| OCR Text |
Show ' bro Unknown Blue and Greyy j jp , j 'tgie By- - ,shv. - Q3IM , rrr-Vh A ' !! 51 - WILBUR D. NESBIT There are unknown crave in the valley That the troop or war possessed. Where the bugle sounded for rallies But the bullets sang of rest; And the mountains hold without number Hidden grave from war' mad cay. Where the unknown men have their slumber In their shrouds of blue and gray. HERE la perhapa no other spot In tne of where the observance country Memorial day la characterised by the. No visitor significance of Gettysburg. can traverse, at any season of the year, the scene of the greatest struggle in the most momentuoua civil war of all history and not gain a hew conception of the titanic forces which here enaeted r war drama, the climax of a but at Memorial day the lessons and the significance of this Immense battlefield1 seems to take on a yet deeper meaning. And yet to see it clothed In the fresh green of a twentieth century spring one would never suspect, gave for the reminders of the hundreds of memorials In marble and granite bronze, that this lacld fand- scape was a scant balf century ago tbe locale of one of the fifteen decisive battles In the world's history. It seems today as though It might have merely been chosen as a site for Memorial day services because of Its natural beauty. Similarly would tbe thousands or patriotic pilgrims who wend their way thither every Decoration day be well justified in the journey were there no historic attractions whatever to draw them, for one might travel for days In this IWik jf-- J t mV , A PfiC3lDEir TAfT DEUVEPMC A MEMOML DAY ADDPEJJ AT CE7TYJBUPG five-yea- And no drums will rumble and rattle, And no fifes blow sharp and shrill In th va leys that knew the battle. Nor atop the lone high h 11; Bjt the s lent stars know the story And the broad sky of the day 41iHLdsaodM,hispeis low of the r rlorv To these men of blue and gray. And no banners o'er them are waving. No marcheis cure and pause With cheers f r the land of the r sav."g Or tears for their h st cause; Yet the twilight stars terimrg'e With the hues when er ds the day. And the slrivirg flags row are smfc.e O'er the men of blue and grey. 11 t vU, . ..yry There are unknown graves in the thickets. On t e hniside and the plain. Of the missing scout and the pickets. Yet they did not fall in vain. Though tr eir names miy rot be engraven And their places in tnq fray. In hearts now each find a haven They who wore the blue and gray. te God of battle is kindly With none of mankind' hate That is cherished ever tuo blindly And these pawns of warefare's fats Have their tombs of nature's lender Each set forth in proud array Through an impulse holy and tender. Though they wore the blue and gray. For Where once were the guns that wrangled Sounds the peace tong of ths thrush, And Ihsjoses and vineiare tangled, ln (,ne solemn, sacred hush; Where the cannon one day would hurtle Their missiles in ths fray Grows the rue and the creeping myrtle O'er the graves of blue and gray. They are natures hands that are strewing The flowers on each mound; It le God s own beautiful doirg That each unknown grave it found ' Where the cyprese leave are aquiver, Where peak lift through the day. Where the forest sight to the river Of the uftkMWftblueAod. giax r t r - rAre Rapidly h Marching f Into the S - rue oummit or polpo top association incorporated by the legislature of this and organization had patriotic Pennsylvania expended more than 2100,000, had acquired 604 - aeres of land and ereeted more than three- hundred monumenta when in 1895 tbe congress of the United States provided for the establishment the geography of Gettysburg National park and placed it under with relation to the direction of the secretary of war. the complex movp A magnificent park has now been constructed meats of the opwhich encloses the widest- - limits of the battlp fleld. JDd.-th- e erection of memorials and markers posing forces and THTPosmurt wHFRrrfmofiAtzwrfX&tasn will be some In the soldiers cemetery alone there on. still goes D class of soldiers more than four hundred memorial shafts and or abroad without finding a more pip sections of secondary Importance which he will 3 iZCjin 4Ji country g0 actually tablets and more than one thousand markers have to omit from his Itinerary, but on the whole known as of the sharp- turesque or more richly verdant rolling country of have been set up at a cost aggregating several picture mental thnn moving a In braced will have he obtained tbe worderful panoruna shooters. At best theirs w When the present scheme of million dollars. hkh spreads out at the feet of the sightseer aa the various Important localities marked by monuwas desperate work. battlefield as thorthere will be between 100 is be gazes from the summit" of Little Round Top do the cannon. To and completed ments roadways . . They were obliged would horse-draw- n 150 vehicle miles of macadamized fine., and require in the a highway exthis whole of commanding position oughly great ml often to fight from to every part of the battlefield, while five and a pedestrian might battlefield tending least Ihree.orf at ourdays Ihelr'reglniebtsr'wrthoutanyc'hajree tra- Iron observatlon towers bn various parts of fhe rflut for all its natural beauty il ls thesefitiment spend weeks on the battlefield without ever 6faiststadC6nerhapi ttteratty-yu' td field enableslghtseerslaefijoy theblrds-ey- e f ,Hs historic background that serves as the twice going road same the excepfln versing rounded by the enemy. And when the Slews which