REUNION 
 
 NINETY-SEVENTH REGIMENT 
 
 Di 
 i 
 
 'ENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS, 
 
 OCTOBER 29th, 1884, 
 
 ON THE OLD CAMP GROUND,' 
 AT CAMP WAYNE, WEST CHESTER, PA 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF THE PROCEEDINGS 
 
 WITH 
 
 A ROSTER OP THE COMRADES, PRESENT : 
 
 PREPARED BY '.' 4 ^ ' • : ' \ '^ > , ' ' \ . . 
 
 BREVET-COLONEL ISAIAH PRICE, 
 
 Con^panion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the 
 
 United States. Connrade of George G. Meade, 
 
 Post No. 1, Dept. Penna. G. A. R. 
 
 AUTHOR OF THE 
 
 HISTORY OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH REGIMENT P. V. 
 
 Philadelphia, 1SS4. 
 

 PRESS OF 
 
 Donaldson &. Magrath, 
 614 sansom st. 
 
 s 
 
 1 3 
 
 
REUNION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NINETY-SEVENTH REGIMENT PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 PREPARATORY PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 West Chester, Pa., February 2d, 1884. 
 The surviving members of the Ninety-seventh Regiment Pennsylvania 
 Volunteers are requested to meet at the Green Tree Hotel, West Chester, 
 on Saturday, February 23d, 1884, for the purpose of providing for a Re- 
 union between the members yet living. All interested are invited to at- 
 tend. [Signed] Louis Y. Evans, 
 
 R. Bruce Wallace. 
 
 West Chester, Pa., February 23d, 1884. 
 
 Pursuant to the foregoing call, published in the Local News of 
 this place, and signed by Lewis Y. Evans of Coatesville and by 
 R. Bruce Wallace of Philadelphia, seventeen survivors of the 
 Ninety-seventh Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, assembled at 
 2 o'clock this P. M. at the Green Tree Hotel in this borough. 
 
 By the terms of the call the meeting was for the purpose of 
 taking measures to bring about a Reunion of the Regiment as soon 
 as practicable. 
 
 The following were present : 
 
 Captain F. M. Guss, Co. A, 
 
 Captain Leonard R. Thomas, Co. C, 
 
 Sergeant Isaac A. Cleaver, Co. C, 
 
 Private John J. Still, Co. C, 
 
 Private Oliver B. Channell, Co. C, 
 
 Private Samuel A. March, Co. C, 
 
 Quartermaster David Jones, 
 
 Fife-Major C. C. Fahnestock, 
 
 Sergeant George L. Smith, Co. E, 
 
 Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel D. W. C. Lewis, Co. F, 
 
 Private Evan Pharaoh, Co. F, 
 
 Corporal Barnett R. Rapp, Co. K. 
 
 On motion the following officers were appointed : Isaac A. 
 Cleaver, chairman ; Oliver B. Channell, treasurer, and Leonard R. 
 Thomas, secretary. 
 
 It was moved and seconded that a Reunion be held as soon as 
 it can be brought about. Agreed to. 
 
 (3) 
 
On motion it was resolved to call a preliminary meeting of the 
 survivors, to be held in Cabinet Hall, West Chester, at 2 P. M., 
 May 3d, 1884. 
 
 To assist the secretary in procuring the names and addresses 
 of surviving comrades, the following named were appointed : Samuel 
 A. March, David Jones, Geo. L. Smith and Evan Pharaoh. 
 
 A subscription amounting to $5.50 was raised to defray the 
 expenses of correspondence. 
 
 On motion adjourned. 
 
 L. R. Thomas, Secretary. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS OP MEETING MAY 3d, 1884. 
 
 THE NINETY-SEVENTH PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 After many years they meet again in West Chester. 
 
 The preliminary meeting for the furtherance of the proposed 
 Reunion of the old Ninety-seventh Regiment, Pennsylvania Volun- 
 teers, held in West Chester, Saturday afternoon, May 3d, 1884, was at- 
 tended by sixty-nine survivors of that well-known military body, which 
 went forth from here in the cause of the Union more than a score 
 of years ago. The meeting was an enthusiastic one in every respect, 
 its dehberations being characterized by the best of good feeling, 
 giving evidence that hereafter the bonds of brotherhood are to be 
 more strongly united among the remaining comrades. At 2.30 
 o'clock I. A. Cleaver rapped the assemblage to order, and stated 
 what had been done in order to gather the boys together once more. 
 The temporary secretary read the minutes of the previous meeting, 
 held in the Green Tree Hotel, a full account of which has been 
 published. Suffice it to say that at that gathering there were seven- 
 teen of the comrades, who elected as temporary officers I. A. 
 Cleaver, president ; L. R. Thomas, secretary, and O. B. Channell, 
 treasurer; " that the secretary was authorized to communicate with 
 all the old members of the regiment whose post-office addresses he 
 could secure, in reference to the proposed Reunion, and also to call 
 a meeting of the same for that purpose, to be held on May 3d 
 in the Cabinet Hall, West Chester." The minutes were approved as 
 read. 
 
 Colonel Isaiah Price then arose, and in a few well-chosen 
 remarks stated that he hoped the good work commenced, would 
 result in such an organization of the old members of the Ninety- 
 seventh as would reflect credit upon it and place on a firm basis an 
 
association that would survive until the last man of them had gone 
 to meet the spirits of those who had fallen in battle by their com- 
 rades' sides some twenty years ago. He was glad to see so many 
 of them about him looking hale and hearty ; was happy to notice 
 that great interest had been taken in the movement ; he wanted a 
 society formed in which they could all meet annually to talk over 
 by-gone times and relate camp-fire reminiscences, besides the 
 gathering together and keeping intact all records and historical 
 papers relating to the Regiment during its service in the war. He 
 concluded by moving that a committee of five be appointed to pre- 
 pare a constitution and by-laws to govern the proposed association. 
 His remarks were loudly applauded and his motion heartily approved 
 by the comrades. The chair then named Colonel Price, L. R. 
 Thomas, R. B. Wallace, E. L. Schofield and D. W. C. Lewis to serve 
 as a committee for that purpose. They were also instructed to 
 name suitable persons for permanent officers of the association, 
 during their deliberations, whose names could afterward be sub- 
 mitted to the meeting for action. The committee then retired, and 
 the chair appointed Serg't-Major Hawley to officiate as secretary in 
 the absence of L. R. Thomas, who was appointed on the committee. 
 A list of the names of the members present was then desired, 
 when a member proposed that the old roll be called. The chair 
 stated that, as the roll was not at hand, and that it would only revive 
 sad memories to hear comrades' names mentioned who were dead 
 and gone, it were best that two or three of those present go among 
 the members and get their names and addresses, also company 
 letter, which was done with the following result : 
 
 FIELD OFFICERS. 
 
 Colonel H. R. Guss, Brevet-Colonel Isaiah Price, Surgeon 
 John R. Everhart, Quartermaster David Jones, all of West Chester. 
 
 NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF. 
 
 Sergeant-Major Samuel W. Hawley, Media; Fife-Major Casper 
 C. Fahnestock, West Chester. 
 
 CO. A. 
 
 Captain F. M. Guss, First Lieutenant Abel Griffith, West 
 Chester ; First Lieutenant Harry T. Gray and Private Edward R. 
 Eisenbeis, Philadelphia ; Alexander M. Chandler, Spread Eagle, 
 Chester Co. ; John A. Grofif, West Chester. 
 
 CO. B. 
 
 Corporal R. Bruce Wallace, Philadelphia ; Private Samuel 
 Miles, West Chester, 
 
CO. c. 
 Captain Leonard R. Thomas, First Lieutenants Emmor G. 
 Griffith, West Chester, and George W. Able, Concordville, Dela- 
 ware Co. ; Sergeants Isaac A. Cleaver, Berwyn ; Stephen H. Eachus, 
 West Chester, B. Lundy Kent (Captain Eighteenth Heavy Artillery, 
 U. S. C. T.), Wilmington, Del. ; Corporals Jesse D. Farra, Davis O. 
 Taylor, and Privates Samuel A. March, Oliver B. Channell and 
 Emmor B. Hickman, West Chester ; J. Jones Still, Malvern ; Wil- 
 liam D. Thomas, Downingtown ; James J. Dewees, New Centreville; 
 George W. Walton, Philadelphia ; Isaac Paschall, Newtown Square, 
 Delaware Co. 
 
 CO. D. 
 
 Corporal Robert Fairlamb, Elwyn, Delaware Co. ; Privates 
 Walter Pyle, Cheyney, Delaware Co. ; Abraham P'awkes, East 
 Whiteland ; Wm. Mcintosh, Downingtown. 
 
 CO. E. 
 
 Sergeant Geo. L. Smith, Musician Charles Riley, Jr., West 
 Chester ; Privates Michael Connor, Malvern ; James A. Riley, 
 Coatesville ; George W. Eavenson, Thornton, Delaware Co. 
 
 CO. F. 
 
 Captain and Brevet- Lieutenant- Colonel D. W. C. Lewis, First 
 Lieutenant Thomas Cosgriff, West Chester ; Sergeant Samuel Wynn, 
 Nantmeal Village ; Herman P. Brower, West Whiteland ; Corporal 
 Jesse M. Boyles and Private Evan Pharaoh,West Chester ; Privates Eli 
 Reynolds, Birdsboro', Berks Co. ; William E. Stiteler, Columbia, Pa. 
 
 CO. G. 
 
 Captain Caleb Hoopes, Media ; Second Lieutenants Joseph M. 
 Borrell and William H. Eves, Chester, Delaware Co. ; Sergeants 
 Charles E. Ottey. Media, Charles Gray, and Corporals John S. Cul- 
 bert, Joseph R. Parsons, Chester, Delaware Co., and Hillery Fox, 
 West Chester, Pa., and Private Crosley B. Wilson, Media. 
 
 CO. H. 
 Captain George A. Lemaistre, Wilmington, Del. ; Musicians 
 Charles C. Taylor, William Dallings, and Teamster Marshall B. Eng- 
 land,West Chester ; Privates Alfred C. Allison, Downingtown ; Abia 
 C. E. Miller, Philadelphia, and William M. Steele, Phcenixville. 
 
 CO. I. 
 
 Private James Groff, Clifton Heights, Delaware Co. 
 
 CO. K. 
 
 Captain William Wayne, Paoli, and First Lieutenant William 
 M. Sullivan, Warren Tavern ; Corporals William Taylor, Woods- 
 town, N. J. ; Barnett R. Rapp, West Chester ; E. Lane Schofield, 
 Paoli, and Private William Miles, Willistown. Total, 69 comrades. 
 
 During this feature of the proceedings the men could not retain 
 their composure, it had been so long since they had an opportunity 
 
of greeting one another in that way. Hands were shaken again- 
 and again, shoulders were slapped, jokes were cracked, compliments 
 were exchanged, and a running fire of merriment was kept up, much 
 to the annoyance of the comrades who were trying to secure the 
 list of their names. 
 
 One old man, who had come in his regimental uniform, stood 
 in the doorway and fairly laughed with joy at the sight of so many 
 faces he knew so well. He was older than any of the rest of them, 
 but his spirits were just as light as in the days when he " drank from 
 the same canteen " with those around him. His long white hair 
 peeped out nicely from beneath the " sojer cap " on his head, which 
 familiar tile he at last, in the exhuberance of his spirits, pulled off 
 and gave three rousing cheers for " the old Ninety-seventh." 
 
 The committee returned as the echoes of the old comrade's 
 cheers died away, and reported the following constitution and 
 by-laws : 
 
 CONSTITUTION. 
 
 I. The name of this association shall be " The Society of the 
 Ninety-seventh Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers." 
 
 n. Any honorably discharged officer or soldier, who at any time 
 has served in the said Ninety-seventh Regiment of Pennsylvania 
 Volunteers, shall be entitled to membership in the Society. 
 
 HI. The object of the Society shall be the promotion of kindly 
 feeling, the revival of old associations, and the collection and preser- 
 vation of records of the services rendered by this Regiment during 
 the " War of the Rebellion." 
 
 IV. The officers of the Society shall consist of a president, 
 three vice-presidents, secretary, treasurer and historian, who shall 
 be, with the exception of the historian, elected at each annual meet- 
 ing of the Society. 
 
 V. The duties of the president shall be to preside at the annual 
 meetings, to call such other meetings of the Society as may be 
 necessary, and to issue such orders as may be required for the good 
 government and control of the Society. 
 
 VI. The first vice-president shall exercise the powers of the 
 president in case of the absence of that officer. 
 
 VII. The secretary shall keep a record of the minutes of the 
 proceedings of the Society, a roll of the members, and perform all 
 duties usually pertaining to the office of secretary. 
 
 VIII. The treasurer shall have the custody of all funds, to be 
 expended only on approval of the president, by an order drawn and 
 
countersigned by the secretary ; and he shall render an account of 
 all disbursements at the annual meeting of the Society. 
 
 IX. The historian shall collect and preserve for the use of the 
 Society such history of the Regiment and its service as may be 
 obtainable, and such papers, records, etc., as may from time to time 
 be added to the collection which may serve to preserve the record 
 of the Regiment after its survivors shall have passed on to join those 
 comrades who fell during the conflict. 
 
 X. An executive committee of five members shall be elected 
 annually, who shall attend to the business of the Association during 
 the intervals of its session. 
 
 XI. Having a fraternal feeling for and honoring the glorious 
 efforts of our brothers in arms belonging to other regiments who 
 have shared with us in service, the president, vice-presidents or any 
 member shall be authorized to invite the attendance at our annual 
 meeting of any officer or soldier of any sister regiment. 
 
 BY-LAWS. 
 
 I. The entrance fee of the Society shall be $i.oo. 
 
 II. The annual dues shall be 50 cents, payable at the annual 
 "meeting. 
 
 III. The president shall determine the time and place of each 
 annual meeting, being governed in his selections thereof as far as 
 practicable by the time and place of meeting of the Society of the 
 Army of the James or of the Tenth Army Corps, or other organi- 
 zations with which our Regiment was identified. 
 
 IV. When the place for the next annual meeting shall have 
 been decided upon, the president shall appoint three members, resi- 
 dent at or near the place, whose duty it shall be to assist the execu- 
 tive committee in making all needful arrangements and preparations 
 for such meeting. 
 
 V. This Constitution and By-Laws may be altered and 
 amended by a vote of two-thirds of the members present at any 
 annual meeting, providing such alteration or amendment shall have 
 been presented in writing at the previous annual meeting. 
 
 At the conclusion of the reading of the above constitution and 
 by-laws, it was moved and seconded that they be adopted as read, 
 which motion was carried unanimously. The committee then 
 reported the names of the following comrades to fill the offices 
 created by the constitution : 
 
 President, Colonel Henry R. Guss ; first vice-president, I. A. 
 
Cleaver, C ; second vice-president, Captain Wm. Wayne, K ; third 
 vice-president, Captain Caleb Hoopes, G; secretary, Captain L. R. 
 Thomas, C ; treasurer, William Taylor, K ; executive committee, 
 Sergeant-Major Samuel W. Hawley ; Robert Fairlamb, D ; Her- 
 man P. Brower, F ; Lieutenant Wm. H. Eves, G ; Captain Wm. S. 
 Underwood, K. 
 
 The members named for the various offices were elected by 
 acclamation. 
 
 Colonel Guss then took the chair, and after thanking his fellow 
 comrades in arms for the honor conferred upon him in having been 
 called upon to preside over their deliberations, he said he was ready 
 to proceed to business. A short recess was here taken to allow 
 members an opportunity to pay the entrance fee of $i, when the 
 meeting was again called to order. 
 
 Comrade William Taylor, who had been elected treasurer, asked 
 to be excused from serving on account of his living so far away 
 from Chester County — at Woodstown, New Jersey. His request 
 was accordingly granted, and Oliver B. Channell, West Chester, was 
 elected treasurer of the Society. 
 
 The chair then named West Chester as the place and October 
 29th as the date for holding the Reunion, and appointed John A. 
 Groft, S. A. March and B. R. Rapp as a committee to assist the 
 executive committee in preparing for the event. The office of 
 " historian " not having yet been filled. Colonel Isaiah Price's name 
 was proposed, and he was elected by the voice of the entire assem- 
 blage. 
 
 A comrade then arose and proposed for honorary membership 
 the name of Mrs. Mary St. John of Philadelphia, which was 
 received with great applause. Her name was at once entered upon 
 the books. Mrs. St. John, who was the wife of the Drum-Major, 
 James St. John, joined the Regiment as they marched through 
 Philadelphia, as laundress, her home being in the above city. Her 
 two youngest sons were also members of the Regiment as drummer 
 boys. She stayed with the Regiment until 1864, and rendered 
 valuable service to the sick and wounded. 
 
 With the secretary asking the members present to send all 
 names of the absent comrades they knew to him, the meeting ad- 
 journed amid much enthusiasm. 
 
 Comrades wishing to enroll as members of the Society will 
 please send their names, with entrance fee, to the secretary, L. R. 
 Thomas, West Chester, Pa. 
 
lO 
 
 The committee intend to hold reveille on the morning of the 
 Reunion, in front of the Court House, from which point the 
 Regiment will march to the place where the event is to be held ; 
 the exact spot, for holding the contemplated Reunion, being as yet 
 not determined upon. The day chosen is the anniversary of the 
 formal organization of the Regiment at Camp Wayne, West Chester, 
 on October 29th, 1861. 
 
 MINUTES OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 
 
 West Chester, September 4th, 1884. 
 
 Pursuant to call of the chairman, the executive committee of 
 the Society of the Ninety-seventh Regiment, Pennsylvania Volun- 
 teers, met at the office of John A. Groft^ at 2 P. M. Chairman S. W. 
 Hawley presided. Present : Robert Fairlamb, W. S. Underwood, 
 I. A. Cleaver, Wm. H. Eves, S. A. March and Colonel H. R. Guss. 
 
