West Point battle monument : history of the project to the dedication of the site, June 15th, 1864 ; [with,] oration of Maj.-Gen. McClellan

■WEST POINT

BATTLE MONUMENT

HISTORY OF THE PROJECT TO THE DEDI-
CATION OF THE SITE,

JTJ3NTE 15tkc3 1884.

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New fork:
SHELDON So C0.; PUBLISHERS.

No. 335 Broadway.
1864.

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2012 with funding from

The Institute of Museum and Library Services through an Indiana State Library LSTA Grant

http://www.archive.org/details/westpointbattleOOmccl

HISTORY OF THE PROJECT.

The officers of the army stationed at West Point, N. Y.,
conscious of the propriety of providing some permanent me-
mento for their fallen comrades, and realizing the necessity of
initiating some project to ensure this end, effected in October
last, upon the suggestion of First Lieut. H. C. Hasbrouck, 4th
U. S. Artillery, and after consultation, an organization, as
follows :

An Executive Committee was constituted, consisting of

Col. A. H. Bowman, U. S. Engineers, President.

Prof. A. E. Church, U. S. Military Academy, Treasurer.

First Lieut. Chas. C. Parsons, 4th U. S. Artillery, Secretary.

H. B. Clitz, Lieut. Col. and Commandant of Cadets.

W. P. Chambliss, Capt. 5th Cavalry.

S. V. Benet, Capt. Ordnance Corps.

H. B. Noble, First Lieut. 8th Infantry.

M. D. McAlester, Capt. Engineers.

L. Lorain, Capt. 3d Artillery.

A. T. Smith, Capt. 8th Infantry.

W. A. Elderkin, First Lieut. 1st Artillery.

Capt. Benet being subsequently ordered elsewhere, his place
was supplied by Capt. T. J. Treadwell, Ordnance Corps, and
Dr. E. S. Dunster was added, to represent the Medical Corps.

The Executive Committee, after procuring from the Hon.
the Secretary of War permission to erect the proposed monu-
ment at West Point, sent forth to commanding generals of the
army and others a circular describing their purpose and so-
liciting co-operation. The most favorable replies were speed-
ily received from the following officers :

Lieut.-Gen. Grant, Maj.-Gens. McClellan, Wool, Thomas,
Buell, Hooker, Meade, and Brig.-Gen. Meigs.

4 BATTLE MONUMENT

Thus satisfied that they were in some degree warranted in
acting for the army, the committee published, and through
favor of the War Department distributed, the following cir-
cular :

"West Point, N. Y., Jan. 18, 1864.

" Silt : In response to what is believed to be the wish of all
who have an interest in the subject, the officers now stationed
at West Point have effected an organization for the purpose of
erecting at that post a Monument, to be called The Battle
Monument, upon which shall be inscribed the names of all
officers of the Regular Army who, during the present war,
shall have been killed, or died of wounds received, in the
field, and which shall also contain a Tablet dedicated to the
memory of all enlisted men who shall have fallen under like
circumstances. %*

" It is not deemed necessary that any elaborate argument
should set forth the propriety of earnest action in behalf of
this object. It is an admitted fact, that while in other coun-
tries and other ages, places are assigned in the historic mau-
soleum of the nation's illustrious dead for those who have
fallen for the public good, the soldiers of the American Army
are often permitted to rest among the unknown dead, while
their names find no place in the annals of the stormy scenes
in which, perhaps, they were the most exalted actors.

"Is it not fit, therefore, that at West Point, the great cen-
tral post around which cluster some of the richest associations
of the Eegular Army — to which would cheerfully resort all
who wish to pay a tribute to the gallant dead — under the
shadow of the Academy which at last receives her sons and all
who fight, or fall beside them, should be erected a monument
which shall supply the want that now exists 1

" To the dead, it would offer the grateful homage of fraternal
hearts — to the living, still another inspiration to heroic virtues
and sublime self-devotion.

" The plan of action that is proposed has been carefully
sought out, and it is trusted that, with a favorable response, a
sufficient sum may be raised to make the Battle Monument,
n design and durability, entirely worthy of its purpose.

AT WEST POINT. 5

" It seems unnecessary that those who have undertaken to
initiate this project should disavow any undue assumption in
regard to it, since they earnestly ask from their brother offi-
cers in the field, or elsewhere, such instructions or suggestions
as may tend to forward the purpose that is held in view.

" For the purpose of indicating a standard of subscription,
the following rates are proposed, every one, however, will feel
at liberty to offer a greater or less sum, as circumstances
permit :

Major $10 00

Captain , . 8 00

Lieut 7 00

Maj.-Gen $27 00

Brig.-Gen 18 00

Colonel 13 00

Lieut.-Col 11 00

Enlisted Men each 1 00

(Approximating to 6 per cent, of monthly pay, for one month.)
Besides your personal subscription, your co-operation with
your associates in the field is also solicited, since this circular
may not otherwise reach them on account of the difficulty of
obtaining correct addresses.

Should subscriptions be forwarded in aggregate, the officer
so forwarding will please enclose the names of the several sub-
scribers. Subscriptions may be remitted to the Treasurer,

(Signed, &c.) Prof. A. E. Church, West Point, N. Y.

