PROCEEDINGS OF THE TWENTY-SECOND MEETING OF THE Society of the Army of the Tennessee. SECRETARY'S REPORT. COLLEGE HALL, CINCINNATI, September 25, 1889. The Society marched from Headquarters to College Hall and was called to order by the President with the following remarks: It is gratifying to me, and must be to you all, my old comrades, that so many of us are spared to meet here in Cincinnati to-day. I can look into your faces and I can tell at a glance who really belonged to the Army of the Tennessee. There is something peculiar to us; there is an electric current between us of kindly good feeling, of mutual self-respect; so that between us, the commander and the commanded, and all intermediate grades, there is, as there always was, that love and respect on which all good governments must be founded. Now, my friends, before we proceed to business, I want to recall to your attention the very first object of our Society; it was formed in Raleigh, and every one signed first, I think, has been gathered to the great camping ground beyond; but what they then said, we must venerate and respect and be guided by. I will read to you the very first article of our constitution: "The objects of the Society shall be to keep alive and preserve that kindly and cordial feeling which has been one of the characteristics of this army during its career in the service, and which has given it such harmony of action, and contributed, in no small degree, to its glorious achievements in our country's cause. "The fame and glory of all the officers belonging to this army, who have fallen either on the field of battle, or in their line of duty, shall be a sacred trust to this Society, which shall cause proper memorials of their services to be collected and preserved, and thus transmit their names with honor to posterity. "The families of all such officers who shall be in indigent circumstances will have a claim upon the generosity of the Society, and will be relieved by the voluntary contributions of its members whenever brought to their attention. In like manner, the fame and suffering families of those officers who may hereafter be stricken down by death shall be a trust in the hands of their survivors." I again cordially greet you, my comrades, in meeting together in this goodly city of Cincinnati in health and strength. We will now proceed to our business according to the forms and rules of our Society. The first in order, will be the reports of our officers. The Secretary should read the journal of our prevous meeting. Inasmuch, gentlemen, as that is in print and in your hands as reported, I take it for granted that it will be dispensed with, and I will proceed to the next business in order, which is the appointment of committees. The first has usually been the appointment of the committee on time and place of our next meeting. Colonel Jacobson:-Before we proceed, I would like to make a motion that the appointment of the committee on time and place to hold our next meeting be dispensed with, because all the members of the Society from Chicago desire that the Society shall meet there next summer, in the month of June, at a time to be fixed by the President of the Society, by correspondence with the local committee; because, in one of the finest parks of Chicago, Lincoln Park, we are to unveil next summer, the monument of Ulysses S. Grant. I am sure that the warm spot, and a large one it is, which is in the heart of every American soldier, for that greatest of American soldiers, will induce you all to fall in with this motion. General Grier:-On behalf of the delegation from St. Louis, I wished to extend an invitation to the Army of the Tennessee to meet in St. Louis, next year; but after listening to the motion of Colonel Jacobson, I will, on behalf of the delegation from St. Louis, second his motion, that the meeting be held in Chicago. General Chetlain:-I saw General Strong yesterday after noon, who is unable to be here, and he desired me to say when this matter came up that the equerian statue of General Grant will probably be unveiled some time between the first of June and possibly as late as the first of October. The cast has been sent to the foundry in the east somewhere, where it will be prepared and set up during next spring or early summer; so that the time is open; left with the President; some time between the first of June and early fall. On motion of Colonel Jacobson the rules were suspended and Chicago designated as the place to hold our next meeting, time subject to the call of the President, so as to be co-incident with the unveiling of the General Grant statue. The President:-The next meeting, gentlemen, will therefore be in Chicago, and will be announced in good and sufficient time, as soon as the committee having charge of that monument reports the day and hour of its unveiling. They will understand of course the importance of having it exact, because the Army of the Tennessee generally gets there on time. [Applause.] The next committee is the committee to select the orator for our next meeting. I will say that we