683 ' T6 >y 1 1^,/^ ^>^^^ DS 683 .07 T6 Copy 1 SECOND OREGON. A Brilliant Record of Heroic Achievements. "I proseut the record of tliese men as the tribute of tlio State of Oregon to flag anil country. As citizens of that fair, young, Western State, Avhere 'rolls the Oregon,' we are j)rou r! O (=1 CD © -(-3 O Second Massachusetts Infantry - 5 15 13 40 76 60 43 45 93 116 424 209 355 409 552 413 466 447 15 16 11 'vs 9 Q 5 28 16 39 10 78 37 60 35 467 First United States Volunteer Cavalry . Seventy-first New York Infantry First District of Columbia Infantry 241 305 419 Ninth Massachusetts Infantry 645 Thirtv-third Michigan Infantry 459 Thirty-fourth Michigan Infantry.. 535 Eighth Ohio Infantry 487 Total 33 176 45 254 3,175 80 303 3,588 It will be seen by reference to these tables that the 8 volunteer regiments had a total of 209 killed and wounded, and that the applications for pensions filed by these 8 regiments are 3,588, or 17 applications for pensions filed for each soldier killed or wounded. It will be seen that the above 8 volunteer regiments are from Massachu- setts. New York, District of Columbia, Michigan, and Ohio— all from the North, where it is popular to favor liberal pensions. 4267 3 I now read and make a part of my remarks a list of casualties and applica- tions for i)ensions for 8 other volunteer regiments, as follows: Volunteer regiments in the tvar ivith SjJain. Regiments. Casualties. o M - cc S ^ O 03 S =« S Soft First Alabama Infantry First Georgia Infantry. First Kentucky Infantry- First Mississippi Infantry First South Carolina Infantry. Firsi Tennessee Infantry Second Tennessee Infantry First Texas Infantry 1.651 i;831 1,331- 1,141 1,369 3,026 1,419 1,397 16 11 28 30 18 25 15 15 16 11 28 30 18 26 15 15 71 65 123 66 110 174 93 60 Total 158 159 761 It will be seen that the total number of deaths, killed, and wounded in these 8 regiments are 159; that the total number of pension applications by soldiers of these 8 regiments are 761, or, in round numbers, 4 applications for each death in these 8 regiments. : These last B regiments are from the States of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Sonth Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, where the pension evil has not reached the horrid proportions it has in the Northern States, and where the people are still willing to make a living by honest toil and are not knocking at the doors of Congress day and night tor the passage of legislation enabling them to appropriate the hard earnings of other people to their own use. The extreme Injustice of these tables and comparisons is ap- parent to the most casual observer. In the northern regiments no account is taken of deaths, except of those killed in battle. By counting only the killed and wounded in the northern regiments, he finds that there are 17 pension applications for each soldier killed and wounded. Had the gentleman followed the same method of comparison for the 8 southern regiments, he would have found that there are 761 pension applications for each sol- dier killed and wounded in those regiments. What gl©ry can be gained by such a comparison is beyond my comprehension. If these soldiers had need of a champion to praise or defend them, they should pray to be saved from their friend from Tennessee. But, Mr. Chairman, the attempt to institute a comparison be- ■tween Northern and Southern soldiers is unjustifiable for any purpose or from any point of view. The courage, devotion, and patriotism of the American soldier, North or South, East or West, in the late war, or in any war, has been conceded by all, ques- tioned by none, except so far as it is called in question by the re- marks of the gentleman from Tennessee. The bravery of the Southern soldier in the late war, as in every war in which he has drawn his sword, has been and is conceded by the people of the North as freely as by the people of the South. No soldier in any age, in any country, or in any section exhibited unflinching cour- age in a higher degree than the soldiers who made, as well as the soldiers who repulsed, the immortal Pickett's charge on the fields of Gettysburg. 4367 But why does the gentleman now raise this cry of sectionalism? What good purpose can be served? One of the most beneficial and glorious results of the late war was the welding together of the North and the South— a firmer union of one people, under one flag. The attack of a foreign enemy, the insult to the flag, the destruc- tion of American lives by a treacherous people, was miraculous in its effect upon our divided countrymen. It healed every wound of the civil war, brushed aside every cause for estrangement, and welded our divided country into a more perfect and lasting union. Sectional lines were obliterated. The bitterness that had lingered so long was efl'aced. Old hatreds were forgotten, and Confederate and Federal, the Blue and the Gray, the men who made and the men who repulsed Pickett's charge, united as one man, under one flag, in defense of one country. In the language of a distinguished Southern Senator, in an instant "there was no North, no South; one country and one flag." I warn the gentleman from Tennessee that no patriotic citizen of the United States should attempt to destroy this union of sen- timent and substitute the old-time bitter feelings of sectionalism. But, Mr. Chairman, I did not rise so much to criticise the gen- tleman from Tennessee as to call attention to the record of a regi- ment he has failed to notice. I would not institute any odious comparisons with any other regiment. I would not attempt to distract one iota from the praise or fame or glory due to any other soldier. I simply want to call attention and give a just meed of praise to a regim'ent whose history is such a record of itiflinching courage, undying devotion to the flag, danger defied .