movement to the rear of that city; the five hundred miles march from the Mississippi to the relief of beleaguered Knoxville, only stopping at Missionary Ridge long enough to hurl themselves. upon the flank of Bragg's army and enable their brothers of the army of the Cumberland to carry that stronghold; their tenacity of purpose and magnificent fighting in the Atlanta campaign; their participation in the "march to the sea;" their full share in the campaign of the Carolinas; these only served to cement them more closely and unite them as no other of our armies was united during the Civil war. Dissension and bickering had no place in the gallant hearts that made up its muster-rolls, nor have gained a foothold during the twenty years of peace. May it ever be thus. Gentlemen, such of you as were eating unground corn at Chattanooga whilst your horses and mules starved, will remember whether the Army of the Tennessee was welcome. Those of us who were besieged in Knoxville have not forgotten our feeling of relief when the word was passed along the line that Sherman's army was at hand and in communication with us.

As we welcomed these heroes then, let us welcome them now. And you of the grand old Army of the Potomac will gladly join in this welcome, recalling the equinoctial storm which broke over your adversary when the 21st of March, 1865, found the Army of the Tennessee with their comrades of the Army of Georgia, and of the Army of the Ohio, at Goldsboro, within striking distance, south of him. You can appreciate his dilemma when he, realizing that he was encompassed in fatal toils, looked south for an outlet of escape, and heard "rolling across the plains. of the Carolinas, beating nearer and nearer, the drums of Champion Hills and Shiloh:"

Ladies and gentlemen, this meeting is now organized, with General Sherman, President of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, in the chair.

The President:-The Society will come to order, and as I see this hall filled with ladies and gentlemen, I realize that we are not alone; and I will simply state that this is a meeting of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee. Its members conduct its proceedings; but you, who have come to look upon us, are most welcome-more than welcome-but permit us to manage our own little family affairs. That is all the privilege we ask. Everybody is welcome. The old soldier, be he private or sergeant, or

whatever he may be, is welcome here and at every meeting of our Society. But we regulate our own affairs and we conduct our own proceedings. But we are always glad especially to see the ladies, who take such a deep and vivid interest in the affairs which we have come to celebrate. We always open our meetings with prayer, and I call upon the Right Reverend Bishop Fallows, of Chicago, to perform this service.

Bishop Fallows:-In Thy kind providence, Almighty Father, we are permitted to meet here at this time. We come with devout thanksgiving and praise to Thee for all the blessings we have been receiving at Thy hands. We thank Thee for this country that Thou hast given us; a gift worthy of Thyself, worthy of our deepest love and our most devout service. We bless Thee that Thou wast with those in the days of old who fought to create the government. We thank Thee Thou wast with their sons who helped preserve it. And we pray that now that the family of States is no longer discordant and beligerant, no longer separated by secession nor sundered by slavery, that unity, peace and concord may more and more prevail among us. We pray Thee, Almighty Father, that no victory which was won by the sword, or which has been expressed in the fundamental law of our land, shall ever be turned into practical defeat. We pray that the rights of all classes of persons beneath our one flag may be religiously preserved, and no legislation adverse to them prosper or prevail. We pray Thee that this meeting in which we are now participating may be blessed by Thee. We thank Thee that we can survey the mercies of the present and look with confidence and hope into the future. We thank Thee for the privilege of once more taking each other by the hand, looking into each other's faces, feeling that the invisible hand is clasping the invisible hand and heart in speaking to heart. We thank Thee for all those who, since we last met, have departed this life in Thy faith and fear, beseeching Thee to give us grace so to follow their good examples, that we with them may be partakers of Thy Heavenly Kingdom. Tenderly we ask that Thy blessing may rest on those that have been bereaved and afflicted, mourning the loss of loved ones, of those whom we so dearly loved, whose presence is not with us to-night. God bless the widow in her sorrow and the fatherless children, remembering Thine own promise that Thou wilt be the widow's God and the father of the fatherless. Bless each

one of us and direct, we pray Thee, O, Lord, these proceedings, and us in all our doings, with Thy most gracious favor, and further us with Thy continued help that in all our work, begun,. continued and ended in Thee, we may glorify Thy holy name, and finally, by Thy mercy, may obtain everlasting life in Jesus. Christ our Lord. Amen.

MUSIC by Quartette.-"Song of Freedom."

The President introduced Governor Luce, who spoke as follows:

WELCOME ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR LUCE.

