CHAPTER XXXV.Splendid Ovation at Canandaigua.—Speeches and Address by E. G. Lapham, J. P. Faurot, and the Colonel, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Chaplain of the Regiment.—Return of the Regimental Banner to the Ladies of Canandaigua.—Parting Exercises.—The Thirty-third passes into History.
Splendid Ovation at Canandaigua.—Speeches and Address by E. G. Lapham, J. P. Faurot, and the Colonel, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Chaplain of the Regiment.—Return of the Regimental Banner to the Ladies of Canandaigua.—Parting Exercises.—The Thirty-third passes into History.
On the following Monday, May 25th, the Regiment proceeded to Canandaigua, where a splendid ovation was received at the hands of the citizens. The most extensive preparations had been made and the people flocked in by hundreds from the surrounding country to welcome home their own “Ontario Regiment.” The train, consisting of ten coaches, reached the depot at nine o’clock, where an immense crowd of people were assembled to catch a first glimpse of the heroes of Williamsburg and Marye’s Heights. After a brief delay, a procession was formed, under the direction of the Marshal of the day, in the following order:
Marshal—William Hildreth.
Band.
Committee of Arrangement.
Speakers.
Assistant Marshal—M. D. Munger.
Colonel Taylor and Staff.
Regiment.
Assistant Marshal—Darwin Cheney.
Band.
Firemen.
Citizens.
Having formed, the procession marched to the Court House Square, where E. G. Lapham, Esq., addressed the Regiment as follows.
Officers and Soldiers:—You have come back, after two years of arduous service in the cause of your country, to receive, as is your due, the gratitude of the State and the homage of the People. The high honor has been assigned me, humble and unfitted as I am for the duty, in the name and behalf of the people of this County and locality to bid you a hearty and generous welcome. You have come among us at a period when our hearts are inspired to make your reception the more cordial by the news of the brilliant achievements of our arms in the south-west. You return with thinned ranks, and diminished numbers, the glorious remnant of a noble band, whose bravery and skill have been displayed on almost every battle-field, from the scene where the great contest for our independence was closed, to the last deadly conflict around Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Each one of you has brought home his tale of thrilling incident or noble daring, which will be repeated from hearthstone to hearthstone, and from generation to generation, as long as the name of America shall be known among men.You have brought back in triumph that banner (pointing to the regimental banner presented by the ladies of Canandaigua), soiled and tattered by the casualties of the war, and it, too, is a witness of your devotion and fidelity to the honored flag of your country. That banner was an object of interest to us when it was confidingly placed in your keeping by the donors. It was an object of interest to you when you received it on your parade ground at Elmira. It was an object of still deeper interest to you when its tattered fragments were borne aloft by brave hands, and dimly seen through the cloud and smoke of battle. It is to become an object of still deeper interest to us when you shall soon return it to the fair hands from whom you received it, in fulfilment of your honored pledge to return it unstained by cowardice or shame, “though stained with blood in a righteous cause.” Soldiers, that flag, like all things earthly, will perish,“Its silken folds may feed the moth,”but the precious lives which have been gloriously lain down in its defence are treasures laid up where “neither moth nor rust corrupt,” and their names will go into the history of this Republic as among its most priceless treasures. We trust, that after a brief respite from the toils and privations of the battle-field, and the enjoyment of the rest and renewed vigor you will derive from the abundant delights and comforts of home and fireside, most, if not all of you, will again be found, if need be, rallyingto the support of the flag you have so long and so nobly defended.To you sir (addressing Colonel Taylor), and your Aids, the cherished leaders of this glorious band of men, no words are adequate to express the deep gratitude we feel for your fidelity to your trust.Officers and Soldiers, it only remains for me, in conclusion, without detaining you longer, again to say, that in the name and by the authority of the people I represent, we bid you welcome—thrice welcome—among us.
Officers and Soldiers:—You have come back, after two years of arduous service in the cause of your country, to receive, as is your due, the gratitude of the State and the homage of the People. The high honor has been assigned me, humble and unfitted as I am for the duty, in the name and behalf of the people of this County and locality to bid you a hearty and generous welcome. You have come among us at a period when our hearts are inspired to make your reception the more cordial by the news of the brilliant achievements of our arms in the south-west. You return with thinned ranks, and diminished numbers, the glorious remnant of a noble band, whose bravery and skill have been displayed on almost every battle-field, from the scene where the great contest for our independence was closed, to the last deadly conflict around Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Each one of you has brought home his tale of thrilling incident or noble daring, which will be repeated from hearthstone to hearthstone, and from generation to generation, as long as the name of America shall be known among men.
