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should be with him at that time. He feels the greatest interest in our Society, and has frequently spoken to me of his regard for it and its members. I shall try and be there. The duties of this irksome office will not permit me to look far ahead, but I will try to go. Think that I certainly shall. Yours in haste,

JAMES K. PROUDfit, Esq.,

WM. W. BELKNAP.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, June 7, 1872. §

Corresponding Secretary, etc., Madison, Wis.:

MY DEAR SIR-I have the pleasure of acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 28th ultimo, inviting me to attend the annual meeting of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, to be held at Madison, on the 3rd and 4th of July next.

Urgent public duties will render it impossible for me to accept your courteous invitation to partake of the hospitalities tendered me by your Society, and I beg that you will so inform the gentlemen of the committee.

I am, my dear sir, yours very truly,

HAMILTON FISH.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C., May 31, 1872.

DEAR SIR:-Thanking you for remembering me in connection with the sixth annual meeting of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, I am compelled to decline your kind invitation to be present. My public duties are such that I shall not be able to visit the North-west during the present Summer. You must therefore excuse me and accept my best wishes for your success on that interesting occasion.

JAMES K. PROUDFIT, ESQ.,

Yours very respectfully,

GEO. S. BOUTWELL.

Corresponding Secretary Local Ex. Com. S. A. T., Madison, Wis.

JAMES K. PROUDFIT, ESQ.,

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, )
WASHINGTON, June 8, 1872.

Corresponding Secretary Local Ex. Com., etc., Madison, Wis.:

MY DEAR SIR:-Your letter of the 28th ultimo, inviting me to attend the meeting of the "Army of the Tennessee," at the city of Madison, on the 3rd and 4th days of July next, has been received.

It would afford me very great pleasure to accept your kind invitation, but the pressure of public business is such as to require my constant attention. Sincerely trusting that your reunion may be fraught with many recollections of the heroic deeds of the “good old Army while in the field,

I am, very sincerely yours,

C. DELANO, Secretary Interior.

POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT,
WASHINGTON, June 3, 1872.

JAMES K. PROUDfit, Esq.,

Corresponding Secretary, etc.:

DEAR SIR:-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your polite invitation to attend the sixth annual meeting of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, at Madison, Wisconsin, on the 3rd and 4th of July next.

I regret that it will not be in my power to be present on that interesting

occasion.

Please accept my thanks for your kind remembrance.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

A. J. CRESWELL.

UNITED STATES LEGATION,
BERNE, June 14, 1872.

COLONEL THOMAS REYNOLDS,

Chairman, etc., Madison:

MY DEAR SIR:-You will please accept my thanks for your kind invitation to attend the sixth annual meeting of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, and for the friendly sentiments by which it is accompanied, together with the expression of my sincere regret that I can not be present upon that interesting occasion.

It would give me great pleasure to witness the reunion of the representatives of that heroic army, and to join with my fellow-citizens of Madison in extending a cordial welcome to the patriotic men, who, in the hour of their country's danger, stood "at the front," and, on the perilous edge of battle, risked life and limb in its defense.

There is no higher title of honor, and no deeper claim upon the gratitude and affection of the American people than that which is possessed by those through whose valor and devotion the revolt of the slave-holders was crushed, the pernicious doctrine of State Sovereignty suppressed, and the Republic saved. And among these, there are none whose services were more eminent, or are more widely recognized, than the soldiers of the Army of the Tennessee. Under the magnificent leadership of their great captain, they marched from victory to victory, the only retreat they were ever reported to have made leading straight into the heart of the enemy's country and dealing a fatal blow to his power.

During an absence of three years abroad, I have not, perhaps, kept up with the current of opinion at home; at all events, it is certain that I have not yet attained to that phase of so-called magnanimity which proposes to extend the same honor, and the same admiration, to the bravery and obstinacy displayed in the attempt to destroy the Union, that we accord to the courage and fidelity by which it was maintained. It may sometimes be wise and politic to pardon great offences, in my judgment it can never be wise and politic to extol and

honor them; and I regard it as an insult to the heroic defenders of our flag to attempt to drag them down to a level with those who, mad with passion, raised and flaunted the reptile-blazoned rag of disunion.

I beg leave to conclude with the following sentiment: OUR COUNTRY-May it never lack defenders as brave, as patriotic, and as successful as the soldiers of the Army of the Tennessee.

I have the honor to be, very truly yours,

HORACE RUBLEE.

ST. PAUL, MINN., June 6, 1872.

To J. K. PROudfit, Esq.:

MY DEAR SIR:-Please accept my thanks for your kind invitation (received yesterday) to attend the annual meeting of the Army of the Tennessee, at Madison, Wisconsin, on the 3rd and 4th of July.

Official engagements may prevent my attendance on that occasion. If not, I shall take great pleasure in being present.

I am very truly yours,

GENERAL A. HICKENLOOper,

WINFIELD S. HANCOCK.

WASHINGTON, May 28, 1872.

