carry away two spans of barbed-wire fence without scratching
himself. If too short-sighted to see the enemy, he would go nearer; if
lame, he would make this an excuse to disobey an order to retreat; if he
had but one stocking, he would take it off his foot in wet weather and
wrap it around the lock of his gun; and as to marching, he would keep on
the march as long as he had upper garments enough left to wad a gun or
nether garments enough to flag a train with. [Laughter.] He was the last
man in a retreat, the first man in an enemy's smoke-house. When he
wanted fuel he took only the top rail of the fence, and kept on taking
the top rail till there was none of that fence left standing. The New
England soldier knew everything that was between the covers of books,
from light infantry tactics to the new version of the Scriptures. One
day, on a forced march in Virginia, a New England man was lagging
behind, when his colonel began stirring him up and telling him he ought
to make better time. He at once started to argue the case with the
colonel, and said: "See here, colonel, I've studied the tactics and hev
learned from 'em how to form double column at half distance, but I hev
never yet learned how to perform double distance on half rations."
[Laughter.]

But, Mr. President, this is a subject which should receive a few serious
words from me before I sit down. It was not until the black war cloud of
rebellion broke upon us that we really appreciated the Citizen Soldier
at his full worth. But when the country was struck we saw, pouring down
from the hill tops, and surging up from the valleys, that magnificent
army of citizen soldiery, at the sight of which all Christendom stood
amazed. They gathered until the streets of every hamlet in the land were
lighted by the glitter of their steel and resounded to the tread of
their marching columns. It seemed that the middle wall of partition was
broken down between all classes, that we were living once more in the
heroic ages, that there had returned to us the brave days of old, when
"none were for a party but all were for the state." [Applause.] And then
that unbroken line swept down to the front. But in that front what
scenes were met! There was the blistering Southern sun; swamps which
bred miasma and death; rivers with impassable approaches; heights to be
scaled, batteries to be captured, the open plain with guns in front and
guns in flank, which swept those devoted columns until hum