 A committee on music and one on decorations were appointed. 
 
 S. W. Hawley and L. R. Thomas were appointed to arrange 
 for an orator and chaplain. 
 
 It was decided to provide a dinner, to be paid for from funds 
 raised by subscription among the members of the Regiment. 
 
 S. A. March was appointed treasurer of the executive committee. 
 
 Adjourned to meet at same place at 2 P. M., September igth. 
 
 L. R. Thomas, Secretary. 
 
 West Chester, September 19th, 1884. 
 
 The executive committee met at the time and place appointed, 
 S. W. Hawley presiding. Most of the committee, with B. R. Rapp, 
 S. A. March and John A. Groff of the assistant committee, present. 
 Colonel Guss and others gave their advice and assistance. It was 
 resolved to hold the exercises of the Reunion at the Fair Grounds. 
 John A. Groff was appointed to ascertain the terms upon which the 
 use thereof could be had. 
 
 The committee on orator and chaplain reported that Chaplain 
 D. W. Moore would attend and officiate ; and that Comrade Marriott 
 Brosius had accepted the invitation to deliver the oration. The 
 other committees reported progress. John A. Groff was appointed 
 to get estimates of the cost of furnishing dinner for one hundred 
 and fifty, to be gotten up in a style suitable to the occasion. 
 
 It was decided to have appropriate toasts prepared, to be read 
 and responded to at the banquet on the occasion of the Reunion. 
 
 Committee then adjourned to meet at the office of John A. 
 Groff at 2 P. M., October 3d, 1884. L. R. Thomas, Secretary. 
 
West Chester, October 3d, 1884. 
 
 The executive committee met at the time and place appointed. 
 Chairman Hawley presided. Present: John A. Groff, H. P. Brower, 
 W. H. Eves, W. S. Underwood, L. R. Thomas, S. A. March and 
 David Jones. 
 
 It was resolved to have the dinner served in the Agricultural 
 Building at the Fair Grounds. Committee on decorations reported 
 progress. On music progress. On Fair Grounds reported they 
 can be had for $10.00. Report was accepted and committee dis- 
 charged. Mr. Groff reported an estimate for the dinner in accord- 
 ance with a bill of fare adopted by the committee, to be placed 
 upon the table with proper attendants, as follows: For 150 plates, 
 $1.75 per plate; for 200 plates, $1.50 per plate. On motion the last 
 estimate was accepted, and the order given to furnish and serve 
 properly in accordance with the bill of fare for two hundred plates 
 for the dinner on October 2gth at the Fair Grounds. S. A.- March 
 was appointed a committee to arrange the tables, etc., in the building 
 selected. The programme was substantially arranged as follows : 
 
 Comrades to meet at the grounds at 11 A. M. Oct. 29th, 1884. 
 Business meeting from 11 A. M. to 12 M. ; oration from 12 to i P. M. 
 orafter; dinnerfrom 1.30 to 2.30 P.M. The secretary was authorized 
 to have 300 copies of the programme printed, including the bill of 
 fare, and directed to send one to every survivor whom he could 
 reach. D. W. C. Lewis agreed to see that the stand for the purpose 
 of the exercises and the oration should be erected in time. Committee 
 adjourned to meet at 2 P. M. on Oct. 25th, at Mr. Groff 's office. 
 
 L. R. Thomas, Sec7'etary. 
 
 West Chester, October 25th, 1884. 
 
 An adjourned meeting of the executive committee was held at 
 the time and place appointed. Chairman Hawley presided. Present : 
 Comrades Underwood, Fairlamb, Eves, March, Rapp, Colonel 
 H. R. Guss, I. A. Cleaver, H. C. Reagan and others. 
 
 Committee on music reported that Dr. H. C. Wood's Orches- 
 tra had been engaged to perform for the occasion at a price not to 
 exceed $25.00 ; the members of the orchestra to have dinner free. 
 
 Committee on decorations reported having made arrangements 
 to have the work done at a cost of $25.00 or thereabouts. 
 
 Colonel D. W. C. Lewis and Major D. Jones were appointed a 
 committee to extend a proper reception to the orator of the day. 
 Comrade Brosius, and to receive Mrs. St. John with carriage at 
 depot and convey her to the grounds. Adjourned to meet at call of 
 chairman. L. R. Thomas, Secretary. 
 
Reunion of Ihe flinetf-Sevenlli [iegi[iienl|Penna,Volunteefs, 
 
 At West Chester, Pa., October 29th, 1884. 
 
 The day set apart, and long anticipated, for this interesting 
 event opened with skies overcast with gray clouds, that yet lingered 
 from the stormy day preceding, as though typical of the clouds and 
 storms of war from which the remnant about to meet had emerged 
 twenty-three years ago, "when the curtain fell upon the Drama of 
 the Rebellion," permitting the survivors of the war to return to their 
 homes and receive the grateful welcome that there awaited them. 
 
 By 9 o'clock the streets of the town were occupied by groups 
 of bronzed-faced, sturdy men, who had arrived by train or other 
 conveyances, and taking their way toward the central point of 
 gravitation, the old " Headquarters " at the " Green Tree," halted by 
 the way at corners of streets when meeting other familiar faces of 
 like acquaintance with the " signs of service," and having the same 
 earnest gaze in quest of recognition of some old comrade, in the 
 whitened locks of more than twenty years' bleaching; then the 
 mutual recall between long-separated comrades, of the traces of 
 the younger face in each, that caused the rush together, and the 
 grasp of hand, and the " How are you, old boy ? " and the " Well, I 
 declare, if that ain't my old bunk-mate ! I shouldn't have known 
 you for the young rooster that used to play off your pranks on the 
 boys." So here goes for the old game of ear-pulling and the 
 thumps, and the " ayau !" with which the old camp used to resound. 
 
 Such were some of the first retouchings of elbows that initiated 
 the reassembling in front of the Colonel's old hostelry as in the 
 former days. And here the comrades continued to assemble as the 
 morning hours wore on, the greetings becoming more and more 
 numerous and cordial. One would point out to another — " There 
 is Dave M. Taylor of Co. A, cashier of the Oxford Bank ; " or 
 " Captain Dallas Crow, Co. B. He handles the money of the 
 Adams Express Company in Philadelphia now. And here is 
 Corporal Davis O. Taylor of Co. C, who is running before the people, 
 as he never ran before the enemy, for the office of Clerk of the 
 Courts of Chester County, and sure to win at that. And over there 
 by that corner post is Walter Pyle of Co. D, who can still build a 
 
 (I2) 
 
13 
 
 stone wall to stay, as he did in his younger days — solid to the front 
 in every duty as a soldier and a master mason. Co. E is repre- 
 sented over yonder by Sergeant Signet of Phoenixville, who works 
 now amid the grime and smoke of the iron furnaces there, as in the 
 old days he did in the trenches before Wagner under the smoke of 
 rebel guns. Who could expect to recognize Sergeant Herman P. 
 Brower of Co. F, who had counted but eighteen years when he 
 shouldered his musket, and didn't tire of it in '64, but re-enlisted for 
 the war, and now, after twenty-three years' wear has added to his eigh- 
 teen, the man of forty-one might easily be passed without any of 
 the boys picking him out, but the touch of palm and the glance of 
 the eye entitle him to " the pass-word and the grip." 
 
 A pair of bright black eyes look out from a solid smooth face, upon 
 which a smile is seen as he grasps the hand of one standing near him, 
 and he says," You don't know me ; do you, captain ?" There is a famili- 
 arity in the features that tells of a boy full of fun and mischief, with a 
 smartness that could often circumvent the closest watchfulness of supe- 
 rior officers, more to their annoyance than any very serious con- 
 sequence ! Yes, that eye and that glance, with the cordial smile of 
 greeting must belong to young Sullivan of Co. H ! The pleasure of 
 his remembrance and proffered greeting was one of the brightest in- 
 cidents of the day. The man matured from the soldier boy is one 
 worthy of full comradeship with his fellow survivors of the war. He 
 became a good soldier and now helps to build ships as a machinist 
 at Wilmington, Del. And there is Pioneer Snyder of Co. G, whose 
 tall form shows his unchanged face beaming with the delight of meet- 
 ing so many who have not forgotten his familiar features. 
 
 Over there Lindsay of Co. I is hunting up some of " the squad," 
 and he will find them on hand sure, as they always put in an appear- 
 ance when wanted, brave and sturdy and with much of the vigor of 
 their brave and lamented captain, Hawkins. 
 
 The boys of the " Honorable Member's " Company, and he too, 
 are on hand, and Captain Underwood has succeeded in reorgan- 
 izing the old drum corps for the occasion, and Cass Fahnestock 
 and Riley are about to sound the " call for the assembling." 
 
 At a quarter to 11 o'clock Major Price called upon the boys 
 " to fall in." Promptly the veterans took their places in the ranks, 
 while the crowd of lookers-on remained upon the sidewalks inter- 
 ested spectators of " forming the line." As the men separated from 
 the crowd, and stood again in solid phalanx together, the esprit de 
 corps was renewed as if by magic, and the old martial bearing 
 
returned, bridging the interval of the years of peaceful pursuits and 
 bringing back in vivid realization the influence of the soldier's ready 
 obedience to the command of "Attention ! " " Forward March ! " 
 taking up the step at the sound of the same fife and drum that had 
 so often called them forth to the march and the field of battle. 
 Captain W. S. Underwood conducted the music on the right. 
 Colonel John Wainwright and Brevet-Colonel Isaiah Price led the 
 one hundred and sixty-eight officers and men, who then marched 
 out Gay Street to Church, down Church Street to the Fair Grounds, 
 where they were met by Colonel Guss and Lieutenant-Colonel A. P. 
 Duer, the committee of arrangements and the special committee 
 having charge of the reception of the orator of the day, Hon. 
 Marriott Brosius; and Mrs. St. John and daughter, had preceded the 
 veterans to the place of meeting in carriages, and also about forty 
 of the comrades who had previously walked to the grounds. The 
 battalion was halted in front of the stand, erected in rear of the 
 track stand, for the exercises of the day. It was appropriately 
 draped with the national flag, having an awning canopy, and a 
 beautiful bouquet of flowers upon the table. 
 
 Announcement was then made requesting the men of the dif- 
 ferent companies to assemble in groups and proceed to register 
 their names, and post-office addresses with the secretary of the 
 association. Captain Leonard R.Thomas, who occupied the managers' 
 office adjacent to the stand for this purpose. 
 
 During this proceeding the president of the association, Colonel 
 H. R. Guss, accompanied by the orator of the day, Hon. Marriott 
 Brosius, Second Lieutenant of Co. K ; Colonel John Wainwright, 
 Rev. David W. Moore, Chaplain; and Brevet-Colonel Isaiah Price, 
 historian of the Regiment, occupied the platform. Soon after taking 
 their seats the reception committee, Colonel D. W. C. Lewis and 
 Major David Jones, brought to the stand Mother St. John, comfort- 
 ably wrapped from the cold, and seated her in a large rocking-chair 
 in the presence of the comrades, who greeted her with three hearty 
 cheers. 
 
 Colonel Guss called the meeting to order, and said : 
 
 Comrades of the. Ninety-seventh Regiment and Mother St. John : 
 It affords me much pleasure to welcome you here upon the First 
 Reunion of our old Regiment, hoping to have the pleasure of see- 
 ing you and many more members of the old Regiment at our future 
 meetings. Knowing many of your number have traveled many 
 miles to be with us this day, shows the interest you have taken in 
 
15 
 
 the meeting. Hoping this interest may grow with all, many thanks 
 for your presence here to-day, and hoping you may all have 
 a very pleasant day and one you will long remember with pleasure, 
 I now introduce the Chaplain of the Regiment, Rev. D. W. Moore, 
 who will open the exercises with prayer. 
 
 The Chaplain then came forward and offered the following 
 beautiful and touching address to the throne of Grace : 
 
 PRAYER BY THE CHAPLAIN. 
 
 O thou who art the Lord God of the heavens above and the 
 earth beneath ; thou Creator of all things therein, and thou who art 
 our kind Preserver and most merciful Benefactor, we would not 
 assemble here and 7iow without seeking thy benediction. 
 
 O Lord, thou hast been very good to us, in that thou hast 
 spared us to come together to-day, after many years of separation 
 and of varied vicissitudes, since we were together as soldiers fight- 
 ing the battles of our beloved country, and for which many of our 
 original numbers fell dead on the field of carnage; or died in 
 hospitals, nursed by loving hearts and tender hands, at home ; or in 
 the horrible prisons of the South, with nothing to comfort or cheer 
 their dying hours. O Lord, we have not forgotten the many trying 
 experiences of the past, nor would we ever forget them. Especially 
 would we remember that " thy banner over us has been love." And 
 we render thee thanks this day for all of thy goodness and gracious 
 dealings. And we thank thee, O Lord, for the preservation of our 
 country — for the Union of these States— and for the overthrow of 
 Rebellion. 
 
 And we do most earnestly beseech thee to continue thy favor 
 unto this our native land. Suffer no enemy to invade our shores, 
 and keep us from destroying ourselves by internal strifes and 
 political seditions. O thou God of our Revolutionary fathers, grant 
 us thy grace, and their spirit of patriotism, which will lead us as a 
 people to make sacrifices of all personal and party considerations 
 for the good and perpetuity of the nation at large. 
 
 And now, O Lord, will thou forgive us of our many sins, both 
 as soldiers and as people ? We all have sinned and come short of 
 the glory of the Lord. In thy rich grace and mercy pardon us of 
 all transgressions, and lift up the light of thy countenance and smile 
 upon all of us who are here to-day. And forget not to bless the 
 soldier's widow and his orphan children. Be good and kind, 
 
i6 
 
 O Lord, to those who have suffered the loss of all that was dear to 
 them for the sake of our American liberties. 
 
 Hear, O Lord, and answer these our feeble supplications, and 
 save us all in thy kingdom above, for Jesus' sake. Amen. 
 
 Colonel Guss then stated the first business in order would be 
 the reading of the proceedings of the meetings preliminary to this 
 one, at which the Association of the Ninety-seventh Regiment was 
 formed, and which had fixed upon the time and place of holding 
 this Reunion ; but as the secretary of the association was now 
 engaged in making the registry of the names of the comrades, he 
 would call upon the historian of the Regiment, Brevet-Colonel 
 Isaiah Price, to read a paper he had prepared for this occasion. 
 
 The following is the historical sketch read at the Reunion by 
 Colonel Price : 
 
 REUNION NINETY-SEVENTH REGIMENT P. V. 
 
 October 2gth, 1S84. 
 
 Comrades ! As your historian, entrusted with the duty of pre- 
 serving the record of service in which our Regiment participated 
 during the war of the Rebellion, it is with a degree of satisfaction 
 commensurate with the pride we all may indulge in feeling, from having 
 borne a part in those services, in whatever station, that I may refer 
 you to the published record it was my privilege to prepare ten years 
 ago, of which I need only say, some of your number have given me 
 the best assurances oi their appreciation of its interest to them. 
 
 That narrative brings the account down to the close of the war, 
 the return of the discharged veterans to receive the well-deserved, 
 honored welcome from their fellow-citizens, friends, and their anx- 
 iously-expectant families, parents, sisters, brothers and lovers. 
 
 It contains also the record roll of each man's service in detail, 
 whether found among those of you who returned to claim and receive 
 the glad welcome that awaited you, or with the long list of those who 
 laid down life for their country ! whom we left upon the field of battle 
 to sleep the calm, eternal sleep in which repose those devoted 
 patriot martyrs. 
 
 It also gives the proceedings had in regard to the erection of 
 the proposed monument, so long the subject of conjecture and criti- 
 cism regarding its completion. The delay is therein explained as 
 due to the objections, as to location, on the part of the residents in 
 or owners of the properties adjacent to the site that was formally des- 
 
17 
 
 ignated by the borough authorities for its erection — on the west hne 
 of Church Street, in the middle of Market Street, on a plot twelve feet 
 square, enclosed by an iron railing. 
 
 Trusting that in time this opposition would be withdrawn, the 
 trustees of the monument fund, who are charged with the duty of 
 building the monument, have quietly waited for some evidence 
 of such change of feeling in regard to that location. 
 
 Nearly two years ago the subject was again revived by the 
 trustees and the secretary of the Monument Association, when in 
 view of the continued opposition to the proposed site, another was 
 suggested as available, although all are united in opinion that no 
 other in West Chester could be so appropriate or desirable as the 
 one already designated. 
 
 Having ascertained that the lot on which the old basin is located 
 is no longer required by the borough for that purpose and was to 
 be leveled and added to " Marshall Square," the trustees with the 
 secretary joined in petitioning the borough council of last year to 
 grant them the western half of that lot with the foundation of half 
 the old basin as a site for the monument, at such time as the council 
 should be prepared to abandon its present use. The proposition 
 was favorably entertained by a portion of the members, but the 
 majority at that time was not inclined to favor monument building. 
 Action was therefore deferred to await a more auspicious considera- 
 tion. The incoming of the board of the present year gave expectation 
 of greater favor for our application. This has been verified by 
 the assurances received that the present board are united in purpose 
 to grant our request when the material of the present basin shall be 
 removed, as it is required for use in other borough improvements. 
 
 The trustees will accordingly proceed with the erection of the 
 monument at that locality, when the ground shall be made ready tor 
 its reception. The delay, it will be seen, has been of such unavoid- 
 able nature as to attach no censure to the trustees, who have been 
 ready and willing to comply with the duties of their trust, at all times 
 since their appointment. 
 
 It will be unnecessary to recount in this paper the proceedings 
 preliminary to the present reunion of the members of the regiment, 
 as these are already recorded in the minutes of the meetings pre- 
 viously held by the secretary thereof, and in the recorded action of 
 the committee appointed to prepare for these interesting ceremonies 
 in which we are now engaged. 
 