The response to this appeal was general, prompt and earnest,
Among those of our general officers who gave earliest tribute
to the gallant who had fallen under their command, or been
of their number, were Major-Gens. Sedgwick, Sykes, Sherman,
Augur, Pope, Wright, Curtiss, Doubleday, Heintzleman,
Pleasonton, Peck, Hitchcock, Gibbon, Reynolds, Franklin,
Howard, McCook, Granger, Brookes, Keyes, Foster, Gill-
more, Butterfield, French, Butler, McDowell, and Brig.-Gens.
Wright, Paul, Hawkins, Delafield, Wessells, Barry, De Rus-
sey, Sherman, Ramsay, Hunt, Cooke, Pitcher, Hays, Ingalls,
Grainger, Newton, Cullum, Wheaton, Ames, Kilpatrick?
Totten, Williams, and Ricketts, and to these may be added
the hearty tributes from the field, staff and line officers

6 BATTLE MONUMENT AT WEST POINT

throughout every division of the army, and the no less welcome
contributions of many enlisted men.

A circular, inviting designs for the Monument, was pre-
pared by the committee ; and to secure competition, a pre-
mium of $250 was offered for that which shall finally be ac-
cepted.

It seemed proper, as the project progressed and attained the
promise of complete success, that a site should be chosen and
set apart to be ever after recognized as the honored shrine of
our noble dead.

The committee, therefore, after selecting Trophy Point,
upon the northern brow of the plain, as such site, designated
the 15th of June, 1864, as a day for its dedication. Major-
Gen. McClellan was requested to deliver the oration, Brig.-
Gen. Anderson officiated as chief marshal, and Rev. Drs.
French and Sprole as chaplains.

The following is the record of proceedings for that day#
Its interest was heightened by the presence of the shattered
but still steady remnants of the 3d, 6th, 7th, and 12th Regi-
ments U. S. Infantry, the bands of these and of the 5th Artil-
lery, and the permanent party of Fort Columbus, N. Y. Har-
bor, preceded in procession by the U. S. corps of Cadets and
the Military Academy band.

It was also distinguished throughout by that deep solemnity
of feeling which was eminently due to the occasion.

West Point, June 15, 1864.

PROGRAMME OF CEREMONIES.

PRO CJES SION.
Assistant-Marshal. — Capt. Wilkins, 3d Infantry.

1. Military Academy Band.

2. Battalion of Cadets.

Assistant-Marshal. — Capt. Smith, 8th Infantry.

3. Detachments of Troops, Stationed at and Visiting the Post.

4. Carriage containing the President of the Executive Committee,

the Chief Marshal, and State Executives.

Assistant-Marshal. — Lieut. Hamtlton, 2d Artillery.

5. Senior Member of the Committee, Orator, and Chaplains.

6. The Executive Committee.

7. Military and Academic Staff, Board of Visitors, and Invited

Guests.

Assistant-Marshals. \ CaPi Daties> Uth ^^
( Capt. Baelow, Engineers.

PRO CEEDINGS.

1. Prayer Kev. Dr. French

2. Music — Hail Columbia Military Academy Band

3. Oration Maj. Gen. McClellan

4 Music — Star-Spangled Banner & Yankee-Doodle. . . M. A. Band

5. Benediction Rev. Dr. Sprole

6. Dirge Military Academy Band

PRAYERS

FOE THE COUNTRY.

Almighty God, fountain of order, source of all
law, in heaven and in earth, who hast ordained that
men shall exist in organized communities, who, in
the days of our fathers, didst bring forth, in the
hour of darkness, the starry order of American insti-
tutions, for which we praise and bless Thee, we
commend our country, now and ever, with all its
interests, to Thy protecting care. May Thy fatherly
hand ever be extended for perpetual benedictions,
over this land, kept by Thee, through ages for us ;
over its people, trained by Thee so long for a sub-
lime vocation ; its Constitution, fruit of Thy teach-
ings in history ; its Union, blending human diversi-
ties into one chorus, acceptable to Thee, the lover of
concord ; and its laws, uniting, after the model of
Thine, mercy with justice, and liberty with order.
From thine own deeps of purity and love, breathe
into the whole American people, by Thy spirit, and
through all subduing charity, that sacred affection,
love to our country. Remove for ever from them,
the spirit of sedition, conspiracy, rebellion, and give
them steadfast loyalty, and unswerving allegiance.

10 BATTLE MONUMENT

Specially do we implore Thee thus to turn the hearts
of those who are now in arms against authority. In
the contest to which we have been summoned for
defending the precious trusts handed on from our
fathers, wilt Thou send us n<3w prosperity, and grant
us victory. 0, let not the impassioned yearnings of
a great people for unity, for nationality, for benef-
icent order, for a lasting tranquillity, be in vain.
May their lavish sacrifices, their patriotic efforts,
their patient endurances, their silent tears falling in
so many saddened homesteads, not be fruitless, but
be regarded by Thee, through thy Son, for benedic-
tions, and by distant posterities, blessed through
them, for abundant honor. So may we be through
coming time, one people, fearing Thee and working
righteousness, glorifying Thy name, and elevating
Thy whole human family. All which we ask through
Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

FOR THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND
ALL OTHERS IN AUTHORITY.

0, everlasting God, by whose eternal providence
all things and all men have their stations and their
works, wherein they may serve Thee, and do good
to Thy creatures, we ask for Thy blessing on the
President of the United States, and all others in
authority. Called by Thee to great duties, may
they find in Thee strength and wisdom for all.
Bestow upon them all good gifts for government ;
inspire them with wisest counsels and heroic reso-

A T WEST P OINT. 1 1

lutions. Console them in their difficult tasks with
the consciousness, of duty done, of intentions sin-
cerely placed on the public welfare, justice, and
honor ; of the sympathy of upright men ; of the
appreciation of other ages ; and of Thine own merci-
ful yet forgiving approval. In this life, may Thy
providence guard them. In mortal scenes may Thy
spirit so guide them, that they may hereafter serve
and glorify Thee in a better country that is an
heavenly ; through Him who taught the rules and
procured the spirit for all human duties, our
teacher, our model, our restorer, Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.

