t of killed and wounded of
his force of 43,400. It is impossible to do full justice to the heroic
constancy of the soldiers of the Union, whose valor wrung victory from
defeat on the morning of the 31st of December, and who all through that
terrible day bared their breasts to the storm of battle. To the living the
great wealth of a Nation's gratitude is due, but to those to whom death
came in the cause of National unity, his

"Voice sounds like a prophet's word
And in its solemn tones are heard
The thanks of millions yet to be."

It came like a paean of victory to the ears of the long suffering President
and to the sorely taxed patience of the loyal people of the United States.
It fell with the dull thud of a mortal wound upon the hearts of the
Southern people. Gone and forever dispelled were the fond delusions that
one Confederate was equal to three Yankees. Henceforth it was known by
each that victory would perch upon the banner of the strongest force, and
that the god of battle was on the side of the heaviest artillery. As the
blood of the martyr is the seed of the church, so was that spilled at
Stones River the inspiration by which the magnificent Army of the
Cumberland bore its banners through two years more of carnage to final
victory. They renewed their vows of fidelity to the flag of their country
upon the field of Chickamauga and upon the bloody slope of Mission Ridge,
and through a hundred days of battle to Atlanta, at Franklin, and
Nashville. Marching through Georgia with Sherman to the sea, the devoted
soldiery followed their leaders with unfaltering courage, billowing every
battle-field with the graves of their fallen comrades.

Transcriber's Notes:

The following misprints have been corrected:
"atacked" corrected to "attacked" (page 7)
"impresssion" corrected to "impression" (page 10)
"atack" corrected to "attack" (page 15)

"Stones" (rather than "Stone's") is used consistently throughout the
original text.

The lone quotation mark on page 5 appears in this text as it is presented
in the original.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Third Day at Stone's River, by
Gilbert C. Kniffin

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