 The only remaining duty for the historian will consist in collect- 
 la) 
 
ing and recording such individual accounts of those who have fulfilled 
 the record of life, as may become known to him, that each record 
 may be filled out to the final discharge, so that future generations 
 may know who were the last to respond to the "roll call" when all 
 shall be assembled in that final meeting of "the grand army above." 
 
 The account thus collected will also embrace the mention of 
 such public service or position as may be occupied by any of our 
 number, or whatever matter of public interest may come to the notice 
 of the historian. It will greatly assist these labors if each member 
 of the regiment will forward to his address at West Chester, Pa., a 
 brief record of the time and place of death, nature of disease, etc., 
 of any of our number that may be known at any time by him, and 
 also any fact of public interest such as is indicated herein. 
 
 The first name calling for our notice is one distinguished in the 
 service of his country, whom we all honor for his brave deeds and 
 pity for his painful wounds received while with us in the volunteer 
 defence of our country, while yet a lad, displaying those qualities of 
 the true soldier which have entitled him to receive the distinguished 
 recognition of an appointment rarely accorded outside the training 
 received at West Point. Following his record in the U. S. Army 
 from the point at which it is left in the history of the regiment. 
 General Pennypacker has commanded as follows: 
 
 1874. Commanding Sixteenth Infantry and Post of Nashville, 
 January to August. Commanding U. S. troops in New Orleans 
 ("Overturning of the Kellogg State Government"), September and 
 October. Commanding Sixteenth Infantry and Post of Nashville, 
 November and December. President General Court Martial at 
 Lebanon, Ky., in April. Same duty at Nashville in May. 
 
 1875. Commanding Sixteenth Infantry and Post of Nashville, 
 January to December, including President General Court-martial at 
 Mobile in August. Commanding escort, funeral of President John- 
 son, at Nashville, October 2d. 
 
 1876. Commanding Sixteenth Infantry and Post of Nashville, 
 January to June. Commanding military escort at funeral of Major- 
 General Gordon Granger, at Lexington, Ky., January 25th, 1S76. 
 Commanding Department of the South, with headquarters at Louis- 
 ville, Ky., July, August and September. Commanding Sixteenth 
 Infantry and Newport Barracks, Ky., October. Commanding Six- 
 teenth Infantry and Mount Vernon Barracks, Ala., November. 
 Commanding Sixteenth Infantry and U. S. troops in Custom-house, 
 New Orleans (during the "electoral count"), December. 
 
19 
 
 1877- Commanding Sixteenth Infantry and U. S. troops in 
 Custom-house, New Orleans, January to June. Commanding Six- 
 teenth Infantry and Fort Riley, Kan., July to December. President 
 General Court-martial, Fort Lyon, Col., August and September. 
 Member General Court-martial, Fort Union, New Mexico, December. 
 
 1878. Commanding Sixteenth Infantry and Fort Riley, Kan., 
 January to December inclusive. Member of Retiring Board at 
 Fort Leavenworth, Kan., October, November and December. 
 
 1879. Commanding Sixteenth Infantry and Fort Riley, Kan., 
 January to March. President Court of Inquiry at Fort Stanton' 
 New Mexico ("the Lincoln County murder"), April, May, June,' 
 July and August. Member General Court-martial at Fort Leaven- 
 worth, Kan., September. Commanding Sixteenth Infantry and 
 Fort Riley, Kan., October, November and December. Member 
 General Court-martial, Fort Riley, Kan., October and November. 
 
 1880. Commanding Sixteenth Infantry and Fort Riley, Kan., 
 January to October. President General Court-martial, San Anto- 
 nio, Texas, November. Commanding Sixteenth Infantry and Post 
 of San Antonio, December. 
 
 1 88 1. Commanding Sixteenth Infantry and Post of San Anto- 
 nio, Texas, January to April. Commanding Sixteenth Infantry and 
 Fort McKavett, Texas, May to December. President General 
 Court-martial, Fort Davis, Texas (for the trial of Lieutenant Flip- 
 per, "the colored officer of the army";, September, October, 
 November and December. 
 
 18S2. Commanding Sixteenth Infantry and Fort McKavett, 
 Texas, January to June. On leave of absence and in Europe (on 
 surgeon's certificate of disability on account of wounds received in 
 battle), July to December. 
 
 1883. On leave of absence and in Europe, January to May. 
 Transferred from the active to the retired list of the Regular Army, 
 by direction of the President of the United States, July 3d, 1883. on 
 account of disability arising from severe wounds received in action. 
 
 1884. Residence in Philadelphia. 
 
 Brevet-Colonel Isaiah Price. Having made application to the 
 War Department for muster upon his commission as Major, received 
 while in command of the Regiment at Cold Harbor, Va., in June, 
 1864, being then and subsequently prevented from muster by the 
 absence, wounded, of Colonel Pennypacker, the following order was 
 issued granting the application : 
 
Special Order No. 277. Headquarters of the Army, Adjutant-General's Office, 
 
 Washington, D. C, December 4th, 1883. 
 
 EXTRACT. 
 
 2. By direction of the Secretary of War, under the joint reso- 
 lution approved July nth, 1870 (amendatory of the joint resolution 
 approved July 26th, 1866), and to complete his record, the muster- 
 out of service of Captain Isaiah Price, Company C, Ninety-seventh 
 Pennsylvania Volunteers, September 17th, 1864, is amended to take 
 effect June 6th, 1864. He is mustered into service as Major of said 
 Regiment to date June 7th, 1864, and mustered out and honorably 
 discharged as Major to date September 17th, 1864, and he is 
 mustered for pay in said grade during the period embraced between 
 the aforesaid dates. The amount of pay and allowances received 
 by him as Captain subsequent to June 6th, 1864, and to which as 
 Major he is not entitled, will be deducted in making payment under 
 this order. 
 
 By command of Lieutenant-General Sheridan. 
 [Official.] R. C. Drum, Adjutant-General. 
 
 (Signed) S. N. Benjamin, Assistant Adjutant- General. 
 
 Assistant Surgeon William C. Morrison. Resumed the practice 
 of his profession after his return from the service in 1865 at Coch- 
 ranville, Chester County, Pa., where he continued in practice until 
 his health failed, about the year 1883. He declined rapidly, and 
 died of Bright's disease at the above place on February 19th, 1884, 
 and was buried at Faggs' Manor Burial Ground on Saturday, Feb- 
 ruary 23d, aged 43 years. 
 
 Hospital Steward Reuben H. Smith, M. D. After the war 
 resumed the practice of medicine at Wilmington, Delaware, where 
 he remained until his health failed, early in 1882, when he came to 
 reside in West Chester with his son, Stephen T. Smith, until his 
 death, which took place March 6th, 1883, aged 71 years. 
 
 Principal Musician James St. John. Died in Philadelphia of 
 consumption, contracted from exposure in the service, on March 
 17th, 1868. He was buried in Lafayette Cemetery, Tenth and Fed- 
 eral Streets, Philadelphia. 
 
 CO. A. 
 
 First Lieutenant Frank C. Henry. Died at Coatesville Feb- 
 ruary 26th, 1880. 
 
 Second Lieutenant Joseph Philips. Died. 
 
 John A. Grofif. After having served as Recorder was elected 
 a Magistrate for the borough of West Chester, Pa., March 13th, 
 1877, and served until 1882. 
 
21 
 
 Corporal Jacob Daubman. Died. 
 
 George M. Mintzer. Died. 
 
 Lewis Cochran. Died. 
 
 Joseph Edward Stott. Died January 13th, 1877. 
 
 James M. Haines. Erroneously reported dead, is living at 
 Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 
 
 David M. Taylor. Was elected cashier of the Farmers' National 
 Bank at Oxford, Chester County, Pa. He has continued to fulfill 
 the duties of his responsible position with an honest fidelity and care, 
 that in these days of financial crookedness and degeneracy on the 
 part of so many high and trusted bank officials is most commend- 
 able. 
 
 Robert H. Humpton. Died. 
 
 Joseph E. Valentine. Immediately after his discharge from the 
 service he entered upon preparation for the dental profession. He 
 graduated with creditable success at the Pennsylvania College of Den- 
 tal Surgery, in Philadelphia, in the class of 1867-68. He soon after 
 located in the practice of his profession at Wilkesbarre, Luzerne 
 County, Pa., where for several years he was successfully engaged. 
 He now resides in Philadelphia, practicing his profession. 
 Jacob B. James. Died. 
 
 Edward O'Neil. Died. 
 
 Caleb Townsend. Died. 
 
 Andrew K. Wright. Died. 
 
 CO. B. 
 
 Captain Dallas Crow. Obtained a position in the money 
 department of the Adams Express Company shortly after his dis- 
 charge from the service. He has continued to receive the fullest 
 confidence of the company. His duties are of the most responsible 
 character, requiring not only accuracy and promptness, but the most 
 sterling integrity. 
 
 Captain Jonas M. C. Savage. Has become disabled from his 
 wounds received at Green Plains, Va., on May i8th, 1864, and is now 
 an inmate of the Soldiers' Home at Hampton, Va. 
 
 First Lieutenant David S. Harry. Died. 
 
 George W. Wonderly. Died September loth, 1873. 
 
 CO. c. 
 
 First Lieutenant Emmor G. Griffith. Was elected Assessor 
 and Collector for the borough of West Chester in 1S77, and served 
 therein efficiently until elected Treasurer of Chester County in 1881. 
 In these responsible positions he has performed the duties with 
 
fidelity and diligence, to the manifest advantage of both the borough 
 and county. His term of office will expire with the present year. 
 
 Sergeant Isaac A. Cleaver. Was elected a director of the 
 Penn Mutual Insurance Company and has served with much ability. 
 He is actively engaged in mercantile business at Berwyn, in East- 
 town Township. He has been an active, enterprising citizen, ener- 
 getic in the public welfare and its interests in his locality. He 
 should become the successor in the State Legislature of his friend 
 and neighbor, Captain William Wayne, the present member from 
 that district. 
 
 Corporal Davis O. Taylor. Has pursued his vocation as 
 machinist at West Chester since his discharge from the service. He 
 has just received the nomination of his party for the office of Clerk 
 of the Courts of Chester County, which, in a district polling an 
 average majority of 2,300, is equivalent to an election. That he will 
 bring to the discharge of the duties of the office the requisite ability 
 and faithfulness, his record of service will fully justify the prediction. 
 
 William Agg. One of our badly wounded comrades. Received 
 employment soon after the close of the war in the post-office 
 department of Philadelphia. After some years of faithful service as 
 a letter-carrier he was appointed to the charge of the sub-district of 
 Kensington, where he continued to receive the confidence of the 
 department until his death, which occurred after a short illness 
 in 1883. 
 
 Anthony Grimes. Died in Philadelphia about 1878. 
 
 Levi Keeley. Died October 13th, 1864. 
 
 Asher M. Kinnard. Died at West Chester, of typhoid pneu- 
 monia, at 12 o'clock M., June 5th, 1883. 
 
 Wesley McLain. Erroneously reported dead, is still living at 
 Milton, Northumberland County, Pa. 
 
 John L. Kitts. Received an appointment as paying teller in 
 the National Bank of Delaware County, at which post he is still 
 engaged. 
 
 CO. D. 
 
 Captain William S. Mendenhall. After the war settled in Wil- 
 mington, and was engaged in the retail notion and trimming trade. 
 His health failed, resulting in consumption, of which he died at 
 that place. 
 
 Sergeant William McCarty. Died. 
 
 Corporal Wilbur F. Flannery. Died of consumption at Potts- 
 town, Pa., January ist, 1879. 
 
23 
 CO. E. 
 
 Sergeant Patrick Carter. Died. 
 John Bennett. Died March 25th, i<S74. 
 
 Michael Walsh. Died of consumption at Concordville, May 
 24th, 1878. 
 
 CO. F. 
 
 Second Lieutenant Oliver E. Strickland. Died at home since 
 the war. 
 
 Musician Thomas St. John. Died of consumption in Philadel- 
 phia, February 19th, 1880. 
 
 John Hall. Died. 
 
 George W. Wolf Died in Philadelphia of consumption, 
 November 4th, 1878. 
 
 Davis McAfifee. Died July 12th, 1883, at his home in East 
 Nantmeal, from the result of an operation necessitated by wounds 
 received during the service. 
 
 CO. G. 
 
 John G. Herkins. Died of consumption, January, 1880. 
 Thomas L. Hinkson. Died in Philadelphia, February 27th, 187S. 
 
 CO. H. 
 
 Captain George A. LeMaistre. Has been engaged for several 
 years as managing engineer for Walton, Whann & Co., manufac- 
 turers of phosphate — a most responsible position, requiring skill, 
 accuracy and great care in the management of the details, to avoid the 
 dangers attendant upon the chemical processes connected with the 
 production and storage of large quantities of acids required in 
 those works. 
 
 First Lieutenant Thomas S. Taylor. Was engaged after the 
 war as a teacher of penmanship, for which he was very well qualified. 
 He died of consumption at West Chester, 1883. 
 
 Sergeant Benjamin F. Smith. Died June 4th, 1872. 
 
 Sergeant Thomas John. Died at West Chester. 
 
 Corporal Isaac T. Massey. Died. Was killed by falling down 
 stairs in Philadelphia on Christmas Day, 1878. 
 
 Jonathan Cross. Died. 
 
 Joseph Dasey. Died June 4th, 1872. 
 
 Milton Jackson. Died March 26th, 1876. 
 
 Edward H. Taylor. Died. 
 
 CO. I. 
 
 Second Lieutenant Annesley N. Morton. Died of pneumonia 
 in Philadelphia, August 13th, 1880. 
 
24 
 CO. K. 
 
 Captain William Wayne. Was elected a member of the House 
 of Representatives of Pennsylvania in 1880; was re-elected in 1882, 
 and has just received renomination for a third term in that body. 
 His services as a member of the House need no other commendation 
 than this repeated manifestation of confidence on the part of his 
 constituents. As soldier and as statesman alike in faithfulness to the 
 •duties of the time, his presence with us here affords the opportunity 
 to extend to him our hearty and united congratulations. 
 
 Captain William S. Underwood. Was elected in 1878 to the 
 office of Register of Wills for Chester County, which position he filled 
 with the same ability, fidelity and care that marked his services in the 
 field. He is now the manager of an important business enterprise 
 in the borough of West Chester. 
 
 Second Lieut. Marriott Brosius. Upon returning from the service 
 entered Millersville State Normal School, from which he graduated. 
 He was also a graduate of the Law Department of the University of 
 Michigan. He afterwards studied law at Lancaster, Pa., with Hon. 
 Thomas E. Franklin as his preceptor, and was admitted to practice 
 at the Lancaster Bar in April, 1868. He has continued in the practice 
 of his profession at Lancaster, with such diligence and careful atten- 
 tion to business as have brought to him an enviable success. In 1882 
 he was nominated by the Republican State Convention as Congress- 
 man-at-Large, but shared the defeat of his party in that election. He 
 is a most eloquent and interesting speaker, whether in the political can- 
 vass or as a temperance advocate in its moral aspect, yet giving the 
 cause the more practical advantage of his support of the party of 
 progress, rather than follow the lead of merely theoretical and 
 impracticable ideas of reform that tend to hinder and defeat the real 
 purpose to be advanced. He has delivered many of the most 
 interesting and eloquent Memorial Day addresses for the Grand 
 Army of the Republic and other like ceremonies at various places ; 
 and to him has been assigned the duty of delivering the address 
 upon this day of our Reunion, and I know that you will all be 
 gratified in hearing the expression of his thoughts which these 
 reminiscences of our old army days will give him the inspiration to 
 speak to our ears and to our hearts. 
 
 Charles E. Raby. Died. 
 
 After the above had been read it was ascertained that the 
 minutes of the association and the constitution and by-laws prepared 
 
25 
 
 for the action of this meeting had been inadvertently left at home by 
 the secretary, who had gone to get them. This being stated by the 
 president, on motion of Colonel Price, seconded by several com- 
 rades, it was decided to have the oration before concluding the 
 business meeting. Colonel Guss then introduced our comrade, 
 Hon. Marriott Brosius, who came forward, and was received with 
 great applause. He then spoke as follows : 
 
 THE ORATION. 
 
 A more delightful task has rarely fallen to my hands than that 
 which the partiality of your committee has assigned to me in connec- 
 tion with this Reunion; that of recalling some of the forgotten inci- 
 dents, gathering up the fragrant recollections and patriotic reminis- 
 cences of our military career, and with a promethean spark from the 
 altar of fraternal devotion, kindle them into new life until, like a 
 restored picture, they appear in fresh brightness on the canvas of 
 our memories to point the morals and illustrate the lessons of our 
 service and our sacrifice. 
 
 The occasion, however, is not free from difficulty. Some of its 
 aspects touch the heart in its tenderest part, and the mind is rather 
 enfeebled than otherwise by the emotions which swell the breast, as 
 the flood of affectionate remembrances and hallowed associations 
 pour in ceaseless volume upon us, leaving little to the most earnest 
 desire to discharge faithfully a delicate trust, but an acute sense of 
 inability for the task. Still, we indulge the allurement of hope, that 
 drawing inspiration from opportunity, we may be moved to some 
 utterances that will tend to promote the reunion of this remnant of 
 the old Regiment in the bonds of a firm and indissoluble friendship, 
 and revive in our hearts the vestal flame of love for the memory of 
 our comrades who suffered with us the parting, bore with us the 
 burdens, won for us the victory, but came not back to share with us 
 the glory. 
 
