Democratic Sentinel, Volume 13, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 September 1889 — OLD SOLDIERS IN CAMP. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OLD SOLDIERS IN CAMP.

” KE UNION OF THE VETERANS AT MILWAUKEE. The Annual Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic Attended by Thousands of the Country’s Defenders— Eighteen Thousand in the Great Parade —Gen. Alger Elected Commander. It was 10 o’clock Monday morning when the special train carrying Com mander-in-Chief Warner and staff pulled into the union depot. There were thousands there to greet him, both citziens and visitors from afar. The marcn, with the Blair post of St. Louis in the lead, with a drum corps and band, was made to the Plankinton house, where the commander has his quarters. He was ac-

companied by hit. staff, as follows: JudgeAdvocate Gener-.l J. B. Johnson, Assistant Adjutant General E. G. Granville, Aids-de-Camp Brant, Rogers, Eraland, Smith, Axtell, Kidwell, Greenain, Yeaton, Gaston, and Jenks. A. J. McCoy, past commander department of Wisconsin, and several others from St Louis and Chicago posts were in the party.

Gen. Sherman arrived in the m idst of a blare of trumpets and the beating of drums. His welcome was a cordial one, and the grizzled old warrior got a reception whicn made his heart glad. With his innate modesty he had sought to get into the city unobserved at an unseemly hour in the night, but his “bummers” captured him an carried him off. “Uncle Billy” was surprised for once, and the veterans enjoyed his discomfiture. It was not long, however, before the entente cordiale was established and the old hero submitted to the blandishments of those who had marched to the sea with him. A shower of bouquets covered Gen. Sherman as he alighted from his carriage at the Plankinton house, and one of them the General gracefully presented to the daughter of Major Warner, the commander-in-chief. Ransom post of St. Louis, to which Gen. Sherman belonged, had an ovation during the evening. A unique feature of Monday’s exercises was the presentation of a flag by Hassendeubel post of St. Louis to Joseph Ledergerber post of Shawano county, Wisconsin. The latter post is composed entirely of Menominee Indians. Uol. F. T. Ledergerber, brother of the soldier for whom the post was named, marched to the depot with a detachment of Hassendeubel post to meet Ledergerber post and escort it to the South Side Turner hall, the headquarters of the Hessendeubel. There was geuuine pathos in the parade of the Grand Army of the Republic Tuesday. In that long line which swept down the broad thoroughfare—so appropriately called Grand ayenue—there were presented many pictures which recalled the most stirring days in the history of this great republic. The parade was smaller than it was at either St. Louis or Columbus, and the crowds that watched it pass were larger. There were in the parade about eighteen thousand men; but along the line of march were almost as many more men who wore the Grand Army button, but who did not feel equal to the task of trudging two miles and a half under the broiling hot sun. And in the procession were men who had no more business to be there than they had to be swimming in Lake Michigan in March or playing leap-frog. It all who took part in the parade had been compelled to secure a permit from a conscientious physician before they started there wouldn’t have? been 5,000 then in line. But they were soldiers—gamey old boys—and the same grit that made them cover twenty-five miles on a forced march a quarter of a century..ago made them turn out -o stay the route through. And those who start-

ed, for the most part, were in et the finish. All in all it was a grand parade and the lessons that it taught were manifest. The tattered battle Hags, the empty sleeves, the martial airs played by the bands, and withal the sturdy manhood represented—all taught their lesson of patriotism. Tuesday morning the cities and towns of the State seemed to have emptied their populations into Milwaukee. Before 10 o’clock 2,000 people from Waukesha alone had arrived, and it is not an exaggeration to say that by noon fully 50, GOO Wisconsin citizens were in town. There was a little disorder in finding quarters, but most of the arrivals managed to get into place in time to move with the column. On every vacant spot in tlie streets post commanders could be seen drilling their little squads of men.

