deceive one another with false pretence, or to hurl at each other the bitterness, hatred and defiance of war! We are met as soldiers, respecting each the other's manhood, preferring, rather, to recall the glories, the honorable deeds, the courage, the gener- osity, the kindly spirit which marked the true men of the Blue and of the Gray.
"The gentleman who preceded me has happily said, that he never lost faith in the existence of some feeling, on both sides,
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throughout the war, that our enmity was unnatural, and that, under all the bitterness and hatred, there was a sincere wish that we could escape the terrible necessity of slaying men for wlion we could not cherish the hatred whichi animates a man contending against a foreign and aggressive foe.
" The fact that we bore arms, the one against the other, proves that our interests, or our conception of them, were at variance, and that each maintained himself by force. War was a necessity -hatred and cruelty, the unnecessary and degrading accompani- ments of a grand and manly struggle.
"Some men stand ready now to say, ' Alı ! what shallow pretence. These men profess to be friends ! Their handshaking and liearty greetings are deceit and fraud !! ' Let all such men be silent !! At least, let them herd together and eat bitterness from one trough !
"Now to prove that men, enemies in war, may be friends in peace, I wish to tell you a story or two-three !
" A young man became a Confederate soldier. Then he became prisoner of war, and 'the Yankees' carried him to 'Point Look- out.' There he fed on prison fare, and there lie got sick. Then he was sad and discouraged. Then, of course, he grew worse. He, poor fellow ! saw no ray of hope. At times he hid himself and cried like a child. He wanted his mother to hold him in her arms and hush him to sleep. (Men feel so sometimes.) At last he concluded that death would soon release him from prison un- less he had help. Despair quickened his energy and he deter- mined to write to some one for food, medicine and clothes. But when he thought of all the great North, and the fact that he did not know one living soul of all its millions; when he remembered that he was only a 'Rebel,' lousy, dirty, sick, a prisoner ! his heart failed him. 'Would any man,' he thought, 'of all those thou- sands, who so hate Rebels, help me ?' It happened, fortunately, that just at this time rations of soap were issued to the prisoners, and this sick boy got one half of a cake. Stamped upon it was : 'Van Haagen McK., Philade.' Ah ! he said, I'll write to the man whose address is on this soap. The idea grew on him, and finally he found the man who had the other half, and putting the two together he read, Van Haagen, McKeone & Co., Philadelphia.
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But he thought he could not well address a firm. He wanted an individual to hear his appeal. Besides, that name, Van Haagen, seemed to have a promising sound. He could almost think he had heard it before! As he gazed on the letters they seemed to look back at him kindly, and as he thought of the name it became tender and misty-like the faces of departed ones whom we see in our dreams.
" And so he wrote :- ' I am here in prison, sick, sad and despair- ing. Will you help me? My name is -. My father's name is -. He lives in - Co., in the State of Virginia.
"'I am about to die for the want of proper food, clothes, medicine and hope, help me !'
"Soon came the noble answer, informing the poor boy that he would soon receive a case containing blankets, clothes, food, med- icine, all he wanted. The same letter enclosed money in abun- dance and the offer of more. The poor " rebel " boy had found a friend in the wide, cold, heartless, cruel North! A Yankee was opening his heart to his cry of distress. (Pretty good specimen of a heart too.)
"Then this Yankee went on to say : 'Why, boy ! I knew you before you knew yourself. When I was poor and needed help, your father gave me work to do on his farm. I have had you in my arms when you were a mere baby. I have trotted you about on my shoulder day after day. I am rich ! I have plenty. You shall have whatever you need that money can buy.'
" Now, do you think that rebel ! will ever forget that Yankee !! Or ever doubt that men may differ and fight to the death, and yet have hidden away deep in their hearts, traits which need only the occasion which brings them to light and to universal applause ! !
"Possibly some of you have heard of Belle Isle. Prisoners, Yankee prisoners, were kept there.
"Once the confederate authorities thought there were too many prisoners there, and determined to send several hundred by rail to Salisbury, N. C. So one morning, early, several hogsheads of sliced bread and meat were rolled in amongst the men who were to be removed, and they were invited to help themselves, and eat enough to last them to their journey's end. They tried to do it,
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