You have brought back in triumph that banner (pointing to the regimental banner presented by the ladies of Canandaigua), soiled and tattered by the casualties of the war, and it, too, is a witness of your devotion and fidelity to the honored flag of your country. That banner was an object of interest to us when it was confidingly placed in your keeping by the donors. It was an object of interest to you when you received it on your parade ground at Elmira. It was an object of still deeper interest to you when its tattered fragments were borne aloft by brave hands, and dimly seen through the cloud and smoke of battle. It is to become an object of still deeper interest to us when you shall soon return it to the fair hands from whom you received it, in fulfilment of your honored pledge to return it unstained by cowardice or shame, “though stained with blood in a righteous cause.” Soldiers, that flag, like all things earthly, will perish,
“Its silken folds may feed the moth,”
“Its silken folds may feed the moth,”
“Its silken folds may feed the moth,”
“Its silken folds may feed the moth,”
but the precious lives which have been gloriously lain down in its defence are treasures laid up where “neither moth nor rust corrupt,” and their names will go into the history of this Republic as among its most priceless treasures. We trust, that after a brief respite from the toils and privations of the battle-field, and the enjoyment of the rest and renewed vigor you will derive from the abundant delights and comforts of home and fireside, most, if not all of you, will again be found, if need be, rallyingto the support of the flag you have so long and so nobly defended.
To you sir (addressing Colonel Taylor), and your Aids, the cherished leaders of this glorious band of men, no words are adequate to express the deep gratitude we feel for your fidelity to your trust.
Officers and Soldiers, it only remains for me, in conclusion, without detaining you longer, again to say, that in the name and by the authority of the people I represent, we bid you welcome—thrice welcome—among us.
After a brief reply from Colonel Taylor, the procession re-formed, and marched through various streets of the village, which were gaily festooned and decorated with flags. In front of the Webster House a wreath of evergreen spanned the entire street, and the Stars and Stripes were unfurled over the building. Crossing the railroad, a little distance above, was a massive arch, consisting of two semicircles of evergreen, studded with bouquets and bright flowers, and containing in the centre the word “Welcome.” A second arch was erected near the Episcopal Church, composed of green twigs bespangled with roses, and extending across the street. On one side appeared the words, “Welcome to the Brave,” wrought with red and white flowers. On the opposite, “Tears for the Fallen,” enshrouded with crape. Over the entrance to the Seminary Grounds appeared the mottoes, “Our Country,” and “Its defenders,” gracefully set out with laurel and roses. Suspended over the gateway of theAcademy was a “Welcome,” of red, white, and blue. On entering Gibson street, the procession passed under a third beautiful arch of evergreens and flowers, bearing the significant word “Williamsburg.” Arrived at the Fair Grounds, east of the village, the gates were thrown wide open, and the spacious enclosure soon filled with thousands of spectators. After listening to numerous stirring airs from the Hopewell, Canandaigua, and Regimental brass bands, the Regiment performed the various evolutions of the manual, exhibited the manner of pitching tents, made a “charge,” and went through with numerous other military exercises, which elicited rounds of applause from the lookers on. These ended, J. P. Faurot, Esq., ascended the platform, which had been erected for the occasion, and delivered the following address:
Soldiers and Officers of the Thirty-third Regiment of Volunteers, and of the Army of the Potomac:—The thousands within the sound of my voice have this day assembled to extend to you, for your courage, your patriotism, your noble sacrifices, the plaudits and homage of a grateful people, and a warm and hearty welcome to your homes, and the joys of domestic life. A little more than two years ago, this nation was basking in the meridian splendor of national glory, happiness and prosperity, with a territory extending from ocean to ocean; a flag that floated in triumph over every part of our vast domain; a Constitution and Governmentdispensing its blessings and its benefits over all; a great, a glorious and happy nation of thirty-three millions of people. Suddenly the tocsin of war was sounded by