 My loving comrades, as we looked into each other's eyes to-day 
 and touched each other's warm palms in fraternal greeting, memory, 
 the soul's cup-bearer, brought back to us with great vividness the 
 affecting incidents of our departure in November, 1861, when with 
 hearts luminous with patriotic fire, with eyes flashing with brightness, 
 with steps firm and true to the drum's tap, with a carriage which 
 betrayed the fine pride and sturdy vigor of the young manhood 
 which composed our rank and file, we marched through the streets 
 of the borough, thronged with citizens and friends pressing eagerly 
 
26 
 
 to obtain a last embrace and a final farewell. Mothers with their 
 cheeks suffused, and their faces manded with a sweet sadness through 
 which like a gleam of sunlight through a rift in the clouds flashed 
 the great courage of their souls as they gave their sons with a mo- 
 ther's benediction to an imperilled country. Wives whose hearts 
 were pierced by the unutterable grief of parting with those whose 
 lives had been inseparably entwined with their own, stood like trem- 
 bling vines from which the oak had been rudely torn, sustained by 
 the unfaltering hope that a country saved would render back to the 
 sweet embrace of love the dear offerings that day laid upon her altar. 
 Sisters with their brows radiant with beauty, and their faces luminous 
 with the glow of that divine sentiment which alone could make them 
 capable of a deed so grand as when they bade their brothers with a 
 God-speed to the scene of their duty, to brave the perils of the battle 
 and the siege. Fathers whose hearts had been strengthened for the 
 trial by the kindling fires of patriotism, stood grand and heroic 
 as they consecrated with unbidden tears the gift of their boys to the 
 cause of Union and liberty. And citizens in multitudes, all stirred 
 alike by the awakening spirit of devotion which swept with electric 
 touch, the heart-strings of a loyal people, greeted us with swaying 
 hands, waving handkerchiefs and loud huzzas which culminated in 
 enthusiastic shouts as the train bore us swiftly away. Who can con- 
 template the agonizing solicitude of that day, the pain of those part- 
 ings, the anguish of those aching hearts, and the desolation of those 
 broken homes, without feeling the uplifting touch of the sublime 
 heroism of those who gave their first-born, and the splendid valor 
 of those who went out in the early morning of their lives, a conse- 
 crated band, to keep watch at the gateway of the Union, as Gabriel 
 and his band of holy angels kept their watch and walked the rounds 
 of Paradise, willing if need be to gather into their own breasts the 
 pittiless daggers of treason unsheathed for the nation's heart. 
 
 The occasion which summoned us from our homes and com- 
 manded our sacrifices will not lose its tragic interest while Americans 
 enjoy the blessings, born to us out of the mighty scourge of civil war, 
 which kindled the fires of death from Gettysburg to the Gulf It 
 seems to be the lesson of the ages that every new birth of freedom 
 must have its dark night of travail and pain. Every marked advance 
 in civilization has been made through fields of carnage. It has been 
 through the Thermopylaes and over the Marathons and Gettysburgs 
 of the world's history that civil and political liberty have carved their 
 way to ultimate triumph. So our war was one of those overruling 
 
27 
 
 necessities in the providence of God in working- out the destiny of 
 the RepubHc. It was not for conquest or spoils. It was no rash 
 and fruitless war for wanton glory waged. It was the spontaneous 
 uprising of patriotism to rescue union and liberty, to establish and 
 maintain the supremacy of ideas that will wander through eternity, 
 principles as inextinguishable as the stars, and a civilization as shin- 
 ing as the sun. 
 
 Liberty and slavery — irreconcilable in their nature — crossed the 
 ocean the same year. The Mayflower and the Dutch slave ship 
 ploughed the sea at the same time. Both sought the shores of the 
 New World and both planted their seeds to grow side by side until 
 the principle of the survival of the fittest should exterminate one and 
 nationalize the other. Formidable events in the history of their con- 
 flict put the nation to a formidable alternative — "the horrors of 
 miasma or the fury of the blast." Said Victor Hugo : " For every oak 
 struck by lightning, how many forests rendered wholesome." The 
 storm came. Behind the visible work was the invisible, the lat- 
 ter sublime as the former was barbarous. Under a scaffolding ot 
 war was reared a majestic temple of human freedom. It was thus 
 the character and magnitude of the undertaking which called us 
 away, that signalized our departure as an event of no inconsiderable 
 moment in the annals of Chester county. Then, too, many of the 
 men who composed our Regiment were not those whom any com- 
 munity could afford to lose. Hundreds of homes surrendered to the 
 recruiting officer their brightest and best. Young men of the high- 
 est character and most commanding talents abandoned the fields of 
 employment for which they were conspicuously fitted by their su- 
 perior character and intellectual equipment, and, turning their backs 
 upon their dearly cherished hopes, took their places by the side 
 of their comrades to swell the ranks of their country's defenders ; so 
 that in the moral and intellectual character of its men, from the field 
 to the rank and file, the Ninety-seventh had few superiors in the ser- 
 vice ; and the people, not alone those who endured the heart pangs 
 of separation and loss, but the whole community, instinctively felt a 
 sense of impending calamity as they witnessed the departure of the 
 flower of their young manhood. 
 
 To adjust ourselves to our new relations and become as capable 
 in our new field of operations as we had been efficient in the less ex- 
 citing pursuits of peace was an undertaking whose difficulties the 
 uninitiated cannot easily appreciate. A good soldier is a machine. 
 He moves at the word of command, as the shuttle flies at the touch 
 
28 
 
 of a spring. Intelligence and judgment as agencies in the direction 
 of individual movement have little place in the principles and rules 
 of military organization and discipline ; and a man who has been ac- 
 customed to turning to the right or left, or advancing in a straight 
 line at his own will, surrenders a large share of his personal liberty 
 when he consents to go forward or turn aside at the command of 
 another. One accustomed to express his opinion freely in season and 
 out of season, with knowledge and without knowledge, makes a sad 
 and melancholy sacrifice of his freedom of speech when he consents 
 to hold his tongue except when permitted to speak. Some of us were 
 dull scholars in this despotic school of military limitations upon hu- 
 man rights, and sometimes embarrassments ensued upon an undue 
 assertion of that deeply cherished right to speak our mind. Comrade 
 Miles, of Company E, thought the propriety of holding Jacksonville 
 was a question upon which every citizen and soldier as well, had a 
 right to an opinion, and when preparations for evacuation were being 
 made and he accidentally met General Wright, he saw no harm in 
 remarking to him, " General, I thought you would have to 'vaceate' " 
 and we can imagine his surprise when his temerity was rewarded by 
 an order for an escort to conduct him to private quarters. But this 
 surrender of individual liberty ; this complete subjection to the do- 
 minion of arbitrary rule, was not a badge of degrading servitude, but 
 a high and patriotic duty, and a part of the voluntary sacrifice the 
 citizen made when he became a soldier. And hard as it was at times 
 to brook this submission when our own judgment rose in hot revolt 
 against a command, the reason for which was not discoverable, while 
 its inutility and danger were apparent to all, yet no disobedience or 
 even reluctance, to respond to the command of a superior ever im- 
 paired the efficiency of the Ninety-seventh. Our fighting qualities 
 were never at a discount, and we fairly earned the compliments ex- 
 torted from casual observers of our steadfast courage and invincible 
 prowess. It was an aid of one of the Generals who, witnessing our 
 dauntless bravery and obstinate courage as we held the line under a 
 tempest of fire at Foster's Place, on the i8th of May, '64, remarked, 
 " The Ninety-seventh will hold that line for three weeks if they are 
 supplied with ammunition." It reminds us of the brave Colonel 
 George of a Minnesota regiment at the battle of Chickamauga, who 
 promised still better. When an aid came with the inquiry as to how 
 long his regiment could hold a certain pass, he sent back the heroic 
 answer, " Till we are mustered out." So at the Darbytown road ; an 
 officer who witnessed our splendid and successful charge said to 
 
29 
 
 Colonel Pennypacker, " That's the d st regiment of yours to fight 
 
 I ever saw ! " He was informed by the Colonel that it was the result 
 of early training, but I think something was due to inherited quali- 
 ties — courage in the blood, and it illustrated what every machinist 
 knows, the better the material, the better the machine. But in dis- 
 playing these high qualities of the soldier we were only being true 
 to ourselves. Obedience, subordination, devotion and courage were 
 all comprised in that first great self-imposed command, " Go ye and 
 serve your country until Union and Liberty are rescued from the 
 despoiler's hands." 
 
 That our boys behaved so well may be due in part to the fact 
 that for a long time they were under a mother's watchful eye. Boys 
 will put their best foot foremost when mother is looking on. A 
 noble woman, like the King's name in battle, is a mighty incentive. 
 Mrs. Mary St. John (I would rather call her St. Mary John) exerted 
 an elevating and beneficent influence upon all who came within her 
 radiant ministry of kindness and helpfulness. She did not lead in 
 battle like Joan of Arc, or command a fortress like Lady Banks, or 
 fire the cannon like Molly Pitcher ; but she was behind us : 
 
 " In danger, mind you, a woman behind you 
 Can turn your blood to fire." 
 
 The gentle sway of her womanly scepter, her self-sacrifice, 
 devotion and tender care, followed the battle, like the sunshine the 
 storm, alleviating pain, assuaging the distresses of sickness and 
 smoothing the wrinkled brow of the soldier's life. O, woman ! 
 
 " When pain and anguish wring the brow, 
 A ministering angel thou." 
 
 Mother St. John brought into the camp something of the 
 influence of home. Gen. Sherman used to say that the home 
 influences were of infinite assistance in the dicipline of the army. 
 It was a benediction to any regiment to enjoy the presence and be 
 subject to the dominion of a woman's influence, and so profoundly 
 sensible are we of the value of her association with the regiment, so 
 fragrant is our recollection of her tender and affectionate care, that I 
 know I but voice the spontaneous emotion of every heart when I 
 invoke blessings upon Mother St. John. May time deal with her 
 gently, may the days of her years be lengthened out, and joy and 
 happiness be the companions of her age. 
 
 The services of the regiment during an exceptionally checkered 
 career of good and bad fortune comprised every variety of experience 
 possible to military life. We fought rebels and likewise malaria and 
 
30 
 
 mosquitoes. We measured swords with the enemies of our country 
 on many a well-contested field ; we wrestled manfully with the 
 enemies of our constitutions in the form of southern fevers that 
 walked in the darkness and stalked abroad at noonday : and we had 
 many sanguinary encounters with the winged and venomous 
 disturbers of our comfort and peace that marshalled their hosts in 
 every swamp, assailed every out-post and invaded every camp on 
 the southern coast with malign and ravenous intent to feast with 
 rancorous rapture on the sweet and nourishing blood of the North. 
 We were wood choppers on Sea Brook, lumbermen on the St. 
 Mary's, dock builders at Port Royal, sappers on Morris Island, 
 engineers on Hilton Head, and miners at Petersburg. Our reveille 
 and tattoo sounded in every degree of latitude from Washington to 
 St. Augustine. Our camp-fires blazed in every coast state from 
 Maryland to Florida. Our victorious eagles were borne from 
 Hampton Roads to Port Royal ; from Pulaski to Jacksonville ; from 
 Fernandina to Morris' Island ; from the rice swamps of the Carolinas 
 to the trenches of the Peninsula. Our wild hurrahs rang out and 
 our avenging bayonets gleamed from the slopes of Wagner, Gregg 
 and Fisher. We forced the gates of Wilmington, unfurled our 
 battle-scarred flag in the streets of Goldsboro, and swinging to the 
 capital of the State, we stood in its shadow, proud spectators of a 
 glorious triumph, as the last army of the "Confederacy" laid its 
 arms at the feet of Sherman's conquering legions, and the curtain 
 fell before the tragedy of the rebellion. 
 
 In contemplating the career of our regiment, we cannot over- 
 look the melancholy shadows which form the sombre background 
 for the more cheerful and exhilarating incidents of our diversified 
 experience. We cannot look into each others' eyes to-day without 
 being reminded of our unreturning comrades who are bivouacked 
 under eternal skies on the plains beyond the river. It was a solemn 
 hour when we stood beside our first grave and endured the pangs 
 of our first grief Every family has its first death ; we had ours 
 when comrade Stevens, of Co. F., in January, 1862, closed his loyal 
 service to his country and was mustered out. He but led the way, 
 for our death roll was long and illustrious. The noble and gifted 
 Hambleton ; the gentle and studious Gardner; the sturdy and 
 faithful Taylor; the vigorous and manly Brinton : the brave and 
 impetuous Hawkins ; the brilliant and daring Carruthers, and the 
 young and gallant Morton, but represent the harvest of death 
 gathered from our line, and rank and file, and suggest the splendid 
 
31 
 
 aggregate of purity, patriotism, intellect, devotion and all the high 
 qualities of manhood that swelled the sacrifice which the Ninety- 
 seventh laid upon our country's bleeding altar. 
 
 How can we filly honor the memory of our valiant dead ? Let 
 us dwell for a moment upon their patriotic services and meritorious 
 death. I have great faith in the influence upon the living of the 
 remembrances of the heroic dead. It was such an influence that 
 led a young Greek two thousand years ago, when walking over the 
 fields on which a Grecian warrior won his victories, to exclaim : "the 
 trophies of Miltiades will not let me sleep." So with the contem- 
 plation of the sacrifices and splendid courage of our departed 
 comrades, may come an incantation that will conjure spirits of high 
 patriotism round about us, until like Hector's son we catch heroic 
 fire from the memory of the tried fidelity and steadfast devotion of 
 our fallen braves. 
 
 Vain are the eulogies of the living upon the noble men whom 
 the tide of battle and its allied destroyer, fell disease, swept to the 
 skies from camp and field. They were soldiers in the most exalted 
 sense. Their helmets were of faith, their breastplates were of 
 courage, their swords were of justice. They entered the war in 
 something of the spirit of Gustavus of Sweden, at Lutzen, when 
 spurning his corselets he exclaimed " God is my harness." Our boys 
 went into battle inspired with all the heroism of the Revolution. 
 They marched into the fight with Wayne and all the heroes of 
 Brandy wine, Paoli and Valley Forge, in the air above them. The 
 typical bravery of the Union soldier was well exemplified by an 
 incident told of Gen. Dan McCook. He was storming the heights 
 of Kenesaw Mountain at the head of his troops. The summit 
 was crowded with rebel soldiers ; the ascent was precipitous ; the 
 troops had to lift themselves up by the bushes and branches of the 
 trees; he knew it was certain death. In a momentary pause in the 
 ascent he was heard to repeat, in calm, clear tones, these lines from 
 Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome : 
 
 " Then out spoke brave Horatius, the captain of the gate. 
 To every man upon this earth death conieth soon or late, 
 And how can man die better than by facing fearful odds 
 For the ashes of his fathers and the temples of his gods ? 
 
 A moment afterwards he rushed up the heights, and in two 
 minutes fell dead " for the ashes of his fathers and the temples of 
 his gods." The same spirit animated and inspired our men in many 
 a perilous encounter. On Morris Island, the night of Wagner's 
 
32 
 
 evacuation, when our line was formed for the advance, the glittering 
 sentinels of heaven — the watching stars — witnessing our impatience 
 for the assault, our dauntless Major, whose breast was glowing with 
 the foreshining of the glory of the anticipated achievement, address- 
 ing the regiment, said : " Men, remember your duty to God and 
 your country to-night." The thrilling words went down the line 
 like an electric pulse, touching off a magazine of heroic daring in 
 every heart, in the blaze of which every man would have scaled the 
 walls of Wagner, pikes, lances and all, or found a grave in the 
 attempt. There are times when the soldier seems transformed ; swept 
 on by the wings of the tempest of excitement ; riding on the billows 
 of impetuous heroism ; insensible to danger, knowing no fear, he is 
 more than man. We have seen our boys marching into the jaws of 
 death with as firm and steady a step as they would pursue the common- 
 est paths of life. At Green Plains they charged against a hurricane of 
 fire before which none but lines of adamant could stand. O, mortal 
 powers, what courage ! How like gods they moved, yet how like 
 men they fell, these citizen soldiers, many of whom but the week 
 before had left their kisses on the lips of mothers, wives and sisters 
 in exchange for their benedictions, as they rushed to their baptism 
 of fire! But how could they die better? Near the beginning of the 
 century a great battle was fought on the plains of the Danube, 
 resulting in a victory for France. The courage of a private soldier 
 contributed to the triumph, and ever after, at the parades of the 
 battalion, the name of Latour D'Vergne was first called, when the 
 eldest sergeant stepped to the front and answered, " died on the field 
 of honor." So in Walhalla, the paradise of battle-scarred warriors, 
 when on the roll of heroes the names of our martyred comrades are 
 called, a chorus of dauntless spirits will reverberate along the 
 celestial corridors as the highest eulogy is pronounced, " died on 
 the field of duty." To their character our praise can add nothing; 
 not to their valor, for that is immortal; not to their patriotism, for 
 that is in the Recording Angel's book ; not to their sublime 
 endurance, for that is embalmed in history's page. Helpless to add 
 a single fiower to the immortal wreathes that must forever crown 
 their immortal deeds, we can but resign them to their rest with the 
 prayer of Chester County's sweet poet on the field of Gettysburg : 
 
 " Take tliem, O, Fatherland, 
 Who, dying, conquered in Thy name ! 
 Take them, O, God, our brave, 
 The glad fulfihnent of Thy dread decree! 
 Who grasped the sword for peace, and smote to save, 
 And dying here for freedom, died for Thee." 
 
33 
 
 Thus have our dead completed their task; but ours, my 
 comrades, remains unfinished. The nation's martyrs left as a legacy 
 to their surviving countrymen the best government ever devised by 
 human wisdom for the happiness of mankind, and as we recall their 
 sacrifices that government of the people, by the people and for the 
 people might not perish from the earth, is it irreverent to believe 
 that our dead, who from camp and field went up to God in the 
 shadow of our flag and who still love their country, are assembled 
 with us to-day in their viewless forms, and with their celestial voices 
 are dedicating their surviving comrades to the holy ministry of 
 preserving for all coming time what they died to save. This is our 
 unfinished task. Let us for a moment consider the commanding 
 duties it lays upon us. 
 