FOR THE ARMY AND NAVY AND THEIR SCHOOLS.

Lord God of hosts, who hast determined the
union of power with law through all thy works,
and for all communities of men, be pleased to re-
ceive into thy almighty and most gracious protec-
tion, the Army and the Navy of the United States.
Fill the whole public force with the spirit of patriot-
ism and self-sacrifice, with an inspiring conviction
of the glory of the cause for which it is now called
to dare and to endure. May its persons be defended
by Thee in danger, and encouraged to all deeds of
heroism by the affection and honor of grateful
countrymen. And may both its schools be the nur-
series of pure, accomplished, and brave men, and be
continually sending forth on land and sea those who
may render, in peace and war, good and faithful ser-

12 BATTLE MONUMENT

vice to tbe public. So may the people of our land,
under the shelter of good laws, in peace and quiet-
ness, serve thee our God, and lead lives of all godli-
ness and honesty, to the glory of Thy name, and the
promotion of human welfare, through Him who
gave the example of self-sacrifice, dying for us that
we might live with Thee, thy Son, our Saviour.
Amen.

FOK A BLESSING ON THE OCCASION.

0 God of the spirits of all flesh, calling the gen-
erations from the beginning, and, since the first
transgression, bidding dust return to dust again
may this spot, consecrated now to the memory
of heroes, be hallowed also to the benefit of the
living. May those brought here for their last
repose, be the temples of thy Holy Spirit, and
leave spotless records of lives made glorious by
duty conscientiously done, so that the wayfarer,
lingering and musing here, may find his soul en-
kindled to ennobling emulations. And may this
whole assembly look this day from the grave to the
life immortal. Here, in a temple not made with
hands, where the mountains rise, the river flows, the
valley slumbers, all telling of Thee and of Thy un-
speakable perfection, may thoughts arise within us
answering to the majesty of Thy glorious works.
Here may we consecrate ourselves anew to the love
of Thee, the love of man, the love of Thy will ; to
the doing of justice, to the loving of mercy, and to

AT WEST POINT. 13

walking humbly with Thee our God : that so, when
we too shall lie down in the dust, we may be Thy
children, justified, sanctified, and prepared to be
glorified, all through Him who has opened the way
to Thee, and who, to inbreathe these great affections,
has taught us when we pray to say

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy
name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on
earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily
bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those who trespass against us. And lead us not into
temptation : But deliver us from evil. For Thine
is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for
ever and ever. Amen.

After the prayer, Prof. French said :

" I am requested on behalf of the officers of the
army, and of the local authorities and residents, to
express their sentiments and wishes, and most
earnestly to ask that these may be respected. To
all of us, the day is a solemn one ; to military
feelings ever confronted with death, the occasion is
the same as though cherished comrades were now to
be laid in the grave. They ask therefore, that this
hour and this day may be invested with the decorum
attached to funeral solemnities— that no demonstra-
tion of any kind be made on the ground or after-
ward, but that all may enter into the spirit and mo-
tive of the solemn occasion which calls us here in
reverence, before Almighty God, to set apart a por-

14 B A TTLE MONUMENT A T WEST P OINT.

tion of his footstool for the remains of those who
shall fall in this war in the defence of the Constitu-
tion, the Union, the welfare, and the national honor
of the United States.

Gen. Anderson's introduction of the orator :

Fellow-citizens, members of the corps of cadets,
and brother soldiers, I have the pleasure of going
through the form of introducing to you one who is
better known to you than I who introduce him.
The orator of the day, Major General George B.
McClellan.

O RATI O 1ST

BY

GENERAL GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN.

All nations have days sacred to the remembrance
of joy and of grief. They have thanksgivings for
success, fasting and prayers in the hour of humilia-
tion and defeat, triumphs and paoans to greet the liv-
ing and laurel-crowned victor. They have obsequies
and eulogies for the warrior slain on the field of bat-
tle. Such is the duty we are to perform to-day.
The poetry, the histories, the orations of antiquity,
all resound with the clang of arms ; they dwell rath-
er upon rough deeds of war, than the gentle arts of
peace. They have preserved to us the names of he-
roes, and the memory of their deeds, even to this dis-
tant day. Our own Old Testament teems with the
narrations of the brave actions and heroic deaths of
Jewish patriots, while the New Testament of our
meek and suffering Saviour, often selects the soldier
and his weapons, to typify and illustrate religious
heroism and duty. These stories of the actions of
the dead, have frequently survived in the lapse of
ages, the names of those whose fall was thus com-
memorated centuries ago. But, although we know

16 . BATTLE MONUMENT

not now the names of all the brave men who fought
and fell upon the plain of Marathon, in the pass of
Thermopylae and on the hills of Palestine, we have
not lost the memory of their examples. As long as
the warm blood courses the veins of man, as long as
the human heart beats high and quick at the recital
of brave deeds and patriotic sacrifices, so long will
the lesson still incite generous men to emulate the
heroism of the past.

Among the Greeks, it was the custom that the
fathers of the most valiant of the slain should pro-
nounce the eulogies of the dead. Sometimes it de-
volved upon their great statesmen and orators to
perform this mournful duty. Would that a new
Demosthenes, or a second Pericles could arise and
take my place to-day, for he would find a theme
worthy of his most brilliant powers, of his most
touching eloquence. I stand here now, not as an
orator, but as a whilom commander, and in the place
of the fathers of the most valiant dead. As their
comrade, too, on many a hard-fought field against
domestic and foreign foe — in early youth and ma-
ture manhood — moved by all the love that David
felt when he poured forth his lamentations for the
mighty father and son who fell on Mount Gilboa.
God knows that David's love for Jonathan was no
more deep than mine for the tried friends of many
long and eventful years, whose names are to be re-
corded upon the structure that is to rise upon this
spot. Would that his more than mortal eloquence
could grace my lips and do justice to the theme !