several of the States, which, for three-quarters of a century, had enjoyed the blessings, the privileges and prosperity incident to the Government handed down to us by our patriot fathers. The freemen of the north saw the threatened danger to our institutions, to our country and our homes. You, Soldiers and Patriots, at this crisis in our country’s history, worthy sons of patriot sires, left your farms, your work-shops, your counters and your homes, and organized the Regiment comprising the immortal Thirty-third Volunteers of the Empire State, and went forth to meet the foe that would strike down the liberties of millions of happy freemen, and who would destroy the wisest and best government ever devised by the wisdom of man. Unacquainted with the arts of war, with patriot hearts you rushed to the rescue of your country from impending ruin and desolation; and first in deadly conflict at Lewinsville, you proved that your valor, your patriotism and your skill, were equal to the trying emergencies through which you were called to pass. At Yorktown, the place of final victory to our arms under the immortal Washington, you seemed to be inspired by his spirit and nobly, bravely, proved yourselves soldiers worthy the high and holy cause you were defending.At Williamsburg—that desperate conflict—you exhibited a daring, a high and ennobling courage,unsurpassed in ancient or modern times; a daring that knew no fear; a resolution as immovable, as determined, as that of the most daring patriots and veterans of Revolutionary fame. For your noble conduct, for your deeds of valorthere, the name ofWilliamsburgwas inscribed upon your banner, by order of your great chieftain,Geo. B. McClellan.You, officers and soldiers of the gallant Thirty-third, in every battle have covered yourselves all over with glory. After the inscription upon your banner, you no less distinguished yourselves for bravery and deeds of noble daring, at the battles of Mechanicsville, White-Oak Swamp, Malvern Hills, the second battle of Bull Run, Antietam and South Mountain, and the battles at Fredericksburg, under the gallant Burnside and Hooker, the last of which was only three weeks ago this day. It was then but a few days before your two years of enlistment expired, that many of your brave companions offered up their lives as sacrifices upon their country’s altar.It wasthenthat an officer advancing with his men, in the midst of a deadly fire, silenced one of the largest and most deadly guns of the enemy—a deed that has seldom, if ever, been exceeded for noble daring and self-sacrificing patriotism in the annals of any age or of any country. You left your homes from the rendezvous at Elmira two years ago, with about nine hundred men; you return to us with three hundred and fifty, all told; your colors and your flags rent and torn by shell and shot of the enemy in bloody strife, tell a truer tale ofyoursacrifices,yourachievements andyourpatriotism, than any language can portray. Yes, you have by that flag and your deeds of valor, erected a prouder monument, a more enduring fame, than would be perpetuated by the loftiest mausoleum that the genius of man could erect. While we sympathize and do honor to you who appear with us to-day, we must not forget your companions—the patriot dead—who fell fighting for civil and religious liberty; for the great principles of constitutional government. They have offered up their lives on the altar of their country, and their and your names will fill the brightest page in history for all coming time; yes, this day we must think of the sacrifices of fathers and mothers; of the desolate homes; of the tears and the sighs of the widowed, and the sufferings and sorrows of the bereaved. You have nobly met the necessities of your bleeding country, and obeyed her every call, until the last hour of your enlistment expired, and may we, your countrymen, catch the spirit of your patriotism and fill up the ranks in our country’s defence. We shall triumph; our country again shall hold her high position among the nations of the earth. The principle, that man is capable of self-government, shall here be maintained. Your example has shown us that no sacrifice is too great; that the Stars and Stripes of our native land again shall float in triumph over every foot of American soil, and the Bird of Liberty shall again expand her pinions, and with one wing touch the sunrise, and the other the sunset, and cast her shadow over the whole world. It may be truly said—“Your country’s glory, ’tis your chief concern:For this you struggle, and for this you burn;For this you smile, for this alone you sigh;For this you live, for this would freely die.”