MR. PRESIDENT, CITIZEN Soldiers of THE ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:

I have been invited upon this occasion to express brief words of welcome to all of you. Both the character and the sentiments of the people in whose name I speak, as well as the heroic deeds of the living, and the representatives of the living and the dead, render this a valued and pleasant privilege. Michigan, though. one of the northern of the sisterhood of states, we believe to be as proudly patriotic as any other of the sister states; and we believe that the fires of patriotism, fanned by the breezes wafted across the peninsula from lake to lake, burn as brightly on its altars as they do in any other clime in the world. Michigan sent

forth ninety thousand of its bravest and best to fight the great battles of the rebellion. Michigan honors its soldiers everywhere. Michigan is proud of their record in the past, and is proud of their record as citizens to-day.

But I welcome here the representatives of the Army of the Tennessee. The nucleus of this division of the armies of the Republic was formed in September, 1861. The rank and file of the. Army of the Tennessee compared favorably with the rank and file of any other division. I will not draw an invidious distinction, and claim that the men who fought in that division were braver, stronger, more patriotic, more heroic; but they were the equals of any other that went forth to battle, and fought bravely and well for home, country and flag. But there is one thing to be said for the Army of the Tennessee. Fortunate as other divisions may have been in their commanders, this was exception. ally fortunate in the men who commanded and led it in the con-

flicts of the war a quarter of a century ago. The great commander, whose name is honored wherever civilization exists and the language is spoken, was the first commander of the Army of the Tennessee. On the 4th of September, at Cairo, Ill.. General Grant was placed in command of 8,000 men. This was the nucleus of the Army of the Tennessee. It numbered from that till the close of the war 200,000 fighting men. General Grant led it on to victory. And one thing can be said truthfully of this division of the army that it never knew defeat. It never was driven from a battle-field. It fought at Fort Henry, and one of the first great victories that was won in the war was at Donelson, won by this branch of the army. And those of us who were at home and did not go and fight, who had our ears close to the telegraph wires, as the news from the front was ticked off, remember how the clouds were parted when we heard of that great grand victory at Donelson, with the surrender of more than thirteen thousand men as prisoners of war. We traced with pride and high satisfaction and rejoicing the future of this branch of the army. It fought nobly, heroically and well at Pittsburg Landing in one of the severest conflicts of the war. It fought again at Vicksburg. Its commander was still General Grant. When he left it, another hero of the war, another man we all delight to honor took command of this branch of the army. It was peculiarly fortunate, I told you, in its leaders. General Sherman took command from General Grant. When he was asked by the Commander-in-Chief to come up a little higher and to assume broader duties, the Army of the Tennessee was commanded by one idolized in civil, private and in military life, McPherson, who gallantly fell at Atlanta. Again, how fortunate was the Army of the Tennessee. That man whom we are glad to honor as being the most brilliant example coming from civil life; that most brilliant example in war as a soldier and in peace as a statesman, General John A. Logan, took command of that army. We need not wonder that the Army of the Tennessee never retreated when we review, ever so briefly, the names of its commanders.

The representatives of this army we are glad to welcome here to-night. We rejoice in the privilege; and I, speaking for the time being for this great State, welcome them. From the farms, from the workshops, from the mills along our lake shores, from the mines away across the straits, we reach out a welcome here

to-night to the Army of the Tennessee. We rejoice that they meet with you here, and that the day has been so auspicious.

And now one word more (turning to Sherman), we rejoice, sir. that you are still spared, a monument of the perils of war, and of the long years of peace that have followed the war; and our people, with one accord, with warm hearts and outstretched arms, welcome the President as well as the other representatives of that army here to-night.

The President then introduced Mr. John Pridgeon, Jr., the Acting Mayor of Detroit, who spoke as follows:

WELCOME TO DETROIT.

GENTLEMEN OF THE SOCIETY OF THE ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE: Ladies and gentlemen, it is a very pleasant duty, owing to the absence of his Honor, the Mayor, to look into your faces here and bid you, in the city's name, a hearty welcome to Detroit.

Detroit contributed her quota of citizen soldiers who reflected honor upon her by fighting and marching with Sherman. She sent as staunch a prop as ever stood to hold up his hands in that great march through Georgia in the modest, brave and true man, General A. S. Williams.

By his green memory we bid you welcome.

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We congratulate you on the large attendance on this occasion, and mourn with you for those who have answered to their last roll-call and are not with us to-night.

In conclusion, in behalf of every man, woman and child of this fair city, I repeat the famous order of your immortal commander, when you turned your backs upon Atlanta and cut off your line of supplies, while you are here, "subsist upon the country."

Take freely all that will give you enjoyment and give you pleasant memories and kindly thoughts of Detroit.

The President, in behalf of the Society, responded to the welcome given it by Governor Luce and Mayor Pridgeon as follows:

COMRADES, Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is our custom to follow minutely the directions of the local committee. They have assigned me a task this evening very pleasant, though short, to convey to the Governor of