3i
X
ORATION
H<'\. ClIARLKS H. BARFLirrr
OP MANCHESTKK. N H
DEDIO^TIOISr
Soldiers' Mom!a\hnt
AMHERST, N. H.,
JUNE 19. 1 890.
MANCIILS i ER
I'k I N I K I> r. V I i> M N l: . 1 I
r.
<,
IN BXCHAt^CB
ORATION.
J/r. President, L<^-f'^'-< "-/ Cnt.'.w.i:
The historian •>! itus • rnv: uM.;y ^i .i-i.i.ucu
township, in the opening - >i his opening chapter,
informs the student of oU; hist'or)' that the town
of Amherst had its origin in a grant of land made by the
General Court of Massachusetts to certain citizens of that
province for servi 'red in the Narragansett war of
1675-76. This d. . . n alone, without the promptings
of further suggestion, might naturally prepare our minds
to look for and expect a marked development of the mar-
tial spirit in the descendants of such an ancestr>-. reared in
this atmosphere and ' • their sustenance from this
soil, which was first a to the approach of civiliza-
tion by the footfall of the citizen soldier.
And it would seem to require but little stretch of poetic
fancy, or oratorical license, to say that the god of war stood
godfather at the cradle of the little infant democracy,
ncd upon the western border of that narrow belt of
sparsely inhabited country, then extending along the Atlan-
tic coast, and, as if to make the military impression i>erpet-
iial and ineradicable, conferred upon it, at the baptismal
font, the name of the most conspicuous military character
then associated with the colonies, that of the commander-
in-chief of the British forces of North America, — a name
which it has borne and honored for more than a century,
and a name which is never spoken by son or daughter,
however widely roaming, but with true filial pride and
affection.
But however prominent or conspicuous the military ele-
ment may appear in the inception, it must not be inferred
or understood that the moral or intellectual welfare of the
people was overlooked or even subordinated, for we find
that in the sub-division of this grant, one lot was assigned
to the first settled minister, one lot to the ministry, and
one to that great American institution, the common school.
So far, then, as the art of war entered into the habits of
the pioneer settlers, it was an art cultivated and practiced
for defencive purposes only, to give protection in the field
and security at the fireside against assaults that were never
tempered with mercy nor conducted by the rules of civil-
ized warfare, against a foe who recognized no non-combat-
ants, who respected not defenceless womanhood, the inno-
cence of childhood, or the helplessness of the couch of
sickness and pain, a foe who came not with drum beat
and banners waving, but skulking in ambush, or like a thief
at night, under cover of its darkness.
So much of the knowledge of the art of war, so much
of skill and accomplishment in its practice as would enable
them to cope with this cunning and relentless foe, was a
necessity of their existence. Undisturbed and unmolested,
the busy Kand seized the implements of husbandry and
5
plictl ihcm with tireless energy ; but in the presence of peril
and danger it j;rasped the trusty musket with a courage
that never fallcretl and a spirit that sought no alternative
save victory or death.
It may not be wholly inappropriate before proceeding to
the consideration of the subject which is more especially
the theme of the hour, to pause a moment at this milestone
in the histor)' of this ;^rand old township and conlci;
and briefly review the Amherst of the past, and espc
of the early time with reference to the history of this gov-
ernment and country, for how can I more appropriately
present to you the men whom we especially honor to day
than by first presenting to you their ancestry as history has
photographetl them to us ? To do this intelligently we
must first of all remember that Amherst was one of the
first born of the children of the Province and State of New
Hampshire, that she attaine<l her maximum growth more
than a ccntur)' ago and contained within her ancient
borders, at the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, a
greater population than she boasts today, and that such
was her relative size and consequence that she ranked
within five or six of the head of the column in the list of
the important towns of the State.
I know, indeed we all know, that the aggressive forces of
our motlern civilization and the potent agencies of mcKlem
industries have cut new channels of commerce which have
left many a once conspicuous social, political, and business
center far to the right and the left of the new ways that
now bear the tramp of the great industrial processions of
the hour. It would be idle to say that this beautiful agri-
cultural town of Amherst is not upon this list. But it
may be some consolation to know and to feel that these
changes have been wrought by forces and agencies over
which her people could exercise no control, and which they
were powerless to resist.