Soldiers and Officers of the Thirty-third Regiment of Volunteers, and of the Army of the Potomac:—The thousands within the sound of my voice have this day assembled to extend to you, for your courage, your patriotism, your noble sacrifices, the plaudits and homage of a grateful people, and a warm and hearty welcome to your homes, and the joys of domestic life. A little more than two years ago, this nation was basking in the meridian splendor of national glory, happiness and prosperity, with a territory extending from ocean to ocean; a flag that floated in triumph over every part of our vast domain; a Constitution and Governmentdispensing its blessings and its benefits over all; a great, a glorious and happy nation of thirty-three millions of people. Suddenly the tocsin of war was sounded by several of the States, which, for three-quarters of a century, had enjoyed the blessings, the privileges and prosperity incident to the Government handed down to us by our patriot fathers. The freemen of the north saw the threatened danger to our institutions, to our country and our homes. You, Soldiers and Patriots, at this crisis in our country’s history, worthy sons of patriot sires, left your farms, your work-shops, your counters and your homes, and organized the Regiment comprising the immortal Thirty-third Volunteers of the Empire State, and went forth to meet the foe that would strike down the liberties of millions of happy freemen, and who would destroy the wisest and best government ever devised by the wisdom of man. Unacquainted with the arts of war, with patriot hearts you rushed to the rescue of your country from impending ruin and desolation; and first in deadly conflict at Lewinsville, you proved that your valor, your patriotism and your skill, were equal to the trying emergencies through which you were called to pass. At Yorktown, the place of final victory to our arms under the immortal Washington, you seemed to be inspired by his spirit and nobly, bravely, proved yourselves soldiers worthy the high and holy cause you were defending.
At Williamsburg—that desperate conflict—you exhibited a daring, a high and ennobling courage,unsurpassed in ancient or modern times; a daring that knew no fear; a resolution as immovable, as determined, as that of the most daring patriots and veterans of Revolutionary fame. For your noble conduct, for your deeds of valorthere, the name ofWilliamsburgwas inscribed upon your banner, by order of your great chieftain,Geo. B. McClellan.
You, officers and soldiers of the gallant Thirty-third, in every battle have covered yourselves all over with glory. After the inscription upon your banner, you no less distinguished yourselves for bravery and deeds of noble daring, at the battles of Mechanicsville, White-Oak Swamp, Malvern Hills, the second battle of Bull Run, Antietam and South Mountain, and the battles at Fredericksburg, under the gallant Burnside and Hooker, the last of which was only three weeks ago this day. It was then but a few days before your two years of enlistment expired, that many of your brave companions offered up their lives as sacrifices upon their country’s altar.
It wasthenthat an officer advancing with his men, in the midst of a deadly fire, silenced one of the largest and most deadly guns of the enemy—a deed that has seldom, if ever, been exceeded for noble daring and self-sacrificing patriotism in the annals of any age or of any country. You left your homes from the rendezvous at Elmira two years ago, with about nine hundred men; you return to us with three hundred and fifty, all told; your colors and your flags rent and torn by shell and shot of the enemy in bloody strife, tell a truer tale ofyoursacrifices,yourachievements andyourpatriotism, than any language can portray. Yes, you have by that flag and your deeds of valor, erected a prouder monument, a more enduring fame, than would be perpetuated by the loftiest mausoleum that the genius of man could erect. While we sympathize and do honor to you who appear with us to-day, we must not forget your companions—the patriot dead—who fell fighting for civil and religious liberty; for the great principles of constitutional government. They have offered up their lives on the altar of their country, and their and your names will fill the brightest page in history for all coming time; yes, this day we must think of the sacrifices of fathers and mothers; of the desolate homes; of the tears and the sighs of the widowed, and the sufferings and sorrows of the bereaved. You have nobly met the necessities of your bleeding country, and obeyed her every call, until the last hour of your enlistment expired, and may we, your countrymen, catch the spirit of your patriotism and fill up the ranks in our country’s defence. We shall triumph; our country again shall hold her high position among the nations of the earth. The principle, that man is capable of self-government, shall here be maintained. Your example has shown us that no sacrifice is too great; that the Stars and Stripes of our native land again shall float in triumph over every foot of American soil, and the Bird of Liberty shall again expand her pinions, and with one wing touch the sunrise, and the other the sunset, and cast her shadow over the whole world. It may be truly said—
“Your country’s glory, ’tis your chief concern:For this you struggle, and for this you burn;For this you smile, for this alone you sigh;For this you live, for this would freely die.”
“Your country’s glory, ’tis your chief concern:For this you struggle, and for this you burn;For this you smile, for this alone you sigh;For this you live, for this would freely die.”