AT WEST POINT. 17

We have met to-day, my comrades, to do honor
to our own dead ; brothers united to us by the clo-
sest and dearest ties, who have freely given their
lives for their country in this war — so just and right-
eous, so long as its purpose is to crush rebellion, and
to save our nation from the infinite evils of dismem-
berment. Such an occasion as this should call forth
the deepest and noblest emotions of our nature —
pride, sorrow, and prayer ; pride that our country
has possessed such sons; sorrow that she has lost
them ; prayer that she may have others like them ;
that we and our successors may adorn her annals as
they have done, and that when our parting hour ar-
rives, whenever and however it may be, our souls
may be prepared for the great change.

We have assembled to consecrate a cenotaph,
which shall remind our children's children, in the
distant future, of their fathers' struggles in the days
of the great rebellion. This monument is to perpet-
uate the memory of a portion only of those who have
fallen for the nation in this unhappy war — it is ded-
icated to the officers and soldiers of the regular ar-
my. Yet this is done in no class or exclusive spirit,
and in the act we remember with reverence and love,
our comrades of the volunteers, who have so glori-
ously fought and fallen by our sides. Each state
will, no doubt, commemorate in some fitting way
the services of its sons, who abandoned the avoca-
tions of peace and shed their blood in the ranks of
the volunteers. How richly they have earned a na-
tion's love, a nation's gratitude, with what heroism

18 BATTLE MONUMENT

they have confronted death, have wrested victory
from a stubborn foe, and have illustrated defeat, it
well becomes me to say, for it has been my lot to
command them on many a sanguinary field. I know
that I but echo the feeling of the regulars, when I
award the high credit they deserve to their brave
brethren of the volunteers.

But we of the regular army have no states to look
to for the honors due our dead. We belong to the
whole country, and can neither expect nor desire the
general government to make, a perhaps invidious dis-
tinction in our favor. We are few in number, a
small band of comrades, united by peculiar and very
binding ties ; for with many of us our friendships
were commenced in boyhood, when we rested here in
the shadow of the granite hills which look down up-
on us where we stand ; with others the ties of broth-
erhood were formed in more mature years, while
fighting among the rugged mountains and the fertile
valleys of Mexico — within hearing of the eternal
waves of the Pacific, or in the lonely grandeur of the
great plains of the far West. With all, our love^and
confidence have been cemented by common dangers
and sufferings, on the toilsome march, in the dreary
bivouac, and amid the clash of arms, and in the
presence of death on scores of battle-fields. West
Point, with her large heart, adopts us all — gradu-
ates and those appointed from civil life, officers and
privates. In her eyes we are all her children, jeal-
ous of her fame, and eager to sustain her world-wide
reputation. Generals and private soldiers, men who

AT WEST POINT. 19

have cheerfully offered our all for our dear country,
we stand here before this shrine, ever hereafter sa-
cred to our dead, equals and brothers in the presence
of the common death which awaits us all, perhaps
on the same field and at the same hour. Such are
the ties which unite us, the most endearing which
exist among men ; such the relations which bind us
together, the closest of the sacred brotherhood of
arms.

It has therefore seemed, and it is fitting, that we
should erect upon this spot, so sacred to us all, an
enduring monument to our dear brothers who have
preceded us on the path of peril and of honor, which
it is the destiny of many of us to tread.

What is this regular army to which we belong ?
Who were the men whose death merits such hon-
ors from the living ?

What is the cause for which they have laid down
their lives ?

Our regular or permanent army is the nucleus
which, in time of peace, preserves the military tra-
ditions of the nation, as well as the organization,
science and instruction indispensable to modern arm-
ies. It may be regarded as co-eval with the nation.
It derives its origin from the old continental and
state lines of the Revolution, whence, with some in-
terruptions and many changes, it has attained its
present condition. In fact, we may with propriety
go even beyond the Revolution to seek the roots of
our genealogical tree in the old French wars, for the
Ois-Atlantic campaigns of the seven years' war were

20 BATTLE MONUMENT

not confined to the " red men scalping each other by
the great lakes of North America/' and it was in
them that our ancestors first participated as Ameri-
cans in the large operations of civilized armies/
American regiments then fought on the banks of
the St. Lawrence and the Ohio, on the shores of
Ontario and Lake George, on the islands of the Ca-
ribbean and in South America. Louisburgh, Que-
bec, Duquesne, the Moro, and Porto Bello, attest the
value of the provincial troops, and in that school
were educated such soldiers as Washington, Put-
nam, Lee, Montgomery, and Gates. These and
men like Greene, Knox, Wayne, and Steuben,
were the fathers of our permanent army, and under
them our troops acquired that discipline and steadi-
ness which enabled them to meet upon equal terms,
and often to defeat, the tried veterans of England.
The study of the history of the Revolution, and a
perusal of the despatches of Washington, will con-
vince the most skeptical of the value of the perma-
nent army in achieving our independence and estab-
lishing the civil edifice which we are now fighting to
preserve.

The war of 1812 found the army on a footing far
from adequate to the emergency, but it was rapidly
increased, and of the new generation of soldiers
many proved equal to the requirements of the occa-
sion. Lundy's Lane, Chippewa, Queenstown, Pitts-
burgh, New Orleans — all bear witness to the gallant-
ry of the regulars.