It was 10:1.5 o’clock when the head of the column started from Camp Badger, and it was hilf an hour later when it reached the reviewing stand between Eleventh and Twelfth streets. First came the LightHorse squadron to clear the s reet, the troopers all dressed in full uniform and well mounted, Capt. C. P. Huntington in command. Next came the escort to Com-mander-in-Chief Warner. At the head marched Frank P. Blair Post of St. Louis, ?.21 strong, with platoon fronts, as finely dressed as regulars and all in uniform. Behind the post came the commander-in-chief, mounted upon a gray charger and receiving generous applause from the crowds that were closely packed around the reviewing stand. Major Warner was attended by his numerous staff, all in uniform and richly mounted, and followed by carriages containing distinguished guests. In the rear seat of the first carriage sat Gen. W. T. Sherman and Gen. John C. Robinson of New York, while facing them were Secretary Rusk and Gov. Hoard. As the familiar features of the greatest living general of the world were seen cheer after cheer went up. A halt was made at the grand stand, the commander-in-chief dismounted and took his position, being vociferously cheered as he did so; the carriages were turned, and, assisted by Col. Charles King, Gen. Sherman alighted and made his way to the stand, followed by the other occupants of the carriage. The column resumed the march as soon as Commander-in-Chiet Warner and Gen. Sherman were in their positions Hassendeubel post, of St. Louis, 140 strong, and Ransom post, of St. Louis, (the post of which Gen. Sherman is a member) 100 strong—the remain-

ing post of the escort of the commander-in-chief—marched past with the precision and bearing of well-drilled troops. After the Missouri boys came the men from Illinois, who were really at the head of the procession proper, Major Warner having put the Missouri contingent under the head of “escort to the commander-in-chief.” The Illinois division was the largest in line, Wisconsin excepted. The men in ranks were howling themselves hoarse as they recognized Mrs. Gen. Logan seated on one of the upper tiers of the stand. Not half of the 650 veterans from Illinois had passed. The reviewing officers, recognizing the honors due and so spontaneously paid her, called Mrs. Logan to a seat at their side. Then the applause from the spectators was deafening. Handkerchiefs and hats went into the air, and from the long terraces of both sides of the avenue there was a monster salute. From that moment for three hours the favorite of the Grand Army boys was k6pt busy waving her handkerchief in response to round after round of cheers from the passing army. Her costume of black sent a peculiar thrill through the column of white-haired marchers, and hats were doffed with a marked air of reverence and many a sturdy fellow showed emotion. It is no disrespect to say that momentarily “the boys” neglected to pay full homage to the commander-in-chief, it being unwritten law that he alone is to be honored when the review takes place. Major Warner, however, did not take any slight. On the contrary, he encouraged the attention to his distinguished companion. Next came the department of Pennsylvania led by an armed platoon of fourteen files front, keeping an almost perfect alignment, and followed by a miniature battery of two steel fieldpieces manned by small boys. The only posts of this department were from Pittsburg and Allegheny City and numbered about two hundred. They carried guidons with corps badges, and several of the torn and tattered battle flags of the Keystone State volunteer regiments appeared in the ranks. Ohio followed with a fine turnout, and then came New York, which made up in style what it lacked in numbers. Corporal Tanner rode in a carriage in the New York section of the parade, and he wore a lawn tennis coat and a straw hat. Connecticut had the honor of having at her head a man whose fine soldierly bearing was remarked by every one, and he was frequently cheered along the line of inarch. His name was Col. Pierrpont. His left leg was missing below the knee, and from his left arm, in which he held

• the bridle reins, dangled a pair of crutches. The horse he rede was a mettlesome beast, but he maintained such a steady seat in the saddle and such an admirable poise of his head that he was an ideal soldier. Virginia’s gallant little handful of men were cheered. California at racted attention with a large red flag, on which was worked in gold the figure of a bear. lowa bad a large contingent in line, but not what was expected. The post to make the largest showing in this division was that from Lime Springs. Michigan made a good show, with about two hundred and fifty men in line and Gen. Alger made something of a hit by tramping along with “the boys.” Minnesota did well and had about two hundred men in line, while her young sister, Dakota, appeared with a fine contingent The gallant little squads from Louisiana,