“Your country’s glory, ’tis your chief concern:For this you struggle, and for this you burn;For this you smile, for this alone you sigh;For this you live, for this would freely die.”
“Your country’s glory, ’tis your chief concern:
For this you struggle, and for this you burn;
For this you smile, for this alone you sigh;
For this you live, for this would freely die.”
Lieut.-Col. Corning responded to the address by thanking the speaker for his complimentary allusion to the men of the Thirty-third. They were worthy of it all. “If you could have seen them,” he continued, “on the battle-field, a spontaneous feeling of gratitude would have burst from your hearts. Yes, they are worthy of all the honor you can bestow upon them. We thought at one time that your loyalty was growing cold, and that the ‘God bless you,’ tendered to us at parting, had been forgotten. But, thank God, I am pleased to find it different, by the splendid manner in which you have welcomed us home to-day. These men are entitled to all the honor you can bestow on them; and the sick, those who had to come home on account of impaired health, are equally entitled to your honor and your regard, with those who have passed safely through the perils of a battle-field.”
After the singing of the “Red, White and Blue,” by a choir of young ladies and gentlemen, Colonel Taylor stepped forward and returned to the ladies of Canandaigua the beautiful flag which they had presented to the Regiment two years before. As he did so he remarked, that
“it had been given to them with the pledge that it should never be sullied by cowardice, or a dishonorable act, and it had never been; and it never trailed in the dust, except on oneoccasion, when the color-bearer sank from sheer exhaustion on the field. It was a beautiful flag when presented to the Regiment, but it is now torn and soiled, but to him and the Regiment it was all the dearer. He had no doubt it would be dearer to those who gave it, as a relic of the bravery and patriotism of the gallant men of the Thirty-third. It was very heavy to be carried on the field, but it had always been carried with them. On one occasion six out of eight of the color-bearers had been shot down, and another man was called for to support it, when Sergeant Vandecar immediately sprang forward with a gun and bravely and heroically bore the flag aloft.The Regiment, when he assumed the command, numbered about eight hundred men, and now there were not four hundred of them left. If they had come home some two weeks ago, there would have been about six hundred of them; but two hundred fell killed and wounded in the battle of Fredericksburg. It now only remained for him to hand the flag back, remarking, in conclusion, that had it been necessary, for want of others, he would himself have stepped forward and defended the flag with his life.
“it had been given to them with the pledge that it should never be sullied by cowardice, or a dishonorable act, and it had never been; and it never trailed in the dust, except on oneoccasion, when the color-bearer sank from sheer exhaustion on the field. It was a beautiful flag when presented to the Regiment, but it is now torn and soiled, but to him and the Regiment it was all the dearer. He had no doubt it would be dearer to those who gave it, as a relic of the bravery and patriotism of the gallant men of the Thirty-third. It was very heavy to be carried on the field, but it had always been carried with them. On one occasion six out of eight of the color-bearers had been shot down, and another man was called for to support it, when Sergeant Vandecar immediately sprang forward with a gun and bravely and heroically bore the flag aloft.
The Regiment, when he assumed the command, numbered about eight hundred men, and now there were not four hundred of them left. If they had come home some two weeks ago, there would have been about six hundred of them; but two hundred fell killed and wounded in the battle of Fredericksburg. It now only remained for him to hand the flag back, remarking, in conclusion, that had it been necessary, for want of others, he would himself have stepped forward and defended the flag with his life.
On receiving back the now torn and tattered banner, the ladies presented the following address, read by A. H. Howell, Esq.:
Col. Taylor:—When two years ago you honored the ladies of Canandaigua in accepting for the Thirty-third Regiment this Banner, the work of their hands and the gift of their affection, the Regiment,through you, pledged themselves with their lives, to protect it from dishonor and cherish it as the emblem of Love and Loyalty. The Recording Angel registered that vow in figures of Life, and nobly has the pledge been redeemed in the blood of Malvern Hill, Fair Oaks, Williamsburg, Lee’s Mills, Antietam and Fredericksburg.This bullet-riven, blood-stained Banner is dearer to us, now that we know it has inspired acts of courage and patriotic ardor, and that it has been as the presence of mother, sister, wife, home, to the dying soldier, than it was when we parted with it in its freshness and new life, impatient for the pomp and circumstance of war.We were proud of it as a beautiful offering. We receive it now with its honorable scars—as a weary soldier seeking rest and shelter. We will guard it carefully and protect it tenderly.Many a home in our midst is desolate—many waiting, watching hearts are bereaved; but every true woman will thank God it was not made so by the death of a coward or renegade, and that her dead are “Freedom’s now, and Fame’s.”Soldiers! on the field of battle you proved yourselves all that was noble, brave and manly—worthy sons of old Ontario.The women of Ontario will expect you to do battle in their service, by respecting as citizens those laws and domestic institutions for which you have perilled your lives; and to your latest posterity your children and your children’s children can have noprouder heritage—can make no prouder boast, than that you were members of the gallant Thirty-third.