are committed to that; that General Hickenlooper, of Cincinnati, has been delegated for the express purpose. Therefore, if anybody will move for a suspen sion of the rules-- General Hickenlooper:-If you will allow me to say a few words, I must respectfully decline that honor for the reason that the meeting at Chicago will be national in its character, and I feel very decidedly that the Chicago committee should be left at liberty to choose their own orator; and as a little piece of personal advice, would suggest that they select for such an occasion, a little bigger gun. [Laughter.] General Chetlain:-Mr. President, one moment; as to the matter of our meeting; it will be a meeting like any other; we will have our annual address, as I understand, and then there will be an address at the monument at the time of the unveiling. There will be the annual address to the Society as usual, but the unveiling of the statue is another matter; entirely separate. I think, Mr. President, that we will all agree that we will have magnifi cent work on the skirmish line on such an occasion as that. [Laughter.] General Hickenlooper:-Gentlemen, if you will permit me, and I think you will see the propriety of my position; I think you had better leave that to the local committee in connection with the other. I think it would be very much more judicious and more proper, and if you will permit me I will make a motion to that effect; that the selection of orator for our next meeting be left to the local committee at Chicago. General Stockton.-As one of the commissioners, I would state that General Chetlain is correct, and the address at the unveiling of the monument would not interfere in any way with having General Hickenlooper to be our orator. Colonel Jacobson:-We will go on just as we please in our arrangements at Chicago, and I hope the Society will not listen to General Hickenlooper. [Laughter.] General Hickenlooper:-Well, gentlemen, if you will not even listen to me, I will feel more competent- [Laughter.] General Noble:- We all recollect one year ago, General Hickenlooper was selected for the orator for this occasion, he begged off because they had heard him speak here in Cincinnati before, and so he was made alternate; but we all understand and we all expect and all hope and all vote that he will fill that place next year. The President:-I remember that discussion last year and it was quoted that a man may not be a prophet in his own country; and the inference I drew was that General Hickenlooper was holding himself in reserve for this very occasion. Although he may not be a prophet in Cincinnati, he certainly will be a profit in Chicago. The motion, as I understand it now, is that the selection of orator for the Society be also left to that local committee. The trouble about that is we don't know it until the last moment. To that committee is given to name the time and place which we have heretofore left to the Society to vote on. It is proposed to give to that same committee, the local committee of the Army of the Tennessee, the selection of orator - is there a citizen's committee? Colonel Jacobson:-There will be a citizen's committee as well. General Noble:-I move to suspend the rules and name General Hickenlooper as the orator on that occasion, instead of leaving it to the committee. Carried. General Chetlain:-And as the rules are suspended, I move that as alternate, in case General Hickenlooper is prevented from attending, General Smith D. Atkins be selected. Major McCauley:-Mr. President, as it seems to be in order, I move that the committee on nomination of officers be dispensed with, and that the Secretary be instructed to cast the ballot of the Society for the present officers. General Dodge:-Mr. President, I would suggest that that is out of our usual course and to refer the matter to the committee would be better. The President:-The rules were suspended for the purpose of putting in a motion out of our general course. General Dodge moves that we recur to our general course, which is to leave this matter of the election of officers to the committee to nominate for us, for our final action tomorrow. The motion was lost and the following names selected by the Society as the committee on nomination of officers: General Dodge, General Chetlain, Major Towne, General Fisk and General Fuller. The President then called for the regular reports, the first in order being that of the Recording Secretary. He presented his report as follows: SECRETARY'S REPORT. CINCINNATI, O., September 24, 1889. GENERAL W. T. SHERMAN, President: I have the honor to state, that since making my last report, I have received from members of the Society an aggregate of $502.00 on account of fees and dues, and it should be assigned as follows: For the Permanent Fund, For the General Fund, $ 82.00 It has been transferred to the Treasurer of the Society and duly receipted for. The record of your last annual meeting has been compiled and printed and distributed to the members as usual. It was accepted. Very respectfully, L. M. DAYTON, Recording Secretary. |