Mississippi, Florida and Georgia were warmly cheered. The Wisconsin division was the finest portion, of the parade, there being fully nine thousand men in line. Commander Weissert road at the head, followed by his staff. There were at least seven thousand men in the division. C. C. Washburn post, of Madison, the oldest one in the country, 150 strong, headed by Past Commander-iu-Chief Fairchild was first in line. The eighth division consisted of stragglers and belated detachments, and the procession finished with the division of Sons of Veterans. It was in all respects a fine parade, and it took two hours and a half for it to pass the reviewing stand, the men marching in close order and eight abreast for the most part. There was a noticeable absence of the frolicking, so prominent during former parades, and there was a certain grimness about the way the men marched that betokened many felt it was their last parede. When the last man in the parade had passed a crowd surrounded Gen. Sherman and wanted to shake hands with him. “Get out,” said the veteran bluntly. “This is no place to shake hands. Come down to the hotel. Umph! I’ll hire a man to shake hands for me.” Then he jammed his hands down into his pockets and' smoked till the air was blue. A reception to Mrs. Logan at the court house Tuesday night was attended by posts, battalions and squads of veterans and by citizens of the Sucker State generally who are in Milwaukee. It was an ovation without preparation, and the number of persons who shook hands with her was astonishing. The national officers came in for a good share of attention during the evening. Major Warner was presented with an elegant commander’s badge studded with diamonds and the senior vice-commander received a gold watch. It was a season of good will and favors down the line, the other officers being the recipients of testimonials. The National Encampment proper, cr convention of delegates of the Grand Army of the Republic, was called to order at 10:15 o’clock Wednesday in the West Side Turner Hall. The sessions were secret and none but delegates were admitted. Nearly the whole time of the morning session was taken up with the reading of the annual report of Comman-der-in-chief Warner. Reports were also made from the other officers and all were accepted. At the afternoon session Boston was selected as the place for holding the next encampment. A large number of resolutions were submitted and referred to the Committee on Resolutions and a few of them were read. The sensation was sprung by General Lucius Fairchild, and the fact that he introduced the resolution which he did was what caused the. sensation. He offered a resolution asking that Congress appropriate money enough to erect monuments at Gettysburg over the “graves of the brave men against whom the Union soldiers fought, and urged that such action be taken as soon as possible. The resolution was greeted with applause and was referred to the committee along with the others. At the evening session Russell A. Alger was elected Commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic. The meeting was a secret one, and it lasted from 8:30 o’clock until nearly midnight. Gen. Alger was put in nomination by Postmaster Sexton, of Chicago. Fully twenty speeches were made by men who favored the man who was disappointed at Chicago last year. They came from all sections of the country, among them being Gen. Hurst, of Ohio; T. A. Bean, of Pennsylvania; Gen. Ginty, of Wisconsin; and Corporal Tanner, of New York. Gen. Veazey, of Vermont, was placed in nomination, and so was Consigny, of lowa. More speeches were made for Gen. Alger, and it soon became apparent that the Michigan man had a walk-away. Gen. Veazey then withdrew, as did Consigny. Gen. Alger was then elected by acclamation. He was brought into the hall and received with rousing cheers. He spoke; so did Corporal Tanner. E. G. Weissert, Commander of the Wisconsin Department, was elected Senior Vice Commander by acclamation, no other candidates appearing. John F. Lovett of New Jersey was elected Junior Vice Commander, after an exciting contest with J ames E. Tainter of Connecticut. In France they have applied electricity to the playing or organs. ! > '

COMMANDEB-IN-CHIEF BUSSELL A. ALGER.

THE VETERANS IN CAMP.

GENERAL SHERMAN.