 " The walls of my city," said an ancient ruler, " are the hearts 
 of my people." So the surest defences of this Republic are the 
 hearts of its citizens, when imbued with an intelligent sense of the 
 responsibilities and a loyal devotion to the obligations of citizenship. 
 If there is one overruling necessity, one fundamentally essential 
 factor in the true solution of the problem of our destiny, it is a 
 standard of moral independence, political integrity, obedience and 
 loyalty, that will guarantee a citizenship at once independent, 
 incorruptible, obedient to law and loyal to the public weal. So this 
 Republic with a voice of solemn supplication, emphasized by the 
 sacrifices of the past, summons the manhood on which it leans to- 
 day to lift itself up to the true stature of American citizenship. 
 
 Without a vigorous, noble and true manhood, though our 
 empire reach from sea to sea, we are a rope of sand. The French 
 king was not wholly wrong when he said " I am the State." He was 
 part of it. Not one man, but all men, are the State. 
 
 " Not high raised battlements or labored mounds, thick wall nor moated 
 
 gate. 
 Nor cities proud with spires and turrets crowned, nor starred and spangled 
 
 courts, 
 Where low-born baseness wafts perfume to pride, but men, high-minded 
 
 men, 
 Who their duties know, but know their rights and knowing, dare 
 
 maintain." 
 
 Seek ye, then, first intelligence, virtue, honor, independence 
 and loyalty to principle in the citizen, and all the blessings of good 
 government will be added unto you. Fidelity to conviction, devotion 
 to duty, loyalty to conscience and country, are the qualities which 
 moulded the men who honored American citizenship and adorned 
 
 (3) 
 
34 
 
 the public service in the past, and it is a hope in aid of whose 
 reahzation all the graves filled by our civil war implore the living, 
 that the influence of American civilization and the inspiration of 
 American progress may produce for Columbia's future citizens a 
 race of men who, " being admirable in form, noble in reason, infinite 
 in faculty," will add thereto integrity of soul — a mighty priesthood 
 of truth, who will barter not their honor at the public marts, stock 
 boards, election polls or in halls of legislation, but will stand with 
 manly firmness against all the blandishments of power and the 
 seductions of ambition and gold, as integrity incarnate. 
 
 The infirmities common to forms of government in which 
 sovereignty resides in the people and speaks through popular 
 elections have their roots in individual delinquency and personal 
 venality. The seeds of political degeneracy lurk in that condition 
 of personal character which makes it possible for men to violate the 
 plainest requirements of morality to advance a political end. It is a 
 low standard of character, an enfeebled moral sense, insensibility to 
 the stain of dishonor in the voter, that nurtures the poisonous tree 
 of political evil and hurries it on to its tainted bloom and deadly 
 fruitage. 
 
 In the breast of the voter is the virus that taints the blood of 
 our political life, and the decay of character is the unerring prelude 
 to degeneracy in our political institutions. 
 
 " III fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, 
 Where wealth accumulates and men decay." 
 
 The evils sometimes betrayed in political administration, the 
 corruption which the tumultuous heaving of popular elections 
 sometimes throws to the surface, are but the hectic flush on the cheek 
 of the body politic which betrays the existence of the subtle poison 
 of moral decay, consuming its life. We are without hope of 
 preserving the lofty character which the splendor of our history has 
 won for us unless we can keep upright the hearts of our people and 
 pure the homes of the land, thereby maintaining a perennial supply 
 of high-minded men who, like our martyred Lincoln, can be states- 
 men without craftiness, and politicians without intrigue, who can 
 subject their political conduct to the restraints of moral principle, 
 and subordinate their private interests to their public duties ; whose 
 chastity of honor and sensibility of principle make them feel the 
 sense of delinquency or the stain of dishonor as a wound, and who, 
 like the virtuous Andrew Fletcher, would give their lives to serve 
 their country, but would not do a base thing to save it. 
 
35 
 
 The people are the source of authority, the fountain of power, 
 the keepers of the RepubHc's jewels. Whatever measure of virtue, 
 self-restraint, patriotism and honor shall exalt them, in that same 
 measure will their collective action feel the uplifting touch. As they 
 shall think, and feel, and act, so shall be formed and directed the 
 mightiest engine of power the world has ever known, whose 
 mandates kings and potentates obey, and at whose touch govern- 
 ments are dismantled and dynasties dissolved, the sovereign of all 
 earthly powers — public sentiment — an exalted assemblage, it has 
 been said, which without visible session, ever legislates, and without 
 army or navy, marshal or constable, ever executes its decrees. 
 Remove the atmosphere from the earth, said a philosopher, and all 
 the water would fly into vapor. Public sentiment is the atmosphere 
 of society, without which our institutions would fly into chaos ; and 
 unless that atmosphere is pure and wholesome the body politic can- 
 not be healthy. The vicious sentiments and depraved morals of the 
 individual diffuse themselves and impair the tone of the social and 
 political atmosphere, as the polluted breath of the sot taints the air 
 around him. This all-encasing air, the very breath of life to our 
 political existence, must be kept from pollution if we hope to preserve 
 our free institutions from decay and ultimate dissolution. 
 
 A nation of fifty millions cannot be saved by the virtuous rem- 
 nant, but the infirmities of the majority must be healed. Moral health 
 must inhabit, and political soundness invigorate the whole body ; for 
 Matthew Arnold is right, as Plato and the prophets were right before 
 him, that where the majority are bad, the minority cannot lead to 
 the promised land, but the supremacy of the true, the just, the pure 
 and elevated will as certainly redeem and save the nation, as the do- 
 minion of their opposites, by an inexorable fatality, will destroy it. 
 
 That which righteousness exalts, sin destroys. What virtue, 
 honor, loyalty and loving duty adorn and strengthen, vice, neglect, 
 intrigue and profligacy enfeeble and despoil. Indifference, selfish- 
 ness, venality and every insidious device to obstruct the sovereign 
 will are as fatal as the breath of the sirocco to the fair gardens of our 
 political heritage. The (ew can carry wrong results, promote vicious 
 policies, advance dangerous principles and elevate corrupt men, only 
 when the many sleep upon their rights. Demagogues are powerless 
 to harm when the people are vigilant to save. But if the voters give 
 themselves up to indolent indifference to the results of the primary 
 organization of political power, and suffer the collective action to be 
 moulded and declared by the least qualified in intelligence, principle 
 
36 
 
 and probity ; if they are content to abandon the sources of poHtical 
 action to the venal, the stupid and the servile, it becomes as certain 
 as the fiat of omnipotence that the country will express and obey the 
 baser will, the supremacy of patriotism and public reason be over- 
 thrown, while faction, ambition, selfishness and corruption will sit 
 regnant in the seat of power. 
 
 Hence it is, to be false to the cardinal virtues which enter into 
 the structure of a man, adorning and strengthening his character ; a 
 conscious rectitude which inspires him with self-respect and gives 
 him the courage, consequence and stateliness born of self-regard ; an 
 intelligence and patriotism, which qualify him to judge, stimulate his 
 exertions, and hold him in steadfast loyalty to his country's needs ; 
 and an independence which enables him to stand four square to all 
 the winds that blow ; to be recreant to these conspicuous attributes 
 of a good citizen is disloyalty to the memory of our martyred com- 
 rades and treason to the Republic. Shall it be in vain, then, that we 
 plead for the elevation of the citizen — for a vigorous and virtuous 
 manhood — for high-minded and true-hearted men who alone can 
 save this country from a disappointed hope and a blighted destiny ? 
 The glory of the Republic is her manhood, and when that becomes 
 debased, the sand in the hour-glass of her history will begin to run. 
 And I desire to add, my comrades, that if the time shall come when 
 the Republic, which we devoutly pray the God of nations may pre- 
 serve to be the Union soldiers' temple of fame, falls a victim to maladies 
 engendered in the bosom of our political system, when corruption 
 shall have eaten away the cable that holds us to the moorings of vir- 
 tue ; "when the nation shall totter to its fall, its glory extinct, the 
 banner of its pride trampled in the dust, its nationality and grandeur 
 a moral of history," when the unfriendly prophecy of a hundred 
 years ago shall be fulfilled, and a few lean and half naked fishermen 
 are dividing with owls and foxes the ruins of our great cities, wash- 
 ing their nets amid the relics of our gigantic docks and building their 
 huts out of the capitals of our stately edifices, let not this work of 
 ruin be traced to those who wore the Union blue. We are a conse- 
 crated band. It was at the battle of Chickamauga, just after a vig- 
 orous assault of the enemy had been gallantly repulsed at the point 
 of the bayonet that the great- hearted commander, George H. Thomas, 
 took the hand of a private soldier and thanked him for his cour- 
 age. The soldier stood silent a moment, and then said with emo- 
 tion : " George H. Thomas has taken this hand in his ; I'll knock 
 down any mean man that offers to take it hereafter." He felt that 
 
37 
 
 something had consecrated his hand, making it too sacred for vulgar 
 touch. Comrades, something has consecrated every surviving soldier 
 of the Union. No man that drew a sword or carried a musket in that 
 holy war, or bore our battle-stained banner on any one of the glo- 
 rious fields on which the Union arms won imperishable renown, 
 but is solemnly dedicated to the service of patriotism, honor, loyalty 
 and virtue, to the end that the soldiery that once saved the nation by 
 fire and sword may save it yet again by the example of their fidelity 
 to the principles and institutions of the government. 
 
 After Appomattox General Lee made the great speech of his 
 life, when he said to his vanquished army, " Soldiers ! we have done 
 our duty, as we knew it, now let us go home and be good citizens." 
 
 A greater than Lee, the nation's silent chieftain also spoke, and 
 his utterance will not soon die — " Let us have peace !" One is the 
 fruit of the other, and the prayer of the Republic to-day is that we 
 be good citizens and enjoy the blessings of peace and concord. From 
 the hearts of patriots everywhere, attuned to the same melody, is 
 lifted up the glad refrain ; celestial choirs prolong the joyful chorus 
 until the spirits of our martyred dead send back the swelling anthem, 
 " Let us be good citizens," — " Let us have peace." 
 
 The maintenance of this lofty standard of personal character and 
 exalted patriotism in the citizen ; the enthronement in our public life 
 of unselfish loyalty and disinterested devotion to duty, and the es- 
 tablishment of the dominion of incorruptible integrity and stainless 
 honor as the predominant spirit in the public service of the country 
 is the elevated task to which patriotism dedicates American citizen- 
 ship. My Comrades ! do we realize the responsibility of the task 
 imposed ? Are we equal to this supreme demand ? Are we fit for 
 this exalted service ? These are the questions which the sphinx of 
 national destiny puts to us, on the inexorable condition of death if not 
 correctly answered. But if the patriotism of the American people, 
 putting under its feet sectional animosity, partisan bitterness, fac- 
 tious dissension, personal and political profligacy, selfishness and all 
 uncharitableness, shall bear back to us on unflagging wing the ans- 
 wer yea ! yea ! then will the American Republic stand a monument 
 to the memory of the heroic sacrifices of its citizens, when the pyra- 
 mids are not, and Karnak is forgotten. 
 
 Comrades, I have indulged these reflections because they point 
 the way to the honorable completion of our yet unfinished task ; be- 
 cause I feel the elevating influence of these high ideals ; because I 
 believe there are spirit hands reaching down to-day to clasp ours of 
 
38 
 
 flesh in token of continued fellowship in the promotion of that purity 
 of life and elevation of character which alone can qualify the nation 
 for the splendid career and exalted destiny that await it. 
 
 Animated by these views and inspired by these hopes, Ameri- 
 cans can hold fast their faith that the young Republic of the West, 
 moving in queenly majesty in the procession of the nations ; proudly 
 eminent; guided by principles which follow in the wake of Christi- 
 anity as verdure follows the path of the sun ; freighted with the gold- 
 en triumphs of the past; the heir of all the ages, and led by faith in 
 an immortal destiny as by a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by 
 night, will continue her march down the centuries, plucking new 
 laurels and winning new victories for man and government, until 
 ripe with years and with a completed destiny she lays the finished 
 crown of her glory at the feet of Jehovah, at the jubilee of eternity. 
 
 During the entire delivery of the address the most perfect 
 attention was given by the men, standing in solid mass around the 
 platform before the speaker, whose eloquence and impressive words 
 imparted their influence upon all. Applause was frequently given 
 to some of the stirring sentiments. At the conclusion most hearty 
 cheers were given the orator. 
 
 Sergeant Isaac A. Cleaver moved a vote of thanks for the able, 
 interesting and eloquent address of Comrade Brosius, which no 
 words of ours could adequately convey, save by the feeling within 
 our hearts which responded to its eloquent utterances. The motion 
 was seconded by Captain George A. Lemaistre, Co. H, and Colonel 
 John Wainwright, and was passed unanimously by the voice of 
 every comrade present in response. 
 
 David M. Taylor of Co. A then presented the following reso- 
 lutions : 
 
 Whereas, The expense incurred by Colonel Price in publishing 
 the History of the Ninety-seventh Regiment, Pennsylvania Volun- 
 teers, still exceeds by $300 the amount yet realized from the sale of 
 books ; and 
 
 Whereas, It seems right and proper that the author of this 
 valuable historic record of the members and the services of the 
 Regiment should be relieved of this indebtedness ; therefore 
 
 Resolved, That we, the surviving members, assembled at the 
 Reunion of the Regiment this 29th day of October, 1884, hereby 
 authorize and direct the treasurer of our association to pay over to 
 
39 
 
 Brevet-Cr ,nel Isaiah Price $300, and receive therefor sixty copies 
 of the H,. lOry. 
 
 Resolved, That the president shall appoint a committee of five, 
 whose duty shall be to take charge of said Histories and sell the 
 same as opportunity may offer, the proceeds accruing therefrom to 
 be paid into the treasury at the annual meeting. Said committee to 
 have full discretionary power to present copies to worthy members 
 and the families of deceased members who are unable to jjurchase 
 them. 
 
 Before the question upon the resolutions was taken Colonel 
 Price said, he desired to say that this action was a surprise to him, 
 and entirely without his concurrence ; that he only asked of the 
 members of the Regiment such individual subscriptions as might be 
 desired by them. But if the association intended to procure the 
 number of books named in the resolutions, he could only say the 
 books were on hand. 
 
 Sergeant Cleaver then stated that while in feeling he had the 
 most hearty concurrence in the object of the resolutions to reimburse 
 Colonel Price for the unliquidated balance of cost for publishing the 
 History, it was necessary for the members of the association to 
 know that, if these resolutions were passed, there was not sufficient 
 funds in the treasury to meet the amount named, and it was a 
 question yet undemonstrated whether the association would be in a 
 condition to meet such an order as at present constituted, and referred 
 to the general expenses for this Reunion, which would perhaps 
 exhaust the treasury of its present provision for funds. 
 
 Colonel Price then asked that the mover of the resolutions 
 should consent to withdraw them, which, after some further 
 remarks by Comrade Taylor and others, was done by him. 
 
 The secretary, Major L. R. Thomas, having now returned with 
 the minutes and other papers, they were read by him as presented 
 in the foregoing account of the meeting of May 3d. 
 
 On motion the minutes were adopted as read. 
 
 The chairman, Colonel Guss, then stated the first business in 
 order to be an election of officers to serve for the coming year. 
 
 On motion of Marriott Brosius, Esq., the present officers were 
 re-elected for another year. 
 
 As the chairman, upon whom, in accordance with the by-laws, 
 the duty devolved of calling the association together, desired to 
 have some expression from the comrades present as to their wishes 
 in the matter, the question of how often it was best to have future 
 Reunions of the association was then taken up. Various sugges- 
 
40 
 
 tions were made by different comrades as to time, varying from one 
 to five years. 
 
 Captain W. James, Co. G, moved that the Reunions be annually. 
 
 D. M. Taylor, Co. A, favored less frequent meetings, on account 
 of many having to come from long distances and at considerable 
 expense. 
 
 Sergeant Cleaver also referred to the difficulties attending these 
 gatherings, many of the comrades not being in such financial con- 
 dition as to bear the expense. 
 
 Dr. Worrall, Co. B, was urgent in the support of an annual 
 Reunion. He said we were growing older each year, and Colonel 
 Guss.was not the only white head here to-day, and our numbers are 
 growing less every year. Five years is a long time, and some of us 
 may not be living to assemble at the next if it be so long deferred. 
 Let us meet together each year and touch elbows again as of yore, and 
 enjoy our life while we live in reviving these old memories, and let our 
 association keep us warmly united in feeling and interest. We can 
 all afford to come together one day in each year and be boys again, 
 and renew our soldier life, as now we are inspired by mingling in 
 social intercourse with each other. 
 
 Several motions were suggested, proposing two, three and five 
 years. But the question upon the motion of Captain James being 
 seconded, was first taken up, and decided in the affirmative almost 
 unanimously. 
 
 The date for holding the meeting being now the subject for 
 consideration, the 2gth of October was first mentioned by Colonel 
 Guss as one as appropriate as any in consequence of its being the 
 time of our organization, but as the weather was liable to be cold, 
 and perhaps stormy, it might be well to fix upon an earlier day. 
 
 Colonel Price suggested the nth of September, as that was 
 about the time of the first occupation of Camp Wayne ; or the 22d 
 of August, the date of the muster-in of Co. A, the first company of 
 the Regiment organized. After considerable expressions by Com- 
 rades Brosius, Cleaver, Captain James, Dr. Worrall, Colonel Guss, 
 Colonel Lewis, D. M. Taylor, Co. A, Sergeant McBride, Co. D, 
 Sergeant Kent, Co. C, and others, on motion of Sergeant Cleaver it 
 was decided to hold the next Reunion on the third Wednesday in 
 August, and in West Chester as the most available and central 
 place for these occasions. 
 
 Colonel Guss then declared the business meeting closed, and 
 
41 
 
 asked the comrades to get their dinner tickets and meet in the hall 
 for the banquet. 
 
