Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 122, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 May 1918 — HOLD SACRED WAR SERVICE [ARTICLE]

HOLD SACRED WAR SERVICE

CITIZEN MEETING HELD AS REQUESTED BY THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS. The meeting held by the citizens of this community Thursday evening at the First Christian church was fairiy well attended and the program was very interesting. George H. McLain acted as chairman and with him on the platform were Rev. J. B. Fleming and Rev. E. W. Strecker. The address of George A. W. Williams was an admonition to each and every one of us to be worthy of the victory we have ask the Almighty to give us in this great war. We publish a portion of a very interesting paper read by Mrs. Charles G. Spitler. “The National Memorial Day this year does not seqm so much like ancient history. “Those of us who know the war of 1861 only as history can begin to realize what it meant to the boys when they left the old home to serve the . call of duty. “The war of 1861 seems to have been small in comparison with the present world’s war; but in deeds of heroism the civil has never been surpassed. “In per centage of . killed and wounded it exceeded the present war. There was not adequate treatment of the wounded, and as many died of disease as from bullets.

“The memory of the deeds of the Blue and the Gray will be an inspiration to the-boys of today. “It holds a man to his task to think that his father or his grandfather did the same thing before him. He feels that he, has a record to maintain, a name to honor, and a history of which he must show himself worthy. “Fort Sumpter fell on Saturday, April 13, 1861, and on Monday the 15th, Governor Morton telegraphed to the president his tender of 10,000 men on behalf of the state of Indiana. On the same day the president issued his proclamation calling forth the ipilitia of the states of the Union to the number of 75,000. The t response of Jasper County to the Governor’s call was prompt and enthusiastic. While it was still dark on the morning after the announcement of the surrender, with the court house bell and a drum and fife Robert H. Milroy brought the citizens together and called for volunteers. They crowded forward and before breakfast filled the ranks of one of the earliest companies in the state. The same day he reported to Governor Morton in Indianapolis. “There is something in the majestic figure of General Milroy, in the erect head held as if listening, in the fearless eye, and the gray hair turned back from the forehead very suggestive of the name bestowed up--on him by his soldiers. He was callthe ‘Gray Eagle’. “In the Mexican war the state had five regiments and to avoid historical confusion, the regiments raised for the war of the rebellion were designated by numbers, beginning with six. The ninth, therefore, was the third regiment organized for the war of 1861. This regiment was mustered into service for three months at Indianapolis on the 25th day of April, 1861, with Robert H, Milroy as colonel. * “In this regiment Jasper county was represented by a full company, the original officers of which were: Robert H. Milroy, captain; Gideon C. Moody, first lieutenant, and Edwin P. Hammond, second lieutenant. “In the organization of the regament this company was ranked ‘G,’ and the captain was promoted to the colonelcy of the regiment, and the regular promotion of the lieutenants placing Albert G. Guthridge in ’ commission as second lieutenant. “Company ‘G’ may be said to be the cradle of Jaaper county’s military renown. From its organization arose one general, three colonels and a number of line officers. Jasper county is credited with 935 soldiers in the civil war. I have not been able to get the census of the county at that time; but we know it was sparcely settled, and believe the per centage of enlisted -men very high. Probably higher than in the present war up to this time. “But little difficulty was experienced during the first two years of the war, And no effort was made by the county to stimulate enlistments by the offering of bounties. In August, 1862 an order was passed by the county ■commissioners to pay a bounty of $25; but« was subsequently recinded. “In November, 1863, the subject was again presented and an order passed to pay S6O to volunteers, and that amount was increased the following month to SIOO. This resulted in the payment of $4,900, as bounties by the county. Various measures of relief for the families of the soldiers were introduced; which were carried out at an expense of nearly $5,000. The various townships, m their independent capacity, added to the general expenditure for both obi a cis “The women also formed a soldier’s aid society at Rensselaer. This was not completely organized; but the patriotic women provided such articles as the hospitals and the boys In the field needed most. The society met at the homes of its members and worked up the material that

some member or the donation of some merchant had provided. Boxes were sent to the volunteers of the company and wherever the need seemed most urgent, the labor and contributions of these women were freely given. “Brief as was the Spanish War nine of Jasper county’s sons participated in it, Melbrin Griffin, Theodore George, Ephrain Hickman, William Holderness (the brother of the wife of Anson Cox), Joe Marshall, Ernest Middleton, Bates Tucker, Ellwood Spriggs, and Dr. I. M. Washburn are veterans of that war. Mr. Martin Sauser was in that war also, but enlisted from Chicago. “Although the Spanish war was of short duration, our soldiers suffered from the climate and disease, from poor food and lack of things to make life endurable. “We feel that we have profited by that experience and have gone into the world war with less hurrahing and better preparation. Of what is being done by Jasper county now everyone knows. The Red Cross, the council of Defense, the Liberty Guards, the War Mothers and the Y. M. C. A. are working harmoniusly and systematically for the welfare and comfort pf our soldiers. Men to the number of 230 have already gone from the county. What the future holds for us no one can know; but with such a history . behind us and the men we are sending there can be no doubt that Jasper county will sustain her past record if she does not surpass it Allen Seegar, the New York lad, who kept his ‘Rendesvous With Death,’ while charging up the German trenches on July 4, 1916, wrote an ‘Ode in memory of the American Volunteers Fallen for France,’ to be read before the statue of Lafayette and Washington in Paris on Decoration Day, 1916. At that time only a few Americans were in the battle line. But now that we are in it to a much greater extent the lines are no less appropriate.”