^'^battles he- roically fought, and victories won that the heart of 'every man, woman, and child in our own State thrills with pride at the men- tion of the Second Oregon. Let me place the recorcfof this regi- ment side by side with those named by the gentleman from Ten- nessee. ' Record of Second Oregon Infantry. Killed 16 Wounded- 74 Missing 3 Died 4 Total casualties 137 Number of pension applications 178 It will be seen that there are approximately one and one-fourth pension applications for each soldier, dead, wounded, and missing, and less than two pension applications for each soldier killed and wounded, as against 761 pension applications for each soldier killed and wounded in the eight regiments whose records were eulogized by the gentleman from Tennessee. But this by no means gives a complete record of the Second Oregon; its glory rests on much more solid foundation. The Santiago campaign lasted from June 23 to July 17 — in all, 25 days. The Second Oregon anchored at Manila Bay June 80, 1898, and embarked for the return journey June 14, 1899. It en- gaged in the first battle at Manila, February 5, 1899, and ended its fighting career by the capture of Aryat at 5 a. m. and Pasing at 9 a. m. May 22, 1899. In this fighting campaign of three months and seventeen days it marched 538 miles in rain and mud and through unbroken country. It fought, and it is needless to say won, 42 battles, skirmishes, and engagements; it merited and re- ceived words of praise from every general who commanded it in 4267 6 the field — from Anderson, Wheaton, Merritt, and on three occa- sions from the bravest of the brave, the gallant, lamented Lawton. The quality of the men who composed the Second Oregon was indicated by a brief order of General Wheaton at Melinto: "Or- derly, overtake those Oregon greyhounds on the road to Polo and order them to Melinto. Go mounted, or you will never catch them. " When, after the glorious victory at Malabon, General Wheaton was asked, "Where are your regulars?" he pointed to the Second Oregon, saying, '• There are my regulars." A volume would not record the heroic deeds of those boys. At Malabon those brave young soldiers charged across the open rice fields, upon which they left many dead and wounded, in the face of a murderous fire from an entrenched foe and planted the Stars and Stripes upon the fortifi- cation of a defeated enemy. No veterans the world ever saw showed more cool, steady, and determined courage than the boys of the Second Oregon in that magnificent conflict. The story of this regiment would be incomplete without some description of the men who composed it. People look to the West for brave, but rough, strength of character. Doubtless you are thinking that these soldier boys learned skill with the rifle, cool- ness in danger, and endurance in camp and on the march in the wild frontiers, hunting in the mountains, or herding on the plains of some imaginary " wild and woolly West." ijet me undeceive you. These men were of the best " ye breed " in every sense. Out of the 1,190 enlisted men, there were 531 of these members of differ- ent church organizations; 114 were college graduates, 156 were students, 34 were merchants, 28 were teachers, 15 were lawyers, 15 were bookkeepers, 141 were clerks, 123 were farmers, 69 were skilled mechanics, and 175 'were laborers. When a railroad was captured, the Second Oregon furnished an engineer, wlio had left employment at $150 a month, to man the engine. ¥/hen a town with waterworks out of repair was cap- tured, the Second Oregon furnished the engineer to repair the waterworks and x)ut them in running order. When the custom- house was organized, the Second Oregon furnished largely the clerical force, as it did for the quartermaster's department. When an educational system was instituted in Manila, a private from the Second Oregon became superintendent of public in- struction. It is the old story. The most remarkable courage is intelligent courage. The bully from the prize ring, w^hen the real conflict comes, is a coward by the side of the more intelligent young man, who has left behind him a mother, wife, sister, or sweetheart, whose name he fears to tarnish even by the appearance of cow- ardice. I present the record of these men as the tribute of the State of Oregon to flag and country. As citizens of that fair young West- ern State, where "rolls the Oregon," we are proud of them. We cherish the living, we honor the dead, and shall erect fitting monu- ments to their memory. That other American soldiers under like conditions would have done nobly I doubt not. But it fell to the lot of the Second Oregon to be placed in a situation where supreme courage was the imperative need of the hour. Like true heroes they rose equal to their opportunities and the occasion; met every emergency, responded to every demand, discharged every duty, laughed at every danger, and left behind them a record of heroic achieve- 4267 ments never excelled in any land or in any age. Not only the State of Oregon, not only their own countrj'-, but their race should be proud of such men. Their record proves what humanity can and will achieve, what it can and will suffer, when duty calls for great suffering or great achievement. Mr. Chairman, if this Republic should be endangered, it will be through the negligence, not the wickedness, of its citizens. The welfare and happiness of every man, woman, and child are dependent upon the honor of their country's flag, the quality of its laws, and the proper administration of every department of its Government. Our country iDreserves for us all that we have that makes life worth living. It protects property from the hands of violence, reputation from the tongue of slander, family honor from the invader of homes. The eloquence of Demosthenes, the music of Milton, the humanity of Shakespeare, the wisdom, devo- tion, and patriotism of Lincoln could not have flourished