The story of the part taken by the town of Amherst in
the war of the Revolution, which naturally claims something
of our thought to-day, is a grand, beautiful, and touching
story, unsurpassed in history or fiction, legend or song, for
ardent, lofty patriotism, dauntless courage, and sublime de-
votion to country and to liberty. None were on the field
before her, none surpassed her in soldierly achievements.
Before the opening gun had fired the shot "heard round
the world," before the fields of Lexington and Concord
were baptized in immortality, before the clash of arms and
the shock of battle on the heights of Bunker Hill, before
any of these had electrified the land, Amherst had lifted
her hand 'and struck her initial blow for liberty.
On the memorable night of December i6, 1773, while
the Dartmouth and her consorts were idly rocking on the
restless tide in Boston Harbor, the " sons of liberty," few
in numbers, but daring and resolute in purpose, were si-
lently and impatiently preparing to open the first act in the
great drama which was to settle the momentous issue so
freighted with good or ill to human kind, whether this land
should henceforth bear the blight and mildew of the tyrant's
tread or smile and blossom with liberty and become laden
with the fruits of a marvelous and unparalleled prosperity.
It was not the ships nor their cargoes that excited such
terrible resentment, for these were useful, harmless, valua-
ble, and welcome ; but those cargoes, however harmless or
valuable, could not pass the custom-house gates, through
which alone could foreign jjroducts touch our shores, with-
out the payment of tribute which admitted the rijjht of
taxation without representation.
Although an empire powerful on land and sea was behind
them demanding payment of the tribute, yet that handful
of brave men were resolved not only to protest against the
tyrannical exaction, but to hurl oi>en defiance in thcf •■ •• ■>»'
kingly jxiwer.
Among those true and daring men, as brave as the brav-
est, as powerful as the strongest, and second in ardor and
'tism to none, the only representative from the prov-
if New Hampshire, so far as authentic history or
tradition informs us, was Thompson Maxwell of Amherst.
Later on he fought at Lexington and Concord before en-
listment, but found an opportunity to enroll himself and
ve the ap|Kiintment of lieutenant before the next col-
It wouKl seem to violate all sense of justice on
occasion when the valor of Amherst's sons is the
theme of the hour, not to mention the name of Thompson
Maxwell
The p.itM"tisiu <>i AtulllI^i m i.ii i.imous era was not
of the slumbering, dormant order. It needed no drum-
beat, no bugle blast, no booming gun of war to arouse her
to action, and no sooner was the war cloud seen to lift its
sable crest above the eastern horizon than one third of all
her |>opulation. capable of bearing arms, were on the
march to Cambridge. Wherever engaged they lost no
time in searching for beaten paths but always beat down
new ones that led straight up to the enemy's front. More
than seventy .\niherst men fought the British foe in the
r.,.i. ,..,t..,,Kt. ,1 Hunker Hill ; more than half a hundred.
under the immortal Stark, aided in beating back the invad-
ers at Bennington, while on other fields, wherever New
Hampshire troops were engaged, her sons were found in
force and everywhere distinguished themselves for the
highest soldierly qualities.
Her roll of three hundred, who went forth from her hill-
sides and valleys ready and eager to sacrifice their all for
liberty and independence, constitutes a galaxy of heroes
unsurpassed in historic record. Their fame may not be so
widely celebrated in song and eulogy as the immortal
three hundred Spartans, who, under Leonidas, disputed
the pass of Thermopylae against the Persian host on the
Maliac coast, but their patriotism was no less ardent, their
courage as unflinching unto death as theirs of ancient re-
nown.
I have dwelt thus much at length upon the historical
features of your town, because as I looked into the record
and ran my eye over its pages so illumined with grand and
heroic achievements, it seemed to me that I could not pass
over in silence this glorious and distinguished past without
injustice to those to whose memory this column is to-day
dedicated.