Col. Taylor:—When two years ago you honored the ladies of Canandaigua in accepting for the Thirty-third Regiment this Banner, the work of their hands and the gift of their affection, the Regiment,through you, pledged themselves with their lives, to protect it from dishonor and cherish it as the emblem of Love and Loyalty. The Recording Angel registered that vow in figures of Life, and nobly has the pledge been redeemed in the blood of Malvern Hill, Fair Oaks, Williamsburg, Lee’s Mills, Antietam and Fredericksburg.
This bullet-riven, blood-stained Banner is dearer to us, now that we know it has inspired acts of courage and patriotic ardor, and that it has been as the presence of mother, sister, wife, home, to the dying soldier, than it was when we parted with it in its freshness and new life, impatient for the pomp and circumstance of war.
We were proud of it as a beautiful offering. We receive it now with its honorable scars—as a weary soldier seeking rest and shelter. We will guard it carefully and protect it tenderly.
Many a home in our midst is desolate—many waiting, watching hearts are bereaved; but every true woman will thank God it was not made so by the death of a coward or renegade, and that her dead are “Freedom’s now, and Fame’s.”
Soldiers! on the field of battle you proved yourselves all that was noble, brave and manly—worthy sons of old Ontario.
The women of Ontario will expect you to do battle in their service, by respecting as citizens those laws and domestic institutions for which you have perilled your lives; and to your latest posterity your children and your children’s children can have noprouder heritage—can make no prouder boast, than that you were members of the gallant Thirty-third.
The choir now sang the “Star Spangled Banner,” after which Chaplain Lung delivered the following parting address to the Regiment:
Gentlemen and Fellow Soldiers:—You have reached the evening of a two year’s military life. The cause in which you have been engaged is one in which you may well be proud. It gives me pleasure to know that the military glory which surrounds you this hour, is a thing that you have nobly earned. The honors which you now enjoy have been bought by your toil, and sweat and blood. They have been purchased by long and weary marches, by drill and duty in camp, and by your unflinching bravery amid the thunder and peril of battle.My fellow soldiers, you are standing here to-day, with the pleasing consideration that you have done your duty, and can receive an honorable discharge. Sooner than have been ingloriously dismissed; sooner than to have been branded with the name of deserter—a stain never to be washed out, a stigma to mark your remembrance and disgrace your children after you are dead—sooner than this should have ever overtaken you, you have showed by your gallant conduct that you would have preferred to have been riddled by the enemy’s bullets and died on the field. There were those in our own ranks who have thus died. As a flower when bruised, mangled and crushed, will give forth all the richness of its odor, so these bruised ones who havegone down in the shock of battle, will leave the sweet recollections of a patriotic spirit; and honor from a nation, and love from mothers and sisters, sweeter than the odor of flowers, will cluster around those names, to be handed down to unborn millions.It is a pleasing consideration, that you are now about to return to the embrace of friends and loved ones. You are to exchange the noise of the camp for the quietude of home; the rude tent for the neat cottage; the hard blanket for the soft bed; and the blast of the bugle for the prattling of children. As you go, I would bind sacred admonition around your hearts, and pray God’s blessing to go with you. If while you have been absent from the holy influences of home, there have been some evil and wicked habits fastened on you, let this hour shake them off; this hour break the fetters that bind them, and return, leaving forever every bad habit which may have come nigh the camp.You stand here to-day, having fully earned the proud title of veteran soldiers. Four times you have crossed the Potomac, twice the Chickahominy, four times the Rappahannock. You have marched by land and water; by night and day. You have fought in trenches, and in fields; supported batteries and charged bayonets, until the honors of war, the smell of powder, the scars of shell and ball, and the red dust of twelve battle-fields are upon you.But while we enjoy the blessings of this hour, let us not forget the many heroes whom we have left behind us. They are quietly slumbering in