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GENERAL O. M. POE,

Chairman Reception Committee:

ST. LOUIS, September 5, 1887.

MY DEAR GENERAL:-I am greatly disappointed because of my inability to attend the reunion of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee. I feel this keenly, not only because I will be deprived of the much coveted pleasure -which is intensified as the years pass-of meeting my companions in arms, but more than ever this year in view of the enticing programme of hospitalities prepared by the generous citizens of Detroit. The people of Michigan never did anything by halves either in war or peace, and he who is obliged to forego their hospitality and expressions of good will certainly have cause for regret.

Sincerely yours,

W. R. HODGES,

Late Captain 32d Wisconsin Infantry.

WATERLOO, Iowa, September 3, 1887.

GENERAL O. M. POE,

Detroit, Mich. :

DEAR GENERAL:-It will be impossible for me to attend the forthcoming reunion of our Society of the Army of the Tennessee, soon to occur in your city. My business engagements are of so important and pressing nature as to prevent my leaving them, and I can only assure you of my real regret and disappointment. I trust, however, the occasion will be one of unalloyed pleasure to all concerned, as it certainly will when in the hands of so strong a committee, and in so hospitable a city as Detroit is known to be.

Very truly yours,

B. R. SHERMAN,

Late Captain 13th Regiment Iowa Infantry Volunteers.

WILMINGTON, DEL., September 4, 1887,

MY DEAR GENERAL POE:-I am to-day in receipt of an invitation from the local executive committee, to the twentieth reunion of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, to be held at Detroit on the 14th and 15th instant, and regret exceedingly that other engagements will deprive me of the pleasure of attending. I regret this all the more keenly because absence from the country and exacting occupations have together kept me away from all the more recent meetings, and because I had specially hoped to attend the Detroit meeting and renew there my acquaintance with many comrades whom I have not seen since the close of the rebellion.

Trusting that you' and they may have a pleasant time, and not doubting that you will, I am, with unabated and affectionate regard,

Very sincerely your friend,

GENERAL O. M. PoE,

Chairman Local Executive Committee, Detroit.

JAMES H. WILSON.

Rome, GEORGIA, September 5, 1887.

O. M. PoE, R. A. Alger AND OTHER MEMBERS OF LOCAL EXECUTIVE

COMMITTEE:

GENTLEMEN:-Your cordial invitation to be present at the twentieth reunion of our Society is just received and I answer at once. I regret very much I am unable to be present, and more especially as our meeting is to be held in Detroit. I am some acquainted with the spirit, loyalty and patriotism of the people of Michigan, and I know of the valor and bravery of her troops in the late war, and feel sure you will have a grand good time. I shall be with you in spirit, and I desire a kindly remembrance to yourselves and all the members of our Society. God bless each and every one of them. I am, Very respectfully,

GEO. W. COLBY,

Late Captain Co. K, 72nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry.

ST. PAUL, MINN., September 5, 1887.

COLONEL O. M. POE,

Chairman, etc.:

DEAR SIR:—I had, until to-day, intended and expected to attend the reunion of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, at Detroit, on the 14th and 15th instant, but it now seems that it will be impossible for me to do so. The same days have been designated for the reunion of the Minnesota veterans on the fair grounds in St. Paul. It is the time of the state fair, at which most of the regiments in this state are accustomed to hold their reunion, and it has seemed impossible to avoid the two reunions being held on the same days. I have met the survivors of my old regiment, the 4th Minnesota, but three times since the war, and they seem to be very earnest in their desire that I should be present at this reunion, and I have concluded that I ought to meet these enlisted men, considering all the circumstances, even at the sacrifice of failing to meet my old comrades and acquaintances who were officers of the same army, until another year. I sincerely regret this, all the more for the reason that I was unable to attend the reunion last year. I see by all your invitations and notices with what generosity and zeal the resident officers and the people of Detroit are doing everything to make the reunion even more than ordinarily pleasant and successful, and this makes me feel all the more that by absenting myself I am depriving myself of the greatest pleasure. Whether present in person or not, with the unnumbered survivors of the war who are personally absent, I am present in feeling, sympathy and spirit, and reap some enjoyment from the occasion although distant from the meeting. May all the surviving officers and members of the Society live to enjoy many more reunions, surrounded by the happiness and prosperity that their services and sacrifices have aided to secure to the communities where they meet.

Fraternally yours,

JOHN B. SANBORN.

GENERAL O. M. POE,

OFFICE OF THE POSTMASTER,

POST OFFICE, BOSTON, MASS., September 6, 1887.

92 West Fort Street, Detroit, Michigan:

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I regret to find at the eleventh hour that it will be impracticable for me to attend the meeting of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee in Detroit on the 14th and 15th instant. Wishing you an agreeable reunion and a pleasant time, I have the honor to be,

Very respectfully,

JOHN M. CORse.

FRED. E. FARNSWORTH, Esq.,

FORT DODGE, Iowa, September 8, 1887.

