Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 September 1910 — REUNION OF THE 87 th REGIMENT [ARTICLE]

REUNION OF THE 87 th REGIMENT

Names of Number Attending and Address of Adjutant Molloy. While The Democrat has has so many other matters to mention in this issue that it cannot give the report of the reunion of the 87th Regiment which was held here last Thursday and Friday, that it expected to, we herewith publish the list ot members attending. The names of local “vets" registering from other regiments. and the response of Adjutant Molloy to the welcome address of Geo. A. Williams at the "Camp Fire.” Capt. Elam of V alparaiso read the response. At the “Camp Fire" Col E. P. Hammond a neat address. T. F. Babcock, a regimental veteran, of Warsaw, spoke impromptu very wittily. E. P. Honan and other& made some remarks. Several songs were sung by M. O. Jones, a veteran from: Brook, also by others. The list of members of the 87th as they appear on the register follows: The following is a transcript of the registration: Age ! 69. Daniel Dilts, Winamac. . j 64. Erast us Peacock. Rensselaer.; 68. T. A. Crockett. Rensselaer. 67. Shelby Grant, Rensselaer, 75. J. M. McGinnis, \Vestrille 64. W. H. Miller, Rensselaer. 68. D. H. Yoeman, Rensselaer. 63. C. P. Wright, Rensselaer. 62. G. L. Morgan. Rensselaer. 65. John Q- Alter. Rensselaer. 69. C. C. Starr. Densselaer. 66. John Casey, Fair Oaks. 68. I. S. Ramey. Brookst,on. 74. Daniel hruee. Kewanna. 73. J. H. Corbet, Winamac. 66. X. H. Stewart. Star City. 64. J. W. Farnnm. Toledo. Ohio. 77. John H. Stamm. Kewanna. 70. J.‘ R. Coon, Dayton. Ohio. 70. John Kewanna. 73. E. B. Hudkins. Kewanna. 70. William Demuth. Pern. 77. C. C. Triplett, Morocco. 64. M. A. Jones, 1 Brook, j 70. J. L. Nichols, Rensselaer. 69. J. W. Noland. \Vaukegon. Wis. 71. J. W. Boyd. South Bend. 66. John Potts, Warsaw. 67. T- F. Babcock. Warsaw. . 66. Marsh Rhoades. Rensselaer. 69. John W. Elam. Valporaiso. 66. H. C. Mackey, l Rochester. 73. W. B. Zeller. Rochester. 71. H. G. Pugh, Rochester. 74. J. G. Cannon. Kewanna. 68. J. T. Gainer, Rochester. 66. W. R. McCarter.. Rochester. 72. John H. Taylor. Walkerton. * ■ , -- ; ■

72. D. C. Fisher, Columbia City. 73. H. Walker, Leaters Ford. 65. T. B. Apt, Rochester. 81. Jonas Myers, Rochester. v 73. John Wheatly, Rochester. V 67. John W. Stevens, Chicago, 111, 67. Levi Heeter, DeLong. 75. H. Rarrick, DeLong. 82. Andrew Young, Valparaiso. 77. Jacob Wright, Rochester. 72. M. T, Orcott. Hammond 75. Col. Edwin P. Hammond, Lafayette. 74. Whitsell Lewis, Rensselaer. 81. Charley Platt, Rensselaer. 65. Cyfcus A. Bah, Francesville. 68. A. A. Martin, Augusta, Kans. 7J. S. Eldridge, Francesville. 72. A, T. Short,,Wanata. 69. T. W. Rush, Logansport. 74. E. W. Carpenter, Wanata. 65. G. W. Wright, Macy. 66. Wm. M. Hoover, Rensselaer, .Number of other regiments registering were: Ezra L. Clark Jacob Hosier Wm. Fleming Cyrus Brenton G. W. Clark 7 John Vayette W, W. Reeve Ebenezer Mab Larkin Potts I. N. Hemphill John Kresler T. H. Robinson William Gray Timothy Comer Phillip Blue Geo. O. Pumphrey W. F. Powers John C. Chlleote J. R. Wilson Charles (J. Waling A. J. Bellows John M. Wasson W. S. Bedford Morris Thomas Behj. Geesa James Ricker Elizur Sage James Thompson A. P. Rockwell Burgess Dillon S. R. Stevens George Daugherty John Seively Robert C. Dowler James A. May Albert VanDooser C. P. Wells Philip McElfresh Wm. S. Day J. C. Thompson A. C. Scott Jacob P. Simons J. C. Gwin Charles W. Burns Abe Simpson Harrison Warren S. E. Yeoman James Overton N. Eldridge Wm. H. Wood 11. W. Wood W. R. Brown J. L. Hagins Henry Iloshaw B. L. Saylor J. F. Mitchell N. S. Bates John Sullivan W. D. Saylor Wm. Daniels G. F. Warne G. W. Michaels W. H. Burton G. H. Mullaney John Clingen John H. Thornton B. H. Sheffer Henry M. Shipman Henry Grow James F. Irwin

