Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 September 1888 — CLOSING UP THE RANKS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CLOSING UP THE RANKS.

VETERANS OF THE CUMBERLAND IN ANNUAL MEETING. Kosecra-jg and His Gray-Haired Boys Again Shake Hands—Eulogizing “Tittle Phil ” —A Memorable and Pleasant Gathering of Old Comrades. [Chicago special dispatch.] The nineteenth annual reunion of the Society of the Army ot the Cumberland was held in this city, and an unusual number of old men were present. White hair and faded features were more conspicuous than the blue coats or gold-corded hats. The tread of these old men was slow and heavy. Their limbs, shrunken and a-quiver now, once marked in elastic step the quick, military “time.” The hands that accompanied the “hello, Jim,” with a whack on the shoulder, were thin and seamed. The stroke was heartier than the voice. The old men gathered in little groups or sat in clustered chairs in the hotel rotunda, and talked about the war. They were not the gay, rollicking fellows who told wild yarns of the war over the social glass twenty years ago. Their talk was about Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, or Stone River, and scarce

an incident did not awaken the recollection of the death of one or more of the actors in it. In a few years these war stories will become traditions, and the warriors themselves reminiscences. Gen. Rosecrans was the most distinguished appearing soldier piesent at the reception in Central Music Hall, and conspicuously in the front row of chairs on the stage was one chair draped with the national flag and folds of black. Above the chair, leaning from the organ balcony, was a lifesize portrait of Gen. Sheridan. A knot of patriotic ribbon at the bottom of the picture relieved the heavy border of crape. At the time of his death Gen, Sheridan was President of the Army of the Cumberland, and the society was holding a public meeting in honor of its dead chief. Strands of bunting hung from the organ and draped the stage balcony and platform. At one corner stood the tattered flag which floated over Gen. Thomas’ headquarters during the Stone River campaign.

Beside the vacant chair sat General Rosecrans. Chairman of the meeting. A smile glinted through the short-cropped gray mustache when Mayor Roche spoke in a eulogistic strain of the Army of the Cumberland. General Rosecrans organized the Army of the Cumberland, and was its commander until September, 1863. Another old fighter in the front row of chairs was General James E. Morgan, of Quincy, the oldest member of the society. Mr. Morgan enlisted in 1864 and served a year in the Mexican war. He entered the Union army a month after Fort Sumter was fired on and served through the war. He is in his seventy-ninth year, but his step is as brisk as it was when he was mustered out twenty-three years ago. In the same row of chairs was a thinfaced, bright-eyed, pleasant-looking man, with a narrow, almost white beard on his chin, a long, drooping mustache, and darkgray hair, thin in front, and of moderate length. The low-cut vest, sea of white linen, the broadcloth claw-hammer, and the patent-leather boots were something of a contrast to the ragged garments worn by one Russell A. Alger when a barefoot lad he sparred with the world for a chance to fill his stomach. Now a ten-millionaire and an ex-Governor, with the added distinction of having made a close race for the Presidential nomination, the tall, straight, fashionably attired gentleman was received with rounds of hand-clapping as he walked to his ehair.

On the platform, also, was Gen. Parkhurst, with a mass of white hair and beard and black, heavy eyebrows. On Gen. Roseerans’ left was Gen. T. L. Wood, whose misinterpretation of Gen. Rosecrans’ order at Chickamauga was one of the causes of the disastrous results of the two days’ fight. Among the distinguished men on the platform were: Generals T. T. Crittenden, Nathan Kimball, Warren Keifer, C. C. Doolittle, J. A. Barnett, J. C. Robinson, S. D.

Atkins, and J. E. Smith. A number of local warriors were also on the stage, Mayor Roche extended to the old soldiers the regulation address of welcome. Gen. Rosecrans presented the orator of the evening. Col. Henry Stone, of Boston, Mass. Col. Stone said that the society met under the shadow of a deep grief for the loss of its President, Gen. Phil Sheridan. In a brief tribute to the dead leader, he said: “While other armies have shared in his later victories, he is all ours." After twentythree years, continued the speaker, the wonderful progress of our country seemed like a dream. Then followed the history of the origin and achievements of the Army of the Cumberland; its members coming chiefly from Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio, it was the central part of the nation’s army. Its first commandpr was Gen. Anderson, “a native of Kentucky and a soldier of the nation." Col. Stone described the attempt and failure of Kentucky to maintain neutrality; how its action in

arming its State militia roused anger on both sides and kept all in suspense; how the schemes of Buckner, Polk, and Pillow were frustrated, and the State entered, first by the Confederates at Columbus, and then by the Union troops under Grant at Paducah. The name of Joe Holt, Secretary of War during the “unspeakable administration of Buchanan.” called forth loud applause, as did the reference to “the proverbial slowness of Gen. Thomas, for which he was distinguished. and which always enabled him in some miraculous manner', to be in the right place at the right time.” Col. Stone spoke of the time when Gen. Sherman was in command. and of the appointment by McClellan of Gen. Buell, saying that at this time they learned to become soldiers, and that this was the beginning of the end, that the triumphs which followed were the result of the discipline of the training camps. After relating the subsequent victories of the Army of the Cumberland, the speaker closed with the words: “Such scenes may never return, but the cause for which we struggled is immortal. The past is secure, the future wakes no fears." Gen. Alger, after the applause incident to his introduction had subsided, entered upon his eulogy of Gen. Sheridan. After reciting the chief incidents of the General’s career, he said:

