Show THE NATIONAL GUARDSMEN cannonville CANN ONVILLE utah april eth 1896 permit me to pen a few lines in defense of the national guard of the united states as well as that noble band the grand army of the republic we have in the united states today two military civil organizations the national guard and the grand army of the republic concerning the former methinks I 1 hear bear you say what are they patience anon you will learn som something thing of them for I 1 am of the opinion that it is time the people especially in utah should understand this organization for the nonce I 1 will state that the grand army of the republic was born in 1861 you know however that its permanency was not established until after the war 1866 also you have heard much of this great organization but did you ever consider that it was successful owing to its great strength and that its efforts were assured and its triumph now a matter of glorious record was owing to the stratagem of victorious generals graduates of the national guard and regular army of the united states for many years the G A R has been celebrating the results of the war achieved in in no small degree by the aid of the national guard yet from 1865 to 1896 have they not taken every honor as volunteers have they or the public b at large rendered justice to the ever faithful ever loyal guardsmen guardsman guards men who have been and are still awaiting in vain for a just recognition of their valor their bravery and their noble deeds I 1 assure you the time has come that they will wait no longer for due recognition fur or in these piping times of peace they have that which ch seems to be only open sesame pelt pelf which in the parlance of the day means votes and many of them be it remembered that the pennsylvania militias five companies were the first volunteer troops in the war arriving at washington april irth 1861 and the first man to lay down his lite life in defense of the nag flag during the war was also a member of the aith pennsylvania militia killed in a street fight at baltimore april irth 1861 the soldiers whether guardsmen guardsman guards men or regular are the peoples dependence their protector they are a shield for the people against oppression whether from riotous assemblies or a foreign enemy the soldier can be relied on and the populace knowing these facts follow the even tenor ot of their way by day and by night it if our great nation is disturbed and the clarion of war is heard in the distance and boots and saddles is sounded by bv the trumpets blast or the long roll of the drums that assembles the soldiers lor for immediate action in such an event be assured that the national guard will be up and at them in order to protect the lives defend the homes and property of the people of our union and maintain the honor of Ameri americas cays daughters americas principles Ameri americas cats flag old glory the emblem symbolizing equality power and freedom our dear old stars and stripes the brilliancy of whose stars and splendor of whose stripes combine a power well known and which bids defiance to all governments save that for the people and by the people the national guard is ever ready to respond to butys call whether in the forest on the mountain on the plains in all sorts of weather eather and under any and all conditions fighting with howling mobs or other fierce loes joes to the right to the left in front and rear hovering on all sides awaiting an opportunity to td torture and to inflict a thousand deaths in in one by cruelty and mutilation all of this not on the march to the sea in a fertile country amidst sunshine and plenty a hundred thousand strong which for years has been celebrated in song and prose in quelling riots and dispersing excited mobs the national guard but obeys the orders of an arm of governmental authority to which its movements are and raould be subject subie ct during its presence at these undesirable places its conduct has been in every instance above reproach lt it has shown itself a brave orderly well disciplined body of men who knew how to forbear as well as to strike who have pai patience ence as well as firmness moral strength as well as valor the officers of the national guard have on every critical occasion used discretion tact and cool judgment the men have shown that high obedience and level headedness head edness in the lace ol of great provocation which marks the excellent sol soldier dierof of all history in executing the lawful orders of thair superiors peri ors the militia of the united states have been exposed to great dangers and in tho thousands sands of instances subjected to the grossest indignities by the 1 lent and lawless these dangers and insults they have born with great lor for bearance thereby exhibiting an excellent state ot of discipline and high soldierly qualities in performing the arduous and indeed difficult duties assigned them they have by their pres ence and concerted action contributed to the maintenance of the supremacy of the law and to the restoration of order where chaos existed and civil war was threatened they have worthily sustained the high character ot of their profession and their obliga ions history delights to repeat the wondrous tale of thermopylae and poets sing of the transcendent spectacle ot of balaklava but the blue coats ot of america can point with equal pride and satisfaction to a hundred fields of no less splendid achievement and martial dosing look at custers dauntless battalion in the valley of the big horn A little band ot ol three hundred troopers confronted in overwhelming numbers by a crude and crafty foe and in the heart of a trackless desert and wilderness far removed the inspiring gaze ot of men and lack ing the buoyant moral impulse of a great patriotic cause yet every man mac a soldier shaped in the iron mold of discipline and possessed of a sense of duty which held him to his bis post as with hooks of steel here was the tragedy of balaklava paralleled and there can be no doubt that many of those brave men who followed tle the peerless custer in that mad last charge fully realized that a fatal mistake had been made and that they were riding down to death yet with that sublime integrity and true soldierly fidelity which have challenged the admiration of the world in all ages not a trooper turned from his bis standard not a heart failed or faltered and their mutilated and disfigured bodies were found not scattered over the plains where they had fallen in ignoble flight but piled in a little circle heaped and rent rider and horse around the prostrate form of their gallant leader such have been the soldiers who for a hundred years have fought the battles of civilization in its majestic march toward the setting sun and many of these very anany including the brave custer had served their time in the national guard raking faking it all in all military life has in its composition compositions a large element of chance war civic disturbance and climatic hardships are so many dangers which beset the soldier in his onward path mortality has for him a threatening aspect it comes arrayed in hostility and in a manner which the citizen in his peaceful and luxurious home has no idea of it is impossible to give too much prominence to these historical facts and the failure of not demonstrating the same by lifting up III our voice in in our own defense has left the guardsman where he is almost quite but not unknown I 1 therefore have tio no hesitation in saying that the national guard of the united State being matured for hundreds of have but just been born so far as an organization is concerned and now their war cry is comrades we are here and to remain and to become a potent power at some time in the not distant future and will be respected and revered by all the people JOHN M DUNNING captain national guard of utah |