are so helpful In enabling one to the field and returning to his hotel. end came for- one of them he must magnet which draws a great throng thither from all sections of the country on Memorial day. understand tbe movements of the opposing forces la battlefield the hinted it been above, has As die alone, and In time he would be battle line. that made up tbe and not the Memojial day exercises which throng marked "missing on the books and They come by train although Gettysburg s not In dedicating which. Abrahhm most The the Some accessible cemetery, of come historic each of year. end at the May they spots; C. trace him of would be lost Gettysburg every Lincoln delivered the Immortal address familiar H. Gulnand, a famous shot In his day, by carriage and wagon from a wide radius of years the program Incident to Decoration day Is to every American, originally containd the bodies the rich Pennsylvania farming region that of a very simple ch&raeter and there are not a a past commander of the Berdan of the 3,555 soldiers removed from all parts of the be come and as decorated battlefield; supposed to be finally by might was they the hero of many many graves Sharpshooters, where they had been hastilyburled. wThe ao field, is It the with automobile, comparafor, conversant explained, Gettysburg by the person not stirring adventures of the fighting b has become of late years a most popular objective number of graves bas been greatly increased since fore Fredericksburg. tively small number gf marked graves on Gettysthat date and there Is yet ample space for the "Few civilians or soldiers either, with motor tourists who flpd In tbe great park burg battlefield. Yet there are otheroccasions veterans who may desire to rest at the scene when the exercises at Gettysburg focus the eyed for that matter, can realise what It or reservation which now perpetuates the battleof the supreme struggle between the Union and of the' entire country. This Is the case when the meant to be a sharpshooter In such a field a network of the finest roads in America--highwaadthe Confederacy. One of the features of the which it Is a sheer delight to motor battle as Fredericksburg, said Mr. president of, the United States delivers the over even with no thought (If one C04I4 dismiss national cemetery Is the rostrum a dress of the day at Gettysburg, as President Taft Gutnand, In recalling his experiences. I never knew what It waa to fight be- the subject) of tbe historic objects and localities did a couple Of years a0 as President Roosevelt - memorial shrine for the dead who sleep around ( It and which Is used for the exercises held each ' side any one. I had to follow my de- to be viewed by the wayside. did before him, and as almost all of our presidents The Memorial day. occaMemorial day pilgrims who Journey to the have done in their day aince that memorable tail practically alone. The battle of Gettysburg is of such comparaCivil Getwar average the cemeor battlefield dedicated Lincoln national President when sion the of Fredericksbattle During for thehnnual strewing of flowers are one-latively recent date that vivid reminders of It are battlefield cemetery with an address burg I with two other sharpshooters tery tysburg to be found on all sides. The little dwellings, visitors who arrive after dawn and depart which has gone down into history as the most waa detailed to pick off a negro sharp ' But this Is not before enmost occupied as headquarters by Generals Meade and case and the the the Impressive a wholly Confederate. who had been eloquent, shooter, jnost Lee respectively are yet standing in an excellent itTIettjrgburg, although many heavy laden excur-slo- u working havoc among our men. w during of the many tributea pronounced by the state of preservation; the earthworks on Cemedo, arrive during the Memorial day. martyr president. got a glimpse of him now and then, In a (Wttalns I tlon to or how other tery hill are yet Intact; Culps hill stUl holds its a faces la ihls oh which andlence more. president throng, there Tbe He was a crack ever, but nothing bullet-scarretrees and tbe bullet-markeboulof persons who shot and had brought down many of almost as' numerous made-u- p public man at Gettysburg Invariably Impresses ders are to be seen on every hand at tbe Devil's fleers and privates. In order to get spend from two days to a week st Gettysburg tbe distinguished orator. It Is an assemblage Den. Plans have also been made for tbe accuwithin range of him we had to go far end who have rome at the Memorial day session obviously made up largely of the farming elass rate restoration of those portions of tbe 'field there is an added touch of realism to and It Is apt to be less demonstrative than tbe beyond our picket lines and beyond because such as the famous peach orchard which figured This gen I he scenes nt that time when veterans la blue applauding crowds that are encountered In factor any chance Of' assistance. conspicuously in the battle, but were obliterated ' eral region was well within range of ate trampTlTg over the roads where counties towns, but it Is a body oi men and women who or lost much of their thousands of their fellows advanced and retreated semblance In the thy enemy, a position much too danpay such close attention to the address of which war the- - memorable the and before the launching so following who days during and auditors These are of repremanifestly for to battle. venture on the days regiment gerous they of the project for perpetuating the battlefield a sent the sober, solid, intelligent