the dust.All along the Potomac, on either side; up and down the Peninsula; amid the swamps of the Chickahominy; on the sunny banks of the James River, and on the sandy shores of the Rappahannock—in little groves, on sandy hillocks; in fields, and by the road-side—are seen the silent resting places of our patriotic dead. The green pine waves over them, chanting mournful dirges to the piping winds; the new-grown grass clusters around them; the sweet fragrance of the summer’s flowers is wafted over them, and the birds warble their notes of song among them; but no mother’s voice is heard there; no sister’s tear has ever wet the cold sod of the brave sleeper.This is not a Democratic war, nor a Republican war; neither is it a “Negro war,” nor an “Abolition war.” Let us regard all such appellations as the result of mere party spirit rather than of genuine loyalty. This is the Nation’s war. It is loyalty struggling to suppress disloyalty. It is right arrayed against wrong; Union against Disunion; order and obedience against confusion and rebellion. In this struggle let us worship at no political shrine.For a time we may be defeated, but not conquered. The States of this glorious Union are inseparably linked together by the eternal laws of nature. The silvery chain of lakes on the North, the sparkling sea gulfs on the South, the broad Atlantic on the East, and the shores of the Pacific on the West, have firmly and legally solemnized these political nuptials, and bound them in one grand, sacred,federal bond of everlasting union. “What therefore God hath joined together let not man put asunder.”But I must not detain you longer. I will only point you to that tattered old flag—pierced by ball and rent with shell; faded by sun and storm, and worn into shreds by the breezes of heaven, which have flaunted her furls over fields of blood, marring her stripes, and plucking from her proud constellation some of her brilliant stars. There she hangs in all the glory of her chivalry!—time-honored—a rich relic, sacred to the memory of the brave.“Invincible banner! the flag of the free,Oh, where treads the foot that would falter for thee,Or the hands to be folded till freedom is won,And the eagle looks proud, as of old, to the sun?Give tears for the parting; a murmur of prayer,Then forward! the fame of our standard to share;With welcome to wounding, and combat, and scars,And the glory of death for the Stripes and the Stars.”
Gentlemen and Fellow Soldiers:—You have reached the evening of a two year’s military life. The cause in which you have been engaged is one in which you may well be proud. It gives me pleasure to know that the military glory which surrounds you this hour, is a thing that you have nobly earned. The honors which you now enjoy have been bought by your toil, and sweat and blood. They have been purchased by long and weary marches, by drill and duty in camp, and by your unflinching bravery amid the thunder and peril of battle.
My fellow soldiers, you are standing here to-day, with the pleasing consideration that you have done your duty, and can receive an honorable discharge. Sooner than have been ingloriously dismissed; sooner than to have been branded with the name of deserter—a stain never to be washed out, a stigma to mark your remembrance and disgrace your children after you are dead—sooner than this should have ever overtaken you, you have showed by your gallant conduct that you would have preferred to have been riddled by the enemy’s bullets and died on the field. There were those in our own ranks who have thus died. As a flower when bruised, mangled and crushed, will give forth all the richness of its odor, so these bruised ones who havegone down in the shock of battle, will leave the sweet recollections of a patriotic spirit; and honor from a nation, and love from mothers and sisters, sweeter than the odor of flowers, will cluster around those names, to be handed down to unborn millions.
It is a pleasing consideration, that you are now about to return to the embrace of friends and loved ones. You are to exchange the noise of the camp for the quietude of home; the rude tent for the neat cottage; the hard blanket for the soft bed; and the blast of the bugle for the prattling of children. As you go, I would bind sacred admonition around your hearts, and pray God’s blessing to go with you. If while you have been absent from the holy influences of home, there have been some evil and wicked habits fastened on you, let this hour shake them off; this hour break the fetters that bind them, and return, leaving forever every bad habit which may have come nigh the camp.
