great achievements to rescue and insure to their descendants the blessings of good government. While we can not be unmindful of all these and a thousand other thoughts connected with our early history and suggested by this day, our minds more naturally turn to those thrilling and important events of more recent occurrence, with which we were connected, and which, from their character and importance, to us at least, and I trust to all our descendants, will impart even to this day additional charm and

illustration.

To every member of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, and to every soldier of that army, the word Vicksburg contains a volume, and it is a volume which no man can read, and it contains that which no tongue expresses. In its surrender the torn and bleeding legions of that army realized for the first time the substantial fruits of all its previous efforts, sufferings, sacrifices, battles and victories. The Mississippi river, the great highway of the commerce of many States, was unlocked, and that commerce again moved unfettered to the sea; the vast territory of a government de facto which was carrying on a war against the Government of the United States upon a most gigantic scale, and which was threatening all that men held most dear, was cut in twain; and then, for the first time after the war commenced, the gallant and patriotic soldiers of our army, and the patriots and statesmen all over the land, received the first assurance that the nation was to have a new life, a glorious future, consecrated to and insuring the freedom of the whole human race. Then, also, treason quailed, and saw for the first time its inevitable doom, that from that day its power must crumble and its boasted armies ingloriously decay. Vicksburg also wrote and opened a new chapter in military history and in military science. Protected from all approach from the north and west by vast rivers and morasses, commanded by impregnable batteries, and from the east and south by an area of country hundreds of miles in extent from any base of supplies that had been or that could be established for an army; to ordinary military experience and genius the place seemed, like its river batteries, to be impregnable. And what great army ever before, in what country and under what commander, moved away from all line of supplies, crossed one of the largest rivers of the earth, and marched far into the enemy's country, to the rear of one of its largest armies, and relied solely upon success in

battle to open a new road? This was the conception of the great military genius of the war, most brilliantly executed, securing to the army of the Tennessee a glory that can never fade, and to our beloved country unity, harmony, freedom, and, we trust, perpetuity. And hereafter, in the minds of all patriots and statesmen, the thought of Vicksburg will be inseparably connected with the thought of human freedom and human happiness; and on the recurring anniversary of the day of our nation's birth and our nation's redemption, through all time, the orator and poet will, with the same breath pronounce the words Bunker Hill, Monmouth, Yorktown and Vicksburg.

MUSIC: "Vicksburg Quickstep."

FOURTH AND FIFTH TOASTS:-"The Army and Navy."

Response by General BELKNAP.

GENTLEMEN OF THE SOCIETY OF THE ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE:—It is a felicitous day for this glad meeting of old army friends. It is a significant occasion upon which to respond to the sentiment expressed; The Army of the United States. The day which celebrates the signing of the declaration of free thought and action, made by the heroes of Continental times, opens in memory the record of the deeds of the fathers of the land. It reminds us of the exalted self-denial which marked the conduct and shaped the career of that "noble army of martyrs" from which the regiments of the revolution came. The occasion calls together men who-companions in war and in the dangers of field duty and of active campaigns, separating in peace, and following here and there the diligent occupations of busy life-leave the labors of the day and rally here to give their hands to messmates with that hearty greeting which only soldiers know, and, in imagination, soldiers still, to hail old friends, to fight old battles, to live again the life that made them brothers, and to say kind words of comrades who have gone to the eternal camp. May I not mention one who here was endeared to all? Courteous, brave and soldierly, when the war was fully over he came to the side of those who bore his name, and died. Tears will come to the eyes of those unused to weeping when we recall the beautiful and beloved memory of Cassius Fairchild. [Applause.] Welcome

be the meeting to us who once were of the Army of the United States; for the stars on the flag seem brighter, and the blue seems deeper, and the stripes more crimson, as its folds wave to-daynot over battle-fields and marching divisions and gleaming guns and batteries built for war-but over brothers gathered in peaceful communion and bound by ties which only soldiers know—the bonds of mutual happiness, now made stronger by the recollection of dangers suffered in the past, and of triumphs won when we were soldiers together in the Army of the Tennessee. [Applause.]