Glorious, indeed, it is, in the light of their own achieve-
ments, but from the open page of history, which tells the
story of ancestral valor, sacrifice, and worth, there comes
a ray of golden light to encircle and illuminate it with a
halo of glory, which the mist of a century has not dimmed,
and the mists of other centuries cannot dissipate.
When I have said that the noble dead whose memory
to-day this vast throng is assembled to honor, were the
descendants of such an ancestry and that they were
worthy of them, praise, so far as it can be formulated in
human speech, reaches its climax and eulogy is exhausted.
More indeed may be said, phrases may be multiplied, but
nothing; they add. From such an ancestry who but pa-
triots and heroes could come ? While the spirit of liberty is
thus transmitted from sire to son, the fires u|>on her altars
can never become extinguished.
In the war of the great Rebellion, upon which our
thoughts arc more jiarticularly centered to-<lay, Amherst
did her duty, did it unstintingly and well. Those who
went to the front, and those who bore the new burdens at
home, proved themselves equal to the trying emergency
suddenly and most unexpectedly cast U|)on them. I'he
fifty ihou.sand dollars which flowed through her treasury
to aid. uphold, and sustain the cause, showed that those
who went forth to dt» battle were true representative ty|)es
of those who remained, but holding themselves in readi-
ness to respond to any call which the exigencie.s of war
might bring to their dfxirs.
No sooner was it found that armed resistance lu the
authority of the government must be met and overcome
with loyal armies than the citizens of this town assembled
and resolved, with no dissenting voice, " to pledge their
lives, fortunes, and sacred honor." to their country's cause,
and it was at once voted to raise the pay of all her sf)l-
diers to eighteen dollars per month. Kvery man who en-
rolletl himself in his countr)''s scr\'ice to fill the quota of
Amherst, went forth with the consciousne.ss that not only
the prayers and benedictions of his townsmen would go
with him wherever the fortunes of war might bear him,
but that those he might leave behind were in the care and
10
keeping of friends who, whatever might befall him, would
have a loving care and solicitude for them. The fact that
fifty per cent of all liable to military duty shouldered their
muskets and went to the field of battle, shows how deeply
and profoundly this people were moved by the great con-
flict, and how the martial spirit that so distinguished their
ancestry had descended without abatement through suc-
ceeding generations. The Home Guard, which met in the
spring and summer of 1861 upon this common for drill
and practice in the manual of arms, was but the re-appear-
ance in other flesh and bone of the Minute Men who
learned the same maneuvers on the same spot nearly a
century before. Thus history repeats itself. Thus in the
mirror of the present we see the glories of the past.
True, the issue was not the same. The old question of in-
dependence or of subordination to another sovereignty
was settled by those Minute Men and their comrades in
arms, and settled forever ; but in the progress of our na-
tional development, dangers within had been evolved no
less serious than those which our fathers encountered from
without.
The assaulted flag, the imperiled national unity, sum-
moned to their defence the same sterling quality of patri-
otism, of courage, endurance, and self-sacrifice, which
gave to the United States of America a place among the
nations of the earth. The call came as suddenly, as un-
expectedly, as the lightning's flash from a cloudless sky,
but the response was ready and there was no parley for
delay. There was no blanching of cheek, no tremor of
voice, no faltering of step, no counting of cost. War was
new, but the high sense of duty was old, and the qualities
1 1
(Kinindcd inbred. Every noble attribute of the Amherst
'75 re-appeared in the Amherst of 1861.
It would be pleasant indeed to particularize, to repeat
names and recite personal hislor)' and reminiscence upon
this occasion, but all the names in Amherst's long roll of
h«»n<>r cannot be sp<ikcn. and if any are spoken, whose
can be omitte<I ? The multiplicity of exercises in thr pro-
^;r.lr^^ ..t the day enforces brevity in this par* ul
forbids individual- mention.