Corresponding Secretary:

GENERAL:—I have the honor to acknowledge your very flattering invitation to the army reunion at Madison, Wisconsin, on the 3rd and 4th of July.

I feel highly gratified by the compliment, and sincerely regret my inability to attend and participate in the general enjoyment.

May this, and every reunion, while strengthening the close ties of fellowship by many reminiscences of privation and danger shared in common, renew these old friendships with fresh and pleasant memories.

Very respectfully and truly yours,

JAMES B. RICKETTS,

Major-General Vol's.

COLUMBUS, O., June 11, 1872.

SIR-My brother is at present in Mexico. I thank you in his name for your invitation and the manner in which it is proffered.

Yours truly,

1

J. K. PROUDFit, Esq.,

Corresponding Secretary S. A. T.

S. H. ROSECRANS,

Bishop of Columbus.

TOPEKA, June 20, 1872.

DEAR PROUDFIT:— -Yours received. I am compelled to return from here to Washington, and then have to go to Vermont for my wife and babies, so I shall probably not be able to reach Wisconsin before the 10th of July.

Yours truly,

MATT. H. CARPENTER.

WYOMING TERRITORY, EX. DEPARTMENT, }

CHEYENNE, June 17, 1872.

DEAR GENERAL:-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your kind invitation to attend the annual meeting of the Army of the Tennessee, at Madison, on the 3rd and 4th of July. It would give me great pleasure to meet in your beautiful city with some of the men who "hewed the way with their swords from the Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico,”—with Sherman marched "down to the sea "-and who, when their work was done, returned to those homes which they had left at the call of duty, and have, since their return, demonstrated to the world that the best soldiers make the best citizens. But I sincerely regret that a pressure of official duties will prevent my attendance.

Very respectfully, your servant,

TO GENERAL JAMES K. PRoudfit,

Corresponding Secretary, Madison, Wis.

J. A. CAMPBell.

HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE PACIFIC,
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL., June 18, 1872.

MR. J. K. PRoudfit,

Corresponding Secretary, etc., Madison, Wis.:

MY DEAR SIR:-I have received your kind letter of June 1st, inviting me to attend the meeting of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, at Madison. and regret very much that my official duties will not permit me to be present with you this year.

Please give my most cordial greeting to my old comrades of the Army of the Tennessee, with the hope that they may have a happy reunion.

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DEAR SIR:—I am greatly obliged for your kind invitation to join you at Madison on the 3rd and 4th of July. I wish it were in my power to accept it, but I fear that I can not get away then.

General Sherman writes me that he expects to be home again in September, too late for your meeting. He has sent me a long account of his travels, which I am to publish in the Army and Navy Journal of this week. Hoping that you will have as good a time at Madison as we did at Cleveland, I am very truly yours,

WM. C. CHURCH.

OFFICE OF THE ADMIRAL, WASHINGTON, D. C., June 17, 1872. Š

DEAR SIR:-I beg leave to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 5th inst., inviting me to attend the sixth annual reunion of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, and regret that the state of my health will not admit of my going anywhere just now, and will prevent a renewal of my very pleasant intercourse with the Army of the Tennessee.

Very respectfully and truly yours,

JAMES K. PROUDFIT, ESQ.,

DAVID D. PORTER,
Admiral.

Corresponding Secretary Local Com. S. A. T., Madison, Wis.

J. K. PROUDFIT,

HEADQUARTERS GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC,
NEW YORK, June 10, 1872.

Secretary Ex. Com. S. A. T., Madison, Wis.:

DEAR SIR:—I am in receipt of your favor of the 3rd, enclosing invitation to attend the reunion of the Army of the Tennessee. I should be glad to attend, but have promised to attend an Encampment of the G. A. R., at Gettysburg, on the 4th. I hope I may meet my comrades of the Army of the Tennessee at some of their future reunions.

They are always, to me, occasions of great pleasure and satisfaction, as I doubt not they are to all who love to cherish the memories of their army life. Please remember me fraternally to all the old soldiers who may meet with you, with my best wishes and the hope that they may be spared for many more

reunions.

Yours very truly,

A. E. BURNSIDE.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE PLATTE,
OMAHA, NEBRASKA, June 19, 1872.

COLONEL J. K. PROUDFIT,

Corresponding Secretary Local Executive Committee, etc.:

S

DEAR SIR:-Your polite invitation, accompanying that of the Committee, to attend the annual meeting of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, was received a short time since. If nothing intervenes between now and the 4th prox. to prevent it, I shall gladly accept, and will write you should I be disappointed and unable to go.

I am, with respect, yours truly,

E. O. C. ORD, Brigadier-General Vol's.

HEADQUARTERS MILITARY Division of thE ATLANTIC.
PHILADELPHIA, June 18, 1872.

J. K. PROUDFIT,

Corresponding Secretary Local Ex. Com., Madison, Wis.:

DEAR SIR:-Your kind favor of the 1st inst. has been in my hands some time, awaiting till circumstances enabled me to give you a positive answer to

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