 Before separating- Colonel Price announced that Mr. Marshall, 
 photographer of West Chester, was in readiness on the ground to 
 take a photographic group of the Regiment, and asked the com- 
 rades to take position before the camera on the right of the stand. 
 With ready promptness of movement the entire body of men stood 
 side by side in solid mass before the camera, as, in times gone by, 
 they had stood shoulder to shoulder under arms, looking into the 
 cannon's mouth unquailingly at Wagner, Gregg and Sumter ; 
 before Petersburg and Richmond ; at Cold Harbor, at Fort Har- 
 rison, at Fort Fisher and the gates of Wilmington. With these 
 experiences engraven upon their bronzed faces, they could calmly 
 look into the milder mouth of the camera about to be opened upon 
 their defenseless faces without fear of the consequences. At such a 
 moment Mr. Marshall could not have found a more fitting and 
 appropriate suggestion than that he made, " Perhaps you had better 
 take oft" your hats." Little could he know the instant feeling of 
 every soldier there of the suggestive contrast conveyed by his words. 
 To lis it brought back again the cry of the " Lookout ! " " Wagner, 
 cover!" "Johnson, cover!" when with bated breath we awaited 
 the result of the impending " whang bang " of the shell as it 
 exploded over our devoted heads. 
 
 Two seconds sufficed for the first shot from the camera, when 
 Mr. Marshall requested a few minutes to prepare for a second 
 assault, which was as unflinchingly faced. 
 
 Then the word of command was given to move upon the works 
 within the Exhibition Hall. The charge was short, sharp and 
 decisive, and the citadel occupied by the voracious invaders within 
 less time than it takes to recite the particulars. 
 
 The tables, ten or twelve in number, were found to be well pro- 
 vided with all that the hunger, or the fastidious taste, could desire, 
 showing that the committee in charge of this most important part of 
 the arrangements well understood the requirements of the situation ; 
 for had they not with them all the experience of the importance of 
 the Commissary and Quartermaster Departments being placed in 
 capable and competent hands ? And with this knowledge of a 
 soldier's expectations they were sure to have the rations well up to 
 the front when the halt was called, and the camp kettles were to be 
 rattled out of the baggage trains ready for instant service. 
 
 The committee of arrangements had decorated the building in 
 
42 
 
 most admirable taste with a profusion of bunting that called forth 
 the admiration of all, and the presence of the old emblems of our 
 service stirred the patriotic heart of every veteran present. 
 
 When all had taken their places at the tables, the central one 
 being occupied by Colonel Guss at the head, with Mother St. John 
 and her daughter on his right; with the orator of the day, Lieu- 
 tenant Brosius, Colonels Wainwright and Price and Captain Wayne 
 on his left, and opposite to him our veteran Chaplain, whose first 
 experience of leading the religious services in camp was in front of 
 Petersburg, at brigade headquarters, the Sunday after his arrival at 
 the front, when in the midst of the prayer a shell from the rebel 
 batteries broke just overhead and scattered its fragments in the 
 midst of the congregation, and wounded a man at his side. 
 Undismayed by what might well make an old soldier seek cover, he 
 stuck it out and finished the invocation, no doubt feeling in his heart 
 he was seeking the best refuge for man in any emergency. So we 
 may say " our veteran Chaplain," was then called upon by Colonel 
 Guss to ask the Divine blessing upon our repast, which he did in a 
 few well-chosen words. 
 
 The following programme and bill of fare, prepared by the com- 
 mittee, had been circulated among the comrades previous to the 
 
 meeting : 
 
 REUNION 
 
 OF 
 
 NINETY-SEVENTH REGIMENT, P. V., 
 
 West Chester, Pa., 
 
 Wednesday, October 29th, 1884. 
 
 Order of Exercises. 
 
 Meet at Fair Grounds, II A. M. 
 
 Business Meeting, li A. M.to 12 M. 
 
 Oration (comrade Marriott Brosius). 12 A. M. 
 
 Dinner, 1.30 P. M. 
 
 Bill of Fare. 
 
 ROASTS. 
 
 Beef. Lamb. Turkey. 
 
 Bread. Rolls. < Butter. 
 
 Chicken Salad. Oysters on Shell. 
 
 Cranberry Sauce. Celery. 
 
 Chowchow. Mixed Pickles. 
 
 Spanish Olives. Worcestershire Sauce. Mustard. 
 
 Coffee. 
 
 FRUITS. 
 
 Apples. Grapes. Bananas. 
 
 ICE CREAM. 
 
 Vanilla. Chocolate. 
 
 Mixed Cakes. 
 
43 
 
 Then the replenishment of the inner man was commenced, in 
 order that " the feast of reason and flow of soul " might receive the 
 fuller inspiration of the thankful hearts thus gathered together here 
 once more in cordial and fraternal association, partaking joyously 
 again of the bountiful gifts provided for the sustenance of life and 
 for the growth of our common natures into even more and more 
 perfect harmoniousness of intercourse in all the varied relations 
 of life. 
 
 What other class of our people could have a higher or better 
 appreciation of such a meeting as this between the comrades of the 
 war thus gathered to perpetuate the memories of their toils and 
 sacrifices encountered in the line of duty which caused the loss of 
 so many lives of our comrades whom we sadly miss at a time 
 like this, when we realize so keenly the vacant place at our side 
 once filled by loved comrades whose last answer to the roll-call was 
 long ago, just before the battles at Foster's, Green Plains, Fort 
 Fisher, Drury's Bluff, or others that we remember as these ? 
 
 During the repast, Wilson's Orchestra discoursed most excel- 
 lent music, which enlivened the spirits of all as they partook of the 
 viands set before them. 
 
 When at length the siege of the tables had resulted in the 
 demolition of the more than abundant supplies provided, and the 
 sense of renewed content of body and mind began to be manifest, 
 the president, Colonel H. R. Guss, rapped for order, and called 
 attention to the next business as arranged upon the programme by 
 the committee, which was the regular toasts prepared for this occa- 
 sion. The reading of these was then proceeded with in the follow- 
 ing order : 
 
 FIRST REGULAR TOAST. 
 
 " The Citizen Soldier. When baptized in the fire of battle 
 became the Veteran." 
 
 " Corporal Casey, can't you be aisy ? 
 Your gun is on my foot. 
 If you can't ground arms without such harms 
 You shall be the captain's cook." 
 
 Colonel D. W. C. Lewis was named for this toast, and responded 
 as follows : 
 
 The citizen soldier ! Name honored by sage and poet ! Let 
 memory carry you back to the winter of '60 and '61, when we were 
 all engaged in pursuits of peace and industry — the farmer at his 
 plow, the mechanic in his shop, the merchant at his business and the 
 
44 
 
 student at his studies — without a thought of what was to follow in 
 the near future. The muttering and threats of treason began to be 
 heard in the North, borne by every breeze that came from the sunny 
 South. As insult after insult was hurled by traitors, at the govern- 
 ment and the flag of our country, our blood began to boil, and we 
 listened with bated breath and waited patiently for the time to come 
 when we could strike under the laws, for the laws and by the laws 
 for our country and its laws. 
 
 That time soon came. On the 15th of April, 1861, there came 
 flashing over the wires the news of the firing upon and capture of 
 Fort Sumter, followed by a call from that prince of Presidents, 
 Abraham Lincoln, for seventy-five thousand men to help him enforce 
 the law that bore so lightly on all. You all remember how that call 
 was obeyed. In less than twenty- four hours the men who, up to 
 that time, had been engaged in pursuits of peace and industry, 
 responded in more than thrice the number of the call, transformed 
 and enrolled as citizen soldiers, sworn to defend and, if need be, die 
 in defence of their country. 
 
 How were these obligations kept ? Consult history and see 
 
 what the citizen soldiers have undergone in defence of their country 
 
 and for the purpose of perpetuating their love of liberty and free 
 
 thought. Their graves mark hillside and valley from Maine to 
 
 Mexico, from Atlantic's shore to Rocky Mountain slope. Their 
 
 wounded and suffering ones are in your midst. The people should 
 
 not forget them — they whose whitened heads show that they are 
 
 blossoming for the grave. But remember that they are but a part 
 
 of the grand army of citizen soldiers who gave their all to save the 
 
 Republic. 
 
 You all remember Sixty-one, 
 
 When crime and treason had begim 
 
 To agitate our happy land. 
 
 With one accord a patriot band, 
 
 For freedom's defence, both good and grand. 
 
 With trust in powder, faith in God, 
 
 They were at best an awkward squad. 
 
 But years roll by. This squad you find 
 
 On battle front and picket line, 
 
 'Mid bristling bayonet, shot and shell, 
 
 Sulphurous smoke and fumes of hell. 
 
 Union cheers and rebel yell. 
 
 Where they by scores and hundreds fell 
 
 In the great, grand cause 
 
 For freedom, country and the laws. 
 
 Quick to avenge, would no insult brook. 
 
 Felt it no disgrace " to be captain's cook." 
 
45 
 
 SECOND REGULAR TOAST. 
 
 " Woman ! Without her the world would be empty, fruitless." 
 " Men are what women make them ; age and youth 
 Bear witness to that grand eternal truth ; 
 They steer the bark o'er destiny's dark wave, 
 And guide us from the cradle to the grave." 
 
 To this toast Colonel Isaiah Price was called upon to answer. 
 
 My Conrades : I regard it an especial honor to have been 
 invited to respond to this toast upon the occasion of this Reunion, 
 here in this familiar place, which we all remember so well. For here 
 it was that our first experiences of a soldier's life and duty were 
 begun, ere yet the separation from our homes and loved ones had 
 sharpened into the keenness of our later sense of the privations, the 
 toils, the dangers and those sterner realities of war so soon to be 
 encountered, which were then so dimly perceived, so little realized, 
 amid the busy stir and throng of preparation that preceded our 
 going forth. 
 
 Perhaps this unconsciousness of what was to be experienced 
 was mainly due to the presence here in our first camp, of those best 
 helpmates of life in every emergency, the devoted mothers, wives, 
 sisters and daughters, who — thrusting back the agony and the tears 
 that gnawed within their hearts and dimmed their eyes through the 
 torturing fears born of their love for sons, husbands, brothers and 
 fathers going forth to battle — gathered about us here in those days 
 of solemn preparation, and sought to nerve our hearts to fortitude 
 and duty through the ministration of their hands, bringing the pro- 
 fusion of supplies for our comfort in camp and field ; seeking through 
 every tender influence of loving interest to beguile the pangs of 
 parting ; enforcing the smiles that could not quite conceal the traces 
 of the deeper anguish of heart, that must be hushed with more than 
 Spartan effort as the hour of our departure drew nigh. 
 
 Ah ! those were truly deserving of being counted " heroic 
 women " who, twenty-three years ago this October day, illustrated 
 anew the noblest, truest womanhood for the age in which they lived. 
 
 We read of " Spartan mothers " who bade their sons go forth 
 in the defence of their country in the hour of danger, and who held 
 up their babes to behold the departure of their fathers to do battle 
 for their homes. 
 
 History has immortalized the women of Greece who devoted 
 themselves to the rescue of their country from the grasp of the 
 invader. Veturia and Volumnia are remembered for their devotion 
 
46 
 
 and self-sacrifice that saved Rome from the vengeance of their ban- 
 ished son and husband. 
 
 The name of Joan of Arc will enkindle the flame of patriotic 
 enthusiasm so long as time shall continue to preserve the record of 
 her daring deeds, that inspired the valor of her countrymen to 
 follow her to victory, battling for the right. 
 
 Ever)' age has had its illustrious women, who typify all that is 
 good and great and worthy of imitation — grand, noble characters, 
 who have continually demonstrated the capability of woman for 
 bearing her share of the responsibilities of her generation. 
 
 Foremost among those of her time was that " noble example of 
 womanhood," Lucretia Mott, whose life was beautified by her works 
 of love for humanity and peace ; who yet could perceive " the sense 
 of duty " actuating those who conscientiously responded to the call 
 of their country in her hour of danger and trial, for was it not in 
 consequence of the unfaithfulness of those upon whom the respon- 
 sibility rested of resisting in the councils of the nation, the encroach- 
 ments of the slave power toward the domination of all its interests 
 and powers that led to secession and war ? And she could recognize 
 the righteous retribution that entailed the stern duty of the defence 
 of the government in the interest of liberty and peace, on the part 
 of those who had not yet reached her own standpoint of dependence 
 upon the righteous judgments of God in all things. 
 
 Recognizing in woman the abilities and the qualities that have 
 shown her to be in possibilities, the co-equal with man in all the 
 interests and experiences of life, yet is she still denied the place she 
 should occupy— equality of representation before the law and in the 
 race of life with man. An equality that shall include " the twain, 
 united as one flesh," neither a complete or finished being when 
 divided in interest or feeling from the unit that computes our 
 common humanity. 
 
 Will any one in this audience seriously question the statement 
 which I shall venture to present, as the sum of all the experiences 
 which belong unto the survivors of a war that desolated the nation 
 for more than four years, who — returning from the scenes of strife, 
 left behind us more than four hundred thousand of our comrades 
 who died for their country, and having with us our maimed and 
 crippled fellow-soldiers, who are yet scattered up and down in the 
 land — remain to be the only competent witnesses capable of making 
 a true estimate which living men may venture to make. Surely ive 
 may be justified if we should realize that no other age or conflict 
 
47 
 
 presented in history, can exhibit so vivid and terrible a picture of 
 suffering, of toil and of patient endurance that could preserve the 
 faith and hold fast unto hope through more than four years of 
 weary, devastating war, attended by privations that might well appall 
 the stoutest hearts. 
 
 Yet is there a man of us all who— measuring his own share 
 of what he saw, of what he felt, of what he did, of what he knew 
 and what he was, as a part of all this picture of war and its desola- 
 tion at the front and upon the fields of batde— will say that all this that 
 we endured was comparable unto that unutterable woe of heart and life 
 that was the daily and hourly experience during all those weary years 
 ol uncertainty, of fear, of care and of anxious waiting in the silent and 
 desolate home, out from which had gone the son, the husband, the 
 brother, the father, whom the agonized mothers, wives, sisters and 
 daughters mourned for, prayed for and hoped for, with a love stronger 
 than death, during all those sorrowful days of suffering, wherein 
 their hands might not relax from the toil and the duty of keeping 
 the home and providing for the litde ones left to their protection 
 and nurture ? For them there was no element of exciting activity 
 to relieve or dispel the sense of pain and the heart-gnawing, amid 
 doubts and fears, that could only be made less wearing by the 
 certainty that brought the knowledge of death ; that told of the rest 
 and peace in the distant grave ; of toil and pain and suffering ended. 
 Surely those who thus endured were the real heroes of the war ! 
 All honor to them for the blessing of their tears and their prayers 
 that followed and watched over us, and for their ministrations sent 
 forth into the field, where the tender, loving care of their mitigatmg 
 hands came, bringing ease to pain and balm to the heart and 
 staunching to the flow of waning life with a devotion that has caused 
 the fame of our corps of nurses to keep pace with the valor of our 
 bravest in the field. The names of Miss Dix and Clara Barton are 
 world renowned, and we have yet with us here to-day our own 
 honored Mother St. John. 
 
 The cheer of woman's presence within the tent, beside the 
 dying comrade in his last hours, has softened the bitterness of death 
 through the comfort of the soothing hand that, when all was over, 
 should write the last sad message of love that was to bear the tidings 
 to distant ones, of the love and faith that whispered a cherished name 
 m the last moments of life with an interest that ensures the meeting 
 beyond the gates with the absent, unforgotten ones. 
 
 Such was the worth and such the work of woman in that crisis 
 
48 
 
 of our history as a Nation, that has made it the pivotal period of our 
 existence as a fully tested and well-established government among 
 the nations of the earth. 
 
 Shall we not therefore do ourselves the justice of showing a 
 most full and perfect recognition of woman, not as a mere cipher, 
 filling out the initial importance of an integer, by one, more or less, 
 o (cipher) at the left hand of the statement, but placed in the right 
 and at the even level of her worth wherever she may indicate her 
 ability to impress a characteristic ? 
 
 Shall we venture to limit her in the exercise of her gifts and her 
 talents in these days of progress, or in this presence, where we have 
 come together to recall the incidents and the interests of our eventful 
 service during the war ? 
 
 Is there one of us who can remain unconscious of the moisture 
 of an uprising tear that dims the eye when he remembers, amid the 
 scenes of the past which this occasion recalls, the parting sorrows 
 and the tears which could no longer be restrained when the last 
 embrace and the farewell kiss had passed between the loved ones of 
 every kin, never so dear as at the parting ? 
 
 Nor shall we ever cease to remember the joyous welcome these 
 devoted ones gave to those of us who returned to receive the bless- 
 ing of their rejoicing and thanksgiving. 
 
 But I pause now before the sad contrast of the sacred sorrow 
 of those, borne down by the weight of their untold grief, whose 
 loved ones returned not to receive their welcome, and whose tears 
 of mourning now, as then, will receive an added impulse from these 
 renewed memories. Unto these our tenderest sympathies go forth, 
 and they will know that, though others may forget them and their 
 sorrows, the comrades of their beloved dead will never grow indif- 
 ferent to the memory of those who fell in our holy cause. 
 
 God bless them, and keep us true to them and to a worthy 
 appreciation of woman not only in sentiment but in verity, as 
 " God's best" and holiest gift to life and love. 
 
 THIRD REGULAR TOAST. 
 
 " ' Brandywine.' ' Paoli,' and ' Valley Forge.' Reminders of 
 heroic deeds and patriotic suffering." 
 
 " Old Continentals in their ragged uniforms never faltered." 
 
