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ANNUAL ADDRESS.

MADISON, July 3, 1872, 8 o'clock p. m.

The Society met pursuant to adjournment, General Slack presiding.

He stated that the object of the meeting was to hear the welcome addresses by Governor C. C. Washburne for the State of Wisconsin, Major James L. Hill for the City of Madison and Colonel George E. Bryant on behalf of the resident officers of the Army of the Tennessee, the annual address to the Society by General M. D. Leggett, a poem by Miss Ella Wheeler, and that no other regular business would be transacted.

In the order of exercises, first:

PRAYER-Rev. Samuel Fallows.

Music by Drum Corps:-"Reveille.”

ADDRESS OF WELCOME BY GOV. C. C. WASHBURNE.

MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY OF THE ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE:-In behalf of the people of the State of Wisconsin I have great pleasure in welcoming you to our State and to our State Capital. I need not assure you that the opportunity they have here to-night of greeting so many of that gallant Army of the Tennessee, whose history is so interwoven in bright and enduring colors into the web of our national existence, will long be remembered, or that the pleasure they feel in meeting with you can find but poor expression in words. This is a fitting occasion, on the eve of the anniversary of our national independence, and of other great events hardly less important, for you to assemble, to exchange congratulations with your old comrades, to rejoice over the successes that have attended your services, and to pay the just tribute of respect to those who laid down their lives in the same cause in which you were engaged. I am sure that a grateful country fully appreciates you and those services, sufferings and sacrifices, and the day is far distant when service in putting down our great rebellion will be regarded as a badge of dishonor.

As you peacefully, cheerfully and happily survey this assemblage, your joy on looking upon the familiar faces is not without a dash

of sorrow.

As you cast your eyes around you, you soon discover

that they are not all here.

The gallant McPherson, the Chevalier Bayard of our army, a man without fear and without reproach; Rawlins, the wise in council and gallant in war, Wallace, Wyman, Ransom, and our own Cassius Fairchild and the many others who but to name would consume this evening, your eyes seek for in vain.

"On fame's eternal camping ground,

Their silent tents are spread,

And glory guards with solemn round,
The bivouac of the dead."

I need not here speak of the achievements of the Army of the Tennessee. The world knows its history by heart. Donelson and Shiloh, Vicksburg and Chattanooga, Atlanta and Nashville, and a thousand other battle-fields have spoken for it in tones that will reverberate so long as we have a country.

It is pleasant, in bidding you welcome to-night, as we do with overflowing and grateful hearts, to contrast the peaceful, prosperous and happy condition of our country with that of ten years ago.

In coming here from your various places of residence, you have not failed to note a degree of prosperity, development and general progress, absolutely unparalled in the history of the world—all our people happy, unless it be those who were unhappy when our armies were victorious. It is no exaggeration to say that our cup of national happiness is full and overflowing.

We cast our thoughts backwards for ten years. Then in every city, village and hamlet in the land the tap of the reveille drum. ushered in the morning. On all sides it was tramp, tramp, for the "boys were marching" and the widows' wail and the orphans' cry went up to heaven. Nine years ago this very day our armies at the front were engaged in deadly strife and the groans of the dead and dying were heard on every side, while at the rear, and at your homes and hearth stones

"There was silence deep as death,

And the boldest held his breath for a time,"

for it was known throughout this broad land that events were then transpiring which might decide the question whether we were to continue to have a country; the question as to whether a government of the people for the people and by the people should perish from the earth.

Thanks to the rank and file of the most gallant armies that were ever marshaled on battle plain, and thanks to that gallant leader, whose name I need not mention here, those questions were settled nine years ago to-day on the field of Gettysburg and in the trenches before Vicksburg.

Now all is peace throughout the entire length and breadth of our land. We are at peace with the world, and at peace among ourselves, and an era of good feeling approaching.

While these reunions are maintained, and may they be maintained so long as there are survivors enough of the Army of the Tennessee to make a reunion possible, may they be so, not for the purpose of reviving what is unpleasant in the past or to keep alive feelings of sectional hate, but rather for the cultivation of the better feelings of our nature. The past can not be changed by anything we may say or do, and the hardest science to learn is that of forgetfulness. We can not hope that the scenes and events of the war, which were burned into our memories as with letters of fire, will depart therefrom at our bidding, yet, if we may not forget, we may so far overlook the errors of our fellow citizens as to regard with true fraternal feeling all who are now the true friends of the Government. Let us then remember the past, not for the purpose of fanning the dying embers of treason, but rather as an incentive to patriotism and noble deeds, and to keep green in our souls an affection for those who have laid down their lives that you might peaceably assemble here to-day.