under; the hand of tyranny. But to properly preserve and administer every department of a great government wisely and well, to enact and enforce good laws, to give to each citizen as much freedom of action as is con- sistent with public safety and the welfare of others, requires thought, toil, intelligence, patriotic devotion to the country's wel- fare. It requires the faithful, conscientious performance/)^ his public duties by every citizen of the entire country. A govern- ment like ours should be in fact, as well as in name, a/govern- ment by the people and by all the people. The man who shirks, who fails to do his part, is recreant to a most sacred dnty. The man who receives the blessings and protection b,estowed by a government like ours and does not in return perfor?h faithfully and conscientiously his own public duties is taking something for nothing, something he has not earned, and is guilty of moral lar- ceny. Yet there are men of wealth, the protection 'of whose per- sons and property occupies the time of our oourts, the watchful care and attention of our officers, the thought and labor of our legislators, the courage and suffering and lives of our soldiers, who never in their lives gave a moment's thoughtful consideration to a single public duty. There are men of culture, educated at schools supported by the public or by the endowment of patriotic men, who draw closely about them their robes of self-righteousness and shrink from public duties as something that might contaminate their immaculate purity or darken the whiteness of their hands. But even this is not all. Not content with neglecting their own public and polit- ical duties, they stimulate and encourage others to equal guilt with themselves. They point the finger of scorn at those whose iDublic duties are well and faithfully done. They proclaim that politics are unclean, that public men are coarse, selfish politicians, that voters are corrupt. This is a vile, damnable slander upon many men who are infinitely their superiors in the discharge of public duties. Against the example and conduct of such as these it is a pleas- ure to place the record of a band of men who have done their full public duties like heroes and patriots. They received little from the Common weath, yet offered to lay down their lives for it. Of the average citizen their country requires little of his time or thought or labor, and this little is too often denied. These sol- diers, young men on the threshold of their lives, took life and 4367 yBRARY OF CONGRESS $ 030 264 938 8 8 limb and happiness, all they have, or are, or hope be, and placed all on the altar of our common country, and some, alas, completed this great sacrifice. No wonder that when these boys returned to Oregon the woods and hills, the mountains and valleys rang with joyous welcome, and the very birds sang diviner and more inspir- ing songs in their honor. A word for the heroic dead. They have performed the noblest and subiimest act it is given to humanity to achieve; they have given their lives for their country. Theirs were not lives nearing their close, worn out with dissipation, broken with toil, devoid of hope, their cup of happiness drained to the dregs, and nothing left worth living for. Theirs were lives at the beginning, unspent, everything to hope, everything to achieve, everything to live for. Before the prime of manhood had been reached their life's work had been done and well done. Their rest will be eternal, their fame secure. For those v/ho returned, full of hope and full of Ijonor, life holds many temptations and many dangers; the rest and happiness they crave may not be theirs. Hope may turn to disappointment; the honors they have so proudly won may be sullied ; we hope and pray not. The fame and honor of no man is safe tliis side of the grave. But the fame of these heroic men, "dead on the field of honor," is secure. Their honor will bo forever unsullied, their memory will be like sweet loerfuiiie. They have received and are wearing their crown, and no power on earth or in heaven will pluck it from their brows. On Fame's eternal camping ground Their silent tents are spread, And Glory guards with solemn round The bivouac of the dead. These men and their thousand comrades in a few months of war achieved more for their State, more for their country and its future advancement and future greatness; made more and grander history; have written their names higher and more legibly upon the scroll of fame than the 100,000 men who remained at home will in a lifetime of peaceful occupation. The gratitude of their country will be theirs for all time; their memory will be cherished as long as youth loves life; their ex- amples will be a treasure and an inheritance of inestimable value to generations yet unborn. Through the late conflict our nation has received a new baptism of freedom; we have acquired new heroism and new heroes for f utare and higher inspirations. We have placed patriotism above business and valued liberty more than Avealth. The hearts of poet and orator have been touched with a holier fire. We have learned diviner songs, instinct with national spirit, and that thrill and throb through every heart, East, West, North, and South. Now, more than ever, we are one people, having one language and one law and under one flag. And among those who have contributed to this glorious result, in the first rank, second to none, stands the Second Oregon. Mr. JOHNSTON. Mr. Chairman, before proceeding with my remarks, I want to thank the gentleman ^ho has just taken his seat for the complimentary way in which he referred to Pickett's division at Gettysburg. I believe, Mr. Chairman, that I am the only man on the floor of this House who was in that charge, and I am proader of it than he possibly can be. [Loud applause.] 1207 o LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 030 264 938 8 i^