 Assigned to Captain William Wayne, Co. K, who responded 
 as follows : 
 
 It is not now, Mr. President, necessary to recount the story of 
 
49 
 
 the American Revolution, but only so much of it as bears upon the 
 sentmient just proposed. ^ 
 
 The grouping of Brandywine, Paoli and Valley Forge seems 
 
 rTlaZs" The ""T^^'^T °' '""^ ^^-^-P^ical and tentorial 
 relations. They all he withm our county limits ; but this grouping 
 also bnngs before us a very interesting feature in our history, in tha^ 
 in their association they present to us one of the gloomiest periods 
 
 ^h ■:r:s£ ''' '-'''-' '''''^-'-- -' '- '-'' -^■^-'- -^i 
 
 the B^hisr!" """T^" ''"' ''''' ^'^ occupancy of New York by 
 the Biitish roops, there yet remained one grand purpose of General 
 Howe unachieved-the capture of the city of Philadelphia-which 
 when accomplished, it was hoped, along with the annihilation of 
 U:e,r main army, would break down the rebellious opposition to Hi 
 Majesty in the middle Colonies. To this end the enemy overran 
 Nw Jersey irom the latter part of '76 to the middle of June, -77 
 ba ling and skirmishing with alternating success and fa lure but 
 without succeeding in forcing Washington into a batde upon iheir 
 owiyerms. Failing in this, they betook themselves again' to New 
 
 time fo th greatly embarrassed General Washington. It was 
 reported that the Howes, with a considerable force, had sailed- 
 destination the capes of Delaware. Washington collected his 
 LTLrdecXr '-' ''^^^'^^^--'-^y^o learn that again he 
 
 at Z'V.T''f^^V""'^f '"'" ^'" C'-'-P-^e.-cl disembarked 
 at tie head of Elk. and at Chadds Ford, on the Brandywine, 
 Washington presented himself to oppose their further march to 
 Philadelphia A battle ensued. Defeat of the American troops 
 was the result, and they retired demoralized and despondent 
 
 We now come to Paoli. All that Washington now felt capable 
 of domg was the harassing of the enemy's troops on their march to 
 tne city. The prevention of its occupation bv them had been 
 virtually given up as hopeless. 
 
 In the latter part of September a large detachment of the 
 enemy lay along the south valley range of hills in the neighborhood 
 of the present Howelville and New CentreviUe, and about three 
 miles from Paoli. A force was detailed by Washington to take 
 position near and hang upon their rear, with the view of cutting off 
 their baggage and otherwise impeding their march. Every pre- 
 
 (4) 
 
50 
 
 caution was taken by the American officer in command for the 
 security of his camp, and its location was beheved to be unknown 
 to the enemy. On the night of the 20th of September, piloted by 
 an enemy to the patriot cause, General Grey reached the camp, and 
 committed what has ever been recognized as one of the most 
 barbarous butcherings of modern times. 
 
 This affair is called in many of our histories the " Surprise at 
 Paoli," but investigation of the subject at the time showed that, so 
 far from being a surprise, the American troops were on the alert and 
 in position when the white savages came on the ground, and that 
 this most inhuman and unjustifiable massacre was due to disobedience, 
 neglect or misapprehension of orders on the part of a subordinate 
 officer. 
 
 After much marching and countermarching, General Howe took 
 possession of Philadelphia September 26th. 
 
 In October following one serious attempt was made to redeem 
 the city, and at Germantown fortune again failed to smile on the 
 American arms. An accident alone saved His Majesty's army from 
 a signal defeat. 
 
 On December 17th the American army took up its position at 
 Valley Forge and went into camp. Into the details of life there (if 
 life it can be called) I will not enter ; they are familiar to you all. 
 It was a campaign not against flesh and blood, against cannon and 
 cutlass, but more terrible than these — against cold, hunger, naked- 
 ness and disease. 
 
 The language of exaggeration fails to describe the terrible 
 realities of life in the camp of the Patriot Army in '77 and '78. 
 
 The poet, the painter, the historian have come short in depicting 
 the sufferings and the trials of the 
 
 " Old Continentals in their ragged regimentals " 
 •during the long and dark and dreary winter at Valley Forge. 
 
 FOURTH REGULAR TOAST. 
 
 " The Union of the States, the glory of the past and the hope 
 
 of our future." 
 
 " Our country's welfare our first concern." 
 
 To Colonel John Wainwright. 
 
 Mr. Chairman : It seems like presumption for me to attempt 
 a response to such a toast on an occasion like this. " Our country's 
 welfare our first concern " is well attested by the armless, legless and 
 shattered remnants of brave and gallant veterans who are about us 
 
51 
 
 here to-day. Our first concern for our country's welfare was well 
 attested when in our youth, three and twenty years ago, we first 
 trod the sod of this enclosure to the tap of drum and the " left ! 
 left ! left ! " of our squad commanders in our preparations for what 
 proved a long four years of bitter struggle and strife, of hardship, 
 privations, disease and death. 
 
 Our first concern for our country's welfare was well attested, 
 Mr. Chairman, when, on a beautiful sunlight morning in November 
 nearly a quarter of a century ago, a train of cars with these veterans 
 drew out from yonder station for the seat of war, leaving behind us 
 weeping and broken-hearted mothers, wives, sisters and daughters, 
 who gave the brightest gems of their families a sacrifice for their 
 country's welfare. 
 
 Our first concern for our country's welfare was magnificently 
 attested before Secessionville ; before Wagner, Gregg and Sumter, 
 Green Plains, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Fort Fisher and a score of 
 other conflicts with treason and rebellion. It was well attested, sir, 
 by faithful services in the Army of the South, the Army of the 
 James, the Army of the Potomac, and with Sherman in the Army 
 of the Ohio. 
 
 The three hundred and five dead of the gallant old Regiment, 
 well attests our first concern for our country's welfare, scattered in 
 every State from Massachusetts to Florida. One at least sleeps in 
 the billowy Atlantic. Who of these survivors does not remember 
 the solemn occasion of his funeral on shipboard ? Some sleep in 
 ever-green graves of Florida ; some in Georgia chaperell ; some in 
 Carolina's sands, on Virginia's bloody battlefields, in Southern 
 prison grounds and in Northern hospital cemeteries ; some came 
 home to die, nursed by loving hearts and tender hands ; some sleep 
 on yonder hillside, almost within the sound of my voice, whose 
 graves you so fondly decorate on the annual return of each 
 Memorial Day. 
 
 " Our first concern for our country's welfare " is well attested, 
 sir, by the four hundred and fifty-eight wounded and crippled of the 
 Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, who are scattered all over 
 this land as living but shattered monuments of their fidelity to their 
 country and first concern for its welfare. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, "our first concern for our country's welfare" is 
 well attested by these survivors, who, after having borne the heat of 
 battle and breasted scores of storms of leaden hail, and after a 
 separation of twenty years, have come here to-day to the very spot 
 
52 
 
 where we had our first instruction tor our countr\-'s defence in the 
 duties of the soldier, to renew and reassert our " concern for our 
 countr}-'s welfare;" to greet our comrades of yore with hearty- 
 hand-shake and fond embrace, and to bid them God-speed for the 
 future. 
 
 As I look into these dear old faces, after tv\ent\' years of sepa- 
 ration, they grow more and more familiar, and the full, round, boyish 
 faces of twent)' years ago come back to me, and the inter\al seems 
 but yesterday. God grant, Mr. Chairman and dear old comrades, 
 that this Reunion of the survivors of the gallant old Ninety -seventh 
 Pennsylvania Regiment may be annually repeated until the grave 
 of the last sur\'ivor shall be decked with the sweetest tiowers of 
 spring. 
 
 FIFTH REGULAR TOAST. 
 
 " The touch of the elbow; the scenes and memories of twenty 
 
 years ago." 
 
 " Should auld acquaintance be forgot 
 And never brought to mind ? " 
 
 This toast was assigned to Dr. Theo. Worrall of Co. B. who 
 responded most eloquently as follows : 
 
 Mr. President and Comrades : My position here is a lonely one. 
 being the only pri\ ate soldier who has been called upon to-day ; 
 but I feel encouraged when I look into the faces of my comrades, 
 and feel that mv remarks, coming from the heart and not the head, 
 will be received with the kindliest feeling. [Applause.] 
 
 Only a short time since I was notitied that the toast and senti- 
 ment just announced was assigned to me, and that I would be 
 expected to respond. My first impulse was to refuse ; being sur- 
 rounded by the weighty cares of a busy professional life, I felt it 
 impossible to give the subject proper thought and attention. But 
 when I sat down to write a reply, how vividly the scenes and 
 memories of twenty years ago passed before me ! In file, in section, 
 in platoon, in columns of companies they passed in panoramic 
 review, and I felt that I must come here, and in my feeble way help 
 to erect a temple in our hearts to the stirring scenes of auld lang 
 syne. [Applause.] And why should we not do this ? Are not 
 those memories burned in living letters on our mind ? And are 
 they not worthy of commem<^ration ? For twenty-three centuries 
 the human familv has paid tribute to great men and great deeds. 
 A beauriful marble edifice, called the Hall of Heroes, in which 
 repose the efiigies of the great men of all Germany, stands on the 
 
53 
 
 Danube, that historic river whose shores have Hstened to the hymns 
 of the Crusaders, resounded with the tread of Roman Legions, and 
 trembled under the thunder of Napoleon's artillery. William Tell's 
 memory is perpetuated by a chapel on the shores of the placid Lake 
 Lucerne. A statue of Andrew Hofer wins thither the weary feet of 
 the peasant of the Tyrol to the dark aisles of the Cathedral at 
 Innspruck. In our Nation's Capital stands a magnificent monument, 
 whose capstone pierces the ethereal blue of the heavens, erected to 
 the memory of the man after whom the city is named. [Applause.] 
 Then, I ask, why should not we erect in our hearts a rich, rare 
 monument to the memories of days passed forever ? I ask you to 
 give me the touch of the elbow as of yore. Let the subtle cords of 
 memory carry you back over the years since the nation's fate hung 
 in the balance, and bring to mind scenes and memories of twenty 
 years ago. Time has written great chapters in the history of nations 
 since then. The elastic step is gone with which you sprang into 
 line when the electric current flashed through the North the question 
 pure and simple. Shall this country be preserved ? [Applause] 
 The great artist Time has penciled silver threads in your locks since 
 the day you fought for national unity. Yet how vivid the memories ! 
 It seems but yesterday that the dear old Ninety-seventh Regiment 
 stood on this ground an undisciplined and awkward body of men, 
 but with hearts aglow with patriotic enthusiasm. But yesterday 
 that Pennsylvania's great-hearted War Governor [Applause] — than 
 whom a better never lived — presented us with the flag — that fliag the 
 emblem of our nationality, and for which we suffered so many 
 dangers and hardships. Our first dress parade, and the day Colonel 
 Duer kept us one hour at a shoulder arms, while the Adjutant read 
 orders. [Laughter and applause.] Ah, the poor Adjutant ! Sacred 
 be his memory ! [Emotional applause.] Methinks I hear the 
 awkward challenge of the equally awkward sentinel, and the many 
 schemes we resorted to when we wanted to break the guard and get 
 into West Chester. And (turning to Colonel Guss), Colonel, what 
 brilliant flank movements we would make down an alley when we 
 would spy you coming down the street. [Great applause.] These 
 are all memories of twenty years ago. Time has not dimmed the 
 recollection of our departure to the seat of war. The leave-takings, 
 the fond embraces, the tears, the benedictions, how vividly these 
 scenes arise ! In fancy I yet see the mother — that dear old loyal 
 mother. With a heart bursting as she contemplated the uncertainties 
 of the future ; with hands raised toward heaven ; with cheeks wet 
 
54 
 
 with tears of maternal love, she asked God to protect her boy. 
 This is no fancy sketch. If you think so, go with me to the fireside 
 where sits that mother, whose form is bent with age, whose locks 
 are silvered with the snows of many winters, and ask her if there 
 was not a stern reality in the parting of twenty odd years ago. 
 
 Then, again, I ask you to follow me along the line of march 
 from West Philadelphia to the Cooper Shop Refreshment Saloon. 
 Ah, boys, I think you can remember those knapsacks we carried, 
 loaded so full of the winecessaries of a soldier's life that they would 
 break down any mule General Grant had in Virginia. [Applause.] 
 Then that passage through the flagless, treason-tainted streets of 
 Baltimore ; the pitching of tents for the first time, under the shadows 
 of the Nation's Capital ; the exchange of arms at the arsensal ; then 
 back to Baltimore, and, oh, heavens ! that voyage from there to the 
 sun-bathed shores of South Carolina. Will you ever forget it ? 
 Why, the very thought of it makes a fellow feel as if he had taken 
 a dose of tartar emetic. [Great applause.] How we threw up 
 everything except the Government shoes we had on our feet. 
 [Applause and laughter.] How we remember the campaigns in the 
 heart of the South — Port Royal, Fernandina, Jacksonville. How 
 clearly we see all this ! The enemy for the first time ! How every 
 nerve thrilled as with electric fire when you looked down the 
 gleaming rifle barrels into their faces, and how confidently you felt 
 the touch of the elbow of comrades tried and true on right and left. 
 Then the first dead comrade ! Has this scene been forgotten ? I 
 see him yet. The gallant Henry Dunn, Co. B, died doing his duty 
 at Grimball's Plantation, June loth, 1862. I think he was the first 
 man killed in the Regiment. Then comes Morris Island, the siege 
 of Sumter — that spot made memorable, yes, and damnable, by 
 Americans who, forgetting the traditions of the past, that love of 
 country born in the womb of a British despot's tyranny, baptized in 
 the blood of their patriotic sires in lyjS, fired with malicious dis- 
 loyalty on the American flag. [Applause.] It was there where, 
 asleep or awake, we were continually under a storm of bursting 
 iron. No foot of that island withdrawn from the enemy's sight — no 
 foot but what could be played upon with rebel shot and shell as a 
 piano's keys under Thalberg's stormy fingers. 
 
 Comrades, would you want to forget those scenes and memories 
 of twenty years ago ? No ! Let us hold them sacred. Methinks, 
 did I want to, I would ask the gods to let me die. [Applause.] 
 Follow me to Virginia, where battles, sieges and bivouacs followed 
 
55 
 
 in one ceaseless round. Richmond, Petersburg, P^ort Fisher, how 
 clearly we see it all ! This day dead comrades ; that day bearing 
 off a bloody field the form of a beloved Major, stricken with many 
 wounds. [Applause.] These memories are not the '\^\& phantas- 
 magoria of an over-excited brain, but living memories of stirring 
 scenes of twenty years ago, and reason must have forsaken its throne 
 in the man who has forgotten them. [Applause.] Like the noon- 
 day sun breaking through the storm-cloud, bathing the earth in a 
 bright sheen of glory, these memories come o'er me, and, bright 
 though they be, my heart is saddened by others. On the slopes 
 of the sunny Southland ; by the rippling waves of the winding 
 James ; on North Carolina's billow-beaten coast, rest those whose 
 triumphs, defeats and trials have ended. Then let us pause in the 
 midst of the festive scenes of to-day, and while the autumnal winds, 
 soughing through the dying verdure of the forest, sings a sad 
 requiem over their graves, consecrate one memory, one thought, 
 to our dead comrades — the absent ones with whom we touched 
 elbows twenty years ago ! [Applause.] Their death carried grief 
 and sorrow into many households. Hearts, stricken and desolate, 
 bowed at the fireside, and 'tis useless to try to swing the burden 
 clear of any heart by throwing into the scale on the other hand the 
 vast amount of captured cannon, or the number of prisoners taken> 
 It will not lighten the load one ounce. [Applause.] But this 
 thought may: their death helped to establish on a firm basis and 
 forev^er, that government without a model ; that government without 
 a prototype, and to place that flag (here a piece of the old regimental 
 flag, shot away at the battle of Green Plains, Va., was shown), the 
 fairest blossom in all the flowery world, to blooming in its native 
 soil once more. [Great applause.] 
 
 Now, comrades, I implore you to keep alive these memories 
 and scenes of twenty years ago. Do not forget that you once 
 composed a part of that army which gained an individuality attained 
 by none other of which history tells. [Applause.] Hurled time 
 after time by incompetent general oflicers against impregnable 
 works, beaten back in a shapeless mass, yet ever ready to place its 
 bleeding bosom between danger and its country, and beat back the 
 billows of rebellion, in spray tinged with its life blood, to the lair 
 from which they came. [Applause.] Napoleon once said, in a burst 
 of haughty eloquence, " In all the great armies of Europe the com- 
 mander was everything." "It was not," said he, "the Roman army 
 that conquered Gaul, but Caesar ; it was not the Carthagenian army 
 
 LofC. 
 
56 
 
 that made Rome tremble at her g-ates, but Hannibal ; it was not the 
 Macedonian army that marched to the Indies, but Alexander ; it 
 was not the Prussian army that beat back from her borders three of 
 the most powerful armies of Europe, but Frederick " This proud 
 apotheosis has no application to the Army of the Union. In it no 
 central figure arose to become the cynosure of all eyes. 'Tis true 
 the names of Grant, Sherman, Meade, Sheridan and Pennsylvania's 
 gallant sons, Hancock and Reynolds, stand prominently [great 
 applause] the peer of any of the great military chieftains of Europe, 
 yet they are but the perspective of the picture, the bold outlines of 
 which is that gallant army that dared to do and die for God's own 
 country. [Applause.] 
 
 Now, let me say in conclusion, let us keep up this touch of the 
 elbow ; let us once in every twelve months meet here and recall the 
 scenes and memories of twenty years ago ; and may the anniversary 
 of this day be a bright flower, pure as the calla, to place in our 
 garland of years. [Applause.] 
 
 SIXTH REGULAR TOAST. 
 
 " The men of the 97th Pennsylvania Volunteers, who died that 
 the Republic might live. The mystic chords of memory that stretch 
 from every battle-field." 
 
 " O'er fame's eternal camping ground 
 
 Their silent tents are spread. 
 And Glory guards, with solemn round, 
 
 The bivouac of the dead." 
 