Allow me to hope that your stay here may be in all respects agreeable, and that when you leave you will carry with you pleasing recollections of our city and State.

General Washburne was listened to with attention by the members and others present, and his address was well received. Major Hill being presented said:

ADDRESS OF WELCOME BY MAJOR HILL.

MR. PRESIDENT AND OFFICERS OF THE ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE:-Madison is proud of the distinguished honor this day conferred upon her. Never before in her history has it been her privilege to entertain so large a number of distinguished military heroes as are present upon this occasion. She delights to do honor to the brave men to whom we are indebted for a united

country under one flag, and with one constitution, and she asks me to-night, as her Chief Magistrate, to bid you welcome, thrice welcome to her hospitalities. Welcome to all with which nature has endowed her, welcome to the love, gratitude and respect which your heroic action during the late struggle for our national existence entitles you to in the hearts of her citizens. We fain would bring forth our laurel wreaths and deck the brow, not only of every officer, but of every surviving soldier of the Army of the Tennessee. We remember the heroism and the bravery, and we do not forget the suffering and the fortitude of that army.

The events and experiences, the anxieties and responsibilities of those few years of conflict, hastened our youth into manhood, and whitened the heads of our middle-aged.

The ever-varying reports borne upon the electric current to every part of our country, from day to day, indicated success and disaster alternately, caused the great heart of this nation to beat with a rapidity, force and power, of which we, living in the midst of it, had no conception. One day witnessed a nation in tears which the reports of the morrow would change into the wildest demonstration of joy. We well remember the cloud which darkened our horizon ten years ago to-day, the 3rd of July, 1862, when the astounding report reached us that the Union army had been repulsed before Richmond, and it was rumored that the President deemed it necessary to call for 300,000 more patriots for the suppression of the rebellion.

Then it was that a silence reigned throughout this land as ominous and as portentous as that which precedes the mighty earthquake, when the very rocks seem to be in full sympathy with the fear which pervades all animated nature. The hearts of loyal men stood still. The cheeks of loyal men grew pale. But with blanched lips and a firm trust in Almighty God, and our brave army as the enforcer of His eternal principles of right and justice, they decided, with one heart and with one voice, that the unity and integrity of this nation must and should be preserved.

That sun never arose, that arose upon more concentrated determination and unflinching loyalty, than did the sun of the morning of the 4th day of July, 1862. The celebration of that day by the loyal people of this country had a deep meaning, a grand signifiWhile they celebrated the anniversary of the dawn of liberty, a birth-right so dearly purchased and bestowed upon them,

cance.

they consecrated themselves anew upon the altar of their country, and swore by the blood of their fathers to cherish and protect it. The great struggle went on. Another year passed, and loyal men were looking and praying for some grand result. It came at last. As the brilliant meteor shooting into our atmosphere startles, dazzles, pleases, so was this nation startled, dazzled and rejoiced, when upon the 4th day of July, 1863, it was proclaimed from the mouth of roaring cannon that Gettysburg was ours, and Grant had taken Vicksburg! A glorious day for the consummation of a glorious achievement.

Then did loyal men and loyal women weep for very joy. They rejoiced, because they believed they saw the beginning of the end. They had just seen the grand old temple of liberty shaking and rocking to its very foundation, but they believed that our brave army had held the keystone of the arch firmly in its place, and that there it would remain. They believed that the victory at Gettysburg and the fall of Vicksburg decided the fate of the rebellion. Nor did they believe they came one day or an hour too soon. They felt as though they had been born again. And to-morrow, when we shall assemble to celebrate the anniversary of our national independence and the birth of American liberty, let us also celebrate with equal enthusiasm that second birth which your heroic action, your suffering, your blood, gave to the hopes of all loyal men upon that memorable 4th day of July, 1863.

And now, while we would celebrate with enthusiasm the birth and the preservation of our Union, and would strew our garlands of flowers in the pathway of our living heroes, we should not forget the long line of brave martyrs who have answered the call of the long roll upon the other side of the dark river of death. They sleep their last sleep, and what but the Grand Omniscient Mind shall ever know of the anguish and the sorrow that their vacant places have caused. They are entitled to a nation's honors, a nation's gratitude. They have gone to their reward, dying that we might live and still enjoy the blessings purchased with their blood. Let us then cherish their memory as sincerely and as sacredly as we cherish our love for "liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Trusting, gentlemen, that your visit to our Capitol City may be as pleasant as we would wish it to be, and that upon your return to

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