Then came an interval of more than thirty years

AT WEST POINT. 21

of external peace, marked by many changes in the
organization and strength of the regular army, and
broken at times by tedious and bloody Indian wars.
Of these the most remarkable were the Black Hawk
war, in which our troops met unflinchingly a foe as
relentless, and far more destructive than the Indians
— that terrible scourge, the cholera ; and the tedious
Florida war, where for so many years, the Seminoles
eluded in the pestilential swamps our utmost efforts,
and in which were displayed such traits of heroism
as that commemorated by yonder monument to
Dade and his command, " when all fell, save three,
without an attempt to retreat/' At last came the
Mexican war, to replace Indian combats and the
monotony of the frontier service, and for the first
time in many years the mass of the regular army
was concentrated, and took the principal part in the
battles of that remarkable and romantic war. Palo
Alto, Besaca, and Fort Brown, were the achieve-
ments of the regulars unaided, and as to the battles
of Monterey, Buena Vista, Vera Cruz, Cerre Gordo,
and the final triumphs in the valley, none can truly
say that they could have been won without the reg-
ulars. When peace crowned our victories in the
capital of the Montezumas, the army was at once
dispersed over the long frontier, and engaged in har-
assing and dangerous wars with the Indians of the
plains. Thus thirteen long years were spent, until
the present war broke out, and the mass of the army
was drawn in, to be employed against a domestic
foe.

22 BATTLE MONUMENT

I cannot proceed to the events of the recent past
and the present without adverting to the gallant
men who were so long of our number, but who have
now gone to their last home, for no small portion of
the glory of which we boast was reflected from such
men as Taylor, Worth, Brady, Brooks, Totten,
and Duncan.

There is a sad story of Venetian history that has
moved many a heart, and often employed the poet's
pen and the painter's pencil. It is of an old man
whose long life was gloriously spent in the service of
the state as a warrior and a statesman, and who,
when his hair was white and his feeble limbs could
scarce carry his bent form toward the grave, attained
the highest honors that a Venetian citizen could
reach. He was Doge of Venice. Convicted of trea-
son against the state, he not only lost his life, but
suffered beside a penalty which will endure as long
as the name of Venice is remembered. The spot
where his portrait should have hung in the great hall
of the doge's palace was veiled with black, and there
still remains the frame, with its black mass of can-
vas— and this vacant frame is the most conspicuous
in the long line of effigies of illustrious doges !

Oh ! that such a pall as that which replaces the
portrait of Marino Faliero could conceal from his-
tory the names of those, once our comrades, who
are now in arms against the flag under which we
fought side by side in years gone by. But no veil
can cover the anguish that fills our hearts when we
look back upon the sad memory of the past, and re-

AT WEST POINT. 23

call the affection and respect we entertained toward
men against whom it is our duty to act in mortal
combat. Would that the courage, ability, and stead-
fastness, they displayed, had been employed in the
defence of the " Stars and Stripes/' against a for-
eign foe, rather than in this gratuitous and unjusti-
fiable rebellion, which could not be so long main-
tained but for the skill and energy of those, our
former comrades.

But we have reason to rejoice that upon this day,
so sacred and so eventful for us, one grand old mor-
tal monument of the past still lifts high his head
amongst us, and graces by his presence the consecra-
tion of this tomb of his children. We may well be
proud that we have been commanded by the hero
who purchased victory with his blood near the great
waters of Niagara, who repeated and eclipsed the
the achievements of Cortez ; who, although a con-
summate and confident commander, ever preferred,
when duty and honor would permit, the olive branch
of peace to the blood-stained laurels of war, and
who stands, at the close of a long, glorious, and
eventful life, a living column of granite against
which have beaten in vain alike the blandishments,
and the storms of treason. His .name will ever be
one of our proudest boasts and most moving inspi-
rations. In long-distant ages, when this incipient
monument has become venerable, moss-clad, and
perhaps ruinous, when the names inscribed upon it
shall seem to those who pause to read them, indis-
tinct mementoes of an almost mythical past, the

24 BATTLE MONUMENT

name of Winfield Scott will still be clear cut
upon the memory of them all, like the still fresh
carving upon the monuments of long-forgotten
Pharaohs.

But it is time to approach the present.

In the war which now shakes the land to its foun-
dation, the regular army has borne a most honorable
part. Too few in numbers to act by themselves,
regular regiments have participated in every great
battle in the East, and in most of those west of the
Alleghanies. Their terrible losses and diminished
numbers prove that they have been in the thickest
of the fights, and the testimony of their comrades
and commanders show with what undaunted heroism
they have upheld their ancient renown. Their vig-
orous charges have often won the day, and in defeat
they have more than once saved the army from de-
struction or terrible losses by the obstinacy with
which they resisted overpowering numbers. They
can refer with pride to the part they played upon
the glorious fields of Mexico, and exult at the recol-
lection of what they did at Manassas, Gaines' Mill,
Malvern, Antietam, Shiloh, Stone Eiver, Gettys-
burgh, and the great battles just fought from the
Eapidan to the Chickahominy. They can also point
to the officers who have risen among them and
achieved great deeds for their country in this war ; —
to the living warriors whose names are on the na-
tion's tongue and heart, too numerous to be re-
peated here, yet not one of whom I could willingly
omit.

AT WEST POINT. 25

But perhaps the proudest episode in the history
of the regular army is that touching instance of
fidelity on the part of the non-commissioned officers
and privates, who, treacherously made prisoners in
Texas, resisted every temptation to violate their
oath and desert their flag. Offered commissions in
the rebel service, money and land freely tendered
them, they all scorned the inducements held out to
them, submitted to every hardship, and when at last
exchanged, avenged themselves on the field of bat-
tle for the unavailing insult offered their integrity.
History affords no brighter example of honor than
that of these brave men, tempted, as I blush to say
they were, by some of their former officers, who,
having themselves proved false to their flag, endeav-
ored to' seduce the men who had often followed
them in combat, and who had naturally regarded
them with respect and love.