 Assigned to Captain Geo. A. Lemaistre, who responded as 
 follows : 
 
 Mr. President and Comrades : At this time I cannot prevent 
 memory taking me back twenty-three years, when with hearts full 
 of patriotic fire, we first greeted each other on this ground. But I 
 look in vain for the faces of many noble ones who were then with us. 
 The handshakings of to-day but recall more vividly to each of us 
 the absent ones. 
 
 The joy of our meeting is mingled with melancholy thoughts 
 of those who gave their lives that this country might live. Their 
 patriotism, fidelity and courage can never fail to be cherished. The 
 brave and faithful Durnell, the modest and patriotic Watkins, the 
 unflinching courage of our beloved Carruthers and the daring and 
 impetuous Hawkins will ever be green in our memory. 
 
 Our death roll is long and illustrious. In almost every southern 
 
57 
 
 state our heroic comrades have fallen. Their names will be cherished 
 not only by us, but by their posterity until the end of time. 
 
 All honor to the glorious dead whose devotion to their country 
 has taught a lesson too solemn to be forgotten. Their names with 
 their deeds will ever be held in reverence by a grateful people. 
 
 The responses to the toasts were all very eloquently delivered 
 and each of those responding was liberally applauded. Comrade 
 Worrall's response to " The touch of the elbow," although entirely 
 impromptu, was decidedly appropriate and in it he recalled many 
 pleasant reminiscences of the days when the comrades' elbows 
 touched while in line for the preservation of The Union. 
 
 After the conclusion of the regular toasts many of the comrades 
 were gathered about the stand occupied by the music and sang, ac- 
 companied by the orchestra, many of the stirring and patriotic songs 
 of the war, which seemed to intensify the feeling of comradeship and 
 unforgetfulness of the old times when they sang together around the 
 camp-fire to cheer the loneliness of those days of toil and service. 
 And then came the closing scene at the banquetting hall, and really 
 the last feature on the programme — a song by comrade Ray of Phil- 
 adelphia. This over, the meeting terminated in many cheers for 
 comrades and officers that made the hall resound with echoes, such 
 as never were heard in " Old Camp Wayne " since the boys left it in 
 1861. 
 
 The carrying out of the programme was so successful that it 
 exceeded the expectations of the most sanguine, and much credit is 
 due the following executive committee having the matter in charge : 
 
 L. R. Thomas, Samuel Hawley, John A. Grofif, David Jones, 
 D. W. C. Lewis, S. A. March, Oliver Channell, I. A. Cleaver, Cap- 
 tain Underwood and others. 
 
 At 4 P. M. the drum and fife were again heard sounding the re- 
 call. Colonel Price again called upon the comrades in the old-time 
 way — " Fall in, boys," when the march was resumed up Church to 
 Market, to High, to Gay. When at the old landmark the line was 
 halted, and faced to the front, Colonel Price spoke these part- 
 ing words : "Comrades, we are about to separate, but only for ano- 
 ther year, when we will all meet again, I hope, our ranks undimin- 
 ished I trust, and our locks not much the whiter in the interval. I 
 
58 
 
 feel that I shall voice the sentiment of every one of us here when I 
 say we have had a most grand and enjoyable time, and that our Re- 
 union has been a most magnificent and gratifying success. Good- 
 bye, comrades, God bless you all ; but before we disperse there is one 
 name that we have heard spoken to-day, more than once, in terms 
 of honor and love, whose absence we have felt and regretted ; one now 
 far away at Hot Springs, Ark., where he has gone to seek healing 
 for his wounds — Brevet-Major General G. Pennypacker, U. S. Army. 
 I ask you to give three cheers for him." These were given with a 
 will. Three cheers were then given to our old Fife-major, C. Fah- 
 nestock, our host of the Green Tree Hotel. Three cheers were given 
 for Mother St. John ; three cheers for all the survivors and three for 
 Col. Price. Then once more the boys disbanded and returned to 
 their homes. 
 
The Roster. 
 
 FIELD AND STAFF. 
 
 Colonel Henry R. Guss, West Chester. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel A. P. Duer, Atglen. 
 Colonel John Wainwright, Wilmington, Del. 
 Brevet-Colonel Isaiah Price, Philadelphia. 
 Adjutant Ehvood P. Baldwin, West Chester. 
 Quartermaster David Jones, West Chester. 
 Quartermaster John H. Brower, Vincent. 
 Chaplain D. W. Moore, Kennett Square. 
 Sergeant-Major Samuel W. Hawley, Media. 
 Fife-Major Casper C. Fahnestock, West Chester. 
 
 BAND. 
 
 Bernard Roecker, West Chester. 
 Thomas H. Windle, Coatesville. 
 Wm. H. H. Taylor, Chester, Del. Co. 
 William Dalling, West Chester. 
 John L. Hosmer, Newtown Square. 
 
 COMP.\NY A. 
 
 Captain Francis M.'Guss, West Chester. 
 First Lieutenant William Peace, Coatesville. 
 First Lieutenant Abel Griffith, West Chester. 
 First Lieutenant Harry T. Gray, Philadelphia. 
 Sergeant Jeptha Clark, Coatesville. 
 Corporal Reese Elmer Welch, Cedar Knoll. 
 Corporal Madison Lovett, Oxford. 
 Musician Edward R. Eisenbeis, Philadelphia. 
 Teamster Isaac P. Chandler, Ercildoun. 
 Private Alexander M. Chandler, Chester Valley. 
 
 " James Y. Clark, Coatesville. 
 
 " Isaac M. Pawling, " 
 
 " Robert H. Humpton, Coatesville. 
 
 " Joseph P. Robinson, Curwensville. 
 
 " Lafayette Thompson, London Grove. 
 
 " George W. Hawkins, Wilmington, Del. 
 
 " Joseph G. Brower, " " 
 
 " George W. Cass, Sugartown. 
 John A. Groff, West Chester. 
 William H. H. Starts, West Chester. 
 
 " John W. Dowlin, Coatesville. 
 
 " William Mercer, Talcose. 
 
 " Dr. Joseph E. Valentine, Philadelphia. 
 
 (59) 
 
6o 
 
 Private Ephraim L. Ross, Philadelphia. 
 " George P. Matthews, " 
 " Ezra G. Goodwin, Frazer. 
 David M. Taylor, Oxford. 
 " Jeremiah King, " 
 
 " Isaac W. Gray, Glen Olden, Del. Co. 
 " Joseph Winkler, Manayunk. 
 " Richard E. Pharaoh, Phoenixville. 
 
 COMPANY B. 
 
 Captain Dallas Crow, Philadelphia. 
 Second Lieutenant John B. Griffith, Modena. 
 ist. Sergeant Webster A. Nichols, Unionsville. 
 Sergeant Nelson P. Boyer, Coatesville. 
 
 " Harvey Highet, Fairmount, Lancaster Co. 
 " James M. Jackson Cowan, Oxford. 
 " Gerhart Reeder, West Chester. 
 Corporal Robert Bruce Wallace, Philadelphia. 
 Private Amor N. Chalfant, Christiana, Lancaster Co. 
 " Samuel J. Day, Coatesville. 
 " George Doubts, " 
 " Joseph Emerson, Cochranville. 
 " Edmund Esrey, Philadelphia. 
 " Wesley Vance, " 
 
 " Jacob D. Lemley, " 
 " Albert Harkins, Compassville. 
 
 Dr. Theodore A. Worrall, North East, Md. 
 " George G. Supplee, Honeybrook. 
 
 COMPANY c. 
 
 Captain Leonard R. Thomas, West Chester. 
 First Lieut. Emmor G. Griffith, " 
 
 " " George W. Abel, Concordville. 
 
 " " Charles Warren, Valley Forge. 
 
 Sergeant Isaac A. Cleaver, Berwyn. 
 
 B. Lundy Kent, (Capt. 13th Heavy Art'y, U. S. 
 C. T.,) Wilmington, Del. 
 " Stephen H. Eachus, West Chester. 
 " Cyrus M. D^vis, Wagontown. 
 Corporal Davis O. Taylor, West Chester. 
 " Levis T. Beidler, Cambria Station. 
 " C. Burleigh Hambleton, Elk View. 
 " Maris Pierce, Sioux City, Iowa. 
 " John R. Miller, Downingtown. 
 Jesse D. Farra, West Chester. 
 Private Oliver B. Channel, " 
 
 " Samuel Woodward, '' 
 
 " Emmor B. Hickman, " 
 " Samuel A. March, " 
 
6i 
 
 Private J. Jones Still, Malvern. 
 
 " James J. Dewees, New Centreville. 
 " Eugene Vickers, Philadelphia. 
 " Edward Mendenhall, " 
 " Ambrose Quay, Birchrunville. 
 
 Elwood Griffith, Rock Island, 111. 
 " William H. Speakman, W. Whiteland. 
 " Robert A. Wilson, Cochranville. 
 " William Whistler, Warren Tavern. 
 " William D. Thomas, Downingtown. 
 
 COMPANY D. 
 
 Captain Isaac B. Taylor, Columbia. 
 
 Second Lieutenant John W. Brooks, Coatesville. 
 
 Sergeant Samuel McBride, Frankford, Philadelphia. 
 
 " John E. Davis, Philadelphia. 
 Corporal Robert Fairlamb, Elwyn, Del. Co. 
 " John Goodwin, Wilmington, Del. 
 " John Jordan, Wilmington, Del. 
 " John W. Carter, Elam, Del. Co. 
 Teamster Francis W. Starkey, Aston Mills, Del. Co. 
 Private W. W. Bullock, Wilmington, Del. 
 
 " Francis M. Frame, Parkesburg. 
 
 " John Dowlin, Thurlow, Del. Co. 
 
 " James Hamilton, Nether Providence. 
 
 " John E. Huey, Parkerville. 
 
 " Edward Maxwell, Greenville, Del. Co. 
 Francis H. Pyle, Glen Mills, Del. Co. 
 
 '' Walter Pyle, Cheyney, Del. Co. 
 
 " George W. Eavenson, Thornton, Del. Co. 
 
 " Abram Fawkes, Malvern. 
 
 " John Pass, Chaddsford. 
 
 " Samuel J. Cloud, West Chester. 
 
 " William W. Mcintosh, Downingtown. 
 
 " James Beaumont, Glen Riddle, Del. Co. 
 
 " Williani Beaumont, Chester, Delaware Co. 
 
 " Richard S. Howarth, Media, " 
 
 COMPANY E. 
 
 Second Lieut John Sullivan, West Chester. 
 Sergeant George L. Smith, " 
 
 " James A. Riley, Coatesville. 
 Corporal George Jenkins, West Chester. 
 Musician Charles Riley, " 
 
 Private Robert Sherman, Glen Hall. 
 
 " Francis Hilderbrant, Danville, Pa. 
 
 " Galium [Colom] Duffy, Wilmington, Del. 
 
 " Thomas Dallas, Parkesburg. 
 
62 
 
 COMPANY F. 
 
 Brevet-Lieut. Colonel D. W. C. Lewis, West Chester. 
 Captain Lewis P. Malin, St. Davids, Pa. 
 First Lieut. Isaac J. Nichols, Port Kennedy, Pa. 
 Second Lieut. Thomas Cosgriff, West Chester. 
 " " John E. Huntsman, Sugartown. 
 
 First Sergeant Thomas E. Brown, Wilmington, Del. 
 Sergeant Samuel Wynn, Nantmeal Village. 
 
 " Herman P. Brower, West Whiteland. 
 Corporal Edward Townsend, Philadelphia. 
 
 •' Joseph R. Richardson, Saddsburyville. 
 " Jesse M. Boyles, West Chester. 
 " Henry C. Reagan, " 
 
 Private Evan Pharaoh, " 
 
 Hugh Hale, 
 " William T. Meeteer, Modena. 
 " John W. Keeley, Spring City. 
 " William E. Stiteler, Columbia. 
 " Abraham Thomas, Henry Clay, Del. 
 " Edward Shewey, Lickdale, Pa. 
 
 COMPANY G. 
 
 Captain Caleb Hoopes, Media. 
 
 " Washington W. James, Darby, Del. Co. 
 First Lieut. Gasway O. Yarnall, Chester, Del. Co. 
 Second Lieut. WilHam H. Eves, " " 
 
 First Sergeant Franklin P. Clapp, Media. 
 Sergeant Ciiarles E. Ottey, " 
 
 " Thomas J. Wade, Oxford. 
 " Thomas S. Dicker, Abrams, Montgomery Co. 
 Corporal Ezekiel T. Richie, Philadelphia. 
 " Hillary Fox, West Chester. 
 " Eli Dunlap, Landenberg, Del. 
 " John S. Culbert, Chester, Del. 
 Private Crosley B. Wilson, Media. 
 " William Popjoy, " 
 
 " Alexander Miller, Crum Lynn, Delaware Co. 
 " George White, Marple, Delaware Co. 
 " Philip Rothwein, Roxborough, Philadelphia. 
 
 COMPANY H. 
 
 Captain George A. LeMaistre, Wilmington, Del. 
 
 " Theodore M. Smedley, " " 
 
 Sergeant Robert J. Baldwin, Pottstown, Montgomery Co. 
 
 " Robert Walker, Downingtown. 
 Corporal Thomas W. Durnall, Collamer. 
 
 " William F. Smith, Conshohocken. 
 Teamster Marshall B. England, West Chester. 
 
 " Levi F. Snyder, Glen Moore. 
 
63 
 
 Private Alfred C. Allison, Downingtown. 
 
 Isaac B. Davis, Hopewell Cotton Works 
 John A. D. McKeever, Wilmington Del 
 Ezra H. Sullivan, " ' u 
 
 William M. Steele, Philadelphia. 
 Payne A. Goold, West Chester. 
 
 COMPANY I. 
 
 Captain George W. Duffee. Moores Station, Delaware Co 
 Second Lieut. George M. Middleton, Philadelphia 
 Sergeant William R. Wood, Dupont, Del. 
 
 Jacob Cline, Chester, Del. Co 
 Corporal Charles Stewart, Moores Station, Del Co 
 Private Thomas Edwards, Oakdale, Delaware Co ' 
 Henry P. Lindsay, Chester Valley 
 James Groff, Clifton Heights, Delaware Co 
 James Maloney, Philadelphia. 
 David T. Nuttle, Chester, Delaware Co 
 Richard Walraven, Ridley, Delaware Co. 
 Isaac D. Haines, Philadelphia. 
 
 COMPANY K. 
 
 Captain William Wayne, Paoli. 
 
 " William S. Underwood, West Chester 
 First Lieut. William M. Sullivan, Warren Tavern 
 Second Lieut. Marriott Brosius, Lancaster Pa 
 Sergeant R. Powell, Fithian, West Chester Pa 
 Corporal Barnett R. Rapp, " ' u 
 
 " Isaac Miller, Collamer, Lancaster Co 
 Wilham E. Davis, Spread Eagle 
 Musician John H. Kauffman, Berwyn 
 Private John S. Famous, Chester Valley. 
 Isaac Harrison, St. Davids, Pa. 
 Henry B. Thomas, Norristown, Pa. 
 Sebastian Keeley, Birchrunville. 
 Daniel Urmy, West Chester. 
 
 of t.5Jlecfe?^y!'!4T"s'.Sroth:rs\TL°ui:;\ --^-^'^^^^^^ ^^^^e office 
 were in attendance are omkted it is owwl^f ascertained. If any who 
 the notice to register the r names JYf ^ ^V^]""'' T^ ^^^"".^ attended to 
 know who were present] otherwise impossible to 
 
 A . ^^'"^ST Chestke, Nov., 6th, 1884 
 
 A meeting of the executive committee of the Society of the 
 
 Ntt^e y.eve,nhPen„.^va„iaVohm.eers,washddattheoffic'o ol 
 A. Groff, at 2 o clock, P.M., this date, the chai„«a„, S. W. Hawlev 
 pres,dmg P„sent : W„,. S. Underwood. Herman P. Brower' 
 Robert Fatrlamb, L. R. Thomas and Samuel A. March of the 
 
64 
 
 committee; Colonel H. R. Guss, D. W. C. Lewis, I. A. Cleaver and 
 others also present. 
 
 The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. 
 The following bills of expenses incurred by the committee, were 
 presented for payment : 
 
 Dr. Cr. 
 
 Rent of Fair Grounds . . . . . $ lo.oo 
 Harry Mills for services at Fair Grounds . 5.00 
 
 D. W. C. Lewis, work preparing tables, stands, 
 
 etc. at Grounds 21.06 
 
 J. B. Smith, furnishing chairs . . . 30.00 
 
 W. A. Rollins, decorations in Hall . . . 26.50 
 Edward Strong, carriage hire for Orator and 
 
 Mrs. St. John 6.00 
 
 T. L. Hawkins, Caterer, as per contract . 330.00 
 
 T. T. Smith, for cigars ^S-oo 
 
 Charles Jolly, for beer 10.00 
 
 H. C. Wood, for music ..... 27.00 
 
 C. C. Fahnestock, entertaining Mrs. St. John 
 and daughter ....... 3.50 
 
 By cash in Treasury from former collections 184.50 
 
 " received from subscriptions at meeting 256.00 
 
 " contributed by Colonel H. R. Guss 7.26 
 
 " " " Lieutenant W. H. Eves 7.26 
 
 " " " Sergeant Robert Fairlamb 7.26 
 
 " " " " L A. Cleaver 7.26 
 
 " " " Sergeant-major S.VV. Hawley 7.26 
 
 " " " Captain Wm. Wayne 7.26 
 
 I484.06 I484.06 
 
 On motion the above bills, which constitute the entire amount 
 of the cost of the Reunion, were ordered to be paid. The six 
 comrades above named contributing equally to make up a deficiency 
 in the amount collected of $43.56, so as to close the account and 
 settle all bills. 
 
 There being a number of subscriptions yet outstanding, the 
 Secretary was directed to collect the same and pay to the Treasurer 
 of the Society. The committee then adjourned its session, to meet 
 at such time and place as the chairman shall direct. 
 
 L. R. Thomas, Secretary. 
 
WiAn <^^ 
 
Mi-