To say that this monument is dedicated only to the
memory of th ' ■ imes arc inscribed u|X)n it, that
it sjK'aks of ti n only, would un|)ardonably nar-
row and restrict the full and grand significance of thin
'l.iy's demonstration. For them it is indeed ; but i
for all of Amherst's sons who bade adieu to friend and
kin. -' "- '.» . •>--:.. k„ap.
s.i. ks II their
fun" r enemies. loving, respectful trih
ute and memorial to them all.
'' ' master has said that monuments and eulogy
1 ' ' 'I. May we not antici|>ate that other
h.i .- ;y this memorial work to a more logical
and natural finish, and when all of Amherst's sons who bore
their part in the great war which this monument commem-
orates, have joined the .idvance-guard who have gone be-
fore, then should they not : ' m its now ' " -•■i\
faces other tablets of bron. "ing all the -
names upon the honored roll, so that in its perl- e
to the four points of the compass it will unfold the names
of all alike who dcser\*e the imperishable record .> Into
12
the care and keeping of the youth of Amherst, who will
behold that day, I commit this thought.
Not one jot or tittle would we abate from the full meas-
ure of the glory of those who fell and perished in the
struggle ; yet it is but just to those survivors who passed
the same ordeal, the same exposure, to say that it takes
the same soldierly qualities to face death upon the battle-
field that it does to suffer it. Whether the soldier falls or
survives is the mere accident of fortune, and we should
not meet the full requirements of the occasion did we not
say to the members of the Charles H. Phelps Post of the
G. A. R., whom a kind Providence has permitted to join
in these solemn and impressive ceremonies, to all her sons
who have come from far and near to join in this tribute
to their fallen comrades, that Amherst remembers to-day
that you all stood in battle array where those men fell as
ready to join the ranks of the fallen as to fight on with
the survivors.
There was a mingling of philosophy and grim humor in
the remark of the brave Irish soldier who was stricken to
•insensibility on the battle-field, but who, on recovering
consciousness, said to the faithful chaplain who was ten-
derly bending over him : " Sir, it is hard luck to suffer
the agonies of death, and then be robbed by a minister of
the glory of dying in battle."
We remember the fallen when and where they fell and
our imaginations canopy the spot with a halo of undying
glory ; but we are not so apt to remember that those who
fought by their side courted the track of the deadly missile
as bravely and as serenely as they whose fate it was to en-
counter it on its death-dealins: mission.
13
It was the good fortune of our New Hampshire troops
lu Ik- wisely nfficcrci. will led ; so that the essentials of
succcsstul milil.ir) ti|>ci.au>ns, — wise direction, unquestion-
ing obedience, and prompt and effective execution, happily
harmonized in their experiences in the field, and it will
offend no officer, whatever his rank in the ser\*ice, when I
say that the officers were no less fortunate in the soldiers
they had the honor to comman<I
It is easy to sing the praisi 'nquering hero, to
canoni/e his name and strew his jxithway with garlands,
and to herald his coming with plaudits and pttpular ac-
claim. an<l we are to<j apt to associate all the jjlory of war
with him wh«> wears the while plume and rides the cajxir-
isoned charger ; but the sober, solemn work of war is
done by the brave and hardy soldier who shoulders his
musket from a sense of duty, fights for the right "as God
gives him to see the ri;;ht." hi;* ' — ■ ■! seeks only the
reward which ctmio fmrn the > ^ of duty done.
More |)articularly was this the case In the war of the
late Rebellion, where the whole mass of soldiery sprang
as in a day from c\v\\ and |>eaceful pursuits, with hardly a
man among them who had been trained in the profession
of arms or sought the tented field from force of habit or
(Kcupation.
In no armies that ever contended for liberty or na-
tionality in any other part of the globe, did the private
soldier stand for so much, represent so much, embody
so much in his individuality, as did the soldiers of the
loyal armies in that war. In intelligence in personal
character an« in the attributes of accomplished
manhood, the wi... world never matchetl him in the annals
of war. It is easy to see why this was so. The ranks
were filled from the same sources from which they were
officered. They came from every profession ; from col-
leges and seminaries of learning ; from banks, counting
rooms, shops, mills, farms ; from every intellectual call-
ing and every branch and line of industry. In the fact
that he felt himself fit to command, the soldier saw no
impediment to his serving in the ranks.