Secretary Local Executive Committee, Detroit, Mich.:

DEAR SIR:-I have received the invitation of the local executive committee of the citizens of Detroit, to be present at the twentieth annual reunion of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, to be held on the 14th and 15th instant. I regret to say that I shall not be able to attend. Were it not for private affairs, which seem to forbid my acceptance, nothing would be more gratifying to me than to be with you on that occasion. I should like to visit your city, and above every other consideration it would give me the greatest happiness to look again into the faces, and take again by the hands, many of the officers whom I learned to honor more than twenty years ago, and the memory of whose manly characters has been an inspiration to me during all the years that have since elapsed. Thanking you for the invitation, and wishing for your citizens and the members of the Society a happy reunion, I am, Very truly yours,

C. C. CARPENTER.

CINCINNATI, O., September 9, 1887.

GENERAL . M. POE,

Chairman Local Committee, Society of the Army of the Tennessee: MY DEAR GENERAL:-I much regret that I cannot be present at the reunion on the 14th.

With a cordial greeting to the Society and each of its members, I am in the bonds of as noble a comradeship as ever bound human hearts together. Yours truly,

AND. C. Kemper.

LEADVILLE, COL., September 7, 1887.

FRED. E. FARNSWORTH, ESQ.,

Secretary:

Dear Sir:-Your card from the local executive committee inviting me to attend the annual reunion of our Society is received. Every year I have promised myself that next year I would once more meet my friends of the

Society of the Army of the Tennessee, but circumstances prevent me from meeting with you this year. God bless you all, and may the Society endure forever.

Fraternally yours,

C. C. KELLOGG.

MADISON, Wis., September 8, 1887.

MESSRS. O. M. POE AND OTHERS,

Committee, etc., Detroit, Michigan:

GENTLEMEN:-I am in receipt of your kind invitation to attend the twentieth annual reunion of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee in your city on the 14th and 15th of the current month; and while sending you and the good people of your city my most hearty thanks for this kindness, I must express regret that I cannot be with you on that occasion. There is nothing would give me more pleasure than to meet once more the surviving heroes of Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, Atlanta and other well-fought battle fields, but particularly would I rejoice at an opportunity of paying my sincere tribute of respect to this great General who led us all to so many victories-the last one, the greatest of all, at Durham station, North Carolina, where, by his genius General Johnston and his army were brought to the "round up." But old age admonishes me that it would be unsafe at this time of life to venture upon so long a journey. With a hearty wish that the reunion may be a happy one, I am, with great respect,

Your obedient servant,

THOMAS REYNOLDS.

CINCINNATI, OHIO, September 12, 1887.

DEAR SIR:-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your kind invitation to the twentieth annual reunion of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, in your beautiful city on the 14th and 15th instant. Absence from home, with the hope to regain my health, has caused my delay in answering your invitation. I had hoped that my health might have been so improved as to enable me to meet once more in a happy reunion with those comrades of our Society and other soldiers still living, who may be present with you. But I am sad to realize, at the last moment, that this very great pleasure will be denied me. I am now in my seventieth year, and have been an invalid, suffering from diseases and injuries incurred in the army during the war of the rebellion, ever since its close.

Please say to the comrades present that I realize how fast our ranks are thinning, but that while life endures, we who remain cannot forget our trials and deadly struggles to save the life of our beloved country, and we will have our reunions like the one you are now holding to renew old friendships. Nor can we or a grateful country forget those who fell at our sides in battle; and now, as those of our beloved comrades remaining pay the last great debt every mortal must meet, can our people let their memories perish from the earth, and can we who are alive let their noble deeds be forgotten? No, never.

"But when the warrior dieth,

His comrades in the war,

With arms reversed, and muffled drum,
Follow the funeral car,

They show the banners taken,

They tell his battles won,

And after him lead his masterless steed,

While peals the minute gun."

In conclusion, assure the old comrades present that though absent in body, I will be with them in spirit, and my ardent wish is that your twentieth reunion may be a happy and successful one; and, finally, assure them that although I may never again be permitted to meet with them in a reunion of our noble Society here, that my prayers shall ascend to our Great Commander above, that when the last "long roll" shall sound, summoning each one of us to meet our last enemy, death, we may all be found enrolled among the number of that mighty army that shall constitute the church triumphant, in that upper and better country, where there shall be no more war.

Sincerely your comrade,

JOSEPH H. THORNTON,

Late Lieutenant-Colonel 49th Regiment Indiana Volunteers.

O. M. POE, Esq.,

Chairman Executive Committee, etc., Detroit, Mich.

PAINESVILLE, OHIO, September 13, 1887.

CAPTAIN: At the last moment I find it impossible to get to Detroit to meet once more with the Army of the Tennessee. I regret this exceedingly, as I have missed but few of the reunions up to the present. Wishing all a glorious good time, I am, as ever,

Yours,

J. A. POTTER,

CAPTAIN FRED. E. FARNSWORTH,

Brevet Brigadier-General U. S. A.

Secretary, etc., 92 West Fort Street, Detroit, Mich.:

JAMESTOWN, R. I., September 15, 1887.

DEAR SIR:-I beg leave to acknowledge the invitation for the twentieth annual reunion of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee. I regret very much that the illness of my wife will prevent me from joining you on this interesting occasion. I hope you may have a pleasant reunion, and revive the recollections of those terrible years through which the Army of the Tennessee passed, and where it did more than its share in maintaining this great country in its hour of need, which, in years to come, will be gratefully remembered by the rising generation, who will benefit by the trials and vicissitudes which beset that glorious army on so many occasions. I shall always con

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