“Let me sketch Sheridan to you as he appeared standing in front of his tent on the eventful May morning when the letter appointing him Colonel of the Second Michigan Cavalry, sent by Michigan’s famous war Governor, Austin Blair, was handed to him. In stature about 5 feet 5 inches, weight 135 pounds, with a large head, piercing eye, broad shoulders, and tapering to his feet much like an iron wedge, and, as his command afterward learned, about as firm. As was always his custom, his uniform coat was buttoned to his chin, and he looked every inch a soldier, as he was. When he received his appointment his surprise and delight seemed about equal. Soon he was surrounded by his brother staff officers, who were profuse in their congratulations, and when one ot them proposed his health with the hope that his Colonel’s commission would be ‘only a step to a Brigadier’s star,* Sheridan replied instantly: ‘No, thank you; I am now a Colonel of cavalry and have all the rank I wish.’ His supposed zenith was but his horizon. Thus we see how little men know even of themselves. The fondest ambition gratified gratifies not at all. The things wo think will fully satisfy us. once gained, are found to lack the pleasure we anticipated. We are constantly looking beyond, eager for the morrow that never comes, and too apt to forget the blessings of to-day. Perhaps it is well it is thus, else man would be content with this life, giving little thought to the life beyond. “As before stated, the evening of the day Col. Sheridan received his appointment he appeared in camp and assumed command of his regiment. He wore his captain's uniform coat, with its row of buttons and a pair of infantry colonel's shoulder-straps; the latter probably were all he could procure after his appointment. He was a resolute man. and his command soon learned the fact that, unless incamp, two parties were in constant danger—the enemy and themselves. He was always genial and easily approached except in battle, when his whole nature seemed to change, and woe to the man who crossed him while the fight was on. Speaking of this fact not a year since, when told

he was always ugly in battle, he replied:: “I guess that was so; it was the way I always felt.’ Of the secret of Gen. Sheridan's success the speaker said: “One of the strong characteristics of GenSheridan was his intense devotion to the cause of the North. Soldiering, with him, was not a mere ooenapation, a road to gratify personal ambition, but he believed intensely that rebellion was a crime and that it ought to be punished. He had no patience whatever with the people of the North who either sympathized with the rebellion or spoke discouragingly about putting it down, or disparagingly of the force that was crushing it. It was this intense earnestness that made his success. His appearance upon the fleid at any time during a battle always created the wildest enthusiasm- He handled a regiment as though it were an army, and an army was managed by him as though it were a regiment.” Gen. Alger quoted expressions of Grant and Sherman extolling the genius and qualities of Gen. Sheridan, and pointed the lessons to be drawn from his career. Continuing, he said: “Sheridan was happy in living in the glory of his own fame, and his fondest friends can hope for no more than that the future may concur with his own time in doing him honor. People have a longing to look into the hearts of great men. There is often disappointment as well as pleasure about it. The unthoughtful are apt to believe that great men are entirely great. The truth is they are much like other men in th' ir general characteristics, and often only marked by some single superior quality. They are often as unknown to themselves as they are to others. Their future lies concealed from them. Sheridan was one of those who accepted good fortune as it came, content to fill the place assigned him to his best ability, and with very little of that consuming ambition which peers into the future, and from the cabin at one end of life’s journey sees the palace rising at the other." After paying a glowing tribute to the veteran soldiers of the Union cause, and invoking upon them the nation’s gratitude and blessings, Gen. Alger concluded with this peroration: “Great soul: loving father; devoted husband; loj'al friend! Your life, your affection for your country, your record as a soldier and as a man. are the heritage of a grateful nation. A country broken you helped to rebuild; a divided sentiment you helped to make one. On the bow of promise which, spanning this great land, assures us that ‘peace, unity, and concord’ shall remain forever, are inscribed the names of the men who placed it there, and at its apex shines in letters as bright as the day, that shall never fade, the immortal name— Sheridan.”

A curious theft was committed by an old woman of Orange, N. J. She dug up cobble-stones from the highway to pave her cellar floor.

GEN. ROSECRANS.

EX-GOV. ALGER.

CEN. SHERIDAK.