The Army of the United States needs no eulogy from me or any man. The fields on which it has fought, in the mention of their names command a responsive tribute to its gallantry from every heart. Like the deeds of your first commander, now its commander-in-chief, its achievements tell, in silence, its own glorious history. [Applause.] And were its acts to be recounted, you would hear, muffled and subdued only by time, but still distant and clear, the thunders of the guns of Lundy's Lane and of Niagara, of Cherubusco and Chepultepec, and of all those battles of the rebellion where, side by side with the citizen soldiery of the land, it fought for the right and did its part for the safety of the nation. Many of us are old enough to remember the depressing influence of that cloud of gloom and uncertainty which hung over the country early in the Mexican war, when in the expectation that there would soon be a collision near the Rio Grande, between the opposing forces, there was undisguised doubts as to the result. The American army was small, unequal in numbers to the foe, and untried in action. From the halls of Congress and from the meetings of the people had come open expressions of apprehension. News came but slowly. Enterprise had not then, as now, laid roads of iron on which the steaming messengers could move in their swift course from the borders of the land, and there were few wires on which the lightnings could flash their instantaneous story. But though the people doubted, there was no faltering hesitation in that little band, whose valor and discipline and readiness for conflict were equal to the peril which was around them. Soon the glad tidings of battles fought and bravely won aroused the nation-the victories of Palo Alto and Resaca, where Duncan fought and Ringgold fell, gave spirit to the depressed, and were a full denial of those undefined charges of faithlessness and incom

petency upon which the changes had so long been rung. "If the enemy oppose my march, in whatever force, I shall fight him,” were the defiant words of their rough and ready leader, and this army placed another leaf in the chaplet of America's victories. [Applause.] All honor, then, to the army of the United Statesregular and volunteer-for when danger threatens and the country calls, the young men will gather at the drum's earliest beating and unite like patriots in the common cause. [Applause.]

Comrades of the Army of the Tennessee, what day could be designated for our meeting which would recall more vividly than this the memories of our martial life? On the 4th of July, 1862, in the second year of the rebellion, our flag was flying and giving grateful comfort to loyal men in every State in the Union. Nine years ago to-day, as the cheers were taken up by regiment after regiment and rolled along the lines, they told us that the stronghold of the South was ours. Time speeds along so rapidly that we can scarce believe that so many days are between us and that happy hour, when the shouts of those thousands proclaimed our victory achieved. And though our banners are bright to-night, none, in all their glory, can ever be dearer to us than those torn and tattered flags, soiled and worn in march and action, which waved over the captured works of Vicksburg. Applause.]

Those days of war are gone. The country grows beyond our highest hope. Great roads of iron reach out and tie the States together in eternal union. The links are stronger as the chain extends. In the assurance of lasting peace we gather in these meetings, with our faith in the endurance of the nation's life made firmer as the years roll on. [Applause.]

MUSIC: "Red, White and Blue."

SIXTH TOAST:-"The Army of the Tennessee."

Response by General BUCKLAND,

Who said he learned lessons of obedience in the Army of the Tennessee, and would respond, as no one could say he was surprised in the army if he had time to swing his musket and knapsack. But what could be said of this army that had not been said by orator and poet, and the gifted poetess of Wisconsin? [Applause.] It would be idle to talk of it. The army had fought a hundred battles and never was defeated; or, if so, they did not

know it. The deeds were graven on the pages of history, and even now their old commander was reaping the glory, the praises of crowned heads, who seldom gave any praise. That army was particularly fortunate in its soldiers. [Applause.] They went into service not for glory, but to save the country; they left wives, children and all for the good cause. No other officers were so fortunate as to have such good soldiers. The glory of the army was the good feeling existing; the only strife was to secure the post of danger. They loved every man who ever served in the army. No other feeling could induce so many to travel so far to these reunions. When they met and clasped hands the grip was as cordial as that of brothers in a foreign land. [Applause.]

MUSIC: "Star Spangled Banner."

SEVENTH TOAST:—“The Army of the Potomac.”

Response by General FAIRCHILD.

I regret much that one more competent has not been called upon to respond to this toast, but, obeying orders, I will say a few words. The Army of the Potomac was organized under peculiar circumstances. To guard the Capitol was its peculiar and irksome dutya duty which clogged its operations through all its earlier history. As you love the Army of the Tennessee, we love our good old Army of the Potomac. We love it for its defeats, trials and disasters, and for its victories.

The long months spent in drill and discipline after the battle of Bull Run bore good fruit. The battle of Bull Run was well fought and bravely by the men, and our then commander had already won the day, when Johnson's troops came to the rescue of the enemy. Had Johnson been detained, as he should have been, and as was promised by the commander at Washington, victory would have been with us. [Applause.]

In spite of the defeats and disappointments which were its fortune, it never became demoralized, never flagged in its enthusiasm, zeal or patriotism. That it was a good army, brave, well disciplined and loyal, is proven by the fact that it maintained its courage under circumstances which tried it as never was an army tried before. The sun never shone on that day when it would not and did not turn and fight its foe as valiantly as men could— whether victory or defeat went before the men, they were always