To strike a blow for his country, to strike it effectu-
ally and well, was his absorbing thought and ambition.
If he found that opportunity in the ranks, he was content
and so fought on to the end. Our armies graduated
soldiers enough at the close of the war, fit to command,
to officer all the armies on earth and officer them well.
We find to-day in Congress, in the executive chairs of
state, in judicial and official stations of every grade, men
who went into the war with the musket upon the shoulder,
and laid down the same weapon at its close ; not because
they did not deserve promotion, not because they were not
fitted for other duty of an apparently higher grade, but
because they had found the place where the country
needed them ; where they could do good work, effective
work ; and with that they were content.
A regimental officer, whose command was famed for
gallant conduct, on being asked to name men from his
ranks for promotion, proudly responded : " If I should pro-
mote all of my men who deserve it, I should have a regi-
ment of officers with not a private in it."
What wonder that such an army proved itself invincible
and all-conquering ? What end could come to such a
struggle save that at Appomattox ? The theorists who said
that the annals of histor)- furnished no precedent for the
ion of a rebellion of such ^ij^antic pro|K)rtions,
' d the fact that no other nation ever had such an
army for the enforcement of its authority. Never before
on the face of the earth was there such a concentration of
hi;^!) intellet' nd inflexible purpose, so marshaled,
( ' ' itetl, :>.M..inivd by the unityir > •• ' ,,f military
An army indeetl it was, . „ its battles
with its feet upt^n the earth ; but it was no less mobilized
magazines of thought, ideas, and patriotic impulse, sowing
iixt ' "o an<l (!■ far
ih.ii -.hmI government can confer upon mankind — germs
that have burst into blossoms which have ripened into
fruitage, filling the land with fatness and burdening its
.itmosplure with the songs of ever)' industry that woos the
i iinniii^ of human hands.
It was the fortune of the Amherst men to be connected
with organizations that saw and felt much of war. Nearly
h.ilt "t them were in the "Fighting Fifth," and the
••!?:..:; Tenth," but r< tives of them were in
cvci) iiiher regiment, excij . . ;\th. up to the Kleventh.
Among them all there wa.s not one who did not prove him-
self a soldier worthy of the cause near to his heart and
worthy of the jKople for whom he stood. That some of
' ' ' rise throufjh various |)romotions to respon-
. , . i.^ of command was expected and inevitable,
and their names will always be honored and conspicuous
u|x>n New Hampshire's roll of her brave and gallant de-
fenders. Their living presence here to-day forbids the
words of compliment which will yet be spoken by more
eloquent lips than mine when opportunity is fitting, which
soon enough must come. On this occasion we are also
exceptionally honored by the presence of the survivors of
that regiment which contained in its ranks so large a pro-
portion of the Amherst soldiers, and which was so largely
recruited from this county. Their most welcome presence
enhances the interest, broadens and deepens the signifi-
cance of the occasion, and gives stronger impulse to the
patriotic ardor and sentiment which it is so well calculated
to inspire.
Their presence here as an organization, a quarter of a
century after their muster out and disbandment, proves
the oneness of purpose which actuated them, and how
deep and lasting are the friendships, born of long and close
association, under circumstances of the greatest peril and
danger. Such conditions develop the highest and noblest
qualities of the human soul, and create a brotherhood
that never loosens its grasp till touched by the cold finger
that awaits us all. There is no chain which so binds men
together as that whose links are welded in the white heat
of battle.
If anything was wanting to show the perfect amalgama-
tion of our foreign born with native American citizenship,
the Tenth furnished it. If anything was wanting to show-
that in assuming that high duty our foreign born embraced
the full measure of patriotic sentiment and devotion to the
fortunes of their adopted country, the Tenth supplied it.
If anything was lacking to prove that they were ready to
defend her honor and uphold her authority by every sac-
rifice, even unto death, with all the ardor, impetuosity, and
enthusiasm characteristic of their race, the Tenth removed
»7
the lingering doubt when she left her dead nearer the
stone wall on St. Mar>-c's Heights than any other regiment
!h It foii_^ht on the bloody field of Fredericksburg.
