"Introduction P1-Intro American Patriotism Civil War Military

INTRODUCTION.

Solon, the philosopher and lawgiver, when asked by Croesus, the richest of kings, "Whom of all men he es- teemed most happy," replied, "Tellus the Athenian, a poor man who lived a virtuous life, and died fighting gal- lantly in the service of his country." When we think of the brave men who left their homes at the call of their country, and laid down their lives in the field and in the hospital, that others might enjoy the blessings of liberty and free government, we are filled with gratitude to them and love for all. We think the better of humanity. These left happy homes of love, and dared danger, privations, and death, because their hearts told them to go. The proud buyers and sellers of men had struck down the flag of our fathers. The time will never come when a traitor can with impunity drag that flag in the dust. It has been conse- crated by the blood of too many noble men; it has been borne in triumph on too many fields of honor; too many brave hearts have been wrapped in its folds. The history of these is the history of all born in the North. Accus- tomed from childhood to regard with veneration the name of Washington, they were taught respect for law, and to love their country; not their particular State, which was no more to them than the particular county or village in which they were born, but the great land for which Marion fought and Warren bled.

God and good men estimate human worth by the intent of the heart, and not by the brilliancy of the achievement.

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Washington would have been Washington in heaven, had he died in defense of his country under Braddbek when he was a boy. Grant is a great man, but he is only one of the million: nor is he deserving of more praise than a pri- vate soldier who enlisted at the first call; faced death at Donelson, and Shiloh, and Corinth, and Yicksburg; served his term of three years; became a veteran; stood always at his post, and was honorably discharged at the close of the war. There were thousands and tens of thousands in the ranks just as gifted by nature and as highly educated as any that ever held commission. The President of the United States, or the Governor of a State, by signing a slip of paper cannot give greatness to any man. It is a gift of God bestowed upon millions who have lived and died unknown. The history of the "common man" is the only true American history. Our fathers were "common men." They felled trees in the forest, built log-heaps, opened a way in the wilderness with the strong arm and the axe and gun. If we look back but a day, our great general or statesman is the hard working farmer boy, or "Black Dan" that "waters travellers' horses at his father's tavern." Suppose "Black Dan" has risen to be the Hon. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts. He is an American citi- zen. This is his title of honor.

Need I speak of the propriety of this memorial wreath? If we are so ungrateful as to forget those who died for us, may not young men in the future justly say in time of war: "Those who went forward and gave their lives to put down the Rebellion were buried in the earth and forgotten. Had they remained at home they might have enjoyed long lives and many comforts — have amassed riches and been respected; but they went at the call of their country, fought, and fell. No one thinks of them now. No monu- ment has been erected to their memory. We will not risk our lives in defense of an ungrateful people." There is nothing which so powerfully influences the mind of the brave soldier

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as the thought that his deeds will be remembered. In the future, as in the past, young men, in time of national peril, will flock to the standard of their country if they know that they shall receive the thanks and gratitude of their fellow countrymen when the strife is over, or, if stricken down in battle, be gratefully remembered. The love of a good name leads to the grandest achievements. It nerves the arm of the patriot as he bears the flag over the ram- parts of the enemy. "If I fall, I shall be remembered," he whispers to himself as he faces the leaden missives of death; "my countrymen will bless my name." Freedom must live, and the brave be rewarded.

One great lesson which it is hoped that this book will impart to the young is the value of a good name, "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold." "Virtue," says an ancient writer, "seeks no other reward for its labors and its dangers, beyond that of praise and renown; and," he says, "if that' be denied to it, what reason is there why, in so brief a life as is allotted to us, we should impose such la- bors on ourselves? Certainly, if the mind had no anticipa- tions of posterity, and if it were to confine all its thoughts within the same limits as those by which the space of our lives is bounded, it would neither break itself with such cares and sleepless anxiety, nor would it so often have to fight for its very life. At present, there is a certain virtue in every good man, which night and day stirs up the mind with the stimulus of glory, and reminds it that all mention of our names will not cease at the time of our lives."

But some will say, "So many patriots have fallen in the bloody Rebellion, all cannot be remembered." It is true, the "world itself could not contain the books that might be written" concerning them. I look about me at home; I take the companions of my youth that now lie in martyrs' graves, and bid them come up, like Samuel, and talk to the hearts of the people. Is their story stale and unprofitable?

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Away with your novels! Away with your trash! What is left of these on earth but their works and the story of their lives? Their bodies lie in the ground, but their memory will be ever green in the hearts of the grateful. Do we count their works but little? What more can a man do than lay down his life for his friends? Do you say that this book will be interesting only at home, and to a few — the million will not read it? We read of De Kalb, and Jas- per, and Newton. They held no high rank in the army. I say that their names will be known and loved when many a proud general is forgotten. The widow's mite was not thought unworthy of attention by the Saviour; nor will the people deem the boy who went forth gallantly and laid his life upon the altar of his country, unworthy of a tear of remembrance.

May the youth of our loved land ever prefer duty and honor to life. It is no fiction of the poet, but truth, as the heart of every true patriot must testify, that "It is sweet to die for one's native country."

"How sleep the brave Who sink to rest
By all their country's wishes blest?
When Spring with dewy fingers cold
Returns to deck their hallowed mould,
She there shall dress a sweeter sod
Than Fancy's feet have ever trod.
By fairy hands their knell is rung;
By forms unseen their dirge is sung;
There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray,
To bless the turf that wraps their clay,
And Freedom shall awhile repair
To dwell a weeping hermit there."

To parents who mourn sons departed; to the orphan and the widow sorrowing, that I could speak a grateful word; that my pen could whisper consolation!

"The people are like the waves of Ocean; like the leaves of woody Morven, they pass away in the rustling blast, and other leaves lift their green heads on high. Did thy beauty last, O Ryno? Stood the strength of car-borne Oscar? Fingal himself departed!"

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What are a few years of lengthened life? The day of death must come, and those that die young, are they the unfortunate? The good these accomplished is more than that accomplished by sages. A sacrifice was demanded for freedom, and their blood was shed. Could Jesus have accomplished more for man than he did, had he lived on earth a thousand years? He saved the world in his death; these saved their country. We feel proud that our ancestors met the British defiantly in 1776. Some of us boast of what our own forefathers did. We are proud if they poured out their hearts' blood on the fields of Mon- mouth, Saratoga, Lexington, or Savannah. Does not the aged patriot to-day proudly say, "My son died for his coun- try?" Men of the Revolution! you were brave; but men have lived after you inheriting your blood and your valor. They fought at Donelson, and Shiloh, and Vicksburg, and Corinth, and Chattanooga, and Allatoona, and on the bloody fields of Virginia. Their white bones lie on the plains of the South. The liberty that you first purchased with your blood, has been preserved by the valor and blood of these. Your country has grown from thirteen to thirty-seven States, firmly bound together, and your flag floats triumph- ant to-day, its folds unrent, reflecting the beams of the noonday sun, bright like the glory of the Republic.

But the bereaved derive their truest consolation from our holy religion, — "Looking unto Jesus, the author and fin- isher of our faith; who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Des Moines, May, 1866.

Polk Co. IAGenWeb

INTRODUCTION.