Such is the regular army — such its history and
antecedents — such its officers and men. It needs no
herald to trumpet forth its praises ; it can proudly
appeal to the numerous fields, from the tropics to
the frozen banks of the St. Lawrence, from the At-
lantic to the Pacific, fertilized by the blood and
whitened by the bones of its members. But I will
not pause to eulogize it. Let its deeds speak for it ;
they are more eloquent than tongue of mine.

Why are we here to-day ?

This is not the funeral of one brave warrior, nor
even of the harvest of death on a single battle-field,
but these are the obsequies of the best and bravest

2

26 BATTLE MONUMENT

of the children of the land, who have fallen in ac-
tions almost numberless, many of them among the
most sanguinary and desperate of which history
bears record. The men, whose names and deeds we
now seek to perpetuate, rendering them the highest
honor in our power, have fallen wherever armed re-
bellion showed its front— in far distant New Mexico,
in the broad valley of the Mississippi, on the bloody
hunting-grounds of Kentucky, in the mountains of
Tennessee, amid the swamps of Carolina, on the
fertile fields of Maryland, and in the blood-stained
thickets of Virginia. They were of all the grades
— from the general officer to the private ; of all
ages — from the grayhaired veteran of fifty years'
service, to the beardless youth ; of all degrees of
cultivation — from the man of science to the uned-
ucated boy. It is not necessary, nor is it possible,
to repeat the mournful yet illustrious roll of dead
heroes whom we have met to honor. Nor shall I
attempt to name all of those who most merit praise
— simply a few who will exemplify the classes to
which they belong.

Among the last slain, but among the first in hon-
or and reputation, was that hero of twenty battles
— John Sedgwick — gentle and kind as a woman,
brave as a brave man can be, honest, sincere, and
able — he was a model that all may strive to imitate,
but whom few can equal. In the terrible battles
which just preceded his death, he had occasion to
display the highest qualities of a commander and a
soldier ; yet after escaping the stroke of death when

AT WEST POINT. 27

men fell around him by thousands, he at last met
his fate at a moment of comparative quiet, by the
ball of a single rifleman. He died as a soldier
would choose to die — with truth in his heart, and a
sweet, tranquil smile upon his face. Alas ! our
great nation possesses few such sons like true John
Sedgwick.

Like him fell, too, at the very head of their corps,
the white-haired Mansfield, after a long career of
usefulness, illustrated by his skill and cool courage
at Fort Brown, Monterey and Buena Vista — John
F. Keynolds and Eeno, both in the full vigor of
manhood and intellect — men who have proved their
ability and chivalry on many a field in Mexico, and
in this civil war, gallant gentlemen of- whom their
country had much to hope, had it pleased Grod to
spare their lives. Lyon fell in the prime of life,
leading his little army against superior numbers, his
brief career affording a brilliant example of patriot-
ism and ability. The impetuous Kearney, and
such brave generals as Kichakdson, Williams,
Terrill, Stevens, Weed, Strong, Saunders,
and Hayes, lost their lives while in the midst of
a career of usefulness. Young Bayard, so like the
most renowned of his name, that " knight above fear
and above reproach/' was cut off too early for his
country, and that excellent staff- officer Colonel
Garesche fell while gallantly doing his duty.

No regiments can spare such gallant, devoted and
able commanders as Eossell, Davis, Gove, Sim-
mons, Bailey, Putnam and Kingsbury — all of

28 BATTLE MONUMENT

whom fell in the thickest of the combat — some of
them veterans, and others young in service, all good
men and well-beloved.

Our batteries have partially paid their terrible
debt to fate in the loss of such commanders as Gre-
ble, the first to fall in this war, Benson, Hazzard,
Smead, De Hart, Hazlitt, and those gallant boys,
Kirby, Woodruff, Dimmick, and Cushing ; while
the engineers lament the promising and gallant
Wagner and Cross.

Beneath remote battlefields rest the corpses of the
heroic McBea, Beed, Bascom, Stone, Sweet, and
many other company officers.

Besides these were hosts of veteran sergeants, cor-
porals and privates, who had fought under Scott in
Mexico, or contended in many combats with the
savages of the far West and Florida, and, mingled
with them, young soldiers who, courageous, steady,
and true, met death unflinchingly, without the hope
of personal glory. These men, in their more hum-
ble sphere, served their country with as much faith
and honor as the most illustrious generals, and all
of them with perfect singleness of heart. Although
their names may not live in history, their actions,
loyalty, and courage, will live. Their memories will
long be preserved in their regiments, for there were
many of them who merited as proud a distinction
as that accorded to the " first grenadier of France/'
or to that other Bussian soldier who gave his life for
his comrades.

But there is another class of men who have gone

AT WEST P0IN1. 29

from us since this war commenced, whose fate it was
not to die in battle, but who are none the less en-
titled to be mentioned here. There was Sumner, a
brave, honest, chivalrous veteran, of more than half
a century's service, who had confronted death un-
flinchingly on scores of battlefields, had shown his
gray head serene and cheerful, where death most
revelled, who more than once told me that he be-
lieved and hoped that his long career would end
amid the din of battle — he died at home from the
effects of the hardships of his campaigns.

That most excellent soldier, the elegant C. F.
Smith, whom many of us remember to have seen so
often on this plain, with his superb bearing, escaped
the bullet to fall a victim to the disease which has
deprived the army of so many of its best soldiers.