.Suic !jy side, under the banner of the gallant Tenth, the
native aniW foreign b<jm gave and receivetl the blows which
only war can give and take. Side by side they joined in
the \ictorious shout when fortune .smiled, and side by side
they strove to retrieve disaster and s<K»the the sting of
''■•f'- *t : and to-day on many a hillside, in many a valley,
^hed and furrowed by the dread enginery of war, side
by side they sleep the sleep of eternal rest.
To show what place this regiment has in the hearts of
this fK'ople. I need do no more than point to the fact that
of the twenty-si.x names already inscribed u|X)n this mon-
umcnt'§ tablet of bronze, ten of them are copied from the
rolls of the Tenth. Mustered in with these survivors —
mustered out by the grim messenger Death, but re-formed
.nid halting now at " |>arade rest " on the other shore for
tlie c«»ming of v<tii whosf mnk.s t<» dav show widfr ;'.1I)«^
than theirs.
It will not be expected that I shall detain you by a con-
sideration of the causes which involved this people in that
great conflict in which these sur\ivors were engaged, and
in which the ii"V»I'' 'lend whose memory we seek to honor
gave up thcr hat their country might live. The
story has been so often told and the lessons to be drawn
from it so often repeated and .so recently, on that great
national day now but just pa.st, and are .so familiar to all
that nothing can be added, and repetition is unneces.sary.
We all recognize the fact that as the war of the Revo-
lution settled the question of national independence, so
the war of the RebelHon settled the question of national
unity. The great source of internal dissension, of sec-
tional animosity, has been forever eradicated. It is no
longer a "house divided against itself," but with unity of
purpose and fraternity of feeling, its fast multiplying mil-
lions are now coursing over the highway of empire, with
possibilities limited only by the measure of fidelity to true
citizenship.
To the cultivation and the development of that citizen-
ship this work directly and most powerfully tends Monu-
mental columns, heroic statues, and memorial edifices are
most striking and impressive patriotic literature, a liter-
ature that is read by all beholders, learned and unlearned,
a literature that is common to all nations and all races of
men. To the American, the German, the Frenchman, to
all of every race and nationality, though speaking no tongue
save that of their ancestors, it tells the same story. It
addresses itself intelligently to every understanding and
awakens common emotions in every heart in whatever
clime the eye falls upon it.
As a book of history it is always open and its pages are
ever exposed to the gaze of mankind. It never slumbers
on neglected shelves, and the accumulating dust of years
never gathers upon it. The busiest son of toil finds ample
opportunity to peruse it and enrich his understanding by
the story it impresses upon all, while his soul is ennobled
by the contemplation of the lofty examples it spreads
before him. It cannot be monopolized by the rich alone,
for it is never closed to the poorest and the humblest. It
is most honorable in its authorship no less than in its com-
memoration of noble deeds and the perpetuation of names
"that were not bom to die." This rrmnument which
rises in your midst, the object of such patriotic veneration
to all, will not only bear to later times the names of the
heroic dead indelibly engraved u|>on it, it will not only
proclaim through brazen lips, sixraking mightily though
voiceless, the gospel of liberty, of loyalty, and of |)atriot-
ism to coming generations, but it will ever bear most con-
'• ive testimony to the generosity and jxitrioiism of its
iers. It will tell not only that those men gave up
their lives for their country and its institutions, but it will
declare also that you for whom this supreme sacrifice was
made were worthy of it.
And when all ♦' •■ '- • i in its erection are
folded upon the { n all who out of their
substance contribute shall have struck their
tents and passc<: |) and down the face of the
■ one whu bnn: hii> part in the war of the great
U. it shall remain among the living, this beautiful
work will still stand and tell to other generations the stor)'
of ancestral glory and achievement, and inspire in other
hearts the same heroic courage and lofty patriotism it so
grandly celebrates.
LIBRW^ OF COSS
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