sentiment of our The three of us waited for night visitors oversow the hotels,' of which Gettysburg one of the most Interesting object lessons national community as to Inspire the best efforts and then crept with the greatest cau has an unusual number for so small a town, and ' all In of private-house- s occupy the these character is the history. It available toward the the lines. rooms In of tbe tlon speakers. By enemy's A boon enjoyed by present-d- a of the little, city. The situation would visitors to GetGettysburg audiences as well as In tbe Inspiramorning we had hidden ourselves In tysburg that will be sadly missed by those sighttion pf the historic surroundings that we may trees well apart, where we awaited swamp the liverymen 313 the conditions of a seers who come a generation hence la tbe preseeade ago atm prevail, but happily the advent find the Incentive to the significant utterances' developments. We were' well enough ence on the battlefield aa guides of veterans who hidden1, but the - bullets' whistled of the automobile has helped matters In this affecting the general policy of the nation which d participated In the thick of the fighting. To hear Many of the visitors rldp Over the have from time to time been given expression by through the trees and occasionally these men recount their personal experiences and showers of leaves on us; but Bel1 ,n thc,r own touring cars, whereas the cars our chief magistrates In Memorial day addresses e point out by the aid of undimmed memory every at Gettysburg. that was to be expected. Well, it took j or blre relieve the strain upon the horse coaches which continue as of yore1--w- e locality that figured In the .crucial battle of tbe and us all day to locate that negro, but I ln1 Gettysburg ranks as tbe war Is to gain an Impression more vivid and accurately marked battlefield In the world, having got him finally. He had hidden j h regulation mode of touring the battlefield, thrilling than can be hoped for by those who ' more monuments And Memorials than all other himself In an. old chimney; which;.' Incidentally it may be added that the Introdue-mad- e must depend for their knowledge of this mintery V a pretty good defense. He would tion of the motor- - car haa greatly facilitated battlefields combined. Tbe position of every body ' drama upon what they may have read In tie of troops In the unlomsrmy and of most of those fire and then duck behind the bricks, t things for the tourist who Is desirous of seeing confederate historic. forces have been and our bullets would glance off, Dup j Gettysburg battlefield In the limited time comprising the In which famous Americans log that long wait both my com- - for clearly outlined by distinctive landmarks and the are ' CAUSE. maneuvers of the wonderful battle may bw traced panions were silenced by the cross their Indeed . by keeping sightseeing. fire. It was two lives for one, hut we continually, on the road ' ''from by all who desire to study this masterpiece of morning never hesitated when such a 'cell until nighL with only a brief atip for lunch, a "Last night I dreamed I was dead. strategy and military science. The work of precame" ' "It was a dreadfully warm night, wasn't It serving the battlefield was Inaugurated by an motorist may obtain an excellent Idea of Gettye- burg battlefield In a single day. Of course-o- n such -- a schedule he cannot really study jUnknown -- T has become, too common as Memorial apday proaches to remind the publlo and the surviving heroes of the 60s - how . fat..the,armxpL blue Is marching Into the unknown, flowers are strewn upon the graves of the head and statistics of mortality are as freely flung at' the heads of the living soldiers. Possibly the veterans are not cheered by this sober and convincing Information, and certainty their children and grandchildren give it but cold entertainment A look at the other side, the living side, of the old soldiers great day presents something of good cheer as well aa a surprising fact that of the aitreme youth of the army of the Union In those days when the life of a nation waa at stake. The survivors of the Union army of the Civil war are known to number at this date ,620,000, and a majority of these men are In the active pursuits of Industry. Although ther are n few very old men among the the average age of the survivor U sixty-thre- e years. With the lengthening of life which has become n femurs of our time we ought to have with us for many years at least n fair remnant of the heroes of the great war. The most desperate civil war of modern times . fought. It Is now realized.- - by boys In their teens or barely out of their teens. The records of the war and navy departments how that of the enlistments f,151.438 were at tbe age of eighteen years or under, and that 2,159.798 enlistments were at the age of twenty-onfears or under, whll only 618.211 of the total 2,778.309 enlistments were at tbe age of twenty-twyears and over. the graves of the dead la decorating and In honoring the living soldiers of VI tbe whole natiuh renews yearly the tnrpirstlons of patriotism. This year there are still In the land of the living and the country they saved more than half a million of the heroic "boys" of and we are just coming to see tl, that they really were hoys, and boys veil worth remembering those who have answered the last roll call end those who are yet with us In the bat-(te-a of peoe. pet-bap- 1 i e o art hold is-e- n far-flun- g eur-roun- ys ivy-cla- d ' 11 y d d -- old-tim- e -- - battle-droppe- four-bors- -- ' 1 , |