John Buford, cool and intrepid ; Mitchell,
eminent in science ; Plummer, Palmer, and many
other officers and men, lost their lives by sickness
contracted in the field.

But I cannot close this long list of glorious mar-
tyrs without paying a sacred debt of official duty and
personal friendship. There was one dead soldier
who possessed peculiar claims upon my love and
gratitude. He was an ardent patriot, an unselfish
man, a true soldier, the beau ideal of a staff officer —
he was my aide-de-camp, Colonel Colburn.

There is a lesson to be drawn from the death and
services of these glorious men which we should read
for the present and future benefit of the nation.
War in these modern days is a science, and it should

2*

30 BATTLE MONUMENT

now be clear to the most prejudiced that for the or-
ganization and command of armies, and the high
combinations of strategy, perfect familiarity with
the theoretical science of war is requisite. To count
upon success when the plans or execution of cam-
paigns are intrusted to men who have no knowledge
of war, is as idle as to expect the legal wisdom of a
Story or a Kent from a skilful physician.

But what is the honorable and holy cause for
which these men laid down their lives, and for which
the nation still demands the sacrifice of the precious
blood of so many of her children ?

Soon after the close of the Eevolutionary war, it
was found that the confederacy, which had grown
up during that memorable contest, was fast falling
to pieces from its own weight. The central power
was too weak ; it could only recommend to the dif-
ferent states such measures as seemed best ; and it
possessed no real power to legislate, because it lacked
the executive force to compel obedience to its laws.
The national credit and self-respect had disappeared,
and it was feared by the friends of human liberty
throughout the world that ours was but another, add-
ed to the long list of fruitless attempts at self-gov-
ernment. The nation was evidently upon the brink
of ruin and dissolution, when, some eighty years
ago, many of the wisest and most patriotic of the
land met to seek a remedy for the great evils which
threatened to destroy the great work of the Eevolu-
tion. Their sessions were long, and often stoimy ;
for a time the most sanguine doubted the possibility

AT WEST POINT. 31

of a successful termination to their labors. But,
from amidst the conflict of sectional interests, of
party prejudices, and of personal selfishness, the
spirit of wisdom and conciliation at length evoked
the Constitution, under which we have lived so
long.

It was not formed in a day, but was the result of
patient labor, of lofty wisdom, and of the purest
patriotism. It was at last adopted by the people of
all the states — although by some reluctantly- — not
as being exactly what all desired, but as being the
best possible under the circumstances. It was ac-
cepted as giving us a form of government under
which the nation might live happily and prosper, so
long as the people should continue to be influenced
by the same sentiments which actuated those who
formed it, and which would not be liable to destruc-
tion from internal causes, so long as the people pre-
served the recollection of the miseries and calamities
which led to its adoption.

Under this beneficent Constitution the progress of
the nation was unexampled in history. The rights
and liberties of its citizens were secure at home and
abroad ; vast territories were rescued from the con-
trol of the savage and the wild beast, and added to the
domain of civilization and the Union. The arts, the
sciences, and commerce, grew apace ; our flag floated
upon every sea, and we took our place among the
great nations of the earth.

But under the smooth surface of prosperity upon
which we glided swiftly, with all sails set before the

32 BATTLE MONUMENT

summer breeze, dangerous reefs were hidden which
now and then caused ripples upon the surface, and
made anxious the more cautious pilots. Elated by-
success, the ship swept on, the crew not heeding the
warnings they received, forgetful of the dangers
they escaped in the beginning of the voyage, and
blind to the hideous maelstrom which gaped to
receive and destroy them. The same elements of
discordant sectional prejudices, interests, and insti-
tutions, which had rendered the formation of the
Constitution so difficult, threatened more than once
to destroy it. But for a long time the nation was so
fortunate as to possess a series of political leaders
who, to the highest abilities, united the same spirit
of conciliation which animated the founders of
the Eepublic, and thus for many years the threat-
ened evils were averted. Time and long-continued
good fortune obliterated the recollection of the
calamities and wretchedness of the years preceding
the adoption of the Constitution. Men forgot that
conciliation, common interest, and mutual charity,
had been the foundation and must be the support of
our government- — as is indeed the case with all gov-
ernments and all the relations of life. At length
men appeared with whom sectional and personal pre-
judices and interests outweighed all considerations
for the general good. Extremists of one section fur-
nished the occasion, eagerly seized as a pretext by
equally extreme men in the other, for abandoning
the pacific remedies and protection afforded by the
Constitution, and seeking redress for possible future
evils in war and the destruction of the Union.

AT WEST POINT. 33

Stripped of all sophistry and side issues, the di-
rect cause of the war, as it presented itself to the
honest and patriotic citizens of the North, was sim
ply this : Certain states, or rather, a portion of the
inhabitants of certain states, feared or professed to
fear, that injury would result to their rights and
property from the elevation of a particular party to
power. Although the Constitution and the actual
condition of the government provided them with a
peaceable and sure protection against the apprehend-
ed evil, they preferred to seek security in the de-
struction of the government, which could protect
them, and in the use of force against the national
troops holding a national fortress.

To efface the insult offered our flag ; to save our-
selves from the fate of the divided republics of Italy
and South America, to preserve our government from
destruction, to enforce its just power and laws, to
maintain our very existence as a nation — these were
the causes that compelled us to draw the sword.

Eebellion against a government like ours, which
contains the means of self-adjustment, and a pacific
remedy for evils, should never be confounded with a
revolution against despotic power, which refuses re-
dress of wrongs. Such a rebellion cannot be justi-
fied upon ethical grounds, and the only alternative
for our choice is its suppression, or the destruction
of our nationality. At such a time as# this, and in
such a struggle, political partisanship should be
merged in a true and brave patriotism, which thinks
only of the good of the whole country.