Following is Adjutant Molloy’s address: Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen: I appreciate the honor conferred on me of responding to the welcome address, which you have just heard. . I wish that some other comrade had been selected for the Important

duty, but, as my rule in the army was never to shirk, and always to obey, I assume the pleasant task without the least hesitance. It is a pleasure to be welcomed to Rensselaer, and by such an able and eloquent speaker as the gentleman chosen for that purpose. It is a great pleasure, I assure you, to be welcomed to Rensselaer; a place which gave us our beloved Colonel Hammond, where he married his estimable wife; where his charming daughters were born; a place which, with the aid of Jasper county, gave us Co. a, with brave Captain Burnham and other gallant comrades. Rensselaer was always true to the flag and to the Union,rand as a comrade of our noble regiment, I have only words of praise and appreciation for your beautiful, enterprising, progressive, patrotic and hospitable city. Mr. Williams, I thank you most heartily for your splendid welcome, to my comrades and myself. We love to repeat the story of our Nation’s death struggle. The old story is ever new. You need not be afraid that it will ever grow old. It is too comprehensive for that. It is always new, because it is never repeated. I know those who are pot soldiers are prone to think so, but its a mistake. It ik said that no two persons ever see the same rainbow, so the more than two million of men who with their four million eyes beheld scenes that will ntever be recorded in history. It is safe to say that no two witnessed the same scene? It is said that the history of the late war will never be completely written, for the reason that those from whom the information should be obtained either have passed away, cannot be fount, or, it found, will not tell thpir story, or are not possesed of the ability to impart the coveted information. The men who stood in the skirmish line, or .in the battle’s front, could well afford to speak of the attractive war sdenes through which they passed. ' The historian, obtains his infor- I mation from the government records, i These were furnished by officers. ! who were as a -general thing, more : or less in the Year, and they “obtained their information from regimental | or company commanders. So at the -

best their information was second hand. By getting it from enlisted men it would be received from first hands. The enlisted men sees war in all its hideous nakedness. If he is in it for but a short' time, he is there long enough to taste to the seddregs the bitter cup, which, in more than one instance, is pressed to his lips. Many a man sees more service in three months than others do in three years. Men are maimed, or captured, or their health is broken down and never afterwards restored. ■/ ,■ '• A soldier who dies' today in these piping times of peace may as truly lay down his life for his country as if he forfeited it on the battle field, amid the shouts of the combatants, and the thunders of red artillery. Most of the leaders whom we followed, “The tread of whose bannered armies shook the world,” have preceded us in death as they led us in life. “They have crossed over the river and are resting in the shade.” Next to the grand leaders, the men who covered themselves with honor in war, are the private soldiers, the men whose pay is small, bears no marks of rank, who wears no flashing stars or gilded bars, or dashing plumes, who march in the mud and the dust, in rainstorm and scorching sun, who lie upon the cold, damp, bare ground, who carry their own victuals and cook them, too; who stand on the lonely picket post at night-, between safety and disaster. Over the graves of the Union dead the North and South clasp hands, political differences are forgotten, and all sections of a united and harmonious country vie with each other in doing honor to the Union soldiers, living and dead. We may differ about the tariff, about local option, about pensions, and other questions of public interest, but w r e are a unit in our belief that the men who died that the Nation might live, are deserving of the highest tribute of praise a grateful people can bestow. The hand of time isi making great havoc with our numbers. Are you aware that of those who returned from the war in 1865, nearly threefourths have gone to meet. “Upon the shining table-lands, to which our God is moon and sun?” And from now on the ratio of mortality will largely increase each year. “The hands we grasped are quiet now, The lips once eloquent, are dumb; The hearts once warm, are cold and numb, And dust lies on each marble brow.” Knowing many of our Nation’s dead as I did, I can truthfully testify to their virtues and their deeds. They were tried in a way that tested to the utmost their true manhood. They were equal to every emergency. They had hearts of gold in bodies of iron. Neither we nor our sacred dead need fear that they have died in vain. The splendid record of their marvelous deeds will preserve their memories for all time. Men such as they did their duty, and sCe w hat has become of it, even in thist world. The country can’t do enough for we who survive. It has granted us pensions, it has built splendid homes for us; it has dotted the land with monuments erected to the dead and livihg soldiers, and everywhere and at all times has made good the promise which adorned the capital at Washington at the time of the grand review in ’65, to the effect that “the only debt the Nation can ever pay is the debt it owes the brave soldiers.” 1,-"oftimes., in my dreams, or waking moments, see the war all over again. In imagination, I see the boys in blue at Hampton Roads, Va., participating in that terrible conflict between the gallant little Monitor and the monster Merrimac. I see them in the Seven days’ battle with McClellan; at Chantilly with the heroic Kearney; at Fredricksburg with Burnside; at Chancellorsville with Hooker, and defending heroically that banner which, borne- by manly hands, was always carried high in th.e thickest of the fight, and that was furled only “When the eagle, whose gaze in our moments or despondency blasted, soared w-ith his eyes fixed on victory’s sun.” “His calm was never broken by the earthquake shock of battle,” and he caused the name of the American soldier to be honored throughout the world, rendering it “Fairer than the evening air Clad in the beauty of a thousand . stars.” “There’s nothing too good for soldiers Who were loyal and brave and true, If I had my way I would pension them each a dollar a day. Every veteran who wore the blue, I would give them all the fat offices, Of good things there should be no dearth; And then, if a comrade grumbled. I would tell him to take the earth. If T were a guard at the pearly gates, Where the hosts of heaven encamp, And a soldier came up without the pass. No matter his rank or stamp. I’d turn on my beat and pretend not to see, Regardless of rules and fines. While the boy in blue as he used to do. Might scoot through the picket lines.” “The neighboring troop, the flashing blade, ' The bugle’s stirring blast, The charge, the dreaded cannonade, The din and shout are pasO Now War’s wild nor glory’s peal Shall thrill with fierce delight * Those breasts that nevermore shall feel The rapture of the flight.” Good night!