You stand here to-day, having fully earned the proud title of veteran soldiers. Four times you have crossed the Potomac, twice the Chickahominy, four times the Rappahannock. You have marched by land and water; by night and day. You have fought in trenches, and in fields; supported batteries and charged bayonets, until the honors of war, the smell of powder, the scars of shell and ball, and the red dust of twelve battle-fields are upon you.
But while we enjoy the blessings of this hour, let us not forget the many heroes whom we have left behind us. They are quietly slumbering in the dust.All along the Potomac, on either side; up and down the Peninsula; amid the swamps of the Chickahominy; on the sunny banks of the James River, and on the sandy shores of the Rappahannock—in little groves, on sandy hillocks; in fields, and by the road-side—are seen the silent resting places of our patriotic dead. The green pine waves over them, chanting mournful dirges to the piping winds; the new-grown grass clusters around them; the sweet fragrance of the summer’s flowers is wafted over them, and the birds warble their notes of song among them; but no mother’s voice is heard there; no sister’s tear has ever wet the cold sod of the brave sleeper.
This is not a Democratic war, nor a Republican war; neither is it a “Negro war,” nor an “Abolition war.” Let us regard all such appellations as the result of mere party spirit rather than of genuine loyalty. This is the Nation’s war. It is loyalty struggling to suppress disloyalty. It is right arrayed against wrong; Union against Disunion; order and obedience against confusion and rebellion. In this struggle let us worship at no political shrine.
For a time we may be defeated, but not conquered. The States of this glorious Union are inseparably linked together by the eternal laws of nature. The silvery chain of lakes on the North, the sparkling sea gulfs on the South, the broad Atlantic on the East, and the shores of the Pacific on the West, have firmly and legally solemnized these political nuptials, and bound them in one grand, sacred,federal bond of everlasting union. “What therefore God hath joined together let not man put asunder.”
But I must not detain you longer. I will only point you to that tattered old flag—pierced by ball and rent with shell; faded by sun and storm, and worn into shreds by the breezes of heaven, which have flaunted her furls over fields of blood, marring her stripes, and plucking from her proud constellation some of her brilliant stars. There she hangs in all the glory of her chivalry!—time-honored—a rich relic, sacred to the memory of the brave.
“Invincible banner! the flag of the free,Oh, where treads the foot that would falter for thee,Or the hands to be folded till freedom is won,And the eagle looks proud, as of old, to the sun?Give tears for the parting; a murmur of prayer,Then forward! the fame of our standard to share;With welcome to wounding, and combat, and scars,And the glory of death for the Stripes and the Stars.”
“Invincible banner! the flag of the free,Oh, where treads the foot that would falter for thee,Or the hands to be folded till freedom is won,And the eagle looks proud, as of old, to the sun?Give tears for the parting; a murmur of prayer,Then forward! the fame of our standard to share;With welcome to wounding, and combat, and scars,And the glory of death for the Stripes and the Stars.”
“Invincible banner! the flag of the free,Oh, where treads the foot that would falter for thee,Or the hands to be folded till freedom is won,And the eagle looks proud, as of old, to the sun?Give tears for the parting; a murmur of prayer,Then forward! the fame of our standard to share;With welcome to wounding, and combat, and scars,And the glory of death for the Stripes and the Stars.”
“Invincible banner! the flag of the free,
Oh, where treads the foot that would falter for thee,
Or the hands to be folded till freedom is won,
And the eagle looks proud, as of old, to the sun?
Give tears for the parting; a murmur of prayer,
Then forward! the fame of our standard to share;
With welcome to wounding, and combat, and scars,
And the glory of death for the Stripes and the Stars.”
This closed the exercises of the day, and the Regiment re-forming, proceeded to the Canandaigua House to partake of a sumptuous banquet, prepared by the ladies of the village.
Rarely has it been the lot of mortals to receive such an ovation as were those tendered to the Thirty-third by the citizens of Geneva and Canandaigua. It was well nigh a recompense for two years of toil and danger, to become a recipient of such welcomes. Every circumstance connected with them will be fondly cherished by the officers and men.
The Command returned to Geneva the same evening, and was quartered at the barracks, the officers taking rooms at the hotels. Tuesday, June 2nd, Captain Beirn, of the regular service, assembling the Regiment on the green in front of the barracks, mustered it out of the service by Companies, and the Thirty-third passed into history.
FINIS.
FINIS.