It was in this cause and with these motives, that

34 BATTLE MONUMENT

so many of our comrades gave their lives, and to this
we are all personally pledged in all honor and fideli-
ty. Shall such a devotion as that of our dead com-
rades, be of no avail ? Shall it be said in after-ages,
that we lacked the vigor to complete the work thus
begun ? thatj after all these noble lives freely
given, we hesitated, and failed to keep straight on
until our land was saved ? Forbid it, Heaven, and
give us firmer, truer hearts than that !

Oh, spirits of the valiant dead, souls of our slain
heroes, lend us your own indomitable will, and if it
be permitted you to commune with those still chained
by the trammels of mortality, hover around us in
the midst of danger and tribulation, cheer the firm,
strengthen the weak, that none may doubt the sal-
vation of the republic and the triumph of our grand
old flag !

In the midst of the storms which toss our ship of
state, there is one great beacon light, to which we
can ever turn with confidence and hope. It cannot
be that this great nation has played its part in his-
tory ; it cannot be that our sun, which arose with
such bright promises for the future, has already set
for ever. It must be the intention of the overruling
Deity that this land, so long the asylum of the op-
pressed, the refuge of civil and religious liberty, shall
again stand forth in bright relief, united, purified,
and chastened by our trials, as an example and en-
couragement for those who desire the progress of the
human race. It is not given to our weak intellects
to understand the steps of Providence as they occur ;

AT WEST POINT, 35

we comprehend them only as we look back upon
them in the far distant past.

So is it now.

We cannot unravel the seemingly tangled skein
of the purposes of the Creator — they are too high
and far reaching for our limited minds. But all
history and His own revealed Word teach us that
His ways, although inscrutable, are ever righteous.
Let us then honestly and manfully play our part,
seek to understand and perform our whole duty, and
trust unwaveringly in the beneficence of the God who
led our ancestors across the sea, and sustained them
afterward, amid dangers more appalling even than
those encountered by His own chosen people in their
great exodus. He did not bring us here in vain, nor
has he supported us thus far for naught. If we do
our duty and trust in Him, He will not desert us in
our need.

Firm in our faith that God will save our country,
we now dedicate this site to the memory of brave
men, to loyalty, patriotism, and honor.

BENEDICTION.

May the God of our fathers and our. God succeed
with his divine "benediction the solemn and interest-
ing services of this occasion. May He conduct, by
His gracious providence, the work commenced to day
to successful completion. May the monument here
to be raised in honor of the illustrious dead, inspire
with all the ardor of a sound Christian patriotism
the soldiers of our common country, here trained for
its defence ; may it prove to them a constant
remembrancer of their mortality, and keep alive
upon the altar of their hearts the flame of devotion
to God, to country, to the Union, the Constitution,
and the inimutable principles of truth and justice ;
and may the blessing of the triune God, the Father.
Son, and Holy Spirit, be with you all, Amen.

3

TO THE PUBLIC.

The Executive Committee, in behalf of the army,
feel constrained to signify an expression of their ap-
preciation of the interest manifested by the general
public in favor of the Battle Monument.

Bxclusiveness was at no time intended, and con-
tributions have been gratefully received from all
sources, but, from numerous inquiries, both personal
and by letter, addressed to the committee, by those
not connected with the regular army, it is felt
that some misapprehension may have existed upon
this point.

It is therefore deemed proper to make public the
announcement that contributions are cheerfully re-
ceived from all who feel an interest in this project.

Communications addressed to Prof. A. E.Church,
West Point, N. Y., will receive prompt acknowl-
edgment.

GEN. MoCLELLAN'S

REPORT AND CAMPAIGNS.

THE ONLY COMPLETE AND ACCURATE EDITION.

By Special Arrangement with Gen. McClellan,
SHELDON & Oo.9

IPilbli slier s,

335 Broadway, N, ¥
Have published a

FULL AND COMPLETE EDITION OF HIS -EEPOET.
While going through the press, this edition was corrected
oy Gen'l McClellan. It has none of the remarkable errors
which have crept into the Government edition and all the
other editions that have followed the Government edition,
It also has the
"CAMPAIGN IN WESTERN VIRGINIA,"
prepared by Gen. McClellan expressly for this edition,
Illustrated with Maps, &c. 'One volume, 8vo, Price, $2.50,

12mo edition of the same, bound in cloth, with all the Maps,
Price, $1.50. Bound in boards, $1.25.

From the Journal of Commerce.
" We regret that the Congressional edition, the Rebellion Record edition,
and other cheap editions of the report are incomplete and inaccurate, omit-
ting entirely some portions which present the most interesting and important
view of the relations of General McClellan to the Cabinet, the army and the
country. The edition published by Sheldon & Company, under General
McClellan's authority, is accurate."

From the Post, Chicago.

"Sheldon & Co. have issued their edition of General McClellan's report on
the Organization and Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac, to which is
added an account of the Campaign in West Virginia, from the General's own
pen. This edition is the only one which gives the main report in full ; im-
portant parts of it, relating to very critical periods in the history of the Army
of the Potomac, being omitted from the Congressional edition, and, by con-
sequence, from all other editions, without exception, which are mere reprints
of that. The edition published by Sheldon & Co., is complete and authentic,
and is the only complete and authentic edition."
From the Boston Post.

" No man can feel that he has a copy of McClellan's Report, without a
2opy of this 3dition."

1I.jl.o6-9. olM. o9h86